Diabetes, what not to eat.

Diabetes used to be a very rare disease.  Unfortunately, nowadays, it is all too common.  Type 2 diabetes is a lifestyle acquired disease - this means that unlike type 1 diabetes, type 2 is the direct result of your lifestyle (eating habits, exercise habits, etc..).  So, I am sure you will understand that if you have given yourself type 2 diabetes through your day to day choices, then you can change those choices and habits and improve your health.

Type 2 diabetes can lead to a whole host of serious diseases such as heart disease, blindness and even limb amputation due to the lack of circulation that causes gangrene.

For me, the scariest thing is that everyday more and more children are being diagnosed with diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is reversible, and in the very least controlable, it is up to you.

So, if you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, if you are pre-diabetic or if there is a history of type 2 diabetes in your family, then you might want to start looking after yourself.

Here is what you SHOULDN'T eat:

A big problem for people with type 2 diabetes is carb intake.  Carbs severely affect the blood glucose level causing it to spike but the insulin response to the spike doesn't work.  So, if you have high glucose blood levels for sustained periods of time your body's nerves and blood vessels can be damaged which is the beginning of heart disease, kidney disease and other health conditions.  Keeping to a low carb diet is the best way to avoid any more serious health problems.

So, the first things you need to avoid are refined "white" carbs; white bread, pasta, and white rice.  Refined products have had all nutritional benefits removed during the refining process, leaving them with next to no nutritional value, but they will quickly spike your blood sugar levels.  This also goes for gluten-free products that were found to have the biggest effect on blood sugar levels, the rice-based products were the worst.

Another study found that the effect wasn't limited to raised blood sugar levels but also found that brain function was impaired in people with type 2 diabetes.

Fiber is an extremely important part of our diet.  It is the fiber in high sugar foods such as fruit that stop them being dangerous.  The fiber content means that the sugars are released slowly over a longer period of time.  Refined products like bread, pasta, etc, have very little fiber and so the sugars are released quickly.

Eat wholegrain foods whenever you need to have carbs, the less processed the better and high-fiber breads have been shown to reduce blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes, and they also showed reduced levels of cholesterol and blood pressure.

Sugary drinks are another no, as I am sure you can imagine.  They are very high carb as each can of

330ml soda contains 38g of sugar - and what is more it is mainly fructose  that you might remember from last week's post.  Fructose is extremely hard for the body to process and can lead to metabolic changes that facilitate belly fat, high cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

But don't get excited about diet versions, they are just as bad for diabetes as regular soda.  A recent study posted in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition which followed 66,118 women over a period of 14 years and kept track of the drinks they consumed.  By the end of the study, both sugar sweetened drinks and diet drinks were linked to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

It's a much better idea to stick to water, sparkling water or unsweetened drinks.

Breakfast cereals are also right up there in the high carb section.  If you read the ingredients on a packet of commercial cereal  the second ingredient is usually sugar with the first being some kind of refined cereal, usually wheat.  These are highly processed and lacking in nutrients.  And don't be fooled by the supposedly healthy ones either, they also have high amounts of sugar - you'd be surprised as to how much.

Yogurts are generally deemed healthy, and if they are natural yogurts with no added fruit, sugar or flavoring then they generally are.

However, the minute you get into added fruit and flavoring then you are talking about large amounts of added sugar.  Just one 245g serving of fruit-flavored yogurt can contain a huge 47g of sugar - that's almost 81% of its total calories from sugar!

Stick to plain greek yogurt or kefir - your gut bacteria will love you for it too!

Avoid Starbucks and other such places like the plague.  Our brains do not process liquid or solid calories in the same way.  You don't consider a coffee to be food which means you will probably eat more later, putting your weight at risk.  If you are overweight, then this will only give you an even bigger problem.

Although coffee does have certain health benefits, adding milk and flavored syrups just means adding even more sugar - again.  Even the diet versions have enough carbs in them to raise blood sugar levels.  Just one caramel frappuccino from Starbucks (454ml) has 67g of carbs and the diet version as 30g of carbs...  Need I say more?

Stick to plain old black coffee or expresso and if you must, add some heavy cream.

