Is carb addiction real? Here is all you need to know

Are you addicted to carbs?

Are you one of those who cannot resist junk food? Every time you walk by a bakery, you start feeling hungry even if you just had your meal? Or you cannot imagine your life without pasta or pizza? If you are shaking your head in approval with each question, you are addicted to carbs. It might seem like a normal thing to you, but carb addiction is a breeding ground for numerous problems including weight gain and cardiovascular issues.

What are carbs?
Carbohydrate is the primary source of food our body uses for energy. Made up of three primary elements like carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, carbs help as a precursor to ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). When we talk about carb addiction, the first thing that comes to our mind is refined carbs like pasta, pizza and cookies. However, there are numerous healthy sources of crab-like fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole-grain bread, pasta, and rice. Every food items contain some amount of carbs.

Are carbs addictive?
Yes! Carb addiction is real, especially for the one that contains refined sugar, salt and fat. As per a 2008 study published in "Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews," a lot of people are addicted to carbs, which is a major obstacle to optimal health. Excess intake of carbs from grains and sugar in your diet can disrupt normal body function, leading to weight gain, rise in blood sugar level and an eating disorder. Another study revealed that eating high-carb meals stimulate certain regions of the brain that are linked with cravings and rewards.

Tips to deal with carb addiction

The first step to get over carb addiction is to recognise that you are suffering from this problem. Here are 4 easy way to get rid of this addiction:

-Rather than filling your plate with carb-rich food, eat more protein-rich food items. Both plant and animal source of proteins are considered good for health and will help you keep fuller for longer.

-Sometimes when you feel hungry untimely, your body might actually want water. Most of the time people confuse dehydration with hunger. So drink plenty of water.

-To get rid of carb addiction, you must first recognise your triggers. What you cannot resist at all- pizza or pasta. This will make it easier for you to avoid those trigger foods.

-Do not be too hard on yourself. Shunning carb is not an appropriate solution to this problem. Controlling is good, but do not shun carbs. Just be mindful and eat in moderation.

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Eyes reveal early Alzheimer's disease

Reduced blood capillaries in the back of the eye may be a new, noninvasive way to diagnose early cognitive impairment, the precursor to Alzheimer's disease, showed a study .

Researchers recruited 32 participants who had cognitive testing consistent with the forgetful type of cognitive impairment, and age-, gender- and race-matched them to subjects who tested as cognitively normal for their age. All individuals underwent eye imaging with OCT angiography.

They then detected the vascular changes in the human eye non-invasively, with an infrared camera and without the need for dyes or expensive MRI scanners.

It's known that patients with Alzheimer's have decreased retinal blood flow and vessel density.

"Once our results are validated, this approach could potentially provide an additional type of biomarker to identify individuals at high risk of progressing to Alzheimer's," said  a professor of ophthalmology.

Therapies for Alzheimer's are more effective if they are started before extensive brain damage and cognitive decline have occurred, added the Prof.

The researchers now hope to correlate these findings with other more standard but also more invasive types of Alzheimer's biomarkers as well as explore the longitudinal changes in the eye parameters in these subjects. 

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Orange juice, berries may prevent memory loss in men

Eating leafy greens, dark orange or red vegetables and berry fruits, and drinking orange juice may lower risk of memory loss over time, especially in men, a study has found.

The study, looked at 27,842 men with an average age of 51 who were all health professionals.

Participants filled out questionnaires about how many servings of fruits, vegetables and other foods they had each day at the beginning of the study and then every four years for 20 years.

A serving of fruit is considered one cup of fruit or half a cup of fruit juice. A serving of vegetables is considered one cup of raw vegetables or two cups of leafy greens.

"One of the most important factors in this study is that we were able to research and track such a large group of men over a 20-year period of time, allowing for very telling results," said a researcher.

"Our studies provide further evidence dietary choices can be important to maintain your brain health,"  he said .

Participants also took subjective tests of their thinking and memory skills at least four years before the end of the study, when they were an average age of 73.

The test is designed to detect changes that people can notice in how well they are remembering things before those changes would be detected by objective cognitive tests.

Changes in memory reported by the participants would be considered precursors to mild cognitive impairment.

A total of 55 per cent of the participants had good thinking and memory skills, 38 per cent had moderate skills, and seven per cent had poor thinking and memory skills.

The participants were divided into five groups based on their fruit and vegetable consumption. For vegetables, the highest group ate about six servings per day, compared to about two servings for the lowest group.

For fruits, the top group ate about three servings per day, compared to half a serving for the bottom group.

The men who consumed the most vegetables were 34 per cent less likely to develop poor thinking skills than the men who consumed the least amount of vegetables.

