Category Archives: Healthy Blood Sugar

Healthy Blood Sugar, NutraMedix Stevia, Weight Management

Stunning stevia: naturally derived and healthier – and sweeter – than sugar

You may not believe it, but it’s true; there’s a sweetener that, despite being hundreds of times sweeter than table sugar, can do your body a great deal of good. It may sound bizarre, but why is that? We’re conditioned to think that sweet foods are bad for us because so many of them contain large amounts of non-naturally-occurring and calorific sugar – but, yes, it’s because stevia is entirely naturally occurring that it’s so full of goodness for anyone who might try to work it into their diet.

So intensely sweet-tasting, it’s believed to be 200-300 times sweeter than table sugar1, stevia’s reputation as a sweetening ingredient in cooking and general food preparation is actually well established; indeed, it’s been used in drinks like tea going back to the 16th Century. Originally native to South American countries like Brazil and Paraguay, but now also grown throughout the South East Asian powers China and Japan, it’s becoming increasingly recognised for its non-nutritive (non-calorific) properties and, thus, as a healthy alternative to added sugar (sucrose)2.

In fact, in recent years, food products that contain stevia have enjoyed a 58 percent increase in sales3 – and that huge leap may be explained by the fact it’s now looked on not just as a great-tasting alternative to sugar, but also as a food ingredient that’s brimming with health benefits.

 

What exactly is stevia?

Specifically then, Stevia rebaundiana Bertoni belongs to the sunflower family, being a bushy shrub that was originally native to both North and South America and boasting 150 separate species. To extract the naturally-occurring sugar-based qualities of the stevia plant (what, thus, becomes known as ‘stevia’ when it’s used as a food ingredient or supplementary extract), the glycosides within the plant’s leaves – molecules that contain sugar bonded with other chemicals – are extracted and purified through a longwinded process, following the harvesting of the leaves themselves.

In all, stevia leaves contain eight of these glycosides: stevioside; rebaudiosides A, C, D, E and F; steviolbioside and dulcoside A – note; the first and second of these, stevioside and rebaudioside (reb A), are the most plentiful in terms of natural goodness4.

 

Stevia health benefits

So, what of stevia’s natural goodness? Well, once correctly and successfully extracted from the source plant, it’s health benefits are, indeed, many. It should be pointed out, though, that although it’s referred to as non-calorific, stevia isn’t absolutely calorie-free, yet it comprises far in a way fewer than sucrose; enough, for sure, to be referred to as containing practically none. And this very low calorie count ensures that, especially in contrast to sucrose, stevia can operate as a sweetener that not only won’t worsen diabetes and weight gain, but aid in helping to control and combat them, respectively. In more detail then, the possible health benefits of stevia include:

  • Weight management – according to US Government figures, consuming added sugars alone accounts for around 16 percent of the total calorie count in Americans’ diet and, unsurprisingly, studies have linked this directly to weight gain5 and (if sucrose is consumed excessively) obesity6, as well as unhealthy blood glucose levels and cardiovascular disease), so switching to many of the food products on the market today that comprise naturally-sourced stevia – everything from snack bars to salad dressings – ensure that people (not least children, who are so attracted to sweet foods and drinks) can transition away from sucrose and enjoy a lower sugar diet

 

  • Blood pressure – the results of a study conducted in 2003 suggest that stevia may be able to help reduce blood pressure7, not least thanks to it containing cardiotonic actions, which work to normalise blood pressure and regulate heartbeat; moreover, some stevia glycosides are believed to dilate blood vessels and boost sodium excretion and urine production (it ought to be pointed out, though, that some experts believe more research in this area needs to take place)

 

  • Diabetes – consuming stevia has been shown to have no negative effect on either blood glucose8 or insulin9 response; in fact, type 2 diabetes sufferers have reported that stevia has contributed to significant drops in blood glucose and glucagon response following meals10

 

  • Pancreatic cancer – there is a possibility that, thanks to comprising the antioxidant flavanol kaempferol, stevia may be able to help cut the risk of developing pancreatic cancer; a study having suggested kaempferol may reduce the risk by as much as 23 percent11.

