New England Health Advisory

As the incidence of Type 2 diabetes increases, more people are interested in learning about controlling blood sugar levels by changing their eating habits. To share an in-depth look at how blood sugar is affected by food, I first want to provide some background science on diabetes and blood sugar.

Diabetes 101: The Basics

The normal range for blood sugar is between 90 and 110. A person with a blood sugar reading of over 126 is said to be diabetic.

The key hormone responsible for regulating blood sugar levels in the body is insulin. Insulin is secreted in response to an influx of glucose into the blood stream following a meal. Type 2 diabetes develops when too much insulin is secreted because the glucose metabolism is not functioning optimally.

Insulin resistance occurs when the pancreas is required to produce more insulin to metabolize the same amount of glucose and keep the blood sugar level constant. The body’s cells are no longer able to utilize the glucose present because they are full, leading to excessive insulin and glucose in the blood stream and raising the blood sugar level.

One of the reasons diabetes is such a serious disease is the lack of early detection of insulin resistance. By the time the body has become insulin resistant and the blood sugar levels are elevated, the disease has already progressed. The blood sugar level of 126 is an arbitrary number assigned by conventional medicine to diagnose diabetes. The reality is that while blood sugar is climbing to that level, there are other warning signs that the glucose metabolism is not functioning properly and a person is on the way to becoming insulin resistant and diabetic.

These factors include: increased belly fat, sugar cravings, high triglyceride levels, low LDL levels, high blood pressure and increased inflammation. Conventional medicine using newer medication to treat diabetes now favors making the cells more insulin sensitive instead of adding insulin. Increased insulin causes you to have a raging appetite and to crave sugar. More insulin is needed to metabolize the same amount of glucose because your body is becoming insulin resistant.

The good news is that you can take charge of your health and regulate your blood sugar levels through a healthy diet and lifestyle by following the simple guidelines below. Insulin resistance can be prevented, and in some cases completely reversed, by making changes in diet and lifestyle. This is by no means a license to stop taking any of your prescribed medications, but rather to enhance your diabetes treatment and share the results of your lifestyle changes with your health care provider to see if the changes are significant enough to warrant a change in medication.

Regulating Blood Sugar Levels

The question I want to answer today is, “How does what I eat affect my blood sugar level?” Keeping a constant blood sugar level is important for everyone—people with diabetes and for those without. The more your blood sugar rises and falls, the harder your body has to work to maintain a balance. The consensus prescription for maintaining a constant blood sugar level includes regular exercise, eating small amounts of saturated fats and trans fats, and eating a high fiber diet to reduce the glycemic load on the body. So what does your body need? The three macronutrient groups the body needs to function properly are protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Protein and high-fat foods do not cause a rise in blood sugar; whereas carbohydrates do.

In order to understand the differences between carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables versus those from processed foods, it is helpful to know a little background science on carbohydrates. When consumed, carbohydrates are ultimately broken down into glucose to be used as energy for your cells and for all of the biochemical processes in your body. As you’ve probably figured out by now, not all energy is created equally.

Carbohydrates are divided into monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides. Monosaccharides are the simplest sugars. They cannot be broken down further. They include glucose and fructose. The disaccharides are carbohydrates composed of two sugars that can be broken down into their individual components, including sucrose, lactose and maltose.

The polysaccharides are long chains of monosaccharides held together with glycosidic bonds. They include cellulose and starches found in potatoes, bread, legumes and whole grains. In order for your body to break a polysaccharide down into glucose, all of the glycosidic bonds need to be broken. The longer the chain, the more bonds need to be broken and the longer it takes for the glucose to enter into the blood stream and cause a rise in blood sugar levels. The body does not digest cellulose, the fiber in a food, and it simply passes through the digestive system.

The Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load

In order to identify how the body uses carbohydrates for energy, I want to introduce the concepts of the glycemic index and the glycemic load. The glycemic index was developed to show the effects of a particular food on blood sugar levels. Each food in the glycemic index (GI) is given a score from 1 to 100, with 100 being the value assigned to pure glucose. Foods are considered to be low GI if they are under 55, medium GI between 56 and 69, and high GI over 70. It’s important to keep in mind that the values assigned are laboratory-derived values and that each person’s unique genetic makeup will allow for variations in metabolism for the same foods.

The glycemic index also takes into account the amounts of fat, fiber, total carbohydrates in a food and method of food preparation. Raw carrots have a lower GI value than cooked carrots because the cooked version has less fiber. (Fiber is broken down by cooking.) Most fresh green vegetables have a very low GI value due to the high amount of fiber they contain. Fruits also fall under the low GI category even though they contain fructose mainly due to the amount of fiber contained in the specific fruits.

Whole-wheat foods and sweet potatoes fall under the medium GI group and sugary cereals, white bread and white potatoes fall under the high GI group. Just because a food has a higher GI value does not mean that it is off limits for diabetics or anyone looking to stabilize blood sugar levels. It does however mean that you will need to balance the food with lower GI choices and monitor portion sizes.

The foods with the highest GI values are the ones that will produce the greatest increase in blood sugar levels. The foods with lower GI values will have less of an effect on blood sugar levels because glucose enters the blood stream more gradually, thus allowing the body to secrete smaller amounts of insulin slowly over time and the cells to absorb what they need without becoming overloaded.

The other concept to become familiar with is the glycemic load (GL). The glycemic load takes into account not only the GI value of the food, but also the portion size of the food. As you increase the portion size the GI value of the food stays the same, however, the GL value increases. To calculate the GL value of a food you would multiple the GI value by the amount of carbohydrates in your serving and divide by 100.

