Tag: weight loss

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What Do We Know About Artificial Sweetners?

An artificial sweetener is a sugar substitute which duplicates the effect of sugar in taste but has fewer calories. Some sugar substitutes are natural and some are synthetic. Those that are not natural are, in general, referred to as artificial sweeteners.

Certain sugar substitutes are known as high-intensity sweeteners. Sweetness of these compounds exceeds many times the sweetness of sucrose which is our common table sugar. As a result, much less sweetener is required, resulting in minimal calorie consumption. The taste of artificial sweetener is not as good as our regular sugar. So they are often used in complex mixtures that achieve the most natural sweet sensation.

Is it safe to use artificial sweeteners?

Six intensely-sweet sugar substitutes have been approved for use in the U.S. They are saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, neotame, acesulfame potassium, and stevia. Artificial sweeteners are considered food additives and hence regulated and approved in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration.

In Canada, food additives are also subject to rigorous controls under the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations. New food additives (or new uses of permitted food additives) are only permitted once a safety assessment has been conducted, says Health Canada website. Several artificial sweeteners have been approved for use in Canada (see Health Canada website).

Let us look at couple of examples where safety questions have been raised.

Does saccharin cause cancer? Saccharin is a man-made sweetener that is used in food products in many countries. Health Canada says that in the 1970s, scientific studies raised concerns that saccharin could be carcinogenic (cancer-causing) in laboratory rats. As a result of these studies, saccharin was not permitted as a food additive in Canada, although restricted use of saccharin as a table-top sweetener has been allowed.

Since that time, further studies have revealed that the carcinogenic effect of saccharin in rats does not have the same effect on humans. Health Canada says that their scientists have thoroughly reviewed the scientific information available and as a result are considering re-listing saccharin in the Canadian Food and Drug Regulations to allow its use as a sweetener in certain foods.

Is aspartame safe? Aspartame is a non-nutritive sweetener first approved for use in foods and as a table top sweetener in Canada in 1981. Health Canada’s scientists evaluated an extensive array of toxicological tests in laboratory animals, and more recently, a large number of clinical studies in humans. Aspartame is also currently permitted for use as a sweetener in food in many countries and its safety has been carefully examined by health authorities and international expert groups around the world.

Stevia is a herbal supplement and is used as a sweetener. But there is not enough research on stevia’s safety as a sugar substitute and there is some controversy about its approval.

According to the National Cancer Institute (U.S.), there’s no scientific evidence that any of the artificial sweeteners approved for use in the United States cause cancer. And numerous studies confirm that artificial sweeteners are safe for the general population.

Here are some examples of commercially available artificial sweeteners: Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal), Saccharin (Sweet’N Low, SugarTwin), Acesulfame K (Sunett, Sweet One), Sucralose (Splenda).

Diabetics and weight watchers who use artificial sweeteners should know that if they consume “sugar-free” drinks and food that are high in carbohydrates and proteins then these products may contain calories that may undermine your ability to lose weight and control blood sugar. Remember, it is not only what you eat, it is also how much you eat.

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Addiction to Sugar Continues to Adversely Affect our Health

It is reported that the North American diet contains about 20 per cent sugar. This is equivalent to 30 teaspoons a day! Most of it is hidden in pop, processed food and baked goods. Like alcohol, sugar has no nutritional value. It has no vitamins, minerals or fiber.

North American children’s consumption of sugar per day is reported to be between 25 to 35 per cent of total calories. Is this too much? Yes. The World Health Organization recommends daily dietary sugar intake of no more than 10 per cent of total calories.

What is sugar? Sugar is any of numerous sweet, colorless, water-soluble compounds present in the sap of seed plants and the milk of mammals and making up the simplest group of carbohydrates. The most common sugar is sucrose, a crystalline tabletop and industrial sweetener used in foods and beverages.

Sucrose is found in almost all plants, but it occurs at concentrations high enough for economic recovery only in sugarcane and sugar beets. Sugarcane ranges from seven to 18 percent sugar by weight, while sugar beets are from eight to 22 percent sugar by weight.

Sugarcane, once harvested, cannot be stored because of sucrose decomposition. For this reason, cane sugar is generally produced in two stages, manufacture of raw sugar taking place in the cane-growing areas and refining into food products occurring in the sugar-consuming countries. Sugar beets, on the other hand, can be stored and are therefore generally processed in one stage into white sugar.

Different methods of crystallization of sugar containing syrup are used to produce variety of sugars and at least six or seven stages of boiling are necessary before the molasses is exhausted.

The first three or four strikes are blended to make commercial white sugar. Special large-grain sugar (for bakery and confectionery) is boiled separately. Fine grains (sanding or fruit sugars) are usually made by sieving products of mixed grain size.

Powdered icing sugar, or confectioners’ sugar, results when white granulated sugar is finely ground, sieved, and mixed with small quantities of starch or calcium phosphate to keep it dry.

Brown sugars (light to dark) are either crystallized from a mixture of brown and yellow syrups (with caramel added for darkest color) or made by coating white crystals with brown-sugar syrup. Nutritional value of brown sugar per 100 gm is 380 kcalories compared to granulated sugar which is 390 kcalories.

Beet sugar factories generally produce only white sugar from sugar beets. Brown sugars are made with the use of cane molasses as a mother liquor component or as a crystal coating.

Sugar is dangerous because it causes obesity, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease leading to sickness and death. Sugar is very tempting and addictive because it tastes good and is very satisfying to our palate.

