I was reading Patrick Holford's blog this morning. He founded the Institute for Optimal Nutrition back in the 80's. He came to Ottawa to lecture at St. Paul's University and has written quite a few books too. This is what he was saying this morning that we should be doing to prevent not only obesity but cancer which go hand in hand.
The failure to win the cancer war is largely to do with the increase in breast and prostate cancer. These cancers are not primarily caused by inheritance or genes - a maximum of 15% of the risk for breast cancer is caused by genes/inherited. For women, smoking accounts for 30% of cancer risk, while obesity accounts for about 20%. Instead of following the current trend of removing the affected body part 'just in case', why not remove the diet part such as sugar and dairy products instead, especially in the case of prostate cancer and possibly breast cancer too?
But what is it about milk, sugar and obesity that increase cancer
risk? Milk makes things grow. Unfortunately that includes cancer cells.
The reason is that it promotes insulin (or more specifically
insulin-like growth factor). So does sugar. Obesity is also strongly
linked to higher insulin levels and there is increasing evidence that it
is high insulin levels that drives weight gain, more than the other way
round.
It's all about insulin
Insulin switches on all sorts of cancer-related genes and low
insulin switches on anti-cancer genes. "When you cut back on
carbohydrates, this smooths out the insulin spikes which can turn on
the cancer genes that help tumours to grow” says Dr Dominic D'Agostino,
assistant professor of molecular pharmacology at South Florida College
of Medicine.
The idea of starving cancer cells of insulin (and sugar) by giving an
extremely low GL 'ketogenic' diet isn't just restricted to animals.
Research published last year found it either slowed right down or
stopped cancer growth in five out of ten seriously ill cancer patients
who didn't want to, or couldn't have any more chemotherapy. While high
insulin is often thought to be a consequence of diabetes and obesity,
animal studies suggest it might be the other way around, with high
insulin driving obesity.One doctor who's convinced that insulin is driving obesity is Dr Peter Attia, whose TED talk is worth listening to.
My Burn Fat Fast diet combines several strategies for driving down insulin to 'turn on your skinny genes' which is the title of a short 4 minute film that I recommend you watch and share with your friends.
This short film outlines 6 basic tenements:
1- Low Glycemic diet
2- Eating less on alternative days
3- Strength training 8 minutes 3 days a week
4- Cardiovascular workouts 30 minutes 3 days a week
5- Chromium and Resversatrol supplements
6- Eating less meat and dairy products (I think we should stay away from most dairy products)
He has some great recipes at his website too.
http://www.patrickholford.com/index.php/burn_fat_fast/recipes
I have continued to eat no sugar, dairy or wheat. I am eating a low carbohydrate diet and that excludes honey and maple syrup. I did find Swerve that is a good substitute sweetener from all accounts looks like something that can help with baking.
Swerve Sweetener
Swerve is a great-tasting all natural, zero-calorie sweetener and the only one that tastes, measures, cooks and bakes like sugar. Unlike other sugar alternatives, Swerve has no bitter aftertaste and a high digestive tolerance (no laxative effect). From sweetening your favorite beverage, to baking, and garnishing, Swerve is perfect for all your sweetening needs. Swerve is an ideal choice for baking (one cup of Swerve equals one cup of sugar) and as a general sweetener for those concerned with calories or blood sugar levels. It's perfect for a healthy diabetic lifestyle. Swerve has zero glycemic index, so it's perfect for diabetics.
Swerve is manufactured using a fermentation process and the outcome is a sweet product that occurs naturally in many fruits and vegetables. Swerve is an all natural sweetener that is based on a proprietary erythritol formulation and other naturally occurring ogliosaccharides from plant fibers. This is a completely natural process; nothing is chemically altered and Swerve is 100% non-allergenic.
I bought a cookbook from Chapters that uses alternative sweeteners in baking. http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/home/books/the-joy-of-gluten-free/9781607741169-item.html?ikwid=the+joy+of+gluten+free%2c+sugar+free+baking&ikwsec=Home&gcs_requestid=0CNCb06HPhrcCFUaq5wodWQYAAA
I actually use less then what the book says as we find it too sweet.
I will post one of the recipes tomorrow.
Healthy life
Suzanne
