diabetes

I think most of us know how to diet. I mean, intuitively we know that we should be eating healthy foods in order to lose weight. As a personal trainer it’s important to emphasis that losing belly fat is more than just what we eat. A good exercise program also plays a key role in how we feel and how quickly we lose fat. With that said, taking a look at what we put into our bodies, not just for the purposes of a short term diet, but a long life is vitally important to our health.

Most people believe that weight loss is an easy equation of calories in and calories out. Meaning, you will lose weight if you burn more calories than you consume. While this is partially true, it’s not the whole truth when it comes to losing weight. The type of calories you consume has greater impact on your health than strictly the amount you’re eating.

If you haven’t already started reading labels at the grocery store you should start now. You might be surprised to find out how many products contain high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is not the same as glucose. Glucose is something our body definitely needs for energy and life. Complex carbs are broken up in the body and converted to glucose and metabolized in all of our cells for immediate energy. High fructose corn syrup, on the other hand, is a man made sugar that does not affect our body in the same way glucose does.

Many scientists have come out and said that high fructose corn syrup or HFCS is one of the number 1 reasons why our country is faced with so many problems relating to obesity and disease today. HFCS is not metabolized in the body the same as glucose. It is metabolized in the liver and turned into fatty acids.

Another reason why you might be consuming more calories is that foods containing HFCS do not stimulate the hormone leptin. This is the hunger hormone that lets us know when we feel full. When we eat, this hormone is secreted and we feel full and satiated. However, when we eat foods with high fructose corn syrup we still feel hungry and as a result consume a lot more food than we otherwise would.

Even when you think you are making a healthy choice by buying protein bars, granola bars, yogurt or packaged oatmeal….read the label. If it contains high fructose corn syrup you are inadvertently contributing to fat accumulation around the belly.

What should you eat?

My advice is to eliminate soda’s, pre-packaged foods and meals that contain HFCS. Eat fresh and organic foods that haven’t been injected with hormones or stuffed full of toxic additives. This way you know exactly what and how much you’re eating. Eliminating foods with harmful ingredients will help you lose belly fat and feel better overall.

More information on HFCS, belly fat and obesity.

Sugar The Bitter Truth

A new study in mice sheds light on the insulin resistance that can come from diets loaded with high-fructose corn syrup

HFCS and obesity study

Dr. Mercola – HFCS is the same as sugar?

Tagged as: diabetes, eating to lose belly fat, HFCS, high fructose corn syrup and belly fat, losing weight, obesity, Weight Loss

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Prickly Pear Cactus In Bloom

Tired of sticking your finger with a needle to test your blood? Try getting stuck with a Prickly Pear Cactus and you may find a new way to address your diabetic concerns!

Good news… with this cactus, you don’t need to bleed on it’s needles for it to be effective! For many generations, inhabitants of Mexico such as the Pima Indians and others of the American Southwest have used native plants for healing. ”Medicine men” of Native American tribes (who, by the way usually don’t publish their findings in peer-reviewed journals) have long known that the Prickly Pear Cactus has some very unique properties, including the ability to take the edge off a hangover, and more importantly, to regulate glucose and cholesterol in the blood and manage the causes and effects of diabetes.

The finer “points” of the cactus … what it does:

Prickly Pear Cactus, known also as Opuntia, has one of the lowest glycemic indexes of any pulpy fruit plant (Index of 7) and has been shown in studies to reduce the glucose levels in diabetic patients by 10 to 30 mg/dL after consumption. [1] Additional studies have shown that the cactus has a positive effect on platelet function, which can eliminate what some in the diabetes community refer to as “sticky blood”. The researchers said, “Prickly pear may induce at least part of its beneficial actions on the cardiovascular system via decreasing platelet activity and thereby improving homeostatic balance.” [2] In addition to regulating hyperglycemia, Prickly Pear has also been shown do reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol, while not affecting HDL (good) cholesterol levels. [3]

In essence, the properties of the Prickly Pear can lower blood sugar, reduce appetite (it is a high fiber plant), improve the way your blood flows by helping platelet function, and improve liver and blood health by aiding the uptake of bad cholesterol from the bloodstream. In all, it would take a wide range of pharmaceuticals to address the numerous benefits of this unassuming desert-dweller.

How do I get Prickly Pear?

Prickly Pear is often known as it’s spanish name “Nopal”. Nopales or Nopalitos (smaller cut portions of nopales) are often available in jars at local mexican grocery stores. The “Tuna” (not the fish, but the spanish word for the pear-shaped purple fruit that forms after the flower blooms), is known for it’s deep purple color (which is a natural food dye and will stain anything) is often made into prickly pear jellies, or occasionally the prickly pear margarita (contraindicated for most diabetics). Both portions, of the plant show similar properties, but since the pear is only in bloom seasonally (around September to October), the more commonly available portion of the plant will be the pads.

Since Prickly Pear can grow in almost all climates and even tolerates temperatures down below freezing, it is quite easy to grow at home, in back yards, on hill sides, or even on balconies. They grow to be about three to six feet high and can be just as wide.

There are several products available that offer nopal extract as juices, some as a straight extract and others, blended with other juices and natural supplements.

How do you make it and eat it?

Prickly pear would seem to be difficult to prepare because of all of the needles, but simply soaking the pads and/or pears in warm water or gently cooking them to loosen the spines. Scrape the top and bottom to remove all of the ridges left from the needles and then trim the sides of the pads to remove all of the edges. They can be sliced and used like green beans, fried with tacos or fajitas, or boiled, strained and chilled to make juice. Powdered nopal can be used as an adjunct to flour in breads as a way to increase healthy fiber content and reduce sugary carbs.

Take note:

You should consult with your physician about your use of nopales or prickly pear in conjunction with the diabetes medication you are taking, as the effects of the cactus may mean that you need to adjust your dosages.

Links:

Nopal Tablets
Nopalitos –
Recipes
Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars

Reference:

[1] http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=102222496.html – Opuntia (prickly pear cactus) and metabolic control among patients with diabetes mellitus. – 1996

[2] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12878452 – Wolfram R., et al. – Department of Angiology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. – 2003

[3] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14600931 – Palumbo B., et al. – Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University of Perugia, Italy. – 2003

Tagged as: diabetes, diet, natural health, noalitos, nopales, Nutrition, prickly pear cactus, Weight Loss

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