Fit Tip

The simple carbohydrates, monosaccharides and disaccharides, make up sugars and other sweet-tasting substances. Each has three forms of sugars. The monosaccharides consist of glucose, fructose, and galactose, while the disaccharides consist of maltose, sucrose, and lactose. These sugars add sweetness to food, which makes it appetizing.Moderate consumption of sugar, about 5-10% of total food intake, is not in any way dangerous to healthy human beings. However, it can make fat loss a more difficult task and can be associated with many other factors that are harmful: obesity, the displacement of needed nutrients, and tooth decay. And most simple carbohydrates contain insubstantial amounts of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. This is why candy, soda, cakes, and cookies are often called "empty calories," calories with little or no nutritional value.It is important to recognize that all caloric sweeteners including fructose, honey, and many others are sugars too.

The sugar amount may or may not be revealed in a food products ingredient list. But if you look at the ingredients, and one of the many forms of sugar is the first ingredient, you'll know that this is the primary substance in that product and thus does not provide a good source of nutrition. Also, be on the look out for several different forms of sugar listed separately, such as cornstarch, sucrose, and high-fructose corn syrup.Also note that even though sugar is the main ingredient of the product, it may not appear first or even second on the ingredient label. Rather it may be included several times throughout the list in different forms.

The following is a list of other forms of sugars that you should be aware of when reading labels: brown sugar, confectioners sugar, corn sweeteners, turbinado, raw or white sugar, molasses, maple sugar, maltose, levulose, lactose, invert sugar, honey, high-fructose corn syrup, granulated sugar, fructose, galactose, glucose, and dextrose.A diet lower in sugars and higher in complex carbohydrates, fiber, and protein is almost always lower in fat, lower in calories, higher in energy, and higher in vitamins and minerals. These factors, working together, contribute to a lower rate of obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and tooth decay.

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Fitness Q&A

Q: I have a problem with a restriction of movement with my right arm due to a break in my humerus, just above my elbow.  I have been examined by my orthopedist and he has said my bone is solid.  I have trouble with full extensions and form with shoulder press and tricep extensions.  I have a concern that I am not receiving benefit from these exercises.  Could you give me some suggestions that would help me become more confident exercising those muscle groups?

A: It sounds as if you have more limited range of motion (ROM) in your elbow than needing to strengthen, if I understand your problem correctly. I would focus more on obtaining full ROM first before trying too much resistance training.

Sitting with a 3-5 pound hand weight with your elbow supported on a table, let the elbow slowly extend while holding the weight and let it relax. You are trying to let the arm go out straight and stretch for 30-45
seconds.  Repeat 3-5 times. After having done this and increasing ROM, actively work on bending just a little and then back out into extension.

Success Quote of the Week

"When you come to the edge of all the light you know, and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: there will be something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly.”

- Barbara J. Winter

Healthy Recipe

Breakfast Enchiladas

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 8 whole wheat tortillas
• 1 cup grated non/lowfat cheese
• 1 cooked potato, diced
• 1/3 cup green pepper, chopped
• 1 1/3 cup onion, chopped
• 2 whole mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups fat-free egg substitute or 16 egg whites
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons whole-wheat flour

Directions:

• Coat a large nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray (nonfat).
  
• Preheat over medium-high heat. Add potatoes, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, and black pepper to skillet, and stir for 2-4 minutes.
  
• Reduce heat to medium-low, and add the egg substitute or egg whites. Cook for 1-2 minutes without stirring.
  
• Then, gently scramble, cook for 1-3 additional minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, and cover to keep
  warm.
  
• To make the sauce, place the tomato sauce, 3/4 cup of the water, and chili powder in skillet. Place over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil.
  
• Combine flour and remaining 1/4 cup of water in a jar, and shake until smooth. Slowly stir in the flour mixture to the tomato sauce, and cook until bubbly. Reduce heat to low to keep sauce warm.
  
• Coat a baking dish (9-x-13-inch) with nonstick cooking spray (nonfat), and set aside. Using tongs, dip a tortilla in sauce for 5-10 seconds, coating both sides. Lay the tortilla on a flat surface, and spoon 1/3 cup of filling along the bottom.
  