Men who drink sugary drinks have 46 per cent increased risk of stroke, possibly because of sugar’s blood-thickening osmotic effect or its known ability to raise cholesterol levels
Reports suggests diets high in refined sugar increase the risk of developing Crohn’s disease and colorectal and pancreatic cancer

Smokers keep smoking although they know smoking is dangerous. Similarly, sugar consumers will continue to eat sweet stuff as long as it tastes good and give you a temporary sugar buzz. It is a dangerous addiction and a slow poison.

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Effect Of Exercise On Weight Loss

Well, is there anyone out there who does not want to lose weight?

May be a few. But the vast majority of the people are overweight. And many of them are trying to lose weight. They jump from diet to diet and get frustrated. They try different kinds of exercises and eventually give up because they cannot sustain the discipline of life long healthy eating and exercising.

For many years there has been a debate about the best diet for weight loss. Any diet will work for you if you stick to the demands of the diet. Variety is the spice of life hence people get tired of eating the same sort of food everyday. They need to go out with family members and friends to try different dishes. Many people find wining and dinning satisfying and socially invigorating. Most diets eventually become boring and monotonous.

Doing regular exercise is essential part of any weight loss program. Once people achieve their weight loss then they lose the enthusiasm and slack off. That is when they start putting on weight.

So, the question is how much exercise do you have to do to maintain the weight loss?

“Effect of Exercise on 24-Month Weight Loss Maintenance in Overweight Women,” is an article which was recently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. For two years the authors of the article studied 201 overweight and obese women with body mass index of 27 to 40, with age range of 21 to 45 years.

The participants were told to reduce calorie intake to 1200 to 1500 calories per day. They were also randomized to one of four physical activity intervention groups based on energy expenditure (either 1,000 calories or 2,000 calories burned per week) and exercise intensity (high vs. moderate).

The results were interesting.

They found weight loss did not differ among the randomized groups. At six months the weight loss was about 10 per cent of initial body weight. At 24 months the weight loss was five per cent of initial body weight.

They also found that by the end of the 24-month intervention, the women who managed to lose at least 10 per cent of their starting body weight and managed to keep it off were exercising twice as long as and burning more than twice as many calories through exercise as women who had no change in body weight. More they exercised, more they lost weight. Women who lost the most weight exercised 68 minutes a day, five days a week.

One of the conclusions was: exercise was more strongly associated with weight loss than any other factor, including diet. Over an hour of sustained exercise most of the days is required to burn enough calories to maintain weight loss. This should be combined with reduced calorie intake. Conventional advice of half-an-hour of moderate exercise does not help lose weight nor maintain weight loss.

The biggest challenge is to stick to a healthy weight reducing diet and overcome obstacles to regular exercise. One way to avoid slacking off is to join some existing programs or get few friends together and form a group of your own – call it “a happy hour group”.

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Killer Foods

Recently, a friend said to me, “As I get older, I am expending fewer calories each day. I find my taste buds demand that I eat food heavy in calories, such as fried foods and delicious sweets. I find that my abdominal girth is rapidly (I wish I can say slowly) expanding. I feel I have completely lost control of my diet, weight and girth. What do you suggest I do to get control of my health?”

Answer to a question like this is usually simple, “Eat less and exercise more.”

What most of us do is, exercise and eat carefully for a few months. We get fit, we look good, and we feel healthy and then we become lax. The enthusiasm and the challenge of losing weight run out. We get busy with other things. Then suddenly the clothes do not fit. We get frustrated and depressed. And we start the cycle all over again.

It’s no rocket science to remember that regular exercise, healthy eating and counting calories is a must for staying healthy. Thirty to 60 minutes of daily exercise makes you feel better and helps improve and maintain your health. It does not matter what kind of exercise you do or whether you do all at one time. You can exercise 10 minutes three to six times a day. Important thing is to keep doing something.

Eating healthy and eating less poses the same sort of challenge as doing regular exercise. You should establish certain routine in how you eat and what you eat. Eating slowly and chewing well helps. Cooking and eating at home is better than eating at a restaurant or picking up fast food at lunch or on your way home after work. Eating out means consuming about 30 per cent more calories than you would normally do when you eat at home.

Fruits and vegetables in your diet is a must. Follow Canada’s Food Guide available at Health Canada web site, Health Unit or your dietitian. Make a list of dangerous and what I call killer foods which you should avoid at all cost – these are foods which we commonly eat but are dangerous to our health. My short list of killer foods includes French fries, bagels, croissants, donuts, double cheese burgers, fried fast food chicken, and ice-cream.

Let me tell you little bit about French fries. Potatoes have been around for about 200 years. French fries have been around for about 150 years. The first chip fried in Britain was in 1860 and first sold by a Belgium immigrant in 1870. Who invented the French fry? The honour goes to Belgians.

Only in North America we use the term French fry. In Britain they are called “chips” and in Belgium they are called “patat” and in France “pommes frited” which literally means fried apples. French fries have nothing to do with France. But the name is stuck because the Americans think it started in France.

An average size boiled potato has about 100 calories. If it is sliced and deep fried then naturally the calories almost double. Then you add Ketchup, sour cream, bacon bits or some other sauce, the calories almost triple. Next time you get a serving of French fries, guess how many potatoes have been sliced for that serving and then do your math. To me, eating French fries is like smoking a cigarette, they are both lethal.

In Canada and U.S., 25 per cent of the vegetables consumed are prepared as French fries. This has resulted in widespread obesity. French fries are loaded with saturated fat and trans fat. These are very dangerous substances and can cause blood vessel and heart diseases.

Space does not allow me to detail other killer foods. But you get the point.

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