Moxie Wellness » glycemic

The Benefits of Exercise on Type 2 Diabetes

moxie — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 02:14:40 +0000

Did you know that you can easily manage your diabetes just by engaging in exercise? There are exercises that have a good effect on the glucose levels of those suffering from type 2 diabetes. When you engage in exercise, you expend a lot of energy from the glucose found in your muscles. At first, the body simply uses up the glucose which is traced from your muscles’ glycogen. It is in your bloodstream where this glucose is found. Engaging in exercise means your blood glucose levels will not get lower. Additionally, your body also releases additional glucagon and hormones. These are important because they break down your liver’s stored fats, turning it into more glucose you can expend.

Engaging in exercise means your body improves; it develops a better sensitivity when it comes to insulin, as well as allowing you to be more in control of your glycemic index. Exercise indeed has a good effect on a patient’s glucose level. This is good news for people who have type 2 diabetes. A lot of research indicates that patients of diabetes gain more control over their glycemic as soon as they get used to a regular exercise program. On the other hand, people who do not engage in exercise find no improvement on their glycemic control. Since exercise improves your insulin sensitivity, you will also need less medicines in order to control the levels of your blood sugar. There are, of course, people who become at risk for hypoglycemia due to the combined effects of their diabetes and engaging in high stress exercise. This happens during exercise and after it, too.

If you think about it though, people can also be at risk for hyperglycemia simply for having poor control over their diabetes. Therefore, the leaders in this field recommend engaging in moderate exercise for a minimum of 2 hours and 30 minutes, or 90 minutes if they want to do vigorous exercise. In light of this, the frequency of the routine is more important that the kinds of exercise one engages in. There are many researches wherein an abundance of benefits result from both weight training as well as aerobic activity. Of course, sometimes patients should not engage in vigorous exercise especially when they have cardiac conditions or they are more prone to developing injuries as a result. It is better if they start of slow and get used to a light intensity program instead.

About the Author – Su Rollins writes for http://www.hypoglycemicdiet.org A hypoglycemia diet plan, her personal hobby blog focused on tips to prevent and cure hypoglycemia using the right diet and nutrition.

MUSHROOM SOBA SOUP

moxie — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:30:21 +0000

THIS IS A FILLING, LOW GLYCEMIC, NUTRITIOUSLY DELICIOUS MEAL and I made it up all by myself…oooh, so yummy

1 lb of Soba noodles

1 or 2 lbs baby portabello mushrooms, cubed into bite sizes

2 cups of raw spinach leaves

2 medium yellow onions, diced in bite sizes

2 cloves of garlic

¼ cup olive oil

1 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp allspice

¼ tsp pure ground red chillies or ½ jalapeno pepper

1 ½-2 inches of Fresh ginger, peeled and cut into large cubes

½ cup lemon juice

1 bunch of scallions

½ tsp ground black pepper

¼ cup tamarind sauce

6 oz. Firm Tofu cubed

8 Jumbo shrimp, peeled and cleaned, leave tail on

1 cup Vegetable broth or 3 cubes

1. Mix vegetable broth, ginger, and lemon juice with 6 cups of water and bring to boil.

2. Boil soba noodles for 5 minutes, drain, rinse and place in ice cold water. Let sit.

3. While above is boiling, place garlic and onions into the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. If using the fresh jalapeno instead of ground chillies, add the jalapeno here. Fry until onions are translucent. Place mushrooms into the mix and pour 1/8 tamarind sauce over them and toss in the skillet. Cook mushroom mix for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Place tofu into mushroom mix and pour the remaining tamarind sauce over mix. Add coriander, allspice, and black pepper.

5. Add spinach to mushroom mix. Stir until leaves shrink.

6. Remove mushroom and onion mix from heat and add to the boiling broth water.

7. Drain Soba noodles from ice water and add them to broth.

8. Add scallions and ground chillies (unless you used the jalapeno above) to soup.

9. Add shrimp. Continue to heat soup until shrimp is cooked…approximately 1-2 minutes or until red.

10. optional, add tamarind to your taste. Eat with chopsticks!

