Archive for October, 2013

Why This Book

Posted on October 18th, 2013 by Hugh Butler

Thousands of books. Billions of dollars. But society is continuing to get fatter, more un-healthy, and what to do about it stumped me. Personally. 10kg over my desired weight, but just within the healthy BMI range. At 24.9 I had another 0.1 before I was officially overweight. I was doing some exercise, restraining from too […]

Antioxidants – do they work

Posted on October 18th, 2013 by Hugh Butler

Antioxidants are not necessarily vitamins, but some vitamins are antioxidants.
Anti-oxidation vs. oxidation has been billed as a contest between good and evil. It takes place in within cells in organelles called mitochondria, where the body converts food to energy — a process that requires oxygen (oxidation). One consequence of oxidation is the generation of atomic scavengers called free radicals (evil). Free radicals can damage DNA, cell membranes, and the lining of arteries. Not surprisingly, they have been linked to ageing, cancer, and heart disease. Before reviewing the scientific evidence, I thought that antioxidants were a little over-hyped but generally ineffective. We can see now that if you want to run the risk of increased cancer, take anti-oxidants. Eating some fruit and vegetables (note: fruit juice is not fruit) will reduce your weight and improve your health. The claim for health from consuming antioxidants has no evidence. For me any money spent on this sort of stuff is a complete waste of money. Do something useful. Help provide clean water to poor communities. That will do some good.

Vitamins – Fact or Fiction

Posted on October 15th, 2013 by Hugh Butler

We have outsourced responsibility for our health. We don’t want to change the way we live despite documentation that lifestyle is one of the most powerful determinants of health. Vitamins are necessary to convert food into energy and when people don’t get enough vitamins, they suffer diseases. The question isn’t whether people need vitamins. They do. The questions are how much do they need, and do they get enough in foods?
But I’m very sceptical of anyone who has a pill to cure the man-made epidemics of our time, and it turns out scientists know large quantities of supplemental vitamins can be quite harmful indeed. But sales are good.

Six Steps to Health

Posted on October 15th, 2013 by Hugh Butler

These six things are all part of the 20% of things to give us 80% of our health.
– Take-out fructose from your diet.
– Take-out simple carbohydrates. Have more complex carbohydrates, fat and protein.
– Take-out food for 2 days per week. (5:2 Diet) for a period of time if you want to loose weight fast.
– Take-out a calorie counter for a short period. Become aware.
– Take-out seed oils from your diet.
– Take-out sitting down for more than 30 minutes at a time. Try to get some form of exercise.
Review these things in the context of the 3 legged stool. Our physical body, our mental attitude, and the society we live in. Change is challenging. Understand why diets fail. But can succeed.

1% Weight Increase each year

Posted on October 15th, 2013 by Hugh Butler

If you are under 40 – most are overweight, but you still keep on slowly but surely over 40 – you become obese.. It is what you eat. Not your resolution for diets, exercise. Unless you make a change in food intake, you will put on about 1% of your weight each year.
If you do make a change, you can lose that weight and the easiest way is cut out carbohydrates, starting with added sugar

8 Glasses of Water?

Posted on October 15th, 2013 by Hugh Butler

Part of the “eight glasses of water per day” story is that we are all chronically dehydrated, and yet our bodies are not sensitive enough to correct this by making us thirsty. From a physiological point of view, this is rubbish. Drink water. Some. Do you need 8 x 8oz (1.9l) per day? No. Include tea and coffee in your consumption figures. But do not drink sweetened sugar beverages. (SSB). That means avoid gin and tonic, rum and coke or any alcohol with SSB’s. Change to Just do it on the rocks.