You’re probably starting to think that you need to get out a calculator just to eat. I’m certainly not suggesting that, as it would surely take the pleasure out of eating. However, if you are diabetic and you have to be conscious of the total number of carbohydrates you consume, then you are probably already counting carbs in your meals. Using the GI and the GL values as a guide will allow you to estimate the fluctuations in blood sugar that a particular food will cause.

Many readers are likely looking for a definitive answer to the question of, “If I eat chocolate cake with frosting is my blood sugar going to go up to 400?” But the answer really depends on your unique reaction to each food and the combination of other foods eaten at the same time. The glycemic index and glycemic load can be useful tools to help with meal planning, but the actual change in blood sugar in response to a specific food is unique to the person. The more insulin resistant you are the more your blood sugar will fluctuate when you stray to sweets, sugary soft drinks or other refined carbohydrate foods.

The most important rule to remember when eating is to keep your blood sugar balanced. Studies have shown a greater incidence of heart attacks when blood sugar drops suddenly from high to low than when it was stabilized. Testing and trial and error will determine what works best for you because each person is unique in their ability to metabolize glucose and in their level of insulin resistance.

How to Stabilize Blood Sugar Levels

I know that this information may sound overwhelming, but it really is crucial to preventing a host of downstream problems that stem from insulin resistance and diabetes, including heart disease, chronic inflammation, kidney disease and even some cancers. You can allow your cells to recover from insulin resistance, and become more insulin sensitive, but it won’t happen overnight.

In order to keep your blood sugar at an optimal stable level:

• Eat lean protein at each meal to help control appetite and stabilize blood sugar.
• Eat a meal or snack every four hours so that your blood sugar levels don’t drop too much and cause your body to become ravenous.
• Finish eating two to three hours before bed to allow for complete digestion so that your body can dedicate sleep time to rejuvenation and repair instead of digestion.
• Don’t eat a high glycemic index food alone. Consume it with a balanced meal to balance out the overall glycemic load. You can have dessert, but do so only after eating a protein and vegetable meal.
• Control your overall glycemic load by choosing lower GI food and watching portion sizes and total carbohydrates per serving. This will allow your blood sugar to stay more stable.
• Eat a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables at every meal. They are low GI and full of fiber and antioxidants and vitamins to help you feel full and stay healthy.
• Aim to increase your fiber intake especially in the form of soluble fiber from beans, whole grains, legumes, fruits and veggies, and nuts and seeds.
• The fiber will slow the absorption of sugar into the blood stream

Whether or not you are diabetic, keeping your blood sugar level in the healthy range is important for optimal health. By incorporating these simple suggestions for low GI value foods into your diet, you can be on your way to taking control of your blood sugar levels. Think about enjoying the high GI value foods as an addition to your meal, not as the main course and you will always be able to incorporate your favorite foods into each meal.

Yours in health,

Juliette Shimkets
Contributing Editor
New England Health Advisory

Here’s a question I want you to answer. And be honest.  How often do you exercise? I don’t mean regularly getting off the couch to manually change the channel on the TV or hoisting a quarter pounder to your mouth. I mean, physical activity that makes you huff and puff and break out in a sweat.

Like most people, you probably don’t get enough exercise. And you—like everyone else—are paying for it big time. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 68% of American adults—or 72% of men and 64% of women—are overweight or obese and 26 million have heart disease. The American Heart Association estimates that 74.5 million of Americans—or one in three—have high blood pressure, a risk factor for heart disease. And the National Institute of Health reports that 23.6 million of us have Type 2 diabetes.

What’s wrong with this picture? Many of these problems could be prevented—or our risk for them reduced—if we exercised regularly.

Exercise lowers blood pressure and our risk for heart disease and diabetes as well as colon, breast and other cancers. It helps us lose, and maintain, weight. It keeps our minds sharp and improves mood. It keeps joints and muscles flexible and strong. It may even add years to our lives.  And I mean quality years.

Skeptical?  Stanford University researchers started following runners and non-runners when they were in their 50s and older.  About two decades later, runners were less likely than non-runners to have problems doing everyday tasks like walking, dressing, getting out of a chair and grasping objects. Runners who did have difficulty developed problems about 16 years later than non-runners. Runners were also less likely to die. At the 19-year mark only 15% of runners had died compared to 34% of non-runners. The runners averaged about four hours of running each week at the start of the study; two decades later they were logging about 76 minutes per week, but they were still reaping benefits. That sounds pretty good to me.

Exercise has so much going for it that the government’s new Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend being physically active most days of the week.  The guidelines recommend two-and-one-half hours of moderately intense exercise or one hour and 15 minutes of vigorous activity per week. To get major health benefits from exercise, we should do five hours of moderate activity or two-and-one-half hours of vigorous activity weekly.

Moderate activity includes brisk walking, gardening or water aerobics. Vigorous activity includes jogging, swimming laps, jumping rope or hiking up a hill while wearing a heavy backpack.  You can spread physical activity over the course of the day, but for best results, you should exercise at least 10 minutes at a time.

Everyone should also do strengthening exercises, such as strength training, toting heavy loads, push-ups and sit-ups, at least twice per week. Weight-bearing exercise keeps bones and muscles strong. Strong bones lower our risk for osteoporosis, the brittle bone disease. And strong muscles mean we are less likely to fall or become frail.

All of this exercise may seem like a big time commitment, but think of it this way: Heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, cancer and other health problems take time, too. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather work out than while away the hours visiting doctors; having diagnostic tests; monitoring my blood sugar; or recovering from a heart attack.  I would rather run or walk a few hours a week now than not be able to walk at all when I’m 80.

