If you are not sure what gluten is, it is simply a source of protein commonly found in bread related products such as barley, wheat, and rye, so bread made from these products (in addition to most cereals), will normally all contain gluten.

Though oats are considered to fall under both the category of cereal and bread, there is much controversy over this generally healthy food. This is simply because since oats are an additive to many food products, they are often associated to the occurrence of gluten.

For those suffers of an immune disorder, such as Coeliac disease, the chances are that you will automatically be placed onto a generally gluten free diet. Unfortunately, some individuals in fact have the disease, but do not show any symptoms of it. However, for those who do endure these symptoms, they include, but are not limited to: Diarrhea, iron-deficiency, inability to gain weight, arthritis and joint pain, tingling and numbness, depression, seizures, itches, and rashes.

Some individuals who have certain diseases claim a gluten free diet to have dramatically affected their health as well as alleviate certain aspects of their symptoms. If you feel you have any of these symptoms, it is important that you contact a doctor to discuss your future dieting plans amongst other changes. However, choosing to practice a gluten free diet is ultimately the choice of the individual.

Just as with other diseases, those who suffer from diabetes will especially benefit from a gluten free diet. Contradicting, however, foods that often appear to be gluten free are compensated, taste-wise, by adding additional sugars. And for those who know the generalization of diabetes, this is not a safe bet for an individual not in complete control of their diabetic intake. However, again, the main component of this approach is in total control of the individual.

If you choose to go on a gluten free diet for personal reasons, or if your doctor suggests you do, there is a plentiful amount of available, gluten free products. Simply, this is due to manufactures becoming more aware of the importance of a gluten free diet. These options can be found throughout multiple sources. For example, the internet or cook books.

Article Source : The Gluten Free Diet And You : ArticleBase

Marc Hall -
About the Author:
Mark Hall reveals ways to lose weight fast and easy to help you reach your goals. You can read his special report disclosing things they don’t tell you about QuickTrim Cleanse.

Many people still consider that wellbeing food should be left to the rabbits. However, in today’s scientific study of food and its effects on the body, it’s plain to see that nutrition isn’t something we can take for granted. Our body is a machine of sorts that relies on the energy that we give it.

If we aren’t fueling up with the correct kinds of foods, we are giving our body less of a chance to succeed in the activities that we need it to do. And just like a car that doesn’t get the right fuel, we can break down much sooner without the proper food.

Defining health food

The idea that wellbeing food is limited to carrots and celery is too narrow – in fact, nourishing foods come from a mixture of sources. Starting with the meat group, you can choose from a number of foods: chicken, red meat, pork, and fish, for example.

From the dairy group, there’s yogurt, cheese, and milk.  In the vegetable group, there are hundreds of vegetables to choose from – peas, carrots, lettuce, zucchini, corn, spinach, and so many more. But you can also choose from the fruits – apples, oranges, pineapples, grapes, bananas, and more. And from the grains group, you have breads and oatmeal, for example. There’s also nuts and beans that fall into the health food groups as well.

What you may want to realize is that nourishing foods are those that are as natural as possible – that is, they don’t have an extra ingredients to make them taste ‘good.’  They naturally taste good. You can find most wellbeing foods by heading to the outside aisles of your local supermarket, where the refrigerated sections are. These foods are the closet to their original form when they were picked – making them the best fuel for your body as well.

Defining junk food

But on the other side of wellbeing food is the ever common rubbish food. These are foods that be full of preservatives and added ingredients that were not a part of the food to begin with. These would include anything from boxes of macaroni and cheese to pre-packaged dinners. junk food can look like healthful food in some cases too.

Many more organic manufacturers are boxing up their foods to be simpler to prepare, but these can contain unnecessary ingredients that may be harmful to your fitness. rubbish food is also found at fast food restaurants and street vendors, as well as some restaurants. When in doubt, if you can’t understand the ingredients list for a food, it’s probably not a good choice.  

What you gain from consuming a nourishing diet plan

A healthful diet regime is the best way to fuel your body because it allows the various systems within your body to access everything it needs in an better fashion.  Because your body doesn’t have to process artificial ingredients, it can get right to the vitamins, minerals and other healthful parts of the food.

