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The Simple Switches

16/2/2017

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Rice, through history, is the crop that has feed the most people in the world throughout human's agricultural development into present day. It is still the biggest traded grain for human consumption and accounts for 20% of all calories consumed throughout the world.
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The most common varieties are classified by size and texture such as long, medium, and short-grained, and by the strain such as white, brown, red, black or purple. There are also specialty rices, that help make up the more than 40,000 varieties.

The nutritional value can range depending on many factors including the type of rice, the soil the rice is grown in, if and how the rice is processed, the manner it is enriched, and how it is prepared while cooking.

After rice is harvested, the hull must be removed in order for it to be edible. If the rice is milled further, the bran and germ are removed, turning it to white rice with a much longer shelf life, which is the kind of rice that most people eat around the world.


Unfortunately white rice, although popular, actually has the lowest levels of health-promoting nutrients. The bran is the outer layer of the rice kernel and this important component of rice that contains nutrients like protein, fat, and dietary fiber as well as minerals.


Some of the most noticeable ranges in nutrients between white and brown rice are the vast difference of magnesium, phosphorous, Vit, E, and fibre, brown rice being superior in all.


Making a switch from white to brown rice has been shown to positively impact your health. This includes lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes(1), decreasing cardiovascular risk by improving cholesterol levels (2), lowering blood pressure(3) and antioxidant activity, while providing protection against inflammation (4) and cancer.

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Lets take a quick look at some popular varieties of rice.
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White Rice

White rice is milled and polished, which alters the flavor, appearance, texture and helps to extend it's shelf life. Removing the bran, germ and husk prevents the rice from spoiling. The downfall of these processing technique is however, is that white rice is stripped of iron, zinc, magnesium and other important vitamins and nutrients found in the bran, or outer shell.


Even when white rice is 'nutrient-fortified', which is an optional or voluntary additions by manufacturers in Canada (5) , it does not match the nutritional density of whole grain rice and lacks the bran, fibre, and healthy fats which has been shown to provide the impressive health benefits because many of these phytonutrients are lost in the milling process. Short grain white rice also has a high glycemic index compared to whole grain rice such as brown, red, wild and basmati rice, since it does not contain the fibre or fat from the bran, which slows down the absorption of sugars into the bloodstream.



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Brown Rice

Brown rice undergoes minimal processing. This means that most of the nutrients including calcium, magnesium, thiamine and potassium are retained. The protein, healthy fats, and fibre also remain in the rice, which gives brown rice the shelf life of apx 6 months instead of the almost indefinite life of white rice. Which makes me think; really how old is the white rice we're eating? Months? Years? Who can tell??

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Red Rice
Red rice is a special variety of rice, which derives its rich red color from anthocyanins. Anthocyanins not only provide the rice’s unique color, but also deliver protective antioxidant properties and anti-carcinogenic activities, which aid in cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer prevention. Red rice has 10 times the antioxidants of brown rice. Red rice is also nutrient dense with 20% of the daily values for magnesium, phosphorus.



Black or Purple Rice
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Black and purple rice derives its rich color from anthocyanins, tocorols (a part of vit E), and other phytochemicals which are located in the inner portion of the rice bran. Black rice has a deep black color and usually turns deep purple when cooked. Its dark purple color is primarily due to its anthocyanin content, which is higher by weight than that of other colored grains. Black rice is high in nutritional value and is a source of iron, vitamin E, and antioxidants( even more than in blueberries).The bran hull (outermost layer) of black rice contains one of the highest levels of anthocyanin antioxidants found in food.

This rice grain has a similar amount of fibre to brown rice and, like brown rice, has a mild, nutty taste. Black rice contains essential amino acids like lysine and tryptophan; vitamins such as thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), and folic acid (B9); and dietary minerals including iron, zinc, calcium, manganese, and phosphorus. It's also super delicious in salads!

So the next time your shopping, pick up a little colour.


