Tips for reducing stress and preventing spikes in blood sugar levels

1. Eliminate sugar and refined grains
These create a spike in blood sugar followed by a sudden drop, making you feel fatigued.

2. Always eat breakfast
Breakfast should be is free of simple carbohydrates like bread and processed cereals. Try replacing toast and cereals with eggs, or try some home-made muesli using nuts and seeds with coconut oil, yoghurt and some fruit.

3. Eliminate caffeine
Caffeine pushes your poor adrenals to work even harder, ultimately bringing them even closer to exhaustion. Side-effects of caffeine and exhausted adrenal glands often result in symptoms of anxiety, poor sleep and nervousness.

4. Eat greens every day
Green leafy vegetables are an important ingredient for health but they become indispensable during stressful times. Spinach, kale, rocket, broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables contain the essential nutrients for your adrenal glands to work efficiently. They are a rich source of B vitamins, folic acid and vitamin C, with good levels of magnesium and calcium.

5. Exercise
Exercise during the day but not close to bed time. Exercise helps keep blood sugar levels low, prevent weight gain and promotes circulation and a well-functioning immune system. Too much vigorous cardiac exercise can put extra stress on your body and your adrenal glands. If you are already stressed, the key is to find a workout that doesn’t put more pressure on your fragile system. Pilates and weight bearing exercises are good choices.

6. Take time to relax
During demanding times, your sympathetic nervous system takes charge, up-regulating neural activity in the brain so you can think faster and concentrate better. This is good, but after a while, it makes it impossible to ‘switch off’.

Find your own relaxing outlet. Maybe for you it’s listening to relaxing music. Wind down in plenty of time before sleep and don’t go to bed late. Having a good night’s sleep is essential to conquering stress. This is the time when the body regenerates and repairs. Melatonin, the hormone produced during sleep is also a very powerful antioxidant, protecting us from damaging free radicals produced during stress.

7. Turn off your phone
Turn off your phone and computer well before bed time.

8. Supplements to help with relaxation and stress:
Magnesium and calming herbs such as lemon balm, passion flower, zizyphus and valerian. These supplements are particularly helpful taken before bed.

9. Take a bath
This will relax your muscles and your mind. Add some aromatherapy oils to your bath, like lavender.

For decades we have been told that we eat too much saturated fat and we should be increasing the amount of polyunsaturated fats in our diet to harvest their health benefits. It certainly looks like we have succeeded because the average American now consumes around 40g of polyunsaturated fats a day in comparison to just 20g in the 1950’s.

According to this wisdom, our heart health policy should have been successful but, instead, nearly every condition related to chronic inflammation is on the rise.

Up until the early parts of the last century we cooked with traditional saturated fats such as butter and lard. As it turns out, this was a very wise and natural choice because saturated fat is very stable at high temperatures. It does not contain double bonds in its chemical structure, making it much more resistant to oxidation and damage.

In the sixties the first hydrogenated or trans fats in the form of margarine became popular. It became the spread and cooking oil of choice. Hydrogenated fats only began to be frowned upon in the 21st century. These artificial, chemically altered fats carry so many health hazards it is almost hard to believe that they were ever approved as fit for human consumption.

Now even the medical profession disapproves of trans fats as LDL cholesterol levels have drastically increased. But supermarket shelves are still full of plant-based spreads, manufactured from highly processed vegetable oils largely containing processed polyunsaturated fats. And avoiding these fats is not just as easy as abstaining from margarine and cooking oil. Nearly every cookie, pastry, microwave dinner, ready meal and packaged food will contain these solidified vegetable oils.

Unfortunately, at present, NOBODY KNOWS what these fats might do to the human body. Another interesting bit of evidence comes from rural China. Women who spend a lot of their time stir-frying with linseed or rapeseed oil have a considerably high risk of developing lung cancer. Responsible for this dramatic side effect are the toxic fumes produced by heating polyunsaturated vegetable oils.

Due to their chemical structure, they are highly unstable and vulnerable to oxidation. These oxidation by-products are highly inflammatory and damaging to healthy cells. In truth, processed plant oils are a much greater risk factor for heart disease, diabetes and cancer than any amount of butter or lard will ever be.

Cheese, butter and animal fat should not be avoided. Butter is rich in vitamins A, D, E and K, all of which promote heart health and improve blood viscosity. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is found in abundance in butter and shown to help maintain a healthy weight and protect against cancer. Many compounds in butter may also help to combat arthritis, infertility and even asthma. The saturated fat helps to strengthen lung tissue and butyric acid provides soothing and antibacterial protection for your small and large intestine.