A nourishing diet also does not include possibly harmful additives that have been linked with some cancers, food allergies, and weight gain. The human body was designed to run on a fitness diet plan that includes foods that are closest to the original source – the ground or the animal itself.

Here are some other wellbeing benefits of fitness food:

* Amplified energy and vitality
* Quicker absorption of foods
* Easier weight maintenance or loss
* Increased immune system function
* More resistance to diseases like cancers
* Lowered risk of heart disease
* Reduced cholesterol
* Lower blood pressure
* Lesser risk of diabetes
* Reduced cost than processed foods
* Enhanced skin

And this list is incomplete. A wellbeing diet allows your body to perform to its maximum capacity, which allows you to function better than you ever could by ingesting rubbish foods.

How do I switch to wellbeing food?

If you’re accustomed to consuming rubbish food instead of fitness food, the transition can be a little more difficult. What you will want to do is slowly introduce new wellbeing foods to replace the junk that you have been choosing.

By replacing just 1 food at a time, you will start to generate new habits and feel better which then spurns you into adding even more healthful foods. Over time, you will create new habits as well as new health for yourself.

Article Source : How Health Food Can Enchance Your Life : ArticleBase

WebFusion
Gareth Barrow is a writer, Webmaster and fitness enthusiast. For more information on men and women’s fitness, Weight Loss and training tips visit:24 Hr Fitness.co.uk

There are many types of food out there which claim to be fat free and low in calories and yet contain the same the same amount of flavour and goodness as foods with a higher fat content. To many people this would be ideal – after all most diet tips focus on low fat and low calorie foods. However one thing which often goes unmentioned is that many of these foods are processed and contain many other chemicals and substances which can actually do more harm than good.

While these types of food may help you to lose weight, many diet tips do not tell you that the substances used in many of these types of food to add flavour can cause chemicals and toxins to build up in the body over time. The build up of these chemicals can cause many negative side-effects in the body including irregular sleep patterns, skin conditions, stomach pains and liver complications in the most extreme cases.

With this in mind, a diet plan consisting of natural, unprocessed food is one of the best diet tips which you can follow. Food consisting of natural ingredients will have fewer chemicals in them, and following a natural diet will most likely lead to wider benefits other than weight and fat loss.

Another thing to consider is that there are actually many natural types of food out there which are great for dieting, keeping you fuller for longer and therefore keeping those sugar cravings at bay. Oats, almonds, berries, raisins, fish, chicken; all of these foods are natural sources of wholemeal carbohydrates, natural sweeteners, healthy fats and lean proteins which when eaten in reasonable portions in the right combinations,will accelerate your metabolism and the speed at which your body burns fat.

So, another point for your list of diet tips: with a little guidance it is 100% possible to eat a healthy, all-natural diet that will keep you looking and feeling great.

Article Source : The Benefits Of A Natural Diet : ArticleBase

Jessica James
slimfastdietplan.co.uk
For more info and FREE tips on Dieting just CLICK HERE and go to slimfastdietplan.co.uk

At the start of every year, gyms are packed for the first two months as people desperately attempt to follow up on those new year diet resolutions. It is important to realize that the key is actually nutrition and finding an approach that works for you long-term. This is where an intermittent fasting diet is a particularly interesting option when compared to other dietary approaches.

So does an intermittent fasting diet work when compared to other diets? The answer here is a resounding yes. For example using a 16 hour fast will keep your body burning fat for most of every day! And getting all of your calories during a relatively small eating window stops your body from going into starvation mode and desperately hanging onto body-fat. Compared to a normal reduced calorie diet, this is a huge difference. While any reduced calorie approach will initially lead to fat-loss, your body is an efficient machine and will compensate by slowing down your metabolism (the exact opposite of what you want) and holding onto body fat.