If you are currently restricting fibre or if your doctor has prescribe a low-fiber diet; parboiled rice might be a good option. Some of the reasons someone might be on a fibre restricted diet;


  • You have narrowing of the bowel due to an inflammatory disease
  • You have had bowel surgery
  • You are having treatment, such as radiation, that damages or irritates your digestive tract
  • Flare ups from inflammatory disordered like Crohn's, IBS, Colitis, or others​
​As your digestive system returns to normal, you usually can slowly add more fiber back into your diet but while you are on a fibre restricted diet consider a high quality parboiled rice.

Parboiled Rice

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Parboiled rice is also called 'converted rice', which means that it has been partially boiled or steamed at high temperatures in the husk. The three steps include soaking, steaming and drying, and then removing the husk of the rice. This process enhances the nutrition density by driving certain nutrients from the bran to the endosperm, making it about 80 percent nutritionally similar to brown rice but with a better source of fiber, calcium, potassium, and B-6 than regular white rice. It also has a lower glycemic index than white rice.
Try switching all white rice to parboiled and reap the benefits of this simple switch.


There are different lengths of the rice in which varieties are sorted, and it seems to correlate with longer strains of rice having a lower glycemic index, opposed to the short grain “sticky rice” having a much higher glycemic index rating. And the darker or wild rice varieties also having much lower GI ratings than white rice.


There are a lot of factors that applied to how the glucose is ushered into your cells after digestion, like what else is in your bowl, but in most part, keeping the GI or GL lower can help regulate insulin production in the body, and we all know that keeping this regulated, avoiding the dips and spikes, is so important for health. We don't just want to eat to survive, we truly want to thrive.


Rice of all size, colour or origin is best sought organic, one of the staple crops around the world that is conventionally heavily sprayed or contaminated. Rice crops are known to have high levels of arsenic and the best way to flush this compound out is by soaking your rice over night. Rinsing several times just like any other grain. Then cook as directed. 


So when its time to purchase some rice for the kitchen, try something new, have fun, and nourish your temple well!

In Health,

~Rebecca




References;
  1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3024208/

  1. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/fiber/
  2. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/resources/heart/hbp-dash-in-brief-html

  3. ://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4018597/

  4. http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/labelling/food-labelling-for-industry/nutrient-content/reference-information/eng/1389908857542/1389908896254?chap=1
1 Comment

Need to Stabilize Your Blood Sugar? You Might Not Even Know it..

20/3/2016

0 Comments

 
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Googling your symptoms? It seems to be fairly common place, even after talking to your doctor. Are you still struggling with ongoing symptoms like;

Fatigue
Sleep Issues
Headaches or Migraines
Anxiety or Deppression
Nervousness
ADD
Candida
Skin rashes

PCOS or Fertility Issues?

Blood sugar balance is a good place to start, even if you are within good range at the doctors office, you may still feel the effects of blood sugar imbalance through out the day. A high glycemic meal (sugars from refined carbohydrates digest too quickly and need to be ushered into the cells by way of increasing insulin) or waiting too long between eating, or even eating too much of a good thing, like copious amounts of healthy whole carbs, can catapult us into increase insulin production with our cells being over burdened with food (glucose) and becoming insulin resistant.

When blood sugars dip, after a big spike in insulin or waiting to long between meals, our body produces more cortisol to help restore blood sugar levels. This is why so many people experience highs and lows of energy after they eat or the long gap between eating.

The effects of the raised insulin and cortisol levels perpetuate a vicious cycle and push the imbalance further from healthy center. Sugar cravings for the immediate energy need, weight gain, stress, and inflammation can, in a lot of cases, be associated to blood sugar imbalance.

Lets look at the 3 main components of food; fat, protein, and carbohydrates.

They are all equally important in the diet and need to be tended to in different ratios in different genealogies, and individuals so I will not state here what macronutrient ratios might be best for the masses. But we can clearly see that refined grains are damaging to health.