• Roll the tortilla up and place seam side down in dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
• Pour the leftover sauce over the filled tortillas, and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 9-12 minutes.

Nutritional Information:

• Serving size: 2 enchiladas
• Calories: 285
• Fat: 1.5 g
• Cholesterol: 10 mg
• Protein: 30 g
• Carbs: 33 g
• Fiber: 4.5 g
• Sodium: 250 mg

Fitness Article

By Tom Mangold
BBC Two's Correspondent

Imagine this: an organic pill that kills the appetite and attacks obesity. It has no known side-effects, and contains a molecule that fools your brain into believing you are full. Deep inside the African Kalahari desert, grows an ugly cactus called the Hoodia. It thrives in extremely high temperatures, and takes years to mature. The San Bushmen of the Kalahari, one of the world's oldest and most primitive tribes, had been eating the Hoodia for thousands of years, to stave off hunger during long hunting trips. When South African scientists were routinely testing it, they discovered the plant contained a previously unknown molecule, which has since been christened P 57. The license was sold to a Cambridgeshire bio-pharmaceutical company, Phytopharm, who in turn sold the development and marketing rights to the giant Pfizer Corporation.

Fortune cactus

A molecule in the cactus makes you feel full. When I traveled to the Kalahari, I met families of the San bushmen. It is a sad, impoverished and displaced tribe, still unaware they are sitting on top of a goldmine. But if the Hoodia works, the 100,000 San strung along the edge of the Kalahari will become overnight millionaires on royalties negotiated by their South African lawyer Roger Chennells. And they will need all the help they can to secure the money. Currently, many bushmen smoke large quantities of marijuana, suffer from alcoholism, and have neither possessions nor any sense of the value of money. The truth is no-one has fully grasped what the magic molecule means for their counterparts in the developed world.

Blood sugar

According to the British Heart Foundation 17% of men and 21% of women are obese, while 46% of men and 32% of women are overweight. So the drug's marketing potential speaks for itself. Phytopharm's Dr Richard Dixey explained how P.57 actually works: "There is a part of your brain, the hypothalamus. Within that mid-brain there are nerve cells that sense glucose sugar. "When you eat, blood sugar goes up because of the food, these cells start firing and now you are full. "What the Hoodia seems to contain is a molecule that is about 10,000 times as active as glucose. "It goes to the mid-brain and actually makes those nerve cells fire as if you were full. But you have not eaten. Nor do you want to."

Clinical trials

Dixey organized the first animal trials for Hoodia. Rats, a species that will eat literally anything, stopped eating completely. When the first human clinical trial was conducted, a morbidly obese group of people were placed in a "phase 1 unit", a place as close to prison as it gets. All the volunteers could do all day was read papers, watch television, and eat. Half were given Hoodia, half placebo. Fifteen days later, the Hoodia group had reduced their calorie intake by 1000 a day. It was a stunning success.

The cactus test

In order to see for ourselves, we drove into the desert, four hours north of Capetown in search of the cactus. Once there, we found an unattractive plant which sprouts about 10 tentacles, and is the size of a long cucumber. Each tentacle is covered in spikes which need to be carefully peeled. The San will finally throw off thousands of years of oppression, poverty, social isolation and discrimination

Roger Chennells, lawyer

Inside is a slightly unpleasant-tasting, fleshy plant. At about 1800hrs I ate about half a banana size - and later so did my cameraman. Soon after, we began the four hour drive back to Capetown. The plant is said to have a feel-good almost aphrodisiac quality, and I have to say, we felt good. But more significantly, we did not even think about food. Our brains really were telling us we were full. It was a magnificent deception. Dinner time came and went. We reached our hotel at about midnight and went to bed without food. And the next day, neither of us wanted nor ate breakfast. I ate lunch but without appetite and very little pleasure. Partial then full appetite returned slowly after 24 hours.

The future

Mr Chennells is ecstatic: "The San will finally throw off thousands of years of oppression, poverty, social isolation and discrimination. "We will create trust funds with their Hoodia royalties and the children will join South Africa's middle classes in our lifetime. "I envisage Hoodia cafes in London and New York, salads will be served and the Hoodia cut like cucumber on to the salad. "It will need flavoring to counter its unpleasant taste, but if it has no side effects and no cumulative side-effects."