Most of us chew gum daily. According to the American Dental Association chewing gum is very good for dental health it increases the flow of saliva in your mouth, when you chew after eating, the increased saliva flow may help neutralize and wash away acids when food is broken down by the bacteria in plaque on your teeth, and this by itself reduces tooth decay.

So we all know that chewing gum are good for oral health but I want to talk about sugar-free chewing gum, about sorbitol and aspartame that is used to substitute the sugar in chewing gum. I have wrote an article about aspartame before which is found in diet soda drinks, you can check the videos again, they talk about aspartame dangers and side effects.

Let’s talk about sorbitol now. What is Sorbitol?

Sorbitol, or glucitol, is a sugar alcohol which our bodies metabolize slowly. Sorbitol can be found in cough syrups, sugar free mints, sugar-free maple syrup,some cereals, chewing gum, diet foods, diet drinks and ice creams. Sorbitol occurs naturally in some stone fruits and berries from trees of the Sorbus genus. Apples and pears also have natural amounts of sorbitol.

Sorbitol provides about 2.6  kcal\gram and sugar provides 4 kcal\gram, As a food additive Sorbitol has an E-number E420. It is also used as a laxative.

Sorbitol side effects are diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, rapid unhealthy weight loss, and stomach pain.

An article was published on BBC news about sugar free chewing gum, they gave an example about 2 people who chewed about 20 sticks of sugar-free chewing gum daily ofcourse it contains sorbitol, they had become sick.

The 1st woman (21 years old) had complained from diahhroea and stomach pain for eight months, she lost 22 kg in that time. She had lots of tests before the doctors realized that the problem was sorbitol in her chewing gum, she became underweight.

Another man who was admitted to hospital after losing 22 kg in 1 year and he suffered diarrhoea.

They were found to comsume 20 to 30 grams of sorbitol daily (Each stick of chewing gum has around 1.25g of the sweetener). Dr Juergen Bauditz, from the Department of Gastroenterology at Charite University Hospital in Berlin, said 5-20g of sorbitol would be enough to cause minor stomach problems such as bloating and cramps but more than 20g could cause diarrhoea and, as these cases showed, severe weight loss.

After the patients stopped consuming sorbitol in thier diet, they put on weight again they had lost and all the symptoms were gone.

Sorbitol is used in diabetes products in order to cut off sugar consumption, but diabetes people can enjoy normal sugar (ofcourse there are limits to their sugar consumption) followed by daily activity and a healthy diet plan preferred by a registered dietitian.

So now after you all  knew the bad side effects of sorbitol in sugar-free chewing gum you have to be aware, you have to read the food labels carefully, and limit your consumption of sorbitol to the minimum possible or just chew your regular gum, most of chewing gum have between 15 to 20 calories, it is not a big deal, you are going to burn these few calories with any tiny unintended activity, if you didn’t like the idea you can simply cut a little of your calories in something else in another meal, or just use less sugar in your tea if that will make you happy, another choice you can chew sugarless chewing gum and make your teeth and dentist happy. It is your choice to make, choose whatever suits your life style.

What are fad diets?

“Fad diets” phrase refers to diets that promote a restircted eating plan which is not healthy at all because it lacks in sufficient calroies. There are also liquid fad diets such as cabbage soup diet and grape fruit diet.

Fad diets are diets that promise you to do miracles in a very short period of time. they promise to make you lose more than 3 pounds per week or even more. We all know that is not true ….come on!!!! but before denying these kinds of diet lets enjoy talking about their silliness. There are some diets that really make me laugh or they make me feel like I am stupid to believe their claims, if you want to laugh, here are some of the silliest fad diets:

• Eat whatever you want and keep losing weight (7 day all you can eat diet) the idea of believing this is really funny
• The (3 day diet) lose your extra weight by the 3 day diet, it’s a miracle isn’t it?

I am sorry if am not helping you lose weight but trust me, there is no combination of special food that will make you lose weight,some fad diets claim to contain special fat-burning, but losing weight has no magic key.. it is a fact, it doesn’t matter which hook the fad diet is using to let you believe them, it just doesn’t make sense to expect any miraculous weight loss that will last through following these kinds of diets.. all what you need is a healthy diet plan that will gaurantee your weight loss for the long-term not only for the short-term, you need an everyday plan to help you maintain your weight and keep the pounds you’ve lost off, you need a diet plan that provides you with the adequate amount of calories and nutrition that your body needs, it’s all about balance.. to lose weight you have to consume calories less than your body burns and you have to increase your activity level. That’s it.. it’s really simple.

