Improving Tolerance of Carbohydrate

People who are carbohydrate intolerant can slow down their aging and reduce the risk of diabetes by taking steps to improve their carbohydrate metabolism. Furthermore, it is believe that these steps are useful for anyone over thirty as they reduce the risk of developing carbohydrate intolerance or diabetes in the future.

Reducing glycemic effect of meals : As we ingest food, the enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract break it down into small molecules, such as simple sugars, aminoacids and peptides. Many foods, from ice-cream to pizza to pop-corn, contain glucose or other sugars that are converted to glucose in the body. Usually, glucose is in the form of starch, a branched polymer made up of many glucose molecules, or sucrose, a sugar consisting of one glucose and one fructose molecule. As the food is digested, the glucose it contains is released and absorbed into the bloodstream, which causes blood glucose level to rise. (Scientists call this glycemic effect of food.) How dramatic such a rise would be depends on several factors: (1) how much glucose a meal contains; (2) in which form this glucose is (e.g. starch or sugar); (3) are there other food ingredients, such as fiber, that affect the rate glucose absorption. Meals that produce less dramatic rise of blood glucose tend to be better for one's carbohydrate metabolism. Generally, among nutritionally equivalent alternatives, the food with smaller glycemic effect should be preferred. For instance, glycemic effect of a whole grain rye bread is 32 percent smaller than that of the equivalent amount of white bread. Guess which is better for your health!

Fiber: Over the past decades, research has promoted fiber from a nearly useless non-nutrient filler in plant-derived foods to an important food constituent conducive of health and longevity. Chemically, fibers are a diverse group of plant polymers based on polysaccharide chains. In contrast to starch, which is also a type of polysaccharide, fibers cannot be digested by humans, and pass through the gastrointestinal tract fully or partially intact. Large amounts of fiber in the diet make stools soft and bulky.

Fiber came to the spotlight when physicians working in Africa noted a very low incidence of such typical "Western" conditions as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, colon cancer, diverticulosis and hemorrhoids. They also noticed that local population consumed a very high fiber diet -- their stool volume was several times greater than that of people in the West. A role of fiber in preventing diseases and obesity was hypothesized, which spawned abundant research on the subject. Some health benefits of fiber, such as colon cancer prevention, are still controversial. Others, including its ability of fiber to prevent and/or improve carbohydrate tolerance and type II diabetes, are confirmed by solid evidence. Fiber slows down the rate at which glucose is absorbed from food into the bloodstream. This gives the body more time to process carbohydrates, leading to lower blood sugar and better carbohydrate metabolism.

It is estimated that a typical citizen of a developed country consumes about one third of the amount of fiber optimal for health and longevity. Luckily, it is not as difficult to increase one's fiber intake without supplements as many people think. Keep in mind that fiber supplements, especially when used improperly, may cause intestinal obstruction, a serious health problem. (This never happens with high fiber foods though).

Exercise: Regular exercise is known to improve carbohydarate tolerance and have a variety of other health benefits. (And it's fun too!). If exercising outdoors, which is usually more fun than otherwise, make sure to protect you skin from excessive sun and wind exposure.

Supplements: Certain nutrients and botanicals have positive effect on carbohydrate metabolism. For instance, lipoic acid is known to lower blood sugar levels (see also the article about conditionally essential nutrients in this section). Some adaptogens were consistently proven to improve carbohydrate tolerance or even reverse early stages of type II diabetes. Adaptogens are substances that promote successful adaptation of the body to various forms of stress and also normalize various physiological aberrations. Most known adaptogens are derived from plants and are quite safe at commonly used doses.

Drugs: Of course, there are drugs that lower blood sugar. Vritually all of them, however, can have substantial adverse effects. Using glucose-lowering drug in people with confirmed diabetes is a reasonable trade-off. These drugs should not be used in people with mild carbohydrate intolerance. There are far safer things to try!

