Bodycomp News & Views Issue#16 June 2011

In this issue:

  1. Is sugar a poison?
  2. Spinach

 

Spinach:

I must be getting old. I now find myself purchasing bunches of spinach, washing them, and then completing the vital third step - preparing and eating.

It's still not my favourite vegetable, despite repeating drownings in butter and parmesan, but it's a nutritional powerhouse and is very subtle when lightly cooked.

Recipe suggestions:

  • salad with a light vinaigrette dressing with crumbled feta and strawberry slices
  • in your smoothie - it turns it green but how else can you not notice eating 6 servings
  • in scrambled eggs - an entire bunch will fit into a scramble for two people

Nutrition (per bunch - approx. 340g)

    • calories:78
    • fat:1g
    • total carbohydrate 12g
    • fibre 7g
    • protein 10g

     

 

 

 

Is sugar a poison?

In recent years, sugar in all of its various forms has become the new villain in the increasing obesity epidemic. This may be with good reason - our processed food society has been consuming ever increasing amounts of the stuff as high fructose corn syrup in soda pop and prepared foods, large amounts of fructose in juice, and in many other foods that in has not been traditionally added to. This has occurred for many reasons - North Americans have an increasing desire for the taste of "sweet" in their food choices. Sugar is also heavily subsidized by government and is a cheap additive to makes foods last longer.

Nutritionally, it is pure carbohydrate, carrying no vitamins, minerals or fibre. It is quickly absorbed into the blood, unlike the sugar in fruit or vegetables that is more slowly broken away from the fibre during digestion. As a result, the calories in refined sugar don't make your stomach feel full and satiated. Obviously, most of us are able to tolerate a signifigant intake of sugar without an immediate onset of problems, but as my favourite 16th century physician Paracelsus puts it:

"The dose makes the poison"

Here's an interesting take on the sugar issue by Robert H. Lustig (warning - it's over an hour long, but worth your time)