But some people may ask : I tried a fad diet and it really worked BUT I GAINED WEIGHT AGAIN AFTER SKIPPING THE DIET.

A fad diet is most of the time a very low calorie diet… so any low calorie diet will make you lose weight but you will put on your lost pounds again as soon as you return back to you normal eating patterns, another thing about fad diets that it promotes fast weight loss which is considered to be unhealthy, and most of the time it is not fat loss it’s mostly water loss.. so that’s why the dieter will regain weight after resuming his normal eating. because it is water and it is easily lost and regained….. the result would be here that fad diets are short term plans.

Now listen to that, fad diets may lead to obesity, how is that?

Fad diets sometimes can lead to weight-cycling or yo-yo dieting which means weight loss followed by weight regain then weight loss and regain again new studies suggets that yo- yo dieting may lead to obesity.

You’ll know it’s a fad diet if it:

• Promises magic or miracle foods that burn fat.
• Requires you to eat unusual quantities of only one food or food type.
• Requires rigid menus of a limited selection of foods to be eaten at a specific time and day.
• Requires you to eat specific food combinations in certain sequences or combinations.
• Promises rapid weight loss of more than two pounds a week.
• Has no warning for those with diabetes or high blood pressure to seek medical advice before starting the diet.
• Does not include increased physical activity as part of the plan.

source: American Heart Association

At last we have a conclusion over here: Avoid fad dieting, instead follow a healthy diet plan based on the food guide pyramid which is the healthiest way to lose weight and keep it away, choose from all the groups the right serving size and you will have the adequate nutrition and calories your body needs.
Eating a balanced calorie-controlled diet is not only more appealing but also more likely to help you develop the sort of good eating habits that lead to permanent weight loss.

What is a glycemic index?

The glycemic index (GI) is a scientific ranking of foods based on their immediate effect on blood sugar levels. Many everyday carbohydrate-based foods have been tested and given a ranking between 1 and 100, depending on the speed at which they release their sugars into the bloodstream. Carbohydrate foods that break down quickly during digestion have the highest glycemic indexes (GIs of 70 or above). Their blood sugar response is fast and high. Carbohydrates that break down slowly, releasing glucose gradually into the bloodstream, have low glycaemic indices (GIs of less than 55).

Up until recently, it was believed that carbohydrates could be divided into two main categories simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates consisted of sweet, sugary foods, such as cakes, biscuits, sweets, chocolate, jam and honey. Complex carbohydrates consisted of the more starchy foods, such as bread, potatoes, rice, pasta and cereals. It was commonly thought that the sweet, simple carbohydrates caused our blood sugar levels to rise far more rapidly and give us a quicker energy burst than the starchy, complex ones. Now however, thanks to the creation of the glycemic index, we know this not to be the case and foods such as baked potatoes and some types of bread tend to have a far higher GI and cause a far greater surge in blood sugar levels than many sweeter, more sugary foods.

What is the problem with eating high-GI food?

The sugars in high-GI foods are broken down quickly so they do not supply a sustained source of energy. Instead, they cause our blood sugar levels to rise rapidly. The body has to respond to this by making large quantities of the blood sugar-lowering hormone, insulin, and releasing it into the blood. Unfortunately, insulin is often too good at its job and instead of just reducing blood sugar levels to a desirable level, it sends them plummeting to levels lower than they were originally. This sets up a yo-yo effect as the body then responds by making us crave fatty, sugary foods in an attempt to make our blood sugar levels rise once more. so the disadvantages of eating high-GI diet are:

1) The rush of energy given by high GI foods does not last and is soon followed by an energy lull. So you get hungry and want to eat more.

2) After eating high GI foods you will have a lot of readily available energy in your blood. Your body will use this energy first rather then other stores of energy like body fat. This makes it harder to loose weight.

