Pharmahealthblog. Health and medical information

Everybody can benefit from adopting the G.I. factor approach to eating. It is the way nature intended us to eat. She packaged all the nutrients we needed in a slow-release form. Since the Industrial Revolution, however, we have taken nature’s carbohydrates and manufactured them into fast-release or instant food as part of our quest for a more palatable, eye-catching and less perishable food supply. Unfortunately, the effect of all those instant foods is catching up on us in the form of diseases of affluence such as obesity and diabetes.

There is, however, no need to turn our backs on progress. We have sufficient knowledge of food and nutrition to let the pendulum swing back just enough to suit our needs. But we need the facts. We need answers. In this section we set out the facts about some of the most frequently asked questions about carbohydrates, diet and the G.I. factor to dispel any lingering doubts.

The sugar/fat seesaw. Did you know that fat and sugar tend to show a reciprocal or seesaw relationship in the diet? Studies over the past decade have found that diets high in sugar are lower in fat, especially saturated fat. Restricting sugar is frequently followed by higher fat consumption, and many fats are poor sources of nutrients. Thus a low sugar diet is not necessarily more nutritious. In some cases, high sugar diets have been found to have higher micronutrient contents, especially of calcium and riboflavin. This is because sugar is often used to sweeten some very nutritious foods, such as yoghurts, breakfast cereals and milk. A low sugar (and high fat) diet has more proven disadvantages than a high sugar (and low-fat) diet.

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Cycling. As with swimming, cycling is a weight-supported, or non-weight-bearing activity, and therefore of less absolute benefit in fat loss than the non-weight-supportive physical activities. However, again it can have value in the early stages of a program to enable someone to reduce enough fat to carry out other weight-bearing exercise.

Jogging. Jogging is one of the most effective fat loss physical activities available, but ironically, it is not suited for big or overfat people. It can be quite painful and de-motivating for anyone to carry a large body mass over a distance at speed. It can also be relatively dangerous, not just for the extra pressure put on the cardiovascular system, but because of the possibility of weak joints in the hips, knees and ankles.

Many men, who lose significant body fat, are then often motivated to jog and this should obviously not be discouraged. It is important to make clear, however, that jogging is not necessary for fat loss, as many people think. The ‘no pain, no gain’ philosophy may be true for the elite athlete, but it has no relevance for very unfit fat individuals.

Walking. For most people, walking represents the single most natural, easiest and convenient form of fat loss physical activity. Because it can be carried out at low-moderate intensity over long durations and with low impact, it presents few injury problems or health risks, walking does not have to be brisk, but most importantly, it should be carried out over a set distance, preferably equating to 3-4 km per day. It can also be increased as part of ‘madental’ activity, such as walking up stairs, not using transport, etc. Hence, in the vast majority of cases where injury is not a limiting factor, walking is perhaps the best form of ‘planned’ physical activity for fat loss.

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While fatness has never been highly regarded in modern societies, and while there has been a weight control industry around for some time to cater for people with cosmetic concerns, the real interest in fatness—as a health issue—is relatively new. It began in the 1950s with the discovery that a high body weight and abdominal fat were related to a number of diseases. Our understanding of these factors has increased in recent years with a growing awareness of the extent of the problem. Table 1.5 shows some of the changes in thinking that have occurred in that time.

The most significant changes have occurred in our understanding of measures of body fatness, what causes fatness and appropriate treatment and prevention strategies.

Ideas about measuring fat have shifted with changes in technology, and we have a better understanding of the types and distribution of fat related to disease. In general there has been a shift away from a single fat measure towards a combination, including body mass index, sagittal diameter and waist circumference, that can be used in a practical situation.

The main changes in thinking about the causes of overfatness centre around the type, rather than quantity of food eaten (e.g. the influence of energy from fat on total energy), and the impact of individual factors (particularly genetics) in influencing body fatness. There are, for example, big genetic differences in fat gain and in the extent of fat loss in response to a particular exercise or diet stimulus, and these have not been sufficiently recognised in the past. The interaction of biology with the environment and behaviour also needs to be considered. Understanding the causes of fatness is, of course, vital to the development of correct techniques of coping with it. The implications of all these changes for those interested in fat loss or maintenance of body fat are quite new.

