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February 2007 Newsletter
by Beth Ley, Ph.D.
www.blpublications.com
NHL Ministries
IN THE NEWS
Portion Control for Weight Control: Size Perceptions Called Key
Study finds value in exploiting people's pliable perceptions of size
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The daily food-energy intake of the average American man rose by 168
calories over the past 30 years, and the average American woman's
intake rose by 335 calories a day during the same period. These
increases result in part from foods becoming cheaper and more
ubiquitous and from restaurants serving bigger portions. Americans
now spend 46% of their food budgets on restaurant and prepared foods,
versus only 27% in 1970.
Stress-related eating may also play a role, as well as processed food
which lacks fiber and nutrients - it takes more to "fill us up" - yet
without the nutrients - we can actually feel stuffed - but still not
satiated (nutrient wise).
Perceptions affect consumption
Research results indicate that people will eat what's presented to
them, past the point of satiety.
So it seems obvious that one way to cut calorie intake is to reduce
portion size. But people are poor judges of portion size.
One effective way to cut portion size -- and your own perception of a
serving's substantiality -- is to use smaller plates and bowls.
Eye of the Beholder
The Ebbinghaus-Titchener size-contrast illusion shows how people's
perceptions of sizes depend on context.
Both white circles are the same size, but appear different because of
their surroundings.
In 2002, Cornell University researchers tested this hypothesis in an
ironically ideal context: 85 nutrition experts who were attending an
ice cream social to celebrate the success of a colleague. You'd think
these folks would be good at judging portion sizes, but you'd be
wrong. At random, the attendees were given smaller (17 oz) or larger
(34 oz) bowls and smaller (2 oz) or larger (3 oz) ice cream scoops.
The nutrition experts given a larger bowl served themselves 31% more
without being aware of it. Servings increased by 14.5% when they were
given a larger serving spoon.
Despite the measured differences in portion sizes, the nutrition
experts all believed that they'd consumed about a cup (8 ounces) of
ice cream, and were equally satisfied. As the investigators concluded,
"People could try using the size of their bowls and possibly serving
spoons to help them better control how much they consume. Those
interested in losing weight should use smaller bowls and spoons …"
Beth's Note: What I would like to know is WHY were NUTRITIONISTS
eating ice cream???
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Soup study confirms perception problem
Three years later, the same Cornell team recruited 54 people to
participate in a similar study involving soup.
The trick this time was that some of the volunteers ate their soup
from bowls that refilled slowly and imperceptibly as their contents
were consumed. (All of the volunteers' bowls were set into a table,
with the filling mechanism concealed.)
The researchers recorded the volunteers' soup intake, their own
estimates of their soup intake, and their perceptions of satiety.
The participants who ate, unknowingly, from self-refilling bowls ate
73% more soup than those eating from normal soup bowls, yet they did
not believe they had consumed more soup, nor did they feel more
satiated. (These results were unaffected by the volunteer's body-mass
indices.)
The Cornell team came to the obvious conclusions: "It seems that
people use their eyes to count calories and not their stomachs. The
importance of having salient, accurate visual cues can play an
important role in the prevention of unintentional overeating."
WHAT Else is in Your Milk?
According to FDA, in 2005, 2,155 truckloads of milk were rejected
because they tested positive for antibiotic
residues. "About 52.7 million pounds of milk had to be disposed of in
2005 because it had traces of antibiotics and could not be used as
food...most positives involved beta lactams, followed by sulfonamides
and tetracyclines."
The currently used antibiotic tests are able to detect only four
different antibiotics. There are actually dozens of additional types
of antibiotics which are being prescribed for dairy cows and are not
being tested. If you know which ones they are, you can use an
alternative, making it virtually impossible to get caught. This
means, there is a good chance the milk you are drinking or giving to
your children contains antibiotics.
Trivia Question: What is the most common antibiotic residue found in
the flesh of slaughtered dairy cows and is that antibiotic one of the
four currently being tested.
Answer: LS-50. and are they testing for it in milk? Hint: Monsanto is
the manufacturer. (NOPE)
There are good dairies (that treat their animals humanely and
without drugs) that will allow us to come get milk directly from them
without pasteurization and homogenization (processes which alter the
milk from the way God made it). HINT: Healthy cows don't need
antibiotics and have healthy milk that does not need pasteurization
and homogenization! Look for them! Ask around at your local health
food stores or co-ops.
Trans Fat Substitute May Be Just as Bad - Just say "NO" to Fake
Fats!!!
Results from the rush to remove Trans Fats from our foods, may cause
new problems. A new modified (fake) fat made through a process called
interesterification is shaping up to be the chief contender to
substitute for the trans fats being banished from processed foods and
restaurants. But researchers who compared the effects of different
fats in human diets are warning that interesterified fats may be just
as bad as the trans fats they are poised to replace.