Is an intermittent fasting diet restrictive? Any diet, by its very nature, involves making better food choices. If someone tries to sell you on the pancake diet, run a mile! Eating rubbish can never be a good choice. However, most diets will have you try to eat clean all the time. this is very hard to do and is directly linked to finding yourself eating 12 doughnuts in one sitting after a couple of weeks of deprivation! Intermittent fasting also involves healthy food choices, but it does give you more wiggle room. It is difficult to eat to much junk in a small eating window after you have already had your healthy food. It does let you eat enough to stop you falling off the wagon however.

Perhaps the real advantage of intermittent fasting is that it can be a lifestyle rather than a short-term approach. With most diets, even if you do manage to follow it long enough to get results tend to be followed by a rebound-that is, a return to poor eating and fat gain. By viewing fasting as a long-term solution, this problem effectively disappears.

By: By: Owen Thompson

As you can see, an intermittent fasting diet is both easy to set up and a really long term health and fat-loss solution. Get lots more free information here.

Article Source : Is An Intermittent Fasting Diet The Right Choice For Me? : ArticleDashboard

If you need to lose weight fast, we all appreciate that eating a healthy diet ought to be your primary objective. Working out is very important, but diet is the main factor when you are thinking about how to really gain control of your weight.  I trust this you will find something in this article that gives you a few uncomplicated, yet helpful ways for you to achieve a healthy adjustment in the way that you eat on an everyday basis.

1. Be sure to consume a quantity of healthy fats in the majority of your
   meals, as this is essential for sustaining good fat burning and muscle building hormone levels in your body.  In order to control your appetite and lose weight fast you will need to eat the correct level of healthy fats every day.

Dietary fats come from a range of foods, all of which can assist in burning body fat and promoting muscle development. The best sources of this are foods such as avocados, seeds, egg yolks (organic free range eggs are what you need), raw nuts, extra virgin olive oil as this contains the antioxidant properties of olive oil), coconut oil is a great source of healthy saturated fats and grass-fed meats also a great source of healthy fat.

To help with appetite suppression you may like to try this idea. A half an hour before each of your three meals, consume a handful of raw nuts such as walnuts, almonds or pecans. Not only will this assist you to suppress your hunger but it will furnish your body with protein, fiber and healthy fats. This will help to fill you up and ensure that your calorie intake at the meal is not only much less, but also more nutritious owing to the high nutrient content in the majority of nuts.

2.Aim to consume a good quality protein every time that you eat something. These proteins are found in     grass-fed     dairy meats. Nuts and pulses (beans) also supply protein, and as mentioned above help to suppress your appetite and give you better management of your intake of calories, which again helps you to lose weight fast and are an essential part of eating a healthy diet.

Eating plenty of high class proteins will assist you in building up lean muscle, especially if you’re training hard on a regular basis, in order that your metabolism will work at a greater rate from this improved muscle tone.

Consuming adequate protein at nearly all of your meals also helps you to manage the blood sugar and insulin levels in your body. It does this by regulating the conversion rate of the carbohydrates that you have consumed into sugar.

3. A really low-carb diet is something I do not totally go along with, but having said that I do believe that one of the key factors why such a large number of people have a continual battle with their weight is because they are taking in too many over-processed carbohydrates, such as refined sugars and grain based starches which results in an inability to lose weight fast.

Fruits and berries contain natural sugars which are an acceptable part of eating a healthy diet, as the fiber they contain slows your body’s reaction to them and releases the energy created more slowly. However, processed fruit juices have the fibre removed and all have a very high sugar content and should be avoided at all costs if you are serious about losing weight.

Quite soon after you start to decrease your intake of grains, from sources such as refined breads, cereals, bagels, breads, pasta, etc, then you will find that your body fat will start to decrease. I have found that implementing this simple step and making fruit and vegetables your main carbohydrate source can be one of the main planks in your battle to take charge of your weight reduction in a very short space of time.

Aim to put these three tips into operation to lose weight fast by eating a healthier diet as soon as possible and I’m willing to gamble that very soon you’ll be seeing a leaner, fitter body and improved levels of energy very quickly.

Emotional Hunger

We are creatures of habit. We have amassed lots of habits that have been developed over the years that sometimes become subconscious.

