posted on March 15, 2003 07:04:52 PM new
This month's issue of Men's Health magazine contains a very disturbing article. Here's a synopsis:
Between 1970 and 1997 the obesity rate more than doubled. During the same time period our intake of HFCS(high fructose corn syrup) increased 125 fold to the tune of 228+ calories per day each. The food industry began using HFCS many years ago as a cheap alternative to sugar. HFCS is common to soft drinks, canned soups, frozen yogurt, ketchup, pasta sauce, apple juice, pancake syrup,cereals and many other "staples". It does not make us fat indirectly like other sugars. It makes us fat directly by shutting off the mechanisms that control appetite-the straightest possible metabolic path. Our bodies normally release hormones such as insulin (and ultimately leptin) when we consume foods that contain glucose, starch or any other carbohydrate. These hormones suppress our appetite and tell us we are full. HFCS, specifically the fructose, does NOT stimulate insulin/leptin production,
and therefore does not shutoff our appetite. "You can drink a 6-pack of Mountain Dew or eat a half gallon of frozen yogurt, and your body will hardly acknowledge that you've consumed any calories at all. Eat the equivalent number of calories in the form of a thanksgiving dinner and you feel stuffed." Fructose has been recommended for years for diabetics because it doesn't spike blood sugar levels like other sugars. Many diabetics seem to have a problem losing weight despite "watching" their diet. A connection?
[ edited by stusi on Mar 15, 2003 07:05 PM ]
posted on March 15, 2003 08:37:14 PM new
I tried every dieting with medical help and nothing worked until I tried Atkins. Now looking back at it I realize I should have taken a clue from what we do with live stock. When we want to fatten them up we grain feed them.
posted on March 15, 2003 09:23:20 PM new
That's a good observation, gravid.
First, you need to know that everything that we eat other than fat and protein is converted to sugar when it is digested.
I have never been overweight but I have diabetes. Since I developed this problem, I've had to measure the food that I eat in order to keep blood sugar levels at a fairly constant level. Because I can only have a limited amout of food, I don't splurge any calories on fructose laden foods such as you mentioned.
Most canned food, frozen dinners, drinks, some juice, salad dressing, bread ....just about everything contains fructose. Then, everything else besides fat and protein contain sugar....including fresh vegetables!
So, even if you eat a normal diet, if you don't avoid these foods containing fructose, and limit other food containing sugar, you will be eating more calories than you realize. Read labels and you will be amazed at the number of food products than contain fructose.
I was never advised to use fructose as the people in your article were.
posted on March 16, 2003 09:13:58 AM new
stu - Many diabetics seem to have a problem losing weight despite "watching" their diet. A connection? Very well could.
Even when one is at an appropriate weight, the cravings are what get us. I know our doctor has told us to stay with fresh foods as much as possible. And when eating anything always be aware of what the labels say....and be aware of what fresh foods have a large sugar content. I know when my husband was first diagnosed...one of the things we had to eliminate was fresh onions, beets, cut down on corn, etc.
Limiting portions is what has worked best for both of us.
gravid - Really glad to hear Atkins is working for you. Continued success.
I'd bet a lot of American's are turning to food [over eating] during these stressful times.
posted on March 16, 2003 06:35:42 PM new
Get ready for an assualt on the Atkins diet. Just read a piece off the wire service that the companies that produce all the baked flour/sugar goods and cereals are feeling the Atkins push. Apparently their sales are down.
They're lobbying Congress not to amend the "food pyrmid" to lessen the grain carbos.
Look for some "studies" that bemoan the Atkins diet as unhealthy.
The piece also said that a Harvard has now confirmed the Atkins diet efficacy.
Gravid- can you fill us in a little more on your experience with Atkins ? Just how difficult was it to get rid of the carbs/sugar in the pantry ?
Beef Vs. Bagels: Food Companies Take on Dr. Atkins
posted on March 16, 2003 07:32:57 PM new
It is almost impossible to do Atkins and eat out unless you go to a buffet.
Just stopping at a burger joint for convenience when you are out running around working is pretty much out.
There is just no way around the fact that it takes time, effort and thought to prepare healthy meals on the diet.
The idea some people have that you just scarf down meat and it's easy is false. You will end up bored, constipated and lacking lots of trace nutrients.
Say I have a grilled steak or swordfish tonight. That's easy to fix but the time is in preparing a nice spinich and romaine salad with pepper and cucumbers and tomatoes with olives and artichoke hearts.
Really good vegetables take time and effort to prepare.
My wife likes stir fried zukes and yellow squash with onions garlic and a hand full of pine nuts. We add a little seseme oil and hot pepper.
We have started frying fish with wheat gluten with a little soy flour as breading. It browns up nice and crisp. rolling it in unsweetened coconut shreeds is nice too. I want to try doing mushrooms and zukes in it as tempura.
You can take a nice antipasta for a lunch when you need to eat away from home.
We make a nice spicy soup that is like ministroni without any pasta, but I am going to try making little spatzle with the gluten and see if they work well.
The diet is worth the effort because it works and my blood chemistry is better and I am not suffering - I'm satisfied by my meals not obsessing about what I will eat next. The alternative was permenant bypass surgery. With a high complication rate and a radical life style change - much more of a permenant radical change than Atkins.
There are not many commercial products. We make our own steak sauce and dipping sauce for fish - but I see more coming on the market soon. I'm just sorry I don't have the facilities to bottle them myself.
My medication is interfering somewhat but even just staying even for a week is an improvement over slowly constantly gaining a little every week. I never had control before.
posted on March 17, 2003 10:13:42 AM new
Michelob is marketing a low carb beer - Ultra with only 2.6 grams per bottle.
It's not Negra Modela but it's drinkable.
posted on March 17, 2003 08:56:46 PM new
The Atkins diet sounds great to me, but. . . I have iron overload (hemochromatosis) and have to steer clear of meat, mostly, especially beef. Eggs, too. I wonder if it could be adapted?
posted on March 18, 2003 09:18:22 AM new
Can I be bled?!! Oh yes! To get the sludgy iron-rich blood out of my system, I had a pint taken WEEKLY for 9 months. The beauty of this disorder, which is very common but just beginning to be diagnosed properly, is that if it's caught early, you can live a full rich long life. If caught too late, when iron has been deposited in your internal organs, you die of severe diabetes, liver or pancreatic cancer, heart failure, etc. etc.
After the initial levels are down to normal, you have to be careful what you eat ( no carrots or vit C close to meals, for example, because both help bind iron in the blood!) and get periodic blood tests to see if you need a phlebotomy or two.
Anyway, yes, I can have fish or shrimp, although we have to be very careful with shellfish because there's a bacterium in it which, if not properly cooked (or if we just handle the raw shellfish and ingest a tiny amount) can kill us rapidly. This is because it hooks up with the free iron in our system and very quickly works against us.
I've never much cared for fish, though, only shellfish.
