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Lose your Love Handles
Bub Hub E-Newsletter, May 2008, Issue 68 - Article 1



Love handles - we've all have had them at some point - or perhaps constantly battle to hide them - so what causes them?
Our environment has changed - the supermarket is a minefield, constructed to lead us into temptation, full of highly processed foods engineered by food technologists to deliver maximum profits and often negligible nutritional values. There is way too much food available, with too many companies fighting for a share of a market that already provides twice what anyone needs. The fact that fruit and vegetables generate typically lower profits may be part of the problem.

















The default environment for food is cheap junk food in large amounts - what we need is to make healthy food the norm with junk food the outsider. The strength is to educate the population to see how their environment influences the food choices they make. The food industry certainly contributes, but it is hard to know whether the industry is responding to demand from consumers, or is reshaping food preferences.

Improving the quality of junk food is not the solution - vitamin enriched or not, soft drinks are still soft drinks. Trans - fat free snack foods are still rapidly absorbable carbohydrates.

With trans fat acids (TFA's) becoming such a mainstream component of our food chain, (margarines, biscuits, fried foods & processed foods) the prevalence of medical conditions such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer are increasing. Over the long term, they interfere with your body's ability to ingest and utilize the good fats; promoting fatty body tissue to synthesize small amounts of testosterone and related hormones. These play roles in fuelling hormonal imbalances such as Polycystic Ovarian Disorder, Fibroids, Endometriosis, PMT, Menopausal symptoms & low libido.
















What many people don't realise is that Trans Fats are almost as bad for you as smoking.


So how is the harm done?

Picture it like this. The TFA's stop the essential fatty acids (derived from fish & good nuts - important for balancing sex hormones) from getting into the cell wall. So they have to find some where else to go. Over time, more and more TFA's block more cells - so new fat cells have to be built to keep them in - so you get fatter especially around your middle!

Trans Fats affect, Insulin, and Growth Hormone
Trans Fatty Acids impede insulin's potential to bind with the cell, causing it to stay circulating in the blood.

Now there is an excess of insulin in the bloodstream. Result? Ravenous hunger, low energy, and light-headedness mood swings & teariness. You then have to eat, and you have to eat carbs to satisfy the hunger.

The long-term effect is lots of carbs, lots of overeating, and a total inability to generate growth hormone (which is only released in the absence of insulin). Without growth hormone, less muscle is created, so there is less of an opportunity to burn the fat!

  • Your Metabolism Slows: Oils derived from soybeans etc slow down your Thyroid, which lowers your energy levels, makes you feel less like exercising, and generally makes you fatter!


  • Hormonal imbalance: Along with making us gain weight. TFA's can also interfere with the production of prostaglandins, which may increase the severity and incidence of PMS, Painful periods and Endometriosis.

    Weight gain and abdominal obesity are strongly associated with insulin resistance. Evidence suggests that hyperinsulinemia (excess insulin) increases ovarian androgen production and decreases serum SHBG (Sex hormone-binding globulin that binds to sex hormones, specifically Testosterone and Estradiol). Increased androgen production and reduced binding of androgens to SHBG contribute to Hyperandrogenism, resulting in a lack of ovulation & increased facial hair - imbalances found in women diagnosed with PCOS.



  • Your mood changes: In a recent study at the University of Guelph, Dr. Bruce Holub has demonstrated that the huge increase in TFA's in our diets over the last twenty years has been the main factor in the rise in the new generation of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) in children & could even contribute to mood changes in adults such as anxiety, depression, aggression and poor concentration. His research has shown that TFA interferes with the absorption of Omega-3 fatty acids, which are physiologically important for brain function.

Embracing healthy food changes not only improves health, but deals with the problems of the environment and world hunger without renouncing the right to pleasure.


Looking for healthy answers?


Narelle Stegehuis, CEO of MassAttack, is a practicing Naturopath specializing in the research and development of natural treatment programs for women with hormonal imbalances, which have contributed to such symptoms as weight gain, cravings, low libido, anxiety and mood swings. She is both an accomplished writer and recipient of the Australian Naturopathic Excellence Award 2006.

ph: 1300 133 536 (cost of a local call)
website: www.massattack.com.au

Special Offer: If you join Narelle's program now and mention this article you will receive a free copy of her recipe book.





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