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Satya — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 10:44:39 +0000

Consumer Court.

How to increase your HDL levels

Satya — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:52:00 +0000

from : via How to increase your HDL levels.

Raising Your HDL�Levels

Increasing the GOOD�cholesterol

By�Richard N. Fogoros, M.D.,�About.com Guide

Updated November 15, 2010

HDL cholesterol, or “good” cholesterol, appears to scour the walls of blood vessels, cleaning out excess cholesterol. It then carries that excess cholesterol — which otherwise might have been used to make the “plaques” that cause coronary artery disease — back to the liver for processing. So when we measure a person’s HDL cholesterol level, we seem to be measuring how vigorously his or her blood vessels are being “scrubbed” free of cholesterol.

HDL levels below 40 mg/dL result in an increased risk of coronary atery disease, even in people whose total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels are normal. HDL levels between 40 and 60 mg/dL are considered “normal.” However, HDL levels greater than 60 mg/dL may actually protect people from heart disease. Indeed, for several years, doctors have known that when it comes to HDL levels, the higher the better. Click here for a quick review of cholesterol and triglycerides.

How can We Increase Our HDL Levels?

Aerobic exercise. Many people don’t like to hear it, but regular aerobic exercise (any exercise, such as walking, jogging or bike riding, that raises your heart rate for 20 to 30 minutes at a time) may be the most effective way to increase HDL levels. Recent evidence suggests that the duration of exercise, rather than the intensity, is the more important factor in raising HDL choleserol. But any aerobic exercise helps.

Lose weight. Obesity results not only in increased LDL cholesterol, but also in reduced HDL cholesterol. If you are overweight, reducing your weight should increase your HDL levels. This is especially important if your excess weight is stored in your abdominal area; your waist-to-hip ratio is particularly important in determining whether you ought to concentrate on weight loss.

Stop smoking. If you smoke, giving up tobacco will result in an increase in HDL levels. (This is the only advantage I can think of that smokers have over non-smokers — it gives them something else to do that will raise their HDL.)

Cut out the trans fatty acids. Trans fatty acids are currently present in many of your favorite prepared foods — anything in which the nutrition label reads “partially hydrogenated vegetable oils” — so eliminating them from the diet is not a trivial task. But trans fatty acids not only increase LDL cholesterol levels, they also reduce HDL cholesterol levels. Removing them from your diet will almost certainly result in a measurable increase in HDL levels. Click here for a quick and easy review of trans fatty acids and the heart.

Alcohol. With apologies to the American Heart Association, which discourages doctors from telling their patients about the advantages of alcohol: one or two drinks per day can significantly increase HDL levels. More than one or two drinks per day, one hastens to add, can lead to substantial health problems including heart failure — and there are individuals who will develop such problems even when limiting their alcohol intake to one or two drinks per day. Click here for a quick and easy review of alcohol and the heart.

Increase the monounsaturated fats in your diet. Monounsaturated fats such as canola oil, avocado oil, or olive oil and in the fats found in peanut butter can increase HDL cholesterol levels without increasing the total cholesterol.

Add soluble fiber to your diet. Soluble fibers are found in oats, fruits, vegetables, and legumes, and result in both a reduction in LDL cholesterol and an increase HDL cholesterol. For best results, at least two servings a day should be used.

Other dietary means to increasing HDL. Cranberry juice has been shown to increase HDL levels. Fish and other foods containing omega-3 fatty acids can also increase HDL levels. In postmenopausal women (but not, apparently, in men or pre-menopausal women) calcium supplementation can increase HDL levels.

The best advice regarding fat in the diet appears to be this: 1) reduce the fat intake to 30 – 35% of the total calories in the diet – but probably no lower than 25% of total calories; 2) try to eliminate saturated fats and trans fats from the diet, and substitute monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats instead. (That is, eliminate animal and dairy fat, and substitute unprocessed vegetable fats. Click here for a quick review of the various types of fatty acids.) Such a diet will avoid the problems seen with an ultra-low-fat diet, and should help raise HDL cholesterol levels.

What about drugs for raising HDL cholesterol?

