May 08
Has the G.I. factor been tested in long-term studies? At least twelve studies to date have looked at the G.L factor in the diet in relation to long-term diabetes control. Some of these studies have been five weeks long, others, including ours, up to three months. All but one showed a clear benefit in improving [...] [...more]
Posted: under Diabetes.
Tags: Diabetes
Has the G.I. factor been tested in long-term studies?
At least twelve studies to date have looked at the G.L factor in the diet in relation to long-term diabetes control. Some of these studies have been five weeks long, others, including ours, up to three months. All but one showed a clear benefit in improving blood sugar levels. People with high blood lipids (cholesterol, triglycerides) showed improvements in this area as well.
The insulin response is important and the G.L factor does not tell us anything about this. Is there a correlation?
In general, studies have found an excellent correlation between the G.L factor of a food and its insulin response. Sometimes the insulin response is higher or lower than expected. The presence of more protein will increase the insulin response proportionately. A large amount of fat may reduce the glycaemic response but not the insulin response. But we should be avoiding large amounts of fat.
Why do different groups around the world come up with different values for the same food?
For the most part, we see very reproducible G.L factors for the same foods from standardised tests around the world. Apples and oranges, for example, have been tested a great deal and give similar G.L factors.
Packaged foods like cornflakes also give very consistent values.
Rice is one food which is very variable because its amylose content varies from variety to variety. Oats and porridge vary, too. To date we are not sure of the reasons for this. Potatoes vary with the variety and method of cooking. New or cocktail potatoes have lower G.L values.
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May 08
Genetics. Where there is good reason to suspect a genetic influence on obesity, it is reasonable to suspect that the fat loss response to exercise will be blunted in comparison with the non-obese. Generic influences probably mean a reduced level of fat utilisation at a given exercise intensity meaning that a greater total amount, and [...] [...more]
Posted: under Weight Loss.
Tags: Weight Loss
Genetics. Where there is good reason to suspect a genetic influence on obesity, it is reasonable to suspect that the fat loss response to exercise will be blunted in comparison with the non-obese. Generic influences probably mean a reduced level of fat utilisation at a given exercise intensity meaning that a greater total amount, and greater attention to the type of energy intake, is required.
Race. Although not yet widely studied, differences in body fat distribution, muscle fibre type, and fat oxidation rates between different ethnic and racial groups could be expected to have an impact on exercise effects between groups. For example, the higher level of glycolytic fast twitch’ muscle fibre in negroid people and American Indians, which is known to be associated with higher levels of body fatness, could influence the exercise parameters required for optimal fat loss in these racial groups, although the most appropriate approaches are not yet known. Until more research confirms these proposals, the general principle of increased energy expenditure for fat loss is all that can be recommended.
Myth-information. It is often assumed that mates and females should lose fat at the same rate through physical activity. This is not so. Exercise appears to be not as effective for fat loss in most women as it is in men.
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May 08
Because of its efficiency as an energy store, fat has traditionally had great survival value in humans. This has been shown many times in survival situations such as shipwrecks or plane crashes. The person with the higher percentage of body fat is more likely to survive under conditions of food deprivation. The higher percentage of [...] [...more]
Posted: under Weight Loss.
Tags: Weight Loss
Because of its efficiency as an energy store, fat has traditionally had great survival value in humans. This has been shown many times in survival situations such as shipwrecks or plane crashes. The person with the higher percentage of body fat is more likely to survive under conditions of food deprivation.
The higher percentage of body fat in (pre-menopausal) females serves the biological function of helping to preserve the species in situations of famine. If women lose too much fat they become amenorrhoeic (don’t ovulate and therefore do not have periods) and thus are not able to conceive.
Fat is the highest source of food energy that can be obtained (9kcal/g compared with 4.5kcal/g for carbohydrate or protein), so fatty foods would have had survival value in a hunter-gatherer
environment. According to Professor Kerin O’Dea from Deakin University this may explain our taste for ratty foods which still persists today. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), there is now no shortage of available fat, particularly from processed foods. There is also no need to expend so much energy (and therefore ‘burn off fat) by having to chase our food. So, for the first time in human history, people can overindulge their biological liking for fat, under-indulge their physical activity requirements—and get fat in the process.
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May 08
Civilization, increased industrialization and artificial, altered environment have caused a dangerous increase in various diseases, which are called civilization diseases. These are: dental diseases, chronic stomach and intestinal diseases, heart and coronary diseases, rheumatic diseases, some nervous disorders, and cancer. The basic causes of civilization diseases are to be found in our antibiological way of [...] [...more]
Posted: under General health.