The health benefits of low GI eating

Lowering the GI of your diet may help prevent and manage overweight and obesity – the underlying cause of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. We know from research around the world over the past 25 years the many benefits of eating healthy low GI foods, they:

• Help to fill you up and keep you feeling satisfied for longer, avoiding over eating or too much snacking.
• Lower your insulin levels which makes fat easier to burn and less likely to be stored.
• Reduce your triglycerides, total and ‘bad’ (LDL) cholesterol.
• Increase your levels of ‘good’ (HDL) cholesterol.
• Reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
• Reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
• Help to manage your blood glucose levels and reduce your risk of developing diabetes complications.
• Sustain your energy levels longer.

Low GI eating really is for everybody, every day, every meal.

source: Home of the Glycemic Index

Why it’s not healthy to eat high-GI food?

1. Food cravings and lethargy
Many of us experience this yo-yo effect as the ‘mid-afternoon lull’. We eat a high-GI lunch – sandwiches or a baked potato, for example – and by 3.30pm we are not only feeling tired, lethargic and lacking in concentration, but we are positively craving something sweet to give us that much needed energy boost. This often happens again after the evening meal when we find ourselves heading back to the kitchen for a dessert, some chocolate biscuits or a glass of wine just a short while after having eaten.

2. Weight gain
A diet rich in high-GI foods can cause you to eat more calories (and therefore gain weight) for two reasons. The first is that high-GI foods are quick to break down. The quicker a food breaks down, the sooner you will become hungry and the more likely you will be to want to eat again. Secondly, high-GI foods will cause your blood sugar levels to rapidly rise and then fall, which in turn will result in strong urges to eat fatty, sugary foods shortly after a meal. Both points are compounded by the fact that another of insulin’s main roles is to promote fat storage, so the more insulin you have in your blood the more likely you are to store any excess calories you eat as fat.

3. Lack of concentration and mood swings
The brain is entirely fuelled by blood sugar. Therefore when levels drop as a result of the excessive production of insulin, it becomes more difficult to concentrate. Research has also found that low blood sugar levels are often linked to mood swings, reduced reaction times and even depression.

4. Diabetes
Diabetes is one of the most common health problems in the world, It is thought that the stress that high-GI foods place on the body to keep blood sugar levels constant can result in either the insulin not working properly or the pancreas, the manufacturing site of insulin, becoming less efficient at producing it, sometimes giving up altogether.

5. Heart disease
As we have already seen, a diet rich in high-GI foods can result in people becoming overweight or developing diabetes. Obesity and diabetes are two of the principal risk factors that can lead to heart disease. In addition, high levels of insulin, which are brought about as a result of eating high-GI foods, are strongly linked to increased blood pressure and cholesterol (along with other blood fats), both of which are also major contributing factors to heart disease.

5 ways to lower your GI food

1. Mix high-GI foods with low-GI foods – research shows that a high-GI food combined with a low-GI food of the same carbohydrate quantity will result in an intermediate GI for the overall meal.
2. Eat protein with your carbohydrates – high-protein foods, such as lean meat, chicken and fish, tend to slow the rate at which a meal is digested and therefore lower the GI of the overall meal.
3. Choose vegetables first – all too often we base our meals around the carbohydrate-rich food, such as pasta, potatoes or rice. Instead, first plan your meal around the vegetables you hope to use, then around the protein-rich foods, such as meat, fish or pulses, and then the carbohydrate-rich food. This will automatically help to lower the GI of a meal.
4. Use beans and pulses as often as possible – try puréeing them to make sauces, cooking them in stews, serving them with fresh herbs as side dishes, adding them to salads, making them into dips or using mashed beans or lentils instead of mashed potatoes.
5. Keep cooking times to a minimum – cooked foods often have a higher GI than uncooked foods, so make sure your pasta is al dente and your vegetables are cooked for the shortest time possible. This will also help to retain more of their vitamins and minerals.

10 tips for reducing the GI of your diet

1. Pile half your dinner plate high with vegetables or salad

Aim to eat at least five serves of vegetables (this doesn’t include the starchy ones like potatoes, sweet potatoes or sweet corn) every day, preferably of three or more different colours.

2. Cut back on most potatoes

If you are a big potato eater and can’t bear the thought of giving them up, you don’t have to. Just cut back on the quantity. Choose a lower GI potato such as Almera, Nicola or Marfona or have one or two baby new potatoes with a small cob of corn or make a cannellini bean (they are white beans) and potato mash replacing half the potato with cannellini beans. And try other starchy vegetables occasionally like sweet potato, yams or taro – steamed, roasted or mashed.

3. Swap your bread

Instead of high GI white and wholemeal breads, choose a really grainy bread where you can actually see the grains, granary bread, stone-ground wholemeal bread, real sourdough bread, soy and linseed bread, pumpernickel, fruit loaf or bread made from chickpea or other legume-based flours.

4. Replace those high GI crunchy breakfast flakes

These refined breakfast cereals spike your blood glucose and insulin levels. Replace them with smart carbs like natural muesli or traditional (not instant) porridge oats or one of the lower GI processed breakfast cereals that will trickle fuel into your engine.

5. Make your starchy staples the low GI ones

Look for the low GI rice’s, serve your pasta al dente, choose less processed foods such as large flake or rolled oats for porridge or muesli and intact grains such as barley, buckwheat, bulgur, quinoa, whole kernel rye, or whole wheat kernels and opt for lower GI starchy vegetables.

6. Learn to love legumes (pulses)

Include legumes in your meals two or three times a week, more often if you are vegetarian. Add chickpeas to a stir-fry, red kidney beans to a chilli, a 4-bean salad to that barbecue menu, and beans or lentils to a casserole or soup.

7. Develop the art of combining

No need to cut out all high GI carbs. The trick is to combine them with those low GI tricklers to achieve a moderate overall GI. How? Lentils with rice (think of that delicious classic Italian soup), rice with beans and chilli (go Mexican), tabbouli tucked into pita bread (with falafels of course and a dash of hummous), baked beans on toast or piled on a jacket-baked potato for classic comfort food.

8. Incorporate a lean protein source with every meal

Lean meat, skinless chicken, fish and seafood, eggs, milk, yoghurt or cheese, or legumes and tofu if you are vegetarian. The protein portion should make up around a quarter of the plate/meal.

9. Tickle your taste buds

Try vinaigrette (using vinegar or lemon juice with a dash of extra virgin olive oil) with salads, yoghurt with cereal, lemon juice on vegetables like asparagus, or sourdough bread. These foods contain acids, which slow stomach emptying and lower your blood glucose response to the carbs in the meal.

10. Go low GI when snacking

If it is healthy and low GI, keep it handy. Grab fresh fruit, dried fruit, or fruit and nut mix, low fat milk and yoghurt (or soy alternatives), fruit bread etc for snacks. Limit (this means don’t buy them every week) high GI refined flour products whether home baked or from the supermarket such as cookies, cakes, pastries, crumpets, crackers, biscuits, irrespective of their fat and sugar content. These really are the ‘keep for the occasional treat’ foods.

Keep your eye on the serve size. Remember portion caution with carb-rich foods such as rice, al dente pasta and noodles, potatoes etc. Eating a huge amount of these foods, even of the low GI variety, will have a marked effect on your blood glucose. A cup of cooked noodles or al dente pasta or rice plus plenty of mixed non-starchy vegetables and a little lean protein can turn into 3 cups of a very satisfying meal.

source: Home of Glycemic Index

To see the glycemic index of some popular food please click here

The Atkins Diet Debate

Dr. Atkins revolutionalized the dieting world when he introduced the Atkins diet, a low-carb eating program. The Atkins diet or the ‘Atkins Nutritional Approach’ is a lifetime nutritional philosophy. The diet claims that you can lose weight on a high-fat, high-protein diet. It works on the premise that a healthy lifestyle requires a limited amount of simple carbohydrates, protein, exercise and proper portion control.

The diet plan works on 4 general principles; weight loss, weight maintenance, good health and disease prevention. Today, the Atkins diet is the most popular, longstanding approach to weight loss in America. Over 40 million people around the world have joined in on the Atkins revolution and more than 15 million overweight men and women have bought Dr. Atkins’ best selling book ‘New Diet Revolution’. There is even a professional body (The Atkins Centre for Complimentary Medicine) devoted to educating Atkins followers.

How does the diet work?

