The Slim For Life Diet

This diet is for healthy eating to assist optimal health, and was created to teach people that diets only work for the short term. What does work is eating organic, nutritious, low GI foods with plenty of protein, where bad fats and carbohydrates are greatly reduced but not eliminated. Also what is needed is a lifestyle change; this includes more exercise, drinking plenty of pure fresh water, and eating salads everyday with ample amounts of fresh, raw low GI vegetables and also most importantly an attitude change.

Foods that have no restrictions, and can be eaten until you are full and satisfied.

Foods without carbohydrates – such as meat, fish and cheese, cream and eggs are still 0 for both GI and GL and can be eaten frequently.

The glycaemic index is about foods high in carbohydrates. Foods high in fat or protein don't cause your blood glucose level to raise much.

Recent studies of large numbers of people with diabetes, show that those who keep their blood glucose under tight control best avoid the complications that this disease can lead to. Most experts agree that what works best for people with diabetes, obesity—and probably the rest of us—is regular exercise, little saturated or trans fat (partially hydrogenated oils), and a high-fibre diet.

The recommendations to exercise and eat more fibre and less saturated and trans fats is excellent advice—as far as it goes. The real problem is carbohydrates. The official consensus remains that a high-carbohydrate diet is best for people with diabetes. However, some of the experts, led by endocrinologists like Dr. Richard K. Bernstein, recommend a low-carbohydrate diet, because carbohydrates can raise blood glucose to dangerous levels.

But not all carbohydrates act the same. Some are quickly broken down in the intestine, causing the blood glucose level to rise rapidly. These carbohydrates have a high glycaemic index.

Unlike fad diets or quick weight loss programs, the Slim For Life diet is based on glycaemic indexing. Glycaemic indexing (GI) and glycaemic load (GL)

In order to understand GL, first we must define GI.  Every food that contains any carbohydrates can be measured for both its GI and GL.  Foods without carbohydrates – such as meat, fish and poultry, are still 0 for both GI and GL and are therefore not listed in any of the materials.

Measuring GI is simple.  Normally subjects consume 50 grams of a given food with some level of carbohydrate, then their blood sugar is taken at two or four hours (or both) after eating.  Each person tested will have some variance in the response of sugar and insulin to that food but an average is calculated for the total test group.  The baseline for measuring the index is either glucose (blood sugar) or white bread.  GI indicates how much a food raises blood sugar.

Why we deposit new fat on our bodies and why we stop converting stored fat into energy is a hormonal process directly tied to GI and GL.  If your blood sugar rises too high due to the GL of your foods, the hormonal process that converts stored fat to energy will shut off.

Depending on the individual, it may stay shut off for many hours no matter what else you do.  Thus, high-glycaemic food or overabundance of low-glycaemic food that exceeds the load amount you just ate becomes new stored fat on your body.  Older stored fat stays where it is.  Regardless of fat content, high-glycaemic load turn off the fat-burning process.  Therefore, no matter what you eat, it becomes fat.

Glycaemic load is the load or stress on your pancreas from the volume of carbohydrate in specific foods.  An example is raw carrots; you would eventually load so much carbohydrate by volume that this low-glycaemic food would create a high glycaemic load.

White potatoes are another example.  They a very carbohydrate dense and have almost no fibre to offset the carbohydrates.  Thus, no matter what amount you eat or how you prepare them, they will be high-glycaemic and have a high glycaemic load.  The GI of a food times the amount of carbohydrate equals the GL.

Eating too much of a good thing can be bad and, as you can see, GL is very important to your health.

   Source: Health & Living US Magazine Vol1, No5

The Mediterranean Diet

Olive oil has been considered healthy for many years, but now researchers think they have pinpointed the ingredient responsible for its benefits.

Researchers tested the effects of eating a meal with olive oil and found people's blood vessels appeared healthier. Researchers believe the reason for this is the Phenolic plant-based compounds found in olive oil.

They also say their results suggest virgin olive oil may be better for the heart than seed oils because it is a natural juice that does not go through the processing needed to extract oil from seeds, such as sunflowers and soybeans. Therefore, the oil retains more of its original nutrients.

Virgin olive oil is more than fat because it is a real juice with other healthy micronutrients that have a beneficial effect on cardiovascular disease and arteriosclerosis, as there is a synergistic effects of the different nutrients that constitute complete foods.