We are not aware of the things we do until we purposely take notice of them. For instance, observing the thought that leads to the action of us reaching for the cookie. What was the thought? Were we feeling upset?, distressed?, depressed?, angry?

If you find you want to reach for the jar of cookies, catch yourself in that moment. Examine your thinking. How are you feeling? What state of mind are you in? What is your mood? Disrupt your pattern by forming a new one.

Rather than indulging your craving, count back slowly from 100. With each number you find yourself wanting the cookies less and less. This is because you are disrupting your usual pattern of behavior and consciously replacing it with a new one. You’ll find that after 100 that cookie won’t be as tempting as it was.

Emotional eating can also extend to happiness too. Childhood habits can see us overindulge for doing something good which can spill into adulthood where we treat ourselves with food for rewards. This is fine as long as it’s periodically.

There are ways to treat yourself other than eating. Why not get your nails or you hair done? Why not treat yourself to a nice hot bath and a facial? Why not have a healthy lunch with the boys or the girls? There are other rewarding ways to treat yourself that are not based around tempting treats. It’s just a matter of thinking a little outside the square and replacing old habits with new and healthier ones.

Boredom Eating

If you find yourself reaching for that tempting delicious high fat food because you have nothing else to do, why not call a friend for a chat? Why not take up a sport and meet up with your friends instead? Guaranteed you’ll have so much fun you won’t even be thinking about junk food.

Mistaken Hunger

It should be a healthy appetite that drives us to eat. When our energy needs replenishing because we’ve depleted our energy stores our appetite signals for us to eat. It is a simple biological reflex. We get hungry, we eat. Sometimes our hunger is more psychological than physical and thinking our body is hungry, we feed it.

If you have eaten your last meal within the past 2 hours more often than not it will be thirst which your body can sometimes interpret as hunger. If you know you have just had your last meal within a short timeframe ago, why not try drinking a glass of water then waiting 30 minutes for the brain to register it. If you are still hungry after this time period then have a light snack.

Sometimes we eat out of boredom. If you find yourself sitting around and instinctively reaching for the fridge or the pantry, catch yourself.

It’s all about replacing bad habits with good ones because that is what will make your weight loss a permanent success. It goes far deeper than losing weight for the sake of it but rather arming you with the tools to make sure you really succeed this time.

Why we need a permanent solution is because we are reprogramming ourselves and our attitude towards our food. Look at this way, it took years to form these habits and it will take a little time to break them and create newer healthier habits in its place.

Nothing is more apparent then when we eliminate all of our favorite foods at once. Our body goes into shock, tries to override our good intentions and sabotages our efforts. Another diet bites the dust simply because we weren’t aware of how we conditioned our bodies over the years.

Our bodies are marvelous pieces of machinery and will stop at nothing to preserve us at all costs. That means that if we drastically reduce our food intake our body will shut down our metabolism to force us to eat. When we do, we binge and gain back all the lost pounds we fought so hard to lose. Don’t hate your body for that, it is just doing what comes naturally.

So how do we get around this? Work in alignment with your body. Introduce changes gradually. Don’t shock your body or it will thwart your best intentions to lose weight.

Medications

There are some medications of which the side effects can be weight gain.

Medications such as some antidepressant drugs can cause you to sleep more and expend less calories making you more susceptible to weight gain. There is also a tendency to snack on more carbohydrate rich foods which also contributes to weight gain.

There are things that you can do to lessen the degree of weight gain experienced by taking these types of medications.

Try to reduce the amount of calories you consume by identifying them in your current diet.

Don’t do anything drastic just eat smaller portions and reduce the amount of carbohydrates you may be consuming, the body needs a balanced diet so don’t be tempted to eliminate carbohydrates completely from your daily eating plan.
Make sure that you get plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, lean protein and whole grains.

Incorporate more exercise into your life to counteract the effect your medication might be having on your weight.

If all else fails, consult your doctor for any alternative medication equivalents without the side effects.

To have a balanced diet we need to eat from all of the food groups because we gain all of our nutrients and vitamins from each of these four groups.