Drug therapy for raising HDL cholesterol levels has, so far, been less successful than for reducing LDL cholesterol. Statins, in particular, are often not very effective at increasing HDL levels.

Of the drugs used to treat cholesterol, niacin appears to be the most effective at raising HDL levels. Niacin is one of the B vitamins. The amount of niacin needed for increasing HDL levels are so high, however, that it is classified as a drug when used for this purpose. Furthermore, “niacin” takes several forms, including nicotinic acid, nicotinamide, and inositol hexaniacinate – and all of these are labelled as “niacin.” Unfortunately, only nicotinic acid raises HDL cholesterol, and this drug can be difficult to take because of its propensity to cause flushing, itching and hot flashes. In general, taking niacin to treat cholesterol levels should be supervised by a doctor. ( Read about niacin here.)

via How to increase your HDL levels.

The Human Brain – Carbohydrates

Satya — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 15:45:43 +0000

The Human Brain – Carbohydrates.

“Glucose is the form of sugar that travels in your bloodstream to fuel the mitochondrial furnaces responsible for your brain power. Glucose is the only fuel normally used by brain cells. Because neurons cannot store glucose, they depend on the bloodstream to deliver a constant supply of this precious fuel.“

“This blood sugar is obtained from carbohydrates: the starches and sugars you eat in the form of grains and legumes, fruits and vegetables. (The only animal foods containing a significant amount of carbohydrates are dairy products.)

Mental activity requires a lot of energy.“

“Your brain cells need two times more energy than the other cells in your body.

Neurons, the cells that communicate with each other, have a high demand for energy because they’re always in a state of metabolic activity. Even during sleep, neurons are still at work repairing and rebuilding their worn out structural components.

They are manufacturing enzymes and neurotransmitters that must be transported out to the very ends of their– nerve branches, some that can be several inches, or feet, away.

Most demanding of a neuron’s energy, however, are the bioelectric signals responsible for communication throughout the nervous system. This nerve transmission consumes one-half of all the brain’s energy (nearly 10% of the whole body’s energy).“

“Most of us have discovered that thinking can be tiring, even exhausting. As the primary source of energy in the human brain, glucose can be rapidly used up during mental activity.

Some interesting research has shown that mental concentration actually drains glucose from a key part of the brain associated with memory and learning – underscoring just how crucial this blood sugar is for proper brain function.” : hippocampus

“Carbohydrate Foods Can Improve Memory in Older Adults”

“

Too Much Blood Sugar – Too Little Brain Sugar


A sugary snack or soft drink that quickly raises your blood sugar level gives you a boost (and any caffeine adds to the lift), but it’s short-lived. When you eat something with a high sugar content your pancreas starts to secrete insulin. Insulin triggers cells throughout your body to pull the excess glucose out of your bloodstream and store it for later use. Soon, the glucose available to your brain has dropped. Neurons, unable to store glucose, experience an energy crisis. Hours later, you feel spaced-out, weak, confused, and/or nervous. Your ability to focus and think suffers. The name for this glucose deficiency is hypoglycemia , and it can even lead to unconsciousness.

“

Low blood glucose levels can lead to a significant deterioration in attention abilities, University of Edinburgh researchers concluded after testing healthy individuals in whom hypoglycemia had been induced.

Auditory and visual information was processed more slowly when the subjects’ brains were temporarily deprived of its main source of energy

“

“When people at high risk for type 2 diabetes exercised at least 30 minutes a day, they reduced their risk by 58%, even without medication. In fact, exercise and diet proved to be nearly twice as effective as a popular diabetes drug.“


oods with a low glycemic index number gradually release glucose into your bloodstream. This gradual release helps minimize blood sugar swings and optimizes brainpower and mental focus