Natural, saturated fats like butter and other animal fats have been used safely as long as man has had access to them and should form part of every healthy diet. For those who wish to avoid produce of animal origin, coconut oil is an excellent alternative. Rich in saturated fat, it is stable enough to cook with.

Reference:
Lola Renton
http://igennus.com/

Drinking Water at the Right Time

It is common knowledge that drinking eight glasses of water a day is essential for the body to function properly. But when is the best time in the day to drink water in order to maximize its effectiveness on your body?

1) After waking up
Drink two to four glasses of water after waking up to help activate your internal organs. The water will help to remove any toxins before your first meal of the day. Wait at least half an hour before eating breakfast.

2) Between meals
Drink two glasses of water between meals. Do not drink with meals as this dilutes the digestive juices and prevents the absorption of nutrients.

3) Before a bath
Drink one glass of water before taking a bath to help lower your blood pressure.

4) After exercise
Remember to drink after exercising and drink more in hot weather.
History

Water treatment had been found successful by a Japanese medical society as a 100% cure for the following diseases:

Headache, body ache, heart system, arthritis, fast heart beat, epilepsy, excess fatness, bronchitis asthma, meningitis, kidney and urine diseases, vomiting, gastritis, diarrhea, piles, diabetes, constipation, all eye diseases, womb, cancer and menstrual disorders, ear nose and throat diseases.

This treatment method has no side effects, except for the need to urinate more often. For this reason its best not to drink before bed.

What’s wrong with having a cold drink with your meal?
Cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this ‘sludge’ reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats, a possible contributor to cancer.
References:
http://worldtruth.tv/drinking-water-on-empty-stomach/
http://www.healthxchange.com.sg/healthyliving/DietandNutrition/Pages/Drinking-Water-at-the-Right-Time.aspx

I have just been to see “That Sugar Film” by Damon Gameau. It is a must-see for everyone…entertaining but informative, shocking, but still rated PG. Damon wants to target all audiences including children.
Ten Reasons to quit sugar

1 – We’re eating unnaturally high amounts
A pint of fizzy drink contains 17 teaspoons of sugar. A glass of orange juice contains 7 ½ teaspoons. Anything more than 25 grams of fructose (equivalent to 2 ripe bananas) a day is considered excessive!

2 – It’s involved in metabolic syndrome & diabetes onset.

3 – It raises testosterone levels in women, the main culprit of excess hair growth, disrupts ovulation and may cause Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

4 – It raises hormone levels in males.
DHT hormone levels above normal during adulthood can be a contributing factor to erectile dysfunction, male pattern baldness and enlargement of the prostate.

5 – It’s oestrogenic
High insulin in response to a high sugar diet can promote other, more drastic changes in the male physique including enlargement of male breast tissue.

6 – It elevates ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol
We have all grown up with the staunch believe that saturated fat elevates cholesterol and causes heart disease. In more recent times, it has been discovered that it’s not fat but sugar that is the culprit.

7 – It accelerates ageing
Excess glucose literally caramelises proteins in your body, creating free radicals and causing damage to cells and DNA. This means more wrinkles!

8 – It increases inflammation
It exacerbates eczema and arthritis. Elevated levels of insulin converts anti-inflammatory compounds such as fish oil into pro-inflammatory chemicals.

9 – It’s addictive
Sugar is an addictive substance just like alcohol, nicotine, cocaine or some prescription medication.

10 – It comes in many disguises!
Sugar ‘alternatives’ such as processed honey and syrups will have a similar negative effect on your insulin response. You need to retrain your taste buds to crave less sweet foods. Do not replace table sugar with ‘healthy’ alternatives such as date syrups or processed honey. Don’t be fooled into believing that ‘natural’ sugars like fructose in fruit are harmless.

For full article see:
http://igennus.com/nutrition-blog/10-reasons-to-quit-sugar/

Tips on surviving a sugar withdrawal
1. Make sure you have plenty of minerals. Adequate minerals will reduce cravings. A colloidal mineral supplement is excellent. You could also try Percy’s Powder, chromium and Himalayan salt.

2. When you have cravings, eat some healthy fat, such as avocado or coconut oil. The reward centres in the brain for fat and sugar are similar.

Nutrition education for children
As well as creating “That Sugar Film” Damon has also created a nutrition education program for school children ages 10 to 16.

I would also recommend the nutrition education program for children on this website: NEW START for ages 5 to 12.

