Can’t lose weight? Maybe hormones are to blame.
You exercise, you eat right, but still you can’t lose weight. If you’re over the age of 40, hormones may be to blame.
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Thanksgiving Tips
Thanksgiving tends to pack on the pounds, while also leading to a slide in eating and exercising habits that persists all the way to New Years.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans spent 1.2 hours eating and drinking, and 3.7 hours in front of the TV on Thanksgiving Day, on average. About 18 percent of Americans spent a few hours engaging in sports-related activity on this feast day.
So how can you battle the bulge this holiday season?
Tip #1: Have breakfast! Many people believe they can “save calories” from breakfast and then use those “saved calories” during Turkey Time. Unfortunately that is just not the way the body works! By skipping breakfast, people set themselves up for overeating. Start Thanksgiving smart and healthy – try eating a fiber-rich breakfast like whole grain cereal and a glass of low-fat milk or a slice of whole wheat toast and an egg. These easy and light breakfasts will keep you full longer and decrease the likelihood of overeating.
Tip #2: Get Moving! Instead of socializing around the kitchen, why not try talking while walking? When people take brisk walks before eating, they rev up their metabolisms to burn more calories for the next few hours. To maintain that boost, we recommend taking a post-dinner walk, which will prevent drowsiness and keep the metabolism going.
Tip #3: Be Mindful of What You Eat! Dr. McConnell says not to forgo all of the offerings on Thanksgiving Day, but to consider healthier options when available. Opt for steamed vegetable instead of vegetable casserole. Eat turkey without skin. Chew slowly and more deliberately, watch alcohol intake, skip seconds and go easy on the mashed potatoes!
Happy Thanksgiving and Cheers to good health!
Your Key to Understanding the Glycemic Index
The Glycemic Index is a numerical Index that ranks carbohydrates based on their rate of glycemic response (i.e. their conversion to glucose within the human body). Glycemic Index uses a scale of 0 to 100, with higher values given to foods that cause the most rapid rise in blood sugar. Pure glucose serves as a reference point, and is given a Glycemic Index (GI) of 100.
Glycemic Index values are determined experimentally by feeding human test subjects a fixed portion of the food (after an overnight fast), and subsequently extracting and measuring samples of their blood at specific intervals of time. The earliest known work on the Glycemic Index was done by Dr. David Jenkins and associates at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada. More recently, an effort to expand the Glycemic Index has been made by Jennie Brand-Miller and her associates at the Human Nutrition Unit of the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia.
The Glycemic Index Yields Some Surprises
Nutritionists used to believe that all simple sugars digested quickly and caused a rapid rise in blood sugar, and that the opposite was true for “complex carbohydrates.” But that’s not always the case. While many sweet and sugary foods do have high GI’s, some starchy foods like potatoes or white bread score even higher than honey or table sugar (sucrose)!
Why is the Glycemic Index Important?
Your body performs best when your blood sugar is kept relatively constant. If your blood sugar drops too low, you become lethargic and/or experience increased hunger. And if it goes too high, your brain signals your pancreas to secrete more insulin. Insulin brings your blood sugar back down, but primarily by converting the excess sugar to stored fat. Also, the greater the rate of increase in your blood sugar, the more chance that your body will release an excess amount of insulin, and drive your blood sugar back down too low.
Therefore, when you eat foods that cause a large and rapid glycemic response, you may feel an initial elevation in energy and mood as your blood sugar rises, but this is followed by a cycle of increased fat storage, lethargy, and more hunger!
Although increased fat storage may sound bad enough, individuals with diabetes (diabetes mellitus, types 1 and 2) have an even worse problem. Their bodies inability to secrete or process insulin causes their blood sugar to rise too high, leading to a host of additional medical problems.
The theory behind the Glycemic Index is simply to minimize insulin-related problems by identifying and avoiding foods that have the greatest effect on your blood sugar.
Should All High-GI Foods be Avoided?
For non-diabetics, there are times when a rapid increase in blood sugar (and the corresponding increase in insulin) may be desirable. For example, after strenuous physical activity, insulin also helps move glucose into muscle cells, where it aids tissue repair. Because of this, some coaches and physical trainers recommend high-GI foods (such as sports drinks) immediately after exercise to speed recovery.
