Wednesday, 13 July 2011

Glycemic index in fruits

Glycemic index in fruits

Glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how fast carbohydrate foods (which include fruits) are converted in the body to blood glucose.
  1. Low GI are those that score below 55.
  2. Intermediate-GI are those that score between 55 and 70 and
  3. High GI foods are those that score above 70.
  • Low GI fruits --> eg an average-sized apple scores 38; cherries (22); grapefruit (25); an average-sized orange (44); an average-sized pear (38); a plum (39).
  • Intermediate GI fruits -> eg  banana (55); cantaloupe (65); mango (55); papaya (58); pineapple (66).
  • High GI fruits --> eg dried dates (103); and canned fruit cocktail (79).

How quickly fruit will raise our blood sugar depends on such considerations as whether we eat the fruit after a high-fat meal or drink it as a glass of fruit juice on an empty stomach. It is also important to pay attention to the size of the fruit we eat. A quick and easy measure of the right serving size of fruit is the amount that can comfortably fit in the palm of our hand.

Ref:
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA348385
http://www.alsearsmd.com/pdf/Glycemic_Index.pdf

Basic info on ''Carbohydrates''

https://www.facebook.com/update_security_info.php?wizard=1#!/note.php?note_id=190133591028441     
                
                                            Basic info on ''Carbohydrates''

Carbohydrates in Food:
   
Carbs are one of three main nutrients in food, the others being fats and protein. There are three common types of carbs in foods: (1) Sugar; (2) Starch; and (3) Dietary fiber. Only sugar and starch is digested, as the human body lacks the digestive enzymes to break down (metabolize) dietary fiber in the intestinal tract.

Carbs in Natural Foods
Sugar-carbs are found in a range of natural food, including milk (containing lactose, or milk sugar), fruits (containing fructose, or fruit sugar) and sugar beet (containing sucrose).
Starch-carbs are found in all cereal grains, as well as roots and tubers. Starchy foods include: bread, pasta, rice, noodles, couscous, tapioca, potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams.
Dietary fiber carbohydrates (soluble and insoluble fiber) are found in most plant foods, like fruits and vegetables, legumes and whole grain cereals.

Foods Contain Different Types of Carbs
Many foods contain a mixture of different types of carbohydrate. For example, many whole grain cereals and beans contain both starch and fiber (soluble and insoluble).

Digestible or Net Carbs
With the advent of low carb diets and carb-counting, it is common to see the phrase "Net Carbs" or "Digestible Carbs." In simple terms, this refers to the total amount of carbs in a particular food that can be absorbed and digested in the intestinal tract. It therefore excludes dietary fiber as this cannot be digested. In simple terms, the easiest way to calculate "net carbs" in a food, is to subtract its content of dietary fiber from it's total carb content.

Glycemic Response to Carb Foods:
To see how rapidly carb-rich foods raise blood glucose levels--> Click http://www.carbs-information.com/gi-values-carbohydrates.htm for GI Values for Carbohydrates'.
Note:
Excellent info on Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load click http://www.alsearsmd.com/pdf/Glycemic_Index.pdf



                             Effects of Simple or Complex Carbohydrates on Blood Sugar




Due to their differing chemical structures, simple carbs and complex carbs affect the body in different ways.
Simple carbs (with the exception of fructose, fruit sugar) are basically sugars (glucose) so they are immediately absorbed into the bloodstream, causing a rise in blood-sugar levels. Because blood sugar-levels must be kept within a certain range, the body responds by telling the pancreas to secrete insulin into the digestive system. Why? Because insulin helps to "mop up" excess blood sugar and disperse it to other parts of the body. Unfortunately, the pancreatic gland typically "overreacts" to this sudden rise in blood sugar (thinking a huge amount of food has been eaten) and secretes too much insulin. Result? Within an hour or so, the insulin has mopped up too much blood sugar, so levels drop too far and this triggers hunger. This rapid rise and fall in blood sugar levels caused by excess production of insulin, is not good for our health or our eating habits. Over time, these ''sugar spikes" can lead to impaired glucose tolerance, insulin insensitivity and type 2 diabetes. (See also Diabetes information).
By comparison, complex carbs need more time to be broken down into glucose. So they don't raise blood sugar levels as fast as simple carbs. This is why nutritionists recommend that we restrict our consumption of simple carbohydrates and eat complex carbohydrates instead.