 

Stevia supplements

Fair dos, for many people, finding, purchasing and blending stevia-derived foods and drinks into their daily diets may not be the easiest thing to do – as noted, stevia is becoming more and more popular, but it’s still far easier for consumers to get their hands on added sugar alternatives… far easier. In which case, while trying to cut down on your sucrose intake, you may try to introduce (or boost) stevia in your diet via these stevia supplements, both of them available through us at The Finchley Clinic:

NutraMedix Stevia (30ml) – boasting 300 times the sweetness of sugar, this form of stevia is ideal for diabetics, those looking to lose weight and those wanting to reduce their sugar intake; can be used as an alternative to table sugar (four drops the equivalent to a teaspoon).

Fizzy C (Vitamin C) – a fantastic addition to water or any juice should you want a ‘fizzy’ drink, but one free of artificial additives, flavours and sweetening (the sweetening being provided by stevia glycosides).

 

References

  1. NHS Choices. ‘Are stevia plant extracts safe?’. https://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/are-stevia-plant-extracts-safe.aspx. Last review date: 13/4/2016.
  2. National Agricultural Library. ‘Nutritive and Nonnutritive Sweetener Resources’. United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/nutritive-and-nonnutritive-sweetener-resources.
  3. Pure Circle Stevia Institute. ‘Appetite and Weight Management’. https://www.purecirclesteviainstitute.com/nutrition-and-health/weight-management/.
  4. Kubica P., Namieśnik J. and Wasik A. ‘Determination of eight artificial sweeteners and common Stevia rebaudiana glycosides in non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages by reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry’. Anal Bioanal Chem. 2015; 407: 1505–1512. Published online 2014 Dec 4. doi: 10.1007/s00216-014-8355-x.
  5. US Department of Agriculture/ US Department of Health and Human Services. ‘Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010’. https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/dietaryguidelines2010.pdf. 2010 Dec.
  6. Yang Q., Zhang Z., Gregg E. W., Flanders W. D., Merritt R. and Hu F. B. ‘Added sugar intake and cardiovascular diseases mortality among US adults’. JAMA Intern Med. 2014 Apr; 174 (4): 516-24. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.13563.
  7. Ming-Hsiung Hsieh et al. ‘Efficacy and tolerability of oral stevioside in patients with mild essential hypertension: A two-year, randomized, placebo-controlled study’. Clinical Therapeutics. Vol. 25, Issue 11, 2003 Nov, pp 2797-2808. doi.org/10.1016/S0149-2918(03)80334-X.
  8. Anton Stephen D. ‘Effects of stevia, aspartame, and sucrose on food intake, satiety, and postprandial glucose and insulin levels’. Appetite. Vol. 55, Issue 1, 2010 Aug, pp 37-43. doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2010.03.009.
  9. MNT Editorial Team. ‘What is Insulin?’. Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/diabetes/whatisinsulin.php.
  10. MNT Editorial Team. ‘Type 2 Diabetes: Causes and Symptoms’. Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/diabetes/type2diabetes.php.
  11. Lee J. and Kim J.-H. ‘Kaempferol Inhibits Pancreatic Cancer Cell Growth and Migration through the Blockade of EGFR-Related Pathway In Vitro’. PLoS One. 2016; 11 (5): e0155264. Published online 2016 May 13. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155264.
Cinnachrome 60's, Healthy Blood Sugar, Sucroguard, True Food GTF Chromium

Stay balanced: the importance of maintaining a healthy blood sugar level

It’s pretty much taken as given nowadays that high blood sugar levels are bad for you, but why actually is this? After all, scientifically speaking, our bodies need sugar, don’t they? Well, yes; in so much as they need the simple carbohydrate-based blood sugar that’s glucose (derived from the food we eat) that circulates our bodies in our blood and provides our cells with their key form of energy, ensuring it’s of critical importance to aerobic respiration.

That said, it’s all about balance; we should all be aiming to strike a balance and ensure our blood sugar level is neither too high nor too low. For some people, doing that’s easier said than done, but read on for why it’s important for them – and indeed all of us – to do so…

What’s a balanced blood sugar level?

Generally speaking, a balanced, normal blood sugar level varies between around 60 milligrams per decilitre (mg/dL) and 90 mg/dL. Levels are usually at their lowest just before someone eats a meal. For those who are healthy and don’t have diabetes, their level is likely to be in the 70-80 dg/mL range before a meal. Put simply, if you haven’t eaten for a while and your level’s above 100 mg/dL or, alternatively, lower that 60 mg/dL, it’s probably not good news.

