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New Image International:Reducing Carbohydrate Absorption

Reducing Carbohydrate Absorption

Weight managementMarch28

A part of Effective Weight Management.

We are all too aware of the state of our nations’ waistlines; and no doubt you’re tired of hearing about the latest fad diets and flip flop nutrition advice.

But amongst the overabundance of diet and weight management information in the news each week, there remain a few core, unchanging fundamentals. For effective, long term weight management we know that we need to:

Exercise Regularly

Sleep Peacefully

Live Joyously

Eat Mindfully

There is a clear and strong scientific rationale behind these four points. We know that regular exercise not only helps to burn calories, but it also increases our metabolism and improves our mood, along with our shape. Good sleep – both in duration and quality also helps us to stay in shape – how often do you reach for sweet treats when you’re exhausted compared to when you feel energised? Living joyously may sound a little off-beat, but really the science behind this is all about managing your stress levels to assist with weight management. Not to mention, just enjoying life.

Finally, we come to eating mindfully. But what exactly does this mean? Well, there are a number of things to consider under this one point, such as eating slowly, taking note of the taste, texture and aroma, not eating while distracted, recognising when you are full and really thinking about what you are about to eat and how it will serve you – is it in line with your healthy eating or weight management goals? If you can achieve all of these points then eating mindfully can help you to maintain your weight, simply by helping you to make good food choices and to not over eat.

If we focus on what you are choosing to eat, we find that there is a large body of evidence to suggest that reducing our carbohydrate intake, particularly our refined carbohydrate intake, is linked to numerous health benefits such as balanced blood sugar levels, greater heart health, sensitive insulin responses, and easier weight management. The amount of carbohydrate foods you should eat will vary depending on your activity level, individual metabolic rate and whether you are at your ideal weight and working on maintaining it, or whether you are actively trying to manage it.

    The main types of carbohydrates that contain little nutritional value and should be avoided for healthy weight management are:

  • White, sugary, starchy, refined products
  • Sugar, cakes, biscuits and sweets
  • Crackers, pasta, noodles and white rice
  • Refined grains, flour and white bread

The reduction and change in type of carbohydrates eaten are a big challenge for most people, but there are options to help you with this transition. White kidney bean extract is a natural nutrient that helps to reduce the absorption of carbohydrates and therefore calorie intake as well as helping to manage sugar cravings. It does this by playing a role in the activity of alpha-amylase, an enzyme produced in the pancreas which helps digest starch into sugars; if they are not all digested then any remaining carbohydrates will be eliminated by the body, not used as energy or stored as fat.

Studies show that white kidney bean extract, when used in conjunction with dietary modification and exercise can improve weight management outcomes, compared with those who didn’t use the white kidney bean extract.
While it may sound like there’s now a way to have your cake and eat it too, the reality is that there is no miracle weight loss pill. The hard yards – dietary changes & exercise still have to be done. But the good part of this story is that there are natural plant based supplements and foods available that can help us to stay on track with our healthy eating, and to mitigate some of the damage when we aren’t quite as good as we know we should be.