Diets high in palm olein (a saturated fat), diets high in either
trans fats or the newest fake fat, interesterified fats, ALL
significantly raise both LDL/HDL ratio and fasting blood glucose
while significantly reducing fasting insulin levels.
Senior author on the study, Dr KC Hayes (Brandeis University,
Waltham, MA), who says he's "been looking at fats and oils for 35
years," is concerned about the physiological effects of meddling with
fat molecules. His own research has suggested that playing around
with mother nature can cause all kinds of problems.
To test their fears about interesterified fats, Hayes and Sundram,
with Dr Tilakavati Karupaiah (National University of Malaysia),
tested diets rich in the three different fats in 30 volunteers.
After four weeks, they found:
* The trans-fat and interesterified-fat diets significantly elevated
both the LDL/HDL ratio and fasting blood glucose, with the
interesterified-fat diet boosting LDL/HDL ratios by almost 20% as
compared with the saturated-fat diet.
* Fasting insulin at four weeks was 10% lower following the trans-fat
diet and 22% lower following the interesterified diet, as compared
with the saturated-fat diet. Postprandial glucose on the
interesterified diet was also striking higher than on the
saturated-fat diet.
Interesterified fats are already on the market, used as a replacement
for trans fats in margarines and baked goods. Unlike trans fats,
which are required to be listed on labels, interesterified fats are
typically listed as "fully hydrogenated" or even as "interesterified
fats." Because there has been little public attention being paid to
these new manufactured fats, Hayes worries that people may not be
aware of the potential harm.
Beth's Note: The bottom line is that we cannot "improve" on what
God made - we need to stick with natural fats like butter, olive oil
and coconut oil and eat them in moderation!
Beans Fight Diabetes:
Beans Discourage Weight Gain and Diabetes
by Craig Weatherby
Ever since Dr. Atkins took up his cudgel against dietary
carbohydrates (sugars and starches), people have tended to perceive
this major food group as fattening. Atkins was right about the potent
glycemic (blood-sugar-raising) effects of sugars and the rapidly
absorbed starches in refined flour products like pastries, white
bread, and pasta. But there are important distinctions between
starchy foods: ignorance of which leads many to shun high-starch
foods that do no harm and can even help control weight and discourage
diabetes.
Regular vs. “resistant” starch: the basics
Dietary carbohydrates consist of simple carbohydrates, or sugars, and
complex carbohydrates, or starches.
Starches are chains of sugar molecules, whose individual
conformations make them distinctly different with regard to
digestion, absorption, and blood-sugar control. Most starches are
digested and absorbed into the body in the small intestine. But some
starches resist digestion and pass through to the large intestine
where they behave like dietary fibers: the even longer and less
digestible chains of sugar molecules from which plants build their
physical structures. Nutrition scientists named these special kinds
of carbs "resistant starch."
Legumes (beans, lentils, split peas, string beans) and whole,
unprocessed grains contain the highest percentages of resistant
starch. Resistant starch limits the sharp spikes in insulin and
glucose levels that normally follow consumption of foods high in
easily digestible starches (sugars, fruit juice, soda, white bread,
potatoes, and pastries) … even when the source of resistant starch is
consumed many hours beforehand. Research indicates that resistant
starches can really help control people’s weight and reduce their
risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes:
Weight Control:
• People who eat resistant starches increase fat-burning
(thermogenesis) in their bodies.
The authors of an Australian study found that when participants
enjoyed a meal in which only 5.4 % of its starch was the resistant
kind, the rate at which their bodies burned (oxidized) body fat
increased by 23% for a full day afterwards. Adding more resistant
starch did not increase the rate of fat burning or its duration. It
seems that a little goes a long way in this regard.
• Rodents given resistant starches along with digestible starches
maintain smaller fat cells
(adipocytes) than companions fed only foods high in digestible
starches.
• Diabetes: When present in carbohydrate foods, resistant
starch beneficially lowers the “glycemic response” to foods by
releasing glucose into the bloodstream at a low, slow, steady rate.
People and animals who consume foods high in resistant starches along
with foods high in regular starches maintain higher (i.e., healthier)
levels of insulin sensitivity, compared with people and rodents who
consume only foods high in regular starches.
• Heart Health: Compared with people who consume only regular,
digestible starches, people who also consume foods high in resistant
starches enjoy lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
• Cancer: When resistant starch reaches the colon, bacteria
feed on it, just as they do on dietary fiber, producing a
short-chained fatty acid called butyrate that’s known for its ability
to curb the risk of colon cancers.
Beans, whole grains, and other foods rich in resistant starch add a
healthful highlight to any a meal. In fact they make the perfect
anti-aging complement to colorful, antioxidant-rich fruits and
vegetables and to oily, omega-3-rich fish such as wild salmon. The
richest food sources of resistant starch--beans, lentils and other
legumes--are also high in protein, fiber, and antioxidants.