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Throughout all ratios of macronutrients, no matter who you are, it is important to balance erratic blood sugar. We see a prevalence of it in “western diet” not for the increase of complex carbohydrate, but in the huge increase in added sugar, processed grains, trans fats, and higher over consumption of all food, healthy or not.

Foods that are primarily made of carbohydrate are;

Bread
Pasta
Cereal
Grains in general (quinoa, oats, millet, corn, spelt, kamut)
Rice
Fruits
Vegetables

Sugar, (whether it is white or brown) is also a complete carbohydrate, called sucrose, as is the sugar in dairy milk is, lactose.

What happens when we eat Carbohydrate?

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Enzymes that start with salivary amylase in the mouth, them pancreatic amylase and maltase in the small intestine,break down carbohydrates into smaller and smaller units of sugars, until they are broken down into the smallest sugar molecule glucose that can now be absorbed through the intestinal lining resulting in an increase of circulating blood sugar.

Foods like simple carbohydrate will likely raise your blood sugar levels quickly. Simple carbohydrate are things like sugar, processed grains that are stripped away of their fibre like white bread, white rice, crackers, pastas, cookies, ect.

When blood sugar goes up quickly you might feel agitated or sleepy, then you are more likely to feel the effects of a rapid drop in blood sugar, feeling irritable (hangry), light headed, nauseated, foggy, lack of focus, or get headaches.  
This happens because you have an amount of glucose that has been delivered to the bloodstream is ready to be ushered into the cells by way of insulin, once in the cell it is converted to energy for your body and brain to use. If the amount of glucose in the blood exceeds what insulin can usher in to the cells, the body will respond first with the pancreas making more insulin. If this continues as a regular pattern, the cells will become less responsive to it, becoming insulin resistant leaving glucose to circulate in the blood. It doesn't circulate for long though, it soon finds it's way to the liver where it is stored as glycogen (glycogen is used when your blood sugar drops as a reserve). When your liver is at maximum capacity for glycogen stores it spills over and is converted to fat that is stored around your belly, hips and thighs, as well as around your vital organs, or converted to excess cholesterol in the blood. That's right, not all cholesterol is animal sourced, it depends on your diet and what you body does with it.


By eating carbohydrate that still have their fibre intact, whole grains, most vegetables, and fibreous fruits like apple and pears, can slow the the digestion of sugars. Even better is pairing these items with small amounts of proteins, fat, or additional fibre for better blood sugar stabilization over longer periods of time.


The time from eating something and having your insulin rise and then fall again is somewhere between 2 and 4 hours depending on what has been eaten and ones own metabolism. So it is important to eat complex carbohydrate as they fuel your body, and your brain more over runs on glucose.

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The brain, which accounts for 2 percent of our body weight, sucks down roughly 20 percent of our daily calories. A picky eater, it demands a constant supply of glucose, primarily obtained from recently eaten carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, grains etc.). Only in extreme instances of deprivation will the brain use other substances for fuel.

If your body's glucose stores run low, you body will break muscle down to obtain the glucose as opposed to taking it from fat store.. As it is important to include high quality carbs in your diet, it is just as important to not take in more than you are using.

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The balance is exactly that, balance and a few different things can throw this process off track;


~If you eat too little or infrequently, like skipping breakfast, going too long in-between meals, or skipping meals altogether, can cause dips in energy increasing circulating cortisol (stress hormone) and increase muscle loss.

~ If you eat too much too often this can lead to higher blood sugar, higher insulin, possible insulin resistance, and weight gain, timing is key.

~Stress and high cortisol can affect insulin functioning properly making it more likely that you will gain weight in the midsection.

~Leaky gut and gut dysbiosis (bacterial imbalance) can also lead to insulin resistance and more likely weight gain.

All of these things can create the downward spiral of optimal health, for instance decreased insulin function and increase circulating blood sugars can lead to increase fat storage, fat cells store inflammatory mediators, inflammatory mediators produce pain and swelling, and pain and swelling reduces insulin's effectiveness even further.


