No-Calorie Sweeteners & Weight Gain, Asthma & Salt, Diet Turns on Genes, Sugar Doesn’t Turn to Fat, Essential Fats
In This Issue:
- No-Calorie Sweeteners Cause Weight Gain
- Asthma & Salt
- Diet Turns Your Genes On or Off
- Sugar Does Not Turn to Fat!
- Essential Fat Deficiency is Rare
You’ll Find More Fascinating Health Posts my Facebook Page –
facebook.com/wholefoodsvegan – and lots of great recipes in my
Whole Foods Plant-Based, Gluten Free Diet & Recipes Group
Message from Bernadette Wulf
Greetings!
How are you doing? I hope you are thriving and that this newsletter helps you find lots of ways to improve your health and wellbeing.
We are certainly living through “interesting times!” Seems like there is some sort of upheaval or crisis happening every day. Now we are getting reports of present and predicted food shortages. Have you planted a garden? Did you put together an emergency supply kit? Running out of toilet paper is one thing, but food is quite another. Don’t get caught unprepared. (Note to self, LOL)
This month we have some interesting articles on fats and sugars, including no-calorie sweeteners. Which ones are really the biggest “bad guys” when eaten to excess? You might be surprised.
And did you know that what you eat can turn your genes on and off? Genetic diseases don’t ever have to be “turned on!” There’s also a great article for anyone you know who has asthma. They may want to cut way back on salt.
Until next time, hang in there and appreciate everything you can. Life has a way of giving us more of whatever we appreciate. Right now I am appreciating my peaceful little oasis, ripe apricots, and my family a lot. Wishing you an abundance of appreciation too!
Have questions or comments? Email Bernadette – Please use this link and do not hit reply to this post, because I may never get your message that way.
To your health and happiness!
Bernadette Wulf
HealItAll.com & Plant Based for Life
No-Calorie Sweeteners Cause Weight Gain
“When it comes to caloric intake, blood sugars, or insulin spikes, all the other sweeteners appeared just as bad as straight sugar,” according to Dr. Greger.
What? Aren’t no-calorie and low-calorie sweeteners supposed to lower blood sugar, and help people lose weight? Apparently all those sugar alternatives don’t do any good at all. Artificial sweeteners can disrupt the microbiome, but even “natural” sweeteners like stevia and monk fruit will cause delayed blood sugar spikes.
From ForksOverKnives.com:
If you swap out diet beverages for water, there theoretically should be no difference in weight control since they both provide zero calories, right? Well, when researchers put it to the test, overweight and obese individuals on a diet randomized to replace diet beverages with water lost significantly more weight, about 15 percent more over six months.
That explains why so many obese people have a hard time losing weight! By the way, the key to losing weight the healthy way is to cut way back on fats and stick to a whole plant foods diet. If you need assistance with weight loss or other health issues, I offer personal coaching – https://www.plantbasedvegancoach.com/plant-based-health-coach-services/
If you still think you are doing yourself a favor by trying to trick your body with sugar alternatives, you might want to read this entire article – https://www.forksoverknives.com/wellness/artificial-sweeteners-can-make-you-gain-weight
Asthma & Salt
This is very important information for anyone with asthma. Too much salt can make it a lot worse! Given that inhalers and prescription drugs invariably have side effects – sometimes deadly side effects – prevention is always the best option.
From NutritionFacts.org:
In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, researchers put everyone on a low-salt diet, but then gave half of the subjects sustained-release sodium pills to bring their salt intake back up to a more normal level and the other half a placebo. After five weeks, the groups switched regimes for another five weeks. That’s how you can randomize people to a true low-sodium diet without them even realizing it. Genius! So what happened? Asthmatics on the salt got worse. Their lung function got worse, their asthma symptoms got worse, and they had to take more puffs on their inhalers.
Other asthma triggers can be stress, anxiety, eggs, dairy products, gluten, corn, soy, nuts, pet dander, dust, or other common allergens.
Read more about salt and asthma – https://nutritionfacts.org/2020/06/16/one-way-to-treat-asthma-and-autoimmune-diseases-with-diet/
Diet Turns Your Genes On or Off
Modern medical science tends to blame genes for many degenerative and autoimmune diseases, but many studies show that genes can be turned on or off by our diet and our thoughts (epigenetics).
From DrMcDougall.com –
Fortunately, modifications in gene expression now being caused by over-nutrition are reversible. Studies of people and laboratory animals have identified many chemicals found in foods that result in both helpful and harmful gene expressions. Not surprisingly, plants make beneficial chemicals. For example, folate from plants causes favorable epigenetic changes. For maximum benefit and minimal risk, this natural chemical must be consumed in the right package—like a bean or banana—not as a pill.