Makes 6-8 servings.

SLEEP, STRESS AND A LEAN BODY

moxie — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:16:05 +0000

A good rest has always been called beauty sleep—but how about a lean body sleep?

Research shows that individuals who are not sleep deprived have an increased capacity to lose weight and keep it off. Sleep reduces stress hormones, important for fat loss and in maintaining good metabolism.

Sufficient rest and recuperation effectively reduces our stress hormone, cortisol. Cortisol has many functions. It helps the body use sugar (glucose) and fat for energy (metabolism), and it helps the body manage stress. Cortisol levels can be affected by many conditions, such as physical or emotional stress, strenuous activity, infection, or injury. When we are sleep deprived, cortisol levels rise. Cortisol controls our appetite. When cortisol levels are high, it can often make us feel hungry even when we have eaten enough. It also raises blood sugar and insulin levels and results in increased fat deposition around the abdomen. To further complicate the situation, high cortisol can negatively affect our sleep patterns, making it difficult to fall or stay asleep when we finally do go to bed. This increase in stress hormone also has detrimental effects on other aspects of our endocrine system, like thyroid gland function which governs our metabolism.

Normally, cortisol levels are very low at bedtime and at their highest just after waking. This pattern will change if a person works irregular shifts (such as the night shift) and sleeps at different times of the day. Cortisol levels are also affected by pregnancy, physical and emotional stress, illness, hyperthyroidism and obesity. Certain drugs can also increase levels, particularly oral contraceptives (birth control pills), hydrocortisone (the synthetic form of cortisol), and spironolactone. Adults have slightly higher cortisol levels than children do. Hypothyroidism may decrease cortisol levels. Drugs that may decrease levels include some steroid hormones.

Cortisol production regulates your immune system on a 24-hour cycle. This is why many times congestion or your cold or flu symptoms get worse at night. As cortisol levels drop at night, your immune cells become highly active. The immune cells kill large numbers of bacteria and viruses, causing greater mucous production. As a result, you experience more congestion and coughing as your body attempts to get rid of the mucous.

At daybreak, when cortisol levels rise, the activity of the immune cells tapers off. The immune cells then reset and recondition themselves in preparation for the next nightly cycle.

Problems arise when cortisol levels are out of balance-say, when you fly to a different time zone-thereby compromising the cycle of immune function.

While cortisol is an important and helpful part of the body’s response to stress, it’s important that the body’s relaxation response to be activated so the body’s functions can return to normal following a stressful event. Unfortunately, in our current high-stress culture, the body’s stress response is activated so often that the body doesn’t always have a chance to return to normal, resulting in a state of chronic stress.

To keep cortisol levels healthy and under control, you can learn to relax your body with various stress management techniques.
Sleep is a most valuable and restorative resource that is vital to wellbeing and stress management. Unfortunately, stressed and busy people tend to get less sleep than they need. Overthinking and anxiety can make sleep difficult and wake you up at night. Anxiety keeps your mind busy as you imagine threatening scenarios and become preoccupied with finding solutions. That racing of your mind can rob you of sleep by keeping your levels high, making sleep harder to achieve.

Sleeping problems are almost always involved in mental disorders, including depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, as well as head injury. And symptoms are strongly influenced by the amount of sleep a person gets. Difficulties may arise from the drugs used to control symptoms of a disorder, or from changes in the brain regions and neurotransmitters that control sleep.

You can make lifestyle changes in order to keep your body from reacting to stress in the first place. Involve yourself in things such as yoga, writing in a journal, exercise, listening to music, dancing, guided imagery, sex, breathing exercises, gardening, cleaning, building, and creating art. All of these things are proven to be helpful in relaxing the body and mind. Experiment and find something that works for you, then DO IT on a REGULAR BASIS. It could be as simple as just taking a walk around the neighborhood for a half an hour a day.