Fruits apple 38 apricot, canned 64 apricot, dried 30 banana 62 banana, unripe 30 cantaloupe 65 cherries 22 dates, dried 103 fruit cocktail 55 grapefruit 25 grapes 43 kiwi 52 mango 55 orange 43 papaya 58 peach 42 pear 36 pineapple 66 plum 24 raisins 64 strawberries 32 watermelon 72 Vegetables beets 64 carrots, cooked 39 carrot juice 45 French fries 75 parsnips 97 peas, dried 22 peas, green 48 potato, boiled 56 potato mashed 73 potato, microwaved 82 potato, instant 83 potato, baked 85 pumpkin 75 rutabaga 72 sweet corn 55 sweet potato 54 yam 51 Juices apple 41 grapefruit 48 orange 55 pineapple 46 Pasta brown rice pasta 92 gnocchi 68 linguine, durum 50 macaroni 46 macaroni & cheese 64 spaghetti 40 spag. prot. enrich. 28 vermicelli 35 vermicelli, rice 58 Sweets honey 58 jelly beans 80 Life Savers 70 M&Ms Choc. Peanut 33 Skittles 70 Snickers 41 Cookies graham crackers 74 oatmeal 55 shortbread 64 vanilla wafers 77 Beans baby lima 32 baked 43 black 30 brown 38 butter 31 chickpeas 33 kidney 27 lentil 30 navy 38 pinto 42 red lentils 27 split peas 32 soy 18		Grains barley 22 brown rice 59 buckwheat 54 bulgur 47 chickpeas 36 corn 55 corn chips 74 cornmeal 68 couscous 65 hominy 40 millet 75 popcorn 55 rice 47 rice, instant 91 rye 34 wheat, whole 41 white rice 88 Cereals All Bran 44 Bran Chex 58 Cheerios 74 Corn Bran 75 Corn Chex 83 Cornflakes 83 Cream of Wheat 66 Crispix 87 Frosted Flakes 55 Grapenuts 67 Grapenuts Flakes 80 Life 66 Muesli 60 NutriGrain 66 Oatmeal 53 Oatmeal 1 min 66 Puffed Wheat 74 Puffed Rice 90 Rice Bran 19 Rice Chex 89 Rice Krispies 82 Shredded Wheat 69 Special K 54 Swiss Muesli 60 Team 82 Total 76 Breads bagel 72 croissant 67 kaiser roll 73 pita 57 pumpernickel 49 rye 64 rye, dark 76 rye, whole 50 white 72 whole wheat 72 waffles 76 Crackers Kavli Norwegian 71 rice cakes 82 rye 63 saltine 72 stoned wheat thins 67 water crackers 78 Desserts angel food cake 67 banana bread 47 blueberry muffin 59 bran muffin 60 Danish 59 fruit bread 47 pound cake 54 sponge cake 46 tofu frozen 115 Dairy chocolate milk 34 ice cream 61 ice cream, low fat 50 milk 34 pudding 43 soy “milk” 31 yogurt 36

Note: The numbers represented are in reference to glucose, which is valued at 100, and are meaningful only in relation to this base number. They do not correspond to calories or portion size. Cooked vegetables tend to release their sugar faster than when raw, and a food’s degree of ripeness can affect its glycemic number.		These numbers are compiled from different sources and will not be identical to other glycemic indexes. (Some lists use white bread for the reference point of 100.)

First Happiness, then diet : Increased happiness to facilitate long-term Calorie Restriction

Satya — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 15:37:51 +0000

.http://chc.ucsf.edu/coast/pdf/Dallman%20Symposium/2010/7_Paul%20McGlothin_COAST%20Symp.pdf

All ayurveda related posts moved to Ancient Indians

Satya — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 15:59:18 +0000

.. and will be maintained there only.

Upavedas

Ayurveda

Signs and Symptoms of Anemia | Causes of Iron Deficiency Anemia | Side Effects of Anaemia

Satya — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:04:09 +0000

Signs and Symptoms of Anemia | Causes of Iron Deficiency Anemia | Side Effects of Anaemia.

2010 in review

Satya — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 08:30:37 +0000

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A helper monkey made this abstract painting, inspired by your stats.

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 8,200 times in 2010. That’s about 20 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 13 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 48 posts.