[ ] Animal foods, such as meat, poultry, cheese, milk, and eggs are well recognized as the primary cause of obesity, heart disease, and common cancers in people following the Western diet. Choline, a chemical found in high concentration in animal foods, has profound effects on gene expression and is considered to be an important factor in our modern day diseases.
Though many modern “health gurus” (particularly those of the low-carb/Paleo/Keto persuasion) are promoting more choline consumption, this could be exactly the opposite of what your genes for protecting your health.
Read more about diet and gene expression – https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2013nl/sep/epigenetics.htm
Sugar Does Not Turn to Fat!
One of the biggest misconceptions rampant in the health and diet world is the idea that sugar makes you fat. Surprisingly, this idea is way off the mark. It takes a LOT of sugar over several months to make someone gain even one pound! So why are we faced with an obesity epidemic?
The answer is that there are several factors working together. Sugar CAN be a factor IF someone is eating a high fat diet (over 15 – 20% of calories from fats). When there is a lot of fat in the bloodstream, it blocks cells from using any sugars you eat. That is called insulin resistance and it can lead to weight gain and a lot of other problems, like type 2 diabetes. At the same time, we are exposed to a constant barrage of dietary and environmental toxins that can burden the liver and make it sluggish. A sluggish liver cannot remove toxins from the blood, so the body creates fat as a place to store it all until the liver has a chance to clear it out.
Unfortunately, most people eat some sort of fat at every meal, so the blood is always loaded with fats. That means the liver never has the chance to clear out those stored toxins. Add even more toxins and fat, and the weight keeps piling on. That is why eating excess fat, not sugar, causes weight gain.
If you want to lose weight and clear out toxins the healthy way, you have to cut the fat – especially in the morning when the liver is working hardest to clear out toxins.
Here’s what Dr McDougall has to say about sugar and weight gain:
…[synthesizing fat from sugar] does not occur under usual living conditions in people. Thus the common belief that sugar turns to fat is scientifically incorrect—and there is no disagreement about this fact among scientists or their scientific research.
Under experimental laboratory conditions, however, where people are overfed large amounts of simple sugars, the human body will resort to converting a small amount of sugar into a small amount of fat (triglycerides) in the liver. For example, in one recent study, trim and obese women were overfed with 50% more calories than they usually ate—note, 535 of these extra calories each day came from four and a half ounces (135 grams) of refined sugar. In this forced-fed situation, the women produced less than 4 grams (36 calories) of fat daily from the extra carbohydrate. Extrapolation from these findings means a person would have to be overfed by this amount of food and table sugar every day for nearly 4 months in order to gain one extra pound of body fat…
Read more about why sugar doesn’t make you fat – https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2006nl/sept/sugar.htm
Essential Fat Deficiency is Rare
We hear a lot about “healthy fats” these days. The low-carb/Keto/Paleo crowd loves to insist that we need large amounts of fat to fuel our brain. However, people on extremely low fat diets are able to maintain excellent brain function. In fact, fat can prevent the removal of toxins and heavy metals from the brain and block brain cells from receiving the nutrition they really need.
The truth is that our brain, and all of our organs are mainly fueled by glucose, which is a form of sugar. Even on a ketogenic diet, where the goal is to eat nothing containing sugar, the body is forced to create glucose from fats and proteins in order to feed the cells.
So don’t worry about cutting back on fat. The only fats we really need are small amounts of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. These are abundantly supplied in leafy greens, fruits, vegetables, grains and beans. We also need EPA and DHA, but most people can create these from Omega 3 and 6. If you test low, there are safe algae-based EPA and DHA supplements that don’t contain the dangerous heavy metals contained in fish oil.
According to Dr. McDougall:
Our requirement is very tiny, and even the most basic diets provide sufficient linoleic acid [omega-6] to meet our requirement, which is estimated to be 1–2% of dietary energy. Therefore, in practical terms, a condition of “essential fatty acid deficiency” is essentially unknown in free-living populations.
For Omega 3, a tablespoon of ground flax or hemp seeds will provide plenty (chia is not such a good source).
Read more about essential fatty acid needs – https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/aug/oils.htm
New Earth Ambassador — Sharing Health, Wealth & Faery Magic to Uplift the World!
What I love best is creating opportunities for people to tap into the New Earth reality — a reality of harmony, cooperation and prosperity for all. I call it the New Camelot!
I still recall the thrill of discovering how to break through the confusion and angst of struggling in the old 3D Matrix. That’s when I realized I had found something far more valuable than money or worldly “success.”
So now I spend my time creating courses, blogs and tools to support citizens of the New Camelot in their ongoing quest for vital health, abundant wealth and the magic of the faery realm (which is woven into the fabric of the New Camelot like silver threads of wonder).
I am also passionate about protecting Nature, educating people about a healthy whole plant foods diet, artistic creativity, graphic design, connecting seekers with the faery realm, Celtic and Arthurian lore, writing, painting and gardening.
My services are all listed at wulfworks.com (my portal site)