Scientists have been studying what makes one food high and another low for more than fifteen years. There is a wealth of information that can easily confuse. We have summarised the results of their research in the following table which looks at the factors which influence the G.I. factor of a food.

The key message is that the physical state of the starch in the food is by far the most important factor influencing the G.I. value. That’s why the advances in food processing over the past two hundred years have had such a profound effect on the overall G.I. factor of the food we eat.

The degree of starch gelatinization. The starch in raw food is stored in hard compact granules that make it difficult to digest. This is why potatoes might give you a pain in the stomach if you eat them raw.

Most starchy foods need to be cooked for this reason. During cooking, water and heat expand the starch granules to different degrees, some granules actually bursting and freeing the individual starch molecules. This is what happens when you make a gravy by heating flour and water until the starch granules burst and the gravy thickens.

If most of the starch granules present have swollen and burst during cooking, the starch is said to be fully gelatinised.

The swollen granules and free starch molecules are very easy to digest because the starch-digesting enzymes in the small intestine have a greater surface area to attack. The quick action of the enzymes results in a rapid and high blood sugar rise after consumption of the food (remember that starch is a string of glucose molecules). A food containing starch which is fully gelatinised will therefore have a very high G.I. factor.

In foods such as biscuits, the presence of sugar and fat and very little water, makes starch gelatinisation more difficult, and only about half of the granules will be fully gelatinised. For this reason, biscuits tend to have intermediate G.I. factors.

*78\33\4*

In general, fat is only mobilised significantly during aerobic activity. However, because of the energy deficit produced from periods of anaerobic activity (i.e. oxygen debt) and a lack of glucose in the system, fat may be called in to make up this deficit after the activity. The limitations, therefore, come in the body’s ability to provide oxygen to the working muscles.

There is one further requirement we need to introduce here to understand this fully. Lactic acid is a by-product of anaerobic glycolysis. The build-up of tactic acid develops exponentially with increases in exercise intensity, until a ‘threshold’ is crossed where extended exercise can no longer be continued. This is called the ‘lactate threshold’ or ‘anaerobic threshold’ which is the point at which lactic acid production is greater than its rate of removal (although in reality, this is probably not a well defined cut-off point but a phase). As a result, a build up of lactic acid occurs and this is generally considered to be the limiting factor in performance. In practical terms it is where someone gets so exhausted and ‘out of breath1 that they have to stop what they are doing and allow the oxygen debt to be repaid. The anaerobic (lactate) threshold indicates a point above which fat utilisation becomes negligible.

The amount of fat used during exercise therefore becomes dependent on two things:

(1) the total amount of energy used during physical activity

(2) the proportion of this which is below the anaerobic threshold.

Both, in turn, are dependent on the amount and type of exercise carried out, and the aerobic capacity and anaerobic threshold of the individual concerned.

A confusion in the fitness industry often arises in relating these events. It is often argued, for example, that although the proportion of fat utilisation is lower as a result of high intensity exercise, the total amount of energy used is higher, and therefore the absolute amount of fat burned for a given individual will be greater at high intensity.

Comparing total energy and fat use at 70 per cent VO2 max versus 50 per cent VO2 max (equivalent to moderate intensity exercise) over a set time period. Fat utilisation at 70 per cent VO2, shown on the right hand side of Figure 12.3, is 40 per cent of energy use compared to 50 per cent at 50 per cent vo2. The higher total energy use at 70 per cent over a 30 minute period (i.e. 206kcal v 146kcal at 50 per cent VO2) means that the absolute amount of fat oxidised is greater at 70 per cent VO2 (i.e. 82kcal of fat energy) than at 50 per cent VO2 (73kcal fat energy). This general view has support from some clinical research, although other work suggests greater fat utilisation at lower intensity.

It has thus been suggested that higher intensity exercise (i.e. around 70-80 per cent of VO2 max) will always result in greater absolute fat use (even though this type of activity is both de-motivational and potentially dangerous for fat people!) However, this ignores the fact that fat metabolism is related to aerobic fitness and is therefore a graded function of aerobic capacity, which in turn is inversely correlated with body fat levels. The theoretical differences in oxidative capacity at the same levels of relative exercise intensity for an unfit versus a fit individual. It can be seen from this that as the relative intensity of exercise increases, the ability to oxidise fat decreases at a much greater rate in the unfit than the fit individual. Hence, exercise at low-moderate relative intensities is more likely to provide greater absolute fat utilisation for the fat, unfit person than exercise at a higher intensity. The cut-off point is not definitively known and needs to be more closely researched, but there are indications that exercise at around 40-65 per cent VO2 max is optimal in these people.

