Why Low Glycemic Foods?

Some currently popular eating plans like The Perricone Prescription, A Week in the Zone and The Protein Power Lifeplan recommend low glycemic foods. 

The theory is that sugar and high glycemic carbs that rapidly convert to sugar trigger a release of insulin to control the level of sugar in the bloodstream. Excess sugar in the bloodstream is inflammatory and causes a cascade of free radical damage. 

To explain how dangerous this is, Dr, Perricone points out that diabetics with poorly controlled blood sugar age one third faster than nondiabetics and are prone to kidney failure, blindness, heart attack and stroke.

So insulin comes to the rescue to clear the excess sugar from the bloodstream. And what do you suppose the insulin does with all this sugar? It stores it as fat. And worse yet, until the insulin sweeps up the excess sugar, it runs rampant throughout the body causing glycation and cross-linking of the body's collagen.

The effect is visible on the skin, which becomes leathery and inflexible as we age. Though it can't be seen, the same damage is taking place inside the body where it affects other vital organs including the kidneys, lungs and brain.

So far, so good. Nutritionists have recommended that people cut their consumption of sugar for decades. The surprise when one ranks sugars and carbs by their glycemic index, is that some foods we normally think of as healthy show up as being bad for you.

The glycemic index is a ranking from 1 to 100, with 100 indicating the increase in blood sugar from eating table sugar (or white bread in one scale). Whichever scale is used, the important thing is a rank ordering of a food's effect on blood sugar.

The low glycemic food diets mentioned above have different cut off points. For example, Dr. Perricone's 28-day program prohibits any foods that score above 50 on the glycemic scale. That leaves out such things as bananas, bagels, carrots, corn, potatoes, rice and watermelon.

You can read more about the glycemic index (GI) and view the whole table http://www.mendosa.com/gi.htm here. This site is authored by David Mendoza, a freelance medical writer and consultant specializing in diabetes. The site is a gold mine of information.

Mr. Mendoza points out that a food's glycemic index tells you how rapidly a particular carb turns into sugar, but not how much of that carbohydrate is in a serving. In other words, it's not just the quality of the carb, but also the quantity, that counts. 
The version of glycemic index on his site (courtesy of Professor Jennie-Brand Miller of the University of Sydney) includes a column called glycemic load (GL) as well as a column of serving size in grams. A glycemic load of 20 or more is considered high; 11 to 19 is medium; and 10 or less is low.

Looking at this bigger picture, some of the "bad" carbs in low-glycemic food diets turn out to be not so bad. A 120g serving of watermelon has a horrible GI of 74 but a very low GL of 4. A medium banana (129g) has a bad GI of 51 but a medium GL of 13. An 80g serving of carrots has a borderline GI of 47 but a low GL of only 3. The same amount of corn has a GI of 47 but a low GL of 7.

On the other hand, some carb foods look bad whether you go by the GI or the GL. A 70g bagel has a high GI (72) as well as a high GL (25). A 150g serving of boiled white rice has a GI of 56 and a GL of 24. A medium baked potato (159g) has a high GI (60) and a marginal GL (18).

If you decide to concentrate on low-glycemic foods, I recommend you focus on a food's glycemic load. Just be careful to adhere to the indicated serving sizes (or adjust the calculation accordingly), GL is a better measure of how much sugar in total is being poured into the bloodstream and the amount of sugar that will be stored as fat.

This article is for informational purposes only. It does not purport to offer medical advice.

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How Nutrition is linked with Cancer Prevention

For many years it was assumed that what you ate each day had little or nothing to do with helping in the prevention of many of our deadliest cancers. However, recent research has proven that nutrition does indeed play a major role in the prevention and treatment of many types of cancer.

There are certain vitamins and minerals that are believed to enhance and spread malignancies through the bodies system, and this is needed to help prevent cancer. There are also vitamins and minerals that help to prevent the growth of tumors.

The National Cancer Institute has reported that one third of all cancer is diet related. They have also gone on to say that making changes in the diet can help to prevent most of the cancer that is related to nutrition.

Research has shown that diets that include fruits and vegetables eaten on a daily bases, according to the recommended daily allowance, give a reduced risk of the majority of the deadliest cancers. For a diet to provide a reduced risk, certain vitamins and minerals must be included. This means that foods that are rich in bioflavonoids, fiber, and vitamins A, C, and E must be consumed regularly. These all seem to help to slow, stop, and even reverse the process that leads to cancer.

Now, everyone knows that cigarette smoking is one of the leading causes of cancer, particularly cancer of the lungs. But many of the cancers caused by smoking are related to a severe lack of vitamin C. Cigarette smoking depletes vitamin C in the body very quickly. It is highly recommended that smokers follow a diet with more fruits and vegetables that contain high amounts of vitamin C to replenish the bodies depleted supply

 Most cancer patients are referred to a registered dietitian to help promote a diet that will help aid in the bodies healing and recovery process. In the final stages of cancer, most patients do not feel like eating. In the past, many of these patients were force fed. However, recent research has shown that when a patient does not feel like eating, it is the body's way of trying to starve the cancer.

During the time that the body is trying to starve the cancer, doctors will go into action and bombard the cancer with treatments. When the cancer is destroyed, the patient's appetite will return back to normal and the body's recovery can take place.

While we have learned how certain nutrients included in the diet can help prevent, slow down and even reverse many forms of cancer, there are numerous forms of cancer most of which are very deadly and many people do not survive the ordeal.

If you are ever one of the unfortunate ones that acquire one of these deadly cancers, or someone you know does, always remember that proper nutrition will help through the process. Aside from your doctor and specialist, it will pay you ten fold to seek out the aid of a qualified registered dietitian who can put together a nutrition plan for you that will help you fight the cancer every step of the way. Your doctor may even refer you to a dietitian as part of your treatment.