Sugar In, High-Fructose Corn Syrup Out…
Who are we kidding?
Sugar is back in packaged foods and drinks, and HFCS is out, as the NYT reports. But do we really think switching from high-fructose corn syrup to sugar is going to solve all of our sweet tooth induced problems?
High fructose corn syrup may be the evil product of corn subsidies and high tech food manipulation in all of it’s sugary madness, but thinking a switch from one sugar to another is the answer to our problems is just a silly mind game.
Take a walk into almost any grocery store. Walk down the middle isles which, in most stores, is most of the store.
There lives the sugar coated cereal, the sugary soft drinks, the sugar laden “vitamin” drinks, the sugar coated pastries, the sugar spiked frozen dinners, salad dressing, etc, etc, etc. The variety is mind boggling.
It’s hard to find yogurt without sugar for Pete sake. Yogurt!
In all reality, if we didn’t buy this stuff, the stores wouldn’t stock it. Supply and demand.
It is time to get a national grip!
I do apologize for the rant, but we are drowning in sugar, regardless of the form it comes in. Our bodies and their million of years of accumulated know-how are beside themselves trying to figure out what to do with it all the sugar we are dumping into them.
How many of us need to struggle with obesity and overweight? How many of us need to struggle with diabetes? How many of us need to struggle with heart disease? What do we have to suffer with before we get it? Our kids are dealing with adult onset diabetes and hyperactivity. What is the future we are giving them? Especially when it doesn’t have to be that way.
We are like a country of addicts for sugar!
Ah. Bingo. Actually, the brain is hard wired to covet sugar. That makes it easier to fool ourselves into making it o.k. to sweeten almost every food we can. That has a way of making foods irresistible too. That’s a boon to repeat sales.
But we get to pay with our health…and our medical bills. That’s not so sweet. And there is no health care restructuring plan that can make that better either.
It’s funny though. Once you break the habit of sugar, the craving goes away. And, you feel better. And you discover that other healthier things taste good. Really good.
Then, when you want to have something once in a while, with real sugar, it’s o.k. No guilt. Nada. Zip. Zilch.
So, give me real sugar, yes, but not so much, and not very often.
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Eating Away The Cholesterol
Guess what? Guess what? “My cholesterol was down 90 points and I passed my treadmill!!”
Wait. Slow down. What?
Bob, my friend, had burst in the door and stood there with his arms open wide and a little kid grin, just beckoning me to come receive a hug.
He was so darn proud and somehow, I had something to do with it.
So, never one to decline a hug, I collected my hug and got down to the business of finding out why I was so honored.
Well, it turns out that I had been giving Bob some advice about diet over the last year or two and he had gradually started doing it. He had become frustrated with going to the doctor and getting the recommendation for pills so he had decided to take action.
I had made a simple eating suggestion. I call it the “plate rule”. At least one half of the plate should be vegetables and fruits. Mix up the colors and easy on the starchy ones. 1/4 should be whole grains and legumes, sometimes less depending on the person, and sometimes excluding gluten. And, about 1/4 should be protein like lean chicken and fish, though there are other options for vegetarians. Hold the frying and the fat laden sauces. Eat whole grains and hold the baked goods for special occasions. He was already getting regular exercise by walking.
He gradually added in the changes more and more consistently, and much to his amazement, it worked! It really worked.
His LDL cholesterol dropped by 90 points, his good HDL cholesterol improved, he lost some weight, and he exercised like a champ on that treadmill…
Nothing brings joy to my heart like the look of a ten year olds’ happiness in a middle aged man…
…just walking on cloud nine. Because he took charge, and it worked.
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Can Gene Testing Help Diabetes & Heart Disease?
Are diabetes, heart disease and cancer risk determined by our genes?
The other night I went to a little presentation by Navigenics, where the topic of the evening centered around predictive genomics testing, genetic predisposition and the idea of personalized medicine.
To my mind, the subject is not so easy to discuss because how genes behave is heavily influenced by the environment you put them in, from what we eat to what we live in. Personally, I’m happy about that, because self direction is empowering.
But, nevertheless, we talked about how the evolution of genomics is upon us. Coming to a doctors office near you. Knowledge never more to be an unattainable mystery…
And, perhaps useful in actually helping people achieve better health.
We’ve been seeing predictive genomics testing companies, like 23andMe, cropping up all over the place. What is different about the Navigenics plan?
As opposed to companies that offer large numbers of SNP’s , as these little “snippets” of genetic information are called, Navigenics offers a core group of SNP’s that correlate best with chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease, as well as some cancers. The idea being that it is most useful to test for things that you can then institute preventive intervention for. And, to do that through your doctor, who is in a position to help, whether it be through behavioral change, a medication regimen or screening tests. In the case of functional and integrative medicine, the preventive strategy is even broader and more holistic.
Ahhhh. But shouldn’t we all be doing all that preventive stuff anyway?
Yes. We should. With should being the key word here.
But a funny thing happens when people are actually presented with their genetic proclivities. Like a very seductive behavioral carrot stick…it actually gets people to behave better. To take action.
OK. Well, how much out of pocket health care money is it worth? Because, it’s not covered by health insurance. Who will benefit the most and who will be interested?
Good questions.
Stay tuned.
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