Again of interest is the finding that fat oxidation plateaus early for the unfit, but continues to increase over time for the fit. The difference in fat utilisation appears to be not so much in release of fat from the fat cells, as demonstrated by the increase in fatty acids in the blood, but in the uptake and combustion of fat by the muscle tissue itself. It seems that fit muscle has a greater supply and is able to ‘soak up’ intra-muscular fat stores more readily than unfit muscle.

The association between fitness and fatness is not a direct one. It is possible, of course, for two individuals of the same aerobic capacity to have different levels of body fat and this seems to be determined by a number of factors, in particular, genetics and gender. In general though, it’s reasonable to suggest that a fat person is likely to be at the lower end of the aerobic fitness scale.

*141\186\4*

There are still large sections of Western populations who are classified as totally sedentary or inactive, i.e. they don’t do any regular physical activity in their leisure time. It’s quite likely that a large proportion of these people also make up that section of the population regarded as overweight or obese. They are unlikely to spring from their lounge chairs into an aerobics class, even though they may wish to decrease their own creeping corpulence. To them, fitness is anathema. They’d like to be less fat, and possibly more healthy in the process, but they have no real desire to break world records, or be highly ranked among the triathlon set. And they don’t want to miss out on too many of life’s little luxuries to get rid of their excess body fat.

There’s another reason why fitness and fatness are less correlated than thought in the past. Much of the traditional nutrition and exercise advice for increasing fitness is now no longer regarded as appropriate for fat loss. This knowledge has come about through research in the area of exercise physiology, down to the microcellular level, particularly since the early 1980s. The same has not yet happened in the body fat area and scientific knowledge on fat physiology is only just starting to accumulate.

*2\186\4*

There are 21,708 people in the Soviet Union who are over 100 years old, according to the 1959 census. And there are quite a few who have reached the respectable age of 150 and over.

Some years ago the famed Russian scientist, biologist and experimental botanist, Dr. Nicolai Tsitsin, was engaged in research on longevity. The aim of his inquiry was to find out ways of prolonging human life.

“We decided to send letters to 200 people claiming to be over 100 years old with the request to answer the following three questions: what was their age, how had they earned their living most of their lives, and what had been their principle food.”

Dr. Tsitsin received 150 replies to his 200 letters.

“We made a very interesting discovery. The answers showed that a large number of them were bee-keepers. And all of them, without exception, said that their principal food always had been honey!”

But as sensational as this discovery was, this was not all!

“We found,” continued Dr. Tsitsin, “that in each case it wasn’t really honey these people ate, but the waste matter in the bottom of the beehive. They were poor and they sold all the pure honey on the market, and kept only the dirty residue for themselves.”

After a series of laboratory experiments and tests, Dr. Tsitsin discovered that the “dirty residue” of the honey scrap was neither dirt nor honey, but almost pure pollen, which falls off the bees’ legs while they deposit their honey. Tsitsin was on the verge of a great nutritional discovery!

*116\58\2*

The best possible way of solving the growing heart disease problem in the United States would be to follow the European example of a preventive program with a massive network of cardiac reconditioning centers where prospective heart cases could go to rebuild their health and strengthen their hearts. While waiting for action in this direction from our government, life insurance companies, or private industries, here is a 9-point do-it-yourself program for a better heart which can help you to prevent a potential heart attack, or give your already damaged heart the break it deserves.

1. Vital nutrition

See that your diet contains the complete vital nutrition needed to keep your body and your heart in perfect health. An abundance of fresh raw vegetables and fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and beans, with the addition of raw, unpasteurized milk and natural cheese, preferably in the form of homemade fresh cottage cheese,* will supply you with all the necessary vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates, trace elements, proteins and enzymes needed to build, repair, replace or renew the worn-out cells of your heart, keep your blood well oxygenated and its circulation smooth and strong, and your blood vessels elastic and free from deposits.

2.    Food supplements

Supplement your diet with vitamins E, B and C. Use wheat germ oil and vitamin E capsules for vitamin E. Take up to 300 I.U. a day as a preventive dose, and up to 600 I.U. as a therapeutic dose-ask your doctor for the most desirable dosage in your case.

For B-vitamins, use brewer’s yeast. Use the dosage suggested on the container, or take three to four tablespoons daily. Or take high potency B-vitamin tablets, made from yeast.

Take rose hips or rose hip tablets for vitamin C—500 to 1000 mg. per day.

In addition to vitamins, use cold-pressed vegetable oils, especially linseed or soy oil, for the unsaturated fatty acids (not the usual supermarket type). Dosage: 1 or 2 tablespoons per day. For minerals, especially calcium and magnesium, and trace elements, use dolomite and bone meal tablets, and kelp—all obtained in health food stores. Take 1 tablespoon of lecithin granules each day. Lecithin will not only help in fat metabolism and the prevention of cholesterol deposits, but is essential for your nervous system and the stimulation of glandular activity.

