Mens Health Blog. Medical Blog

Does sugar cause diabetes? No. There is absolute consensus that sugar does not cause diabetes. Type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent diabetes) is an autoimmune health problem triggered by unknown environmental factors such as viruses. Type 2 diabetes (non-insulin dependent diabetes) is strongly inherited but lifestyle factors such as lack of exercise and overweight increase the risk of developing it. Because the dietary treatment of diabetes in the past involved strict avoidance of sugar, many people wrongly believed that sugar was in some way implicated as a cause of the disease. While sugar is off the hook, high G.I. foods are not. Studies from Harvard indicate that high G.I. diets increase the risk of developing both diabetes and heart disease.

Are rice and pasta equal as carbohydrates? In the general sense that they are both high carbohydrate, low-fat foods with valuable amounts of micronutrients, they are equal. Pasta has a higher protein content than rice but most people eat more than enough protein anyway. Pasta and rice are not equal in terms of the G.I. factors. The G.I. factor of all types of pasta is low, usually between 40 and 50. Rice, however, can have a high G.I. (80 to 90) or a low G.I. (50 to 55) depending on the variety and, in particular, its amylose content. In Australia there are all types of rice available and it is not always possible to identify the variety on the label. Calrose rice has a high G.I. and Basmati rice has a low G.I.

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Summary of main points.

• There is a variety of factors which influence the fat loss response to exercise:

Fixed (age, gender, genetics, race) or variable (climate, diet, degree of obesity, fitness level). Exercise parameters (frequency, amount, time and type) can also alter the fat loss response within this range of influencing factors.

• There are arguments for and against resistance training for fat loss, however resistance training for fat loss probably has limited value relative to aerobic exercise.

The general indications for physical activity for fat loss is becoming clear that general prescriptions, while necessary, are insufficient alone as there is a variety of different responses to exercise within individuals and groups of individuals. One main influencing factor discussed previously is gender, with females having a lower fat loss response to exercise than males. There are a variety of other factors which can also significantly influence prescriptions for exercise for fat loss. These can be divided into ‘fixed’ and Variable’ factors. A third influencing factor is differences in prescribed exercise parameters.

There is a general need for more physical activity in anyone needing to reduce body fat, but the frequency, amount, time and type of activity can vary according to fixed and variable factors appropriate to the individual. While there is no strict science associated with this type of individual prescription at the moment, there are certain guidelines which can assist those working in the area in preparing individualised prescription.

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1. Whatever is being done to reduce obesity is not working and the developed world will be facing an explosion of diabetes and other diseases if obesity continues to increase.

2. Programs to decrease fatness should be markedly different to programs to increase fitness.

3. Body weight is only a surrogate measure of fatness and the term overfatness’ should be used where possible.

4. The aetiology of obesity is complex and it is particularly important to work closely with specialists when dealing with the severely obese.

5. Obesity and overfatness have complex, multi-factorial causes with biological, environmental and behavioural determinants suggesting that any notion of these being due to sloth or gluttony alone are now outdated.

6. Obese individuals need to understand that their degree of overfatness is genetically determined to a significant degree and that achieving a slim body requires a lifelong swim against the twin adverse tides of genes and environment. Realistic fat loss goals need to be set.

7. A population needs to change its environment to reduce the prevalence of obesity. Even small changes spread across the whole population have major influences.

8. There is a need to re-orient thinking about weight control from a simplistic, energy balance approach to a more complex, multi-dimensional, holistic approach involving long term lifestyle modification.

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Probably the most spectacular rejuvenation therapy of all times on a mass scale is the so-called Gerovital therapy. Gerovital is a procaine preparation, the rejuvenating effects of which were discovered by the Rumanian doctor, Professor Ana Asian, M.D.

Professor Ana Asian is very popular in Europe. Thousands upon thousands of people from all over the world travel to her Rejuvenation Institute in Bucharest and receive Gerovital treatments in hyper-modern clinics under doctors’ supervision. Dr. Asian says that she has treated over 40,000 people in her Institute.

Dr. Asian discovered quite accidently that procaine, previously commonly used as an anesthetic agent, had age-retarding property. She injected specially designed doses of procaine, which she named H3, into patients showing signs of degeneration and premature aging, and observed that stiff, immobile joints became flexible, pain disappeared and the patients gained new energy and vitality. Dr. Asian has improved her original H3 formula and uses only Gerovital, which she claims has been demonstrated in tests in Italy and U.S.A. as being superior to pure procaine. Gerovital has been used in Rumania for 17 years, and presently 40,000 persons all over Rumania are under continuous prophylactic treatment with Gerovital. Dr. Asian claims that Gerovital prolongs life and gives more energy, vitality and zest for living to older people. She recommends starting Gerovital treatments for preventive purposes at the age of 40. Between 40 and 60 Gerovital can be taken in tablet form. After 60, when absorbtion ability is diminished, she recommends injections.

According to Dr. Asian, aging processes start when the body’s ability to produce new cells and to replenish the old ones is diminished. Gerovital helps the body to regenerate new cell production, which is the reason for its rejuvenating effect.

I met Dr. Ana Asian in Sweden, in the summer 1968, where she lectured on her rejuvenating method. She is a living advertisement for her drug and her therapy. At 72 she looks as though she is in her late fifties. Her face is quite free from wrinkles and even the skin on her arms is perfectly smooth and firm as on a younger person. I have ‘ also talked with several persons who undertook Gerovital therapy, and they all seemed to be enthusiastic about its revitalizing and j rejuvenating effect.

Although Gerovital treatment is not endorsed by official medicine in most countries, it has an official sanction in Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, East Germany, and Rumania.

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High blood pressure is often called “executive’s disease.” The overburdened, high-pressured executives of our competitive society become easy prey for high blood pressure, circulatory crisis, angina pectoris, “nervous breakdown,” and heart attack.

Stress in the form of continuous worry, psychic pressure, fear, emotional strain, constant tension, combined with regular pick-meups in the form of coffee, cokes, cigarettes, and cocktails, will eventually throw the whole system off balance, physically and emotionally. A devitalized diet of over-processed foods adds to the total picture of constant stress. Insomnia, discontentment, restlessness, weak concentration, headaches, chronic fatigue and irritability will be the first symptoms, eventually followed by high blood pressure and cardiac failure. Nature strikes back in revenge for the violation of the basic biological laws. The body raises the blood pressure to cope with the adverse condition of physical and emotional stress.

It has been clinically demonstrated that any form of stress can increase blood pressure. Anger and fear, smoking, many modern drugs such as cortisone and ACTH, even some vitamins (vitamin E) can raise blood pressure. Unexpressed negative emotions or suppressed hostile feelings can cause blood pressure to go up.

It is self-evident that the underlying causes of emotional origin must be corrected before high blood pressure can be treated successfully. Often, a long holiday “away from it all,” free from responsibilities and business pressures, will do more than any drug in the world. This is why European Spas, mineral baths, and reconditioning centers are so effective in restoring the health of tired and over-stressed executives.

If the biological treatments outlined in this chapter are not successful, it would be wise to look for possible emotional causes of high blood pressure and eliminate them in order to achieve a complete recovery.

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