What is high blood pressure?
High blood pressure (HBP) or hypertension means high pressure (tension) in the arteries. Arteries are vessels that carry blood from the pumping heart to all the tissues and organs of the body. High blood pressure does not mean excessive emotional tension, although emotional tension and stress can temporarily increase blood pressure. Normal blood pressure is below 120/80; blood pressure between 120/80 and 139/89 is called "pre-hypertension", and a blood pressure of 140/90 or above is considered high.
The top number, the systolic blood pressure, corresponds to the pressure in the arteries as the heart contracts and pumps blood forward into the arteries. The bottom number, the diastolic pressure, represents the pressure in the arteries as the heart relaxes after the contraction. The diastolic pressure reflects the lowest pressure to which the arteries are exposed.
An elevation of the systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure increases the risk of developing heart (cardiac) disease, kidney (renal) disease, hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis or arteriosclerosis), eye damage, and stroke (brain damage). These complications of hypertension are often referred to as end-organ damage because damage to these organs is the end result of chronic (long duration) high blood pressure. For that reason, the diagnosis of high blood pressure is important so efforts can be made to normalize blood pressure and prevent complications.
It was previously thought that rises in diastolic blood pressure were a more important risk factor than systolic elevations, but it is now known that in people 50 years or older systolic hypertension represents a greater risk.
The American Heart Association estimates high blood pressure affects approximately one in three adults in the United States - 73 million people. High blood pressure is also estimated to affect about two million American teens and children, and the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that many are under-diagnosed. Hypertension is clearly a major public health problem.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Saiful says.......
Sebahagian intipati menarik sepanjang tiga hari pertama keterangan Saiful:
* Saiful serahkan polis seluar dalam berwarna biru gelap jenama Levis, yang dipakai semasa kejadian dan baju kemeja hijau jenama G2000;
* Saiful juga serahkan baju kemeja biru lembut jenama Ralph Lauren, yang dipakai pada masa kejadian dan cecair pelincir KY Jelly pada 28 Jun 2008, dua hari selepas kejadian;
* Saiful turut serahkan sehelai lagi seluar dalam berwarna kelabu jenama Levis yang dipakainya semasa membuat laporan polis pada 28 Jun 2008, yang diambil di tepi mesin basuh di rumah tunangnya;
* Saiful turut mengesahkan 10 barang kes lain, termasuk calitan dari bawah lidah, badan dan sekitar dubur serta sampel darah untuk profil DNA;
* Saiful pergi ke kondominium tersebut dengan hanya perlu menyebut perkataan “Mokhtar” sebagai kata laluan;
* Saiful hanya bekerja dengan Anwar empat bulan iaitu awal Mac 2008 sehingga 28 Jun tahun 2008. Berhenti sebagai pembantu peribadinya kerana tidak sanggup lagi diliwat oleh majikannya itu;
* Saiful berhenti kerja kerana tidak rela lagi diperlakukan seperti dalam pertuduhan;
* Mahkamah kemudian membenarkan perkataan “lagi” dikeluarkan;
* Saiful mula bekerja seminggu sebelum pilihan raya umum ke-12. Ditugaskan sebagai sukarelawan iaitu mengatur jadual perjalanan pilihan raya dan program pilihan raya bagi Anwar;
* Setelah dua bulan bekerja, iaitu pada April dia dilantik sebagai pembantu peribadi tetapi tiada surat pelantikan diberikan kepadanya;
* Selaku pembantu peribadi, empat tugas Saiful ialah mengatur pertemuan sulit Anwar untuk berkomunikasi dengan ejen ahli-ahli Parlimen yang ingin lompat parti, membantu Ibrahim Yaakub iaitu pembantu khas Anwar bagi mengatur jadual Anwar, membuat filing dokumen sulit Anwar seperti penyata bank dan mengawal selia telefon bimbit peribadi Anwar pada setiap pagi seperti memeriksa SMS dalam telefon itu;
* Saiful dibayar gaji secara rasmi RM1,000 sebulan dan diberikan elaun ASD$1,000 dan HKD$10,000, bergantung pada lawatan yang diikutinya;
* Bekas pelajar jurusan Kejuruteraan Kuasa Elektrik Uniten terkandas kerana kerana gagal dalam peperiksaan;
* Saiful telah pergi ke tiga buah hospital, termasuk dua hospital swasta, untuk membuat pemeriksaan kerana sakit perut dan dubur. Dia juga tidak membuang air besar selama dua hari;
* Anwar dikatakan tawar bantuan kewangan untuk Saiful belajar; dan
* Mahkamah juga melawat kondominum itu dua kali minggu lalu.
