Cut the sugar

It seems to me that we live in a society where success - be it at work or socially - is measured by how you look.  Are you thin enough?  Is your hair beautifully luscious?  Are you wearing the right designer label?  Do you drive the right car?

We are constantly confronted with top models airbrushed to perfection and headlines screaming out the next best diet that promises miracles in half an hour with no suffering.  Women strive to be a size 0, while teenagers;  boys and girls alike are struggling with Anorexia and Bulimia just to be accepted.

And, of course, there is the other side of the coin... obese and over weight people are turning to dangerous operations such as gastric bands and gastric bypasses to lose weight quickly.  Childhood obesity is on the rise and children are being bullied about their weight.  Obese people have admitted to being socially outcast and I have even spoken to people who have suffered mobbing in their workplace because their boss didn't like "fat" people.

We judge people on their appearance.  We think we can form an opinion of someone just by what they look like.  Well you can’t.  For example, there are many reasons behind obesity, it isn’t just someone eating too much.  Some people have serious psychological problems, others have illnesses which lead them to put on weight such as hypothyroidism, others have to take medication that makes them gain weight…

Stats:

• 1/3 of adults worldwide are now overweight.  The number has QUADRUPLED since 1980 in the developing world.
• In the UK alone 64% of adults are classed as obese.
• A global explosion means that 1.46 billion adults across the globe are obese or over weight (this means they have a Body Mass Index of over 25).
• Obesity = greater risk of heart attacks, strokes, cancer, diabetes and other health related issues.
• At 70% North America has the highest percentage of overweight adults, but regions such as Australasia and Southern Latin America are catching up with 63%.
• North Africa, the Middle East and Latin America saw overweight and obesity rates increase to a level similar to Europe, around 53%.

So why is this happening?

I think a lot of the problem is down to lifestyle choices.  A poor diet and lack of exercise can lead to a whole host of health problems including weight gain, obesity,  and as I said before, heart attacks, cancer, strokes, diabetes, etc..

Then add on that we are constantly bombarded with publicity from fast food companies and soft drink companies who are just dying to sell as much of their product as they can, and promise to make our lives so much easier as we can just pick up the phone and magically a pizza will appear on our doorstep, or Chinese food, or Indian, or… and the list goes on.

ALL fast food, processed food, soft drinks, basically anything with an ingredient label is packed full of vast amounts of sugar and salt.  Both of which contribute vastly to weight gain.

This week, I was reading the press from the UK, on any given day there are various articles about diet, sugar, fat, etc., in fact this week on one day I saw these three headlines:

1. "The hell of giving up sugar (and why it's worth all the agony in the end)..."
2. "Rising obesity levels force NHS to spend extra 5.5 million pounds on adapting hospitals and buying specialist equipment to cope with overweight patients."
3. "Slap a 20% 'health tax' on fizzy drinks.  Experts call for action to slash UK sugar intake."

For years the government “health” bodies have been telling us that fat is the killer.  We have a vast range of low fat and no fat products on the market all meant to magically make us thin - but they don’t.  Ever since Senator George McGovern created the first ever dietary guidelines way back in 1977 we have had a health problem.  At the time saturated fat consumption from animal sources was at an all time high in the States and so were heart attacks.  It was therefore decided that heart attacks were being caused by the consumption of saturated fat.  So the US Government decided that we should all be using vegetable oils and margarines to lower the consumption of saturated animal fat (e.g: butter).  However health problems continued to increase - including heart attacks in a time when saturated fat consumption was at an all time low. 

As it turns out, vegetable margarines which were marketed as the healthy substitute for animal fat, are packed full of trans fats and far more dangerous to your health than eating butter.  One of my first ever posts on this blog was about trans fats… you can read it here.

However we are still on a low fat health kick.  All you have to do is walk around a supermarket and see just how many low fat products there are.  However, what you have to stop and think is that if you remove the fat from something you have to replace it with something else - otherwise it tastes pretty nasty!  So what do they replace it with?  SUGAR AND SALT.

We now know that the real killer is not fat at all and in fact our bodies need fat (in moderation), there are certain vitamins (A, D, E, and K) that are only soluble in the presence of fat.  But still our governments publish food pyramids and food plates that tell us to eat carbs and just a little bit of animal protein - because of the fat content.  Sugar and refined carbs are the real killer - so yes tax that sugar, make people healthier!

Refined sugar has no nutritional value, refined flour has no nutritional value, white rice has no nutritional value…  Sugar and salt do you NO good at all.  Stay natural and stay healthy.

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

Pure Coconut Oil. A "cure" for Alzheimer's?

I was left totally amazed yesterday... my caring uncle who sends me hundreds of emails a week (mostly jokes) sent me this little gem which really had me investigating further.

