A Single Meal.......
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| Mon, 05-05-2008 - 12:24pm |
A Single Meal Can Lead to Good(or Bad) Health
It takes just one "bad" meal -- a cheeseburger, fries and a soda,
fried chicken and biscuits, a slab of chocolate cake and ice cream
-- to do damage to your body, according to new research.
The good news, however, is that eating just one good meal will
start to repair the damage.This occurs because, when you eat,
your body breaks down the food into glucose (sugar), lipids (fats)
and amino acids (the building blocks of protein).
As soon as you polish off the last of your high-fat, high-sugar
meal, the sugar causes a large spike in your blood-sugar levels
called "post-prandial hyperglycemia." In the long term this can
lead to an increased risk of heart attack, but there are short-term
effects as well, such as:
Your tissue becomes inflamed (as occurs when it is infected)
*Your blood vessels constrict.
*Damaging free radicals are generated
*Your blood pressure may rise higher than normal
*A surge and drop in insulin may leave you feeling hungry soon after
your meal.Eating healthy foods, such as fresh vegetables and fruits,
lean proteins, and high-fiber items, will stave off post-prandial
spikes and help to keep your blood-sugar levels even.
The desire to eat junk food is a vicious cycle, the
researchers pointed out, as the more you eat it the more your body
craves it. This occurs because junk food distorts your hormonal
profile, stimulating your appetite and causing you to crave
unhealthy foods -- while making you feel unsatisfied when you eat
only healthy ones.
The risky blood sugar spikes that follow a junk food meal are most
likely to occur in people who don't exercise, or who carry weight
around their abdomen.
Dr.Mercola of Mercola.com furthers the discussion by adding,
"The more you eat a diet full of sugar, grains and bad
fats -- like trans fats and those from vegetable oils -- the more
you are clouding your brain's ability to "hear" the biochemical
signals that tell it to stop eating and storing fat.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is probably never more
apparent than shortly after you eat a convenient, good-tasting
junk-food meal. My guess is that most of the time you begin to
feel tired, your mood sinks, your brain feels foggy, and you may
even feel hungry again, not to mention all the guilt you have for
putting things into your body that you know will move you toward
sickness and disease.
These signals come from the hormones insulin and leptin, and their
job is to, among other things, control your metabolism.
Insulin works mostly at the cellular level, telling the vast
majority of your cells whether to burn or store fat and sugar,
and whether to utilize that energy for maintenance, repair or
reproduction.
Leptin, on the other hand, sends signals that reduce your hunger,
increase fat burning and reduce fat storage.
However, when you regularly eat foods, such as sugar and grains,
that cause your blood sugar to spike after you eat -- your body
becomes resistant to these important messages.
The end result is a major miscommunication that tells your body
to eat more and store more fat, instead of what it actually needs:
to reduce hunger and burn fat. When your insulin and leptin levels
are increased, it will become very difficult for you to use fat as
a fuel as the enzymes required for doing this are significantly
impaired.
Over time, this can lead to many chronic diseases, including:
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Autoimmune diseases
- Arthritis
- Osteoporosis
It Takes Just One Good Meal to Start Healing Your Body
While it's true that one bad meal will produce negative changes
in your body, let's not overlook the most important finding in this
study: it takes just ONE good meal to start things moving in a
positive direction.
Just imagine the power that gives you. If you have been eating
poorly recently, you can start reversing the process with your
very next meal -- and start to improve your health right now.
You see, your body was designed to be healthy. It wants to move
toward health and away from disease, and it will do its best to
stay that way, provided you give it the proper tools -- the proteins,
the healthy fats and the good carbs (mostly from veggies) and
micronutrients -- that it needs to thrive.
If you end up feeling hungry, irritable, sleepy or sluggish after
you eat, these are all signs that you are likely not giving your
body the fuel that it needs to do its job properly. This fuel is
different for everybody, and you can find out which exact foods
your body is TRULY craving by finding out your nutritional type
Take, for instance, a salad. On the surface, this is a healthy meal.
Yet, the same salad is not ideal for everyone. Your body may do
best with some chicken, olive oil and onions on your salad, or you
may feel better by adding on some grass-fed steak, and using
spinach instead of lettuce.
Once you know which foods your body needs (and which it does better
without), you will truly be on the road to increased energy,
an upbeat mood, and less risk of chronic diseases. In short,
you'll be on your way to reaching optimal health".
And remember, this all starts one meal at a time.
