The Healthy Choices Wellblog

How much does weight factor in health levels? 

The big weight question……..no pun intended but did you catch the news yesterday about the new study published in JAMA that suggests that weighing more than the standard guides say you should weight might actually protect you from some diseases?

 My personal feeling has always been that the guidelines are a little on the starving side.  I’m one of those who grew up with a grandma who fed her family to “put a little meat on their bones”.  Her choices were those of every other poor farmer in Alabama - homemade bisquits cooked with lard and white flour, fried ham or bacon and homemade gravy (made with white flour and meat grease)….typical breakfast.  You get the idea.

Yet, for all the flaws in that dietary regimen, there was also something in me that resonated with the idea that a little fat on the bones was preferable to being bone-skinny.  Although it certainly would have been healthier had I packed on a few extra pounds through whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies, and lean chicken or fish, I don’t know that the pounds themselves were ever a health issue for me.

If it were not for the magazines and models, I don’t think I would ever have thought that my extra 20 pounds over the guidelines for my height were a beauty issue or a health issue.

I don’t think anyone disagrees that obesity is unhealthy.  I’m not talking about being overweight to the degree that it overtaxes the heart or that it stresses the hips and knee joints.

 But is weighing 20 pounds more than the current guidelines say you should, a health problem?  I don’t believe so. 

Will having those extra pounds offer any type of protection against certain diseases?  I don’t think that’s been proven.  However, I feel that it might eventually be proven that those extra pounds send a signal to the body that all is well.  I believe it’s healthier.

From what I’ve read, being overweight is still considered to increase risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and certain types of cancer.

If you wanta read more about the study, here’s a reprint online:
a few extra pounds won’t kill you, study says

Fructose Corn Syrup - Is it healthy?

Why You Should Avoid products containing fructose corn syrup.

 I clearly remember an episode of “Boston Legal” (one of my favorite shows…wish it didn’t come on so late at night) when Candice Bergen’s character was defending a case and talking about fructose corn syrup.  She was saying that the makers of children’s cereals and other foods deliberately used it because it caused people to overeat.

I’ve learned enough about that show to know that they don’t just pick headlines out of the air so I checked on the idea.  Now, whether food manufacturers are doing it deliberately is a matter for the courts to decide but it appears to be true that this ingredient does wreak havoc with the sense of fullness one naturally gets when eating.

It has to do with an ingredient called leptin, a hormone our body naturally releases when carbs trigger an insulin release in the body.  When we eat products containing fructose corn syrup, leptin is not released.  This can trick our bodies into thinking we are not full, even though we are, and we may keep eating and become overweight.

In the show, Shirley Schmitt the lawyer was trying to prove that her client’s obesity was not entirely his fault but the fault of fructose corn syrup in the products he couldn’t stop eating.

Ah, well, complex issue, obesity.  Not to the settled in a quick ask post here but I advise not using any product that has fructose corn syrup or even high fructose corn syrup (sounds like syrup with a drug problem, doesn’t it?) at all, and particularly if pre-diabetic or struggling with being overweight, or if obesity is predominant in your family line.

more on healthy choices for weight loss management

Healthy Weight Loss Tip:
My Favorite Natural Health Supplement

I have tried just about every type of health supplement and nutritional formula there is, over the years.  I consider myself a guinea pig for healing.

 In all my experience, I’ve yet to find anything that comes close to the benefits I’m getting from a single product.  I don’t sell it, by the way, or promote it, I’m just telling you how much I like it.

Here’s what I’ve noticed:

Better energy

Better Sleep

Better Moods

Less Susceptibility to Colds

Less Appetite

What is it?  It’s raw, organic kombucha.  The brand I drink, and the only one I can vouch for, is GT’s Synergy brand.  I love the gingerberry and cosmic cranberry best.  For liver congestion, nothing beats the original citrus blend.

Try it!  I don’t even like the way it tastes but the moment it hits my mouth, my body demands more.  I drink it every day.

more on weight loss