Drinking Coffee May Have Health Benefits

We reported that eating eggs has been given a green light by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Board. The board has also looked at drinking coffee and their recent report states that drinking coffee is safe and may even be good for you.

They reported that drinking three to five cups a day was associated with minimal health risks and may even have some benefits. The green light does not include lots of cream and sugar. The board also does not recommend drinking caffeine laced drinks such as "energy drinks".

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net

Cut Down On Sugar

There is considerable data on the adverse health effects of added sugar in our diets. The evidence is so compelling that it is now recommended for us to limit added sugars to no more than 10% of our daily calories. Americans now average about 13% of calories from added sugar. Remember this is an average. Many exceed this by quite a bit.

Where are you on the sugar train? Where can you cut down on added sugar calories? Where are your sugar weaknesses? An obvious place to look for added sugars is at sugar sweetened soft drinks. If they are not your weakness what is?

Your life may depend on making the changes necessary to reduce the sugar in your diet.

Do You Have A High Blood Cholesterol?

We used to think that eating foods high in cholesterol was responsible for high blood cholesterol levels. Now we know that the main culprit is saturated fat in your diet. The cholesterol in foods like eggs and shrimp is different than the LDL in your blood that contributes to heart disease.

The former advice to limit cholesterol to 300 milligrams a day, less than the amount in two eggs. is no longer valid. We continue to recommend replacing the saturated fat in your diet with polyunsaturated fats such as found in many vegetable oils or monounsaturated fats such as found in olive oil.

The essence of good health is healthy eating and the essence of healthy eating was described in our books. Eat a well balanced diet  This will serve you well.

An Update On Colon Cancer And Polyps

The majority of colorectal polyps are adenomas. These growths are usually benign and the majority will never progress to cancer; nevertheless, it  is estimated that about 5% will eventually develop into cancer if not removed. Colon cancer is the second largest cancer killer in the U.S. causing about 50,000 deaths a year.

About 25% of people  have at least one adenoma by age 50. This incidence increases with age, and about 50% of us will develop at least one in our lifetime. Talk to your physician to get his recommendations for regular screening. These growths need to be found and removed before they become cancerous.

Where Did All Of The Sugar Go

Where did all of the sugar go? Well it went into our mouths. Several hundred years ago most people consumed only a few pounds of concentrated sugars a year. That is about 1/5 of a pound or about 22 teaspoons or about 350 empty calories a day

The new dietary guidelines recommend a limit on sugar to no more 10% of a person's daily calories. This would equate to about 12 teaspoons a day for the average person.

The World Health Organization advises an even stricter goal. The new goal is getting less than 5% of daily calories a day from added sugars.

Have you set your personal goal?

Is Your Deli Sliced Meat Safe To Eat?

Did you know that deli meats are a major source of serious food borne illness? Did you also know that the FDA recommends that all deli slicers should be disassembled, cleaned and sanitized every four hours?

These guidelines are frequently ignored. The slicer cutting your meat or cheese may not be safe. How do you know? That is a terrific question. You can ask the employee at the counter. Chances are that if you are shopping at a major chain the guidelines are being followed. Small independent stores may not.

If in doubt about the hygiene at the deli counter it would be prudent to buy packaged meats.

Why Follow The Glycemic Index?

The glycemic index {GI} ranks carbohydrate containing foods and beverages according to how much they raise the blood sugar when eaten by themselves on an empty stomach. Scores range from 0 to 100. The higher the number the greater the effect on blood sugar{glucose}. The index is the foundation for some popular diets such as the Zone and South Beach Diet.

The purpose of this blog is to evaluate  health claims and examine them without bias. Are the health benefits for the GI substantiated? No the benefits remain unproven. The GI can help people with diabetes fine tune their diets, but for the average person attempting to follow the GI makes eating unnecessarily complicated.

If you just follow the recommendations for a healthful diet as found in our books you will automatically lower your glycemic load. Also remember that the GI is not a measure of a food's overall healthfulness. It only evaluates the effect on blood glucose.