The Atkins diet holds the controversial belief that low fat is not the only way to go for a healthier lifestyle and weight control. Dr. Atkins blamed carbohydrates (grains, pastas, fruits, potatoes) for weight gain. He believed that if you reduced your carbohydrate intake then you would lose weight. Too many carbohydrates in your diet encourage your body to retain fat. When the body absorbs simple carbohydrates quickly, it causes an insulin response that speeds the conversion of calories to fat. The plan focuses on the consumption of nutrient-dense, unprocessed foods and vita-nutrient supplementation. It also restricts processed and refined carbohydrates (which make up to approximately more then 50 per cent of people’s diets). It encourages you to eliminate sugar from your diet as this contributes to a slower metabolism. The Atkins diet is designed to be a program on which you can maintain a healthy weight for a lifetime and it is highly suitable (but not restricted) to those who prefer eating animal protein. The diet offers people who have failed on a low-fat diet a healthy, effective and safe alternative. Instead of carbs and sugar, eaters are allowed plenty of fat and protein.

There are four phases to the Atkins diet, they are; 1) Induction, 2) Ongoing Weight Loss, 3) Pre-Maintenance and 4) Lifetime Maintenance. During Phase 1 (Induction), you restrict carbohydrate consumption to 20 grams each day, obtaining carbohydrate primarily from salad and other non-starchy vegetables. In Phase 2 (Ongoing Weight Loss), you increase carbohydrate in the form of nutrient-dense and fibre-rich foods by 20 grams daily in the first week and then 30 grams daily in the next week until you gradually lose weight. Then you subtract 5 grams of carbohydrate from your daily intake so that you continue sustained weight loss. In Phase 4, known as ‘Pre-Maintenance’, you make the transition from weight loss to weight maintenance by increasing the daily carbohydrate intake in 10 gram increments each week. In the last phase of the Atkins plan (Lifetime Maintenance), you select from a wide variety of foods while controlling carbohydrate intake to ensure weight maintenance.

There are mixed views on the Atkins diet amongst health experts and dieticians. Many experts are critical of low-carb diets but have not totally discounted the Atkins diet as an effective method of losing weight. Although they do assert that it is too early to adopt the low-carb diet, health experts do concede that it is worth exploring. One main criticism of the Atkins diet is that it does entail frequent meat consumption. However, followers argue that the program can be tailored for different preferences and metabolisms. After the first phase (known as the ‘Induction phase’) the Atkins diet plan can be modified. Despite the immense popularity of the diet, the Atkins diet plan continues to have many sceptics. Another criticism of the diet purports that a person is unlikely to keep the weight off over the long term. However, this claim could just as easily be applied to many low-fat or low-calorie weight loss plans, on which dieters are likely to feel hungry.

The Atkins Diet: Against

• Not ideal for vegetarians or vegans as it is a meat-heavy (protein) diet.
• Linked to osteoporosis, heart disease, colon cancer and renal disease.
• High in saturated fats and cholesterol.
• Low on fiber.
• Is sometimes below the recommended daily values for several vitamins and minerals such as calcium, potassium and magnesium.

The Atkins Diet: For:

• Allowed to eat fat and protein.
• Steady (and sometimes rapid) weight loss.
• Reduces intake of sugars and processed grains.
• Reduces appetite.
• Life-time approach to dieting.
• A ‘never be hungry’ approach to dieting.

Critics of the Atkins Diet

The American Heart Association (AHA) does not recommend high-protein diets for weight loss. They argue that the Atkins diet has not been proven effective for long term weight loss. They are critical of the Atkins diet’s focus on a high-protein diet that emphasises foods like meat and eggs that are rich in protein and/or saturated fats. The diet is not recommended because it restricts healthy foods that provide essential nutrients. They also criticise the Atkins plan for its high cholesterol, fat and protein content and its low-fibre intake. The AHA asserts that most people already eat more protein and fat than their bodies need, and eating a high-protein, high-fat diet raises the risk of many types of disease. The most serious claim against the Atkins plan is that it’s linked to a number of potential health risks such as osteoporosis, stroke, coronary heart disease, a propensity to form kidney stones, liver disorders and diabetes.