Tags: General health
Civilization, increased industrialization and artificial, altered environment have caused a dangerous increase in various diseases, which are called civilization diseases. These are: dental diseases, chronic stomach and intestinal diseases, heart and coronary diseases, rheumatic diseases, some nervous disorders, and cancer.
The basic causes of civilization diseases are to be found in our antibiological way of living, such as:
Changes in environment: air and water pollution, etc.
Changes in nutrition: health-destroying toxic food additives, foods grown in depleted soils and devitalized by processing, wrong selection of diet, overeating, etc.
Disturbances of life rhythm: lack of exercise, haste and hurry, insufficient rest and recreation, excessive use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs, etc.
Civilization diseases can be cured or prevented, and a long life in good health can be accomplished, by the following remedial measures:
Improved nutrition from natural unadulterated foods, free from toxic additives and rich in vital substances (enzymes, vitamins, minerals, trace elements, proteins, etc.).
Intensified battle against the continuous pollution of water, air, soil, and food, which causes the accumulation of toxic substances in our bodies, and ultimately disease.
Improved safety and hygenic conditions at work.
Sufficient recreation and rest.
Points 2, 3, and 4 are self-explanatory. In regard to point No. 1, improved nutrition, the Society gives the following advice:
The basis of a diet which assures healthy and well-balanced nutrition should be:
Cereal products: whole grain cereals and breads, and other courses from whole corn, whole rice, and other whole grains and seeds.
Milk and milk products: cheese, curds (cottage cheese), soured milk, yogurt, kefir and butter (moderately). Milk and milk products should not be pasteurized.
Vegetables, fruits, and potatoes. Fruits and vegetables preferably should be consumed raw; potatoes peeled after cooking.
In addition, the following recommendations are given:
Meat, fish and eggs can supplement this basic diet, but a daily intake of these foods is not necessary.
Unrefined, cold-pressed vegetable oils, rich in unsaturated fatty acids, such as sunflower oil, linseed oil, soybean oil, should be included in the diet.
Honey should replace the use of white sugar and sweets.
The fact that about half of the world population lives on a vegetable diet proves the possibility of vegetarian nutrition.
In order to assure complete nutritional balance, a vegetarian diet should be supplemented with milk and milk products, nuts, soybeans, linseed, sunflower seeds, edible yeast, fruit juices, etc.
Older persons should increase intake of honey and vitamins; avoid overeating, especially of animal fats; and restrict salt intake.
All foods should be as natural as possible, without chemical additives.
So, here you have, from the highest possible authoritative source on nutrition, a macrobiotic diet which will assure you optimal health and prolong your life.
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May 08
Most research on the relationship between nutrition and multiple sclerosis has been done in Germany. All the accumulated evidence seems to indicate that this crippling disease is caused by malnutrition and is a result of the “civilized” way of life. Researchers have found that the so-called “primitive” people, for example Eskimos and some tribes in [...] [...more]
Posted: under General health.
Tags: General health
Most research on the relationship between nutrition and multiple sclerosis has been done in Germany. All the accumulated evidence seems to indicate that this crippling disease is caused by malnutrition and is a result of the “civilized” way of life. Researchers have found that the so-called “primitive” people, for example Eskimos and some tribes in Africa and Central America, do not contract multiple sclerosis. However, as soon as Eskimos come into contact with civilization and start to eat white man’s devitalized and processed foods, they contract the disease in the same proportion as civilized man. Thus, there is a firm conviction among some investigators that multiple sclerosis is a degenerative disease, caused by nutritional deficiencies and metabolic disorders due to an unnatural, unbalanced diet of devitalized foods. Consequently, all experimental treatments in Europe are centering around a nutritional approach.
Vitamin F deficiency
According to the Danish biochemist, Dr. Jorgen Clausen, multiple sclerosis has a direct connection with the deficiency of unsaturated fatty acids—vitamin F—in the diet. He has demonstrated in animal experiments that when diet is deficient in unsaturated fatty acids, the protective fatty sheaths of myelin, which cover the nerves, will be unsufficiently developed; the nerves, not fully protected by this fatty sheath, are more easily subjected to infections of the MS type. In addition to animal experiments, Dr. Clausen has supported his discovery by the geographical occurrence of MS. It has been observed that where diets are deficient in unsaturated fatty acids there is also a higher frequency of multiple sclerosis. Extensive studies made in England show that patients with multiple sclerosis show a much lower blood content of the unsaturated fatty acids than do normal individuals.
Normally, mother’s milk, which is richer than cow’s milk in unsaturated fatty acids, supplies a sufficient amount of it for the healthy development of the nervous system of a baby. It has been reported that bottle-fed babies have a higher incidence of MS than breast-fed babies. Dr. Clausen has demonstrated that rats fed a diet without unsaturated fats immediately developed symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
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