That’s why I make physical activity a priority. I have run three New York City Marathons. I have taken classes in step aerobics and spinning. I have worked with a personal trainer. These days I walk briskly for two or three miles nearly every weekday and cycle on weekends. (If it’s rainy or frigid, I walk instead.)  If we have a blizzard, I cross-country ski in the neighborhood. And because I live in New York City, I do lots of incidental walking every day—to the grocery store, the dry cleaner, the subway station (where I also climb stairs) or the post office.

Sure, there are times when I’ve skipped my workout. And I have been sidelined by a broken ankle, a torn meniscus, a herniated disc and lousy weather. But as soon as my injuries mended and the weather cleared, I got back on track. And I am better off for it.

Now it’s your turn.  It takes three to six months for something to become a habit. I promise you once exercise becomes just that, you’ll wonder how you managed without it. Ready to begin? These tips will get you started. The rest is up to you.

Get your doctor’s OK. If you are out of shape, are overweight or obese or have health issues, have your doctor sign off on your regimen and tell you what you can or can’t do.

Choose an activity you’ll enjoy. If you like it, you’re more likely to continue it.

Get the right gear. I’m not saying you should spend a fortune. But having the right shoes matters. If you don’t, your feet will hurt and you’re more likely to call it quits. Clothing that breathes and doesn’t irritate your skin will make your workout more enjoyable. If you cycle, buy bicycle shorts with cushioning. If Lycra isn’t your thing, get a cushioned liner to wear under shorts or sweats.

Go slowly. Getting out of shape takes time; so does shaping up. Each day, go a little further; each week, push a little harder. The government recommends that once you can comfortably walk 30 minutes three times a week, bump up the time you spend walking to 50 minutes. If you cycle three days a week for 25 minutes, gradually work up to six days. And stick to a schedule. Write the day and time of your workout in a calendar. If something comes up, reschedule.

Hire a personal trainer for a while. He or she can devise a training schedule for you; show you proper form—say, for strength training; and keep you on track as you build fitness.

Set goals. They’ll keep you motivated and challenged.  If you walk or jog, sign up for a race. If you bicycle, take a weekend jaunt with a local cycling group. When I was a runner, I used to run in weekend races. As a cyclist, I have taken eight bicycle trips through the French countryside.

Rethink your views about exercise. I have always thought of my walk, jog, exercise class or bicycle ride as recess for grown-ups. It’s fun and the one time I can get away from work and family pressures. It clears my mind and helps me unwind. And knowing that it may lower my risk for lots of diseases and add years to my life are big pluses.

Yours in health,

Catherine Winters
Contributing Editor
New England Health Advisory

By Inger Pols

Research increasingly shows that energy and electricity can interfere with our body’s normal functioning. Cell phones, cordless phones, cell phone towers and WiFi can affect us all at a cellular level and those who are more sensitive may experience a significant disruption in cellular function and communication. I’m going to write more about electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and their effect on our bodies in coming weeks, including why microwaves are not allowed in Russia. But today I want to share some new information about how EMFs may affect blood sugar levels and lead to—or exacerbate—diabetes.

One leading researcher argues that there are three forms of diabetes, not two. Type 1, which is genetic, is generally diagnosed at a young age and requires insulin injections for effective management. Type 2, which used to be called adult onset, is brought on by diet and lifestyle choices and can be prevented or managed through diet changes and exercise. (It no longer takes an adult lifetime to damage cell signaling, as you learned in the sugar report. Today, more and more children are being diagnosed with this preventable form of diabetes.)

Now Dr. Magda Havas of the University of Trent in Canada has shown that there is a third condition that is caused by the environment, not genes or diet. She calls it Type 3 diabetes and her research shows that “dirty” electricity and electromagnetic fields can alter blood sugar levels both in previously diagnosed Type 1 and 2 diabetics, as well as in people who have not been diagnosed with diabetes.

Her research, published in Electromagnetic Medicine and Biology, presents four case studies of patients affected by “dirty” energy. This is emerging research, so the numbers haven’t been quantified yet, but Dr. Havas estimates between five and 60 million diabetics are affected by this energy.

So what exactly is “dirty” energy?

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Dirty Electricity and Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs)

According to Dr. Havas, “dirty electricity” describes “electric power that has become corrupted by our use of modern appliances. Items such as CFL bulbs, cell phone transmission antennas, power supplies for portable computers, cell phone chargers, dimmer switches, variable speed fans and many other electronic devises that require a transformer to convert the voltage will “dirty” the electricity that enters your home. This form of dirty electro-magnetic fields (EMF) is invisible to the eye, but has a biological effect on the human body and has been associated with a wide variety of illnesses.”

While Dr. Havas’ research is new, she is not the only one to write about EMFs. Many physicians and scientists, including Dr. Thomas Rau of the world-renowned Paracelsus Clinic in Switzerland, and others such as Dr. Weill, Dr. Mercola, Dr. David Carpenter and even the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been warning about these concerns since the 1980s.

Dr. Rau is convinced that “electromagnetic loads” can lead to cancer, ADD, migraines, insomnia, arrhythmia, Parkinson’s disease, back pain and difficulty concentrating. People who are super-sensitive to EMFs can get headaches, nausea, muscle aches, fatigue or skin irritations just from being around WiFi or cell phone towers.

Dr. David Carpenter, Dean of the School of Public Health at State University of New York at Albany has attributed up to 30% of childhood cancers to EMFs. Martin Halper, the Director of Analysis and Support for the EPA says, “I have never seen a set of epidemiological studies that remotely approached the weight of evidence we are seeing with EMFs. Clearly there is something here.”

