Nature's Health Market

Honey is used in place of sugar to cut down calories and to replace artificial sweeteners with this natural substitute. Many people like the thickness and flavor honey adds to their tea or coffee drink. Ultimately, it depends on individuals’ taste and food-related goals.  

Though honey enjoys a reputation of being healthier than sugar, it is not considered a superfood because, scientifically speaking, it is not an alternative to regular sugar. While both contain glucose and fructose, sugar provides zero nutrition except for carbohydrates, whereas honey has trace amounts of vitamins and minerals. 

The differences between sugar and honey are subtle. For instance, honey has more fructose than glucose. Hence it is sweeter than sugar and smaller quantities can be added, which does not compromise on the sweetness. The choice is up to each person. Here are a few important factors to ponder over while choosing honey to sweeten your morning coffee. 

Trace Amount of Nutrients

Honey is filled with dietary antioxidant flavonoids. However, only trace amounts of amino acids, enzymes, vitamins B and C are derived from honey. The antioxidants could help reduce the spread of free radicals and inflammation. For this reason, it may seem to provide many nutritional benefits as it is touted by many health-conscious individuals. In reality, this is to a very limited degree. 

Raw honey also has trace amounts of pollen and it can bring down allergies, and has a positive impact on immunity. Compared to sugar that has zero fats and proteins, honey is slightly more nutritious but the significance is very little. 

More Calories

One teaspoon of honey contains 22 calories, whereas one teaspoon of sugar contains 16 calories. Smaller proportions of honey are advised to be consumed since it could end up in diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Honey has bacterial spores that lead to botulism among infants, hence it has to be kept away from children. 

Added sugars should not exceed 5 percent of the daily calorie intake. Hence the amount of honey added to coffee should be watched since people tend to drink many cups everyday. 

The bottomline is that restraint has to be exercised by using only half a teaspoon of honey to prevent the many potential health risks.

SOURCE: MSN LIFESTYLE

Hold up, diet soda drinkers. Regular consumption of soft drinks — both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened — was associated with a greater risk of all causes of death, according to research published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Participants who drank two or more glasses of soft drinks per day had a higher risk of mortality than those who consumed less than one glass per month.

The study, one of the largest of its kind, tracked 451,743 men and women from 10 countries in Europe. It found that consumption of two or more glasses of artificially sweetened soft drinks a day was positively associated with deaths from circulatory diseases. For sugar-sweetened soft drinks, one or more glasses a day were associated with deaths from digestive diseases, including diseases of the liver, appendix, pancreas and intestines.

© carlos alvarez/Getty Images Pouring soda into a glass.(Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

The researchers recruited people from Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden between 1992 and 2000, surveying them on their food and drink consumption. Participants were excluded if they reported incidents of cancer, heart disease, stroke or diabetes. Mean age was 50.8, and 71.1 percent of participants were women.

Similar results have been shown in several recent studies, but the researchers cautioned that elevated soft-drink consumption may be a marker for an overall unhealthy lifestyle.

“In our study, high soft drinks consumers had a higher body mass index (BMI) and were also more likely to be current tobacco smokers,” said the study’s chief researcher, Neil Murphy of the International Agency for Research on Cancer. “We made statistical adjustments in our analyses for BMI, smoking habits and other mortality risk factors which may have biased our results, and the positive associations remained.”

The researchers saw similar associations in smokers and nonsmokers, as well as in lean and obese participants, which indicates that the association between soft drinks and mortality is not strongly influenced by smoking habits and BMI.

“The results of this study are significant,” said Sarah Reinhardt, lead food systems and health analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists. “It reinforces a fact that won’t surprise anyone in the nutrition field: Processed foods loaded with artificial ingredients will never be the magic bullet to better health, no matter how low they are in sugar. Our bodies are smarter than that.”

While advocacy groups such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest are broadly appreciative of studies exploring the link between added sugars and human health, they caution that the results could be a “reverse causation” effect, where diet soda drinkers as a population have other common qualities that could indicate a different explanation for the results.

“This new European study is somewhat inconsistent with earlier findings,” said Bonnie Liebman, CSPI’s director of nutrition. “In the new study, the risk of dying of any cause was more strongly linked to people who drank more diet drinks than to people who drank more sugary drinks.”

