August 10, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

The Institute For Medical Wellness- Putting the "Care" back into "Healthcare". 

Fruit- Just How Good Is it??

As a big low carb proponent, I am frequently asked about fruit intake. As "they say", all the nutrition councils believe in 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. A wonderful concept, but is it healthy?

Fruit, in its many tasty varieties, contains many vitamins that our bodies need. We have evolved to eat fruit based on its taste. Fruit's gets its sweet taste from fructose, or fruit sugar. Fructose though, acts differently in our bodies than normal table sugar, or sucrose. In fact, recent research has shown that fructose causes our fat cells to get fatter, and our insulin to become less efficient. This leads to an increase in our fat stores than with regular table sugar. This increase in fat occurs moreso around our waistline and internal (visceral) organs, leading to an increased risk for adult onset Diabetes, with all of its ill health effects. 

 

Back in the caveman days, when food was not as abundant, our ancestors probably consumed a large amount of summer fruit. This may have been advantageous, as the extra fat stores around their internal organs insulated them from the colder winter weather months ahead. The extra fat stores also served as a useful energy source to burn when the instant fuel of carbs from summer fruits and vegetables were scarce. 

Now our friends Fred and Barney, were usually always smiling. But the caveman period was not easy, and food was not always plentiful. Fruit was only eaten in the summer. I have heard that we now live in a more bountiful society, where heat sources and food, even fruit in the winter months are no longer scarce. As a result we eat fruit year round, and as we do, or waistlines continue to get rounder and rounder.

So what you say!!

Everyone has some extra pounds around the middle as they age. No harm done. Not so states the following research, that suggests that fructose increases the ability of cancer cells to reproduce.

So let's recap what we have learned so far. 

Fructose, when in overabundance in our diets, can lead to visceral weight gain, insulin resistance, and a possible increase in cancer risk! An interesting article from 1995 talks more about possible health complications from eating too much fructose.

So how bout those 5-9 servings a day??????

I encourage everyone to read their food ingredient lists carefully, especially your beverages. A few other words for fructose include, fructose crystals found in Vitamin Water and high fructose corn syrup found in many beverages and processed foods.

Pearl of the day:

Fruit is OK, but not in the amounts recommended by our esteemed government nutrition experts.  I obviously use the words esteemed, government and experts loosely. When you do eat fruit, please limit yourself to those only in season, and if you find yourself gaining weight, or you are diabetic and find your sugars rising, it may be prudent to lessen your fruit intake.

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Summer Goodies Bracket Contest!

Round Two of The Institute for Medical Wellness Boardwalk Munchie contest. Due to the strong response so far, the winner will choose from three prizes which include either a free one hour therapeutic massage, a one month Healthy Weight Program, or a half-price Omega-3-Index test.

There were a few surprises in the first round, with one seed, Polish Water Ice getting knocked out. Here are the competitors for round two. There are 4 picks needed for the second round. Make your selections and reply back in this email, with Boardwalk munchies contest in the subject field. You can enter once each round. The winner of the contest will be picked from all the entries.

You may also send your picks to DrHorvitz@DrHorvitz.com. 

Second Round:

Kohr Brothers (1)  vs  Ritas Water Ice

Johnsons Popcorn (4) vs Steeles Fudge

Mack-N-Manko Pizza (3) vs Curly Fries

Ben N Jerry's vs Funnel Cake

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Institute For Medical Wellness Supplement of the Month:

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Other Institute For Medical Wellness Programs and Events: