Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
Last Friday my blog focused on a study which found that fat intake (total fat, as well as levels of, saturated, unsaturated and polyunsaturated fat) appeared to have no impact on change in body weight over a period of several years. Partly in an attempt to explain how this can be so, I outlined the […]
Healthy Eating
We all know that fat is fattening right? (It is called fat, after all.) But not so fast, because as I detail here, for fat to get ‘fixed’ in the fat cells, a substance known as glycerol is required. Glycerol itself is supplied from a substance known as alpha glycerol phosphate (also known as glycerol-3-phosphate), […]
Healthy Eating
I recently had a query via email recently regarding the benefits, or otherwise, of ‘food combining’, and thought I’d blog about it today. Food combining is a term used to describe the nutritional practice of separating concentrated sources of protein (e.g. meat, fish, egg) and carbohydrate (e.g. bread, potato, rice, pasta) at mealtime. Proponents of […]
Healthy Eating
A lot of people find they can lose excess weight reasonably effectively. However, maintaining that weight loss can be another matter. It’s not uncommon for the pounds that have been shed to slowly return, often with a bit of additional interest too. The reasons for failure in this respect are varied and are perhaps the […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
Last month, one of my blogs focused on a paper from the American Heart Association which warned of the hazards of eating sugar on cardiovascular health. It put at least some focus on the sugar fructose, which makes up half of table sugar (sucrose), as well as being found in fruit and vegetables, honey and […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
When carbohydrate is eaten, blood sugar (glucose) levels usually rise. The speed and extent to which blood sugar releases into the bloodstream has important implications for health. For example, the greater the level of blood sugar disruption, the more insulin will tend to be secreted by a functioning pancreas in response. High levels of this […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
The obvious answer to this question is ‘yes’, seeing as many wheat-based foods are very disruptive to blood sugar (they have high glycaemic index), particularly when eaten in quantity (meaning they have high glycaemic load too). As a result, the pancreas will generally need to pump out plenty of insulin. This, in time, can lead […]
Healthy Eating
A mere 10 days ago one of my posts highlighted a study which had, apparently, found that a low carb diet was found to induce increased amounts of atherosclerosis (a key underlying process in the development of cardiovascular conditions such as heart attacks and strokes) in mice. I was sceptical of this study, partly on […]
Healthy Eating
Artificial sweeteners enhance the palatability of foods but, unlike sugar, are virtually devoid of calories. The implicit promise here is consuming them, rather than sugar, is a better option for those seeking to control their weight. Now while the idea that artificial sweeteners offer advantages in weight control makes sense, you might be surprised to […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
I’ve said before that while I don’t believe any one diet is ideal for everyone, I favour diets lower in carb and higher in protein (and also fat) than the diets traditionally recommended as ‘healthy’. Such diets generally give better results for weight loss than, say, low fat diets. They also tend to be extremely […]