* Saiful serahkan polis seluar dalam berwarna biru gelap jenama Levis, yang dipakai semasa kejadian dan baju kemeja hijau jenama G2000;
* Saiful juga serahkan baju kemeja biru lembut jenama Ralph Lauren, yang dipakai pada masa kejadian dan cecair pelincir KY Jelly pada 28 Jun 2008, dua hari selepas kejadian;
* Saiful turut serahkan sehelai lagi seluar dalam berwarna kelabu jenama Levis yang dipakainya semasa membuat laporan polis pada 28 Jun 2008, yang diambil di tepi mesin basuh di rumah tunangnya;
* Saiful turut mengesahkan 10 barang kes lain, termasuk calitan dari bawah lidah, badan dan sekitar dubur serta sampel darah untuk profil DNA;
* Saiful pergi ke kondominium tersebut dengan hanya perlu menyebut perkataan “Mokhtar” sebagai kata laluan;
* Saiful hanya bekerja dengan Anwar empat bulan iaitu awal Mac 2008 sehingga 28 Jun tahun 2008. Berhenti sebagai pembantu peribadinya kerana tidak sanggup lagi diliwat oleh majikannya itu;
* Saiful berhenti kerja kerana tidak rela lagi diperlakukan seperti dalam pertuduhan;
* Mahkamah kemudian membenarkan perkataan “lagi” dikeluarkan;
* Saiful mula bekerja seminggu sebelum pilihan raya umum ke-12. Ditugaskan sebagai sukarelawan iaitu mengatur jadual perjalanan pilihan raya dan program pilihan raya bagi Anwar;
* Setelah dua bulan bekerja, iaitu pada April dia dilantik sebagai pembantu peribadi tetapi tiada surat pelantikan diberikan kepadanya;
* Selaku pembantu peribadi, empat tugas Saiful ialah mengatur pertemuan sulit Anwar untuk berkomunikasi dengan ejen ahli-ahli Parlimen yang ingin lompat parti, membantu Ibrahim Yaakub iaitu pembantu khas Anwar bagi mengatur jadual Anwar, membuat filing dokumen sulit Anwar seperti penyata bank dan mengawal selia telefon bimbit peribadi Anwar pada setiap pagi seperti memeriksa SMS dalam telefon itu;
* Saiful dibayar gaji secara rasmi RM1,000 sebulan dan diberikan elaun ASD$1,000 dan HKD$10,000, bergantung pada lawatan yang diikutinya;
* Bekas pelajar jurusan Kejuruteraan Kuasa Elektrik Uniten terkandas kerana kerana gagal dalam peperiksaan;
* Saiful telah pergi ke tiga buah hospital, termasuk dua hospital swasta, untuk membuat pemeriksaan kerana sakit perut dan dubur. Dia juga tidak membuang air besar selama dua hari;
* Anwar dikatakan tawar bantuan kewangan untuk Saiful belajar; dan
* Mahkamah juga melawat kondominum itu dua kali minggu lalu.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
History of Industrial Technology
Brief
Industry the world over constantly strives to improve its production output without increasing its manufacturing costs. The greatest leap in industry was during the 18th century when machine power replaced manually operated machinery. But it was not until the 1970's that the next great leap occured, during the sixties semiconductors started to make themselves known, out went the valve and in came the transitor, which was only a tenth of the size of the valve and required minimal power to operate.
During the late sixties microprocessors came into being and this created a giant leap in how industry would operate. Up until then machinery was controlled by control panels that consisted mainly of relays, the wiring need was immense as was the panel size. Having to make alterations to the manufactring process meant a lengthy downtime as the panels were re-wired or added to. So it was inevitable that the technological advances in microprocessor development would change this for ever.
