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Bad Breath Remedies
Introduction.
Ok, bad breath, it’s something that we don’t want. You might know that you have it. Possibly you suspect that you have it. Or maybe you don’t have a clue if you have bad breath. If you’re like me you don’t really want to ask a...
Diabetes Facts and Statistics
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease where the body cannot properly produce or use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that turns the foods you eat into energy. If your body cannot turn food into energy, not only will your cells be starved for...
Natural Insulin for Diabetes
Early symptoms of diabetes include excessive thirst, extreme hunger, unusual weight loss, increased fatigue, sores that heal slowly, tingling in the feet, irritability and blurred vision. Ignoring the symptoms of diabetes is dangerous to both life...
The Miraculous Tape Worm Diet Pill
The Miraculous Tape Worm Diet Pill and the Fabulous All Chocolate Weight Loss Plan This article is a joke, ok? Just want to make sure you don't take me wrong! Gotta keep your trust for my serious articles... :-) It's amazing that it took medical...
What Is Hypertension?
Hypertension is another word for high blood pressure. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, hypertension is “abnormally high blood pressure and especially arterial blood pressure.”
High blood pressure occurs when the arteriole arteries...
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Is Fructose The Cause Of Obesity?
The Glycemic Index offers an interesting, and scientifically
valid, way of assessing the types of carbohydrates we eat. It
measures and rates the way these carbohydrates enter the
bloodstream. And in doing so offers a way of approaching a meal
so that it may be both nutritionally valid, and keep hunger
pangs at bay. This of course is one way of preventing
overeating. And its a great way for parents to try and curb
their children's desire to eat unhealthy food between meals.
The Glycemic Index rates carbohydrates as having either a high,
low or medium glycemic index. And the idea is to eat more foods
that have either a low or medium glycemic index, and less with a
high one. Low glycemic index foods enter the bloodstream more
slowly, and so don't raise blood sugar levels like high glycemic
index foods.
So, what is a carbohydrate? All sugars, or foods that are broken
down into sugar, are carbohydrates. This includes regular sugar,
glucose (often used in sports drinks), fructose, (in fruit),
lactose, (found in milk and similar products like yoghurt),
maltose, (found in malt which is often used to flavor cereals),
all types of starches, from potatoes to noodles and pasta, and
legumes, such as lentils and peas (though these also contain
some protein).
Fruit is considered to have a low GI (not fruit juice though).
Interestingly though, recent research has found what they
believe is a link between fructose and obesity. However, the
type of fructose studied was in corn syrup, which is a refined
and concentrated form of fructose. It also doesn't have the
beneficial fiber, antioxidants and other phytochemicals that
fruit does. This was also preliminary research done in an animal
model, so it may not be valid for humans. Researchers from the
University of Florida found that fructose may make people
believe they are hungrier than they should be. And when these
researchers interrupted the way fructose was metabolized, the
rats they were working with did not put on weight, even though
they still ate fructose.
This is not the first research that has suggested fructose may
be linked to a propensity to put on weight, more so than other
types of
food. A study at the University of Cincinnati found
that eating fructose (high fructose corn syrup), led to greater
fat storage. They say that the body processes fructose
differently to other types of sugars, though again, it is not
clear if this is mitigated by perhaps the lower concentration of
fructose in fruit as compared to the corn syrup used in the
study.
The research from the University of Florida found that there
were higher levels of uric acid in the bloodstream after eating
or drinking fructose. This spike in uric acid affects insulin,
by blocking it. Insulin regulates the way our cells store and
use fat. If uric acid levels are elevated a lot, then symptoms
of metabolic syndrome can develop. These symptoms include high
blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, as well as gaining a
lot of weight. What is of possible concern to people is that
fructose is used in a lot of soda drinks, so if you drink a lot
of soda it is going to be quite easy to frequently spike uric
acid levels in the blood. Metabolic syndrome is also a precursor
of type 2 diabetes.
Signs of metabolic syndrome include fat on the abdomen, such
that the waist appears as big as the hips or larger. There tend
to be lower amounts of the good type of cholesterol in the
blood, and high levels of triglycerides which make the blood
'sticky'. Metabolic syndrome is associated with the way the body
responds to insulin, so that there are higher levels of glucose
in the blood. All of these things can be tested by doctors.
References: 1.
http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?n=64395&m=1NIED08&c=q
gtqmovbyiaxdub
2. Australian Healthy Food, November 2005
3. Nature and Health, Oct/Nov 2005
About the author:
Despite some claims the Zone Diet is a 'revised' version of the
Atkins Diet, nothing could be further from the truth. Read this article for information on the
zone diet and why I don't recommend Dr Atkins Diet, though it does have some good
points.
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