Many people are walking away from a toxic food system. But those who are losing profit through this move have decided to label this move as a mental disorder. Be surprised in reading the following:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/officials-declare-eating-healthy-a-mental-disorder/5431992

THAT SUGAR FILM is one man’s journey to discover the bitter truth about sugar. Damon Gameau embarks on a unique experiment to document the effects of a high sugar diet on a healthy body, consuming only foods that are commonly perceived as ‘healthy’. Through this entertaining and informative journey, Damon highlights some of the issues that plague the sugar industry, and where sugar lurks on supermarket shelves often hidden in perceived ‘healthy’ food.

As an experiment, Damon decided to eat only the perceived ‘healthy’ foods that are in fact laden with hidden sugars, like low fat flavoured yoghurt, muesli bars, juices and cereals. Very quickly he developed fatty liver disease and risk of heart disease risk, gained 10 cm of extra weight around the waist, doubled his insulin output and found that his mood and concentration were affected.

But really surprising thing was how quickly he returned to good health once he reverted to his healthy diet. In just eight weeks he was back to good health.

So what did he eat to regain health?

He ate no processed foods, no pasta, no bread or refined flour products.
He began the day with warm lemon in water. This kick starts the cleansing of the liver.
He consumed eggs, vegetables (but no white potato), almonds, chia seeds, quinoa, berries, good fats (like coconut oil, butter and avocado), meat, and chicken and feta cheese.

Damon created the film to provide a place of learning, inspiration and action. In the months ahead, he will provide opportunities to screen the film at schools, make available a study guide we have developed that incorporates interactive activities using the film and soon to be released ‘That Sugar Book’ as tools, as well as Damon’s tips and methods to explain how he got healthy again after the sugar eating experiment. He will also be providing the opportunity to help take action in reducing the sugar content in our school’s canteens and in a very special Aboriginal community that we visit in the film.

“Sugar isn’t evil, but life is so much better when you get rid of it.”
Kathleen DesMaisons

http://www.thatsugarfilm.com

What’s right and wrong with the Paleo diet?

The Paleo Diet is popular and trendy. But what are the benefits and why?
Paleo is meant to be getting back to the diet of “Mother Nature”…whatever that may be.

Ancestral diets were typically healthier than modern diet, due to the absence of processed foods. Soils back then had more nutrients. The environment was less toxic.

But really, the hunter-gatherer diet of earlier times is not possible today. Our meat is not wild game, and our fruits and vegetables are not “gathered”, but rather “farmed”.

With that being said, Paleo does endorse foods that are close to nature. A typical Paleo meal plan might include eggs and steak for breakfast, soup or salad (preferably including meat or fish) for lunch and roast meat and vegetables for dinner. Paleo recipes include stews, stir-fried vegetables and egg dishes such as frittatas and omelettes.

Here is a general list of Paleo foods:
Lean meat, game and organs such as liver and tongue are encouraged
Eggs (some diets recommend at least six a week)
Fruit (but not in vast quantities)
Vegetables (although some don’t encourage potatoes)
Nuts and seeds (in moderation)
Seafood and shellfish (all types)
Olive, coconut, avocado, walnut, flaxseed and canola oil in moderation
www.bodyandsoul.com.au

This all sounds healthy, except I would not be eating organ meats these days, since the organs are the storage sites for toxins. I would also avoid shell fish for the same reasons, and would be very careful about fish, most of which contains mercury.

Canola oil? Not good at all. I would replace it with olive oil.

This type of diet makes an ideal weight loss diet, with high protein and low carbs. The absence of processed food and sugar is excellent.

But does the Paleo diet suit all?

I recently met someone who had tried Paleo as part of a natural cancer therapy. He had previously been following a mostly vegetarian diet, majoring on raw salads, and legumes, nuts and seeds for protein. When he changed to Paleo and introduced the red meat, his health took a serious plummet. Blood test results were catastrophic.
Now back on the raw vegetable and plant protein diet his health and energy levels are improving.

Before embarking on any diet, think about whether this is the right diet for you. Remember the healing properties of plant foods, especially raw, and take into account that high proportions of red meat in the diet may throw us into an acidic state. To avoid cancer we need to be in an alkaline state. Cancer cannot thrive in an alkaline body system. Raw vegetables, especially greens are nutritious and alkalizing. But getting enough protein is important too. So if you don’t have cancer, some red meat in the diet is OK. Organic chicken is a good choice. Other protein sources are eggs, dairy products (should be organic), nuts, seeds and legumes. Remember the good fats. Butter and coconut oil are excellent.

Do germs really cause disease?

Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895), was made famous for his germ theory. But why was the research of Antoine Bechamp (1816 – 1908), shoved under the carpet? Bechamp discovered that germs are not the primary cause of disease, but in fact, a secondary cause. The primary cause of most illness is the diseased, acidic, low-oxygen cellular environment, created by a toxic/nutrient deficient diet, toxic emotions, and a toxic lifestyle. His findings demonstrate how cancer develops through the morbid changes of germs to bacteria, bacteria to viruses, viruses to fungal forms and fungal forms to cancer cells.