In 1989, the Department of Energy reported that, “It has now become generally accepted that there are, indeed, biological effects due to field exposure.” And Dr. Andrew Weill, natural health expert, has said, “Electromagnetic (EMF) pollution may be the most significant form of pollution human activity has produced in this century, all the more dangerous because it is an invisible, insensible ‘toxin.’ ”

Scientists and the government have known about these dangers for decades now, but the proliferation of wireless technology since then makes the risks greater than ever before, especially those who are more sensitive.

So what exactly does “dirty” electricity do?

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The Effect of “Dirty” Electricity

Dr. Havas looked at the effect of dirty electricity on blood sugar levels in four different scenarios. In the first, the patient was a 54-year-old man who had not yet been diagnosed with diabetes, but was considered to be “pre-diabetic.” In this case, the man’s blood sugar levels were found to be normal when he was outside fishing and camping and he had no blood sugar concerns. But when he measured his blood sugar inside his house, especially after working on a computer, he experienced blood sugar spikes.

The man’s blood sugar and the level of “dirty” electricity in his home were measured in the morning for nine days. The higher the level of dirty electricity, the higher his recorded blood sugar levels. On one day, he forgot to measure his blood sugar first thing and instead measured it later while working at his computer. It was shown to be higher than normal. He stepped away from his computer and measured it again 10 minutes later, and it had dropped 20 mg/dL or milligrams per deciliter.

The second case was a 57-year-old woman with Type 2 diabetes who uses exercise to control her blood sugar levels. In the study, she walked inside a mall (after hours when everything was shut down) for 20 minutes and her plasma glucose was shown to drop significantly after her exercise from above acceptable levels down to acceptable levels. When she used a treadmill inside her home for 20 minutes instead and conducted the same blood sugar measurements, her blood sugar was shown to increase after exercise!

In the third case, an 80-year-old woman with Type 1 diabetes who was taking insulin measured her blood sugar every morning for a week. Then she had energy filters installed in her house to remove the “dirty” electricity and she measured her blood sugar every morning for the subsequent week. The filters removed 98% of the “dirty” electricity in her home and her blood sugar dropped 33%; the amount of insulin she required to manage her condition was reduced by 75% as a result.

The final case study involved a 12-year-old boy with Type 1 diabetes who was sent to the hospital with very high blood sugar levels.  He was given increased insulin until his blood sugar began to decrease and he was allowed to go home. Then, filters were installed in his home and his blood sugar dropped significantly as did the amount of insulin he required (to about half his former level). His younger sister, who had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of three months, also saw her insulin levels significantly reduced after the filters were installed.

In another part of the study, Dr. Havas put patients on beds with cordless phones two feet away from their heads. The phone was plugged into the wall, and either turned on or off for each session, though neither the patient nor the doctor administering the test knew whether the phone was on or off.

Patients who were sensitive to EMFs experienced significant increases in their heart rates when the phone was powered on, and their normal heart rates returned almost instantly once the phone was turned off again.

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How do You Know if You Have Type 3 Diabetes?

If you experience unexplained blood sugar spikes, you may want to look into whether you are sensitive to “dirty” energy. If your blood sugar levels change based on your environment (test levels when you are outside in nature and at the same time when you are inside your home) or you have difficulty regulating your blood sugar levels for reasons you cannot identify, it’s worth exploring this further. One simple and easy way to test is to measure your blood sugar before and after exercising on electronic exercise equipment. After exercise, your blood sugar levels should be reduced; if they increase, you are energy sensitive.

While we are all vulnerable to “dirty” energy exposure, it is unknown how many of us are sensitive enough to experience such measurable disruptions. The case studies Dr. Havas presents are just a small sample, but knowing you are sensitive to “dirty” electricity may be critical for improving your health and wellness. Because many doctors remain unaware, you may need to be proactive in exploring the reasons behind your blood sugar variations and the appropriate actions you can take to help restore balance.

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How to Reduce Exposure to Electropollution

Even if you are not sensitive enough to “dirty” electricity to see a physiological manifestation like heart rate increases or blood sugar level spikes, we are all bombarded with electropollution on a daily basis and many experts agree that minimizing our exposure makes good health sense for us all.

The first step you can take is to test your home. The website EMF Safety Store identifies and summarizes various meters you can use to measure EMFs and offers filters to mitigate “dirty” electricity. Filters will capture the electrical noise from things like televisions, computers and phones and filter it out of your house and back into the line or the ground.

Whether you test or not, try to reduce exposure to cell phones, cordless phones, WiFi, microwaves, electric blankets and heating pads. Keep wireless routers and cell phones away from your body and be sure your router is removed from any area where people sleep or spend a lot of time. (Sometimes even a few feet can make a difference, but the further away, the better. I keep mine in my office at the opposite end of the house from the bedrooms and family living area.)

At night, turn off phones, your router or any other electricity emitting devices. And never walk around with a headset on your head. Headsets deliver a steady stream of radiation, even when you are not speaking: They serve as a tractor beam of sorts for EMFs. If you must use a headset, take it off when you are not speaking.

Spending more time outside and away from all our gadgets, appliances and technology is a great way to recharge, reconnect and to reduce our exposure to “dirty” energy. And while you are outside, you can get some vitamin D and increase your health benefits at the same time!

To your health!

Inger Pols
Editor of New England Health Advisory

P.S. If you want to learn more about EMFs, you can explore the website Electromagnetic Health. If you want to learn more about Dr. Havas’ research, you can visit her site here.

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By Inger Pols

In the last issue, I began a series on how to make healthier food choices. I discussed how refined flour is stripped of its nutrients and then “enriched” with lab-created versions of the nutrients. I discussed how flour can spike blood sugar levels and suggested some healthier bread choices. Today, I’m going to look at traditional starch options like pasta, rice and potatoes to see why pasta comes out as the best choice.

