Health and Fitness

Unsafe Blood Sugar Levels

Posted by menyok on in Health, Health and Beauty, Health and Fitness, Health and Medicines

Blood sugar refers to the amount of sugar–or glucose–in your blood. The hormone insulin helps the body process and use glucose. Normally, blood sugar increases after eating, and the pancreas releases insulin to regulate glucose levels. In people with diabetes (high blood sugar) or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), the body is not able to regulate blood sugar on its own, resulting in sometimes very dangerous reactions.

High Blood Sugar

High blood sugar occurs when there is not enough insulin produced, or when the body cannot properly process insulin. Blood sugar that remains high for a long time can cause serious damage to the eyes, kidneys and nerves. Some signs of high blood sugar include high blood glucose levels in a blood or urine test, frequent urination and an increase in thirst.

Low Blood Sugar

Low blood sugar can be caused by stress, hunger and insulin reactions. If you have been diagnosed with hypoglycemia or with diabetes, it is important to recognize the symptoms of hypoglycemia and to know how to treat this condition. Symptoms include shakiness and dizziness, sweating, severe feelings of hunger, sudden moodiness, lack of concentration and clumsiness.

Normal Levels of Blood Sugar

There are several types of blood glucose tests, which include fasting blood sugar, postprandial blood sugar and random blood sugar testing. Fasting blood sugar tests measure glucose levels after 8 hours without food or drink and should result in a normal range of 70 to 99 milligrams glucose per deciliter of blood; postprandial blood sugar tests measure glucose levels within two hours after eating and should result in a range of 70 to 145 mg/dL; random blood sugar tests are taken at intervals throughout the day and should result in glucose levels of 70 to125 mg/dL. Blood sugar levels higher or lower than these ranges are not considered normal and should be monitored closely. Danger zones include fasting blood sugar above 126 mg/dl or below 50 mg/dl.

Pear Body Shape Exercises

Posted by menyok on in Fashion, Health, Health and Beauty, Health and Fitness

According to Michele Olson, professor of exercise science at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, lower body fat is much more difficult to lose than fat in the midsection or other areas. The good news is that overweight, pear-shaped women are at a lower risk for health problems than overweight, apple-shaped women. However, it is best to tackle obesity as early as possible to avoid complications later in life. Begin by implementing exercise into your life at least five days a week, and by eating smaller meals. Remember, starvation or extreme food restriction will cause your body to store more fat, so focus on reducing portions but eating steadily during any workout program.

Interval Walking and Jogging

Interval cardio training burns more calories than steady cardio, such as going for a long jog. To incorporate intervals into a cardio workout, simply start at about half your maximum intensity (a brisk walk, for example), and increase your intensity every couple minutes. After you sustain your maximum intensity for a minute or two (a jog or sprint, depending on your fitness level), drop back down to a recovery level at about half-intensity. Repeat this cycle for 20 to 45 minutes, and remember not to strain yourself if you haven’t exercised in a while.

Other Interval Training

You can implement interval training into a variety of cardio activities—running, cycling, elliptical, or swimming. A good way to increase intensity in running or cycling is to add hills to your workout. Because interval training is intense, you may want to alternate interval days with steady cardio days, or alternate interval days with strength training days.

Strength Training

Two or three days a week of weight training can have phenomenal effects on health and physique. Weight training is the only way to change your body shape—while cardio training will help you lose weight, weight training will build lean body mass and balance the shape of your body. For the lower body, light weights and high reps will build lean body mass without “bulking up” your pear shape. For the upper body, Olson recommends a more traditional program—higher weight levels and a lower number of reps.

Low carb Paleo diet burns fat fast for weight loss, says ‘Eat the Yolks’ author

Posted by menyok on in Health and Fitness

If you’ve banned high fat foods such as egg yolks, butter and beef from your diet and can’t lose weight, a nutritional therapy practitioner (NTP) says she knows the reason: You’re missing out on the fat-burning benefits of healthy fats. In an exclusive interview on Feb. 25, we talked with Liz Wolfe, NTP, about what she’s discovered when it comes to permanent weight loss and health.

Why the epidemic of obesity in our nation? Liz links it to “decades of the Standard American Diet, which leads to hormonal imbalance and out-of-control hunger.”

She’s convinced that our tendency to avoid fat is a large part of the problem. Our hormones need fats such as butter, beef and eggs, says Liz. And her new book’s title sums up her philosophy: “Eat the Yolks: Discover Paleo, fight food lies, and reclaim your health” (click for details).

Modern science proves that we need both fat and cholesterol, and “fat and cholesterol from ethically raised animal products, along with the fat-soluble vitamins that come with them, are vital to our health,” Liz told us.

And when it comes to the ideal diet for weight loss and health, Liz is a Paleo plan proponent. However, she does modify the traditional Paleo approach slightly by adding certain types of dairy.

“Paleo opens the door to a world of nourishing, delicious, appetite-regulating foods that many of us eliminated out of fear or simply forgot as a result of our standard diet rut,” she explains.

In contrast, “the standard American diet is based on restricting calories, restricting fat, eliminating fats and cholesterol from properly raised animals, and ignoring real food in favor of the profitable, nutrient-poor products we’re sold as if a so-called “whole grain” with a long ingredients label was somehow a true health food.”

Liz offers this insight on the benefits of whole grains: “That’s propaganda, pure and simple.”

So what really works for weight loss? To become what Liz calls an “efficient fat-burner,” dish up “healthy fats and cholesterol, properly-raised animals and the fat-soluble vitamins that come with them, and whole vegetables and fruits of all kinds. ”

A typical day in Liz’s own “Eat the Yolks” diet includes:

A ginger-lemon tea or glass of beet kvass.
Breakfast is eggs from our free-range flock, over sweet potato or taro root with a dollop of goat cheese or butter from grass-fed cows.
Lunch is quick: wild-caught sardines straight from the can – a fantastic, budget-conscious, low-food-chain source of Omega 3, calcium and protein – with leftover sautéed rainbow chard and other veggies, like roasted carrots or beets left over from dinner the night before.
Dinner might be soup or stew, made with homemade broth in the pressure cooker (another time-saver), or tomato sauce with ground beef over spaghetti squash, a favorite ten-minute meal.

For those who are vegetarians, Liz suggests modifying the traditional approach by incorporating “the right types of dairy products, eggs, and bivalve seafood like oysters.”

Liz feels that “eliminating processed grain products and packaged foods is 95% of the battle for most of us; from there, it’s simply tweaking to achieve our goals while paying close attention to how we feel.”