the dangers of consuming too much sugar

Who does not like the sweetness of sugar taste? And who can resist the temptations of sweet foods like pudding, chocolate, or ice cream? Many people would love it because sweet foods or drinks are often considered more delicious for consumption.

Finally, unwittingly, sugar will easily enter into your body in large quantities, both in the form of food / beverages. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended reducing the amount of sugar intake by less than 10 percent of daily energy intake - or even better if less than 5 percent.

The recommended sugar intake limit for adults is 50 grams or the equivalent of twelve teaspoons of sugar per person per day. While the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends children aged 2 to 18 years to not consume more than six teaspoons of sugar in the daily diet. The recommendations do not include sugars found naturally in milk, fruit or vegetables.

When you eat sugar, your body will get glucose derived from sugar. The glucose will be stored in the body as a backup energy. However, although sugar can provide energy, you still have to limit your sugar intake to your body. Because otherwise, the excess sugar in your body will adversely affect your health. Here are some consequences of excessive sugar consumption on your body.

1. Always want to eat

In addition to burden the liver, excess fructose in the body can also disrupt the body's metabolic system by shutting down your appetite control system. The condition triggers the body's failure to stimulate the production of insulin hormone, increasing the production of the hormone ghrelin that plays a role in causing hunger, but decrease the production of leptin hormone that plays a role in causing satiety.

This is evidenced in studies showing that excessive consumption of direct sugar / fructose can increase the production of ghrelin, and reduce the body's sensitivity to the hormone insulin. This is what makes you will always be hungry despite having eaten a lot.

2. Insulin hormone resistance

The more sugar you eat, the more insulin production your body will produce. The hormone insulin plays a role in helping convert food into energy. However, when body insulin levels and sugar levels are high, it will make the sensitivity of hormone production decreases and makes glucose accumulate in the blood. Symptoms experienced by this condition, called insulin resistance, are fatigue, hunger, brain fog, and high blood pressure.

3. Dental caries

Dental caries occurs when the bacteria that live in the mouth digest the carbohydrate residue from the food you consume, whether it is the rest of the sugar in the donuts you consume or other. The bacteria will decay and produce acids that can destroy tooth enamel / dentine.

4. Liver damage

Sugar that enters the bloodstream from the digestive tract will be broken down into glucose and fructose. Unfortunately, fructose is not produced by the body in significant amounts - because it is not really needed by the body. Thus, excessive sugar consumption can make the body of excess fructose that can burden the liver and cause fatty liver. This is what can trigger health complications.

Heart disease

Although the link between excess sugar consumption and heart disease is not so clear. However, a study in the Journal of the American Heart Association in 2013 states that excess sugar consumption can make the interruption of the way the heart organ in pumping blood.

Other studies have also shown that the consumption of excess sweet drinks can increase blood pressure and stimulate the liver to get rid of fat into the bloodstream. Both of these things can increase the risk of heart disease.

6. Metabolic dysfunction

Excess sugar consumption can lead to classic metabolic syndrome, such as weight gain, abdominal obesity, HDL decrease, elevated LDL, high blood sugar, elevated triglycerides, and high blood pressure.

7. Fat in the abdomen

The more sugar you consume, the more will increase the risk of fat accumulation in your waist and abdomen. It may also increase the risk of obesity.

10 How to care for eye health

We sometimes forget to take care of eye health. Though the eye is included in the five most important senses in the human body. Without eyes, we cannot see the beauty of the world and the faces of our closest people. To ensure your eyes stay healthy with age, here are ten ways to treat eye health, as reported by Ehow.

1. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables

Carrots are loaded with beta carotene which is very helpful in maintaining eye health. That's because beta carotene is an antioxidant that can reduce the risk of macular degeneration.

2. Avoid wearing contact lenses for more than 19 hours

This can cause permanent eye damage and discomfort to your eyes. Do not wear glasses for too long.

3. Reduce the use of eye drops

Reduce the use of eye drops. Using eye drops to treat red eye may, but only occasionally. If excessive, it will actually damage the health of your eyes.

4. Use cucumber

Use a cucumber to compress your eyelids. Place a cold and soft cucumber slice over the eyelid for 10 minutes before going to bed at night to prevent swelling.

5. Wear UV protective sunglasses

Use polarized lenses instead of just dark lenses. UV protective sunglasses are needed to counter exposure from the sun.

6. Avoid sitting too long in front of the computer

To maintain eye health, try not to spend too much time in front of a computer screen. It can make eyes tired.

7. Wear glasses at the right time

Be sure to wear goggles or wear other eye protection when working around chemicals or places with harmful air particulates.

8. Do not read in dim light

To maintain eye health, avoid reading in dim lights that can cause eye strain. If the eyes feel tired, stop for a while and rest.

