Category Archives: Uncategorized

Back to school food choices a nightmare

LCM'sKieron Rooney explores some of the food recommendations being used around the supermarket in this article on ‘The Drum’.

The red, amber and green light labelling is being manipulated by the food industry in his review.

I grabbed this Kellogg’s packet off the shelf yesterday. LCM’s are being promoted as a healthy lunch box option. Chocolate flavoured, laden with sugar, refined carbohydrate and vegetable oil. All of the different types were the same – a huge sugar and carb load.

Kellogg’s use the term ‘Sure Fire Lunchbox Hit’ – to me that’s a chemical hit. Continue reading

Biggest Losers on ‘Biggest Losers’


Knees, ankles and feet are the biggest losers in this boot camp stupidity.

‘Biggest Losers’ is off and ‘running’ again for another season in 2014

There is going to be another group of individuals with joint and soft tissue damage once again.

The ‘boot camp’ exercise programme that we see on television may shed a few kilos quicker but it does this at the expense of damaging joints and is not sustainable when the contestants get out of the enclosed environment.

The frustrating thing for me is seeing these people pushed over the edge physically and the injuries that develop. Continue reading

What is LCHF?

 

LCHF is eating by the concept of a diet of Low Carbohydrate and High (Saturated) Fat intake. It is sort of two thirds of the No Fructose concept.

Fructose is half of sugar. Sugar is a carbohydrate and the fructose portion ‘makes you’ hungry and gets turned into the ‘bad cholesterol’ – the small dense LDL’s (low density lipoproteins).

Glucose is another carbohydrate and it makes up half of sugar and is the basic carbohydrate in starch, bread, pasta and rice.

Glucose that is not used up immediately by the brain and muscle in particular goes to fat production.

Eating fat does NOT make you fat. It is an energy dense food source which is slowly metabolised in the body without insulin spikes.

Running your body on fat as a fuel is like using an efficient diesel fuel in your engine in comparison to a high octane carbohydrate fuel which is highly inflammatory.

The third component of the NO Fructose concept is the avoidance of Polyunsaturated oils. These are mostly man made and create oxidation and inflammation of the extra fat and in particular the LDL’s that we are carrying around because of the carbohydrate load.

Going back to butter and lard (and coconut oil) and tossing out the margarine and seeda and vegetable oils will cut back the inflammation.

So is LCHF plus going back to saturated fats the way to go? It is for me.

http://www.nofructose.com/introduction/overview/

What is LCHF?

Photo
LCHF is eating by the concept of a diet of Low Carbohydrate and High (Saturated) Fat intake. It is sort of two thirds of the No Fructose concept.

Fructose is half of sugar. Sugar is a carbohydrate and the fructose portion ‘makes you’ hungry and gets turned into the ‘bad cholesterol’ – the small dense LDL’s (low density lipoproteins).

Glucose is another carbohydrate and it makes up half of sugar and is the basic carbohydrate in starch, bread, pasta and rice.

Glucose that is not used up immediately by the brain and muscle in particular goes to fat production. Continue reading

Are ‘Carbs’ the Problem?

Carbs

There is a surprising amount of ‘energy’ in carbohydrate and if you are struggling with the weight control then look at the ‘carb’ intake.

Carbohydrate commonly comes in the form of bread, rice and pasta. These have a lot of glucose in them.

Carbohydrate is essentially glucose and glucose is fuel. If you take in more than you require immediately then the excess is stored. The glycogen stores are replenished in the liver and the rest goes to fat storage.

One slice of bread, white or grain has about 5 teaspoons of glucose in it which is the same energy load as 5 teaspoons of sugar. That will have approximately the same effect on blood glucose as having a large scoop of ice cream.

100 grams of dry weight pasta or rice when cooked is about a bowl full. It has the equivalent of 16 teaspoons of glucose which is the same energy load as 16 teaspoons of sugar.

The digestion of carbohydrate starts with saliva in the mouth and continues through the intestine. It is rapidly broken down into glucose which is transported into the blood and then either metabolised or stored. High glucose levels provoke an insulin response which stimulates a fat storage response along with other effects.

Vegetables have varying amounts of carbohydrate in them and potato has a significant amount. The more colour to the vegetable, generally the less carb and the more fibre. Fibre is good as it slows up the absorption of the carbohydrate and results in less of a glucose spike in the blood stream.

Is it no wonder that farmers fatten up their stock by grain feeding them. We are fattening up society by grain feeding – a massive energy load in the form of carbohydrate which is just glucose.

http://www.nofructose.com/introduction/carbohydrate/

‘Death by Food Pyramid’ – Denise Minger

DBFP_3D_small
If you live by the food pyramid, you will die by the food pyramid. I have been stating this for some time.

I have just finished Denise Minger’s new book ‘Death by Food Pyramid’. It was predictably informative and insightful.

She dissects a lot of the history of how we have gotten into our modern diet and filled in some gaps for me.

I liked her section on meat. She quelled some myths around the good and bad aspects.She reminded me of the benefits of eating more than just the lean muscle part of animals as well as cooking on low heats rather than burning the meat to a charred mass.

Minger looks at the common ground of what ‘diets’ work and revisits Weston A. Price’s work from the 1800’s on what healthy societies ate. The common theme was what they avoided rather than what they ate. No surprises for me here.

The common themes for healthy living were minimal sugar, no refined carbohydrates and no modern polyunsaturated vegetable oils!

Fresh air, physical activity and community involvement all play a role in longevity and health.

It was an easy read with plenty of references. I will be cross checking a few for more information.

Bacon for Breakfast – Love It

Photo: be a true BACON warrior!

