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Sunday, December 13, 2015
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
A PERFECT DIETING FORMULA, FOR A PERFECT FIGURE
Want the perfect shape? Follow these steps...
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Source: Imgur
Nowadays staying slim and trim isn’t only about looking fabulous, but also feeling fabulous. Have you ever heard of the phrase “you are what you eat?” Well, if you eat junk, chances are you’ll look pretty crappy. Fast food is affordable and there when you need a quick bite, but it can be a dangerous thing.
The occasional indulgence is fine; Treat yourself, but, once it becomes habitual, it’s hard to stop, and in the long run, it can do some damage. With its low nutritional value, salt, too many calories and cholesterol, bad food can ultimately lead to long-term health problems.
Ever wonder why, at times, you may feel tired or sluggish? It’s all in what you eat; What you eat impacts how you feel, so, when you eat healthy, you feel better. Eating healthy also allows your body to function better. You feel more awake, you have more energy because your body isn’t functioning off of sugar and fat.
Eating a balanced, healthy diet can reduce the risk of life-threatening conditions. A healthy mix of fruits, veggies, and such, can keep you from facing cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, and even cancer. Here’s a great dieting formula to follow so you can live a lean, healthy lifestyle and look good while doing so.
Follow these steps to achieve the perfect figure
Use Your Hand
Source: Stacey Newman / Shutterstock
The answer lies in your hand — literally! Continue reading to see how to use your hand as a guide to portion control.
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Whitefish
Credit: MaraZe / Shutterstock
The portion can be the size of you hand when laying flat, including fingers.
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Uncooked Spinach
Credit: Yeko Photo Studio / Shutterstock
Eating veggies with your everyday meal is very effective.
Fruit
Credit: Jelena990 / Shutterstock
A pack of berries are usually 250g of berries. That’s three portions, which is way too many. Two cupped palms will do.
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Vegetables
Credit: Akura Yochi / Shutterstock
This clenched fist is the sizable portion that should be your veggies. Two of this will count as your five a day.
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Nuts
Credit: Johan Larson / Shutterstock
Nuts in one palm is more than enough for your daily serving.
Potatoes
Credit: Sakarin Sawasdinaka / Shutterstock
Your potato is also supposed to be the size of a clenched fist.
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Oily Fish
Credit: Binh Thanh Bui / Shutterstock
A portion of this should be the the size of the palm of your hand. So, this salmon can be cut in half.
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Butter/Peanut Butter
Credit: Malyugin / Shutterstock
The amount of butter you use should be the same size of the tip of your thumb — no bigger than a tablespoon.
Cheese
Credit: Robert Kneschke / Shutterstock
Your cheese intake should be around 30g, the length and depth of both thumbs.
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Chocolate
Credit: Butterfly Hunter / Shutterstock
A piece of chocolate the size of your index finger would give you at least 100 calories. That should be enough to satisfy your sweet tooth.
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Cake
Credit: S-F / Shutterstock
The piece of cake you have should be the length and width of your two fingers.
Good Sugar Versus Bad Sugar
When it comes to sugar in your diet, the key thing to note is that not all sugar is created equally. Choose the right type of sugar and it won't have too large of an influence over your health - and could actually improve it.
Choose the wrong type of sugar however, and this will not be the case. Not only will you be packing on body fat quickly, but you'll also be at a much higher risk of developing diabetes as well.
Learning which types of sugar are good and which are to be avoided is critical for your success.
Let's go over what you should know.
Natural Food Based Sugars
The first type of sugars you'll find are natural food based sugars. These are sugars that are found naturally occurring in foods you eat.
For instance, you will find sugars in the carrots you had at lunch. Now clearly, carrots are a healthy food packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Not something that you want to omit from your diet just because you're watching your sugar intake.
Likewise, fruit is very high in sugars, but here again, they are natural fruit sugars that also come packed with antioxidants and vitamins. Additionally, it contains 50% fructose, which is not put into the blood stream, but rather moves into the liver tissues. This means it won't have as large of an influence on blood sugar. Fruit, as long as it's eaten in moderation, is also not going to need to be removed from the diet.
There's also sugars found in dairy products in the form of lactose (dairy sugar), which don't necessarily need to be omitted either. What you do want to watch for however is dairy products that have additional sugar added. This would be foods such as fruit flavored yogurt or fruit-on-the-bottom cottage cheese. Those you want to stay away from.
