Random MomBlog

Here I was, thinking I was doing well to reduce my insomnia to half an hour (or less!), but this study says I should keep working on it.
First,

they found that poor sleep is associated with greater psychological distress and higher levels of biomarkers associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. They also found that these associations are stronger in women than in men.

Since I do have some issues with blood sugar, the mention of diabetes caught my eye.

“Interestingly, it appears that it’s not so much the overall poor sleep quality that was associated with greater risk, but rather the length of time it takes a person to fall asleep that takes the highest toll. Women who reported taking a half hour or more to fall asleep showed the worst risk profile.

OK, I’ll stay in sleep school a while longer!

If you dig behind this HealthDay article, the bottom line is that insulin-resistant people lose more weight on a diet that’s low in refined carbohydrates (no white flour and sugar!) than on a diet that’s low in fat. It’s not just about calories in and calories burned, but about eating the right food! Complex carbohydrates (whole grains) are still important. During the weight loss phase, complex carbohydrates provide fiber for that full feeling, and afterwards healthy carbohydrates are a major part of long-term weight maintenance (not regaining weight after loss).

This points to a low glycemic diet (not sure between glycemic index and glycemic load), but I suspect it really boils down to the usual answer to use common sense.

Diet, Health, Insulin Resistance

I read this article on caffeine and I’m glad that I stopped drinking tea several years ago. I don’t need a stress amplifier that raises blood pressure and increases insulin resistance! I was at the worldwide Spectrum users conference in New Hampshire September 2003, and they didn’t have my then-favorite drink of iced tea at the breaks, but they did have water bottles. Hot tea takes too long to drink (have to wait for it to cool before sipping!), cola is too sweet and causes burps, and I just don’t like to drink milk. So that leaves water, and I started to enjoy it. Since water’s good for you, I decided to stick with it. I sometimes drink green tea now, but it’s decaf …

Health, Insulin Resistance