9. Do not immediately see the light is too bright

Do not immediately see the light is too bright. Do not focus your eyes on the sun, because it can damage your eyes.

10. Train the eyes and make it to relax

Try focusing your eyes on an object close to you, a distant object. Repeat this process several times.

Sit down, place your elbows on your hips, close your eyes and close your eyes with the palm of your hand. Keeps the palm of the hand covering your eyes for 10 seconds. Open your eyes and repeat as necessary.

Here are ten ways to maintain eye health. Remember, it's better to prevent than to cure. Take good care of your eyes because without it you will not be able to see the beauty of the world

The Dark Side of Wheat

Wheat, the Bible tells us, is the "staff of life". It's been the cornerstone of human diet since antiquity. For over0 thousand years, wheat has occupied a prominent place in caves, huts and on modern tables. However, all wheat consumed today bears tiny resemblance to what our ancestors ate over the millennia. There the rub.

At the onset of agriculture, the first farmers planted & harvested a type of wheat called "Einkorn" (triticum monococcum). Einkorn had a simple genetic code containing fourteen chromosomes. A couple of millennia later, the "Emmer" (triticum dicoccum) variety of wheat made its appearance. This was a genetic hybrid of Einkorn & a wild grass called "Goat Grass" (aegilops speltoides). Emmer was slightly more complex than Einkorn due to its0 eight chromosome genetic structure, but still shared most of the genetic traits of its ancestor. Emmer & Einkorn would be the mainstays of man's wheat-dominated diet for thousands of years.


In the work of latter half of the 20th century, faced with the urgent issue of feeding the quickly growing world population, scientists conducted intensive research in to making a brand spanking new genetic wheat hybrid that would provide greater yield, & would be disease, drought, & heat resistant. Thus was born modern wheat: triticum aestivum. Today, modern wheat is the most consumed grain on earth & is responsible for0 percent of all human caloric consumption. While it is without a doubt true that this type of wheat prevented mass starvation in the third world, it is also responsible for a quantity of the most pernicious chronic degenerative diseases known to man.

Modern wheat contains forty two chromosomes, which puts it thousands of genes apart from the einkorn wheat of yore. Einkorn and modern wheat may look and taste the same, but there are major biochemical differences. Up to 75% of the total carbohydrate content in modern wheat consists of Amylopectin-A, a compound composed of a chain of glucose units. This starch is efficiently digested, and causes a sharp rise in blood sugar levels immediately upon consumption. Its glycemic index (GI) - a measure of how quickly blood sugar levels rise after eating a type of food - is 72, higher than sucrose (table sugar: GI 59). High GI foods are directly implicated in hyperinsulinism, chronic inflammation due to excess deposition of visceral fat in the body, and the collection of autoimmune conditions commonly known as Syndrome X. In his bestselling book "Wheat Belly", Dr. William Davis notes that while wheat and diabetes have travelled hand in hand throughout most of history, the arrival of modern wheat has precipitated an explosion in the rate of diabetes around the world today.

Other insidious effects of modern wheat are caused by the very component that gives it its unique cohesiveness and malleability: the protein Gluten. In about 1 in 100 people (98% of whom have the generic markers HLA-Q2 or DQ8), gluten triggers an immune response characterized by severe inflammation of the small intestine. This is manifested by incapacitating abdominal cramps, diarrhea, bloating and fatigue, a collection of symptoms widely known as Celiac disease. If left untreated, this condition has been shown to severely damage intestinal walls. Celiac disease has been recognized and treated by the medical community for several decades. However, gluten is also responsible for another, less recognized condition known as non-Celiac gluten sensitivity, which has very Celiac-like symptoms. This condition lacks the immune response, intestinal damage and genetic markers of celiac disease, but is linked to severe neurologic and psychiatric conditions including schizophrenia and cerebellar ataxia.

 

Gluten works its nefarious ways by stimulating the intestines to produce a protein called Zonulin. Zonulin damages the gut lining by breaking up the tight junctions between the intestinal cells thereby causing a leaky gut. As a result, partially digested food and intestinal microbes cross the gut barrier and enter the bloodstream. This exposure triggers an immune reaction, generating antibodies that attack the body's own tissue leading to systemic inflammation. Various conditions such as heart disease, dementia, cancer and diabetes are linked to systemic inflammation.

Another alarming aspect of gluten is that when exposed to stomach acid and enzymes, it gets digested into shorter proteins or polypeptides called exorphins. These are like endorphins that one gets from an exercise high. The exorphins can cross the blood brain barrier and bind to opioid receptors in the brain. These are the same receptors to which opiates such as heroin bind. Wheat exorphins behave exactly like a drug causing multiple problems with brain physiology including schizophrenia and autism. They also cause addictive behavior including cravings and binge eating. Thus gluten can alter mood and generate withdrawal symptoms upon its elimination.