Processed Sugars
Which brings us to the bad type of sugar. Table sugar, high fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, dextrose, invert sugar, glucose, maltose, sucrose, and fruit juice concentrate are all names for sugar that should be avoided.
Each of these will have a different molecular make-up however they all will have the same impact on the body: quickly rising blood glucose levels and a sure of inulin flooding the system.
Furthermore, unlike the sugars mentioned above, they do not come packaged with other nutrients for the body, so are just all around unhealthy choices to be consuming.
Natural Simple Sugars
Which finally brings us to naturally occurring simple sugar. This would be things like maple syrup, honey, and molasses. These are made by nature and do contain some additional nutrients in very small amounts, so are ever-so-slightly better than the sugar described just above.
Just note, they are still going to have the very similar influence on blood glucose levels and insulin production because they are lacking the dietary fiber or protein to go along with the sugar, like which was found in the fruits, vegetables, and dairy products listed above.
So for this reason, you should still be minimizing them as much as possible. They might be ever so slightly better than spooning on some table sugar but don't let yourself believe they are 'healthy' by any means.
The only healthy form of sugar to be consuming is that which is found naturally in unprocessed foods. Choose these sugars only and your diet will significantly improve.
The Spin On ASPARTAME
THE SPIN ON ASPARTAME
If you google “aspartame,” the results will take you literally days to wade through-believe me, I know. I’ve been sifting through it for days. There’s more than enough information, research, and speculation out there on the subject to fill volumes, and this is just a small article.
So rather than simply rehash everything that has been written about aspartame (I’ve included some links at the end of this article, and within it, for those who want more information), I wanted to take a different approach. I wanted to focus on a small part of the debate, and then follow it through to wherever it took me.
I wanted to look at the folks who keep assuring us that it’s safe: the experts. Experts in the government, experts in the medical field, the people who keep patting us on the head and telling us not to worry, that if aspartame was dangerous, they’d tell us.
The problem was, I’ve always been something of a skeptic. The more someone pats me on the head, the more I start looking for something up his sleeve.
But, as skeptical as I am, what I found startled me: a concerted effort, on the part of those at the highest levels of our government and those at the highest levels of the medical community, to mislead us about the safety of aspartame.
Let me be clear: We have been deceived about the safety of a dangerous product, and all in the name of corporate profits.
Before you read on, check out this video:
Where did aspartame come from? It was first developed by the pharmaceutical company G.D. Searle. But Searle had difficulty getting their product approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency responsible for making sure our food and drugs are safe: Apparently, the monkeys and mice the substance was tested on developed brain lesions, tumors, and seizures, and even died from it. The company’s applications for approval were rejected for 16 years, but they persisted in offering their “proof” that aspartame was safe until the FDA finally asked the Department of Justice to prosecute G.D. Searle for submitting fraudulent test data in their efforts to get the substance approved. (An FDA senior toxicologist, Dr. Adrian Gross, once told Congress, “Beyond a shadow of a doubt aspartame triggers brain tumors.”)
But then G.D. Searle, producer of aspartame, made Donald Rumsfeld its CEO-yes, that Donald Rumsfeld. When Ronald Reagan took office and brought Rumsfeld with him as part of his transition team, a new FDA commissioner was appointed immediately. In one of his first acts as head of the federal agency, the new FDA commissioner approved aspartame, the artificial sweetener made by the company that Donald Rumsfeld was now the head of, over the objections of the FDA scientific board.
And here’s a strange bit of trivia: When it looked like aspartame would be approved later on for use in carbonated beverages, the National Soft Drink Association itself objected, saying it wouldn’t be safe because aspartame is very unstable in liquid form and breaks down into, among other things, formaldehyde. Monsanto bought G.D. Searle and Co. in 1985, and the NutraSweet Company operated as part of Monsanto until 2000, when Monsanto sold it to J.W. Childs Equity Partners, where it remains today.
And in all this time, the FDA has compiled a list of 92 symptoms associated with aspartame consumption, including nausea, dizziness, blindness, deafness, weight gain, and even death. And aspartame is still here, and it’s showing up in more and more products.
In fact, the Aspartame Resource Center, at www.aboutaspartame.com, notes that it is found in more than 6,000 products worldwide. And they should know: the Aspartame Resource Center is actually a public relations and “information” arm of Ajinomoto, one of the world’s largest producers of aspartame, the other being the NutraSweet Company. (Ajinomoto is also known for its other additive, monosodium glutamate, or MSG.) The ARC site is full of cheerful information on the safety of aspartame, and they even have a section labeled “Meet the doctors,” which lists their “medical advisory board.”