I want to talk briefly about why the Glycemic Index is a helpful guide (but not an absolute rule) and look at how it applies to bread to provide context when we look at how pasta, potatoes and rice measure up.

As I discussed on Monday with the bread issue, certain foods spike blood sugar levels. The Glycemic Index is the scientific system that measures and monitors those increases across all carbohydrates. The lower the number, generally speaking, the better because that means the food will be digested more slowly, will result in less insulin spiking and will provide more protection from diabetes, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, heart disease and obesity.

In addition to helping you to avoid certain health conditions, lower Glycemic Index (GI) foods also aid in weight control. A study of overweight teenagers eating a low GI breakfast showed that they ate 45% fewer calories throughout the day than when they began their day with a high GI breakfast. Foods that stimulate insulin have been shown to increase calorie consumption at the next meal and research shows that if calorie intake is equal, eating lower GI food will result in weight loss.

Problems with the Glycemic Index

But there are a number of problems with relying completely on the index as a food guide. First, GI food measurements are imprecise. Generally speaking, the test is done several times and the results are an average of those outcomes.

For example, a baked russet potato has been shown to have a GI value as low as 56 and as high as 111. As a result, it is listed in the high 70s on most indexes. The GI index for fruit increases as it ripens and changes depending on the food processing method and time. Grinding or cooking will increase the GI as will cooking for longer periods of time.

The GI of any one food is also altered significantly based on what it is combined with. I recommend eating healthy fat, protein and fiber with every meal because it reduces insulin spiking and decreases the likelihood that higher sugar foods will be stored as fat. But how much you eat matters too: Some foods have a high GI but you likely wouldn’t eat a lot of them, so their overall “load” is lower, while others may be lower, but you are more likely to consume a good portion. And lastly, individual responses to carbohydrate digestion vary, as do insulin responses, and those responses have been shown to vary based on the time of day the food is consumed.

As a result, the Glycemic Index can be a helpful tool but should not be relied upon in absolute. It is helpful for making relative comparisons and tradeoffs. Something that falls in the 80s is a less healthy food choice than something that lands in the 40s. Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to minimize consumption of foods with scores over 55 on the GI. But some of those foods have great nutritional benefits, so that doesn’t mean you should never eat them. Instead, consume them in moderate portions, on occasion, combined with fiber, healthy fats and protein. It’s easy to see why a processed bakery product might need to be eliminated, but a potato or watermelon can be eaten in moderation.

Now let’s talk about how the Glycemic Index applies to pasta and rice compared to bread.

Bread, Potatoes, Rice and Pasta

In addition to being nutrient devoid, traditional white bread and most whole wheat bread (made from enriched white flour) is high on the Glycemic Index. Typical white or wheat bread and bagels fall in the 70s, while pita bread lands in the high 50s. I love a good French bread as much as the next person, but baguettes fall in the mid-90s!

As you go toward more whole grain products, the Glycemic Index declines, with multigrain bread in the high 40s and sprouted grain breads in the low to mid-40s. Whole grain, multi-grain and sprouted grains are lower GI choices that also offer more nutrient value. (Ezekiel bread, for example, is a complete protein source offering all nine essential amino acids and 18 amino acids in total, all from plants; it’s more than just bread.)

It seems logical that pastas would go much the same way as breads, with traditional white and wheat pastas being significantly higher glycemically than whole grain and sprouted grain versions. But that is not the case.

Earlier I said that white bread and baked potatoes have GI scores in the 70s, but there are some better potatoes choices: Boiled, new or sweet potatoes are all in the mid-50s. In addition, brown rice comes in at 55 on the GI, while white rice shows up between 56-64. (Note: Though the Glycemic Index between brown and white rice may seem close, brown rice has much greater nutrient density and is a better food choice.)

Even though some potatoes and brown rice have levels in the mid-50s on the GI, which makes them viable options on occasion, pastas have an even lower GI. During processing, ungelatinized starch granules get trapped in the sponge-like gluten (protein) network inside the pasta dough. This does not occur in the processing of bread or rice and as a result, pastas tend to have a lower Glycemic Index overall.

Traditional spaghetti comes in at 41 on the GI scale, with its whole-wheat version at 37, making these clear winners, with a few caveats.

An Exception: Brown Rice Pasta

There is one surprising exception: brown rice pasta. Brown rice pasta comes in at a whopping 92 on the Glycemic Index: A surprise to me since brown rice itself is not high on the GI and whole grain brown rice is a nutrient-rich food. I’m still researching what it is about the transformation from rice to pasta that makes brown rice so high on GI scale. But until I learn more, avoid brown rice pasta and stick to traditional pastas.

I do continue to recommend whole grain brown rice as a healthy, nutrient-laden option on occasion; it’s got a host of health benefits and comes in at 55 on the GI scale. (Asian noodles also have a relatively low Glycemic Index, so I recommend experimenting with udon, rice vermicelli or hokkein for variety.)

As always, try to limit serving size and frequency; we Americans tend to eat enormous plates full of pasta whereas Europeans eat much smaller portions. And always cook your pasta al dente: The longer you cook it, the higher the Glycemic Index, as the gelatinous protein network breaks down. (One GI table showed that spaghetti boiled for 10-15 minutes came in at 44, but when boiled for five minutes, it dropped down to 38. Regardless of the exact cooking time, which will vary by product, be sure not to overcook. Try for that al dente firmness that leaves more of the protein intact.)

