The Sweet Side Of Health – The Benefits of Natural Sweeteners

by | Apr 1, 2013 | Artificial Sweeteners, Diabetes, Diet, Food Choices, Natural food, Nutrition, Obesity, Sugars | 0 comments

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Here’s a short but informative article by Chris Haro found on the Kwik Med site where he talks about artificial  sweeteners and how that they are simply yellow, blue and pink packets of chemicals.

There’s a link to the full article at the bottom of this page and I have left in just the natural sweeteners that he has tried for himself to great effect. Do take the time and read his article.

Natural Sweeteners to Consider

Local Honey

Honey is simply one of the best natural sweeteners you can use. Not only does it not raise your blood sugars like other sugars do, it is a whole food that comes from plant nectar. Honey contains many health benefits. It has vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin A, B2, Vitamin C, Biotin (Vitamin H) and rutine. It also has calcium, magnesium potassium, iron iodine, copper and zinc.

Honey is also a natural “healing” food. Honey has been used as an antiseptic, antimicrobial, and antibiotic. Many will also use local honey to help with allergies.

Agave Nectar

Agave Nectar is another plant-based natural sweetener derived from the plant used to make tequila! It is very sweet and can be used in both your drinks and food. Native Americans have been using agave for many years as both a sweetener and healing agent. In terms of the glycemic index, Agave nectar is extremely lower than other sugars. Sucrose for instance will come in on the GI as an 83, high fructose corn syrup comes in at 89, while the agave nectar comes in at 27! Agave is also known to have health benefits such as having inulin, which can be beneficial in weight loss, decrease appetite and keep blood sugars at bay. Agave nectar also has immune system health benefits, and the Aztecs used the agave as an antibacterial agent.

Other great natural sweeteners to consider are raw maple syrup, date sugar, coconut palm sugar and Stevia, which is becoming a more and more popular in the natural health community.

If you are wanting to keep the bad sugars away, yet not throw down chemicals in your body, give these natural sweeteners a try. They can all be added in many recipes, and are wonderfully useful not just for your taste buds, but also for health.

Link to the article

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by | Mar 31, 2013 | Fat Loss, Low carb diet | 0 comments

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Early Consumption of Carbs Heightens Obesity Risk

by | Mar 29, 2013 | Carbs, Diabetes, Metabolism, Obesity, Sugars, Weight gain | 0 comments

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Something that many people aren’t aware of is that many modern baby foods and juices have a high carbohydrate content; many of those carbs are just simple sugars. It would seem that maxim that breast is best, holds true particularly according to a study by Mulchand Patel out of the University of Buffalo.

More than 20 years, Dr. Patel and his University of Buffalo colleagues have looked at the effect of increased intake of carbohydrate-enriched calories to young and newborn children and how an early introduction to these carbohydrate-enriched foods can almost program infants to continue to overeat as they grow up.

Most of his clinical studies have been based using rats most of the time. There is a clear correlation between the studies done in the lab and the findings out in the real world. Nonetheless it does seem to give credence to the understanding that children who get fat as babies and infants very rarely get thin in adult life.

Link to the article

Vitamin D may lower diabetes risk in obese children and adolescents

by | Mar 29, 2013 | Diabetes, Low carb diet | 0 comments

With childhood and adolescent obesity rates in most of the Western world rising dramatically over the last few decades, it’s not surprising that a lot of effort has been put into finding out what to do about it, after all being obese puts people at greater risk of developing all sorts of types of complications such as diabetes.

In a recent University of Missouri study, researchers found that vitamin D supplements can help obese children control their blood sugar levels which in turn may help them to resist the disease.

Catherine Peterson, the Associate Professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri, said “By increasing vitamin D intake alone we got a response that  was nearly as powerful as what we’ve seen using prescription drugs. We saw a decrease in insulin levels which means better glucose control despite no changes in body weight, dietary intake or physical activity.”

So if you or someone you know suffers with diabetes, then according to this study, vitamin D holds a lot of promise.

For more details please follow the link below.

Link to the article

Probiotics Not Just for Digestion

by | Mar 29, 2013 | Digestive system, Nutrition | 0 comments

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I’m a big fan of probiotics, the friendly bacteria, those beneficial microorganisms that naturally inhabit our digestive system.

We all have billions of bacteria living in our stomachs most of them are beneficial but just a few of them being harmful. Now obviously it’s important to make sure that we keep a balance between the good and the bad as that’s crucial to maintaining good health.

Probiotics such as one of those things that we can use to maintain that balance the way it should be and you know there are a huge amount of benefits that probiotics give us, many of which many people are unaware of; things like helping our liver with its hundreds of functions right the way through to enhancing our blood lipid profile.

One thing a lot of people don’t realize though is that many of the artificial sugars particularly the sugar alcohols can actually harm the good bacteria in our stomach which is a shame because they do such a   fantastic job for us, some I’ve already mentioned but also things like producing natural antibiotic-like substances, fighting yeast and fungal infections and improving our immune function.

The article I’ve linked to below goes into this in more detail and it’s well worth looking at.

Link to the article