Going "natural"

[chinesefireball]

Another thing we have in common

For me it was low blood pressure - but I also believe it could be low iron levels. Well at least it is less likely you will have high blood pressure in the future (if it is low blood pressure)

Its a good idea to go off the sugar for a month, thats pretty much the best method to test if you have any problems with foods. Good luck with sugar cravings - milk helps (contains lactose which is a type of sugar) and I've noticed carrots does as well strangely enough - as does drinking water and doing more exercise. I find I tend to stop craving sugar within 5 days or so.

 

[Stolen Rutters]

I believe your blood pressure is lower when you are relaxing, regardless of whether you have a low blood pressure condition. There is an ask the doctor thread on the OT page right now where a doctor is responding to simple questions like this...

 

[greenpeace]

I only eat organic GO ORGANIC!!!

 

[Narz]

Good job GoldEagle, you'll feel better. Especially buy meat organic if you choose to eat it.

 

[GoldEagle]

Good job GoldEagle, you'll feel better. Especially buy meat organic if you choose to eat it.

Organic meat? Meaning...meat from a living animal? (Such as steak, chicken etc.?)

 

[Stolen Rutters]

Organic meat: regular meat at a higher price because they feed the animal non-fortified foods. If they get the types of feed balanced right, it can make for a really tasty steak.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

And suddenly I really feel like having a steak.

We usually try for organic food where we can - conveniently there's a service that delivers organic fruit and vegetable once a week, which is grand.

 

[ZiP!]

I've also noticed something odd: if I'm laying on the couch, and I get up, I get dizzy and I see millions of little dots, and this occurs for maybe 5 seconds...she said it was low blood pressure...can anyone confirm this?

Confirmed.
I'm not a doctor, but still a health profesional
In fact when laying down, blood is distributed evenly amongst your body (all body parts are on the same level). When you stand up, blood tends to gather up in the lower parts (=legs) so temporarily blood pressure in your brain (=highest part) drops. Your body needs 5 seconds to adapt, by vasoconstricting (=diminishing blood vessel diameter) as needed (in your legs).
I personnally get this typically when getting up in the morning it can be a danger to older people though (pressure unstable, low vessel reactivity => can cause them to drop uncounscious).

As for the sugar part... I couldn't tell you enough to see a doctor (also a blood test from time to time is always a good thing ) Maybe it's the same condition as your other family members, but a treatment is always adapted to a single person (maybe for exemple, because of your age your case would be a bit special...)
Sounds like a metabolical disorder, but I think nothing to get well worried about.


Cheers, and sorry for my english

ZiP!

 

[Narz]

Organic meat? Meaning...meat from a living animal? (Such as steak, chicken etc.?)

What that means is they feed them organicly grown food (and ideally no animal byproducts) and no antibiotics, drugs, hormones, etc. Ideally (for beef) would be grass fed since cows are not built to eat wheat and corn (let alone ground up animals byproducts - which AFAIK is the cause of "mad cow" disease). Ideally also would be free range and cage free (for chickens). "Natural" (the label on meat) is a step above typical meat but only means no hormones are injected into the animal, it doesn't mean they are fed a good diet or given humane conditions. I don't buy meat for myself but I only get my cats organic (usually chicken cause it's cheap) and also fish (wild caught).

 

[volta]

If you are getting peanut butter get some that says "natural" on it. The only ingredients are peanuts and salt.

 

[Narz]

If you are getting peanut butter get some that says "natural" on it. The only ingredients are peanuts and salt.

Yeah definitely, or you can even grind your own (though the price difference is negligble).

Skippy and Jiffy and all those y's appealing to the innocent children are loaded with partially hydrogented oils which are technically plastics (hard plastic is fully hydrogenated oil), which is why they are so creamy.

Also if you like pasta you might consider trying different types (spelt, gluten free, etc.) and see if you feel better or different kinds. And of course try different fruit and vegetables from the produce section even if you don't recall liking it as a kid, tastes over change over the years. I never liked apples as a kid but eat often eat two or three a day now. I get 'em at the farmer's market. Good stuff, way better than big chain grocery produce.

Most of all, just do it for the feeling you get. Remember, junk food industries spend billions a year to keep people hooked but taking care of yourself speaks for itself.

I remember one day when I was pushing a bookcase on a hand truck thru NY stopping at a deli. I had planned to get a candy bar (for "energy" ) but saw some cantalope and was thirsty too so went with that instead. Man, what a difference.

