e-swastya

Diet Review : The G.I Diet by Rick Gallop

noreply@blogger.com (e-swastya) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:01:00 +0000

Last month on this blog I wrote a review about a Weight Loss Diet Book called as The Mayo Clinic Diet a very popular diet book in the market. I am sure many would have enjoyed that review. Following that same tradition of reviewing some weight loss diet or book, today I bring forward yet another weight loss diet book review. “The G.I Diet” written by Rick Gallop ex president of Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, I hope that might help you in one way or another.

Short History

This book and diet is the search of one man's journey for freedom from weight loss. It was a journey where Rick have tried and tested many different types of diet and routines to lose weight with results that were not that charming. His journey took him to one diet book called as “The Zone” by Dr Barry Sears based on the principles of the Glycemic index invented by Toronto based doctor named Dr David Jenkins, professor of nutrition at the University of Toronto. Not only this concept and it is practical use did magic with the author a feeling of satisfaction also arouse from him leading him to research more and work on this diet.

Basic Fundamental of the Diet

Glycemic Index is the measure of the effect of Carbohydrate on blood sugar. The digestion of carbohydrate leads to formation of glucose which is then seen in our blood level. According to this theory of Dr Jenkins some carbohydrates do gets digested quickly leading to high blood sugar means higher G.I index, while some other carbohydrate would get digested slowly leading to lower G.I. This principle remains true with all the groups of food .

Understanding G.I Diet in Practice

To follow this diet one does not require any information about the actual G.I of each and every product. All is sorted out for you in the book. The Author mentions of two basic phases in the book, the first phase with very strict set of rules, while in the second phase some rules are relaxed. Charts with options for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snacks are all described in this book for the easiness of the reader.
The whole diet and recipes revolves around low fat, low G.I food items which remains blessing for many. Some pointers in regards to exercise, different nutritional medication is something that is an add on to this book.
Have a visit to the G.I Diet website here

Cons of the Diet

1] In the words of the writer "The G.I Diet is simple and concise, with very little scientific jargon" which sums it all.
2] No mention of the word calories can come as a surprise to many individuals who can be a little sceptical of that word in general.
3] Alcohol included in that later phase remains a blessing for many in this diet.
4] It is pleasant to find out what can one eat while choosing Fast food with such type of diet.

Pros of the Diet

1] It is funny that although being the ex-president of Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario the diet gives an ok for Aspartame products.
2] Very limited recipes at hand in the original book, one need to buy yet another for some more recipes.
3] One of the biggest factors in regards to diet that is the human mind has been not even touched. What happens if I could not control my portion size? How to work on my cravings even if they are high on G.I?

Ending Notes:

I am myself in love of this diet for the sheer fact that even Ayurveda speaks about certain carbohydrates being healthier than others. Ancient Grains like Millet's, Kamut, Quinova are thus very famous to help people lose weight even then and now...

Posted by Sudeep

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Rest For Thy Ears !!

noreply@blogger.com (e-swastya) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Walking down town Toronto one could not fail to observe the amount of people walking with ears plugged with music. In many cases one can even hear music from the ipods of passer-by, so high is the volume. The question that arises when watching all those is it safe enough to have this going on 3-4 hours a day. Do our ears get tired listening to such loud noise? Do they need rest?

Journey of Sound

Human ears can hear and understand sound due to the vibration it creates. As sound is collected by the external pinna or ear, it is then passed to the middle ear where due to the vibration on the ear drum is recorded. Vibrations are converted to chemical signals and then send to brain, thus evaluating the sound.

Normal and the Abnormal

Human ear can hear in the frequency from 20 Hz TO 20,000Hz. Normally one speaks or converse at around 60 db. While one do hear music on Walkman or iPod at around 94 db if the volume is kept at level 5 out of level 10.
Ears if exposed for long time with sound frequency of 90-95 db can cause hearing loss in an individual. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, more than 15 minutes of exposure to 100 decibels is unsafe. So are we at a risk of a big epidemic of hearing loss then?

Not just hearing loss but many researchers does agree that hypertension and many other physiological difficulties can relate to high sound exposure.

How to Rest our Ears then?

1] Keep the volume of your ipod or mp3 player to bare minimum.
2] Avoid constantly having those devices in your ear. Give them and your ears some rest.
3] For a minute or two keep your ears closed. Enjoy the emptiness, the same feeling that one can feel when underwater.
4] Ayurveda prescribes different herbal oil for your ears to keep them healthy. Ask your Vaidya or Ayurvedic Consultant for more help.

Do you have anything to add? Do you know any person around you who have turn deaf due to the excess usage of iPods and mp3? Any suggestion how to keeps ears trouble free even with using modern technology?

Posted by Sudeep

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1] Educate your Kid:

Kids of 21 generation are fast to learn, and then why not teach them healthy habits of eating. Educate them about eating good and healthy food choices. Let them know the difference between good and bad. Being new in the world most of them are pretty good understanding that difference.

2] Less time for the Idiot box and indoor activities:

Being a parent why not make it a rule for restricting the use of idiot box and other indoor activities. These are the places when kids might end up stuffing with junk food. Reserve indoor activities for those crazy bad days

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