Advocates of the Atkins Diet

There are a number of misconceptions surrounding the Atkins diet plan, the most popular of these is the misconception that you consume mostly red meat and can never eat carbs. Many people view the diet as a bacon, burger and butter diet, however one of the benefits of the Atkins program is that it gets you away from eating too much sugar and processed foods. The Atkins plan reduces (rather than excludes) your carbohydrate intake (like sugar, white flour and white rice).

Another misconception is that you can eat all you want while following the Atkins program. Although the program refuses to accept hunger as a way of life, it does believe in the philosophy of moderation. Eating a well-portioned and satisfying meal is an extremely important part of the Atkins diet. The Atkins plan teaches you to control your portion sizes.

In response to criticisms that the Atkins diet is linked to disease – contrary studies have shown that over a four month period, the Atkins diet helped a group of people drop an average of 21 pounds, lower their cholesterol and triglyceride levels and raise HDL (‘good’ cholesterol). Advocates of the diet argue that people at high risk for chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension and diabetes will see a marked improvement. They go even further to claim that by following this plan you are actually laying a permanent groundwork for disease prevention.

Generally, critics are sceptical of how a high-protein, high-fat diet can result in weight loss. Research shows that people can keep off weight lost with the Atkins plan as long as they don’t go back to eating the way they used to eat. People have successfully lost weight with this approach for over thirty years. Several studies have shown that men and women lost twice the weight on the Atkins plan, compared to those individuals following a ‘high-respected’ low-fat diet. However, many success stories involve support of some kind. Studies show that dieters typically lose more weight when they linked up with the Internet – a virtual dieting community where dieters can obtain weight loss information, Atkins diet recipes and contact other dieters who are sharing the same goals. On the Internet, followers can also get a personalised Atkins meal plan and 24/7 peer and professional support without leaving their home.

All of us wonder wether if cooking or reheating food using microwave ovens is safe for our health… we’ve heard lots of rumors about it some of them are true and some are not. First of all the microwave is considered to be one of the most great inventions of the 20th century, but we have to follow the right tips while using it to avoid any harm can affect our health.

According to recent USDA studies, almost all poultry products contain some amount of salmonella contamination. About 25% to 45% of ground chicken samples tested, for example, contain bacterial contamination. Ground turkey averages about 20% to 25% contamination, while chicken broilers average about 10% to 12%. So you should assume that any poultry products you are cooking start off with some salmonella contamination. Egg products contain their own contamination issues as well.Thats why we have to be very careful when cooking or reheating food in the microwave.

There is a problem in microwaved food that it leaves cold spots , where harmful bacteria can survive so we have to follow the safe microwave tips to avoid foodborne illness, first of all arrange your food evenly in the dish then cover with a lid or plastic wrap (microwave-safe use) the moist heat that is created will help kill any harmful bacteria and ensure uniform cook, another thing cook large meat cuts on medium power (50%) instead of cooking it on high power (100%) this will help heat to reach the center of the meat without overcooking the outeside layer.

Next tip is to stir food and rotate dish at the midway of the microwave timing to avoid coldspots where bacteria can survive as we mentioned previously and to ensure cooking evenly.

Never partially cook food and store it to cook it later on the grill or in the oven. When you partially cook food in the microwave you have to transfer it immediatly to the next cooking method (grill or conventional oven).

Use food theremometer or oven’s temperature probe to make sure that food has reached internal safe temperature. Ovens vary in power and effeciancy so cooking time is different for each type of oven, allow a standing time which completes the cooking before using food thermometer to check the internal temperature.

You may ask what containers and wraps that would be safe to use in microwave ovens.

Only use cookware that is specially manufactured for use in the microwave oven. Glass, ceramic containers, and all plastics should be labeled for microwave oven use.

Plastic storage containers such as margarine tubs, take-out containers, whipped topping bowls, and other one-time use containers should not be used in microwave ovens. These containers can warp or melt, possibly causing harmful chemicals to migrate into the food.

Microwave plastic wraps, wax paper, cooking bags, parchment paper, and white microwave-safe paper towels should be safe to use. Do not let plastic wrap touch foods during microwaving.

Never use thin plastic storage bags, brown paper or plastic grocery bags, newspapers, or aluminum foil in the microwave oven.

Conclusion: Its safe to cook or reheat food using microwave ovens but we have to be careful and follow the tips I mentioned previously to stay in a good health.