In the late 1960’s a group of engineers in America came together and looked at how the micropocessor could be used to revolutionize industrial control, one of the problems they faced was that programming was essentially the role of electronic engineers who understood both high and low level languages - Cobol - C - Basic and Assembly. Industry mainly employed Electrical engineers who understood electrical wiring diagrams and relay control. So it was decided to use the power and speed of the microprocessor to provide both manufacturing process control/monitoring along with interpruting a program that could be written similar to an electrical wiring diagram - it was called Ladder programming, the the PLC (Programmable Logic Controllers) was born. Once electrical engineers learnt how to use the PLC, it became easy for them to modify and write programs to operate production processes and even more importantly to use the PLC to diagnose faults and so reduce downtime.
The electronic industry is divided into two main sectors, microprocessor and power, now that the microprocessor had found its place in industry it was up to power electronics to make its mark, this occured with the introduction of Triacs and Thyristors that were now capable of conducting 100’s of amperes, this meant that the relay and contactor world was about to take a large reduction in sales, these power components were unaffected by the problems that relays suffered, no arcing was produced as did in relay contacts when its contacts close, no mechanical wear and tear, no need for slow switching operation.
And so the new industrial revolution was born, power electronics joined with microprocessor technology and created Servo control that allowed motors to be more accurately and reliably controlled, Temperature control was increased to within a few tenths of a degree, Sensor technology replaced the need to have human visual inspection, and so on. With all these new advances production speed increased ten fold.
The demand for further increased productivity seems to be a never ending quest, managers in the 1980’s and 1990’s were finding it difficult to increase productivity without the right information that would allow them to make correct decisions at the right time. So SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data acquisition) was born, this allowed the shopfloor technology to be monitored and controlled in real time from a central location, production data could then linked into the company servers and databases that could be introduced into analysis tools that would allow managers to graphically see how the company was performing, this became today's MES (Manufacturing Execution System).......
Industry the world over constantly strives to improve its production output without increasing its manufacturing costs. The greatest leap in industry was during the 18th century when machine power replaced manually operated machinery. But it was not until the 1970's that the next great leap occured, during the sixties semiconductors started to make themselves known, out went the valve and in came the transitor, which was only a tenth of the size of the valve and required minimal power to operate.
During the late sixties microprocessors came into being and this created a giant leap in how industry would operate. Up until then machinery was controlled by control panels that consisted mainly of relays, the wiring need was immense as was the panel size. Having to make alterations to the manufactring process meant a lengthy downtime as the panels were re-wired or added to. So it was inevitable that the technological advances in microprocessor development would change this for ever.
In the late 1960’s a group of engineers in America came together and looked at how the micropocessor could be used to revolutionize industrial control, one of the problems they faced was that programming was essentially the role of electronic engineers who understood both high and low level languages - Cobol - C - Basic and Assembly. Industry mainly employed Electrical engineers who understood electrical wiring diagrams and relay control. So it was decided to use the power and speed of the microprocessor to provide both manufacturing process control/monitoring along with interpruting a program that could be written similar to an electrical wiring diagram - it was called Ladder programming, the the PLC (Programmable Logic Controllers) was born. Once electrical engineers learnt how to use the PLC, it became easy for them to modify and write programs to operate production processes and even more importantly to use the PLC to diagnose faults and so reduce downtime.
The electronic industry is divided into two main sectors, microprocessor and power, now that the microprocessor had found its place in industry it was up to power electronics to make its mark, this occured with the introduction of Triacs and Thyristors that were now capable of conducting 100’s of amperes, this meant that the relay and contactor world was about to take a large reduction in sales, these power components were unaffected by the problems that relays suffered, no arcing was produced as did in relay contacts when its contacts close, no mechanical wear and tear, no need for slow switching operation.
And so the new industrial revolution was born, power electronics joined with microprocessor technology and created Servo control that allowed motors to be more accurately and reliably controlled, Temperature control was increased to within a few tenths of a degree, Sensor technology replaced the need to have human visual inspection, and so on. With all these new advances production speed increased ten fold.