2 more things about bacon. Try and go for the non grain fed version and virtually all have some added sugar. Just a little but worth looking at as the percentage varies.

Animals tend to store their waste products and particularly the Omega 6 inflammatory fatty acids in the fat layers. If the pig is ‘natural’ farm reared and not grain fed it should have less toxins on board so eat all the saturated fat you like. Definitely do not get led into believing that pork crackling is bad for you.

Cereal grains including corn that are used in production line pig farming results in a higher Omega 6 fatty acid load on these animals. They then store that in the fat. Continue reading

No Free Ticket

 

Photo: No Free TicketWelcome to the last day of the year. Time to put some money to charity. Tally up the weight lost this year and do some calculations.Keen followers of this Facebook page and www.NoFructose.com will know that I have encouraged every person who has utilised the information to lose weight to donate money to a charity of their choice.The going rate is $10 per kg lost. I am not making money out of this venture but I would like to think that society is benefiting as much as you are. $10 per kg is cheap in comparison to the costs of all of those other weight loss programmes, food supplements and medical costs that were impending.Remember it is to a charity that you have some connection to. All part of ‘Paying it Forward’ and feeling good about yourself. Set a goal for the next 12 months. I already have a few for this No Fructose pathway and hope you all can help the concept keep going.Happy New Year for tonight :)If you missed the ‘fine print’ regarding the charitable donation, it is on the starter ‘cheat’ sheet page at http://www.nofructose.com/introduction/starter-sheet/

Welcome to the last day of the year. Time to put some money to charity. Tally up the weight lost this year and do some calculations.

Keen followers of this Facebook page and www.NoFructose.com will know that I have encouraged every person who has utilised the information to lose weight to donate money to a charity of their choice.

The going rate is $10 per kg lost.

I am not making money out of this venture but I would like to think that society is benefiting as much as you are.

$10 per kg is cheap in comparison to the costs of all of those other weight loss programmes, food supplements and medical costs that were impending.

Remember it is to a charity that you have some connection to. All part of ‘Paying it Forward’ and feeling good about yourself.

Set a goal for the next 12 months. I already have a few for this No Fructose pathway and hope you all can help the concept keep going.

Happy New Year for tonight

If you missed the ‘fine print’ regarding the charitable donation, it is on the starter ‘cheat’ sheet page at http://www.nofructose.com/introduction/starter-sheet/

‘Sugar’ not as Sweet as it used to be.

Photo: 'Sugar' not as Sweet as it used to be.'Science', 'Sugar' and 'Fructose' - Changed Interpretations in 2013Sounds boring but 'Science' was the 2013 Word of the Year from the Merriam Webster dictionary group. 'Science' had a marked upturn in search engines than ever and the communities interest in looking for an evidence base rather than just an opinion seems to be increasing - but that's just an opinion, or is it? The Huffington Post article explores this.What I have seen is that the wider press and community is changing the definition and understanding of the word 'sugar'.A year ago, 'we' still felt that sugar was a treat and 'natural' and good for us. 'Sugar' has lost it's shine. It has a dark side now. Not everyone has picked up on it but they will as more 'science' comes along.Here is part of the Merriam Webster definition of 'sugar' - "as a sweetener and preservative for other foods and for drugs"A search across several dictionaries on and off line show that this is the first time I have seen a definition include the food and drug industries use of 'sugar' to manipulate our senses.I would like to see in the next few years a broadening of the dictionary definition to include it's wider effects on our health and obesity.I nominated 'Fructose' for my Word of the Year back on March 7. There has certainly been a rise in awareness of the word in the last 12 months. I cannot enter a room without people referring to me as the 'No Fructose' guy.So 'Fructose' remains my Word of the Year. 'Sugar' isn't as sweet as it was and 'Science' will give us a lot more to back us up in the next 12 months. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-islam/word-of-the-year-science-_b_4515827.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

‘Science’, ‘Sugar’ and ‘Fructose’ – Changed Interpretations in 2013

Sounds boring but ‘Science’ was the 2013 Word of the Year from the Merriam Webster dictionary group.

‘Science’ had a marked upturn in search engines than ever and the communities interest in looking for an evidence base rather than just an opinion seems to be increasing – but that’s just an opinion, or is it? The Huffington Post article explores this.

What I have seen is that the wider press and community is changing the definition and understanding of the word ‘sugar’.

A year ago, ‘we’ still felt that sugar was a treat and ‘natural’ and good for us. ‘Sugar’ has lost it’s shine. It has a dark side now. Not everyone has picked up on it but they will as more ‘science’ comes along. Continue reading

Pudding for the Poms Prompts Poor Performance?

Christmas puddingThat Christmas pudding laden with sugar and carbs may not have helped the English cricket team in the Boxing Day Ashes test match. Or was it the lack of a sugar binge on Christmas day that helped the Australian team to go 4 nil up?

Clearly the change in diet for most of the Australian cricket team this year to Low Carb (low fructose) and high fat is not ‘proof’ that diet alone will turn a team performance around. Nor is that Christmas pudding enough to cause the demise of the English cricketers.

None of this is ‘Proof of the Pudding’ that diet is the answer but the Australian cricketers who have adopted this eating strategy have all improved their weights, lean body mass and skin folds – with a better mental attitude and now performance results.

The USA LA Lakers basketball team have switched over to this change in eating in the last few months.  Norwegian football club Strømsgodset (champions in 2013) have flipped over too into this more efficient ‘fuel’ for the system.

The ‘Proof of the Pudding’ is there for you to experience yourself. May 2014 bring in a real change in health and well being for more of us.

LA Lakers

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/writer/ken-berger/24370416

Norwegian football club Strømsgodset

http://www.dietdoctor.com/football-champions-low-carb-diet