What are fats, exactly? Fats often get a bad rap. No one wants to BE fat, and eating fatty foods has a very bad connotation. But, fats are like all the other food groups because there are "bad" fats and "good" fats, and I hope that a brief explanation of them will help you to make better use of this often misunderstood food group.
Fats are made up of long chains of smaller molecules called fatty acids. That's one reason (among many) why, when fats start to spoil or go "rancid" that you can sort of taste some of that acidity start to return in the break down products. In people, fats are made up from tri-glycerides (the form sugar takes when it's stored in your liver) and phospholipids (a major component of cell membranes). Lipid is another name for fat. Fats are stored is special cells, and historically have had very important consequences for energy storage during times when food was scarce, for keeping a body warm, and for protecting a body from the elements. Fat still plays a major role in metabolism, converting specific biochemicals important especially for the nervous and endocrine (hormone) systems.They transport vitamins A, D, E and K and are a primary building block for brain cells.
However, too much fat and your body starts to do just what we do when we have too much stuff. It starts to store it in all the wrong places. It lines the arteries (oxygen carrying blood vessels) and stuffs it between the organs of the body. It starts to interfere with how our metabolisms work, and can actually lead to death when it gets in the way; our internal organs sort of trip over it, fall down and die. It can lead to diabetes, heart attacks, breathing problems and hormone imbalances. Literally, too much of a good thing. On the other side, not enough fat and you lose your hair, your skin doesn't work properly, women lose their cycles, children don't develop properly, certain kinds of cancer and the list goes on. Not enough fat is a rare (but not unheard of) problem in North America.
There are also fats that are better for you than others. Fatty acids are classified as either saturated (all the hydrogen atoms they can hold) or unsaturated (room for more hydrogen atoms). The saturated fats, found in things like meat, cheese and cream, are the ones that tend to contribute to things like clogged arteries. Unsaturated fats, found in things that grow from the ground and seafood, are considered good for you because they lower the levels of other fats and cholesterol (which we'll discuss later) in the blood.
Part of fat's bad reputation comes from it's calorie content. Unlike carbohydrates and proteins, fats have 9 calories per gram whereas the other two only have 4 calories. So, it's easier to over-eat when consuming fatty foods because you get more than twice the calories for the same amount of food consumed. If you eat a lot of high fat foods, it's easy to put on the extra pounds.
Luckily for us, there is a way for us to burn that storage fat. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been such a benefit to be a bit on the heavy side when lean times hit. Your body has a built in mechanism for dealing with those storage units, but cutting out carbohydrates OR fat isn't the way to do it. Why, you ask?
First, there are such things as essential fatty acids or EFAs, so called because your body can't make them but needs them to make important biochemicals. The two most well known are omega-3 and omega-6 EFAs, which affect inflammation, mood and behavior. They both come from plants and -3 also comes from seafood, -6 can come from eggs but plants are a better and more abundant source. If you cut fats out of your diet, you cut these EFAs out as well and disease states will, eventually, follow.
Cut out carbs completely and, well, no sense in repeating the first three entries... review the Carbohydrates section, The Chain Gang in particular.
So, remembering that our bodies want balance and, in fact, it is essential for good health, you can meet your health goals without doing anything drastic. In fact, if you do, your body probably won't like you later.
I hope this sheds a little light on fats. If you have any questions, please comment and I'll address them in the next entry.
Always,
Dr. P
27 February 2011
23 February 2011
The Chain Gang
So far we've discussed the single and double units of carbohydrates, mono- and di-saccarides. These are commonly called simple carbohydrates. They include table sugar, honey, molasses and high fructose corn syrup among others. They are also found in fruit, as fructose and in milk, as lactose. While some of these can contain health benefits, like local honey and some molasses, their dietary value is generally limited.
When simple carbohydrates start linking together into long chains, they are called complex carbohydrates. These are found in foods such as grains, corn and potatoes. They provide nutrients which simple carbohydrates do not. Nutrients (something that provides nourishment) are important to our health, and those from complex carbohydrates include minerals, vitamins, fiber, and phytonutrients which are disease fighting plant chemicals.