Foods Affect Your Moods

moxie — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:03:19 +0000

Most of the time, people do not consider what they had to eat that day when they are feeling down, but it really has an impact. Our food choices are so powerful to the way our bodies and mind function. They regulate our blood sugar levels, which affect our moods. Foods that are made of processed and simple carbohydrates such as candy may help someone feel better in the short term, but actually cause the person to “crash” shortly thereafter. Making wise food decisions, especially when your feeling stressed out, or having an afternoon snack, can make a big difference in how you feel the rest of the day.

To help achieve a good mood from your food, keep the following tips in mind:
Reach for complex carbohydrates when your feeling stressed out or want a snack will help boost serotonin levels and give you a nutritional edge.

Foods that help keep you on the path to a good mood include fruits, vegetables, beans, peas, brown rice, and lentils. Reduce the amount of refined and processed foods you consume, which include crackers, bagels, white breads and pastas, soda, fruit juice, cookies and candy. Such foods will not help to keep your blood levels regulated, which can lead to unfavorable changes in your mood. Try to include some form of protein with each meal or snack, which will keep you feeling better for longer. Ideal choices include low-fat yogurt, seafood, tofu, and eggs. Getting enough Omega-3s in your diet can help keep you in the right frame of mind as well. You can get them through walnuts, fish and ground flaxseed.

Other nutrients that help improve mood include folate and vitamin B12. You can get those from whole grain cereals, wheat germ, broccoli, lentils, oatmeal, shellfish, and fortified soy milk.

Reduce the amount of caffeine you consume, especially if its closer to bedtime. Caffeine can have a huge impact on one’s mood, not to mention also prevent you from getting adequate sleep, which definitely impacts your mood. Too much caffeine can make you irritable and quick tempered.

Beyond diet, getting enough exercise, access to sunlight (15 minutes/day), and relaxation also helps to keep you feeling good mentally.

Spend a week tracking how you feel an hour after each meal and you will be surprised to see the impact that food has on your mood. If you want to stay in a positive frame of mind, start with what you are eating each day.

