Posts Tagged ‘sugar’

Dominican Film: Sugar

Saturday, November 5th, 2011

The film “Sugar” was released in 2009 by Sony Pictures. It is an excellent account of several common themes people of the Dominican Republic encounter; such as poverty, sports, and acceptance. The star role of Miguel “Sugar” Santos is played by the young Dominican actor Algenis Perez Soto. American directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck wrote the screenplay for the film, eventually traveling to the Dominican Republic in search of a cast. Through their search they came upon Soto playing baseball in a community field. He was the right age, had the appropriate background to be believable in the role and had a dream of being a professional baseball player - just like Sugar.

The story begins with Sugar coming home for weekends from a baseball academy located in the wealthy part of town. Apparently athletic instructors from the academy recognized the talent in Sugar, and offered him a scholarship. When he returns to San Pedro de Macoris, Sugar is greeted with cheers and pride from his neighbors and family. Because of his baseball skills and acceptance to an private baseball academy, Sugar is a celebrity in his village. With money he received from the academy, he builds a new home for his family. This part of the film offers viewers a chance to see what Dominican poverty really looks like, but is careful to document the deep commitment to family and hard work.

Eventually Sugar is invited to train with an American baseball team in Kansas City. He is billeted with an American family who do their best to make Sugar feel welcome, but it is the single Dominican teammate that really makes life bearable. The community is slow to accept Sugar and his friend, making it difficult to focus on their game. Both boys incur injuries, one is sent back to the Dominican Republic and Sugar is left feeling isolated.

Eventually a rival player from the same village Sugar is from arrives to replace his injured friend, making the situation even more tense. Isolation and loneliness have a profound effect on Sugar’s play, and he is forced to turn to another lifestyle. Sugar finds himself in New York City seeking diaspora, and eventually gets into baseball again.

Despite the fact that “Sugar” is filmed entirely in the US, it does well in conveying the reality of the Dominican people at home and abroad. The lead character begins with a goal of professional baseball in order to fulfill a dream and provide for his family. Yet in the end, he is lead to a life that cannot provide for anyone beyond himself and forced to give up his dream. The film is not a statement of failure because of an American influence. Rather it tells the very common story of poverty, isolation and bigotry; things that have far-reaching effects even today.

BookIt.com is an online travel company determined and dedicated to becoming the leader in providing travelers with the most intuitive online booking experience full of relevant information, helpful guides and travel tips. Find great deals on hotels dominican republic at BookIt.com!

3 Ways to Eat Less Sugar

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

If you want to lose weight, one of the best moves you can make is to start to eat less sugar. Inappropriate sugar consumption plays havoc on the body, triggering all types of unpleasant chemical reactions and causing even stronger cravings for more sugar later on.

The keys to consuming less sugar can be discovered in something called the Glycemic Index, which measures how quickly specific foods make your blood levels of glucose rise after you eat them. Foods that set off a significant blood sugar spike are regarded as high glycemic; foods that do not cause a giant fluctuation are considered low or medium glycemic.

If you make it your mission to eat mostly medium to low glycemic foods during the day, you can notice something extraordinary happening: you stop craving sugar! You simply won’t desire it any more, while before you felt like you required it.

Hence what are some good low glycemic foods to eat?

There are several good glycemic index charts online, and rather more good books you could purchase that explain how it works, but here are some tips to get you started:

First, keep in mind that most protein sources are low on the glycemic index so it’s good to add some protein to each meal and snack. This’ll help reduce the consequences of any high GI foods you include in your meals.

Next, think fiber! High fibre content helps slow down the rate that your food is digested. One of the hallmarks of high GI foods is they are usually digested and absorbed into the bloodstream extremely fast, causing that fast spike in blood sugar. Keeping this in mind, make sure you are eating some fiber together with any medium or high GI foods you do eat. An excellent example is fruit. Many fruits have a high sugar content, but they also contain fiber which reduces the result on blood sugar. Because of this, you may notice that most fruits are regarded as lower on the GI scale.

Finally, be totally certain to eat continually to keep your blood sugar levels stable. If you go long periods without eating, your blood sugar drops, which triggers feelings of hunger and desires for sugary or starchy foods. Bear in mind that starchy foods have the same effect on your blood sugar levels as sugar does.

Consuming less sugar is as easy as, well, eating less sugar! The less sugar you eat, the less sugar you are going to desire to eat.

HealthStatus.com has produced easy to use health calculators since 1998.HealthStatus has more than 30 free tools you can use to evaluate your health including an army body fat percentage calculator and a body mass index calculator.

Geary’s Nutrition: Post–Workout

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

After your workout your body has lost some fluids and muscle tissues begin to break down. The most beneficial activity is to have a proper meal. It may be the most important meal of the day. After you complete a vigorous workout, your body is in a catabolic state where your muscle glycogen is depleted and the cortisol levels are increasing. Your primary objective should be to reverse the catabolic state to an anabolic state. You receive the most benefit by eating an easily digestible meal as soon as possible.

