WHAT IS HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE AND WHAT ELSE CAN BE DONE TO MANAGE IT?
Blood pressure is simply the pressure of your blood against the walls of your blood vessels (arteries) as it is pumped around your body by your heart. As your heart pumps and relaxes, your blood pressure rises and falls in a regular wave like pattern, so blood pressure peaks when your heart pumps (systolic blood …
WHAT ARE FERMENTED FOODS?
Fermentation is the process where alcohol (ethanol), carbon dioxide, and/or organic acids (e.g., acetate, propionate, butyrate and lactate) are produced from foods (primarily from carbohydrates, but also some proteins) by yeast, bacteria or fungi – mostly under anaerobic (oxygen-free) conditions. The accumulation of alcohols and organic acids and the associated decrease in pH (i.e., increased …
KEEP PHYSICALLY ACTIVE TO PREVENT COLORECTAL CANCER AND INCREASE SURVIVAL
Around the globe, low levels of physical activity are a major risk factor for most common chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes and many kinds of cancer, including breast and colorectal cancers. What is physical activity? According to the World Health Organisation, physical activity is any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy …
LEGUMES: CORNERSTONE OF A HEALTY PLANT-BASED DIET
In recent years, vegetarian, vegan and other plant-based diets have been among the most popular diets around the globe. There are many reasons for their current popularity, including perceived health, animal welfare and environmental benefits. Health benefits Nutritionally, vegetarian diets can indeed be very healthy if they follow patterns consistent with international dietary guidelines, containing …
INTENSELY SWEETENED BEVERAGES: ARE THEY A BETTER CHOICE?
Everyone knows that the best drink to quench thirst is water. However, not everyone has access to fresh clean water, all of the time. Also, people drink a wide range of beverages for a variety of reasons other than thirst/hydration, including enjoyment and social participation in a broad variety of events, including birthdays, funerals/wakes, religious …
FRUCTOSE AND THE LIVER
In recent decades, sugars have played the role of dietary demon, with fructose being singled out as the worst of them all, being described as toxic, poison, etc…by a variety of popular anti-sugar activists, who suggest it is responsible for rising rates of obesity around the globe, amongst other things. One of the reasons that …
BLOOD PRESSURE: IS THERE MORE TO IT THAN SALT?
Achieving and maintaining optimal blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure levels will reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD) like heart disease and stroke which are two of the biggest killers, globally. While there is good evidence that blood pressure is affected by the type and amount of carbohydrate consumed (i.e. glycemic index and …
HEALTHY AGEING?
Source: López-Otín et al. The hallmarks of aging. Cell. 2013 Scientifically, ageing is broadly defined as the time-dependent biological functional declines that affect most living things after they reach adulthood. However, humans don’t become elderly or old at any specific age, and age can be expressed in several different ways: Chronological age – simply a …
INSULIN AND GLUCAGON: THE DYNAMIC DUO OF BLOOD GLUCOSE REGULATION
Most people have heard of insulin and have a rough understanding of its essential functions. The same cannot be said about glucagon, however. Both are secreted by the pancreas, an un-loved but vital organ. The pancreas The pancreas is located behind the stomach in the upper left part of the abdomen. It is surrounded by …
WHAT EXACTLY IS DIABETES REMISSION?
Source: Nick Youngson, CC BY-SA 3.0, Pix4free.org Historically, a number of terms have been used to describe what is now known as type 2 diabetes remission, including ‘diabetes resolution’, ‘diabetes reversal’, and/or ‘cure’. Recently, a group of North American and European scientists recommended that ‘diabetes remission’ is the most appropriate term, as it strikes the …