Other changes in orientation have included a re-analysis of the role of fatness in ill-health. Epidemiological studies carried out in the 1960s and 1970s found little correlation between weight and major diseases like heart disease, because the measure of fatness used was generally a measure of body mass (i.e. weight or body mass index (BMI)), which ciiscriminates against healthy, lean, muscular individuals. Epidemiological studies also looked for independent effects of obesity, whereas its effects are largely mediated via other risk factors such as high blood pressure. A re-analysis of these data has now shown that fat distribution is a key factor in ill-health and this explains much of the earlier epidemiological evidence. It’s not only someone is fat that is important in health terms, but also where they are fat.

There has also been an increasing emphasis on gender, race and age and other individual factors on fat gain and loss, to the extent that it’s becoming apparent that any program must be individualised, as stressed throughout this book. However, recognition of the importance of the environment also makes a public health approach imperative.

There has also been a change away from the concentration on ‘diet’ as a form of treatment towards a change in lifestyle which, unlike short term diets, can be maintained over a lifetime. This includes a move away from exercise designed for cardiovascular fitness, towards an increase in the level of total activity—both planned and ‘incidental’—that is carried out within our changing, modem technological lifestyles. To this extent, professionals who deal only in prescribing diets or exercise are unlikely to maintain a primary role in fat loss through lifestyle management in the future.

Finally, a major shift in direction, begun in the 1990s, has been a change in thinking about the psychological aspects of obesity and body fat maintenance. In the 1970s, the use of behaviour modification techniques in weight control began and this has now become standard in most modem programs. More recently it’s been recognised that much more complex, emotional and cognitive (thinking) functions are involved in obesity. This is particularly so in the case of many women, who have suffered much more social and psychological pressure than men to attain an unrealistic body shape, and as a result have often developed counter-productive cognitive cycles of guilt, depression and anger associated with food and food restriction. Modem approaches need to pay more attention to dealing with these issues. Counselling also needs to become more reflective and less directive to empower people to resolve these issues themselves rather than simply replace one dependency (food) with another (a counsellor).

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Swedish women, internationally known for their luscious complexions and youthful beauty, use certain natural foods to stay beautiful.

Swedish beauty secret number one—rose hips—is also Swedish rejuvenation secret number one: Rose hips tea is the Swedish fountain of youth!

Here’s how rose hips can keep you young. Russian scientists have discovered that vitamin C has a profound stimulating effect on the adrenal glands. Adrenal glands secrete over 20 steroid hormones which are directly involved in keeping your vital bodily processes in a condition of high efficiency. It is generally agreed that a decrease in the output of these hormones, which usually begins in late middle life, is responsible for the symptoms of aging. Russian researchers have demonstrated that substantial daily doses of vitamin C have a rejuvenating, stimulating effect on the glandular activity, and the vital hormones are once more produced at higher levels, similar to the level of younger people.

Vitamin C is also known to play an essential part in the oxidation-reduction system of tissue respiration, as shown by Dr. W. J. McCormick, M.D. In addition, vitamin C is a known chemotherapeutic agent; in fact it is the most potent natural “drug” known in the therapy of practically all bacterial and viral infections. Vitamin C is also a highly potent anti-toxic agent and protects the body from all kinds of poisonous substances, both those originating within the system, as a result of sluggish digestion and elimination, as well as those introduced into the system by food, water and air. Since growing old is often associated with sluggish metabolism and autointoxication, it is easy to see how large doses of vitamin C can have a rejuvenating effect on old people.

There is also growing evidence that the aging process is largely a matter Of the diminished oxygenation of the cells. Vitamin C has a great effect on improved cell breathing and thus prevents premature aging.

Perhaps the most vital function of vitamin C is in keeping collagen, the cellular cement, healthy. The visible symptoms of aging are mainly in the condition of the skin. It loses its youthful tight appearance and fresh color and becomes gray, dull, loose and flabby. Finally wrinkles appear all over, particularly on the face, neck and hands. These aging symptoms are largely due to the unhealthy state of collagen. Collagen is an elastic substance that holds all the tissues together—tissues of the muscles, organs, tendons, and last but not least, the tissues of the skin. When these connective tissues are healthy, they are strong and elastic and the skin is tight and has the look of youth. When collagen loses its tensile strength, muscles sag, the subcutaneous tissues (the layer just beneath the skin) become weak and lose their tension, and the skin becomes covered with wrinkles. What causes these degenerative changes in collagen? The answer is simple—the deficiency of vitamin C.

Now you can see why Russian scientists believe that they have found the Fountain of Youth in vitamin C.