In that section, the ARC says, “The Aspartame Information Center Expert Medical Advisory Board was created to help guide the Center’s communications to health professionals and the public about aspartame benefits, safety and role in a healthy diet. The board members provide counsel on current medical and nutrition science, as well as insight on tools that help address the needs of health professionals in their work. Their backgrounds span critical areas of medicine and science, and each has unique experience in health and nutrition.”
But, wait. Are they confused about who they are? What is this “Aspartame Information Center” they mention? I looked it up: www.aspartame.org. They, too, have a laundry list of “experts” they use to back up their claims that aspartame is safe, including our very own FDA and something called the Calorie Control Council. In fact, the Calorie Control Council owns the Aspartame Information Center site and is listed on the bottom of every page as the copyright holder.
But back to the ARC. The Aspartame Resource Center offers all sorts of “fact” sheets you can download, including one called “Straight Answers About Aspartame.” It was prepared by the American Dietetic Association . . . and the Calorie Control Council. At the bottom, the fact sheet notes that it has been sponsored by aspartame.org, that is, the Aspartame Information Center, a.k.a. the Aspartame Resource Center, a.k.a. Ajinomoto, one of the world’s biggest producers of aspartame.
Ajinomoto, in cahoots with the American Dietetic Association? Let’s see who’s behind the Calorie Calorie Control Council. Here’s what their own site, at www.caloriecontrol.org, says: “The Calorie Control Council, established in 1966 . . . represents 60 manufacturers and suppliers of low-calorie, low-fat and light foods and beverages, including the manufacturers and suppliers of more than a dozen different dietary sweeteners . . .”
Go further, and you’ll see another site connected to the Calorie Contol Council, called Calories Count, at www.caloriescount.com, which lists as its sponsors . . . wait for it . . . Ajinomoto, NutraSweet, Splenda, and Sweet ‘N Low. You can take a look at their sponsorship page here: http://www.caloriescount.com/support.html.
Because it’s hard to keep the players straight in the aspartame follies, let’s recap. The folks at the FDA thought aspartame was dangerous, so they wouldn’t approve it. They changed their minds when the president at that time and his buddy, Donald Rumsfeld, who just happened to be the head of the company that made aspartame, appointed a new head of the FDA. Miraculously, aspartame was approved not long afterward, after sixteen years of being rejected. And when we look for information on aspartame, to allay our concerns, we find Web sites full of comforting information showing us how safe the stuff is, written by reliable organizations like the American Dietetic Association, and sponsored by . . . aspartame.
Got that? Okay, but there’s more. Because I was trying not to get lost in the organizational rabbit hole, I backed out again to the Aspartame Resource Center and its expert medical advisors. After all, these were the medical professionals, the people who had the scientific knowledge, not to mention the connections with both the governmental agencies that protect our health and the largest medical and health organizations. Surely, they were to be trusted.
Skeptical, I started with the first name on the list, and I fell into yet another rabbit hole that seems, even now, to have no end. In fact, I never got past that first name.
The first name on the list? C. Wayne Callaway, M.D.
I went first to his own Web site. Once you get past the introductory quote from Hippocrates, you can find all sorts of interesting information there. In fact, he has very helpfully posted his entire curriculum vitae for all and sundry to see.
C. Wayne Callaway, M.D., received his medical training at Northwestern University, Mayo Graduate School of Medicine and Harvard University. Very impressive. He’s board certified in Internal Medicine, Clinical Nutrition, and Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism and has held academic appointments at Harvard Medical School, Mayo Medical School, and George Washington University.
He also works with the Mayo Clinic, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the USDA; he was an advisor to the U.S. Surgeon General and helped develop dietary guidelines for the USDA. He served as chair of the Public Information Committee of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition and the American Society for Nutrition Sciences, has been a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Nutrition, has been a committee member at the American Heart Association, has been an advisor to the American Medical Association.
And he’s served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, among other medical journals. Whew-busy man. Want more? His publications have appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Annals of Internal Medicine, the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, and the International Journal of Obesity, among others.