The demand for further increased productivity seems to be a never ending quest, managers in the 1980’s and 1990’s were finding it difficult to increase productivity without the right information that would allow them to make correct decisions at the right time. So SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data acquisition) was born, this allowed the shopfloor technology to be monitored and controlled in real time from a central location, production data could then linked into the company servers and databases that could be introduced into analysis tools that would allow managers to graphically see how the company was performing, this became today's MES (Manufacturing Execution System).......
Monday, January 18, 2010
L129A1 Sharpshooter
The L129A1 Sharpshooter is a gas-operated weapon that carries a 20-round magazine. It is 945mm long and weighs 5kg. It will be manufactured by Lewis Machine & Tool Company in the United States. Features include a single-piece upper receiver and free-floating, quick-change barrels available in 305mm, 406mm and 508mm. It has four Picatinny rails with a 540mm top rail for night vision, thermal and image intensifying optics.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Just what are Krill?
Krill are small, shrimp like creatures that are abundant in the waters of the arctic regions. In many regions they are the primary feed for the great whales, seals, penguins, sea birds, squid and fish. An adult whale eats up to 8,000 pounds of krill each day during feeding season.
Krill have been harvested as a food source for both humans and domesticated animals since the 1800s. The oil derived from Krill is rich in phospholipids, the building blocks for cell membranes, and Essential Fatty Acids including Omega-3, 6 and 9.
Krill have been harvested as a food source for both humans and domesticated animals since the 1800s. The oil derived from Krill is rich in phospholipids, the building blocks for cell membranes, and Essential Fatty Acids including Omega-3, 6 and 9.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Sugar May Be Bad, But This Sweetener Is Far More Deadly ..Kurangkan makanan bergula..
Scientists have proved for the first time that fructose, a cheap form of sugar used in thousands of food products and soft drinks, can damage human metabolism and is fueling the obesity crisis.
Fructose, a sweetener usually derived from corn, can cause dangerous growths of fat cells around vital organs and is able to trigger the early stages of diabetes and heart disease.
Over 10 weeks, 16 volunteers on a controlled diet including high levels of fructose produced new fat cells around their heart, liver and other digestive organs. They also showed signs of food-processing abnormalities linked to diabetes and heart disease. Another group of volunteers on the same diet, but with glucose sugar replacing fructose, did not have these problems.
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
This study takes its place in a growing lineup of scientific studies demonstrating that consuming high-fructose corn syrup is the fastest way to trash your health. It is now known without a doubt that sugar in your food, in all it’s myriad of forms, is taking a devastating toll.
And fructose in any form -- including high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and crystalline fructose -- is the worst of the worst!
Fructose is a major contributor to:
Insulin resistance and obesity
Elevated blood pressure
Elevated triglycerides and elevated LDL
Depletion of vitamins and minerals
Cardiovascular disease, liver disease, cancer, arthritis and even gout
A Calorie is Not a Calorie
Glucose is the form of energy you were designed to run on. Every cell in your body, every bacterium -- and in fact, every living thing on the Earth--uses glucose for energy.
If you received your fructose only from vegetables and fruits (where it originates) as most people did a century ago, you’d consume about 15 grams per day -- a far cry from the 73 grams per day the typical adolescent gets from sweetened drinks. In vegetables and fruits, it’s mixed in with fiber, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and beneficial phytonutrients, all which moderate any negative metabolic effects.
It isn’t that fructose itself is bad -- it is the MASSIVE DOSES you’re exposed to that make it dangerous.
There are two reasons fructose is so damaging:
Your body metabolizes fructose in a much different way than glucose. The entire burden of metabolizing fructose falls on your liver.
People are consuming fructose in enormous quantities, which has made the negative effects much more profound.
Today, 55 percent of sweeteners used in food and beverage manufacturing are made from corn, and the number one source of calories in America is soda, in the form of HFCS.
Food and beverage manufacturers began switching their sweeteners from sucrose (table sugar) to corn syrup in the 1970s when they discovered that HFCS was not only far cheaper to make, it’s also about 20 times sweeter than table sugar.
This switch drastically altered the average American diet.
By USDA estimates, about one-quarter of the calories consumed by the average American is in the form of added sugars, and most of that is HFCS. The average Westerner consumes a staggering 142 pounds a year of sugar! And the very products most people rely on to lose weight -- the low-fat diet foods -- are often the ones highest in fructose.