The Four Basic Food Groups:

- Grains, whole grains, cereals, breads, pasta
- Vegetables and Fruits
- Dairy , milk, cheese, yoghurt
- Meat, protein, poultry, fish, eggs

Breads, cereals and grains gives you sustained energy throughout the day as well as giving you bulk to help properly clean out your bowels protecting you against bowel cancer. In fact by just adding
35 grams of fiber per day can reduce rectal cancer by 67%.
Eating grains also protects against the risk of diabetes and insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease and lowers cholesterol levels.

In a study of 70,000 women over a 12 year period it was found that women who consumed grains as part of their daily diet weighed less than the women who consumed less grains.

Dairy, cheese and yoghurt helps strengthen bones and protect against future osteoporosis.

Studies have confirmed that a diet rich in calcium, magnesium and potassium which are nutrients found in dairy foods actually lowers blood pressure while reducing the risk of hypertension. It is also an important component for proper muscle and nerve function.

Fruits and Vegetables contain antioxidants which fight against free radicals that age the body. Like grains they also provide bulk for the bowel and therefore reduce the risk of contracting bowel and rectal cancer. Eating oranges and tomatoes also increases the ability to absorb iron from meat. Fruits and vegetables also contain carotenoids which reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke. Fruits and vegetables have been linked with memory improvement and slow mental decline with age.

Meats gives a natural source of Vitamin B12 that cannot be sourced from non meat products. The body can metabolise and absorb Vitamin B12 fives more from meat compared to its pill form. It is a rich source of iron which is needed to carry precious oxygen the organs and muscles and for proper neural function.

You can consume enough from your diet naturally that you shouldn’t have the need for vitamin supplements.

Dark green leafy vegetables are a great source for iron but compared with meat, weight for weight 100 grams of liver contains around 6,000 micrograms of iron compared to 325 micrograms in 100 grams of spinach. So as you can see protein is a great pure source of iron and many other vitamins and you can stay healthy by consuming around 75 grams 3 times per week.

The Recommended Daily Servings For A Balanced Diet

Grains: the recommended daily dietary amount is around 6 ounces per day

The reason why we don’t combine your fruit and vegetable intake is because you need to eat a specific amount from each.

Vegetables: 2 ½ cups per day

Fruits: 2 cups per day

Dairy: 3 cups per day

Meat and Beans: 5 ½ ounces per day

Bad fats

These fats tend to be the saturated fat and of the Trans fat variety. There is a link between saturated fats and cardiovascular heart disease, it is this type of fat that raises your cholesterol levels. It usually exists in diets that are high in animal fats which is why the Atkins and low carb diet models aren’t usually the best kind.

Although Atkins himself has found no increase in cholesterol levels with his way of eating, we still do not know what the long term effects this kind of eating will produce. Diets high in saturated (animal) fats have been linked to certain cancers.

If your diet is high in cholesterol, fats deposit themselves on your arterial walls restricting blood flow to your heart and to your body. Your heart then has a tougher job of pumping blood to the rest of your body which increases your blood pressure.

Your heart may also increase in size to force the blood through your arteries causing angina a condition known as enlargement of the heart. Through blood pressure increase comes kidney damage and damage to the smaller capillaries in your eyes causing eventual reduction in eyesight and possible blindness if blood pressure is not controlled.

Trans fatty acids are amongst the worst kind of fat to have in high quantities in your diet. Fats or oils that have partial hydrogenation are more than likely to be Trans fatty. This type of fat lowers the amount of healthy cholesterol (HDL – high density lipoproteins) which throws the system out of balance by increasing the amount of bad cholesterol present.
Good Fats

In their basic building block form they are simply known as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. They play several important roles in hormone production and help to aid in proper cell function.

These types of fats contain Omega-3 fatty acids, fish is a source rich in this fat. Omega-3 has been known to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke. If you want to preserve your health for the long term then you should make fish and fish oils a regular part of your diet.

If embarking on a diet low in fat the positives are that less fat consumed, less fat stored on your body. You are still able to eat many of the foods you enjoy without the restrictions of the Atkins or low carb diets. You get to have a balance in your diet. Simply restricting foods high in bad fats from your eating plan means you get to eat a wide variety of foods just avoiding the high fat versions.