3.    Low animal protein

Excessive amounts of protein, especially animal protein, may harm your heart and your health generally. A study of blood vessel and heart disease in Negroes in St. Louis and in Uganda demonstrates that low-protein vegetarian diet can prevent 90 percent of thrombo-embolic disease and 97 percent of coronary occlusions.21 A recent study shows that Seventh-Day Adventists, who do not eat meat for religious reasons, have 40 percent less blood vessel and heart disease as compared with the general American public. Dr. Richard Walden, who directed the study, is convinced that the meatless, low-animal-protein diet of these people has much to do with it.

Avoid an excess of meat, especially fat meat in your diet. Do not worry about getting enough proteins. Almost all natural foods contain some protein, so, unless you are starving, it is virtually impossible to get too little. The official recommendations for protein requirement are far too high. A low animal protein diet will help prevent heart troubles; and, when the heart is already affected, will help to restore it to health. A lacto-vegetarian diet of fruits and vegetables with whole grain bread and cereals, beans, sunflower seeds, raw nuts and milk products will supply you with all the proteins you need.

4.    Eliminate from your diet:

Sugar in every form: soft drinks, ice cream, cakes, candies, cookies, pastries, jams, chocolate, puddings, syrups, etc. Natural honey can be used for sweetening. Eliminate white flour and white bread and all processed cereals and canned and frozen foods.

Reduce salt intake drastically or cut it out entirely. If absolutely necessary, use sea salt moderately.

5.    Keep your weight down

Do not overeat! Every extra inch on your waist, every excess pound you carry around, makes your heart work harder and wears it out sooner. Remember: the death rate from heart disease in 50 percent higher among the overweight!

6.    Avoid smoking tobacco

A recent survey shows that the death rate from heart disease among women smokers is twice as high as it is for non-smokers. Smoking destroys vitamin C in the body (25 mg. for every cigarette) and causes vitamin B deficiency. It causes constriction of the blood vessels and raises the blood pressure. Smoking disturbs the fat metabolism, raises the fat level of the blood and causes oxygen deficiency, thus contributing to the development of heart disease.

7.    Avoid drinking coffee, tea or cola drinks

Coffee, tea, and soft drinks containing caffeine are to the heart what a whip is to the horse. They stimulate and increase the sugar level of the blood temporarily, then drop it down to dangerous levels and cause an oxygen deficiency in heart muscle tissues. Coffee also interferes with iron absorption and may cause a deficiency of inositol, one of the B-vitamins necessary for effective heart function. A good friend of mine was practically living on coffee—10 to 15 cups a day from early morning to late at night. He was constantly boasting that he had never been sick a day in his life, but he dropped dead of a heart attack at the age of 49. Cola drinks, by the way, contain even more caffeine than does coffee.

Warning: If you are a heart case and a coffee addict, be careful how you cut out coffee drinking. Reduce the number of cups per day gradually to condition your heart and avoid distressing withdrawal symptoms.

8.    Exercise

There are piles of evidence that the lack of exercise and physical exertion is a major factor in the increasing incidence of heart disease. A British study showed that mortality from heart disease among those who do heavy physical work was less than half that of the group who did little or no physical work.

As I have stated before, the ultimate cause of heart attack is an oxygen deficiency. Outdoor sports, .exercise and physical exertion promote the oxygenation of all the tissues of the body, including the heart, increase the blood supply to the heart and strengthen the blood vessels and the muscle tissues of the heart.

Points of warning for heart cases:

Exercise with caution, prudence and moderation.

Avoid competitive sports and games.

Walking, up to ten miles a day, is the best form of exercise for the prevention of heart disease.

9.    Avoid emotional stress

Fear, greed, hatred, disappointment, insecurity, jealousy, depression, resentment, anxiety, worries, tension, emotional upsets— any or all of these can destroy your heart. According to famous stress-doctor Hans Selye, M.D., all the above mentioned emotional stresses can cause arteriosclerotic lesions. Severe emotional, stress causes depletion of vitamin C in the adrenal gland and increases the body requirement for vitamin C—another predisposing factor of heart disease.

“Americans are the most worried people in the world,” says Dr. Joshua Bieres, British editor of the International Journal of Social Psychiatry. The highly competitive business climate of the United States is geared to an atmosphere of continuous worry, anxiety and desperation. A typical American businessman or executive does not really know what the terms leisure, relaxation, or a health-building vacation mean. His ultimate in relaxation is a round of golf on a smog-filled city course, where he is trying to close another business deal with his partner! No wonder he worries himself to death at 40 or 50 and leaves a rich widow. It is my conviction that if you apply the above nine-point do-it-yourself program, you will be rewarded with a better heart which will give you long and friction-free service.

*90\58\2*

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