The separate biography on his site tells us that Dr. Callaway “has offered his expert views on nutrition on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, PBS, ESPN, and numerous affiliates, and has appeared on the McNeill-Lehrer Newshour, the Today Show, Good Morning America, Phil Donahue, Larry King Live, and other nationally syndicated news and talk programs.” His opinions on nutrition and health are “frequently published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, and Wall Street Journal, as well as in numerous magazines (Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, Business Week, Vogue, Elle, Glamour, People, Self, Health, Prevention, and others).” You know, the mainstream media.
Callaway’s bio says, “Dr. Callaway is a member of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition.” And remember, we also saw that he served as chair of the Public Information Committee of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition. But looking for the American Society for Clinical Nutrition takes you directly to the American Society for Nutrition, www.nutrition.org. They publish the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, “the highest ranked peer-reviewed journal in nutrition and dietetics,” and the Journal of Nutrition, “which provides the latest research on a broad spectrum of topics of vital interest to researchers, students, policymakers and all individuals with interests in nutrition.”
Sounds impressive, until you start poking at it, as I did. If you keep going deeper down that particular rabbit hole, you find that the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, A.K.A. the American Society for Nutrition, is supported by what they call “sustaining members,” which, they say, “[provide] corporate financial support for the society’s activities in education/training, scientific programs and professional outreach.” The site says that sustaining members have “the ability to sponsor educational opportunities, grants and other items.” Oddly, they don’t specify what those “other items” might be, but I’d be willing to bet that research is one of them.
Would you like to know who some of the sustaining members are? Get ready: The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Cadbury Schweppes. Campbell Soup Company. ConAgra Foods. Dannon. Eli Lilly. General Mills. Gerber. GlaxoSmithKline. Kellog. Kraft. Mars. McCormick. Monsanto (of course!). The National Dairy Council. Nestle. PepsiCo. POM Wonderful (maker of those nifty pomegranate juices). Procter & Gamble. The Sugar Association. Unilever. Wrigley. Wyeth.
To recap, because the players are getting a bit confusing now, Dr. C. Wayne Callaway is a recognized expert in nutrition, such an expert, in fact, that he testifies before Congress and appears on national television to expound on his views on food and nutrition. His views are published nationally, and frequently. He is, in short, a national expert, and his views are taken very, very seriously, and published in well respected medical journals. And he pats us on the back and tells us not to worry, aspartame is safe.
And he works with and writes for the folks who are “supported,” a.k.a. “paid by,” the food industry that uses aspartame. Indeed, he is a “medical expert” on the safety of aspartame, one hired by the aspartame industry to go before the mainstream media and tell us how safe aspartame is.
Dr. Callaway’s resume lists these as government agencies that he consults for: the Department of Health & Human Services; the National Insitutes of Health, or NIH; the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences; the U.S. Congress; the USDA, and, oddly, the U.S. Postal Service, to catch us, perhaps, if we try to send stevia through the mail.
Oh, and one more agency he consults for: the FDA. His Web site also helpfully lists the industry folks he consults for, a.k.a. “is paid by.” They include the American Institute of Wine and Food; Mars; Mead Johnson Nutritional Group; the Milk Industry Foundation; the Monsanto Corporation; Nabisco, Inc.; the National Dairy Council; the Nestle Foundation for Nutrition and Health; Ocean Spray; Parke-Davis; Proctor & Gamble; Quaker Oats; the United Dairy Industry.
Oh, and one more: NutraSweet.
To recap once again, a nationally recognized expert on nutrition who says, in his extraordinarily frequent public appearances, that aspartame is safe, is paid by Ajinomoto and NutraSweet, the two largest producers of aspartame, to say that aspartame is safe. (And, this may be helpful for some of you, he’s also spoken about the safety of Olestra. Just, you know, fyi.) I said earlier that we were being misled in the name of corporate profits. Where do the profits come in? It is projected that the U.S. market for artificial sweeteners, with aspartame leading the charge, will be about $1.1 billion by 2010. That’s in this country, only; worldwide, it’s projected to be over $3 billion. That’s a lot of money for an easily concoted chemical.
But you’ll need to be vigilant, especially given the tiny print on most ingredient labels. And given the propensity of aspartame to turn up where you least expect it, such as in the vitamins you give to your child, or your liquid antibiotics, or your Metamucil.
The bottom line is, your vigilance is the only thing standing between you and your unwilling ingestion of a dangerous product. Our government and our medical experts are in the very deep pockets of the industry that makes and sells that dangerous product, and no help is going to come from them. None.
