Posts Tagged ‘Hormones’
Choosing the right food
I was placed on hold talking to customer service and instead of just playing music, there were infomercial ads. This particular one focused on eating healthy. I was not able to hear all of it, but a couple of the advice given were sensible and reiterated some things I said previously.
If you’re concerned about your weight and would like to lose some, or if you just want to maintain a healthy diet, it can be very difficult to follow through when you’re dining out. And, let’s face it, most of us get tired of eating the same things day in and day out, or struggling to come up with a good meal to fix every night. So, occasionally, we do need to dine out. But, there are ways to keep to your resolutions.
The first suggestion is to order a soup like minestrone as a starter. As I’ve mentioned before, eating a hearty soup does fill you up and the effect lasts longer than eating dry food and washing it down with water. In effect, having this soup first prevents you from eating more in your main course.
The other suggestion is a little more interesting. It involves eating seafood. Of course, we know that fatty fish contains the good fat, omega-3, which is heart healthy. But, according to this ad, omega-3 also boosts hormones in your brain to help with depression. I’m not sure of the science behind this, but I guess it would be healthier than the typical comfort food. So, if you’re feeling down, grab some mackerel sushi.
Tricks to curb your appetite
Obesity is such a BIG problem these days – no pun intended – that you hear about different tricks to curb your appetite and to lose weight. Many are considered old wives’ tales, but if it is not dangerous, there’s nothing to lose.
For example, many of us were probably admonished by our parents for gulping down food too quickly. I know parents are concerned about kids choking and all, but there may be more to it than just that. It can be painful to swallow big bites of food without chewing properly. But the chewing process is important for other reasons. As you chew, your mouth releases many digestive enzymes. These enzymes work to break down the food, but they also help to keep your teeth and gums clean. When the food enters your stomach, there is less work for it to do. Not only that, the stomach releases its own hormones to stimulate the brain and tell it that the body is hungry. While you are chewing, these hormones are gradually suppressed so that your brain senses it is no longer hungry. It means you eat less. Unless you are one of those who likes to gorge even after your stomach is bulgingly full. (I’ll admit I can be like that with some foods.)
Scientists are continually searching for the hunger triggers to try to find ways to combat the ever-growing problem of obesity. They have now found another interesting trick to curb your appetite. It appears that blending your food into a thick soup serves to keep your stomach satisfied longer, thereby, decreasing the chances that you will reach for those calorie-laden snacks to keep you going until dinner time. In their research, they found that those who ate a solid meal, washing it down with water, remained satisfied for a shorter period than their counterparts who had the same meal (combined with the water) pureed into a soup. The idea behind it is that the thick soup takes longer to be digested in the stomach, so it remains longer. Water does not take any time to be digested, so it goes through the digestive tract quickly, while the solid food remains in the stomach. However, if the water is combined into the soup, it remains in the stomach.
Sounds very interesting because it goes back to the previous tenet that chewing your food longer can help curb your appetite. It may sound counter-intuitive since the soup and the well-chewed food would appear to take less time to be digested; therefore, you would get hungry quicker. According to the research, the soup takes up more volume than the meal, once the water was washed away. As for our old wives’ tale, it is a matter of timing. It takes time for the stomach to send signals to the brain, telling it is satiated. When you gulp your food, you do not allow your stomach time to do this. Whereas, if you chew carefully and take your time, your stomach is able to send a signal to your brain in time.
The stretching of the stomach also plays a role in obesity. Those who eat a lot (such as those who inhale their food) stretch out their stomachs, such that it requires the same amount or more for the stomach to recognise that it is full. This is the basis behind the stomach stapling surgery. It intends to curb your appetite by making your stomach smaller. For those who want to do it naturally, you simply cut back a little at a time until your stomach shrinks. This is not the same as anorexics who abruptly cut back on their food intake. That can be dangerous. Weight loss of any kind should be done with the supervision of a doctor, as changes in your body may be detrimental to your health.
Benefits of breastfeeding
New mothers have always been encouraged to try breastfeeding. Among the many traditional benefits cited for breastfeeding is the ability to quickly shed that excess weight from pregnancy. Of course, it is believed that all women are vain enough to induce them to lose weight by breastfeeding. I breastfed my babies, but it was not because of the weight loss issue. The most I ever weighed during pregnancy was 116 lbs. so it was not a big issue. Breastfeeding was easy and enjoyable. It created a bond that I feel could not have been accomplished by other means. I loved it and wished I could have done it longer. My first one I breastfed until she was eleven months, but the second was for only six months due to my developing mastitis. Of course, I had to supplement during both.
Besides the emotional and psychological benefits of breastfeeding, there are numerous health benefits. Breast milk is supposed to contain natural antibodies to protect babies from infections. In addition, it is purported to protect babies from obesity (a major issue these days and this finding may change), diabetes, and asthma. Some claim that breastfed babies are smarter but intelligence is hard to measure. For women, breastfeeding produces extra hormones that protect against breast and ovarian cancer as well as osteoporosis. Now research shows that breastfeeding may protect against heart disease and strokes.
The research, done by the University of Pittsburgh was based on surveys of 140,000 postmenopausal women. It shows that the benefits of breastfeeding lasted even up to 35 years out from the last episode of breastfeeding. Of course, there is a graduated level of benefit, with those breastfeeding for at least a year showing the highest advantage, but even one month of breastfeeding conferred some benefits. Despite these wonderful findings, one needs to be careful how to interpret the data. Perhaps there are other underlying factors that play a role. After all, a 35-year lapse opens up many possibilities. What about the women who breastfed and died? There are no statistics on them. Perhaps the next step should be a prospective study of women who breastfeed and those who do not. They should be followed forward in time to see what they die of and when.
Despite the weaknesses in the study, there are the other benefits of breastfeeding to consider. Those already known should be enough to encourage women to consider breastfeeding.