A total of 6.6 per cent of men in the top group developed poor cognitive function, compared to 7.9 per cent of men in the bottom group.

The men who drank orange juice every day were 47 per cent less likely to develop poor thinking skills than the men who drank less than one serving per month.

This association was mainly observed for regular consumption of orange juice among the oldest men, researchers said.

A total of 6.9 per cent of men who drank orange juice every day developed poor cognitive function, compared to 8.4 per cent of men who drank orange juice less than once a month.

The researchers also found that people who ate larger amounts of fruits and vegetables 20 years earlier were less likely to develop thinking and memory problems, whether or not they kept eating larger amounts of fruits and vegetables about six years before the memory test.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                                             FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                                                             https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                                       FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com     

Antibiotic 'link to bowel cancer precursor'

People who take antibiotics for a long time are more likely to develop growths on the bowel which can be a precursor to cancer, a study suggests. 

Researchers say this adds to emerging evidence that the diversity of bugs in the gut could have role in the development of tumours.
Their paper appears in the journal Gut.

But experts warn that the early results need further investigation and say people should not stop taking antibiotics.

'Hostile bugs'

Bowel polyps - small growths on the lining of bowel - are common, affecting 15%-20% of the UK population. 

In most cases, they do not cause any symptoms and do not become cancerous but some go on to develop into cancers if left untreated.
In this study, researchers looked at data from 16,600 nurses who were taking part in a long-term US trial called the Nurses' Health Study.

They found that nurses who had taken antibiotics for two months or more, between the ages of 20 and 39, were more likely to be diagnosed with particular types of bowel polyps - known as adenomas - in later life, compared wtih people who had not taken long-term antibiotics in their 20s and 30s. 

And women who had taken antibiotics for two months or more in their 40s and 50s were even more likely to be diagnosed with an adenoma decades later. 

But the study does not look at how many polyps went on to become cancerous.

The authors say their research cannot prove that antibiotics lead to the development of cancer and acknowledge that the bacteria which the drugs are deployed to treat might also play an important role. 

But they say there is a "plausible biological explanation" for the patterns seen. 

Writing in the journal they said: "Antibiotics fundamentally alter the gut microbiome, by curbing the diversity and number of bacteria, and reducing the resistance to hostile bugs."

"This might all have a crucial role in the development of bowel cancer, added to which the bugs that require antibiotics may induce inflammation, which is a known risk for the development of bowel cancer."

They added: "The findings if confirmed by other studies, suggest the potential need to limit the use of antibiotics and sources of inflammation that may drive tumour formation."

'Slight and variable'

Meanwhile, Dr Sheena Cruickshank, am immunology expert at the University of Manchester, said anything that disturbs our gut bacteria, such as changes in diet, inflammation or antibiotic use, could potentially have an impact on our health.

But she said it was difficult to tease out whether other factors - like diet - could be more deeply involved in the current study.

She added: "This study's findings imply that any risk is very slight and also quite variable. 

"Whilst the data adds to our growing knowledge of the importance of the gut bacteria to our health, I would be concerned about advising people to avoid using antibiotics. 

"Antibiotics are crucial medicines for treating bacterial infections and, if prescribed and used appropriately, can be life-saving."

What increases the chance of getting bowel cancer?
A diet high in red or processed meats and low in fibre can increase the risk, according to NHS Choices. 

NHS experts also say bowel cancer is more common in people who are overweight or obese and people who are inactive. 

Drinking a lot of alcohol and smoking also increase the chance of getting cancer of the bowel.

And people who have bowel cancer in the family can also be at higher risk. 

What about people taking long-term antibiotics?
Dr Jasmine Just, health information officer at the charity Cancer Research UK told the BBC: "This research is at a very early stage so it is too early to draw definitive conclusions. 

"People who are prescribed antibiotics by medical professionals should continue taking them and discuss any concerns with their doctor." 

Meanwhile Dr Cruickshank added that a prescribed course of antibiotics - which can be life-saving in some circumstances - should not be stopped without expert guidance. 

How great are the risks?
Experts say it is difficult to be sure of exact risks for individuals from this paper. That's because the paper looks at precursors of cancer, not cancer itself. 

The risk of bowel cancer can depend on many things- a family history of bowel cancer, diet, alcohol and smoking all play a part.
Interpreting the results, Dr Cruickshank describes any potential increased risk is "very slight and very variable."

Meanwhile Dr Just, said: "It is not possible to be sure of cause and effect from this paper. We are still one step away from being able to suggest either way whether there is an increased risk.
"But this is very interesting research that builds on other studies looking at how the microbes in the bowel affect our health."

 this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on. 
  https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations   
 htps://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes   
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement