Posts Tagged ‘blood sugar levels’

I was at the grocery store the other day and had to shake my head at all of the deceptive labels with everything claiming all sorts of things that are supposedly “healthy”, but aren’t really.

One of the things that really disturbed me was that I saw several examples of healthy foods in their natural state, but I saw counterfeit versions of these foods claiming that they were healthier than the original…

Yet in reality, all of these counterfeit versions were actually MUCH worse for you than the original… and they still have the guts to claim that their overly processed “junkified” versions are better.

This is food marketing deception at it’s worst!

Example #1: Product claiming “Better than peanut butter”

This product is ludicrous! I can’t believe anyone would ever believe that this junk is better for them than natural peanut butter.

First of all, if you buy a good simple peanut butter (organic is best), it is usually nothing but 2 ingredients… peanuts and salt. And they don’t add much salt so it’s not high in sodium.

However, this counterfeit peanut butter which claimed it was “better than peanut butter” (trying to seem healthier than peanut butter based on it’s label claims) had a list of junk in it you wouldn’t believe. First of all, they strip away all of the healthy fats from the peanuts so that it is a “low fat” product. Ok, now you’ve just taken away one of the healthiest parts of the product…the appetite satisfying healthy fats that you need to control cravings and manage more stable blood sugar levels.

To make things worse, the healthy fats were replaced with 2 different types of sugary syrups as well as additional dehydrated cane juice (aka SUGAR), in addition to added refined starches.

This product has taken something as simple and natural as peanut butter, and turned it into what should really be called some sort of processed candy. Yet, they claim that it’s healthier than peanut butter. And somehow they get away with deceiving people like this. Don’t be their fool!

Example #2: Product claiming to be “better than eggs”.

I won’t get as detailed on this one because I recently talked about this entire topic in another article.
But basically, this product was just egg whites with a bunch of added chemical colorings, flavorings, and other nonsense, including fake added vitamins.

Again, this product has essentially ruined a good thing by removing the healthiest part… the YOLKS! And yes, the yolks ARE the healthiest part of the egg. Anybody that tells you different doesn’t understand much about true nutrition. The important thing to look for in quality whole eggs are cage-free and organic.

Example #3: A product claiming to be “better than butter”.

This was essentially crappy margarine loaded with highly processed and deadly trans fats, yet it had the nerve to claim it was “better than butter”.

Heck NO!

Even low quality butter is healthier than margarine. One problem with butter is pesticides and hormones from improperly raised cows.

For this reason, you always want to choose organic butter, and if you can find “grass-fed” butter, I would say it that it can be healthy for you. In fact, adding a little butter to your steamed vegetables helps your body to absorb more of the vitamins and minerals in the veggies.
Also, due to the content of stable saturated fats in butter, this makes butter one of the best oils to cook with. Oils high in polyunsaturated oils are the worst to cook with due to their highly unstable nature. And no, the saturated fat in butter is NOT bad for you.
If you found this information interesting, do yourself a favor and get more information about living a healthier life.

Looking good is feeling good!

Until next time… Don’t be lazy… be lean.

Diabetes mellitus is a group of diseases sharing the common characteristic of high blood sugar levels. Diabetes happens when the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin or when the insulin that is produced in the pancreas cannot work adequately. When diabetes is not well controlled, it can cause serious complications and premature death.

I ask health professional all the time about people coming in to have routine health checks just to learn to their surprise they have Type I or II diabetes. Thirty year old Tom was admitted for sores all over his body for simply walking all day at Disneyland with his family. He was then told he had acute diabetes and needed to be in a wheelchair.

And today with continued rise in the number of people with diabetes in the United States is alarming and many people like Tom did not even know they had it until it was too late. There are nearly 21 million people in the United States alone that have diabetes; most of them type 2. This represents about 7 percent of the population and more than 6 million of these people do not know they have the condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in addition reports that another 41 million people are estimated to have pre-diabetes, a condition that is developed before type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. In 2005 alone 1.5 million people aged 20 years or older were newly diagnosed with diabetes

Most people who get diabetes are told by their doctor to start taking diabetes pills or medications and go on a diet. The doctor hands them a diet to follow, they try it out, then can’t get motivated and when hungry calls go out and have some pizza and beer.

What people are often not told is that diabetes is a leading cause of adult blindness, lower-limb amputation, kidney disease and nerve damage. This could lead to even more complications and death for sure.

Most people getting diabetes are in the 40s, 50s and upwards. But in today’s fast food society young children and adults even in their teens and early 20s and 30s have it or are going to end up with this deadly quite killer disease.

I tell people that there is no cure or magic diet pill that will save them from getting this disease for which there is no known cure for. There are only a few easy ways treat diabetes through education from doctors or other professionals in the know which will tell you to control high blood pressure, reduce cholesterol levels and quit smoking. These key factors alone will help reduce the risk for developing diabetes.

Glenn Freiboth is a Certified Health Advisor lives in Illinois and has helped many overweight and obese people lose weight and keep it off.
Get diabetic weight loss products at http://www.GetYouHealth.com

Nowadays fat loss seems to be a goal for everyone. We are constantly bombarded with infomercials selling us everything from the latest “ab-blasters” to the latest “miracle pill” promising to “melt” the fat away. There’s a good reason we’ve seen an increase in these types of misleading (and in the vast majority of cases, completely false) infomercials promoting these products: here in the United States, obesity has risen to epidemic proportions.

With such a substantial and wide spread problem, people are trying to profit anyway they can by creating weight loss “systems” that just don’t work. Why don’t they work? Almost all of them lack any type of nutritional component. Huge mistake; proper nutrition is just as important, if not more important than any exercise routine. For optimal fat loss, you must combine both.

Now, I don’t believe that to eat right you have to follow any type of strict system or count points or limit yourself to an ultra-low carb or a low fat or protein only diet; that’s a little too extreme. Extreme or difficult to stick with diets almost never work; people just don’t stick with them long enough to see any type of substantial results. I believe in a practical, yet intelligent approach to nutrition. Forget dieting, it’s about changing your habits for a lifetime. Keeping it simple greatly increases the chances of actually turning it into a habit and a lifestyle and not just a “diet”; and that is the key.

If you’re looking to lose fat, get into better shape, get those “six pack” abs or just start feeling healthier, have more energy and get some confidence back, here’s a good place to start with some “do’s” and “don’ts”. If you can manage to follow these few basic pointers I guarantee that you’ll start feeling better and start to see results. As you gain control over your appetite and blood sugar levels you’ll see that you can begin to control how much fat you want to lose.

-DO focus on fiber! Try to get most of your carbs from fruits and vegetables. Fruits, vegetables and high fiber unrefined grains are an excellent source of carbohydrates. Fiber helps fill you up and also slows down the glycemic response of the foods you eat, all beneficial for getting lean. Try to eat 6-8 servings of fruits and vegetables a day and you’ll find that there’s not a lot of room for much more.

-DO make sure you get enough quality protein on a daily basis. Not only do you burn more calories digesting proteins than carbohydrates, but it also has the added benefit of keeping you feel full and satisfied longer. Additionally, without enough protein, you’re going to have a very hard time building any lean muscle. Remember, lean muscle is a key factor in controlling your metabolism. I always try to tell my clients to remember: “muscle=metabolism”.

-DO eat fat! Many people have the misconception that eating fat is bad for them. The key is to eat enough healthy fats on a daily basis. Going on an extremely low fat diet can negatively affect hormone levels and actually increase cravings.

Stick with good sources of healthy fats such as olive oil, nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocados and organic meats and eggs.

-DON’T eat refined sugars and refined grains! One of the main reasons so many people struggle with body fat is the over consumption of refined foods. If it comes in a box or in a plastic container, in most cases you’d be wise to not buy it in the first place.

-DON’T consume high fructose corn syrup and artificial trans-fats. These are perhaps the two biggest offenders out there and can seriously sabotage your fat loss goals. Get into the habit of reading food labels and you’ll see these ingredients everywhere. You’ll find high fructose corn syrup in almost all sweetened products and artificial trans-fats from shortening, margarines, and hydrogenated oils that are in most processed foods. Stay away from processed foods and you can avoid these two fat loss killers in most instances.

Most people you ask associate the Type 2 diabetes disease to older adults, but not anymore. Investigators from the University of Washington in Seattle now report that very young adults and even children are getting the disease in record numbers.

Their study shows that Type 2 diabetes may be affecting as many as 39,000 adolescents between ages 12 and 19. Even more alarming is that another 2.5 million kids are known to be suffering from impaired fasting blood sugar levels, considered a prelude to contracting the disease.

This study is based on blood sugar testing performed in about 1,500 teens without a diagnosis of diabetes. About 11 percent were found to have high fasting blood sugar levels. The researchers used that figure to estimate the incidence of diabetes and impaired fasting blood sugar levels in the general population of teens.

So the big question is why so many children are and young adults getting Type 2 diabetes what was once previously considered an adult disease? Arlan L. Rosenbloom, M.D., from the Children’s Medical Services Center in Gainesville, Fla., attributes the increased risk to the growing obesity epidemic among young people and calls for greater public health efforts to combat the situation.

He goes on to say that “It is to be hoped that the recognition of the public health time bomb reflected in the report will lead to a pervasive societal effort to prevent obesity, a daunting task of such magnitude that enormous community and governmental commitments will be required”.

What you need to realize is that as parents of children who are in the early stages of acquiring Type 2 diabetes can set examples for their children by cutting down on all the fast foods and eating foods with little of no nutrition for the body. You are eating yourself to death!

As a parent you need to lead the way and lose weight using low fat foods, exercise and practice a healthier lifestyle, then teach your children to do the same. In today’s hectic high pressure world everyone is going to slip and eat some fast food, but you shouldn’t eat fast foods all the time.

Remember that movie filmed awhile back called “Super Size Me”? This movie shows why are Americans so fat? Super Size Me is a tongue in-cheek look at the legal, financial and physical costs of America’s hunger for fast food.

Ominously, 37% of American children and adolescents are carrying too much fat and 2 out of every three adults are overweight or obese which leads to Type 2 diabetes. Is it our fault for lacking self-control, or are the fast-food corporations to blame? I think both are to blame. If we only knew what lies down the road after we eat all that fast food. It will slowly and surely lead to a lifetime of regret and treatment for the incurable disease called Type 2 diabetes.

Glenn Freiboth is a Certified Health Advisor lives in Illinois and has helped many overweight and obese people lose weight and keep it off.
Get weight loss products for diabetes at http://www.GetYouHealth.com