THE STORY OF SUGAR AND STARCH

 

Plenty is being said about sugar and carbohydrates these days with diabetes, heart disease and obesity being the problem.  We can easily get confused: is sugar bad or are carbohydrates bad?

 

BASIC: UNDERSTANDING SUGAR AND CARBOHYDRATES.
1.	Carbohydrates: ·         Body require carbohydrates because they are main source of energy ·         45%-65% of our calories should came from carbohydrates. (United States Department of Agriculture) ·         Are more easily broken down by body for energy compared to protein and fats ·         Important for maintaining smooth order of our heart, muscles, central nervous system and others. ·         Why carbohydrates getting a bad reputation. -       Because we tend to consume in excess -       Because we fail to consider the types of carbohydrates we’re taking.
2.	Sugar ·          Is a type of carbohydrate ·         Can be further divided into -       Simple sugars -       Complex sugars: Ø   Include rice, pastas, potatoes and also grains Ø  Also known as starch -       Fructose is found in fruits -       Simple sugars: o   Sucrose is the table sugar o   Both fructose and sucrose are broken down by our bodies into glucose, our source of energy -       Complex sugar: o   Includes rice, pastas, potatoes, and also grains o   Also known as starch -       Starch usually doesn’t taste quite as sweet as simple sugars. Ø  That’s why we don’t really think of “sweet” when we’re eating rice or pastas. -       Our body break down complex sugar such as starch into glucose  (just like they do with the simple sugars)

Both simple sugar and starches are broken down into glucose:

Why:          i.       some starches have a stellar reputation

ii.       Some starches get a bad come

iii.      Simple sugars are considered villains

 

Answer:              depending on how fast the body breaks down these sugar and and get them into our bloodstream.

 

Glycaemic index (GI).

• An index used to measure how fast body breaks down the sugars.
   
• 2 types

• Low GI foods

• Foods slowly broken down by the body so that the sugar gets into our system gradually

• High GI foods

• The exact opposite.

 

• Simple sugars are usually high GI Foods.

• Are easily broken down by the body and quickly get into the blood stream.

• Causing spikes in the body’s blood sugar level.
• The body then respond to this spike by releasing a flood of insulin, which transports this glucose from the blood stream intro our cells where the glucose in converted into energy.
• Problem :

• When so much insulin is released; our body thinks we’ve got too much glucose and stores this as fat to be burned off later.
• Resulting:

• Because there’s a lot of insulin in the blood stream, the glucose depletion happens pretty fast.
• Causing our blood sugar dropping drastically and suddenly
• When these happen, we feel lethargic and hungry.

 

Avoid simple sugars vs stick to complex sugars or starches

• Starches do not break down as easily as simple sugar. (Slow Digestible starch-SDS).
• Different types of starches do get digested faster than other (Rapidly digestible  starch-RDS)
• Foods are typically a combination of both
• Rice = combination of amylose and amylopectin
• Smart move would be to stick to foods with a higher amylose-to-amylopectin ratio because these promote slower digestion and more gradual release of glucose into the blood stream.

 

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The story of sugar and starch.

www.grayoos.com

Body, mind and soul

The Star, Tuesday,

02 February 2016

 

SOMETHING WRONG WITH MY HEART ….. VALVE

            The heart is generally the size of a first it contains 4 chambers

·         2 atria (upper)

·         2 ventricles (lower)

Blood flows from the right atrium to the right ventricle through a value called the tricuspid (3 cusps or flaps) valve.  Similarly, the left atrium is divided from the left ventricle by a septum.  Blood flows from the left atrium to the left ventricle via the mitral valve.  The mitral valve has only 2 flaps.

The other 2 valves our heart process are:

·            1 pulmonary valve:  located in between a large vessel known as the Pulmonary artery and function when the right ventricle pumps blood into the lungs through the pulmonary artery.

·            Aortic valve: Located in an even larger vessel known as the aorta which allows the blood from the left ventricle to flow To the rest of the body

           

If there is a valve heart disease, there is likely to be something wrong with one of these 4 valves.

The blood flow:

·         Valves act as one way inlets to allow only the one path way of blood flow.

·         Blood is only allowed to flow from the right atrium to the right ventricle.

·         Which then pumps blood to the lungs.

·         Thereafter, the blood is re-oxygenated.

·         The blood then enters the left atrium from the lungs

·         The blood goes into the left ventricle and get pumped out the rest of the body

All these valves work in an efficient pattern by opening and closing in succession. After the left ventricle has contracted, the aortic valve closes and the mitral valve open to allow blood to flow from the left atrium into the left ventricle. As the left ventricle contract, the mitral valve closes and the aortic valve opens so that the blood flows into aorta.

Heart valve disease

·         Regurgitation

o    the valve does not close fully. This causes the blood to flow backward instead of forwards.

·         Stenosis (or Contraction)

o   the valve is narrowed or not properly formed. This prevents the blood from flowing properly through the chambers. The heart then has to pump ever harder and with more force to push blood through the valve.

Symptom of heart disease

(You can have both regurgitation and stenosis at the same time in one heart valve).

·         Shortness of breath

·         Especially when exerting or lying down flat

·         This happen because blood cannot clear your lungs efficiently and/or there is backflow of blood into the lungs.

·         Weakness and dizziness

·         Not enough blood being pumped into your body

·         Chest discomfort

·         Palpitations

·         Swelling in ankles, feet or even abdomen

o   Caused by heart failure, when heart cannot pump out enough blood to meet the demands of the body and there is a backflow

·         Weight gain

o   Caused by water retention and swelling.

The severity of heart disease experiences does not always correlate with how serious the valve disease is. People may have very severe valve disease and no symptoms and all, and vice versa.

Cause of heart disease

·         Congenital

·         Develop even before birth

·         Most likely the artic or pulmonary valve is affected

·         May have deformed cusps or leaflet that has are not attached properly.

·         Can also be the wrong size?

·         Rheumatic fever

·         Untreated bacterial throat infection can sometimes infect and in flames the heart valve.

·         The symptoms can only be seen 20 to 30 years later

·         The valve mostly affected is the mitral valve.

·         Endocarditis

·         Infection of the inner heart lining

·         Coronary heart disease

·         Cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease).

·         Syphilis

·         Hypertension

·         Aortic aneurysm

Article by:

                                                                                                      Dr. Y. L. M Tell me

                                                                                                            About health

                                                                                                            Star 2 Thursday,

21 January 2016