It’s attributed to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
Pat, pat, pat.
If you would like to learn more you may want to read other articles on aspartame and the potential health risks associated with its use.
- Aspartame- The Silent Killer
- Aspartame Side Effects
- Aspartame Poisoning
- Aspartame and Pregnancy
- Aspartame and Diabetes
- Diet Soda Dangers: Why I gave it up for Good
Looking for additional information? Check out this video:
-www.aspartamesafety.com
-http://aspartame.worldwidewarning.net/
-http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/
-http://www.sweetpoison.com/
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18495230
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18495230
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20884773
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23097267
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22766026
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11408989
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22457081
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20886530
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17354619
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22509243
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23097267
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16507461
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17805418
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9714421
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22385158
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18343556
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17673349
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11991085
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17119233
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22922192
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17805418
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21376768
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23088901
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16352620
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19896282
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18627677
-http://www.wnho.net/monkey_study.pdf
Want more information about the graphic? Check out Monsanto’s Dirty Dozen by GMO Awareness
Alcohol and Blood Sugar Level
Alcohol and Blood Sugar Level
The problem with over-indulgence in alcohol consumption is not just related to decreased impulse control and a headache the following day. Alcohol ingestion can interfere with the healthy maintenance of glucose levels in the bloodstream-and cause blood glucose to precipitously rise or fall. In heavy drinking, alcohol can lead to a dangerous drop in blood glucose leading to a hypoglycemic reaction. Not only can this result in confusion and disorientation, but it can be life-threatening. For diabetics, alcohol consumption can increase blood glucose levels-leading to a hyperglycemic reaction and potential diabetic coma.
Diabetes and Alcohol Intake
There are interactions between alcohol and many oral diabetes medications, so individuals diagnosed with diabetes need to be careful in consuming alcohol. The primary contraindication for diabetics pertaining to alcohol consumption is related to both carbohydrates and sugar. Calorie consumption is usually carefully monitored in diabetic diets, and carbohydrates are particularly caloric. Additionally, a diabetic complication of high triglyceride levels can be increased by alcohol intake. As a blood lipid (along with cholesterol), high triglycerides have been correlated to a risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attack, and stroke.
Alcohol as an Appetite Stimulant
One of the reasons that alcohol often increases the sensation of hunger may be linked to dehydration-a physical response to excess alcohol consumption. The "binge eating" that can follow imbibing drinks with a high alcohol content can add calories as well as increase blood sugar. This can actually promote the development of diabetes in heavy drinkers. In alcoholics, diabetes is often uncontrolled with consequent peripheral vascular damage. This can lead to poor healing subsequent to an injury-and leg amputations. The disabling effect of diabetes combined with alcohol addiction can severely reduce quality of life. Since depression is also related to uncontrolled diabetes, the risk of suicide is increased in diabetic alcoholics.
Insulin and Alcohol Consumption
Injecting insulin is one way that diabetic individuals control high blood sugar. While an occasional drink is not necessarily a bad idea for a person diagnosed with diabetes, the critical factor is balancing the intake of carbohydrates and sugar so as not to engender a high blood glucose level. The problem with increasing the insulin dose to counteract an increased ingestion of sugar is that insulin shock can result. Developing meal plans in conjunction with medication management under the supervision of a nutritionist is highly recommended for diabetic individuals. Poorly controlled diabetes is linked to a variety of complications, so it is advisable to control it as much as possible.
Heavy alcohol consumption and obesity are often concurrent risks to health. Not only diabetes but osteoporosis and other disorders are linked to heavy drinking and obesity. Decreasing alcohol intake may be a part of a tailored weight loss plan to improve overall health status and reduce the likelihood of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Do you Know That Broccoli is a Man-made Food?
Did You Know That Broccoli is a Man-made Food?
There is No Such Thing as Wild Broccoli
Broccoli is a human innovation, a man-made food, and a result of a mutation selected and cultivated by man throughout history. Known for its green hue and resemblance to a tiny tree, broccoli has been the bane of kid’s existence since it was first introduced in the Mediterranean almost 1,000 years ago. Broccoli is a result of the selective breeding of wild cabbage plants starting around the 6th century BC. Its name, from the Italian broccolo, relates to the flowering top of a cabbage – a tribute to its heritage. Since the Roman Empire, broccoli has been regarded a valuable man-made food and source of nutrition among the people of Italy and was eventually introduced to England and America in the 1700s. It took until the 1920s for broccoli to gain in popularity in the United States.