Also, it’s not Glycemic Index alone that leads to the increase in blood sugar. Equally important is the amount of the food that you consume. The concept of Glycemic Index combined with total intake is referred to as “Glycemic Load.”
How Glycemic Load Improves the Glycemic Index
Although most candy has a relatively high Glycemic Index, eating a single piece of candy will result in a relatively small glycemic response. Why? Well, simply because your body’s glycemic response is dependent on both the type AND the amount of carbohydrate consumed. This concept, known as Glycemic Load, was first popularized in 1997 by Dr. Walter Willett and associates at the Harvard School of Public Health. Glycemic Load is calculated this way:
GL = GI/100 x Net Carbs
(Net Carbs are equal to the Total Carbohydrates minus Dietary Fiber)
GI’s of 55 or below are considered low, and 70 or above are considered high. GL’s of 10 or below are considered low, and 20 or above are considered high.
Glycemic index of foods
GI values can be interpreted intuitively as percentages on an absolute scale and are commonly interpreted as follows:
A low-GI food will release glucose more slowly and steadily, which leads to more suitable postprandial (after meal) blood glucose readings. A high-GI food causes a more rapid rise in blood glucose levels and is suitable for energy recovery after exercise or for a person experiencing hypoglycemia.
The glycemic effect of foods depends on a number of factors such as the type of starch (amylose versus amylopectin), physical entrapment of the starch molecules within the food, fat and protein content of the food and organic acids or their salts in the meal — adding vinegar, for example, will lower the GI. The presence of fat or soluble dietary fiber can slow the gastric emptying rate, thus lowering the GI. In general, unrefined breads with higher amounts of fiber have a lower GI value than white breads. Many brown breads, however, are treated with enzymes to soften the crust, which makes the starch more accessible (high GI).
While adding lipids will lower the GI of a meal, the GI ranking does not change. That is, with or without additions, there is still a higher blood glucose curve after white bread than after a low-GI bread such as pumpernickel.
The glycemic index can be applied only to foods with a reasonable carbohydrate content, as the test relies on subjects consuming enough of the test food to yield about 50 g of available carbohydrate. Many fruits and vegetables (but not potatoes) contain very little carbohydrate per serving, and the average person is not likely to eat 50 g of carbohydrate from these foods. Fruits and vegetables tend to have a low glycemic index and a low glycemic load. This also applies to carrots, which were originally and incorrectly reported as having a high GI. Alcoholic beverages have been reported to have low GI values, but it should be noted that beer has a moderate GI. Recent studies have shown that the consumption of an alcoholic drink prior to a meal reduces the GI of the meal by approximately 15%. Moderate alcohol consumption more than 12 hours prior to a test does not affect the GI.
Many modern diets rely on the glycemic index, including the South Beach Diet, Transitions by Market America and NutriSystem Nourish Diet.
Feast or Fit? Why Not Both?
Heirloom Pumpkins come in a variety of shapes, colors and textures. Check your local farmers market for a beautiful feast!
Rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, both the flesh and seeds of the pumpkin provide many health-boosting nutrients. Pumpkin is low in fat and calories and rich in disease-fighting nutrients such as:
- Alpha-carotene
- Beta-carotene
- Fiber
- Vitamins C and E
- Potassium
- Magnesium
- Pantothenic acid
The alpha-carotene and beta-carotene are potent antioxidants found in pumpkin and are pro-vitamin A carotenoids, meaning the body converts them to vitamin A. Vitamin A promotes healthy vision and ensures proper immune function. The beta-carotene in pumpkin may also reverse skin damage caused by the sun and act as an anti-inflammatory. Alpha-carotene is thought to slow the aging process and also reduce the risk of developing cataracts and prevent tumor growth. Carotenoids also boost immunity and lessen the risk of heart disease.
Fresh Off the Vine
And while canned pumpkin is good, fresh pumpkin is better. That orange beauty your child hefted from the field this morning tastes so much better than the canned version that was processed last year. ‘Tis the pumpkin season, so pull on your Wellies and head to the nearest pumpkin patch!