Beans top the resistance charts
What starchy food satisfies energy and protein needs, delivers
anti-inflammatory, antioxidant polyphenols, burns body fat, and
moderates blood levels of both blood sugar and insulin? The answer is
“legumes”: beans, lentils, and string beans. Beans contain the
highest percentages of resistant starch, followed, at some distance,
by whole, unrefined grains.
Prized by traditional cultures--and contemporary fans of ethnic
cuisines--beans also serve double-duty as ace weight control allies.
The high levels of resistant starch in beans and whole grains could
explain why, in population studies, people who get more of their
protein from these complementary plant foods than from meats enjoy
healthier body mass indices (height-weight ratios).
A meal featuring legumes raises blood sugar very slowly and
moderately, and even moderates the blood-sugar (i.e., glycemic)
response to relatively high-glycemic foods (sugars, refined flour
products) consumed in the same or next meal you eat.
Aside from resistant starches, beans owe some of their weight-control
and anti-diabetes benefits to three other factors:
Fiber: The non-digestible starches we call fiber—in which
beans are especially rich—are satiating and stabilize blood sugar:
two key factors in weight-control. Many studies show that higher
fiber intake is associated with lower body weight, body fat, and body
mass index (weight-to-height ratio). Results from clinical trials are
more mixed, although in most cases, higher fiber intake cuts peoples’
food consumption and drops their body weight.
Starch blockers (amylase inhibitors): Beans contain compounds
called amylase inhibitors, which block the action of the enzyme
(amylase) needed to digest starches. Hypothetically, this effect
should help prevent digestion of some of the starch in beans
themselves, and of the starch in other foods eaten with beans.
Antioxidant pigments: Most of the pigments that color beans
are anthocyanins: the same kinds of antioxidant polyphenol pigments
that color berries. Anthocyanins help control blood sugar modestly
and blunt the inflammatory--hence, pro-diabetic, blood-thickening,
and artery-damaging--impact of dietary sugars and standard starches.
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In Beth's Kitchen!!!
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Beans of course!!!
EASY Lentil Soup
16 oz. dried lentils (about 2 1/2 cups)
About 6 cups water
Add about 1/2 way through cooking:
1/2 head of garlic, chopped
Cumin, about 1 teaspoon
Sea salt
Cayenne or red pepper flakes (to taste)
1 cup chopped carrots (can add other veggies
too
if you wish: celery, bell peppers, it's all good!)
Cook in crockpot on low for about 6 hours OR on high for
about 4 hours - stir occasionally. On stovetop, less than 2
hours. When lentils are soft stir them to mash them up a
little or puree in processor. Stir in about 1 cup of plain
yogurt or sour cream and serve.
How About Vegetarian Chili!!!
1 onion, chopped
1 cup chopped peppers (habanero, serrano, jalapeno, etc.)
depends how how you like it!
1 cup bell peppers (green and red)
4 cloves garlic - chopped
2 cans “mexican” style tomato sauce (containing chili’s
and jalapenos)
1/2 cup chili powder
3 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoons corn grits (makes it nice and thick)
4-5 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 cups tomato juice (I usually use homemade)
3-4 cans organic beans (pinto, black, kidney, etc) drained
and rinsed
(I usually soak and cook my own beans - it's up to you!! -
just be sure to rinse your canned beans to get rid of extra sodium)
Put all the ingredients in a crockpot, stir well. The longer
everything cooks, the more the flavors mingle. It’s best to set it on
low for 8 hours or longer. Great with corn bread!!!
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SCRIPTURE
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Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 2:1
As disciples of Jesus we are spiritual soldiers. "You therefore
must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
2 Timothy 2:3
We are the Lord's warriors in a worldwide, lifelong spiritual battle.
The battle has been won by our commander, Jesus. However, the enemy
will not stop striking back until he is confined forever. As HIS
soldiers, we face many hardships. Strength is needed.
"Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."
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UPCOMING EVENTS
We have been having some awesome house meetings! If you would like
to invite your friends over for your own one day "mini-health
conference" with NHL Ministries, Contact Linda McGraw at
lindamaria51@comcast.net to set something up!
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MORE NEWS:
NHL Ministries is Moving!!
We are currently looking for office space in the Golden Valley, MN
area in conjunction with Elaine Bonn and the Healing Rooms of MN. We
are very excited, but pray we quickly find the right location!
In the meantime, you can pick up supplements in Plymouth at Linda
McGraws, my new administrative assistant.
(Thank you Jesus for
sending some help!)
She is at right off of Rockford Road off the 494
freeway. Address is 4085 Minnesota Lane, Plymouth. email her at
lindamaria51@comcast.net
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COMING TO YOU...
We would like to come to your city and teach on biblical nutrition
and minister healing anywhere in North America.
If you are intested in setting up a workshop or for us to be part
of a workshop, etc., please contact us by e-mail at
blpub@tekstar.com | |
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