How Broccoli was Bred
Start with a wild cabbage. Wild cabbage has small flowering buds, but only flowers every other year. By controlling the environment, perhaps in a greenhouse of sorts, a horticulturist (or even a very patient veggie lover) can make the wild plant to reproduce itself many times, each time selecting the resulting plant that has the most desirable qualities and simply discarding the rest. For broccoli, the selected traits were likely larger, tastier buds. This selection process was a lengthy one that spanned over many years before the vegetable began to resemble our modern quintessential green vegetable.
Further evidence of how far broccoli has come are vegetables like cauliflower, kohlrabi, brussel sprouts, kale, even the modern form of cabbage available at grocery stores. Each of these seemingly distinct vegetables were also bred from wild cabbage and did not occur as wild plants before. They can each be considered a man-made food. Broccoli even has three varieties itself! Have you seen the fancier, more delicate broccolini?
But Don’t Worry, Broccoli is not a GMO
Broccoli may be a man-made food, but it is not considered a GMO. Genetically modified organisms (also known as GMOs) are food plants that have been produced from organisms in which specific changes were introduced into their DNA through genetic engineering. Such engineering has allowed for the introduction of new desired traits to crops such as resistance to pesticides, and has also allowed for better control over the plant’s genetic structure. While this modification process may sound like the one described above, the key to GMOs and their controversies is the genetic engineering – the meddling in the plant’s DNA. Broccoli and its other cabbage family relatives, on the other hand, were developed from selective breeding techniques in which the desired traits were naturally occurring, even if they were considered anomalies. So while broccoli is a man-made food, nature assisted in its creation. So go ahead, eat up. Just don’t expect to find some wild broccoli on your next camping trip!
For more information on the roots of broccoli and other man-made food, see this article on Brassica oleracea.
Best Breakfasts to Control your Blood Sugar
Best Breakfasts to Control your Blood Sugar
One thing that you will definitely want to plan out as you start making positive changes in your daily diet is how you get your day started off. What you eat for breakfast will have a large influence on how the rest of your day goes and whether you're energized and maintaining stable blood sugar or whether you're crashing all day long.
Fortunately, choosing smart first thing in the morning doesn't have to be difficult as long as you educate yourself on what's healthiest.
Let's go over the best breakfasts that you should consider serving up.
Eggs
First, you can't go wrong with eggs. This is a high quality source of protein that's also low in cost, so ideal for just about everyone.
Whether you choose to eat just egg whites or add a yolk for the fat and nutrients it contains is up to you, but do try and get in some fat with this meal if you don't use the yolk, adding some olive oil instead perhaps.
Prepare these scrambled, in omelette form, hard boiled, or over-easy - whatever you prefer.
Try and serve them with some diced vegetables whenever possible to up your intake of fiber, antioxidants, and vitamins.
Oatmeal
Next, if you have a very busy day ahead and need something higher in carbohydrates, oatmeal will be a great choice. Oatmeal is sugar-free (as long as you purchase the regular variety), rich in fiber, low in fat, and will offer a small dose of protein as well, coming in at around 4 grams per serving depending on the variety you choose. It also has a GI value of 55, making them a low GI choice.
As this is primarily a carbohydrate source though, you will want to make sure you do get some protein into the picture, either preparing it with some skim milk or adding in a scoop of protein powder after it's cooked.
Top it with some fresh berries or a sliced apple with some cinnamon.
It's a hot breakfast that will stick to your ribs and keep you well-fueled throughout the morning.
Home-Prepared Pancakes
Finally, don't overlook home-prepared pancakes as well. These are a great breakfast to serve when you have a little more time for prep work first thing in the morning. If you love the original pancake breakfast but don't want the load of carbs, you can easily recreate this recipe.
Simply combine together some oats, egg whites, and protein power to form a batter and then pour onto a grill, cooking like you would any other pancake. Flip at half time and then serve with some natural peanut butter on top for healthy fats.
So there you have three great ways to start your morning off right. Remember that skipping breakfast or just choosing a sugar-laden cereal bar as you get on your way is a fast track towards fluctuating blood glucose levels and an energy crash mid-morning.
You may think you'll 'save' on calories by avoiding eating, but really, you're doing anything but. Most of those who skip breakfast actually eat more throughout the day than those who eat right first thing in the morning.
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