Beyond gluten, there are about 20% non-gluten proteins can cause allergic or anaphylactic reactions in human. Some of these non-gluten proteins include agglutinins, alpha amylases, thioredoxin and glycerinaldehyd-3-phosphare dehydrogenases. Exposure of these elements triggers asthma, rashes and wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (WDEIA) in susceptible individuals.

Strict elimination of gluten is the most effective way to reverse all the above conditions. A gluten-free lifestyle is also recommended for ostensibly healthy individuals because the majority of individuals who are sensitive to wheat may not exhibit any visible problems. Yet when they cut wheat out of their diets, they experience health benefits that include better mood, clearer skin, less fatigue, clearer thinking. Gluten elimination also helps those who struggle with autoimmune diseases, mental disorders, migraines, eczema and psoriasis, and joint pain. If you are suffering from any of the issues listed below it may be worthwhile to try a gluten free diet for a period of six weeks.

1) Genetic predisposition or a family history of celiac disease or gluten intolerance

2) Presence of any digestive disease such as irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, poor intestinal permeability

3) Presence of food sensitivities that manifest as migraines, chronic fatigue, aches and pains, skin problems such as eczema, acne or pityriasis,

4) Presence or a family history of autoimmune conditions such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

5) Difficulty in losing weight.

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Calcium : Miracle Mineral

While abounding body’s ability be acquainted that calcium is acceptable for cartilage health, this is not the alone account that this phenomenon mineral provides. Various studies accept been conducted that acknowledge that calcium has an absolute aftereffect on weight management. An abstraction conducted at a university in Omaha appears that women who captivated aerial levels of calcium were beneath acceptable to accretion weight. The analysis was conducted on 575 women who were average aged.

It has additionally been apparent that calcium is basic in the action of metabolizing food. Calcium helps to bankrupt beef of fat. It has been apparent that bodies, who are calcium deficient, accept added fat stored in their cells. Bodies who accept a calcium-rich diet, absolution a hormone that tells the beef to absolution fat and lose weight. This ground-breaking account is abundant for bodies that are disturbing to lose exceptionable kilograms.

Further analysis appear that women who captivated at atomic 780 mgs of calcium did not accretion weight over a 24-month period. During the aforementioned timeframe, women who captivated beneath than this amount, in actuality acquired weight. An accumulation of bodies that captivated 1900 calories absent weight on a calcium-rich diet, alike added so than bodies that captivated beans, basics and blooming abounding vegetables. This is abundant account for those of us who attempt with spinach, broccoli and the like.

So abounding women ache from premenstrual syndrome, and their husbands do too! While women ache from aching breasts, bloating, cramps and backache. These affection account women to become bathetic and moody. It is at this time that men ache the best as women adversity from PMS can be rather difficult to alive with. The band-aid to this botheration is for women to access their assimilation of calcium. An abstraction involving 497 females, appear that women who took 1200 mgs of calcium, accomplished beneath of these affection aloof above-mentioned to accepting a period. Another analysis appears agnate after-effects in an accumulation of women who added their calcium assimilation from 600mg to 1200 mg.

Scientists accept conducted surveys on bodies with hypertension. An abstraction conducted over 13 years appears a 12 % abridgement in the claret burden of the participants. This was axiomatic in the accumulation of bodies who captivated 1300 mg of calcium per day in adverse to the accumulation that captivated 300mg a day. Bodies who were adolescent than 40 absolutely bargain their claret burden by 25% during the aforementioned study. It was added accustomed that these after-effects were alike bigger in the accumulation of bodies that were acute to salt.

Calcium has been accurate to be able in the war adjoin acclamation and aerial cholesterol. Surveys conducted on middle-aged women, appear that women who captivated aerial amounts of calcium, had a 32% beneath likelihood of adversity from a stroke. Alike women who took about 400mg a day were 12% beneath acceptable to abatement to this disease. In agreement of cholesterol, calcium does not affect the HDL or acceptable cholesterol. It does, however, abate the absolute cholesterol by as abundant as 6% and reduces the LDL or bad cholesterol by 11%.

It is important to agenda that obesity, acclamation and aerial cholesterol are three of the better killers in the western world. It is auspicious to apperceive that by artlessly accretion calcium intake, these diseases can be kept at bay.

There is abounding affirmation that calcium is benign for a host of reasons. The basal band is that it is astute to booty the appropriate bulk of calcium anniversary day in adjustment to alive a convalescent life. If you adjudge to alpha demography a calcium supplement, accomplish abiding you antecedent an ionic anatomy of the mineral. Ionic minerals are added calmly absorbable.