Dr. Mary T. Newport M.D. had to face the terrible news that her husband had advanced Alzheimer's Disease.  As a pediatrician she didn't know much about Alzheimer's so investigated as much as she could on the disease.  She likens it to a type of diabetes of the brain where insulin issues prevent the brain cells from obtaining the glucose that they need for fuel.  When deprived of glucose the brain cells eventually shrivel and die.

However there is an alternative fuel in the form of KETONES which are metabolized in the liver after you eat medium chain triglycerides.  One form of medium chain triglycerides is pure coconut oil.  Dr. Newport began to incorporate pure coconut oil into her husband's diet and the first signs of improvement were seen in just 2 weeks.  At his diagnosis they asked him to draw a clock - he was not able to, after 2 weeks of pure coconut oil, he was able to, another 2 weeks later his clock was perfect.  His speech had improved, his coordination had improved he even had more energy and a more positive attitude... absolutely amazing for such a short space of time.  Dr. Newport even documented her husband's progress in her book Alzheimer's Disease - What if there was a cure?

What is known is that Professor Kieran Clarke Ph.D of Oxford University (UK), and her team have created a Ketone Ester that is 10 times more powerful than pure coconut oil and could be a wonder remedy.  Sadly, it all comes back to money... they need millions of pounds to mass produce it and it wouldn't be a profitable business for the investors.  This is sad when you consider that by the year 2050 there will be 15.000.000 people in the United States alone with Alzheimer's Disease.  Maybe it's time to stop looking at profits and start thinking about reducing the burden on the State produced by 15.000.000 people suffering from Alzheimer's Disease.

You can watch the CBN News report here: http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=ZZOR-Qd3QSg it only takes 5 minutes and may change your life.

As far as Pure Coconut Oil is concerned here are some helpful tips:

Coconut oil can be substituted for any solid or liquid oil, lard, or butter in stove top cooking o baking.  It can be mixed directly into previously prepared dishes.  Some people like to take a spoonful straight up, but this can be disagreeable for some people so mixing it with something else is more palatable.

Coconut oil used to have a bad name as it was considered to raise cholesterol levels... that was before scientists discovered that there are two types of cholesterol; LDL or bad cholesterol and HDL which is the good cholesterol that protects the heart.  Coconut oil has been found to raise the HDL marker and therefore protects the heart.  Coconut oil has also been found to contain small amounts of phytosterols which are one of the components of "statins" used for lowering cholesterol.

It is important to use PURE coconut oil, you must make sure it is non-hydrogenated with no transfat.  Coconut oil that are hydrogenated or have been super heated because it changes the chemical structure of the fats.  You must look for products called "virgin", "organic" or "unrefined".

Coconut milk is a combination of the oil and the water from the coconut and most of the calories are from the oil. Coconut cream is mostly coconut milk and sometimes has sugar added.  Grated or flaked coconut can be purchased unsweetened or sweetened and is a good source of fiber and coconut oil and contains about 15 grams of oil and 3 grams of fiber per 1/4 cup.  However, canned or frozen coconut meat normally contains a lot of added sugar and not much oil per serving.  A fresh coconut can be cut up into pieces and eaten fresh.  A 2x2 inch piece has about 160 calories and contains 15 grams of oil and 4 grams of fiber.  Coconut water does not contain coconut oil usually, but does provide other health benefits.  Its electrolyte composition is similar to that of human plasma and is useful in the prevention or treatment of dehydration.

Incorporation of pure coconut oil into the diet is beneficial to those people who have a neurodegenerative disease that involves decreased glucose uptake in neurons such as Alzheimer's Disease and other Dementias, Parkinson's, ALS, Multiple Sclerosis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, autism, Down's syndrome, and Huntington's chorea.

Ketones are also an alternative fuel for other cells in the body that are resistant to insulin or cannot transport glucose, they could also potentially lessen the effects of diabetes I and II on the brain and other organs.

Incorporating pure coconut oil into the diet should be done slowly, too much too soon could produce indigestion, cramping or diarrhea.  Start by taking 1 teaspoon of oil with food per meal, increasing gradually, as tolerated, over a week or longer to 4-6 tablespoons a day spread between 2-4 meals.

However, if you have a weight problem or you gain weight easily then you must be careful, as with any fat.  You can substitute your usual oils for pure coconut oil but if that isn't enough then you should cut back on the amount of carbohydrates you are consuming.  You can also cut back from full fat milk to skimmed milk inorder to balance out the amount of fats you are ingesting.

Remember most of the cells in the body are regenerated within 3-6 months so any damage you may have sustained from consuming trans fats in vegetable oils, could be improved and after that time you may notice an improvement in your skin and a decrease in certain problems such as yeast and fungal infections.

For more information go to: www.coconutketones.com