Category Archives: Diet

Diets

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Fad diets don’t work for everyone and new research published in the  July 2010 issue of Genetics, may explain why, although we shouldn’t be surprised. Diet plans are often based on physical appearance but diet interacts with genetics which means that each person responds in a unique way to the plan.

Some people are probably more sensitive to their diets and respond more rapidly to the changes in what and how much they eat. But others are not. In fact, changing their diet may have virtually no effect on their body weight.

Say Cheese!

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How It’s Made

Cheese is made by heating whole milk for about an hour. It is then ripened by adding bacteria and rennet or a microbial enzyme, and kept warm while the milk sugars are converted into lactic acid. This releases the whey from the milk. It will begin to look like yogurt, which is really a thin form of fresh cheese.

Once the cheese has cooked, it is strained to separate out the whey, and the curds are pressed or milled. Salt is often added at this stage or the cheese may be soaked in brine. The cheese is then ripened which can take it from a soft creamy fresh cheese to a dried, aged one. Cheeses can be allowed to grow mould or may be wrapped in grape leaves. Some develop rinds, others are soaked in wine.

How the cheese is cooked, separated from the whey, and handled, affects the flavour and texture of the cheese. Mozarella for example, is cooked twice, then stretched.

Health Benefits

Finnish scientists have shown a link between cheese and a healthy immune system among the elderly because it acts as a carrier for probiotic bacteria.

The study recommends daily doses of probiotic cheese to help fight age-based deterioration of the immune system (immunosenescene) which can lead to the body being unable to resist disease and infection.

Since most bacteria enter the body through the mouth and 70% of immunoglobulin are created in the gastrointestinal tract , the team considered the possibility that one could fight immunosenescene through food.

They asked volunteers from a senior’s care residence to eat a slice of either placebo or probiotic Gouda cheese with their breakfast for four weeks. For those taking the Gouda, blood tests showed enhanced natural and acquired immunity through the activation of NK blood cells and an increase in phagocytic activity.

Fats and Asthma

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Heavy, high-fat meals appear to inflame airways within a few hours and inhibit the response to Ventolin (albuterol), an asthma relief medication.  Since asthma is on the rise in westernized countries, some already believe it may be responsive to environmental factors such as diet. This means that for some sufferers at least, there may be some relief in changing lifestyles.  Our western diet tends to be higher in fats than other cultural culinary traditions.

High dietary fat intake is believed to activate the immune response, which can mean greater susceptibility to inflammation.  To test whether this affected the airways, researchers recruited 40 asthmatics and randomly served them either a high-fat, high-calorie meal of fast food burgers and hash browns,  or a low-fat, low-calorie meal of reduced fat yogurt. Sputum samples were collected before the meal and 4 hours later.

Those who had ate the burgers suffered inflammation of the airways.  The TLR4 cell surface receptors in their airways were activated by the nutritional fatty acids. They responded to the saturated fatty acids as if they were being attacked by a pathogen and released inflammatory mediators.  Further, when given medication, they were less responsive to its effects.

For more information visit the Thoracic Organization

Food Cravings

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No-one who has had a weight problem will ever forget how difficult it is to lose even a few pounds and keep it off. No matter how motivated you are, the cravings start.

Watching Oprah, I remember hearing Dr. Oz hint that if you can hold out for 10 minutes, the craving will pass. One only assumes he hasn’t got a kitchen or fast-food restaurant anywhere nearbyt.

Food cravings are a common experience but are under-studied. At issue is not a sense of hunger because the craving can happen even when you are full. Cravings demand we eat something quite specific: chocolate, beans, a carrot. It’s as if your body needed something that only that one food can provide.  For some people, it’s not enough to have a taste of the food, they need to dig deep and binge away.

The Source of Cravings

All my life (which has been long) it has been suggested that caving to craving is a lack of self-discipline.

Research suggests that cravings are accompanied with very clear mental images of the desired foods and the more vivid the image, the greater the cravings.  Moreover, while the image is in mind, it seems to take over cognitive function. Studies show that people undergoing a craving actually have trouble completing  various cognitive tasks. In one experiment, volunteers craving chocolate couldn’t remember words and took longer to solve math problems. Cravings become the focus of our attention and disrupt our ability to think clearly!

Fortunately it works both ways because if you can take your mind off the food for a moment and fixate elsewhere, the craving will diminish. So the next time you are craving something that you think is bad for you, try re-tuning your mind by concentrating on a hobby or person that you find attractive.  And get out of the kitchen!