Honey and spice and all things nice...  Some people believe that natural sweeteners such as honey, agave nectar and maple syrup are healthier versions of white sugar.  But in fact they are even worse.  The carb count for white sugar is 12.6g per tablespoon, so you might be surprised to find out that one tablespoon of honey has a carb count to 17g, Agave nectar comes in at 16g per tablespoon and Maple syrup has a carb count of 13g.  So as you can imagine these aren't going to do any good to your blood sugar levels.

While on the subject of "healthier" options, you should stay away from dried fruit too.  Fresh fruit is a good source to vitamins and minerals and when it is dried, the loss of water content means that these nutrients can be found in higher concentrations.  However, the down side is that its sugar content also becomes concentrated.

An example of this is grapes vs raisin...  One cup of grapes contains 27g of carbs of which 1g is fiber.  Now, one cup of raisins contains 115g of carbs, of which 5g are fiber.  So, if you do have diabetes then stick to low sugar fruits such as berries, small apples, etc., are good for you as their fiber content helps with a slower rate of absorption of the sugars.

Don't even think about juice.  Fruit juice is deemed healthy, but in fact all it is is fruit flavored sugar water.  When you make juice you remove all the fiber from the fruit, and if you remember it is the fiber that makes fruit healthy.  So eat the whole orange - fiber and all!

Potatoes in any form are high in carbs, but especially when fried.  Frying any foods has been shown to produce high amounts of AGEs and aldehydes, toxic compounds that promote inflammation and increase your risk of disease.  A better option is sweet potatoes but keep them to a limited amount.

So, remember which foods to stay away from and you will be helping yourself to stay healthy or get healthier - it's in your hands!

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com

Pomegranates, more than just a pain to peel...

I LOVE and HATE pomegranates.  They are utterly delicious but a total pain to peel.  I have tried every suggestion and watched endless videos on YouTube as to how to peel them, and I still make a mess of it.  However, there is one truth: pomegranates are worth the effort.

They are also the "it" fruit of the moment.  But they are also extremely healthy, Swiss scientists suggest that pomegranates may be capable of strengthening aging muscles and add years to your life.

Pomegranates have high concentrations of ellagitannins which our gut bacteria turn into a compound called urolithin A which helps keep the mitochondria in our cells charged.

Although it is too early to tell if the effect would be the same in humans, but mice and worms given urolithin A lived longer and ran further, in laboratory tests.

But pomegranates have more to offer than this, including fighting cancer.  According to a small study from 2006, researchers at the University of California found that drinking 227ml of pomegranate juice daily significantly slowed the progression of prostate cancer, it is thought that urolithins block cancer cell growth.

A current small U.S. study involving 30 patients is studying whether supplements containing pomegranate extract can prevent prostate cancer spreading.  Another small study from 2004 suggests that a glass a day of pomegranate juice may reduce cholesterol build-up and damage in patients with narrowed arteries.

More recent studies suggest that a certain compound in pomegranates helps boost memory, enhances exercise performance, improves blood pressure, strengthens bones and helps prevent Alzheimer's due to its anti-inflammatory properties.  These anti-inflammatory properties could also help with other health issues such as Parkinson's and rheumatoid arthritis.

However, most of this information is obtained from numerous lab trials on animals and has yet to be tested in humans.

But, what we do know is that pomegranates contain antioxidants which can help protect against damaging free radicals which means this fruit may protect against age-related diseases.

But eating a wide range of fruits and vegetables will boost your antioxidant level and all berries are high in antioxidants, not just pomegranates.

By all means, go to town on pomegranates, but don't juice them or any other fruit for that matter.  Juicing removes the healthy fiber and turns healthy fruits and vegetables into flavored sugar water!

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com

10 Packaged Foods you shouldn't buy.

We should all know by now that the healthiest way to eat is with natural whole foods that we prepare from scratch at home.  However, there is a whole culture of supermarket shopping which provides us with a never ending supply of pre-prepared foods which are supposed to make our lives easier.  However, these foods don't tend to make our lives healthy.  Here is a list of well known foods we should never buy.

