Artificial Sugar Sabotages Weight Loss Efforts: Yale Study

by | Sep 30, 2013 | Artificial Sweeteners, Sugars | 0 comments

Sweetener Think you’re saving yourself extra calories by going the artificial sweetener route? New research suggests you’re just setting yourself up to fail.

That’s the conclusion of a new study out of Yale University which found that eating low-calorie sweetened products may actually sabotage efforts to reduce calorie intake, by leading people to reach for higher calorie alternatives later on.

Or, as scientists put it, despite good intentions, the brain can’t be fooled by artificial sweeteners.

That’s because in their animal research, scientists observed that a specific physiological signal that regulates dopamine levels — the feel-good chemical that works with the reward center in the brain — only arose when sugar was broken down into a form that could be used as fuel and energy for the body.

For the study, scientists performed behavioral testing involving sweeteners and sugars and measured chemical responses in the brain circuit.

“According to the data, when we apply substances that interfere with a critical step of the ‘sugar-to-energy pathway’, the interest of the animals in consuming artificial sweetener decreases significantly, along with important reductions in brain dopamine levels,” explained lead author Ivan de Araujo in the Journal of Physiology.

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Green Tea Health Benefits

by | Sep 27, 2013 | Food Choices, General Health, Natural food | 0 comments

Green Tea A cup of green tea is a good way to start your day.

“It’s the healthiest thing I can think of to drink,” says Christopher Ochner, PhD. He is a research scientist in nutrition at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “Green tea is beyond a super food.”

In the past 20 years, thousands of studies have shown green tea’s benefits.

Healthy cells

Why is green tea so good for you? “It’s all about the catechin content,” says Beth Reardon, RD, a Boston nutritionist. Catechins are antioxidants that fight and may even prevent cell damage. Green tea is not processed much before it is poured in your cup, so it is rich in catechins.

Healthy heart

Green tea has been shown to improve blood flow and lower cholesterol. A 2013 review of many studies found green tea helped prevent a range of heart-related issues, from high blood pressure to congestive heart failure.

Brain health

What’s good for the heart is usually good for the brain, and your brain needs healthy blood vessels, too. In one Swiss study, MRIs revealed that people who drank green tea had greater activity in the working-memory area of their brains.  Green tea has also been shown to help block the formation of plaques that are linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

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Exercise: Which Type and How Much?

by | Sep 26, 2013 | Exercise, General Health | 0 comments

Exercise If I had a pound for every time I have seen people at the gym slogging away on a treadmill, I would be a millionaire!

Ever wondered why the distance runner is usually built like a stick insect and the sprinter is mostly defined muscle. This is because chronic cardio over stresses the adrenal glands, which secrete excess cortisol in turn leading to muscle breakdown in contrast to high intensity training which builds muscle mass, provided you don’t train too much.

For overweight people who are also dealing with insulin resistance, will have to deal with excess glucose that is released from the liver due to the presence of excess cortisol, in turn making it harder to lose fat and even cause fat storage when doing the wrong training like cardio.

High intensity training forces the muscles to adapt by becoming bigger and stronger and more efficient at using glucose for fuel.

Burning calories through cardio is not the best way to burn fat because the actual caloric burn of aerobic exercise is minimal, coupled with the fact that there is no growth hormone, fat burning and muscle building effect that you get with high intensity training.

How exactly should people be training?
Short bursts of intense exercise like sprints and lifting heavy things like weights otherwise known as resistance training.

Why is less is more when it comes to high intensity? Read here

Spring clean your diet with these five foods

by | Sep 25, 2013 | Diet, General Health | 0 comments

SPRING is in full swing so it’s time to clean up your diet. … Nutritionist and chef Zoe Bingley-Pullin has shared her five favourite ingredients to incorporate this season.

KALE

Kale has so many beneficial properties as it’s high in iron. It contains antioxidants such as such as carotenoids and flavonoids. It contains 10% of the RDA of omega-3 fatty acids, for beneficial anti-inflammatory.

Kale

Best used for: In replacement of spinach, added to juices and smoothie, finely chopped and add to foods.

AVOCADO

Avocados are a delicious winter fruit that are not only a good source of mono-unsaturated fats, they are rich in fibre and healthy fats while naturally low in sugar and sodium. They contain 5g of fibre (17 per cent of adult fibre needs) 5g of fibre (17 per cent of adult fibre needs), 36 per cent of the recommended dietary intake (RDI) for folate, 31 per cent of RDI for vitamin K, 24 per cent of RDI for vitamin E and 15 per cent of RDI for potassium.

Avocado

Best used for: A replacement for high saturated fat dairy products, can be used for sweet or savoury cooking, can be baked on low temperatures, under 180C, and blended into smoothies or made into a creamy salad dressing.

EXTRA VIRGIN COCONUT OIL

Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is extracted from fresh white coconut flesh with no chemicals used during the production process. This gentle process allows the oil to retain all its natural goodness including fresh coconut essence, vitamin E and lauric acid. It is rich in medium-chain triglycerides which are easy to digest and do not raised cholesterol levels. The oil is not hydrogenated and contains no ‘bad’ trans fatty acids. Its smoking point is 177°C.

Coconut Oil

Best used for: Baking, sautéing food. Adding to food to get the delicious coconut flavour.

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7 Superfoods You Can Swap Into Your Next Dessert

by | Sep 24, 2013 | Diet, Food Choices, Natural food | 0 comments

Luckily for, um, all of us, sweet treats aren’t completely off limits for the health-minded. And no, we’re not talking fruit salad.

Brownies, cookies, cakes, puddings — these can all be made a little bit lighter with some sneaky baking swaps. Check out some of the most surprising below, then let us know in the comments if you’ve ever tried any of these!

Avocado

Avocado

That buttery consistency makes for a perfect replacement for — you guessed it — butter! Try swapping out half of the butter in your recipe for avocado. One fruit should give you about three quarters of a cup, according to POPSUGAR Fitness. Doing so swaps some of the saturated fat in butter for the heart-healthy and satiatingpoly- and monounsaturated fats of avocados, with a hearty dose of vitamins and antioxidants to boot. Try it in cookies, breads and muffins.

Applesauce

Applesauce

You can drastically cut back on calories and fat by swapping in applesauce for oil or butter in cakes and muffins. You can typically do so in a 1:1 ratio, meaning if your recipe calls for a half-cup of butter, a half-cup of applesauce will do just fine. Because the texture will change significantly, it may be best to only replace about 75 percent of the oil or butter, Kitchen Daily reported. The sweetness in applesauce can also be a smart replacement for added sugar, like in this tasty cookie recipe.

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