Posts Tagged ‘good health’

Calorie counting is destructive. The initial goal should be to get strong and fit. Counting calories can make many dieters weak. Being hungry all the time is counter productive.

Calorie control equals weight management to most people, and even the medical experts think this is true. What calories really do is different from the hype. When the weight loss industry capitalizes on the proven benefits of cutting calories, what they are doing is promoting a way to utilize diet in an unhealthy way.

Caveman Diet

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (USCF) say their research has shown people on a high protein diet combined with plenty of vegetables show dramatic health improvements. These include weight loss, and lower blood pressure. What they are talking about is a diet that is considered similar to the “Hunters Gathers” or caveman diet.

Dr. Tim White a paleobiologist from the University of California Berkley said: “Our Biology is still basically the same biology that we had as hunters and gathers 100,000 years ago in Africa.” Dr. White said the constant physical activity that the cavemen had to undertake to hunt and find food kept them fit, lean, muscular and active. Their diet consisted of large amounts of lean meat, and vegetables.

Robert Lustig, MD. an endocrinologist at UCSF, said that people on the diet have experienced a regression of their diabetes as a result, to the point they are effectively cured.

Dr. Kim Mulvihill, a reporter from CBS tried the diet herself and doctors recommended she should stay on the diet permanently. Her cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar levels dropped dramatically over a few weeks. After seven weeks she was no longer pre-diabetic, and by combining the so called paleo diet with a weight loss program she lost thirty pounds.

Fish

Another article talked about people who eat fish as their primary source of animal protein. They reported lower glucose concentrations with a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Researchers at the University of Valencia reported in the journal Nutricion Hospitalaria that there are benefits from a Mediterranean diet high in fish consumption. This study showed the benefits of the omega 3’s in fish. Omega 3 from fish and grass fed meat controls inflammation. Micronutrients from both vegetables and fruits also, turn off inflammation.

Inflammation

There are a good number of studies that show weight gain may be linked to chronic inflammation. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition researches looked at nine years of data tracking 1,222 adults and found that weight gain was associated with an increase in chronic inflammation. This may be why weight gain is associated with heart disease and cancer. Both these conditions are associated with chronic inflammation.

Counting calories is counter productive, especially when you buy 100 calorie packs of pure carbohydrates in the form of crackers of cookies. The only weapon against obesity is whole foods diet with all the omega 3 fatty acids and nutrients your body need.

A diet based on vegetables, and fruit with some high quality protein is better than a calorie restricted diet for weight management. A nation that has embraced calorie counting as a way to control weight is deluding itself into thinking that saving calories can repair the damage done by faux foods. By changing your goal from weight, to having more energy by becoming healthier your will achieve a consistent weight.

Type 2 diabetes has natural interventions, which work remarkably well and are easy to implement.  With an estimated 366 million of people worldwide who have this condition you would think there would be a better understanding of this approach. The biggest challenge is for the public to understand that pharmaceutical companies have tried different medications to halt the disease and haven’t succeeded. They are dealing with a condition that they have not had much success with. 

Diabetes Epidemic

The International Diabetes Federation described the number of cases as “staggering,” every seven seconds one person succumbs to this condition. The federation is asking for concrete measures to stop the epidemic, urging officials focusing on chronic disease at the United Nations to target ways to prevent cases and to invest in more research. Yes, what we need is more research, we don’t have enough already. We can spend the next decade looking for the magic bullet.

It is estimated that health systems spend $465 billion annually fighting the disease. That includes both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. If that isn’t enough money to find the cause, which is right in front of their faces then lets go for broke.

Real Problem

The abnormalities that they are looking for is in our food supply, the diagnosis and current treatment are not the answer. Our flagging health is due to the deterioration of our food supply. Food orchestrates a complex balance of hormonal, neurochemical, and electrical signals. What makes us think we can face our deteriorating health with pharmaceuticals? As long as we ignore the warning signs that all point to lifestyle, it will be increasingly difficult to stem the tide.

Type 2 Diabetes Causes

The rise in diabetes is not due to an aging population as the medical experts claim. Diabetes is thought to be a disease of middle age, with obesity playing a part in the development of this condition. Yet, younger people are now in this group. Medical strategies haven’t consistently offered substantial improvement for diabetics.