High blood sugar dangers

Should your blood sugar level be too high, often due to an unbalanced diet, glucose can end up behaving like a slow-acting poison. This phenomenon is called hyperglycaemia and it inhibits the cells of the pancreas (a gland located behind the stomach) to do their job and create insulin, a hormone that, when the right amount of it is produced, is key to balancing blood sugar at a healthy level. This is because it’s insulin that’s called on to move glucose from the blood stream and into cells, where the latter gets broken down and used as energy. If there’s not enough glucose to do this (or it can’t do it adequately enough) because of hyperglycaemia, it can result in diabetes.

Additionally, high blood sugar levels can cause atherosclerosis (when blood vessels harden), which in turn can lead to a whole host of problems in the body, including heart attacks; strokes; kidney disease/ failure; loss of vision/ blindness; poor circulation; weakened immunity; slowed wound-healing; neuropathy (nerve damage) and erectile dysfunction.

Glycaemic load and GL diets

If you’ve been informed your blood sugar level is high – or gets unhealthily high on occasions – then you may have been recommended an altered diet. This is often referred to as a ‘GL diet’; GL is short for glycaemic load, a measurement referring to different foods and what effect they’ll have on someone’s blood sugar. The higher the GL the more a food will contribute to the level; the lower it is the more the food encourages the body to burn fat and, thus, return it to a healthy blood sugar level – as well as, in the long term, contribute to a potential weight loss programme.

Glycaemic load is itself based on what’s known as the glycaemic index (GI), which arranges foods and drinks according to how fast or slow the carbohydrates they contain are released, thus their potential effects on blood sugar level (fast releasing is good; slow releasing bad). On this index you’ll find many fruits and vegetables are good (lightly cooked or raw especially, although fresh, frozen or canned are also recommended) and, as you may have guessed, sugar-rich snacks are bad (sweets, crisps, pastries and cakes).

Low blood sugar dangers

Essentially, the opposite of the high blood sugar-caused hyperglycaemia is the low blood sugar-caused hypoglycaemia (or ‘hypo’); it’s basically when there’s an abnormally low amount of glucose flowing in your bloodstream. It is possible for someone who doesn’t have diabetes to have hypoglycaemia, but it’s rare; generally, then it’s often linked to diabetes and, to that end, is usually brought on when a diabetic takes too much (exterior) insulin, misses a meal or over-exercises.

Among non-diabetics, it can be brought on through malnutrition, alcoholic binge drinking or due to conditions like Addison’s disease. Usual signs that hypoglycaemia could be about to come on include (often in addition to hunger) trembling, shakiness and/ or sweating. Additionally, in some cases, people have difficulty concentrating, become dizzy or confused or may even lose consciousness.

Treatment-wise, a hypoglycaemia sufferer should find something sugar-based to eat or drink quickly (glucose tablets or sugary fruit juice) in order to help balance blood sugar levels, ideally followed by something that’s a longer-acting, ‘starchy’ carbohydrate (such as a sandwich or biscuits). So important is this, that they’re advised to carry such food/ drink items about with them when away from home as well as a form of identification so that, in case they find themselves in an emergency situation, those around them are alerted they suffer from hypoglycaemia – and, if relevant, diabetes too.

Supplements

Maintaining a balanced blood sugar level isn’t always easy, especially for diabetics, so a helping hand may well be welcome for some sufferers of hyperglycaemia or hypoglycaemia. Moreover, should you have been advised to follow a GL ‘low’ diet, you may sometimes find it a challenge to always buy and eat the recommended types of food and drink. To that end then, perhaps you may be interested in taking a look at trying some blood sugar supplements? The following – and more – are all available from The Finchley Clinic:

Cinnachrome-60-Capsules

Cinnachrome 60’s (60 capsules) – suitable for those following a GL diet, this product combines Cinnulin PF (a concentrated extract of cinnamon) with niacin (Vitamin B3), which aids the release of energy from carbohydrates; suitable for vegetarians.

SucroGuard-90-Capsules

Sucroguard – Blood Sugar Support (90 and 30 capsules) – blends together key nutrients involved in managing glucose levels (including chromium picolinate) to ensure the body’s cells are provided with the energy they need; suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Chromium-90-tablets

True Food GTF Chromium (90 and 30 tablets) – for healthy glucose and lipid metabolism, this supplement comprises Saccharomyes cerevisiae (food yeast) which, with its naturally-occurring GTF (glucose tolerance factor) Chromium plus co-factors, supports insulin action; great for a weight management programme and suitable for vegetarians and vegans.