Sweet poison: why sugar is ruining our health

by | Apr 17, 2013 | Cravings, Diabetes, Sugars | 0 comments

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Being a child of the 60s I grew up with everything being sweetened, with tons and tons of sugar. And of course in later life that didn’t do me any good.

Thankfully in my late 20s I realized what this was doing to my body and decided that the two spoonful of sugar in my tea and the two or three in coffee had to stop simply because when you add up how much sugar I was having each day, it was probably somewhere around 40 teaspoonfuls and that of course doesn’t include what was in the food that I was eating.

According to this article by Victoria Lambert, the average person consumes around about 238 teaspoons of this potentially toxic substance each and every week. And she asks the question; just how hard is it to go sugar-free? Well thankfully, she also answers it as well.

So do follow the link below and find out how you can get sugar-free or at least drastically cut down something that is probably ruining your health.

How to Keep Fresh Vegetables Fresher Longer

by | Apr 4, 2013 | Digestive system, Fat Loss, Fats, Reviews, Sugars | 0 comments

Here’s a great article about how to keep your salad and fresh veg fresher for longer…

Steps

  1. Wrap dry veggies in paper towel and place back into plastic wrap. This works well with lettuce and celery.
  2. Keep bagged lettuce mix crisp and fresh by slightly dampening a piece of paper towel, tucking it over the top of the leaves, and then clip the bag closed. The lettuce will remain crisp for at least a week or more.
  3. Make sure that the paper towel is not too wet. If it is, just replace with a fresh paper towel.

  4. After slicing a tomato or onion, place a folded paper towel over the cut edge and either wrap in plastic or place in zippered sandwich bag.
  5. Fresh clean carrots can stay crisp if closely wrapped in a plastic bag to prevent evaporation or stored in an airtight container. They can last up to a week longer rather than go rubbery.
  6. Potato, onions, ginger, garlic and sweet potato (kumara) should be stored in the dark (or an opaque bag) as sunlight makes them sprout and inedible. Ironically they are always displayed in bright light in the stores, but its not good for them.
  7. Most vegetables last longer if left whole as they lose less moisture.

Tips

  • If you use bags of pre-washed lettuce, simply place a paper towel inside the bag and seal.
  • This idea will work with cheese. After the cheese wrapper is opened, place cheese (with or without wrapper) in zipper sandwich bag and put a paper towel between cheese wrapper and baggie.
  • This idea also works with ice cream to keep off the “frost”. Simply wad up a paper towel and place inside of ice cream container.

Warnings

  • Use care with paper towels, especially if your brand leaves “lint” behind. Rinse veggies before using. (Of course if lint gets into ice cream, scoop off lint and discard.) Scott brand is exceptional for these uses.
  • Make sure any storage containers are washed & cleaned often because it’s easy to contaminate fresh food with old storage containers.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Keep Fresh Vegetables Fresher Longer. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Low-Carb Diet May Slow Alzheimer’s Disease

by | Apr 3, 2013 | Degenerative Diseases, Diabetes, High Fat Diet, How Your Body Works, Low carb diet, Nutrition, Preservatives, Sugars | 0 comments

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You know it’s curious when many people ask me about what I think they should do about such and such a condition. They all seem surprised when I say “well, let’s have a look at what you’re eating before we go any further” because over the years I found truly that so many of the problems, diseases, illnesses both physical and mental far too often have a source or certainly a highly contributory factor in what we eat and having watched my mother suffer with Parkinson’s disease and many of her friends and those in that generation suffer with Alzheimer’s as well.

Nothing yet has convinced me that there’s not quite a bit of truth that the gradual lowering in quality of our food has contributed quite strongly to the gradual increase in many of the health problems that we as a society suffer which is why I’m quite happy to  recommend the article that I’m linking to below by Dr. Mercola who’s looking at the work of another doctor, Dr. Ron Rosedale, who’s a prominent  expert in low carb and high-quality fat approach to improving health and the article points to a very interesting conclusion that Alzheimer’s might well be considered as brain diabetes.

It’s well worth a good read as not only do they point out some of the more cutting edge work about exactly what casues Alzheimer’s but they lead on from that and tell us about how we can avoid Alzheimer’s just by simple changes in our diet and behavior to a certain extent anyway, fairly recommend as well and I hope it helps you.

Link to the article

Carbs are key

by | Apr 2, 2013 | Carbs, Diabetes, Diet, Low carb, Sugars | 0 comments

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The world needs more people like Peggy Newman. She’s a Family Nurse practitioner at Southeastern Medical Clinic in White Lake and she takes the time and trouble to teach people about exactly what carbohydrates are.

Her main audience is people who have diabetes but obviously that would also apply to people who are wanting to follow a low carbohydrate diet in order to deal with the diabetes and other health problems such as being overweight.

 It’s a matter of fact little story this but frankly it’s quite touching but someone would give up their time and take the trouble to help show other people how to live better and healthier lives.

Three cheers for Peggy! Maybe this story will touch your heart as well…. The link is below.

Link to the full article

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

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