Just remember, do not eliminate all fats from your diet, not all fats are bad for you. We need a certain amount of good fats in our daily diet for our bodies to function at their peak.

Be mindful this is still a diet nonetheless and you still have to exercise restraint over yourself when selecting foods. This diet is not as restrictive as those calorie counting ones yet you still may be tempted to cheat. If you are to go on this type of diet the control has to come from you rather than from a strict eating plan that does the meal plan for you.

What it comes down to as with anything in life, we have to be self governing and exercise commitment to our goals. Nobody can make you lose the weight or lose the weight for you. You have to want to lose the weight and stick to it until you do.

Know what you are putting into your body. I love knowing that there are 3,500 calories in a pound of fat. Some people can consume that amount each day which is not surprising why some people gain 30 pounds in a year without knowing how.

It’s very easy to do. Think about it, a hamburger, fries and soda (1,200 calories) and there’s most of your daily calorie allocation blown right there, to top if off it won’t keep you full for long either. Eat that every day for a year without much exercise and that adds up to some serous weight gain.

The reason why I love knowing that there are 3,500 calories in a pound is because it puts it all into perspective. I know that to burn that off, I will need to do more than 60 minutes on the cross trainer each day plus a 30 minute walk. So it makes me wiser in my food choices. The place where you wish you never had that extra donut or chocolate shake is right in the middle of your intense work out where you pay in sweat to work it off. Don’t worry if you’re coming to terms with this, the important thing is now you are aware of it you will start to see food in a different light and gain a healthier respect for it and the effect it has on your body.

These days all foods display the amount of calories on their packaging. This way you can know roughly how many calories you will consume and if it meets your daily requirements. This is also a great indicator of foods to avoid especially if they are loaded with empty calories.

Use your knowledge when determining the number of calories a meal has, be a calorie detective by making it a priority to know what’s going into your body.

Once you get good at it, figuring out how many calories a particular food has will become a breeze.

The Food We Eat

Calories aside the actual food we eat plays an important role in how we lose weight.

For example 100 grams of hard boiled candy will have a lot more fat than say 100 grams of lettuce. Even though foods may be of equal weight doesn’t mean that they will be equal in calories. So be aware of any extra fats or calories hidden in foods. Always check your labels.

You don’t have to be a food Nazi and restrict yourself to the point where you’re not enjoying what you eat. It’s important that you have the occasional treat so that you are not feeling deprived. Remember we’re aiming for permanent lifelong change by altering our lifestyle eating choices. You have to treat yourself now and then to avoid any derailing binges that come from feelings of deprivation.

Good Fat vs. Bad Fat

We touched upon this earlier in terms of the types of fats to avoid and the kinds that we should be incorporating more into our daily diet.

Foods High In Fat – What To Watch For

Here are some common fats that are high in saturated fat content:

- Animal fats such as dripping
- Bacon grease
- Crisco
- Margarine
- Coconut oil
- Palm oil
- Hydrogenated Oils
- Partially hydrogenated oils
Both Hydrogenated oils and partially hydrogenated oils are liquid oils that have been solidified by having hydrogen forced into them at high pressures. The process of hydrogenation is to preserve the oil for longer in its solid form but because this process change its form it also alters its chemical properties turning it from healthy unsaturated fat to Trans fat, the dangerous kind.

This is the type of fat that causes arteriosclerosis and blocks the arteries in your heart. Keep these fats to a minimum in your diet. In fact, if you want to lose weight on an ongoing basis you need to limit the amount of fat you consume to a total of 20 grams or less per day.

In a 3 scoop serving of Haagen Dazs Mint Chip Dazzler with hot fudge sauce and whipped cream you would consume around 38 grams of saturated fat (1,300 calories!).

So watch for calories and fat. You can be fooled by small snacks that seem harmless enough like with the ice cream treat, but it’s not until you find out the fat content that you realize how easy it can be to put on weight.