When you do eat pasta, combine it with healthy fats, proteins and carbohydrates to create a balanced meal; here’s where fresh homemade vegetable sauces made with healthy fats can take your meal to a whole new health level. And here’s a tip if you are concerned about blood sugar: Add some acid like vinegar or lemon to help lower the GI of the meal.

While you do get some additional nutrient value from a whole grain, multi-grain or sprouted grain pasta, the glycemic difference of whole wheat is not significant versus traditional pastas. Some of the newer whole grain and sprouted grain versions have not even been tested yet and while their scores may be lower, the baseline for traditional pasta is pretty good to begin with.

While I encourage you to experiment and try some of these nutrient-rich grain products–variety in food choices is always a good thing–if the taste does not appeal to you, it’s OK to indulge in some traditional pasta on occasion. Mangia!

To your health!

Inger Pols
Editor of New England Health Advisory

P.S. We receive a lot of emails from our readers, but last week, we were honored to receive an actual paper letter! Not only that, but its content was so interesting and thought provoking that we published it on our website. Please take a moment to read it and add comments.

By Inger Pols

Today, we are going to begin another five-part series, looking at five food swaps you can make to take an unhealthy food choice and improve it, perhaps even turning it into a healthy choice. We’re going to start by looking at bread and learn why enriched flours are nutrient poor and how we can make better bread choices. To understand why most bread today wreaks havoc in our systems, we need to learn more about how wheat is turned into the flour that becomes our bread.

We know that consuming too much white sugar can be hazardous to our health, but many people are unaware that white flour reacts the same way in the body. It doesn’t taste sweet, but it does break down into glucose and create the same problems with blood sugar spikes that can lead to metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes. In addition, white flour is devoid of any real nutritional value, so the calories we consume are empty and stored as fat.

A White Bread World

Whole wheat contains many nutrients including vitamins (vitamin E, vitamin B6 and niacin) and minerals (selenium, magnesium and phosphorus), as well as fiber, protein and antioxidants. It’s made up of the outside layer called the bran, a middle starch layer and the inside layer called the germ. Most of the nutrients are contained in the bran and the germ. Traditional flour making, however, strips away those two layers leaving just the middle or starch layer. This layer doesn’t have any fiber or nutrients to slow its absorption, so it is broken down and absorbed rapidly. (When you eat the whole grain, it is broken down and absorbed slowly and steadily without blood sugar spikes.) The processed version floods the body with too much sugar at once, spiking your blood sugar level and causing the excess sugar to be stored as fat.

Once stripped, the wheat is then often bleached and a few synthetic lab-created vitamins are added to replace what was lost. This process is what enables it to be called “enriched.” But there is nothing rich about this process of taking away a wealth of nutrients and leaving a poor imitation; there are dozens of vitamins and minerals in the original grain and only a few are replaced. Those that are replaced are usually lab-created versions that our bodies cannot absorb as well and they do not have the co-factors found in the original form that would afford full nutritional benefit. In fact, they can even cause some harm to people with sensitivities.

Flour is rich in B vitamins that work together in harmony and balance. The “enrichment” process adds back some synthetic B vitamins that then require the body to rebalance what is already present with what has just been added. The result can be a B-vitamin deficiency. If severe enough, it can manifest as insomnia, heart palpitations, muscle tenderness, fatigue, anxiety, depression or poor memory.

Manufacturers do this because the stripping process leaves flour with a finer texture, increases its shelf life and decreases its attractiveness to bugs. But if a bug won’t eat the flour because there is nothing to sustain its life, why should we consume it?

The original whole grain is also rich in fiber, which helps sweep waste out through the colon; the refined version has no fiber. If you want to try a science experiment, mix about a quarter cup of flour with four tablespoons of water and see what you get: The perfect white glue paste. Now consider what happens as that travels through your colon.
That waste is hard to remove, especially if, like the typical fiber deficient American, you do not have a bowel movement after every meal. Much of that waste will remain in the body creating the perfect environment for parasites to thrive on as well as adding some extra pounds.

But many people love bread, so how can we still enjoy it while minimizing the damage to our health?

Finding a Less-Harmful Bread

The first step is to get rid of the dangerous additives like partially hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup.  If you can only do one thing, read the labels and find a bread without those additives. In a typical grocery store, that may not be an easy task! You may need to ask your market to carry breads without these additives.

The second step is to reduce or eliminate white flour breads. (Ideally this can be done in conjunction with step one, but I separated it for those who may feel overwhelmed and want to move slowly toward these changes over time.) If you can’t eliminate it completely, try to cut down to two to three white bread portions a week. When you do eat it, always eat it as part of a balanced meal with proteins and healthy fats.

Read the labels of the products you buy and put back anything that says enriched flour on it. Look for a true whole grain product. Be aware that most whole wheat breads are nothing more than enriched white flour with caramel added and are often no better for you than white bread. You want whole grain, (100% whole wheat is fine), but read the ingredient label not the marketing slogans and look for 100% whole grains. Multi-grain combination breads are also good. Keep in mind that true whole grains will lose their nutritional value within days of grinding, so they need to be consumed quickly or frozen.

Making those changes will take your bread from being an unhealthy addition to your diet to one that can be a neutral element when consumed in balance. But if you want to take it to the next level, and make your bread something that can actually be a part of a good healthy diet, consider moving toward sprouted grain products.

A Healthy Approach to Bread

All grains, nuts and seeds contain something called phytic acid, which blocks the absorption of minerals. In addition, grains have enzyme inhibitors and compounds that can irritate and inhibit digestion. When grains have been used traditionally, native peoples knew that to avoid these problems, grains needed to be soaked and sprouted. This process not only eliminates the phytic acid concerns, it increases the nutritional value.