Keri Peterson, medical adviser to the Calorie Control Council, which represents low and no-calorie sweeteners, said that numerous studies have proven that the sweeteners used in diet sodas are some of the safest and most thoroughly studied ingredients in the food supply.

“The safety of low- and no-calorie sweeteners has been reaffirmed time and time again by leading regulatory and governmental agencies around the world.”

Murphy said that he cannot rule out the possibility that the artificially sweetened positive associations were influenced by unhealthy individuals switching to artificially sweetened soft drinks.

“We recognize that a possible explanation for the positive associations found for artificially sweetened soft drinks is that participants who were already at greater health risk (those who were overweight or obese; those with prediabetes) may have switched to artificially sweetened soft drinks to manage their calorie and sugar intake,” he said in an email.

The good news? Researchers found no link between soft-drink consumption and overall cancer death or deaths from Alzheimer’s disease.

While the 50 international researchers who conducted the study advanced no theories about the relationships observed, they encourage public health campaigns aimed at limiting the consumption of soft drinks.

According to the American Heart Association, sweetened drinks are the biggest source of added sugar in our diet. In the United States, the percentage of obese children and adolescents has more than tripled since the 1970s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 40 percent of adults are obese, according to the American Medical Association.

In the United States, four cities in California: Berkeley, San Francisco, Oakland and Albany; Philadelphia; Boulder, Colo.; Portland, Ore.; and Cook County, Ill., have all moved to impose soda taxes, but more-widespread efforts have been met with resistance from the soda lobby. Even so, recent studies show that people are drinking less sugary drinks, opting instead for healthier choices.

William Dermody, spokesman for the American Beverage Association, notes that today more than half of all beverages purchased contain no sugar, and that “no one should overconsume sugar, and we stand by the safety and quality of our products.”

Seth Goldman, chief executive of Honest Tea, which is owned by Coca-Cola, said the study should prod big soda companies to introduce alternative beverages.

“It’s all the more imperative to successfully commercialize lower-sugar and less-sweet beverages,” he said. “There’s a recognition that the consumer is evolving, too. If [soda companies] don’t change, they’re going to miss that evolving consumer. We’re seeing shifts that are unlikely to reverse themselves.” an alternative pain management treatment that could help prevent opioid abuse. 

Source: The Washington Post

Diabetes is a condition that causes one to have high levels of sugar. For type two diabetes, your body becomes resistant to insulin, which causes a buildup of sugar in the blood. Diabetes is harmful and the condition can not only affect the heart, eyes and other body organs but also increases your chances of getting high blood pressure, strokes and infections. It can also have you experience low energy.

Fortunately, your diet can help you relieve the symptoms of this condition. In case you have diabetes, it is advisable to maintain a diet that doesn’t expose you to dangerous spikes of sugar. A diet that allows you to maintain a reasonable weight for your body shape is just what you need.

Here’s a list of foods to avoid in case you have type 2 diabetes.

Now it might seem like we are contradicting ourselves by telling you to take a fruit and then saying juices are bad for you if you have type 2 diabetes, but it’s the truth.

The reason is that they have a higher concentration of fruit sugar but no fiber. It may be a better option compared to a soda but it will raise your blood sugar significantly. It may also make you overeat because it doesn’t make you feel full. Instead, go for sparkling water with a bit of lime juice or lemon added to it.

1. Sugary Foods

Diabetes has a lot to do with sugar as you already know so just to be safe, stay away from foods that contain very high sugar so that your blood glucose doesn’t go overboard as well.

Candy, baked dessert and drinks like sodas will only cause weight gain and add to the problem. If you are craving some sugar, go for fruit instead. You will not only get the natural sugar which slows down the rate in which sugar is absorbed, but also fiber.

• Fruit Juices

Now it might seem like we are contradicting ourselves by telling you to take a fruit and then saying juices are bad for you if you have type 2 diabetes, but it’s the truth.

The reason is that they have a higher concentration of fruit sugar but no fiber. It may be a better option compared to a soda but it will raise your blood sugar significantly. It may also make you overeat because it doesn’t make you feel full. Instead, go for sparkling water with a bit of lime juice or lemon added to i

3. Full-fat dairy products

You definitely need to stay away from saturated fats because they raise the levels of bad cholesterol or LDL cholesterol which increases your chances of getting heart disease. Heart disease is a great concern for people suffering from diabetes.

