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The Carbohydrate Debate
By: Renee Kennedy
To eat or not to eat carbohydrates. that is the question.
There are good carbs and there are bad carbs.
How can we tell the difference and how do we know
what to eat?
The old way of classifying carbohydrates:
Complex Carbohydrates provide fiber, vitamins,
minerals and energy. Some foods that contain complex
carbohydrates are whole grain bread, legumes like peas
and beans, pasta, rice, and starchy vegetables.
Simple Carbohydrates are broken down quickly to
provide energy. Simple carbohydrates are found
naturally in milk, fruits and vegetables. Simple carbs
are also found in processed foods like syrup, soda,
and refined sugar found in many processed baked goods.
In this way of classifying carbs, it is recommended that
we limit our intake of simple carbs and get most of our
carbohydrates from complex carbs.
The new way of classifying carbohydrates:
The Glycemic Index (GI) measures how quickly blood
sugar rises after ingesting a food with carbohydrates.
Eating a diet full of foods that have been rated with a
high GI may contribute to an increased risk of diabetes
and heart disease.
Highly processed or highly refined carbohydrates have
been found to have a high GI - foods like white bread,
white rice, white pasta, french fries and refined
breakfast cereals.
Whole foods will have a lower GI - legumes, whole
fruit, and whole grains like wheat, oats, barley, and
brown rice.
However, there are exceptions to this rule. Many other
factors influence the GI of a food. Fiber content,
fat content, ripeness, and type of starch also affect the
GI. Thus some foods like potatoes and bananas have
a high GI.
Diets that advise you to eat a low amount of
carbohydrates have gone part of the way to increase
awareness of the differences of carbs. The Glycemic
Index has also helped us to determine that all carbs are
not created equal. Some kinds of carbohydrates help
promote health, but others actually increase the risk for
diseases like diabetes and coronary heart disease.
What should we eat?
The general rule is that highly processed carbs are not as
good for us as natural carbs. How can we get away from
highly refined foods - it's everywhere you look!
Here are some techniques for buying food:
1. Educate yourself. learn to read the backs of packages
of food and know the difference between a processed food
and a natural food. (However, if it's packaged in a box,
bag, or can - chances are it's processed.)
2. Go to the store with a list.
3. Do not go to the store hungry.
4. Do not go to fast food restaurants. instead try out
diners or restaurants that boast home cooked meals.
5. Get your fruits and vegetables from farmers markets or
farm stands whenever possible. Not only will you save
money, you will also be getting better quality produce.
Read more about The Glycemic Index:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates.html
Need help counting your carbs? http://www.NutriCounter.com
The NutriCounter is the right device for helping you monitor your
carbohydrate intake. It stores and tracks nine nutrients including
calories, total fat, saturated fat, protein, carbohydrates, sodium,
cholesterol, sugar, and fiber. It's available in Palm OS and
Pocket PC software or as a hand held unit.
About the Author
Renee Kennedy is the editor of the monthly ezine NutriCounter
Update. Come and visit the NutriCounter web site at
http://www.nutricounter.com/news.htm for an extensive selection
of articles on health, nutrition and exercise.
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How to Benefit from the Mind-Body Connection
(excerpt)
You are about to gain insight into the
mind-body connection. The number of
people who truly understand these principles on our
planet are relatively few.
There is an undeniable connection between our minds and
bodies, you can learn to use this fact to your benefit.
Dr. Bernie Siegel, author of "Love, Medicine and
Miracles" was once a distraught cancer surgeon until he
began to understand the greater principles of the mind-
body connection. He felt dragged down by the artificial
barriers that existed between patient and doctor, and the
helplessness he often felt as a result of his inability
to effectively serve those patients. Eventually, those
barriers were disintegrated by Dr. Siegel's recognition
and growing understanding of the mind-body connection and
how it could serve his patients and himself.
Dr. Siegel, or Bernie as he began to have his patients
refer to him, had some
startling realizations as a cancer surgeon. He found that
there were actually
quite a few people in the world that successfully beat
the statistics on cancer
survival. He began to recognize that a patient's ability
to defeat something as
serious as cancer had to do with the patient's mind and
attitude about their
disease.
If you would like to see the rest of
this article, please go here:
http://www.tobeinformed.com/repository/mind-body.html
copyright 2004 - David Snape
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