Good Nutrition Advice

WHAT we eat directly after exercise can have a significant impact on the health benefits we reap from it, according to a recent study in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Eating sugar loaded carbohydrates right after exercising can negatively affect both insulin sensitivity and human growth hormone (HGH) production.

The study found eating a low-carbohydrate meal after aerobic exercise enhances insulin sensitivity which is important, as impaired insulin sensitivity, or insulin resistance, is one of the underlying causes of type 2 diabetes and a significant risk factor for other chronic diseases.

Consuming fructose, including fruit juices, within two hours of exercising depletes natural HGH production. According to HGH Magazine, a high sugar snack, or a sports drink (which often contains high sugar levels) after working out, will counteract the benefits of exercise induced HGH. You can work out for hours, eat a high sugar bar or have a high sugar energy drink and this will shut down the synergistic benefits of HGH. If you miss reaching HGH release during working out, you will still get the calorie burning benefit from the workout. However, you'll miss the HGH ‘synergy bonus’ of enhanced fat burning for two hours after working out.

This is extremely important to remember if you want to cut body fat and shed a few pounds.

TEN per cent of the rice being sold in UK supermarkets contains around 10 times the levels of arsenic allowed in China. Most rice contains some arsenic, a poisonous element, and arsenic is present in many foods.
However, rice is grown in flooded fields, so the arsenic naturally present in the soil is absorbed by the plants through the water. Long-term exposure increases the risk of skin, lung and bladder cancer.
The UK Food Standards Agency is now advising anyone who eats rice more than three times a week, to consider switching to Thai or Indian grown rice, which both have lower arsenic levels.
The EU has no standard for arsenic in food and Britain's level was set in 1959 before the cancer-causing effects of arsenic were understood. The most stringent standard is set by the Chinese, who are rice big eaters.

CALCIUM supplements, often taken by older people for osteoporosis, are associated with an increased risk of a heart attack, according to a study published online in the British Medical Journal. The results suggest a reassessment of the role of calcium supplements in osteoporosis management is needed. Calcium supplements are commonly prescribed for skeletal health, but a recent trial suggested they might increase rates of heart attack (myocardial infarction) and cardiovascular events in healthy older women.

An international team of researchers analysed the results of 11 randomised controlled trials of calcium supplements (without co-administered vitamin D) involving 12,000 patients. Differences in study design and quality were taken into account to minimise bias.
They found calcium supplements were associated with about a 30% increased risk of heart attack and smaller, non-significant, increases in the risk of stroke and mortality.