These products, being high in saturated fats, increase insulin resistance which makes things worse. So, skip that full-fat yogurt, cream, ice cream, butter or cheese and choose dairy-free versions. If you have to take dairy products, then go for those that have reduced fats such as coconut milk.

4. White rice, bread, and flour

It is generally not advisable to take refined starches, but it’s even worse for people with diabetes. White rice and white flour are not nutritious. They are a result of highly processed and refined whole grains, a process that makes the whole grains lose fiber.

Eating these bad carbs will spike glucose levels because they will break down into sugar in your body. Go for whole grains found in foods like wild rice or cereals and whole grain bread. These contain carbs that break down slowly.

5. Alcohol

If you have diabetes, you should either stay away from alcohol completely or drink in moderation as per the doctor’s recommendation. Different levels of alcohol cause a rise or fall of blood glucose.

Some diabetes pills will stimulate more insulin production by the pancreas in order to lower glucose levels. The combination of alcohol and medicine could cause hypoglycemia or insulin shock. Another thing to remember is to never take alcohol on an empty stomach and to check your blood sugar before drinking.

6. Fried foods

Fried foods may be very tasty, but they are equally dangerous. They have lots of fats and calories. They add to your weight and will cause your blood sugars to rise. Different fried foods affect people differently. French fries, compared to fried chicken, for example, will spike blood sugar faster because potatoes are pure carbohydrates while fried chicken has some protein.

These fried foods are often prepared in hydrogenated oils so they contain dangerous trans fats that lower good cholesterol and raise bad cholesterol.

7. Fatty cuts of meat

Meat also contains high levels of saturated fats. Certain levels of it could increase inflammation in the body and increase the risk of getting heart disease. For those who already have heart disease, it’s even worse.

According to research, some components of red meat increase the risk of diabetes. Sodium, for example, could raise blood pressure and lead to insulin resistance. Nitrates present could also cause insulin resistance. If you really want to have meat, choose fish, turkey or skinless chicken instead.

8. Sweetened breakfast cereals

You might want to avoid having cereals for breakfast if you have diabetes. Despite the fact that they say “healthy” on their boxes, they are usually very highly processed.

Cereals contain more carbs than most people even realize. They also don’t have that much protein to keep you full for a longer period of time. Therefore, to keep your blood sugar under control, it’s better to skip these cereals and go for a protein-based breakfast that is low in carbs.

Move over lemon water, there might be a cooler kid in town – ginger water! Also known as ginger tea, this drink is becoming quite popular due to all the health claims surrounding ginger itself.

Technically, though, using ginger has been around for centuries. And if we get really specific, it’s been used for medicinal purposes to treat mostly stomach aches, diarrhea and nausea in Asia for more than 2,500 years. Hmm, maybe like so much else, it seems more popular today because of Instagram.

a cup of coffee: Cup of tea with ginger root on grey wooden table

Cup of tea with ginger root on grey wooden table

Ginger Ale – Homemade lemon and ginger organic soda drink, copy space.

Ginger homemade tea infusion on wooden board with lemon still life

ginger lemonade with honey and lemons

Ginger

drink against flu and cold

Anyway, the health claims are endless: alleviate nausea, improve symptoms from rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels, prevent blood clotting and even decrease one’s risk for Alzheimer’s disease. But is there conclusive scientific research to substantiate any of this? The answer is both yes and no.

Does Ginger Have Health Benefits?

One published scientific review, which looked at the relationship between cancer and ginger, found that gingerol, a potent anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory compound found in ginger, was shown to have cancer-inhibiting effects.

Another scientific review paper that compared experimental studies, specifically conducted in-vivo and in-vitro, suggested a potential positive outcome with more research needed. And yet one more study showed promise specifically with colon cancer.

A study looking at the connection between osteoarthritis and ginger showed that the daily consumption of raw and heat-treated ginger resulted in moderate-to-large reductions in muscle pain following exercise-induced muscle injury, suggesting that ginger’s anti-inflammatory properties could be beneficial in osteoarthritis patients.