How does our cellular environment become acidic and oxygen deprived? Refined carbohydrates like sugar and wheat are two major causes. Pharmaceutical drugs are another major cause. How do cells become nutrient deficient? Once again, refined carbohydrates such as sugar and wheat are a culprit. They create a nutrient deficit. Modern farming methods are also to blame, with artificial fertilizers only providing a few of the nutrients that were once available to plants through compost, manure and crop rotation. The dollar is now the prime motivating factor in food production, not nutrient value.

This article by Tony Isaacs is very enlightening!

Potatoes:good, bad or fattening?

Potatoes are high in carbohydrate. Are all carbohydrates bad for us? Definitely not! Vegetables such as carrots, pumpkin, beans are all high in carbohydrates and are good for us. But starchy carbohydrate, such as the type of carbohydrate in the white potato, digests rapidly, causing blood sugar and insulin to surge and then dip (in scientific terms, they have a high glycemic load). (1)

For example, a cup of potatoes has a similar effect on blood sugar as a can of Coca Cola or a handful of jelly beans.(2, 3) This roller-coaster-like effect on blood sugar and insulin can result in people feeling hungry again soon after eating, which may then lead to overeating. (4)

Over the long term, diets high in potatoes and similarly rapidly-digested, high carbohydrate foods can contribute to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. (5-10)

Potatoes seem to be a particular culprit for weight gain and diabetes:

A study from Harvard School of Public Health that tracked the diet and lifestyle habits of 120,000 men and women for up to 20 years looked at how small food-choice changes contributed to weight gain over time.

People who increased their consumption of French fries and baked or mashed potatoes gained more weight over time. People who decreased their intake of these foods gained less weight, as did people who increased their intake of other vegetables. (8)

A similar long-term study found that high potato and French fry intakes were linked to a greater risk of diabetes in women. (10)

Potatoes do contain important nutrients—vitamin C, potassium, and vitamin B6, to name a few. But the potato is not the only source of these nutrients, nor is it the best:

• Broccoli, for example, has nearly nine times as much vitamin C as a potato.

• White beans have about double the potassium.

What to eat instead of potatoes?

• Quinoa: a grain containing more protein and less carbohydrate than other grains
• Rice: Basmati rice has a lower glycemic load than Jasmine or brown rice. Keep servings small to avoid carbohydtrate overload.
• Legumes: these combine protein and carbohydrate. They are also high in fiber and cause less of a spike in blood sugar than processed whole grains. Examples: lentils, chick peas, split peas, red kidney beans, Dahl

If you want to swap sweet potatoes for white potatoes, you’ll still need to eat moderate servings. Though sweet potatoes are a rich source of beta carotene, they have a high glycemic index and glycemic load—almost as high as that of a white potato. Most people don’t eat sweet potatoes in the same oversized quantities as they do white potatoes, which is perhaps why research studies haven’t found sweet potatoes to be a major culprit for obesity and diabetes.

In the Pacific Islands taro and cassava have the same high glycemic load as white potatoes and contribute to obesity in these nations.

References
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2014/01/24/the-problem-with-potatoes/
Jan 24 2014

1. Service, U.E.R., U.S. Potato Statistics.Table 53: U.S. per capita utilization of potatoes. 2007.

2. Halton, T.L., et al., Potato and french fry consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes in women. Am J Clin Nutr, 2006. 83(2): p. 284-90.

3. The University of Sydney. The Glycemic Index Database. Accessed August 29, 2012.

4. Halton, T.L., et al., Low-carbohydrate-diet score and the risk of coronary heart disease in women. N Engl J Med, 2006. 355(19): p. 1991-2002.

5. Chiu, C.J., et al., Informing food choices and health outcomes by use of the dietary glycemic index. Nutr Rev, 2011. 69(4): p. 231-42.

6. Beulens, J.W., et al., High dietary glycemic load and glycemic index increase risk of cardiovascular disease among middle-aged women: a population-based follow-up study. J Am Coll Cardiol, 2007. 50(1): p. 14-21.

7. Abete, I., et al., Obesity and the metabolic syndrome: role of different dietary macronutrient distribution patterns and specific nutritional components on weight loss and maintenance. Nutr Rev, 2010. 68(4): p. 214-31.

8. Mozaffarian, D., et al., Changes in diet and lifestyle and long-term weight gain in women and men. N Engl J Med, 2011. 364(25): p. 2392-404.

