The hazards of a juice detox

Thinking of signing up for a fruit juice cleanse? You might first consider how your body reacts to a week with no protein or fat and fewer than 1,000 calories a day.

After the first sip
Your brain's hunger signals are answered with a dump of pure fruit-juice sugar. And don't get any ideas—veggie-based body cleanses aren't any healthier.

The sweet stuff prompts the pancreas to squirt out insulin, which moves sugar—now in your blood in the form of glucose—into your cells.

After 30 minutes
As your cells suck up the glucose, your blood sugar level can start to plummet and you may feel dizzy.

Meanwhile, lacking enough calories, your body is operating off its supply of glycogen, a form of short-term energy stored in the liver and muscles.

After two days
With each shot of juice, your insulin levels skyrocket, then crash. Your glycogen stores are pretty much gone, leaving your tank on empty—and you feeling weak and listless.

Since you're getting only about half the calories you need, your body draws on two long-term power sources: triglycerides, a type of energy stored in fat cells (woo-hoo!), and protein, taken straight from your muscles (oops). You begin to lose muscle mass, even if you're still exercising every day.

After three days
Your brain is not happy. It enters into semi-starvation mode and gobbles ketones, fuel that comes from the breakdown of fat. Ketones work, but they're like low-grade gasoline; as a result, you may feel unfocused or irritable. (Any "mental clarity" is likely due to a strong placebo effect.)

Sans a fresh protein infusion, your brain is also lacking amino acids, the raw materials that neurotransmitters need to maintain your mood. If you're prone to depression, you may start feeling blue.

The proteins in your shrinking muscles break down into ammonia and uric acid, unwelcome chemicals that invade your bloodstream. Now your kidneys are busy detoxing your detox.

Stay near the bathroom: The juice's high carbohydrate load causes a surfeit of water to enter the intestines. That extra H2O in your gut means you're apt to get diarrhea.

After four days
With no food to digest, your small intestine feels ignored. Its villi—the rows of tiny fibers that move food elements into the blood—start to atrophy. Your diarrhea may get worse, leading to dehydration... and there goes your rosy glow.

On the eighth day
Solid food! But uh-oh—you've lost muscle. Even if you go back to your regular eating habits, you now have less muscle mass to burn those calories; instead, the calories are more likely to be turned into fat. (Hence, one reason yo-yo dieting makes it harder to lose weight: Your reduced muscle-to-fat ratio messes up your metabolism and makes calories much harder to work off.)

Sources: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/detox-diet-side-effects?cm_mmc=Facebook-_-womenshealth-_-content-weightloss-_-JuiceCleanseEffects

The hazards of a juice detox

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Thinking of signing up for a fruit juice cleanse? You might first consider how your body reacts to a week with no protein or fat and fewer than 1,000 calories a day.

After the first sip
Your brain's hunger signals are answered with a dump of pure fruit-juice sugar. And don't get any ideas—veggie-based body cleanses aren't any healthier.

The sweet stuff prompts the pancreas to squirt out insulin, which moves sugar—now in your blood in the form of glucose—into your cells.

After 30 minutes
As your cells suck up the glucose, your blood sugar level can start to plummet and you may feel dizzy.

Meanwhile, lacking enough calories, your body is operating off its supply of glycogen, a form of short-term energy stored in the liver and muscles.

After two days
With each shot of juice, your insulin levels skyrocket, then crash. Your glycogen stores are pretty much gone, leaving your tank on empty—and you feeling weak and listless.

Since you're getting only about half the calories you need, your body draws on two long-term power sources: triglycerides, a type of energy stored in fat cells (woo-hoo!), and protein, taken straight from your muscles (oops). You begin to lose muscle mass, even if you're still exercising every day.

After three days
Your brain is not happy. It enters into semi-starvation mode and gobbles ketones, fuel that comes from the breakdown of fat. Ketones work, but they're like low-grade gasoline; as a result, you may feel unfocused or irritable. (Any "mental clarity" is likely due to a strong placebo effect.)

Sans a fresh protein infusion, your brain is also lacking amino acids, the raw materials that neurotransmitters need to maintain your mood. If you're prone to depression, you may start feeling blue.

The proteins in your shrinking muscles break down into ammonia and uric acid, unwelcome chemicals that invade your bloodstream. Now your kidneys are busy detoxing your detox.

Stay near the bathroom: The juice's high carbohydrate load causes a surfeit of water to enter the intestines. That extra H2O in your gut means you're apt to get diarrhea.

After four days
With no food to digest, your small intestine feels ignored. Its villi—the rows of tiny fibers that move food elements into the blood—start to atrophy. Your diarrhea may get worse, leading to dehydration... and there goes your rosy glow.

On the eighth day
Solid food! But uh-oh—you've lost muscle. Even if you go back to your regular eating habits, you now have less muscle mass to burn those calories; instead, the calories are more likely to be turned into fat. (Hence, one reason yo-yo dieting makes it harder to lose weight: Your reduced muscle-to-fat ratio messes up your metabolism and makes calories much harder to work off.)

Sources: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/detox-diet-side-effects?cm_mmc=Facebook-_-womenshealth-_-content-weightloss-_-JuiceCleanseEffects

Reducing High Blood Pressure

 

 

 

A lot of Nigerians currently suffer from High Blood Pressure (HBP) but don’t understand the impact of this deadly disease or what they can do to reduce it. So, what’s it about?

HBP is simply the increase of the force of blood pushing against blood vessel walls.HBP/hypertension causes the heart to work harder to pump blood and contributes to hardening of the arteries and to the development of heart failure.

Normal pressure – less than 120 over 80 (120/80)

Pre hypertension – 120-139 over 80-89

Stage 1 HBP – 140-159 over 90-99

Stage 2 HBP – 160 and above over 100 & above

Exact causes of HBP are unknown but the following factors aid in the development.

Smoking, being overweight, lack of physical activity, too much salt in diet, too much alcohol consumption, stress, old age, Genetics, family history, chronic kidney disease, thyroid disorders.

So, what can you do to reduce it?

1.      Lose extra pounds and watch your waistline.

HBP increases as weight increases. In general, the more weight you lose, the lower your blood pressure. Also, losing weight helps makes your blood pressure needs more effective.

In general, men are at risk in waist measurement greater than 40 inches whilst Women are at risk if greater than 35 Inches.

2.      Exercise regularly. At least 30-60 minutes. Most days of the week.

3.      Eat a healthy diet. Eat a diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetable and low fat dairy products. There’s a diet programs usually recommended for people with HBP called DASH (dietary approaches to stop hypertension).Google it and try and follow this asap if you are hypertensive.

4.      Reduce salt in your diet. Small reduction can reduce your BP. To reduce salt, consider these tips: track how much salt you use a day, read food labels, and eat fewer processed foods (avoid potato chip, frozen dimers, bacon and processes meats). Use herbs and spices, don’t use salt.

5.      Limit alcohol consumption

In small amount alcohol can actually lower your BP. But in above moderate amount, it raises BP and can reduce the efficacy of your BP medication. If you must drink, track your alcohol consumption, avoid bingeing and if you’re a heavy drinker, reduce.

6.      Avoid smoking as nicotine increases your BP.

7.      Reduce caffeine consumption.

8.      Reduce stress.

9.      Monitor your BP by using a kit at home.