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HEALTH & FITNESS

HEALTH & FITNESS

The Power of Protein

The Power of Protein image
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Information on good nutrition and what we should and shouldn’t eat seems to change so frequently it is often hard to keep up with the latest research and ideas. Leanne James helps navigate the way.

There are definitely some very specific “trends” with relation to “diet and what to eat and not” and some do have foundation and scientific basis - however be careful of the ones that sound “too good to be true”, as they usually are. 

Never before have the statistics on obesity been so high in New Zealand, with more than half of the adult population being either overweight or obese. Looking at this, we find that the New Zealand pattern is similar to USA, with around three meals per week being cooked in the home. Since the trend of frequently eating out is expected to continue, strategies to improve the diet are essential and must address our food choices when eating out, preparing and organising meals.

Researchers have found a lot of people are consuming far too many carbohydrates (rice, pasta, potato, bread, sugar) and too little protein (such as meats, fish, nuts and seeds). For health professionals seeing these people, this is of real concern - especially as new research shows that some of our major health risks may be initiated by such diets.

Lets look at this closer. A too higher carbohydrate intake produces too much insulin. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas when we eat sugar or foods that release sugar upon digestion, such as carbohydrates. Insulin enables our cells to absorb glucose from the blood. The cells process the glucose to make the energy they need to function. However if you eat too much sugar or carbohydrates, in proportion to your protein intake, your pancreas will pump out too much insulin. This can have many harmful effects.

The pancreas may over time, become fatigued and no longer able to produce insulin, leading to diabetes. The high level of insulin causes Insulin Resistance. This means there is so much insulin in the blood that the cell receptors may become exhausted or may not be produced in as great a number. The cell then becomes unreceptive or resistant to the effects of insulin.

When cells become resistant to insulin, they lose energy and messages are sent out which make the pancreas produce more insulin. This increases the levels in the blood, or hyperinsulinaemia, which leads to more resistance. This is a problem, because insulin causes the body to store carbohydrates as fat and stops fat being used as a source of energy production. So the high levels of insulin being produced by the over consumption of carbohydrates (or eating the wrong type of carbohydrates) will not only make you fat, but keep you fat. This may be one the major reason why people are not able to effectively reduce their total body fat levels.


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