Hardening of the arteries, atherosclerosis, and heart attacks are true diseases of premature aging. Many doctors believe that you are as old as your arteries. Recently, Boris Sokoloff, M.D., Director of the Southern Bio-Research Institute, Florida, reported that their conclusions, based on research and widespread evidence from medical literature, is that ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is the key factor in averting atherosclerosis, and that atherosclerosis (heart disease leading to heart attack) may, in fact, well be a vitamin C deficiency disease.1

The healthy function of sex glands is directly related to general health and to the prolonged feeling and appearance of youth. A Japanese doctor, M. Higuchi, has demonstrated that there is a relationship between vitamin C levels and the hormone production of the sex glands. In addition to vitamin C, vitamin E (which is sold in automatic dispensers in Sweden labeled as the sex-vitamin) plays an important part in the efficient activity of the sex glands. Prostatic fluid, which nourishes the sperm and keeps them alive, is extremely rich in vitamin C. A deficiency of vitamin C and vitamin E can slow down the hormone production of sex glands and consequently lead to premature aging.

Vitamin C—the miracle producer

If there ever has been a real miracle drug, vitamin C is it. It has so many universal applications that it is virtually impossible to find a condition of ill health, disease or diminished well-being which vitamin C would not affect favorably, very often with a miraculous healing effect. Since old age is often associated with various conditions of diminished health, it stands to reason that vitamin C should be a rejuvenating tonic number one for everyone over 40 years of age.

Do you get sufficient amounts of vitamin C in your diet? A recent Department of Agriculture report tells us that almost half of the American people eat diets deficient in vitamins C and A. Vitamin E is practically totally eliminated from American diet due to the refining of grains and oils; and available vitamin C in the American diet has been steadily declining for the last 20 years.

Swedish people have been using large amounts of vitamin C for centuries. Rose hips, the richest natural vitamin C source known to man (with the exception of acerola cherries), is a staple food in Sweden. They use it daily in the form of rose hip tea,1 rose hip soup, rose hip puree, etc.

Swedish people have another secret of staying young—whey. In Sweden whey is a staple food in the form of whey cheese and whey butter. In the United States you can obtain whey in a powder or tablet form from health food stores. Make a habit of eating some whey each day. It may surprise you by solving all your irregularity problems and make you feel—and look—ten years younger practically overnight!

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Supplement your diet with the following food supplements and vitamins which have been found to be of particular benefit in cases of high blood pressure:

Choline. It has been demonstrated that deficiency in choline, one of the B-vitamins, plays a role in the development of high blood pressure. Patients with dangerous hypertension improved markedly after they had been given choline daily. Their blood pressure dropped and their capillaries were strengthened.3 Lecithin, made from soybeans, is an excellent source of choline. Brewer’s yeast is also an excellent source of choline and all the other B-vitamins.

Vitamin E. Because vitamin E helps oxygenate the blood and decreases the need for oxygen, it is of special importance for patients with high blood pressure. Vitamin E also dilates the arteries. Wheat germ oil is the richest source of natural vitamin E.

Vitamin C. Natural vitamin C strengthens the blood vessels and blood capillaries and makes them more elastic. Therefore, more vitamin C in the diet may prevent cerebral hemorrhage caused by weak blood capillaries. It is important to take only natural vitamin C, which also contains vitamin P, or bioflavonoids. Bioflavonoids are of particular importance for the health of blood capillaries. The study made in Russia by Dr. D. E. Dzheims-Levi shows that bioflavonoids, or vitamin P, have a curative effect on high blood pressure. “On the basis of our observations we concluded that vitamin P has a beneficial effect on the well-being of patients and considerably lowers the blood pressure of patients with hypertension—blood pressure rises again when the patients discontinue vitamin P treatment.”

Potassium. It has been demonstrated in animal tests that potassium deficiency can be one of the causes of high blood pressure. It is known that excessive salt intake will cause the loss of potassium. The incidence of hypertension is greater in countries with excessive salt intake. Also, the wide use of refined foods and too few green leafy vegetables in the diet contributes to the very common potassium deficiency. The best sources of potassium are fresh or cooked green leafy vegetables. Avoid salt if you have high blood pressure. Substitute salt with kelp, which is also very rich in potassium.

Garlic. There is much material in medical literature which suggests that garlic has a dilating effect on blood vessels and is effective in reducing blood pressure. Dr. F. G. Piotrowski, of the University of Geneva, used garlic on 100 patients with abnormal blood pressure, with excellent results.

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