9. Barclay, A.W., et al., Glycemic index, glycemic load, and chronic disease risk–a meta-analysis of observational studies. Am J Clin Nutr, 2008. 87(3): p. 627-37.

10. Halton, T.L., et al., Low-carbohydrate-diet score and risk of type 2 diabetes in women. Am J Clin Nutr, 2008. 87(2): p. 339-46.

Should we eat meat?

For those of you who watched the SBS documentary on the safety of eating meat, by Michael Mosely, you still might be wondering what the conclusion is.

Here’s a summary of the BBC report:
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-28797106

How safe is eating meat?
Michael Mosley embarked on a four week trial, eating 130g of meat a day to research the effects on his body.

Statistics have previously supported the idea that the threat to health comes not from eating white meat, like chicken, but from red and processed meat…so only red meat and processed meats were researched in this study.

Despite the negative headlines, on average Brits still eat about 70g of red and processed meat a day, with a quarter of men eating almost twice as much.

Moseley visited numerous experts, finding out what they themselves eat and presenting their views.

Most agreed that there are lots of good things in red meat. Beef, whole or minced, is a great source of protein and essential nutrients, like iron and vitamin B12, which are vital for health. Other sources of red meat are lamb and pork.

Red and processed meats tend to be high in saturated fat. Red meat looks darker than white meat like poultry because of higher levels of haemoglobin and myoglobin, the iron and oxygen-binding proteins you find in blood and muscle.

Saturated fat

The saturated fat content of red meat has now shown not to be the villain. Contrary to previous belief, it is not showing up as a contributing factor to heart disease and cancer. We need saturated fat in our diet as protection for the cells. Butter is an example of an excellent saturated fat. It not only protects the cells but also provides the fat saturated vitamins A,D, E and K.

If fat is not the problem, are there any other problems with eating red meat?
A study on the L-carnitine in red meat showed that too much of this amino acid could be a problem.
“There’s long been a perception—not necessarily backed by strong evidence—that eating steak, hamburger, lamb, and other red meat ups the risk of heart disease. The saturated fat and cholesterol they deliver have been cited as key culprits. A team from a half dozen U.S. medical centers says the offending ingredient is L-carnitine, a compound that is abundant in red meat.

According to this work, published online in the journal Nature Medicine, eating red meat delivers L-carnitine to bacteria that live in the human gut. These bacteria digest L-carnitine and turn it into a compound called trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO). In studies in mice, TMAO has been shown to cause atherosclerosis, the disease process that leads to cholesterol-clogged arteries. We know that clogged coronary arteries can lead to heart attacks.” http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/new-study-links-l-carnitine-in-red-meat-to-heart-disease-201304176083

So this could be a reason to limit red meat intake, to a suggested twice a week.

Processed meat

Processed meat on the other hand is a different proposition to unprocessed red meat. Processed meat includes bacon, sausages, hot dogs, salami and ham.

Mosely reports, “Eating lots more processed meat certainly had a bad effect on my body. After a month of bacon sandwiches and burgers I had piled on the weight…”

But even worse, studies show that the nitrites used in the manufacturing of processed meats may be a contributor to cancer.

“Higher consumption of processed meats like hot dogs, pepperoni, and bacon is associated with increased risk of colon cancer. The thing is, HCAs aren’t the only compound in these types of processed meats potentially linked to cancer; the preservatives are as well.

Nitrites and nitrates are added to meats to preserve color and prevent spoilage. Unfortunately, these compounds can be converted to nitrosamines, which are also known causes of cancer in animals (though again, the link in people is unclear). Hot dogs, bacon and the like may also be preserved by methods involving smoke or salt, which also increases the exposure to potentially carcinogenic chemicals.”
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/expertvoices/post/2011/03/31/hot-dog!-headlines-can-be-deceiving.aspx

Conclusions
The researchers found that eating moderate amounts of red meat had no effect on mortality. The lowest overall mortality rates were in those eating up to 80g a day. Scientists agree that too much processed meat, such as bacon, ham and salami, is not good for health

The researchers concluded that “a low – but not a zero – consumption of unprocessed red meat might be beneficial for health. This is understandable as meat is an important source of nutrients, such as protein, iron, zinc, several B-vitamins as well as vitamin A and essential fatty acids.”

The Epic study, like almost every other study that has been done, found that eating processed meat, such as bacon, ham or salami, had a negative effect on health. Anything over 40g a day and deaths from heart disease and cancer began to climb.

Professor Sir David Speigelhalter of Cambridge University says another way of looking at this is, if the studies are right, that you would expect someone who eats a bacon sandwich every day to live, on average, two years less than someone who does not.