Very complex carbohydrate (dietary fiber) has such a complicated chemical structure that the human body cannot metabolize it (break it down into glucose or other nutrients) at all. So it passes through the body mostly undigested. However, fiber remains very important for both health and weight control because it helps the body to process waste efficiently and helps us to feel fuller for longer. Fiber also helps protect us against some serious diseases, including various cancers.

Rating Carbohydrate Foods by the Glycemic Index


Recently, the Glycemic Index (GI) has become the benchmark for classifying carbohydrates. The glycemic index is a measure of how rapidly a particular food causes blood sugar to rise, compared with glucose. Foods are divided into high, medium or low glycemic index foods.

Although a valuable tool, especially for diabetics, the glycemic index confines itself to measuring a standard amount of carbs (50g). Since some foods contain only a small percentage of carbs, their glycemic index value may not be as relevant as their Glycemic Load, which takes into account portion size and carb content.

Source and Refs:


http://www.carbs-information.com/carbs-in-food.htm
http://www.carbs-information.com/carbohydrates.htm
http://www.lowcarbohydratediets.info/low-carbohydrate-food-lists/



Friday, 8 July 2011

Hormone and weight loss

http://naturalhealthdossier.com/2011/03/enlist-your-hormones-in-the-battle-for-weight-loss-2/

Coded for Weight Loss
The secret to weight loss is in your biological hormones. If you balance your cellular reaction to starch and sugars you control your hormones. And controlling your hormones – and one in particular – helps you to burn fat and build muscle.

Your best defense against weight gain is learning how to control the hormone called insulin.
Insulin is a storage hormone: it takes nutrients from your blood stream and stores them in your cells. And you produce insulin when your blood glucose rises.
Eating foods that are sugary or starchy releases insulin into your bloodstream.
1) Insulin transports blood sugar to your cells.
2) Insulin signals your fat cells to absorb those sugars as glucose – and a primary source for energy. It then tells your body to stop using its fat stores for energy. This means you’re not burning any of the fat in your body anymore – you’re just storing it up.
While some of that new glucose will be used for energy, the rest will also be stored as fat.
In short, a high starch diet creates higher levels of insulin, which builds and stores fat.
If you’re always eating starches and sugar, your body is always producing insulin. That can lead to your second weight-gain problem: insulin resistance.
This happens when a hormone is in the bloodstream too often and for too long. Once you’re insulin resistant, your body has to make more and more insulin to do the same job. And suddenly you’re producing more and more insulin… storing more and more fat… and gaining dangerous amounts of weight.

Balancing Your Hormones
Our hormones unbalance as we age, which often happens because of diet. Too many years of eating sugar and starch constantly spike your blood sugar levels. And that damages your hormonal balance and leads to resistance.
So the trick is to limit your sugars and starch. A low-sugar, low-starch diet keeps insulin under control. And starting that diet today can fix your hormonal balance.

All you have to do is identify the foods that are high in sugar and starch… and avoid them!
This is where a low-carb diet comes in. That’s because most carbs are high in sugars and starch. Eating carbs spikes your blood sugar and that ends in fat production and storage.
By the way, don’t be taken in by the wholegrain myth… Wholegrain bread spikes blood sugar just the same as white bread.
Here’s a list of five bad carbs to avoid:
  • Breakfast cereals
  • Bagels
  • Breads
  • White rice
  • White potatoes
On the other hand, eating a high-fat meal, or a high-protein one, doesn’t raise your blood sugar. That means you don’t release insulin. In other words… Insulin is only triggered in response to carbs.
The more carbs you eat, the quicker you raise your blood sugars. And that releases insulin which makes and stores fat.
This is why you must eat foods that don’t spike your blood sugar. There’s an easy guide to finding these foods. It’s called the glycemic index.