The only bread in my house is Ezekiel bread, a dense sprouted grain bread. I keep it in the freezer and use it for the kids’ sandwiches for school. By the time the kids open their lunch bags, it’s thawed and ready to eat. If they want it now, we toast it. It has a chewier texture and richer flavor that can take some getting used to if you have lived on white bread, but once you get used to it, you’ll find white bread uninteresting and bland. You can get Ezekiel bread (and English muffins) in the freezer section of the organic aisle at most grocery stores; I get mine at Hannaford. It’s also available at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.

Some other healthy options include Alvarado Street Bakery and Shiloh Farms Bakery, which you can find online. And if you need to be gluten free or want to reduce gluten, Cybro’s makes gluten-free sprouted-grain breads and you can find them online, too. If you look around, you’ll find many options in your local organic markets and you’ll likely find local organic bread makers nearby as well.

If you are a baker, you can look for whole grain and sprouted grain flours or try brown rice flour. I do not have any white flour in my house: If I bake, I typically use brown rice flour, which doesn’t spike blood sugar levels like white flour. I find it easily in the organic section of any large supermarket.

You may be ready to make a big change and jump to sprouted grain products immediately and if so, that’s great. But if traditional bread is a passion, you don’t need to give it up completely. Keep your favorite staple, try to cut back on the frequency, eat it in balance with fiber, protein and healthy fats, but add some healthier options in as well. Experiment with different types of breads, and slowly try to move toward healthier choices. You may just find that as you experience the richer flavors of whole and sprouted grains, your taste for the white flour products will dissipate over time.

To your health!

Inger Pols
Editor of New England Health Advisory

P.S. Connect with me on Twitter and Facebook!

By Inger Pols

This is part five of a series on the supplements I think every adult should take. Previous issues focused on whole-food based multivitamins, ubiquinol, fiber and omega 3. You can read them by clicking here.

The final supplement on the list is vitamin D, which is made in our bodies through sun exposure. But today, we simply don’t get enough direct exposure to sunshine, without sunscreen, to make the vitamin D we need.

Vitamin D helps with bone health by facilitating calcium absorption. It also plays an important role in many other healthy body functions. Vitamin D has been shown to improve immune health and heart health, protect against cancer, autoimmune diseases, depression and a host of other conditions.

Vitamin D deficiency is a major cause for concern as it affects multiple systems in our bodies. Vitamin D deficiency is far more pervasive than previously believed, with research now indicating virtually all adults and children have lower than optimal vitamin D levels.

The only way to know how much vitamin D you need on a daily basis is to get your levels tested a couple of months after you begin to supplement. You want to see levels of 125-200 nmol/L, or nanomoles per liter. (Sometimes test results are reported in nanograms per milliliter or ng/ml. It’s the same test, just a different measurement: Like miles per hour versus feet per second. If your test results are in ng/ml, you will want to see at least 50 ng/ml for optimal vitamin D function.)

Estimates now suggest that 5,000 International Units, or IU, of vitamin D a day or 35 IU per pound for kids or heavier people is appropriate. But some of us need more: I was recently listening to a renowned brain expert say that as a physician, he was shocked when he found out after vitamin D testing that his body required 10,000 IU a day to function at its optimal level since he lives in southern California and is exposed to sunshine all year.

My whole food multivitamin contains 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 and I get plenty of daily summer sunshine, so I don’t take a supplement in summer. But most multivitamins have shockingly low levels of vitamin D3. So even if you are taking a good whole-food multivitamin, you’ll most likely need to add some D3, unless you get time outside without sunscreen every day. And even though my multivitamin provides a good baseline, I still find that I need to supplement with an additional 1,000-2,000 IUs of vitamin D3 during the long New England winters. Unless you are in a warm weather climate, you probably will too.

If you haven’t read my full article on vitamin D, you should check it out. Before we leave the topic of supplements, I want briefly mention three other supplements that did not make my top five list that you may want to consider: collagen, probiotics and DIM.

Collagen

If you read my article on bone health, you know how important collagen is to avoiding bone fractures. You can and should get your collagen from eating good collagen-rich foods like dark green leafy vegetables. But if you find—like many—that you may not be eating enough collagen and you are not taking a good whole-food multivitamin, you may want to consider collagen supplementation.

As I shared in an earlier article, in order to maintain my weight and to prevent blood sugar issues, I try to eat small amounts of protein, healthy fats (omegas 3s) and fiber at every meal or snack. If I am ever in a situation where I am not consuming protein, I will take a collagen supplement (and a fiber or omega 3 supplement if needed) for balance. While not nearly as good as eating the right foods, in a pinch, it’s better than taking in carbohydrates (sugar) without any having protein to balance it out since carbs ingested without a protein counterbalance are stored as fat in the body.

Probiotics/Digestive Enzymes

We’ve all heard of antibiotics: They kill off or inhibit the growth of bacteria. But antibiotics also kill off the healthy bacteria in our digestive tract and inhibit our ability to digest food and to absorb nutrients. Probiotics contain the beneficial flora that your digestive system needs and digestive enzymes that work in your stomach to help break down foods. Both can be damaged by illness, poor diet and antibiotics, so if you have experienced any of those and have not taken a course of probiotics and enzymes afterward, your digestive system is likely not operating at top capacity.

Probiotics and digestive enzymes are also a must if you have digestive concerns such as cramps, constipation, diarrhea, gas or bloating or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. If you struggle with allergies or asthma, food sensitivities such as sugar or gluten, yeast infections or urinary tract infections, rosacea, acne or skin conditions, headaches or migraines, chronic bad breath (halitosis), PMS or hormonal imbalance, or achy joints, you should consider probiotic supplementation.