Making matters worse, all of the fiber has been removed from these processed foods, so there is essentially no nutritive value at all.
Fructose Metabolism Basics
Without getting into the very complex biochemistry of carbohydrate metabolism, it is important to understand some differences about how your body handles glucose versus fructose. I will be publishing a major article about this in the next couple of months, which will get much more into the details, but for our purpose here, I will just summarize the main points.
Dr. Robert Lustig[i] Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, has been a pioneer in decoding sugar metabolism. His work has highlighted some major differences in how different sugars are broken down and used:
After eating fructose, 100 percent of the metabolic burden rests on your liver. But with glucose, your liver has to break down only 20 percent.
Every cell in your body, including your brain, utilizes glucose. Therefore, much of it is “burned up” immediately after you consume it. By contrast, fructose is turned into free fatty acids (FFAs), VLDL (the damaging form of cholesterol), and triglycerides, which get stored as fat.
The fatty acids created during fructose metabolism accumulate as fat droplets in your liver and skeletal muscle tissues, causing insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Insulin resistance progresses to metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes.
Fructose is the most lipophilic carbohydrate. In other words, fructose converts to activated glycerol (g-3-p), which is directly used to turn FFAs into triglycerides. The more g-3-p you have, the more fat you store. Glucose does not do this.
When you eat 120 calories of glucose, less than one calorie is stored as fat. 120 calories of fructose results in 40 calories being stored as fat. Consuming fructose is essentially consuming fat!
The metabolism of fructose by your liver creates a long list of waste products and toxins, including a large amount of uric acid, which drives up blood pressure and causes gout.
Glucose suppresses the hunger hormone ghrelin and stimulates leptin, which suppresses your appetite. Fructose has no effect on ghrelin and interferes with your brain’s communication with leptin, resulting in overeating.
If anyone tries to tell you “sugar is sugar,” they are way behind the times. As you can see, there are major differences in how your body processes each one.
The bottom line is: fructose leads to increased belly fat, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome -- not to mention the long list of chronic diseases that directly result.
Panic in the Corn Fields
As the truth comes out about HFCS, the Corn Refiners Association is scrambling to convince you that their product is equal to table sugar, that it is “natural” and safe.
Of course, many things are “natural” -- cocaine is natural, but you wouldn’t want to use 142 pounds of it each year.
The food and beverage industry doesn’t want you to realize how truly pervasive HFCS is in your diet -- not just from soft drinks and juices, but also in salad dressings and condiments and virtually every processed food. The introduction of HFCS into the Western diet in 1975 has been a multi-billion dollar boon for the corn industry.
The FDA classifies fructose as GRAS: Generally Regarded As Safe. Which pretty much means nothing and is based on nothing.
There is plenty of data showing that fructose is not safe -- but the effects on the nation’s health have not been immediate. That is why we are just now realizing the effects of the last three decades of nutritional misinformation.
As if the negative metabolic effects are not enough, there are other issues with fructose that disprove its safety:
More than one study has detected unsafe mercury levels in HFCS[ii].
Crystalline fructose (a super-potent form of fructose the food and beverage industry is now using) may contain arsenic, lead, chloride and heavy metals.
Nearly all corn syrup is made from genetically modified corn, which comes with its own set of risks.
The FDA isn’t going to touch sugar, so it’s up to you to be proactive about your own dietary choices.
What’s a Sugarholic to Do?
Ideally, I recommend that you avoid as much sugar as possible. This is especially important if you are overweight or have diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure.
I also realize we don’t live in a perfect world, and following rigid dietary guidelines is not always practical or even possible.
If you want to use a sweetener occasionally, this is what I recommend:
Use the herb stevia.
Use organic cane sugar in moderation.
Use organic raw honey in moderation.
Avoid ALL artificial sweeteners, which can damage your health even more quickly than fructose.
Avoid agave syrup since it is a highly processed sap that is almost all fructose. Your blood sugar will spike just as it would if you were consuming regular sugar or HFCS. Agave’s meteoric rise in popularity is due to a great marketing campaign, but any health benefits present in the original agave plant are processed out.