If you cut out or drastically reduce carbohydrates in your diet, you will miss out on crucial nutrients and will jeopardize your health.
Carbohydrate consumption also helps to control your blood glucose concentrations. A low blood glucose level makes you feel tired because it deprives your cells of the energy they need to function. Too much, especially over a long period of time, and your cells become damaged (as in people with diabetes).
The body likes balance. Humans have a built-in glucose monitor that helps keep blood sugar in balance by releasing insulin (a hormone from the pancreas) when blood sugar goes up, like after we eat, and glucagon to increase blood sugar between meals. If you abuse this system by eating too many simple carbohydrates, or too few, you will also damage your body and upset your metabolism (the biochemical processes in your body which sustain life).
Eating a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains is generally the recommended way to get your carbohydrates. A standard intake of 40% of your calories should come from this source to get your nutritional requirements. There are always, of course, exceptions to this rule; but not many and, no, if you're just a "meat and potatoes guy" that does NOT immediately make you an exception to the rule.
As always, if you have any questions or comments, I always enjoy and appreciate your input.
Always,
Dr. P
When simple carbohydrates start linking together into long chains, they are called complex carbohydrates. These are found in foods such as grains, corn and potatoes. They provide nutrients which simple carbohydrates do not. Nutrients (something that provides nourishment) are important to our health, and those from complex carbohydrates include minerals, vitamins, fiber, and phytonutrients which are disease fighting plant chemicals.
If you cut out or drastically reduce carbohydrates in your diet, you will miss out on crucial nutrients and will jeopardize your health.
Carbohydrate consumption also helps to control your blood glucose concentrations. A low blood glucose level makes you feel tired because it deprives your cells of the energy they need to function. Too much, especially over a long period of time, and your cells become damaged (as in people with diabetes).
The body likes balance. Humans have a built-in glucose monitor that helps keep blood sugar in balance by releasing insulin (a hormone from the pancreas) when blood sugar goes up, like after we eat, and glucagon to increase blood sugar between meals. If you abuse this system by eating too many simple carbohydrates, or too few, you will also damage your body and upset your metabolism (the biochemical processes in your body which sustain life).
Eating a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains is generally the recommended way to get your carbohydrates. A standard intake of 40% of your calories should come from this source to get your nutritional requirements. There are always, of course, exceptions to this rule; but not many and, no, if you're just a "meat and potatoes guy" that does NOT immediately make you an exception to the rule.
As always, if you have any questions or comments, I always enjoy and appreciate your input.
Always,
Dr. P
20 February 2011
How Sweet it Isn't
Some very good questions have arisen as a result of our discussion on sugars.So, this entry will focus mainly on answering those questions, and perhaps we will continue with another subject later in the week.
Let's begin with Kerrie's question. She brings up the very good point that, often, science and marketing seem to be at odds. There is a law in the USA that says that advertisers can't say anything that isn't true, but they can walk a very fine line. As previously noted, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is a mixture of fructose and glucose, whereas table sugar (sucrose) is a bond between fructose and glucose. Can your body tell the difference between table sugar and HFCS? Of course. Can your body tell the difference between natural and man-made fructose? Depends on how it's made. See, sugars are interesting in that they can rotate light. If the man made fructose rotates light the same way the natural fructose does, your body can't tell the difference. If it rotates light the opposite direction, your body can. I hope this bit makes sense. Can you tell if the HFCS you're consuming has one sort or the other? Nope. Not unless you have a chemistry lab in your basement....
So, what are the benefits and risks of consuming HFCS? Generally speaking, after reading a great deal of peer reviewed data not financially or otherwise supported by any vested party, sugar consumption of any sort does not lead to hyperactivity, diabetes or obesity in children or adults. However, OVER consumption of sugar or ANY sweetener indicates a dietary or life style habit in which some changes might want to be considered.
This ties well into another question received, which relates to a recent study showing that those who consume sodas heavily are more prone to obesity, and those who consume diet sodas are more obese than those who drink regular, HFCS filled soda. For Jeff, who brought up this point, a single study does not a trend make. I would like to see a little more data on this, although it more or less supports the point that perhaps a little water with a squeeze of lemon wouldn't hurt these folks now and then.