The busiest day of the year was March 25th with 51 views. The most popular post that day was List of all the ministers in Cabinet 2009.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were ancientindians.net, google.co.in, search.conduit.com, food.sulekha.com, and satyaveda.wordpress.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for gujarat minister list, jowar nutrition, slums definition, west bengal ministers list, and list of west bengal ministers.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

List of all the ministers in Cabinet 2009 May 2009

Jaggery : Bellam, Bella, Gud, Gudam : Nutrition facts : Sugarcane Juice June 2009

Boiled Rice : Uppudu biyyam : Steamed Rice : Parboiled rice October 2009

Definition of Slum : Census of India May 2009

Eco-Friendly: Jowar : Jola : Jonna : Sorghum: Cholam : Nutrition facts November 2009
2 comments

Sucralose (Sugar Free Natura, Splenda) gets stored in the kidneys and strains them

Satya — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 15:32:05 +0000

If you need sweets go back to sugar cane juice.. all sweeteners including sucralose are bad for you!

Source : http://tuberose.com/Sucralose.html

Splenda, the brand name for sugar-derivative sucralose, is converted from cane sugar to a no-calorie sweetener. It isn’t recognized as sugar by the body and therefore is not metabolized. Splenda is marketed as a “healthful” and “natural” product since it is derived from sugar. However, its chemical structure is very different from that of sugar and sucralose is actually a chemical substance. Sucralose was discovered in 1976 by researchers working under the auspices of Tate & Lyle Ltd., a large British sugar refiner. Sucralose is made from sucrose by substituting three chlorine atoms for three hydroxyl groups to yield 1,6-dichloro-1,6-dideoxy-BETA-D-fructofuranosyl-4-chloro-4-deoxy-alpha-D-galactopyranoside.

Sucralose is not yet approved for use in most European countries

sucralose is significantly absorbed and metabolized by the body

About 20% to 30% of absorbed sucralose is metabolized. Both the metabolites and unchanged absorbed sucralose are excreted in urine. The absorbed sucralose has been found to concentrate in the liver, kidney, and gastrointestinal tract

chlorine is a carcinogen and emergency procedures should be taken when exposed via swallowing, inhaling, or through the skin.

The FDA acknowledges that sucralose “is produced at an approximate purity of 98%.” While that may sound pretty pure, just what is in that other 2%? It turns out that the final sucralose product contains small amounts of potentially dangerous substances such as:

· Heavy Metals (e.g., Lead)

· Arsenic

· Triphenilphosphine Oxide

· Methanol

· Chlorinated Disaccharides

· Chlorinated Monosaccharide

Research in animals has shown that sucralose can cause many problems such as:

· Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40 percent shrinkage)

· Enlarged liver and kidneys

· Atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus

· Increased fecal weight

· Reduced growth rate

· Decreased red blood cell count

· Hyperplasia of the pelvis

· Extension of the pregnancy period

· Aborted pregnancy

· Decreased fetal body weights and placental weights

· Diarrhea

The Hebrew Language (via BIBLICAL RESEARCH)

Satya — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 03:05:07 +0000

This sounds a bit like sanskrit.

When it comes to the Hebrew language I am the beginner of beginners. (It is an interesting language, and I hope to learn much more by the time this class is over.) I started with the alphabet, 22 letters and easy enough to learn with some repetition, but then I found out about vowel marks, 16 more things to learn and much more confusing. The concept of vowel marks rather than actual vowels is completely foreign to me, and it is taking some gettin … Read More

via BIBLICAL RESEARCH

Music Soothes Anxiety as Well as Massage Does – iVillage

Satya — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 11:14:03 +0000

This may be one of the advantages of chanting…. Vishnusahasranama etc…

FRIDAY, March 19 HealthDay News — Massage can reduce anxiety, but no better than a cheaper approach — simply relaxing while listening to soft, soothing music.A new study shows that patients, on average, had half the symptoms of anxiety three months after getting a series of 10 hour-long massages. But researchers were surprised to find that massages didnt reduce anxiety anymore than lying down and listening to enjoyable music.”We were surprised to find that the benefits of massage were no greater than those of the same number of sessions of … listening to relaxing music,” Karen J. Sherman, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute, said in a news release from the institute. “This suggests that the benefits of massage may be due to a generalized relaxation response.”

via Music Soothes Anxiety as Well as Massage Does – iVillage.