Combating Blood Sugar Spikes
The glycemic index ranks foods by how quickly they spike blood sugar. Foods that have a low glycemic score create only small fluctuations in blood glucose and insulin levels.
Two foods can have the same calories, but the one with a high glycemic score creates more fat. You can check out the official glycemic index database at http://www.glycemicindex.com/.
The guide clearly shows which foods are high or low. Picking options with a low glycemic score balances your blood sugar levels. That means you produce less insulin and wind up building less fat.
Some great low glycemic foods include:
  • Grass-fed beef
  • Coldwater wild fish
  • Free-range poultry
  • Cage-free eggs
  • Almonds, walnuts, and pecans
  • Plain yogurt
  • Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries
Powering Up Your Hormones
Protein is a crucial element for good health. It makes up your hair and nails. It builds blood, bones, and muscles. Plus, it plays a critical role in keeping your body lean.
While carbs cause weight gain, protein causes weight loss. It’s an essential player in maintaining your insulin levels. Protein doesn’t raise your blood sugar level… which balances your insulin. If you’re balancing insulin, you’re storing less fat.
Protein balances your blood sugar,” says Dr. Mark Hyman. “The best way to control blood sugar throughout the day is by eating protein with every meal. It keeps a slow infusion of energy going through your system rather than being quickly absorbed.”
1) Protein powers up your metabolism like no other nutrient. That’s because it’s your body’s best source of energy. Because you’re giving your body what it needs, it doesn’t store protein as fat. Instead it uses protein as pure energy.
If you always eat plenty of protein you keep your energy supply high. And this tells your body it doesn’t need to keep fat stored up anymore. You’re basically training your body to burn fat.
2) Protein is also loaded with 20 amino acids; eight of those are vital to good health. You can’t get them any other way than through protein.
Controlling weight loss is easy if you understand how your hormones respond to food. Balancing your insulin levels is a dramatic tool for burning fat and building muscle.
There are so many other ways to balance your hormones to help you lose weight and improve health. That’s why we have created a special health directive based on up-to-the-minute findings by the best researchers and doctors.
This report investigates the little-known link between hormones and your weight, and offers powerful solutions to finally gain control of your weight loss once and for all. Learn more about how you can get this health directive right here.
For more thoroughly-researched information on the latest advancements in health and medical science, sign up for our monthly health advisory service, Natural Health Dossier. Each month issue will cover, in-depth, a specific area of health. Past issues have investigated diabetes… prostate cancer… heart disease… and depression. Each issue is thoroughly researched and reports on cutting-edge cures.
NHD “Health Watch”

How Chicken, Fish, and Grass-Fed Beef Can Make You Thin

http://naturalhealthdossier.com/pro/706SWLR/3elements.php?pub=706SWLR&code=E706M706&o=398871&s=402021&u=49461972&l=281911&r=Milo

How Chicken, Fish, and Grass-Fed Beef Can Make You Thin
What is this compound? It's 5-HTP. In your body, it's derived from the amino acid tryptophan. And it is a precursor to serotonin. That's the brain chemical that regulates your craving for food. It makes you feel full.
You can get more tryptophan in your system by eating high-protein foods like chicken, fish, and grass-fed beef. You can also get it by taking a 5-HTP supplement. (5-HTP occurs naturally in the seeds of an African plant, Griffonia simplicifolia. That's what the supplement comes from.)
If you're struggling with your weight, this is a supplement worth looking into.
One caveat: Make sure you take a supplement for 5-HTP instead of a tryptophan supplement. That's because supplemental tryptophan has been linked to eosinophilic myalgia syndrome (EMS), a dangerous disorder.
But 5-HTP is safe if taken in low doses. The recommended dose is 50 mg 1 - 3 times a day.