Health Tips
As to Alesia's request, I will post one health tip a day on this thread. Hopefully this will help with our new weight loss/get healthy goals!
*My qualifications are as follows: I am studying to become a registered dietitian. I have an incredible passion for nutrition. With that said, I am NOT a medical doctor or registered dietitian (yet). If you have specific medical problems, you may have different needs than the ones I am addressing here, and please consult your doctor.*
Tip Number One:
Don't eat artificial sweeteners. They may seem good because they contain less calories than sugar. But you have to look at how your body actually processes artificial sweeteners:
When you intake artificial sweeteners, your brain processes the artificial sweetener (not glucose) as sugar (glucose). Your brain then sends signals to your pancreas to release insulin (which breaks down glucose) into your blood stream. Because glucose is not really present in your body, the insulin has nothing to act on. One of the major known properties of insulin (when it has nothing to act on) is that it lays on fat. So essentially, all that insulin that is sitting in your body with nothing to break down lays on layer after layer of extra fat. Over time, the production of excess insulin (insulin that has no glucose to break down) has been found to cause type II diabetes. So in reality, eating 'low calorie' items doesnt necessarily mean that you will lose weight.
P.S. You MUST read labels. So many foods have artificial sweeteners in them that dont seem like they would. Some names you will see on the ingredients list of labels that indicate that an artificial sweetener is being used are: saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, neotame, and acesulfame potassium. The most common are saccharin (sweet n'low), aspartame (equal), and sucralose (spenda).
Hope this was a helpful tip girls!
Good luck to all of you with your goals!
ETA: Qualifications
*My qualifications are as follows: I am studying to become a registered dietitian. I have an incredible passion for nutrition. With that said, I am NOT a medical doctor or registered dietitian (yet). If you have specific medical problems, you may have different needs than the ones I am addressing here, and please consult your doctor.*
Tip Number One:
Don't eat artificial sweeteners. They may seem good because they contain less calories than sugar. But you have to look at how your body actually processes artificial sweeteners:
When you intake artificial sweeteners, your brain processes the artificial sweetener (not glucose) as sugar (glucose). Your brain then sends signals to your pancreas to release insulin (which breaks down glucose) into your blood stream. Because glucose is not really present in your body, the insulin has nothing to act on. One of the major known properties of insulin (when it has nothing to act on) is that it lays on fat. So essentially, all that insulin that is sitting in your body with nothing to break down lays on layer after layer of extra fat. Over time, the production of excess insulin (insulin that has no glucose to break down) has been found to cause type II diabetes. So in reality, eating 'low calorie' items doesnt necessarily mean that you will lose weight.
P.S. You MUST read labels. So many foods have artificial sweeteners in them that dont seem like they would. Some names you will see on the ingredients list of labels that indicate that an artificial sweetener is being used are: saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, neotame, and acesulfame potassium. The most common are saccharin (sweet n'low), aspartame (equal), and sucralose (spenda).
Hope this was a helpful tip girls!
Good luck to all of you with your goals!
ETA: Qualifications
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