Related Slideshow: Tea customs around the world (Provided by Photo Services)

Tea customs around the world

Tea is what unites many cultures, and at the same time sets them apart. Different countries have their own customs and ways of preparing a tea. Explore some of these unique tea customs from around the world.

High Tea and Afternoon Tea – UK

English High Tea usually involves tea with accompaniments such as bread, pies and cheese and was originally a working class meal served at the end of the work day, around 5 pm. In comparison, Afternoon Tea is a social event enjoyed mainly by the middle and upper classes, where tea is taken alongside cake and sandwiches in a leisurely but refined fashion.

Ice Tea – USA

Scorching summers usually make Americans (especially in the hot south) discard hot tea for a cooler version – a thirst-quenching drink made with plenty of sugar or flavoured syrup and ice.

Samovars – Russia

Tea drinking in Russia is linked with samovar which is essentially a vessel combining a bubbling water heater and a teapot. A previously prepared tea kept warm in a dish on the top of the samovar is poured into a cup, which is then diluted with boiling water from the vessel and served.

Koicha and Usucha – Japan

Japanese culture is known for its tea rituals, one being the elaborate Japanese tea ceremony known as ‘chado’ (the way of tea). The complete ceremony lasts four hours and includes a light meal followed by a serving of ‘koicha’ (thick tea) and ‘usucha’ (a lighter tea), which are prepared from a fine powder green tea called ‘matcha’ mixed with hot water in respective proportions.

Mint Tea – Morocco

A mixture of green tea and mint leaves, the drink is sweetened with sugar and poured from a height into glasses. According to custom, refusing to accept the drink when offered it by a host is rude.

Butter and Salt tea – Tibet

Po Cha or Butter and Salt tea is made from yak milk and is a tea unique to Tibet. A pinch of salt is also mixed with the butter and added to the tea.

Masala Chai – India

Indian is one of world’s biggest producers of tea. One of the popular tea variants is Masala chai, which is generally taken with milk and sugar and mixed with rich spices such as cardamom, ginger, clove and cinnamon.

Three-layered tea – Germany

Tea is poured over a rocks of white sugar that melts slowly. Heavy cream is then added to form three layers, which are made of sugar, tea and cream.

Green Tea – China

Legend has it that that tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor Shennong in around 2000 BC, when a dead leaf from a tea bush fell into his cup of hot water. One of China’s most popular – green tea – is consumed on both casual and formal occasions.

As for lowering cholesterol levels, a single study found that dietary supplementation with ginger prevented hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol) in rats that ate a high-cholesterol diet. And one systematic review concluded that ginger may not have an effect on fasting blood glucose levels in persons with Type 2 diabetes. However, ginger did improve HbA1c levels, showing blood sugar control over a longer period of time.

There have definitely been a wide range of studies – many with promising results. However, one must keep in mind that a large amount of these studies were either conducted in test tubes or on mice – and those that included humans had small sample sizes. Therefore, nothing at this point is 100% conclusive.

Are There Side Effects To Consuming Ginger?

The good news is there are little to no side effects reported in regards to ginger consumption. However, there are some concerns that pregnant women shouldn’t exceed 1,500 mg/day, so one should definitely check with their doctor. As for healthy individuals, one shouldn’t consume more than 4 grams/day. But honestly, I highly doubt anyone is consuming that amount in a single cup of tea.

What I see to be the most promising attribute of ginger water/tea at this point is that it’s hydrating. Most people don’t consume enough water daily and if they enjoy the flavor of ginger, this will get them to drink more. One should make sure though that their choice of ginger beverage isn’t loaded with added sugars and one way to guarantee this is to make it yourself.

Make Your Own Ginger Tea

Peel and thinly slice ginger root, approximately one tablespoon. Put in a saucepan with around 8 ounces of water and bring to a boil. Depending on how potent you like your tea, you could add either less or more of the ginger. Once boiling, cover with lid, turn off heat, let stand for around 15 minutes and then strain through colander.

The remaining ginger-flavored liquid can be either enjoyed warm or refrigerated to be served cold later. If you like your tea sweet, I suggest adding a teaspoon of honey or even some cinnamon. You could also experiment with adding some other flavors to the water, such as lemon or lime. Bottoms up! ff