Foods With High Fat Content
• French Fries
• Animal fats
• Fried bacon
• Potato chips
• Cake
• Cookies
• Candy
• Sausages
• Tartar sauce
• Pizza (you can make your own low fat alternative)
• Donuts
• Whole cream butter
• Cream Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Danishes
• Whole Mayonnaise
• Whole Cheddar cheese
• Nuts and olives
• Avocadoes
There are a couple on that list that probably standout such as the nut, olive and avocadoes. Some healthy foods contain fat but also hold high nutritional value and are beneficial to you. Avocado contains fat but is the kind that is actually good for your heart.
Carbohydrates Or “Carbs”

Foods High In Carbohydrates

We need carbohydrates in our diet. They are source of fuel the body uses for energy once broken down during the process of digestion.

During digestion, carbohydrates are broken down into sugars, providing the body with a steady source of energy. Carbohydrates come in two forms simple (monosaccharides meaning “one”) and complex (polysaccharides meaning “many”)

Once you understand the difference between both simple and complex carbohydrate you will know which offers the best quality fuel for your body.

Simple Carbohydrates

Come in the form of high energy, sugary snack foods which you would typically find in granola bars, candy, chocolate, cakes, cookies, donuts, soda also in fruits and dairy productsetc. These types of carbohydrates are broken down instantly and used for energy by the body. This is why some people experience intense sugar highs after consuming foods high in sugar.

The burst of energy is like a flash in the pan, it only lasts for a short time. Within an hour your energy levels have gone to an extreme high then plummets to a low. Your body then stimulates your appetite to consume more because it needs more energy.

Consuming diets high in refined sugar foods plays havoc with your insulin levels. Because there is such a rush of sugar in one huge amount, the body must accommodate this by releasing enough insulin to counteract it which is why you experience intense highs and lows.

Your body must get rid of that sugar from the blood immediately and any excess sugar that is not burned off as energy must be stored as fat. You have to understand that your body cannot allow any remaining sugar to be floating around in the blood as it effects your body’s normal functions. Once your body becomes unable to effectively remove all sugar from the blood, you become diabetic.

The scary fact is that most children under the age of 10 years are consuming around 70 teaspoons of sugar in a typical day. This is staggering; in fact it is believed that our children today will be among some of the first in their generation to die before their parents.

Examples of simple carbohydrates:
• Cookies
• Honey
• Soda drinks
• Chocolate
• Jam jellies
• Cake
• Oranges
• Plums
• Pears
• Blueberries
• Grapefruit
• Cherries
Complex Carbohydrates

Unlike simple carbohydrates these aren’t easily broken down and absorbed into the bloodstream as quickly.

Because they are complex in structure take longer to break down and are released gradually, not instantly into the bloodstream. This means that they provide a steady, stable source of energy and because they are slow releasing have a chance to be burned off rather than stored as fat.

Examples of complex carbohydrates:

• Vegetables (cellulose)
• Whole grain breads
• Wholegrain cereals
• Whole grain pasta
• Legumes
• Potatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Brown rice
• Bagels
• Corn
• Beans
• Yams
• Peas
• Jasmine rice
• Lentils
You should incorporate more complex carbs into your diet but that’s not to say that you can’t have the occasional treat.

Just be aware of what you are eating and putting into your body and that any type of carb consumed, simple or complex, in the absence of any kind of exercise will lead to weight gain. Your body is efficient, if the energy you consume is not used it will be stored as fat.

It probably pays to eat to the conditions. What is that I hear you ask? Just like driving to the conditions if you know that it’s going to rain, you of course drive a little more cautiously, you drive to the conditions.

In the case of eating, you eat to the conditions. If you know that you are out to play an intense game of tennis for the evening then you consume extra carbs for energy. If on the other hand you’re going to be sitting in a movie theatre for 2 hours than you consume a little less as you won’t be undertaking any physical activity to burn it off.

Your diet should be higher in complex carbohydrates as it takes your body longer to break them down meaning a slow, steady release of energy. This is the best route to take for weight less as simple carbs tend to release energy too quickly into your bloodstream giving you massive highs and lows. Also the slow release means the less likely you are to contract Type II diabetes at some point in your life. However don’t forget that with any carbohydrate consumption must always be accompanied with exercise.