The last question came from one of my younger friends, who asked point blank why we have to eat fiber if we can't digest it. I'll address that question briefly here, and talk more about it when we talk about digestion.
There are two types of fiber that we take in when we eat properly; water soluble, like the gel that comes around beans in canned beans, and insoluble like the strings in celery. Both play a role in proper nutrition. Insoluble fiber acts like the broom a chimney sweep would use first, brushing the hard soot out of a dirty chimney as it moves through our digestive tract. Soluble fiber is more like the brush for the flue, picking up smaller particles and binding things like dietary cholesterol as well. So, for those who "don't like" vegetables, sometimes fiber in a less palatable form is required to prevent damage to the intestines.
Carbohydrates in all their forms are really important in a well balanced eating plan, from sugar to complex carbohydrates to fiber. As we move through this part of our discussion, I hope you will be actively involved, continue to ask questions and help me to help you with any concerns you may have.
Thank you for being here,
Always,
Dr. P
Let's begin with Kerrie's question. She brings up the very good point that, often, science and marketing seem to be at odds. There is a law in the USA that says that advertisers can't say anything that isn't true, but they can walk a very fine line. As previously noted, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is a mixture of fructose and glucose, whereas table sugar (sucrose) is a bond between fructose and glucose. Can your body tell the difference between table sugar and HFCS? Of course. Can your body tell the difference between natural and man-made fructose? Depends on how it's made. See, sugars are interesting in that they can rotate light. If the man made fructose rotates light the same way the natural fructose does, your body can't tell the difference. If it rotates light the opposite direction, your body can. I hope this bit makes sense. Can you tell if the HFCS you're consuming has one sort or the other? Nope. Not unless you have a chemistry lab in your basement....
So, what are the benefits and risks of consuming HFCS? Generally speaking, after reading a great deal of peer reviewed data not financially or otherwise supported by any vested party, sugar consumption of any sort does not lead to hyperactivity, diabetes or obesity in children or adults. However, OVER consumption of sugar or ANY sweetener indicates a dietary or life style habit in which some changes might want to be considered.
This ties well into another question received, which relates to a recent study showing that those who consume sodas heavily are more prone to obesity, and those who consume diet sodas are more obese than those who drink regular, HFCS filled soda. For Jeff, who brought up this point, a single study does not a trend make. I would like to see a little more data on this, although it more or less supports the point that perhaps a little water with a squeeze of lemon wouldn't hurt these folks now and then.
The last question came from one of my younger friends, who asked point blank why we have to eat fiber if we can't digest it. I'll address that question briefly here, and talk more about it when we talk about digestion.
There are two types of fiber that we take in when we eat properly; water soluble, like the gel that comes around beans in canned beans, and insoluble like the strings in celery. Both play a role in proper nutrition. Insoluble fiber acts like the broom a chimney sweep would use first, brushing the hard soot out of a dirty chimney as it moves through our digestive tract. Soluble fiber is more like the brush for the flue, picking up smaller particles and binding things like dietary cholesterol as well. So, for those who "don't like" vegetables, sometimes fiber in a less palatable form is required to prevent damage to the intestines.
Carbohydrates in all their forms are really important in a well balanced eating plan, from sugar to complex carbohydrates to fiber. As we move through this part of our discussion, I hope you will be actively involved, continue to ask questions and help me to help you with any concerns you may have.
Thank you for being here,
Always,
Dr. P
18 February 2011
One Of These Things is Not Like the Others
Welcome to the first posting for ABC on line. I hope that you enjoy these entries, and maybe learn a little bit in the mean time.
There seems to be a great deal of confusion about there about "sugar". Is it a bad thing or a good thing? What exactly is it? Is High Fructose Corn Syrup an evil conspiracy designed by the major food manufacturers, or can we actually consume it? These and related questions frequently arise with clients when working on nutrition, weight loss or gain, and just better health management. So, let's try and sort this out...
There are Three (3) major groups under which food is generally classified: proteins, fats or carbohydrates.