Connection between Skin and Blood sugar

Blood sugar, or more accurately blood glucose level, is a very important aspect of human physiology because glucose is the primary fuel for the central nervous system. If the blood level of glucose drops below a certain point for a long enough period of time, a person will lose consciousness, fall into coma and die. Very high blood glucose seen in diabetes is also harmful, although the immediate consequences are usually less dramatic.

It is less widely known that blood sugar has an important bearing on the aging process. Unfortunately, in addition to being a vital cellular fuel, glucose is also a substance that can cause damage to cells and tissues by randomly reacting with proteins, DNA and other vital molecules. (Scientists call this process glycation). Perhaps the worst consequence of glycation is cross-linking which is the formation of chemical bridges between proteins or other large molecules. A material that undergoes cross-linking usually becomes harder, less elastic and has a tendency to tear or crack. For instance, cross-linking is responsible for hardening of a rubber mat or a garden hose left in the sun. In an aging body, cross-linking causes hardening of arteries, wrinkling of the skin and stiffening of joints. Not surprisingly, diabetics, whose high blood glucose intensifies cross-linking, tend to have more skin damage (as well as vascular and other organ damage) than non-diabetics. However, even mildly high blood sugar promotes the aging process in the long run. This condition, called carbohydarate intolerance (or glucose intolerance) means that one's blood sugar tends to be higher than normal but not high enough to warrant the diagnosis of diabetes. Carbohydrate intolerance is extremely common, affecting up to fifty percent of the population in developed countries. In most carbohydrate intolerant people, fasting blood sugar is normal while blood sugar after meals is higher than it should be.

Research indicates that correcting carbohydrate intolerance is one the most important steps one can take towards slowing down the aging process.

Now, the question is how can one find out whether she has carbohydrate intolerance. An overt diabetes is relatively easy to diagnose. A doctor simply takes your fasting blood glucose to see whether it is elevated. A more sophisticated test called OGGT (oral glucose tolerance test) is needed to diagnose carbohydrate intolerance. First, your fasting blood sugar is measured. Then you are given a meal containing a standard amount of glucose, after which your blood glucose is measured every 30 minutes for 2 or 3 hours. This allows to see how quickly your blood sugar returns to normal after a carbohydrate load. The main risk factors for carbohydrate intolerance are being overweight and age over forty.

Next Article: How to improve carbohydrate tolerance?

Antioxidant nutrients and skin protection

Free radical damage is one of the principal mechanisms of aging. Free radicals are highly and indiscriminately reactive chemicals that can damage any structure in living cells. The most common source of free radicals is normal burning of fuel that occurs in every cell every minute of every day. (Generally, the more free radicals a species produces, the shorter its life spans.) Skin suffers additional free radical damage from sunlight and pollutants.

Topical antioxidants provide some protection against environmental damage to the skin and may be somewhat effective in slowing down the skin aging. However, topical antioxidants are relatively unreliable. Their effect depends on skin permeability, other ingredients in the cream and many other factors. It appears that increasing oral intake of some antioxidants may additionally protect skin from free radicals. Keep in mind, however, that relatively little solid research has been done specifically on skin benefits of oral or topical antioxidants and much of the supporting evidence is indirect.

A very important chemical property for an oxidant is its solubility in water and fat (or oil). Basically, living organisms have two types of internal media, watery extra- and intracellular space and oily membranes that serve as partitions enclosing individual cells and various intracellular compartments. Water-soluble antioxidants are effective mainly in extra- and intracellular fluid, whereas fat-soluble antioxidants protect biological membranes. Both types of antioxidants are needed to create an effective shield against free radicals for the entire body, and skin in particular.

Solubility of antioxidants

Water soluble	Fat soluble	Water and fat soluble
Vitamin C Cysteine Methionine Selenium Glutathione	Vitamin E Vitamin A Carotenes Lycopene Coenzyme Q10	Lipoic acid Melatonin Some polyphenols Some flavonoids

Below we review some of the antioxidant nutrients and supplements which appear the most likely to produce skin benefits.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is a principal fat soluble antioxidant vitamin in the body. It protects cellular membranes, lipoproteins and other "oily" structures. Skin is high in unsaturated fatty acids ("oily" molecules especially susceptible to free radical damage), and can benefit from vitamin E protection (both oral and topical).