1.  Canned or tinned soup.  This typically contains large quantities of salt, additives, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and genetically engineered (GE) ingredients.  Also, many companies still use bisphenol-A (BPA) in the lining of the cans.  BPA has been shown to interfere with the body's hormones and disrupt your endocrine system.  Homemade soup is quick and easy to make and so much healthier.

2.  Stock Cubes.  I looked up the ingredients for OXO beef stock while researching this article: Wheat flour, salt, yeast extract, maize starch, flavor enhancers (MSG, Disodium Guanylate), color (ammonia caramel), beef fat, flavorings, dried beef bonestock, sugar, lactic acid.

Now, I would first like to explain how to read an ingredient list.  Ingredients are listed in order by amount with the biggest amounts first continuing in descending order.  So if you look again at the list of ingredients for OXO beef stock what it has most of is wheat flour and salt... not good.

Homemade chicken stock is easy to make.  Just take one left over chicken carcass (I use the leftovers from a roast chicken), put into a large saucepan, add 2 leeks, 1 onion, and 2 celery stalks. Cover with water add a pinch of salt and 6 peppercorns.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 hours.  Drain the liquid into a bowl and leave over night to cool in the fridge.  The fat will solidify on the surface and you can remove it easily.  I then package the stock into individual packages to make one soup and freeze.  You can also use ice trays if you prefer.

Now, you tell me, which is healthier?

3.  Baked Beans.  Here we go back to point number 1 with the problem of BPA lined cans.  Also, if you take a typical can of baked beans - Heinz for example, and look at the ingredient list, remember what I said earlier about the order of the ingredients: Beans (51%), Tomatoes (34%), water, sugar, modified cornflour, salt, spirit vinegar, spice extracts, herb extract.  Sugar is way up there - again.

You can make these at home without all the added extras!

4. Hummus.  Homemade hummus is a very healthy dish and the internet is rife with different easy to make recipes.  Shop bought hummus contains: Chickpeas, water, tahini, soybean oil, garlic, salt, citric acid, potassium sorbate, natural flavor.  Do we really need all those additives?

5. Breakfast Cereal.  Almost all commercial cereals are a combination of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and genetically engineered corn.  Homemade muesli is easy to make and healthier.  You can store it in an airtight container and it will stay fresh for months.

6.  Microwave Popcorn.  Here the problem is in the bag more than the popcorn itself, although the amount of salt added is also a problem.  The bags are lined with Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) which can leach into the popcorn when heated.   PFOAs have been linked to infertility and other health problems.  Making popcorn in a pan is not difficult at all and you can control the amount of salt you add.

7. Bottled water and "enhanced" water.  Plastic bottles aren't doing anyone or the environment any favors.  Also "enhanced" waters usually contain artificial sweeteners and colorings, large amounts of sugar and genetically engineered high fructose corn syrup, which adds to the numerous health problems caused by high consumption of HFCS and GE ingredients.

High quality water filters are your best bet for clean water.

8.  Bottled fruit and vegetable juice.  Bottled fruit juice is worse than vegetable juice.  Fruit is naturally high in fructose and when juiced and bottled the sugars tend to ferment quickly.  There are also added ingredients such as flavor enhancers.  You will get much more from eating whole fruit than bottled juice.  If you prefer juice - juice it at home and drink immediately.

9.  Yogurt.  Now, I am against all milk produce, but if you can't live without it then I suggest buying natural live yogurt from a health food store.  Pasteurized yogurts from normal supermarkets do not provide any of the health benefits of natural live yogurt.  The pasteurizing process destroys most of the precious enzymes and other nutrients.  Fortunately, kefir or fermented yogurt is easy and inexpensive to make at home.

10. Fermented Vegetables.  Cultured or fermented foods have many health benefits.  The culturing process produces beneficial microbes that are important for human health, as they help balance intestinal flora which boosts overall immunity.  Fermented foods are also great chelators and detox agents, this means they help rid your body of a wide range of toxins including heavy metals.  Although cultured foods are available at most supermarkets, you are better off culturing them at home.  There are many webs where you can learn the benefits and how to do this at home.