GLYCEMIC INDEX CHART

moxie — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:49:16 +0000

CATEGORY GCI RATING

PASTA

Fettucine, 6 oz 45

Linguine, 6 oz. 52

Macaroni, 5 oz. 47

Ravioli, meat, 4 large 39

Spaghetti, wheat, 1 cup 37

Spaghetti, white, 1 cup 44

Spiral, durum, 1 cup 43

Tortellini, cheese, 8 oz. 50

Vermicelli, 6 oz. 35

Lasagna, beef 47

SNACKS, DESSERTS, and MISCELLANEOUS

Vanilla wafers, 7cookies 77

Sponge cake, plain, 1 slice 46
Snickers candy bar 55

Pretzels, 1 oz. 83

Potato chips, 14 pieces 54

Popcorn, 2 cups 72

Pop tarts, chocolate, 1 tart 70

M&Ms peanut chocolate candy 33

Granola Bar, chewy, 1 oz. 61

Graham crackers, 4 squares 74

Doritos Corn chips, 1 oz. 72

Oatmeal cookie, 1 55

Rice cakes, plain, 3 cakes 80

Stoned wheat thins, 3 crackers 67

Water cracker, 3 crackers 78

Pound Cake, 60 g 38

Chocolate Cake mix, w/ frosting, 111 g. 38

Pancakes, from Shake Mix 67

Bran Muffin 65

Banana Bread, 3 oz. 47

Waffles 76

Croissant 67

Blueberry Muffin 59

Donut 76

Peanuts, 4 oz., 113g 14

Cashews, 1 oz 22

Pizza, 2 slices 30

DAIRY

Ice cream, vanilla, 10% fat 61

Low fat ice cream, 1 cup 50

Milk, whole, 1 cup 27

Milk, skim, 1 cup 32

Milk, 1% fat, chocolate, 1 cup 34

Pudding, ½ cup 43

Milk, Soy, 1 cup 31

Milk, Rice, low fat, 1 cup 79

Tofu frozen dessert, low fat, ½ cup 115

Yogurt, nonfat, fruit, 8 oz. 33

Yogurt, nonfat, artificial sweet, 8 oz. 14

Custard, ¾ cup 43

DRINKS

Coca Cola, 1 can, 12 oz. 77

Gatorade, 8 oz. 78

Fanta soft drink, 1 can, 12 oz. 63

Apple Juice, 1 cup, 8 oz 40

Orange Juice, 1 cup, 8 oz 50

Tomato Juice, 1 cup, 8 oz. 38

Chocolate Milk 1 cup, 8 oz. 34

Cranberry Juice, 1 cup, 8 oz. 52

Beer, 12 oz 66

FRUIT

Apple, 1 medium, 5 oz. 38

Apricots, 3 medium, 3 oz. 57

Banana, 5 oz. 55

Cherries, 10 large, 3 oz. 22

Grapefruit, ½ medium 25

Grapes, green, 1 cup 46

Kiwi, 1 medium 52

Mango, 1 small 55

Orange, 1 medium 44

Peach, 1 medium 30

Pear, 1 medium 38

Pineapple, 2 slices 66

Plums, 1 medium 69

Prunes, 6 29

Raisins, ¼ cup 64

Watermelon, 1 cup 72

Cantelope 65

Papaya 58

Plum 39

VEGETABLES

Broccoli, 10

Cauliflower, 10

Cabbage 10

Celery, 10

Parsnips, 80 g 97

Pumpkin, 80 g 75

Sweet Potato 54

Mushrooms 10

Carrots, 1 large, 80 g. 49

Beets, 3 oz., 80 g 64

Sweet corn, 80 g. 54

Potato, baked, medium 88

Potato, mashed, instant 86

Potato, French Fries, 4.3 oz. 75

Red Peppers 10

Onions 10

Lettuce 10

Corn 55

LEGUMES

Baked Beans, 4 oz. 48

Kidney Beans, dried, boiled 3 oz., 150g 27

Lima Beans, 3 oz, 150 g 32

Navy Beans, 3 oz.,150 g 38

Pinto Beans, dried, 4 oz. 45

Soy Beans, 3 oz. 18

Peas 48

Lentils, green, dried, boiled, 1 cup 30

Cannelini Beans 31

Garbanzo Beans (chickpeas) 33

White Beans 31

BREADS

Dark Rye, 1.7 oz. (pumpernickel) 51

Rye 76

French Baguette, 1 oz. 95

Hamburger bun 61

Kaiser Roll 73

Pita Bread, whole wheat 57

Sourdough, 1 slice 53

White Bread, 1 slice 70

Whole Wheat Bread, 1 slice 69

Stoneground Wheat Bread, 1 slice 53

Multigrain Bread, 1 slice 45

Wholegrain Bread, 1 slice 40

Bagel, plain, 72

CEREALS (without milk)

AllBran Kellogs, ½ cup 42

Bran Flakes, Post, 2/3 cup 74

Cheerios, 1 cup 74

Cocoa Krispies, 1 cup 77

Corn Chex, 1 cup 83

Corn Flakes, 1 cup 84

Corn Pops, 1 cup 84

Cream of Wheat, 1 oz. 74

Frosted Flakes, ¾ cup 55

Grapenuts Flakes, ¾ cup 80

Frosted Mini Wheats, 1 cup 58

Multi Bran chex, 1 cup 58

Muesli, 2/3 cup 43

Raising Bran, ¾ cup 73

Rice Chex, 1 ¼ cup 89

Shredded Wheat, ½ cup 83

Honey Smacks, ¾ cup 56

Special K, 1 cup 54

Total, ¾ cup 76

Oatmeal, 1 cup 58

RICE and GRAINS

Barley, pearled, ½ cup 25

Couscous, ½ cup 65

Instant, 1 cup, cooked 87

Uncle Bens, converted, 1 cup 44

Long grain White, 1 cup 41

Short grain, White, 1 cup 72

Brown rice (steamed) 50

Buckwheat 54

Bulgar 48

Basmati Rice 58