Researcher Francisco Pérez Jiménez, MD, Ph.D., from the Reina Sofia University Hospital in Córdoba, Spain, says;

"It could be that the beneficial effect of the Mediterranean diet on cardiovascular disease and arteriosclerosis depends on the synergistic effects of the different nutrients that constitute complete foods and, as an example, virgin olive oil is more than fat because it is a real juice with other healthy micronutrients." 

In the study, which appeared in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers compared the effects on blood-vessel function of eating virgin olive oil high in phenolics and olive oil that had been stripped of most of its phenolics.

Although more studies are needed to confirm these results, experts say the findings suggest that even a very small change in diet, like using olive oil rich in phenolic compounds, may have a significant effect in reducing the risk of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and heart disease.

Dr. Ozner, who is also the Director of Wellness and Prevention at Baptist Cardiac and Vascular Institute in Miami, found great differences between the western way of life and the lifestyles of the people in the Mediterranean regions.

Those differences seem to be behind some surprising statistics. For example, a middle-aged Greek man has a 90-percent less chance of dying from heart attack than a middle-aged American man.

“Olive oil has been shown to be beneficial to overall health,” notes Dr. Ozner. “It contains omega-9 fat. It helps to lower the cholesterol. It has ingredients that are anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. What we should be doing is replacing olive oil for other types of saturated fat used in the diet, mainly butter and margarine. By replacing other types of fat with olive oil the body is able to achieve a significant health benefit.”

Here are some more essential ingredients, according to Dr. Ozner, For weight-loss success the Mediterranean way.

Red Wine
The next toast on the list of good health is red wine. “Red wine certainly is part of the Mediterranean Diet.  It’s one of the most powerful antioxidants and it helps to increase the good cholesterol, which we call HDL cholesterol and decrease the clotting of our blood,” says Ozner. While red wine is a frequent drink on many Mediterranean tables it’s also consumed in moderation -- a point Dr. Ozner strongly emphasizes.

Nuts and Almonds
Forget greasy potato chips and sugary candy, nuts and almonds are the preferred snack in the Mediterranean region. “Fresh raw almonds are a delicious snack It will fill you up with fibre, they are a great protein source, they are loaded with vitamins, especially vitamin E,” notes Ozner. “If you have five or six almonds with a glass of water, it fills you up."

Whole Grains
Bread is far from a bad word in the Mediterranean regions. You can gladly pass the loaf of fresh hot bread around any table but what you’ll never see, according to Dr. Ozner, is the processed white stuff. "Whole grains are a must on the Mediterranean menu and should be included in every healthy diet. It’s very important that we eat whole grains, bread, cereal and pasta because by doing that we get all the health benefits including the multitude of fibre which leads to satiety and helps to slow down the absorption of food so that we don’t get surges of blood sugar with the consequence in the increase of insulin production,” says Ozner.

Cold Water Fish
There’s nothing fishy about the health benefits of fish and that’s one of the reasons it’s abundant in the Mediterranean regions. “Salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines, trout and these types of fish are loaded in omega-3 fatty acids. They help to decrease disorders of heart rhythms and have been shown to decrease certain cardiac death rates,” says Ozner. “Omega 3 fatty acids also work to decrease triglycerides, increase good cholesterol. They have significant anti-inflammatory properties and they should be an integral part of our diet.”

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
You will also see a world of colourful fruits and vegetables incorporated into every Mediterranean meal. Dr. Ozner emphasizes the importance of variety especially when it comes to delicious and nutritious fruits and vegetables. “In the Mediterranean regions they have outdoor markets that are virtual cornucopias of fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains. All the different colours bring different phytonutrients to the table this leads to weight control and a decrease in heart disease, diabetes and cancer.”

Dairy
There’s nothing wrong with being a little cheesy, especially when it does your body so good. The next ingredient on the Mediterranean list -- low-fat dairy products. “Cheese and dairy products are also part of the Mediterranean diet, but it's different than what we consume in America. What is not consumed is whole milk. The Mediterranean regions of the world eat yogurt, which is a good source of calcium and is beneficial. Cheese, especially goat cheese, is consumed frequently which in moderation is certainly acceptable,” says Dr. Ozner.

Physical Activity
While these are the main ingredients that make up The Miami Mediterranean Diet, the full recipe is not complete without physical activity. “Physical activity is as much a part of the Mediterranean diet as the food itself, says Dr. Ozner.