You want this meal to have plenty of carbs that can be easily digested. The body will respond by replenishing the muscle glycogen. The meal should also have quickly digestible protein to replenish the depleted amino acids needed to repair the muscles. Your body responds by producing a spike in insulin which triggers nutrient production for the cells in the muscles.

Taking care of your body will improve your overall health. By immediately eating the right foods after your workout, your body can repair itself and return to normal. Muscle soreness and fatigue will be minimized and you will be ready for your next workout. Here are some useful guidelines used by professional athletes and people in good health. The number of calories in your meal should be in the range of 300-500 calories. The 300 calorie meal is perfect for a 120-lb female and the 500 calorie meal is perfect for a 200-lb male.

Plan your post-workout meal carefully by keeping the ratio of carbs to protein in the range of 2:1 to 4:1 (carbs:protein). Minimize the amount of fat for this meal since fat slows the absorption of protein (meat). Only this meal since other daily meals should have “good fats” as part of a balanced diet.

Now you have many choices of ingredients for that post-workout meal (PWM). You can start by eliminating all the expensive workout supplements found in most “health and exercise” magazines. At the top of your guidelines should be all natural foods if possible. Natural foods don’t have less refined sugar and contain a higher density of nutrients. Avoid those good-tasting maltodextrin shakes because they contain additives that are not beneficial.

Now to find those quickly digestible ingredients. First the carbs. Bananas, either frozen or room temperature, pineapples, honey, organic maple syrup are a few of the carbs that will stimulate the pancreas which produces an insulin spike. The quickly digestible protein is easily found in non-denatured whey protein isolate or some low fat yogurt. If you want to maximize the benefits you should have this meal within 30 to 60 minutes after the workout.

If you like delicious smoothies, I have listed a couple of popular ones below. Make your own flavors to suite your taste but these can be your PWM several times a week.

Pineapple Vanilla - blend together 1 cup water, cup vanilla yogurt, one cup frozen pineapples, 2 tbsp honey (preferably raw), and 30 grams vanilla whey protein powder - 35 g protein, 71 g carbs, 0.5 g fat, 425 calories.

Chocolate Banana - blend together 1 cup water, cup skim milk, one and a half frozen bananas, 2 tbsp organic maple syrup, and 30 grams chocolate whey protein powder - 38 g protein, 72 g carbs, 0.5 g fat, 440 calories.

If you haven’t already guessed, the PWM has the opposite purpose of your regular daily meals. Don’t use the PWM as a standard regular meal. The PWM meal has a high glycemic index and quickly digestible carbs and proteins. Your regular meals should have a low glycemic index and slowly digested carbs and slowly digested proteins. If you want to lose that belly fat don’t substitute a PWM meal for a regular one.

There is a good news for the PWM followers. By using the PWM guidelines you are making progress toward having that lean, muscular body you have always wanted. You are reducing the percentage of extra fat stored while still maintaining proper levels of nutrients. After going through all this effort, this is the one meal where you should have a little sugar. Adding this chunk delicious dark chocolate bar can be done without adding fat! OK, small chunk.

Viktor Kuhle is a scientist who researches nutrition and fat burning issues. To learn more about burning belly fat, get your free report when you visit us.

Extra Sugar Is A Likely Risk Factor For Heart Disease

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

There’s nothing like a sugary, sweet snack every now and then, but too many indulgences can increase your chances of developing heart disease as you age.

Reports indicate that people who eat large amounts of sugar on a regular basis may find they have increased risk factors for heart disease. These factors include increased levels of triglycerides as well as decreased levels of protective lipoproteins and HDL or good cholesterol.

A recent study involving 6,000 adults tracked their diets and grouped them by their cholesterol level and sugar intake. Researchers found that nearly 16% of the participant’s average daily calories were derived from added sugar.

Researchers learned that those who had the largest amount of sugar had eaten 46 teaspoons per day. They found that the participants with the least amount of sugar had eaten just three teaspoons per day.

Experts agree that the recommended daily amount of sugar is six teaspoons per day for women and nine for men. The amount refers to sugars that have been processed or include additives, not natural sugars, such as those in fruit.

Researchers who conducted these studies hope their findings will influence food manufacturers from adding sugar to their foods to prevent heart disease. The impact of such studies has resulted in some states taxing sugary soft drinks to avoid obesity and related diseases.

Experts estimated that if states imposed just a half-cent tax on soft drinks it could reduce the consumption of such beverages from 50 gallons to just below 40 gallons per year.

Experts know that excess sugar consumption has a direct link to heart disease and other debilitating diseases like obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke. Reducing your intake of sugar can only improve your health and may increase your lifespan.

In addition to food, this author additionally regularly gives advice regarding leather sofas for sale and white leather sofa.

Fatty Liver Diet: Dealing with Fatty Liver Diseases

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

Issues and discussions about health and diet never stops especially among women and those with weight problems. Being conscious of what we take in as food is a common clich advice from many experts. The main problem is we don’t follow it until complications occur. Of course foods containing lots of sugar, protein, carbohydrates, and fat are the ones which really are delicious and mouth watering. Which is why many go obese for eating too much of fastfood that has actually a surmountable amount of saturated fat. In the following paragraphs you will get to understand how these affect our health, how too much fat intake can lead to fatty liver disease and how having a fatty liver diet is the best way to reverse your fatty condition.

If you’re wondering what is the basic use of our liver, it is the organ which is responsible for sorting out the insoluble food in our body. Once the food pass through our intestine, our liver is the one which separates the excess fat and sugar stored in the food. These excesses remains in the liver unless we do something. Meaning they will likely accumulate through time giving us liver problems such as high blood pressure, hepatitis or worse kidney failure and diabetes. The earlier state would be having a fatty liver condition which can still be helped through the fatty liver diet. The basic tips for this are as follows:

1. Daily Exercise, the first key to a fatty liver diet. Exercising to get rid of the stuck body fat is one of the most natural ways to turn the excess body fat plus sure into insulin. Exercising for about 30 minutes a day or more is good for the body. Walking, jogging and sprinting are the best suitable exercise routines for this to take effect. Eventually, the fatty liver will leave no more undigested fat.

2. Limit sugar and fat intake. Being conscious of the sugar levels plus fat content in your fatty liver diet helps your body avoid having to accumulate them. The fatty liver diet discourages foods with concentrated sugars such as soft drinks, ice creams, jams, etc. Also food with high fat, high cholesterol are also to be of control. These includes meat, nuts and dairy products both processed and fresh. Moreover, diets with saturated fats and trans fat should be brought to the limit or should be avoided when under going the fatty liver diet. Usually these foods are the ‘tastiest’ and these includes French fries, pizza, pastries, fried foods beef and pork even eggs.

3. Drink lots of water. For starters make it a routine to drink water daily and try avoid drinking beverages with high sugar. Also, as much as possible say no to alcohol. In fact, eliminate alcohol from your liquid intake. It will only cause problems in the future. But for those fatty liver patients undergoing the fatty liver diet, liquids other than water is strictly prohibited. It’ll help you fight the accumulation of sugar plus the scorching effect of alcohol in your liver. It’s quite depriving but it still is for your benefit.

True the fatty liver diet is quite depriving such that we don’t get to enjoy the food we want to enjoy eating with great appetite. But it still, like most dietary advises, the fatty liver diet is for your benefit. This diet advices you to eat what is healthy such as vegetables and fruits, no meat. Try starting this fatty liver diet now and start minimizing your fat and sugar intake . More importantly exercise daily to loose all those excess fat in your body. The fatty liver diet is here to help not to deprive you of delight but for you to be healthy and enjoy more tomorrow.

This article might probably not be something unique among other diet ideas but still it is good that we’ll be talking diet here, especially regarding fatty liver diets.

Why Superstars Like Candies

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

Candy is made up of concentrated solution of sugar water which is then mixed with different flavors and colors to make it tasty and attractive. Chocolate can be of many types like chocolate bars, chocolates, toffees, liquorice and more. A coating of vegetables and fruits is applied to give the candies a shine.

Candy is manufactured out of a combination of sugar diluted with water or milk, which is brought to a boil till the required thickness is acquired. The final out come of the products totally depends on the time taken for boiling and the ingredients used for making of the candy. Various forms and various kinds of textures are available; the different types are soft, chewy, hard and brittle. The thickness or the consistency of the chocolate depends upon the amount of the sugars added in the mixture. The mixture is boiled until the water from the mixture gets evaporated completely. Higher temperature makes the mixture hard and low temperature makes the mixture soft. So the temperature is the main factor to find the desired consistency of the chocolate.

The different temperatures at which the glucose is boiled are : thread- 230 -233F, 110-111 C, glucose concentration 80%,soft crack- 270-290 F, 132-143 C, glucose concentration 95 % and soft ball- temperature 234-240 F, 112-115 C, sugars concentration 85 %. Specific temperatures are set to get the desired texture of candy.

You can order your favorite bulk candy packs from the various stores around the place and also from the online services which are available. The variety available in bulk candy packs are caramels, Swedish fish, Pixy stix, salt wafer taffy, wax bottles, rock candy and Mary Janes etc. Many branded bulk candy packs like three muskateers, Laffty Taffy, Sweettarts, Tootsie Rolls, Starburst, Mentos and much more are offered also.