Helping Children Eat Healthy Through Involvement

Toddlers and children alike can be one of the most fussiest eaters there are in the world! Getting them to eat healthy may be a huge mountain to scale especially if they already started off on the wrong foot. Most parents and guardians make a common mistake of introducing junk and not so nutritious foods and beverages in the first few years of the child's life. The problem with this is that those are the kinds of foods that they become accustomed to and want to have all the time. And one of the many problems with this kind of diet is the fact that it may lead to childhood obesity, which in itself has several adverse health and emotional effects such as type 2 diabetes (which by the way some 20 years ago was only heard of in adults) and low self esteem amongst many others.

The thing is, it's important to set the right example for our kids if we want them to lead healthy lifestyles long after they "leave the nest" and have their own families. As I'm sure you already know, children learn mostly from what they see and not from what they hear. In other words, they do what they see you doing and not necessarily what you say. So if you eat a lot of fast food and soda pops, it's most likely that they will too and fancy it over any other type of diet.

One of the ways you can help your children to eat healthy is to cook homemade healthy meals. It can be pretty hectic if you lead a busy life, but you can at least try and prepare a meal from home twice or three times a week. To add to the excitement, ask your kids to come help you to prepare the meal, they will most definitely have an interest in eating what they have prepared (messy job it will be, but greater benefits at the end). If you are to eat out, choose healthier options, with less fat, cholesterol, sodium and saturated fat. If these are consumed over and above one's recommended daily allowance, they may lead to health problems.

Another way would be to take a trip with them to the farmers' market and have them see all the various kinds of fruits and vegetables. They can even engage the farmers, asking them how the fruit or vegetable comes to be and the benefits it has for their growing bodies. In fact, you can even go to a farm sometime and have the kids see for themselves how the vegetables and fruits come to be. And if you have space in your backyard, you can grow your own fruits and vegetables and have the children take part. As has been said, knowledge is power, so giving your children information about the benefits of fruits and vegetables and all the other food groups will help a great deal. They will know why vegetables are good for them and it will cease from being just a command. They'll eat them all up without a fight.

Don't give up when after you've tried this and your children don't seem interested in eating healthy, give them time. If you stick to your guns, they'll have no choice but to comply and before you know it, they would have acquired the taste and enjoying their meals. Instead of giving them chocolates and crisps to snack on, give them vegetable strips (like carrots and cucumber, etc),fruits, raisins, dried fruit, etc. They may put up a fight at first and suffer some withdrawal symptoms if they were used to junk food, but they'll eventually go with the flow. And in the long run you'll all reap the great benefits.

Not that they can never have pizza or ice-cream or any of the junk food ever again. You may give them as treats here and there but remember that moderation is key here. Don't let them over-indulge. Also, variety is important. Give them a variety of the fruits and vegetables so they can enjoy the different tastes as well as get full nutrition.

Learn more on how to eat healthy and fruit nutrition by following the links.

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What Are Potassium Rich Foods?

Potassium is the third most abundant mineral in the human body and, this being the case, it is very important in maintaining healthy bodily function. This mineral is crucial in regulating blood pressure and fluid levels and it is also instrumental in proper brain and heart function. Potassium also plays the role of a pain desensitizer, controlling headaches and convulsions, and it helps to speed the healing process with cuts and bruises. Because potassium is such an important mineral, individuals should be sure they are getting enough of it in their everyday diets. Most research suggests that between 2,000mg and 3,000mg daily is an adequate dose of potassium and this goal is easily reached by consuming potassium rich foods which are a part of many people's diets already. It is possible to take potassium supplements in 99mg tablets, but doctors recommend doing so with caution. The body cannot digest supplements as easily as natural sources of potassium and, in some cases, stomach problems result from taking too many supplements. In many cases, it is easy to add some potassium to your diet by just eating different foods and the benefits of doing so are numerous.
Many people know that bananas are rich in potassium, but it is less commonly known that there are many other foods rich in potassium as well. Fruits such as papaya, oranges, kiwi, cantaloupe, honeydew, raisins, and all dried fruits are good sources of potassium. Many vegetables such as tomatoes, potatoes, avocados, leafy greens, asparagus, and sweet potatoes have high levels of potassium. In addition to these fruits and vegetables, there are several sources of potassium within popular proteins like beef, salmon, poultry, lima beans, peanuts, and sunflower seeds. Fruits and vegetables are an important part of any diet but individuals who take their health seriously should be sure they are getting adequate daily doses of potassium as well. Without enough potassium, the human body may fall victim to muscle spasms, irregular heartbeat, headaches, fatigue, even more serious conditions like diabetes and heart failure. In order to keep your body running strong, be sure to balance your diet well and include several potassium rich foods in your everyday routine. It may be easier than you think to do this - all you have to do is become aware of what foods you eat on a regular basis and find some areas where you can add or switch a food that is rich in potassium.

Include potassium rich foods in your diet today for healthy eating. Visit our site today for a list of foods rich in potassium.

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