Sickeningly Sweet?

Here's what we know: Eating sugar in excess, as many currently do, is unhealthy.

The American Heart Association and the World Health Organization recommend that women consume no more than 24 grams of "added sugar" (basically, sugar not found in fruits or non-sweetened milk) each day. For men, that number is 37 grams. 

Currently, conservative estimates indicate that Americans consume roughly twice the recommended amounts. Much of that sugar comes from nutrient-deficient soft drinks, luxurious desserts, processed food, or candy. Eating too much of any of that stuff increases the risk of fatty liver disease, heart disease, diabetes, and being overweight. 

https://youtu.be/0ndTEu_qDGA

Even if Lustig is wrong to saddle fructose with all the blame for obesity and diabetes, his most fundamental directive is sound: eat less sugar. Why? Because super sugary, energy-dense foods with little nutritional value are one of the main ways we consume more calories than we need, albeit not the only way. The fact is that many of our favorite desserts, snacks, cereals and especially our beloved sweet beverages inundate the body with far more sugar than it can efficiently metabolize. Milkshakes, smoothies, sodas, energy drinks and even unsweetened fruit juices all contain large amounts of free-floating sugars instantly absorbed by our digestive system.

For a quick source of bodily fuel, nothing tops sugar. That's the primary reason sugary sports drinks like Gatorade have been consistently shown to enhance athletic performance.

In short, sugar is a substance meant to be used strategically and enjoyed occasionally. As usual it all comes down to balance.

Four Different Ways To Make Salmon For Dinner This Week

See: https://youtu.be/l96aJe_OQVc

Tomato Pesto Salmon
Servings: 1

INGREDIENTS
Parchment paper or aluminum foil, 12×18 inches
3 ounces green beans
Olive oil to taste
Salt & pepper to taste
6 ounces skinless salmon
2 tablespoons pesto
10 cherry tomatoes, halved

PREPARATION
1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Fold the parchment paper in half, then open up.
3. On one half, lay down the green beans. Drizzle on oil and sprinkle on salt & pepper.
4. Lay the salmon on the green beans, and spread on the pesto. Top with tomatoes.
5. Fold the parchment paper over the salmon, and cinch the paper together by folding it over itself along the edges. 

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until internal temperature of salmon reaches 145˚F/63˚C.

Teriyaki Salmon
Servings: 1

INGREDIENTS
Parchment paper or aluminum foil, 12×18 inches
½ cup carrots, thinly sliced
1 cup broccoli florets
Olive oil to taste
Salt & pepper to taste
6 ounces skinless salmon
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

PREPARATION
1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Fold the parchment paper in half, then open up.
3. On one half, lay down the broccoli and carrots. Drizzle on oil and sprinkle on salt & pepper.
4. Lay the salmon on the veggies, and pour on teriyaki sauce. 
5. Fold the parchment paper over the salmon, and cinch the paper together by folding it over itself along the edges. 

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until internal temperature of salmon reaches 145˚F/63˚C.

Lemon Dill Salmon
Servings: 1

INGREDIENTS
Parchment paper or aluminum foil, 12×18 inches
7 ounces asparagus
Olive oil to taste
Salt & pepper to taste
6 ounces skinless salmon
3 slices white onion
2 slices lemon
1 sprig fresh dill

PREPARATION
1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Fold the parchment paper in half, then open up.
3. On one half, lay down the asparagus. Drizzle on oil and sprinkle on salt & pepper.
4. Lay the salmon on the asparagus, and add more oil, salt, and pepper.
5. Place the onion, lemon, and dill on the salmon.
5. Fold the parchment paper over the salmon, and cinch the paper together by folding it over itself along the edges. 

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until internal temperature of salmon reaches 145˚F/63˚C.

Garlic Butter Salmon
Servings: 1

INGREDIENTS
Parchment paper or aluminum foil, 12×18 inches
1 white potato, thinly sliced
Salt & pepper to taste
6 ounces skinless salmon
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

PREPARATION
1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Fold the parchment paper in half, then open up.
3. In a bowl, combine the butter, garlic, and parsley.
4. On one half of the parchment, lay down the potatoes. Drizzle on half of the garlic butter mixture. Add salt and pepper as desired.
5. Lay the salmon on the potatoes, and drizzle the remaining garlic butter. Add salt and pepper as desired..
6. Fold the parchment paper over the salmon, and cinch the paper together by folding it over itself along the edges. 
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until internal temperature of salmon reaches 145˚F/63˚C.

8. Enjoy!

Stress - a socially acceptable form of mental illness?

Stress is one of the top complaints of old and young people. Many are also allowing their minds to bully their bodies into believing it must carry the burden of the worries. 

Therefore, it is worthwhile to understand how your body response to stress. Ignorance is not bliss.

When your mind perceives a real or imaginary stressor, the cerebral cortex, the region of the brain that interprets the nature of an event, triggers an automatic nervous system (ANS) response that prepares the body for action. The ANS is the portion of the central nervous system that regulates body functions that we do not normally consciously control, such as heart and glandular functions and breathing.

See the attached figure on the complex series of the body's involuntary physiological responses to exposure of stress of any kind.

Prolonged stress will lead to allostatic load, or exhaustive wear and tear on the body. The physical and emotional energy used to fight a stressor have been depleted.

As the body adjusts to chronic unresolved stress, the adrenal glands, located atop your kidneys, continue to release cortisol, the primary stress hormone. It remains in the bloodstream for longer periods of time as a result of slower metabolic responsiveness.

Cortisol, released in response to fear or stress, increases sugars (glucose) in the bloodstream, enhances your brain's use of glucose and increases the availability of substances that repair tissues as part of the fight-or-flight mechanism.

Cortisol also curbs functions that would be nonessential or detrimental in a fight-or-flight situation. It alters immune system responses and suppresses the digestive system, the reproductive system and growth processes.

While it is vital to health for the adrenals to secret more cortisol in response to stress, it is also very important that bodily functions and cortisol levels return to normal following a stressful event.

Unfortunately, in our current high-stress culture, the stress response is activated so often that the body does not always have a chance to return to normal. This leads to health problems resulting from too much circulating cortisol and/or from too little cortisol if the adrenal glands become chronically fatigued (adrenal fatigue).

The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.

Higher and more prolonged levels of circulating cortisol have been shown to have negative effects, such as:

• Impaired cognitive performance
• Dampened thyroid function
• Blood sugar imbalances, such as hyperglycemia
• Decreased bone density
• Sleep disruption
• Decreased muscle mass
• Elevated blood pressure
• Lowered immune function
• Slow wound healing
• Increased abdominal fat, which has a stronger correlation to certain health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems.

Chronically lower levels of circulating cortisol (as in adrenal fatigue) have been associated with negative effects, such as:

• Brain fog, cloudy-headedness and mild depression
• Low thyroid function
• Blood sugar imbalances, such as hypoglycemia
• Fatigue – especially morning and mid-afternoon fatigue
• Sleep disruption
• Low blood pressure
• Lowered immune function
• Inflammation