Total Health Breakthroughs: Free Natural Health Newsletter and Alternative Health Articles

“Park your car further away and walk a longer distance to the door of the market,” or “Take the steps instead of the elevator.” Most of you have probably heard these very familiar tips on how to work more physical activity into your day. But until recently, I don’t think people really understood the impact such changes could have on our health. Well now we do!

This raw island delight is a delicious way to start your day. And it just might be a recipe for a flatter stomach. Recent research published in Diabetes Care found that monounsaturated fats (like those in the avocados and almonds in this recipe) help to reprogram your body and thwart the accumulation of belly fat — the most dangerous kind.¹

Time To Table: 5 minutes
Serves: 4

Part 2: How HFCS Super-Sized Us

A number of studies have shown that when we drink our calories (as opposed to eat them), our brains will process information differently. Unlike solid food, liquid calories don’t satisfy hunger because they don’t suppress a hunger hormone called ghrelin which tells us to eat more. In an analysis of the eight-year Nurses’ Health Study II, it was shown that women who upped their caloric soft drink consumption from one soda per week to one or more per day gained weight and had a higher risk of type II diabetes.¹

Sodas are unquestionably linked to obesity, both the adult kind and the childhood kind. Research conducted in 2001 by David Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Children’s Hospital in Boston found that the odds of a teenager becoming obese increased a whopping 60% for each can or glass of sugar-sweetened soft drinks.²

Which brings us back to HFCS. “The low cost of high fructose corn syrup allowed the explosion of 20-oz sodas, Super Big Gulps and the like to happen,” C. Leigh Broadhurst, PhD, a research scientist and nutritionist at the USDA told me.

Just because you are not obese, doesn’t mean you’re off the hook when it comes to increased risk for heart disease and diabetes — known as cardiometabolic disease. If you’re just a little pudgy around the middle, you may pat your belly and chuckle about those few extra beers you had last night, but it is no laughing matter.

Two studies recently looked at the cardiometabolic health of three categories of white adults: normal weight, overweight, and obese. Researchers measured blood pressure, triglycerides, fasting plasma glucose, C-reactive protein (CRP), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and assessed whether the study subjects were insulin resistant.

What they found was eye opening — 23.5% of “normal weight” adults were metabolically abnormal — and surprisingly, the research done by Wildman’s group found that approximately 30% of the “obese” group was actually metabolically pretty healthy.¹ In the “overweight” group, it was split about 50-50 between those who were metabolically healthy and those who were at increased risk according to these measures.

In medical circles, the idea that sugar increases the risk of diabetes is considered to be an old wives tale. However, recent studies bring not just sugar, but all high glycemic index (GI) and high glycemic load (GL) foods into question. Two studies from last year showed that women with the highest intakes of high carb-containing foods (high GI and high GL) had the greatest risk of becoming diabetic.

One studied looked at all high GI and GL foods and found the highest intakes of these foods were associated with the greatest risks of becoming diabetic.

When it comes to blood sugar, the closer you can keep it to the normal range of 80 to 89 mg/dL the better. For years I have been warning that blood sugars even in the 90 to 100 range show that you are becoming insulin resistant and on your way to diabetes. A recent study done on 47,000 Kaiser Permanente patients validated this observation.

The study, published in the American Journal of Medicine found that blood sugar, blood glucose (BG) levels in the 95-99 range more than doubled a person’s risk of becoming diabetic. In fact, for every point over 85 mg/dL the risk of becoming diabetic increased 6%, even when they controlled for other factors.¹

Some people know that magnesium contributes to bone strength, but are surprised to learn that adequate levels can prevent serious medical conditions.

What do you do when your doctor tells you that you have diabetes?

If you’re overweight and worried about diabetes as a health risk, you may be surprised to learn that a common nutrient can help both.

The populations that live the longest are naturally highly sensitive to insulin. Conversely, those who die the youngest from conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer are grossly insensitive to insulin or are taking a prescription drug.