Sugars are carbohydrates.
Glucose is a simple carbohydrate and is the most important monosaccaride (single sugar) in human metabolism. Glucose is called a simple sugar or a monosaccharide because it is one of the smallest units which has the characteristics of this class of carbohydrates. Glucose is also sometimes called dextrose. Corn syrup is primarily glucose. Glucose is one of the main chemicals which serve as energy sources for plants and animals. It is found in the sap of plants, and is found in the human bloodstream where it is commonly called "blood sugar". The desirable or average concentration of glucose in the blood is about 0.1%, but it can become much higher in persons suffering from diabetes, and much lower in people suffering from hypoglycemia.
In living organisms, the break down of glucose in the presence of oxygen participates in a series of complex biochemical reactions which provides the energy needed by cells, providing warmth to warm blooded animals and the building blocks for many of the puzzle pieces needed to make up out cells.
Fructose, or "fruit sugar" is another sugar found in nature. If glucose had a value of 0.74, fructose would have a value of 1.73. This makes it much sweeter than glucose, but because of the way it is broken down by your body (different class of chemical, still a monosaccaride) it yields a different amount of energy. It's found in sweet things like bananas, apples and honey. All of these things benefit you in a healthy diet for a variety of reasons!
Sucrose, or table sugar, is a combination of these two things hooked together chemically into a di (double) saccaride (sugar). The more refined the sugar, the whiter it is. Super fine sugar, or castor sugar in England, is crushed table sugar. Powdered sugar is just that; dextrose (another name for sucrose) that has been abused to the point that it's been powdered. Another name for powdered sugar is icing sugar. This last one has a small amount of corn powder added to keep the sugar from clumping. On the sweetness scale indicated above, Sucrose is the standard and has a value of 1.00.
If you keep hooking sugars together, you get interesting things like wood (not recommended in the human diet). However, wood is made of cellulose, a long chain carbohydrate (starch) which is a bunch of sugars all hooked together. Humans can't digest this yet, strangely enough, we need some kinds of cellulose (a.k.a fiber) in our diet to be healthy. Go figure.
Other types of sugar are the monosaccarides maltose (from malt, sweetness 0.33) and lactose (from milk, or a 'lactation' product, sweetness 0.16), neither of which we are going to go into in this discussion. If you have a pressing issue with either of these, please comment and, if I get enough responses, I'll be glad to discuss.
OK, now for High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). What is that stuff, and where did it come from?
Well, it comes from corn, just like regular corn syrup. It's a purely manufactured product, not a natural sweetener. Just like regular corn syrup, it's made from hard kernels that are separated into their different components (hull, starch, oil) and then the starch component is broken down into glucose. So far, so good, right? Now, here's where you lose me a little; the glucose is chemically treated to invert it (chemically convert it) (glucose and fructose have the same number and type of elements, they're just put together differently) to make some of the glucose molecules fructose. Why? Well, as seen above, fructose is sweeter than glucose. If you have a sweeter substance, you can use less of it in your product to get the same sweetness. If you can use less, you save money. Save money, more profit. It all makes GREAT economic sense. You end up with 42%-55% fructose in your glucose in this product, which drastically increases your sweetness over regular corn syrup.
Now, here's the rub. The people who manufacture HFCS are truly paranoid about all the bad press their product has received. They have done SO much research on it's relationship to diabetes, metabolism, allergies, etc. and so have independent researchers that it's impressive. Whereas HFCS is NOT like table sugar, and don't you believe it, it's not a sweetener you need to eliminate from your diet. Then again, it's generally used in products I wouldn't want to pass my lips. Make sure you read the ingredients on ALL packaged foods you buy, but this one wouldn't freak me out (technical language, there).
I hope this has helped you to sort out your sugar questions. Should you still need answers, please comment. Also, if there's a special topic you'd like to have discussed here please put that in the comments section, too.
Always,
Dr. P
There seems to be a great deal of confusion about there about "sugar". Is it a bad thing or a good thing? What exactly is it? Is High Fructose Corn Syrup an evil conspiracy designed by the major food manufacturers, or can we actually consume it? These and related questions frequently arise with clients when working on nutrition, weight loss or gain, and just better health management. So, let's try and sort this out...