Special bulk chocolate includes jelly beans, Jordan almonds and Chocolate corn. Variety of gummies like mall rats, dinosaurs, fried eggs, sharks, worms and worms are also sold as bulk candy. Fun size milk chocolate bars are caramel covered soft munching crispies in bulk. Each pound contains approximately 20 chocolate. Musketeers contain a creamy centre with a coating of milk chocolate. It will come in bulk candy pack of twenty six pieces in each pound.

Bulk candy pack chocolate work most effectively to add a loving touch to your baby’s birthday party. This bulk candy is available in a pack of forty eight pieces per pound. A useful chocolate for the people suffering from diabetes is available in bulk candy packs. These candies are sold in bulk and can be purchased in ten lb per case. Miniature hearts are solid milk chocolate that exist in the attractive packing of blue, red and white paper. These can be found in bulk chocolate pack and are even sold separately. Each pack contains nearly sixty pieces. Apricot centered sweets are coated with a thin layer of milk chocolates and are perfect for any occasion being it a birthday party or a holiday. They are presented in bulk candy packs containing ten pounds per case.

Want to see some great butterfly tattoos? Click here for the best butterfly tattoo book.

What Effect Does Sugar Have On Hormones?

Sunday, May 22nd, 2011

www.HippocratesHealthLifestyle.com Dr. Brian Clement, of Hippocrates Health Institute, teaches about the adrenal surges from sugar and fruit.

Sugar Addiction - Keys to breaking sugar addiction pt1

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

Dr Vaughn from Spirit of Health discusses the keys to breaking your sugar habit.

A Reasonable Examination of Body Sugar Level

Friday, May 13th, 2011

Who knows how many individuals are influenced by blood sugar level because it has the ability to produce such an effect. Perhaps you have noticed this at some time or another during the course of your day. Yet as with many things, there is more to it and some things should be carefully thought about. Everybody has a reasonable idea about what is doable with it. Not only that, but it is entirely natural and usual to want to find what you are looking for. We hope to broaden your knowledge base of blood sugar levels, and in so doing make it possible for you to be much more knowledgeable.

Maintaining your blood sugar in order isn’t always straightforward. Even when an individual thinks that he has control over the situation even the tiniest change in eating habits or routine can throw things out of whack. Even those who aren’t afflicted with problems like hypothyroidism or diabetes can have issues keeping their blood sugar levels under control. This is exactly why it is so tempting to take products like the Blood Sugar Balance supplements offered by RidgeCrest Herbals.

The particular tagline pertaining to Ridgecrest Herbals is “The Source for Herbal Remedies.” When the company was started it was identified as Creative Marketing Inc, which isn’t the greatest brand in the world if you have a company that is looking to help people get healthy through using natural products. Nothing quite states “affiliate scheme” like a company with Marketing right in the title. Definitely, deciding to change the title of the company was a good suggestion. The original company was founded in the mid 1980s and in the early 1990s morphed into the company everyone is acquainted with today. One of the company’s primary founders, Clyde St. Clair, is very well respected both in the natural supplement industry as well as the marketing field.

RidgeCrest is the originator involving Blood Sugar Balance. It consists of ginseng, licorice and anamarrhena roots, oryza seed and calcium sulfate. This particular mixture of root extracts follows a formula used by Chinese organic healers to help the body regulate its blood sugar production. That website states that the blend has been famous in Asia for hundreds of years. In its present supplement form, two capsules need to be taken every day as you need them. After that we couldn’t come across many other details about the following supplement.

The main website for Blood Sugar Balance is packed with good testimonials. If you do a search you will find positive reviews elsewhere too. The reviews say all sorts of wonderful things about the supplement. In terms of cost it’s not hard to understand why people like this supplement. This supplement is rather inexpensive. Sixty capsules just cost around fifteen bucks. People can purchase a couple of months’ worth for under thirty dollars. Price range wise, this is a superb supplement!

As far as whether or not it will truly help you deal with your blood sugar that remains to be seen. Be certain that you question your doctor before you start gulping down these tablets. People wish to accomplish this for two essential reasons. The first is the fact that your physician will be familiar with your history and the ingredients of this supplement and will know whether or not your body will react favorably to it. Beyond that, every person’s blood sugar is unique. This is the reason why each individual must find his or her own means of keeping blood sugar levels under control. Just because a thing is effective for one person doesn’t mean that it is going to work for another.

Make sure to do adequate research before you actually buy anything. Blood sugar can sometimes be treated naturally and if you can do this you should certainly look into it but make sure you get your doctor’s agreement before you start trying to cure yourself with supplements.

Learn more about how to lower cholesterol. Visit website: http://www.naturalcholesterolsupplements.com

Sugar Addiction - Sugar vs Cocaine and facts about it’s addictive nature

Saturday, May 7th, 2011

Dr Vaughn from Spirit of Health discusses how sugar addiction is similar to cocaine addiction.