Acrylamide in my diet

Acrylamide is a chemical, a building block in making polyacrylamide.

In generally speaking acrylamide is a copolymer.  During the formation of polymers two or three monomers linked together forming copolymers and further the copolymers are connected. See on the diagram

Polyacrylamide and acrylamide copolymers are used in many industrial processes, such as the production of paper, dyes, and plastics.

Food and cigarette smoke are the major sources of acrylamide exposure for us.

Asparagine is an amino acid in proteins that found in many vegetables. When the vegetables, potatoes are heated to high temperature over 120 ⁰C certain sugars and asparagines can form acrylamides. Cooking methods due to the high temperature; frying, broiling, baking produce acrylamide in the foods. Potato chips, French fries, burnt toast contain high level of acrylamide.

Animal testing on rodents has shown that acrylamide exposure poses a risk for several types of cancer. A series of case-control studies have investigated the relationship between dietary intake of acrylamide and the risk of developing cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, larynx, large bowel, kidney, breast, and ovary. However, the evidence from human studies is still incomplete. The National Toxicology Program considers acrylamide to be a human carcinogen.

How can you lower the amount of acrylamide consumed?

Shortening the cooking time, boiling or steaming instead frying are much better. Blanching potatoes before frying, drying in a hot air oven after frying have been shown to decrease the acrylamide content of some foods. 

Eat a healthy, balanced diet that is low in fat and rich in high-fibre grains, fruits, and vegetables. Do not forget your daily diet should contain 75-80% of raw foods.

The Health Benefits of Eggs

By Christopher C Weaver  

If eggs are not currently a part of your diet, its worth looking into some of the health benefits that they offer and reconsider adding them. Eggs are an all natural source of high quality protein and provide all 9 essential amino acids (those are the ones that the body cannot produce independently). Research at Wageningen University concluded that egg protein is the most absorbed and utilized protein source in the food supply. One egg contains 6.3 grams of protein and only 68 calories. Consuming an adequate supply of protein daily helps with the production of new cell membranes, healthy nerves, building muscle, boosting the immune system and in maintaining healthy skin and nails.

One of the most important nutrients that eggs supply is choline, which is important in brain and nerve functioning. While our bodies do naturally produce choline, we do not manufacture an adequate supply, therefore it is important we consume choline rich foods. Choline assists in the reduction of inflammation in the body, which in part is a result of being high in Omega-3 Fatty acids. Chronic inflammation in the body is linked to such serious health conditions like Alzheimer's, heart disease, Type-2 diabetes, and osteoporosis. A study conducted at the University of NC at Chapel Hill notes that choline is involved in shutting off promoter regions of genes that are involved in inflammation. Choline is also necessary in the development of the brain and memory in the fetal stage, making it especially important to pregnant women. It is estimated that 90% of Americans do not clonsume an adequate supply of choline.

Eggs also contain a high amount of Lutein, which plays an important role in eye health including the prevention of cataracts and a condition called Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) which is the leading cause of blindness in people over 50 years old. The macula is the central part of the retina that controls fine vision.

Eggs are a good source of B vitamins including B-12 which is important for cardiovascular health. Eggs also supply us with tryptophan, selenium, iodine, molybdenum, phosphorus and are one of the only foods that contain naturally occurring Vitamin D.

At one point, nutritionist and medical providers were discouraging people from eating eggs on a daily basis due to the cholesterol they contain, yet more recent research released by the Journal of the American College of Nutrition (circa 2000) concludes that people that eat a low-fat diet can consume one to two eggs daily with no noticeable change in blood cholesterol levels. The Harvard School of Public Health concluded that there is no significant link between egg consumption and heart disease.

There has also been considerable research conducted in terms of eggs and their impact on weight loss. In a particular study conducted in 2008 and published in the International Journal of Obesity, half of the people in the research group were given a breakfast containing two eggs, while the other half were given breakfast without eggs. At then end of the study, those in the group that consumed the breakfasts containing two eggs lost an average of 65% more weight than those in the other group. It is suggested from the outcome of this research that eggs help to curb the appetite throughout the remainder of the day, making a person less likely to overeat.