Cheers,
Narz

 

[Urederra]

Skippy and Jiffy and all those y's appealing to the innocent children are loaded with partially hydrogented oils which are technically plastics (hard plastic is fully hydrogenated oil), which is why they are so creamy.

They are not plastics, my friend. Let's see if I can explain it to you.

Roughly speaking, animals produce fat while plants produce oils. Fats are solid, or rather waxy, whereas oils are liquids at room temperature. That is why fats are better to give the creamy consistency. The problem with fats from animal origin is that it contain cholesterol, so they are frowned upon for health issues.

Chemically, the difference between fats and oils is that fats are composed by fully saturated fatty acids, whereas oils are composed by fatty acid that contain one or several cis-double bonds.

In order to convert oils into fats, they hydrogenate the double bonds. The problem is that in the process some cis-double bonds are converted into trans-double bonds, and those trans-fatty acids trigger the endogenous cholesterol production.

Peanuts have more than enough oil to add more, anyway. What I don't know is whether they add oil or they saturate the peanut oils to give the mixture a more creamy consistency (more likely, in my opinion). I am not american and I am not a fan of peanut butter, anyway.

 

[Azadre]

Try being a vegan. It's a challenge to discipline yourself initially.

 

[Narz]

They are not plastics, my friend. Let's see if I can explain it to you.

Roughly speaking, animals produce fat while plants produce oils. Fats are solid, or rather waxy, whereas oils are liquids at room temperature. That is why fats are better to give the creamy consistency. The problem with fats from animal origin is that it contain cholesterol, so they are frowned upon for health issues.

Chemically, the difference between fats and oils is that fats are composed by fully saturated fatty acids, whereas oils are composed by fatty acid that contain one or several cis-double bonds.

In order to convert oils into fats, they hydrogenate the double bonds. The problem is that in the process some cis-double bonds are converted into trans-double bonds, and those trans-fatty acids trigger the endogenous cholesterol production.

Peanuts have more than enough oil to add more, anyway. What I don't know is whether they add oil or they saturate the peanut oils to give the mixture a more creamy consistency (more likely, in my opinion). I am not american and I am not a fan of peanut butter, anyway.

Hmm, sounds like you know more about it than me but I have heard that plastic can be made by hydrogenating oils.

By the way, some plant oils are saturated fats. Coconut oil begins to freeze (become solid) at 76 degrees. That's why it's got such a long shelf life. As opposed to flax seed oil which needs to be refridgerated right away.

 

[chinesefireball]

Try being a vegan. It's a challenge to discipline yourself initially.

It is a challenge - but if you already know that your family has a history of sugar problems, its probably better that you don't at the moment - purely because the easiest way to get your sugar levels back on track is to eat protein, and being a vegan will limit your protein options. Well unless you really like legumes and nuts and are happy eating them all the time.

 

[capslock]

Just try Going "Outside."

And not just to drive to the buffet, either. Get some exercise.

 

[Urederra]

Hmm, sounds like you know more about it than me but I have heard that plastic can be made by hydrogenating oils.

they might mean that the process for making plastics is similar to the process for hydrogenating oils. They are chemical processes, so, in a wide sense, they are similar, although there are a lot of different types of plastics and several ways to make them.

By the way, some plant oils are saturated fats. Coconut oil begins to freeze (become solid) at 76 degrees. That's why it's got such a long shelf life.

And that is why we use it to make supositories . (That is why I started the paragraph saying "roughly speaking", you cannot generalize in biology) As a pharmacist, I have prepared some supositories by using coconut oil as an excipient. That was during my training in Spain. I wonder if pharmacists in the USA know how to prepare magistral formulae and if they actually do it in the pharmacy.

Sorry for the OT I think it was interesting to tell

 

[Takhisis]

Whatever you say about natural stuff, you can include lots of "natural" things that aren´t good for your body, i.e. marihuana.

 

[Paradigne]

Sorry, let me clarify: "High Fructose Corn Syrup" and the like.

Google that and see how ir's made... no one would eat it again.

Unfortunately it is REAL hard to find foods that don't contain it. Almost everything preprocessed from salad dressings to peanut butter...

I saw a 7-up commercial stating only 5 all natural ingrediants. If they have HFCS I wanna SUE... LOL

 

[Stolen Rutters]

Try being a vegan. It's a challenge to discipline yourself initially.

Vegan is a fad in the area right now. I am unable to eat vegan myself, but for those who can pull it off, it will keep you relatively thin.