Flavonoids

Flavonoids are a diverse group of plant pigments with antioxidant properties. These substances are responsible for color in many fruits, vegetables and flowers. In addition to providing color that attracts insects or animals, these pigments protect plants from environmental stress. In addition to being potent antioxidants, some flavonoids have antiallergic, anti-carcinogenic, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory activity. Over 4,000 flavonoids have been characterized and classified, but only a few have been researched. As far as skin benefits are concerned, two classes of flavonoids appear to be especially beneficial: proanthocyanins (found in grapes and pine bark) and polyphenols (found in green tea).

Coenzyme Q10, Lipoic acid, Cysteine, Methionine

Coenzyme Q10, lipoic acid, cysteine and methionine are potent antioxidants. But they also play other roles that are at least as important as their antioxidant activity. See also the article about conditionally essential nutrients in this section.

Tomorrows Article: Vitamins, minerals and skin rejuvenation

Is there a link - The Body, Diet, Nutrition & Skin Condition?

We all know that the skin is the body’s largest organ but I feel many of us forget just how intricate the internal systems of the body and the skin are at a cellular level. Many skin and hair disorders reflect some system disturbance within the body; everything from hormonal imbalance, immune deficiency, to gastric disease can affect your skin. Researchers have many different theories about the etiology of various skin disorders and several tell us there is no connection between diet, nutrition and skin condition. Is it possible that diet and nutrition can boost the immune system, assist in the repair and control of gastric disease or other diseases of the body? We believe that while diet and nutrition may not cure skin disorders they can certainly provide the body and consequently the skin with vital nutrients to improve the health of the skin and help the body fight disease.

The skin is like a mirror, it reflects everything because it is impacted by everything both internal and external of the body. Human skin is also impacted by the stresses of our lives, genetics, environment, hormones, disease and lifestyle. We have to stop thinking of our skin as just a covering on the body that we wash and scrub, bake in the sun, rub with creams, make-up, lasers and treatments. Topical treatments and cosmetics can be very dramatic but the body functions as a whole complete complex unit which includes the skin. We should nourish and treat the skin from the inside to have lasting healthy improvements.

The skin and its cells acquire and utilize nutrients from the metabolic processes of the skin and the body. When our body is lacking in vital nutrients, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, antioxidants and essential fatty acids the skin will eventually react.

So you are not sure what you should be eating or what supplements you need for healthy skin and hair, search for healthy nutrition information at your local bookstore or on-line, also many physicians and health plans now have nutritionist on staff. If you have a health condition such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart disease speaking with a professional nutritionist is highly recommended. Most of us will find that eating healthy, taking supplements and exercise will not only have a positive impact on our skin but also on our overall health and well being.

Start by adding a good all in one vitamin supplement that has all the basic vitamin groups, some minerals, amino acids and other nutrients then add fish oil or a combination omega-3/omgea-6 supplement. I like a vitamin that only requires me to take one a day. Eliminate the fatty snacks and carbonated beverages, instead reach for fruit and even better would be raw vegetables, you can now buy them bagged fresh, cut and ready to eat. Drink more water and natural unprocessed fruit juices, use a blender to make your own. Save time by making a gallon at a time and drink up. Pass on the milk, cheese, and red meat. The cows get so many hormones and other boosters these days who need theirs when we have our own hormonal issues. Just say no to fried foods and processed breads.

To those with skin conditions, blackheads, whiteheads, pimples, acne, rosacea, eczema, psoriasis and dry skin types put it to a test for 90 days once you determine what foods to avoid and what supplements to take. Be patient it will take your body some time to react to all this goodness. If you are patient and consistent you should notice some improvement.

Please don't do this if it causes stress in any way because stress is a possible contributor to flares in many skin conditions. Only do this if you can enjoy it, embrace it and can make it a welcome part of your world.

If you like the Information and found it helpful please send me an email

Next Article: Antioxidant nutrients and skin protection