Depending on how long and how strong your course of antibiotics was, or how severe your digestive concerns are and what your diet is like (if it is very acidic), you may want to stay on probiotics for a while to ensure balance is restored and maintained. At a minimum, you’ll want to take probiotics and digestive enzymes while taking antibiotics and for several weeks afterward. A two to three month supplementation cycle is great for restoring balance and digestive health after any significant stress to your digestive system. Eating yogurt can help, but your body most likely needs more help than yogurt alone can provide.

Even if you haven’t had antibiotics lately or faced a digestive health concern, your system could still be imbalanced from a concern long ago. Probiotics can help restore balance if you have a heavily acidic diet that promotes yeast and causes other imbalances in your digestive pathway. I recommend a month (or two) of probiotic and digestive enzyme supplementation every year to help ensure your digestive system has everything it needs to maximize the nutrient absorption of the food you are eating.

There are many different probiotic strains and each works differently in the body, so you may need to experiment with more than one brand to find the right one. If you are facing a specific issue, research your condition to find the best strains. The right probiotic should make a difference within the first week or two. If you don’t see improvement after two weeks, try another brand with different strains of bacteria. If you are just looking to restore balance annually with no specific concerns, choose a highly rated probiotic that has bifidobacteria and lactobacillus acidophilus in the billions.

DIM or Diindolylmethane

Diindolylmethane, or DIM, promotes healthy hormonal balance through beneficial estrogen metabolism. DIM is a naturally occurring phytonutrient found in cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli, cabbage or collards), which we know are good for us, but do not eat nearly enough of. DIM can balance estrogen by blocking “bad” estrogen and promoting good or beneficial estrogen in our bodies.

For women, healthy estrogen metabolism prevents breast, cervical and uterine cancers; for men, it is required for prostate health. (Men, you have estrogen in your bodies and are exposed to it in foods and the environment as well, so it’s just as important for you!) We are going to be talking more about DIM and prostrate health in Friday’s issue.

Not everyone needs DIM, so it didn’t make my top five list. But if you’re concerned about hormonal balance, fibers, tumors or reproductive cancers or prostate health, DIM is a supplement you should consider taking daily. (I found it quiets my hot flashes.) Generally speaking, unless cancer runs in your family, you are perimenopausal and/or you are already struggling with reproductive issues like fibroids or hysterectomy, it’s something you can wait to take until you’re in your 50s.

Research has shown that most DIM supplements cannot be absorbed; they require microencapsulation. Only one company, BioResponse, has a patented microencapsulation with extended release naoparticles, ensuring predictable absorption. This company is the only brand being used in all the published clinical trials, including those sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, so it’s the one I take and recommend.

To your health!

Inger Pols
Editor of New England Health Advisory

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By Al Sears, M.D.

If you enjoy breakfast or lunch on-the-go, I understand. Our lives are so busy; we don’t always have time to cook.

But beware: Some “convenience foods” aren’t worth it. You’ll pay for it with added inches to your waistline. And those excess pounds lead to chronic diseases like obesity, cancer, and heart disease.

Here are three foods that will put you on the fast track to fat:

Breakfast Cereal: This one is a little deceptive. No one thinks of cereal as being a threat to their health.

But no matter which one you choose, breakfast cereals are high on the glycemic index (GI). For many people, a dose of high-glycemic carbs in the morning is the prescription for building excess body fat.

You’d almost be better off eating a candy bar or a piece of cake.

The GI of an average piece of chocolate cake is between 31 and 38… a Snickers bar is about 43. Not bad.

Compare that to the GI of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes… which registers a whopping 132. That means corn flakes break down into sugar in your bloodstream faster than pure glucose!

And if you add fuel to the fire by putting sugar on your cereal, you’re sending an overwhelming surge of sugar into your system.
Remember, high blood sugar triggers a wave of insulin. And insulin is the hormone that sends the message to build and store fat.

Even “healthy” cereals like Grape-Nuts have a GI of 80. That’s also very high.

It might be a fast fix when you’re rushing in the morning, but cereal in the morning will make you fat. Avoid it at all costs.

French Fries: Possibly the worst foods you can eat. First off, potatoes are high-glycemic and not good for you in any form. But when you take potatoes and deep-fry them in trans fatty oil, you have a recipe for sickness and disease.

While white potatoes aren’t the best choice, the oil they’re cooked in adds much more danger than the potatoes do. If you need a potato fix now and then, opt for a baked potato or, better yet, sweet potatoes. They’re loaded with carotenoids, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber.

Bagels and Breads: Don’t fall for the “whole-grain goodness” trap. When it comes to the glycemic index, it matters very little whether breads are made from whole grain or not. Grains spike your blood sugar, and you know what that means.

Forget about the commercials you see on TV. Unless you are very poor and can’t get enough calories without them, you should avoid grains at least until you get as lean as you want to be. You’ll be better off without them.

In the morning, take a few extra moments and scramble some eggs. Before you throw the eggs in, sauté some sliced tomatoes and spinach. Maybe some onion, too. In less than 10 minutes, you can have a breakfast that will make you feel pumped and energetic for the whole morning.

And if you need a fast lunch, try a wrap instead of a sandwich. More and more restaurants offer wraps these days. They come in all styles – spinach is my favorite. (Try and avoid the heavy flour tortillas.)

To your good health,

Al Sears, M.D.

Bibliography

1.    Whitehouse MW, Macrides TA, Kalafatis N. “Anti-inflammatory activity of a lipid fraction (Lyprinol®) from the N. Z. green-lipped mussel.” Inflammopharmacology. 1997;5:237-46.