The global number of diabetics more than doubled in the last three decades according to a study published in the medical journal Lancer. We try to manage the disease with diet, exercise and medication. With all that diabetes still results in kidney disease, blindness, heart disease, more cases of cancer, and amputations.

In the last three decades our lifestyle has been altered. This trend started earlier with the advent of pre-packaged foods, larger portions, lack of sunshine, technology advances that translate to less activity. There are multiple causes and none of them are a drug shortage. Insulin resistance is part of the culture. There are very few people who aren’t affected by this way of life. This is becoming a world wide occurrence because we export our way of eating and farming methods.

To say it is because people are living longer is an insult to our intelligence. Healthy adults who are concerned about what they put into their bodies are much less likely to develop diabetes. We are putting the cheapest “foods” on everyone’s table. Virtually everything in most people’s diet was never eaten 40 to 50 years ago. We can document that insulin resistance is a product of our diet, no amount of research will change that fact.

The Challenge

The challenge that we have is we got to deal with this crisis now. Health care will bankrupt America. Curing today’s health care cost crisis means we need natural solutions. What is essential to realize is for survival purposes we have to prevent and reverse these conditions on our own.

How to Reverse Diabetes

The Journal PLoS ONE reported the discovery by Salk Institute for Biological Studies researchers that fisetin a flavone found in abundance in strawberries, and in other fruit and vegetables, helped type 1 diabetes in mice. They found Kidney enlargement and urinary protein decreased along with anxiety-related symptoms which are a central nervous system complication that occurs in human diabetics. Type 1 diabetes is harder to reverse, this shows that diet is key.

Diabetics are advised to cut fat, reduce saturated fat and include plenty of carbohydrates in the diet. It is essentially a carbohydrate-centered diet. They may say whole grains, however this is how to feed diabetics a diet that will increase fat. When visceral fat accumulates, the inflammatory signals causes the muscle and liver to stop responding to insulin. Now we are developing insulin resistance. Nice going, since the reduction of carbohydrates improves all the diabetic markers and symptoms. Isn’t it time to look to natural intervention to reverse this condition

What’s unique about metabolic diets is they once were the standard. The metabolic type diets are the survival diet of different divergent cultures. With the advent of the all American standard way of eating the once individual cultural way of eating fell to the wayside. Why this at first seems as a way to acquire the American tastes, it also became a way to undermine our health.

Today with most people trying to reach their ideal weight they think of diets as low-fat diets, high-protein diets, low carbohydrates or low calories. With all the options out there you would think we would be a slim nation

Why Diets Fail

There are many reasons diets fail. Why don’t diets perform as they promise?  Did you ever wonder why people who follow their traditional diets seem to stay at a healthy weight?

At one time most people ate what their ancestors consumed. It usually was locally grown food, and cooked in a traditional way. We all have gotten far from our roots. Genetic and environmental factors show up in how our body functions. There is a link between modern eating habits and weight management. Chronic degenerative diseases are not as prevalent in societies that eat the diets of their ancestors.

In today’s world that is probably just about impossible, since the world has began relying on new food sources. There is evidence that when populations either through migration or the infiltration of western type food change their diet their health suffers.

Why most diet fail is they don’t address the real issue that there is an optimal diet based on the persons genetic and metabolic makeup. Each person processes food differently. Ones mans food is another mans poison. Native Americans while on the typical American diet, will become diabetic at a higher rate than the general population. The standard American diet doesn’t support their genetic needs. Processed foods have never been eaten before in the quantity it is today.

The Metabolic Diet

What the metabolic diet does is more than changes ones appearance, it begins an incredible journey to total health. By prioritizing ones health and feeding yourself what your body really craves and needs you become and remain healthy. The metabolic type diet turns back time and puts you in touch with your roots. It gives you something tangible to work with. On the surface there are similarities between different clients diets. That is because the diets depend on whole foods found in any grocery store.

What makes this diet so different from others is it is based not only on the correct foods for each person, but in the right combinations of protein, carbs and fats. The demand for this type of information has been growing along with the realization that this is a long lasting solution to both health and weight management.