Avoid so-called energy drinks and sports drinks because they are loaded with sugar, sodium and chemical additives. Rehydrating with pure, fresh water is a better choice.
If you or your child is involved in athletics, I recommend you read my article Energy Rules for some great tips on how to optimize your child’s energy levels and physical performance through good nutrition.
Fructose, a sweetener usually derived from corn, can cause dangerous growths of fat cells around vital organs and is able to trigger the early stages of diabetes and heart disease.
Over 10 weeks, 16 volunteers on a controlled diet including high levels of fructose produced new fat cells around their heart, liver and other digestive organs. They also showed signs of food-processing abnormalities linked to diabetes and heart disease. Another group of volunteers on the same diet, but with glucose sugar replacing fructose, did not have these problems.
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
This study takes its place in a growing lineup of scientific studies demonstrating that consuming high-fructose corn syrup is the fastest way to trash your health. It is now known without a doubt that sugar in your food, in all it’s myriad of forms, is taking a devastating toll.
And fructose in any form -- including high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and crystalline fructose -- is the worst of the worst!
Fructose is a major contributor to:
Insulin resistance and obesity
Elevated blood pressure
Elevated triglycerides and elevated LDL
Depletion of vitamins and minerals
Cardiovascular disease, liver disease, cancer, arthritis and even gout
A Calorie is Not a Calorie
Glucose is the form of energy you were designed to run on. Every cell in your body, every bacterium -- and in fact, every living thing on the Earth--uses glucose for energy.
If you received your fructose only from vegetables and fruits (where it originates) as most people did a century ago, you’d consume about 15 grams per day -- a far cry from the 73 grams per day the typical adolescent gets from sweetened drinks. In vegetables and fruits, it’s mixed in with fiber, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and beneficial phytonutrients, all which moderate any negative metabolic effects.
It isn’t that fructose itself is bad -- it is the MASSIVE DOSES you’re exposed to that make it dangerous.
There are two reasons fructose is so damaging:
Your body metabolizes fructose in a much different way than glucose. The entire burden of metabolizing fructose falls on your liver.
People are consuming fructose in enormous quantities, which has made the negative effects much more profound.
Today, 55 percent of sweeteners used in food and beverage manufacturing are made from corn, and the number one source of calories in America is soda, in the form of HFCS.
Food and beverage manufacturers began switching their sweeteners from sucrose (table sugar) to corn syrup in the 1970s when they discovered that HFCS was not only far cheaper to make, it’s also about 20 times sweeter than table sugar.
This switch drastically altered the average American diet.
By USDA estimates, about one-quarter of the calories consumed by the average American is in the form of added sugars, and most of that is HFCS. The average Westerner consumes a staggering 142 pounds a year of sugar! And the very products most people rely on to lose weight -- the low-fat diet foods -- are often the ones highest in fructose.
Making matters worse, all of the fiber has been removed from these processed foods, so there is essentially no nutritive value at all.
Fructose Metabolism Basics
Without getting into the very complex biochemistry of carbohydrate metabolism, it is important to understand some differences about how your body handles glucose versus fructose. I will be publishing a major article about this in the next couple of months, which will get much more into the details, but for our purpose here, I will just summarize the main points.
Dr. Robert Lustig[i] Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, has been a pioneer in decoding sugar metabolism. His work has highlighted some major differences in how different sugars are broken down and used:
After eating fructose, 100 percent of the metabolic burden rests on your liver. But with glucose, your liver has to break down only 20 percent.
Every cell in your body, including your brain, utilizes glucose. Therefore, much of it is “burned up” immediately after you consume it. By contrast, fructose is turned into free fatty acids (FFAs), VLDL (the damaging form of cholesterol), and triglycerides, which get stored as fat.
The fatty acids created during fructose metabolism accumulate as fat droplets in your liver and skeletal muscle tissues, causing insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Insulin resistance progresses to metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes.
Fructose is the most lipophilic carbohydrate. In other words, fructose converts to activated glycerol (g-3-p), which is directly used to turn FFAs into triglycerides. The more g-3-p you have, the more fat you store. Glucose does not do this.
When you eat 120 calories of glucose, less than one calorie is stored as fat. 120 calories of fructose results in 40 calories being stored as fat. Consuming fructose is essentially consuming fat!