Some other noticeable health benefits are their link to lowering risks of blood clots and stroke (due to the proteins in the yolks) and a reduction in the risk of breast cancer in women. A recent study concluded that women that eat a diet including 6 eggs per week lowered their risk of breast cancer by 66%. Eggs also have a high sulfur content which promotes healthy hair and nails. When buying eggs I recommend getting the cage-free, vegetarian fed variety. Also look for those that a labeled free of antibiotics and hormones, which can have negative impacts on our overall health. As always, speak with your healthcare professional before drastically modifying your diet, especially if you have certain health conditions such as high cholesterol or cardiovascular disease.

Christopher Weaver BS, MA, CFT lives and works in Asheville, NC. Learning to live a wellness based lifestyle is a key component to finding health and happiness. My goal as a Certified Fitness Trainer, yoga instructor, social worker and health educator is to share my own personal health journey, including accomplishment and mishaps along the way. For more writings and information visit my website athttp://www.issacertifiedtrainer.com/christopherweaver and my blog at http://www.punkrockwellness.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Christopher_C_Weaver/1480880

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Health-Benefits-of-Eggs&id=7514906 

Seven Gluten Items That Are Hidden in Our Lives That Can Kill Us   

by Wilfredo Wong

Barry Sears, explains it as promoting a balance of hormones in your body, particularly of insulin, that enables your body to work at maximum efficiency and make best use of the nutrition in the foods you eat.

While The Zone Diet has no official scientific support, many nutritionists believe it to be soundly based and by no means a fad. It has been better accepted by the scientific community than the Atkins Diet or Sugar Busters, for example, and those that do the Zone Diet are convinced of its effectiveness. So what exactly do you eat with this diet?

Dr. Sears maintains that the body reacts best to a diet consisting of 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat in terms of the calorie content. This in itself would appear to be reasonable, since your body needs fats for longer-term energy generation, carbohydrates for quick energy and proteins to provide the amino acids needed to generate new proteins and muscle fibers.

Normally you would expect a higher proportion of your calorie intake to be carbohydrate-based, but this is not a dangerous reduction. You should also control the calorie content of each meal to 500 calories for a main meal and 100 for a snack.

The objective of The Zone Diet is not just to lose weight, but also to maintain a healthy cardiovascular system and reduce inflammatory conditions such as diabetes and arthritis. This objective is promoted by maintaining a healthy balance of hormones. In basic terms, an excess of carbohydrates in your diet tends to generate too much insulin.

The purpose of insulin is to prompt the body to make use of the glucose in the blood either as an immediate energy source in the cellular mitochondria or stored as energy in the form of glycogen, and alternatively to convert the spare fatty acids and glycerol in the blood (also generated from carbohydrates) into fat for storage in the fat cells. Your body is allocated a number of fat cells at birth, and these are used throughout your life to store fat molecules: they can be empty, partially full or full, and which determines how 'fat' you are.

In effect, insulin reacts to excess blood glucose, and instructs your biochemistry to reduce it by: converting it to energy, to an emergency energy store (glycogen) or into fat.

Another hormone is glucagon, which comes into play when the level of glucose in your blood is low. It stimulates the liver to release glycogen as an emergency energy source, and also releases hormones that make you feel hungry. When you learn how to do The Zone Diet you basically learn how to control the release of these hormones.

The Zone Diet controls the relative amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fats in your diet that in turn control the release of the hormones that make you fat or keep you burning the glucose generated from your diet. You can follow The Zone Diet in many different ways, because there are no restrictions on the food you can eat other than the strict 40/30/30 ratio of carbohydrate/protein/fat.

You can eat foods such as chicken, pork, ham and beef as your 30% protein and fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts and particularly leafy green vegetables to make up the other 70% along with a small amount of oil: that together with nuts and some fruits offer the fats needed. Vegetarians can take soya, tofu or nuts as their protein source.

http://goarticles.com/article/Seven-Gluten-Items-That-Are-Hidden-in-Our-Lives-That-Can-Kill-Us/4502230/