Not for pies only, pie pumpkins are excellent roasted in savory bisques, curries, risottos and raviolis. Smaller, sweeter, and less grainy, these little darlings only 6-8 inches in diameter. A 5-pound pumpkin will yield about 4 1/2 cups of mashed, cooked pumpkin—about the same amount as two cans. It freezes beautifully, so it pays to put up a pureed batch to make a quick and healthy dinner this winter!
How To Roast Your Pumpkin
Wash the exterior and cut it in half vertically, scooping out the insides (don’t forget to save the seeds for a high protein snack!). Lightly oil it on all sides with olive oil and bake on a cookie sheet at 400 for about an hour, or until a sharp knife easily pierces the flesh. When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, discard the skin, and puree the flesh with a food processor. To avoid a watery puree, let it rest for about a half hour and then pour off any water that settles on top.
Spiced Pumpkin Loaves
This recipe has less oil and sugar than most, but is still moist and flavorful. It makes two full-sized loaves, so serve one the day you make them, and wrap the other in foil and
freeze up to one month.
Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup lowfat sour cream
3 large eggs
1 16-ounce can solid pack pumpkin OR one small roasted pie pumpkin, pureed
3 cups bread flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chopped walnuts, crystallized ginger or raisins (optional)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. Beat sugars, butter and sour cream in large bowl to blend. Mix in eggs and pumpkin. Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, salt and baking powder into another large bowl.
Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions. Mix in walnuts, crystallized ginger or raisins, if desired.
Divide batter equally between prepared pans. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes. Using sharp knife, cut around edge of loaves. Turn loaves out onto racks and cool completely.
Hip fracture risk rises after women stop hormones: research
By Megan Brooks
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – When postmenopausal women discontinue hormone therapy, their bone mineral density drops and their risk of a hip fracture climbs, new research suggests.
Among nearly 81,000 postmenopausal women followed for six and a half years, stopping hormone therapy was linked with an overall 55 percent increased risk of hip fracture.
The jump in chances of a fracture was apparent as soon as 24 months after women stopped hormone therapy and was not affected by the use of bone-building bisphosphonate drugs, report Dr. Roksana Karim, from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and her colleagues in the journal Menopause.
Millions of postmenopausal women stopped taking hormone therapy after findings from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) in 2002 suggested it raised the risk of heart disease and some cancers.
Previous research has shown conclusively that menopausal women on hormone therapy have substantially less bone loss relative to women not taking the hormones, Karim told Reuters Health.
“It has also been known for a while that women who do not take hormones after the menopause have a much greater risk of suffering a bone fracture than women who do take hormones,” she added.
“This new study,” Karim said, “shows quite nicely that when hormone therapy is stopped, the risk for hip fracture goes up substantially. Women halting hormone therapy should definitely be advised by their clinicians about the increased risk of fracture.”
The study looked at 80,955 postmenopausal women from the Southern California Kaiser Permanente Health Maintenance Organization who were at least 60 years old and had filled prescriptions for hormone therapy at least once between January and June 2002. The women were followed through December 2008. Most were white (54 percent), and, on average, slightly overweight.
As expected — because of the WHI results announced in 2002 — use of hormone therapy dropped off significantly between July 2002 and December 2008 (from 85 percent to 18 percent of women in the study). During this same period, the annual hip fracture rate increased from 3.9 to 5.67 per 1,000 women.
Based on those rates, women who discontinued hormone therapy were one and a half times as likely to have a hip fracture as the ones who continued taking the hormones.
The risk increased as early as two years after hormones were stopped and it kept rising incrementally, from 52 percent increased risk at two years to 77 percent higher risk at five years or longer after ceasing to take the hormones.
A longer time off the medication was also linked to lower bone mineral density.
“Our data confirm the rapidity of bone loss and increased hip fracture incidence with hormone therapy cessation,” the authors note in their report.
“Our results should encourage women and clinicians to take a second look at the bone health benefits of hormone therapy,” Karim said. “It may be time to rethink the guidelines about hormone therapy for women with an increased risk of hip fracture.”
She added, women “should consult their physicians to determine if they are at high risk of bone loss, which may involve bone density scanning and a review of family history of fracture, and may want to consider individualized hormone therapy.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/odQjrQ Menopause, online July 19, 2011.
Reuters Health
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