Even if you think your blood sugar is fine, or your Dr. says you are within normal range during a glucose fasting test, you might find that when you become aware of how you feel after you eat and in-between, you are likely to increase your energy, start having success with sticky weight, better overall energy, clearer thinking, happier mood.


Here are my simple suggestions to help stabilize your blood sugar;

Keep a food diary, mark it in your phone, on a calendar, a book you keep near your bed. Something, anything, just note everything you eat, and how you feel that day. For an easy log please visit the resource page and print out a few “Food and Mood” trackers for your convenience.
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Eat more fibre, beans, dark leafy greens, nuts and seeds, will slow down glucose digestion, increase these healthy foods and you may not have as much room to eat excess simple carbs.

Now it's time to start trimming, look at the refined sugars and carbohydrates you are eating, are they refined, can they be switch to whole grains and natural sweeteners. This is the time to clear the pantry of cookies, boxed cereals, crips, crackers, white pasta, white rice, white bread, see a pattern...

Get breakfast in order, add healthy fibres to your diet and then mindfully start removing the offenders, with each shopping trip replacing whole foods with health damaging packaged products..Without breakfast and fibre foods as a routine, you will not have great success with clearing out the crap, and I truly want you to succeed!! Everything after this will be much easier to achieve! I promise!!

Make sure you have a 4 o'clock snack, to many of my clients eat 3 healthy meals a day but are being held back form their goals with what is usually an easy fix, this is my biggest suggestion of small change with big results.

Between breakfasts and lunch there is usually only 4 hour in between, but from lunch to the time they work overtime, check kids are doing homework, stop at the store for a few ingredients on the way home and then cook a homemade meal..... it's usually 7 hours after lunch! Waiting this long doesn't help if you are trying to be mindful of your portion sizes and definitely doesn't help blood sugar regulation, pushing those cortisol levels up just in time for the commute home, at that point ready to eat anything and everything!!!

A small healthy snack at 4 will curb the hours without nourishment helping to stabilize blood sugars, helping to make better decisions at the grocery store, in the kitchen, servings on the plate, and mood.

Include more healthy fats in the diet, it may seem counter-intuitive to eat more fat if you are looking to lose weight but the inclusion of omega 3 containing foods like flaxseeds, walnuts, chia seeds, and wild salmon if you eat it, will make you feel full for longer, help stabilize blood sugars, and satisfy your brain chemistry.
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Cinnamon it up!! Cinnamon acts like insulin in the body, add it to your coffee, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, homemade treats, teas and anything else you can sprinkle this magic on.. There are compounds in cinnamon that act like insulin thus reducing the need to release large amounts of it and it boosts insulin effectiveness. Small amounts daily help insulin resistance, and blood sugar stabilization and will help burn carbohydrate more efficiently.​

No healthy lifestyle is complete without inclusion of some exercise, exercise has been shown to not only increase mood and decrease stress, but it has been studied greatly in the effects of stabilizing blood sugars. Studies show that exercising as little as 20 mins per day over a 2 week period can lower circulating blood sugars by 20 percent.

Find something you enjoy to do, engage in it regularly, and watch the swings come into balance with these 8 easy steps..

If you want a more focused plan, with tips for success, meal plans, shopping lists, diet analysis, and feedback, please feel free to contact us here at Wild Seed Holistic Health. We want to guide and empower you on your way to optimal wellness!



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    Rebecca L. Thornton

    I wanted a venue to share my thoughts on what I have learned and lived  in life. 

Wild Seed Holistic Health respectfully acknowledges that we work, live & play in the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Mi’kmaq Wəlastəkwiyik (Maliseet), and Passamaquoddy Peoples first signed with the British Crown in 1726. The treaties did not deal with surrender of lands and resources but in fact recognized Mi’kmaq and Wəlastəkwiyik (Maliseet) title and established the rules for what was to be an ongoing relationship between nations.