The metabolism of fructose by your liver creates a long list of waste products and toxins, including a large amount of uric acid, which drives up blood pressure and causes gout.
Glucose suppresses the hunger hormone ghrelin and stimulates leptin, which suppresses your appetite. Fructose has no effect on ghrelin and interferes with your brain’s communication with leptin, resulting in overeating.
If anyone tries to tell you “sugar is sugar,” they are way behind the times. As you can see, there are major differences in how your body processes each one.
The bottom line is: fructose leads to increased belly fat, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome -- not to mention the long list of chronic diseases that directly result.
Panic in the Corn Fields
As the truth comes out about HFCS, the Corn Refiners Association is scrambling to convince you that their product is equal to table sugar, that it is “natural” and safe.
Of course, many things are “natural” -- cocaine is natural, but you wouldn’t want to use 142 pounds of it each year.
The food and beverage industry doesn’t want you to realize how truly pervasive HFCS is in your diet -- not just from soft drinks and juices, but also in salad dressings and condiments and virtually every processed food. The introduction of HFCS into the Western diet in 1975 has been a multi-billion dollar boon for the corn industry.
The FDA classifies fructose as GRAS: Generally Regarded As Safe. Which pretty much means nothing and is based on nothing.
There is plenty of data showing that fructose is not safe -- but the effects on the nation’s health have not been immediate. That is why we are just now realizing the effects of the last three decades of nutritional misinformation.
As if the negative metabolic effects are not enough, there are other issues with fructose that disprove its safety:
More than one study has detected unsafe mercury levels in HFCS[ii].
Crystalline fructose (a super-potent form of fructose the food and beverage industry is now using) may contain arsenic, lead, chloride and heavy metals.
Nearly all corn syrup is made from genetically modified corn, which comes with its own set of risks.
The FDA isn’t going to touch sugar, so it’s up to you to be proactive about your own dietary choices.
What’s a Sugarholic to Do?
Ideally, I recommend that you avoid as much sugar as possible. This is especially important if you are overweight or have diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure.
I also realize we don’t live in a perfect world, and following rigid dietary guidelines is not always practical or even possible.
If you want to use a sweetener occasionally, this is what I recommend:
Use the herb stevia.
Use organic cane sugar in moderation.
Use organic raw honey in moderation.
Avoid ALL artificial sweeteners, which can damage your health even more quickly than fructose.
Avoid agave syrup since it is a highly processed sap that is almost all fructose. Your blood sugar will spike just as it would if you were consuming regular sugar or HFCS. Agave’s meteoric rise in popularity is due to a great marketing campaign, but any health benefits present in the original agave plant are processed out.
Avoid so-called energy drinks and sports drinks because they are loaded with sugar, sodium and chemical additives. Rehydrating with pure, fresh water is a better choice.
If you or your child is involved in athletics, I recommend you read my article Energy Rules for some great tips on how to optimize your child’s energy levels and physical performance through good nutrition.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
www.facebook.com
Facebook ( www.facebook.com) is an online social networking directory that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.
Created and launched in February 2004 by Harvard students Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, the site began as a network strictly for Harvard University. Two months later, the site expanded to include other Ivy League schools. After that, the college network slowly grew and by the end of 2004, Facebook had registered more than one million users.
Now open to anyone with a valid email address, the site includes members' pictures, biographies, interests and messages, and members can browse freely through open profiles. Members may choose their personal levels of security to prevent strangers from accessing their personal information.
The platform enables anyone, anywhere, to build complete applications that members can choose to use. Applications range from photo sharing to graffiti walls and everything in between
Created and launched in February 2004 by Harvard students Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, the site began as a network strictly for Harvard University. Two months later, the site expanded to include other Ivy League schools. After that, the college network slowly grew and by the end of 2004, Facebook had registered more than one million users.
Now open to anyone with a valid email address, the site includes members' pictures, biographies, interests and messages, and members can browse freely through open profiles. Members may choose their personal levels of security to prevent strangers from accessing their personal information.
The platform enables anyone, anywhere, to build complete applications that members can choose to use. Applications range from photo sharing to graffiti walls and everything in between
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