There are Three (3) major groups under which food is generally classified: proteins, fats or carbohydrates.
Sugars are carbohydrates.
Glucose is a simple carbohydrate and is the most important monosaccaride (single sugar) in human metabolism. Glucose is called a simple sugar or a monosaccharide because it is one of the smallest units which has the characteristics of this class of carbohydrates. Glucose is also sometimes called dextrose. Corn syrup is primarily glucose. Glucose is one of the main chemicals which serve as energy sources for plants and animals. It is found in the sap of plants, and is found in the human bloodstream where it is commonly called "blood sugar". The desirable or average concentration of glucose in the blood is about 0.1%, but it can become much higher in persons suffering from diabetes, and much lower in people suffering from hypoglycemia.
In living organisms, the break down of glucose in the presence of oxygen participates in a series of complex biochemical reactions which provides the energy needed by cells, providing warmth to warm blooded animals and the building blocks for many of the puzzle pieces needed to make up out cells.
Fructose, or "fruit sugar" is another sugar found in nature. If glucose had a value of 0.74, fructose would have a value of 1.73. This makes it much sweeter than glucose, but because of the way it is broken down by your body (different class of chemical, still a monosaccaride) it yields a different amount of energy. It's found in sweet things like bananas, apples and honey. All of these things benefit you in a healthy diet for a variety of reasons!
Sucrose, or table sugar, is a combination of these two things hooked together chemically into a di (double) saccaride (sugar). The more refined the sugar, the whiter it is. Super fine sugar, or castor sugar in England, is crushed table sugar. Powdered sugar is just that; dextrose (another name for sucrose) that has been abused to the point that it's been powdered. Another name for powdered sugar is icing sugar. This last one has a small amount of corn powder added to keep the sugar from clumping. On the sweetness scale indicated above, Sucrose is the standard and has a value of 1.00.
If you keep hooking sugars together, you get interesting things like wood (not recommended in the human diet). However, wood is made of cellulose, a long chain carbohydrate (starch) which is a bunch of sugars all hooked together. Humans can't digest this yet, strangely enough, we need some kinds of cellulose (a.k.a fiber) in our diet to be healthy. Go figure.
Other types of sugar are the monosaccarides maltose (from malt, sweetness 0.33) and lactose (from milk, or a 'lactation' product, sweetness 0.16), neither of which we are going to go into in this discussion. If you have a pressing issue with either of these, please comment and, if I get enough responses, I'll be glad to discuss.
OK, now for High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). What is that stuff, and where did it come from?
Well, it comes from corn, just like regular corn syrup. It's a purely manufactured product, not a natural sweetener. Just like regular corn syrup, it's made from hard kernels that are separated into their different components (hull, starch, oil) and then the starch component is broken down into glucose. So far, so good, right? Now, here's where you lose me a little; the glucose is chemically treated to invert it (chemically convert it) (glucose and fructose have the same number and type of elements, they're just put together differently) to make some of the glucose molecules fructose. Why? Well, as seen above, fructose is sweeter than glucose. If you have a sweeter substance, you can use less of it in your product to get the same sweetness. If you can use less, you save money. Save money, more profit. It all makes GREAT economic sense. You end up with 42%-55% fructose in your glucose in this product, which drastically increases your sweetness over regular corn syrup.
Now, here's the rub. The people who manufacture HFCS are truly paranoid about all the bad press their product has received. They have done SO much research on it's relationship to diabetes, metabolism, allergies, etc. and so have independent researchers that it's impressive. Whereas HFCS is NOT like table sugar, and don't you believe it, it's not a sweetener you need to eliminate from your diet. Then again, it's generally used in products I wouldn't want to pass my lips. Make sure you read the ingredients on ALL packaged foods you buy, but this one wouldn't freak me out (technical language, there).
I hope this has helped you to sort out your sugar questions. Should you still need answers, please comment. Also, if there's a special topic you'd like to have discussed here please put that in the comments section, too.
Always,
Dr. P
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