How I reduce The danger of Carbohydrates.

A focus on reducing sources of sugar(carbohydrates) in our diet has huge benefits.

During the the 60-70s shops in Samoa raced to offer hot bread in the morning and strategic times through the day, folks lined up waiting for the bakers to unload ovens, of course along with 5-20 loaves of bread, butter, jam, sugar, tea, coffee, many other items moved off the shelves, this meant success for the shop owner while establishing a habit for a large percentage of the population of starting the day with a huge carbohydrate load, this can result in feeling hungry in a short time which may lead to a snack, say a donut, bun or cookie with sweet tea or coffee, not long after its lunch time. This common habit leads to many being overweight even if exercise such as a long walk in the morning or after work can be part of your routine.

Wether you are a marathon runner or a busy office worker missing out on daily exercise, high carbohydrate consumption over years can cause many health issues. How can we reduce the downside? Well changing habits can be tough, although being aware of a danger can motivate one to take precautions. Since habits are often difficult to modify, what we can do immediately is boost antioxidants and consider foods that improve your gut bacteria while working on reducing carbohydrates.

I am not a doctor or nutritionist so cannot give you advice, what I can do is discuss what I have found helps my state of wellbeing.

I start the day by having two cups of coffee to each I add a tablespoon of virgin coconut oil a sprinkle of cinnamon plus a little ginger powder then blend in a with a hand held blender, it tastes like a coffee latte and is full of antioxidants, has good non carbohydrate energy from coconut oil and stops me from snacking right through until 2-3pm, so its a vital aid to reducing your meals per day. A variation is to add coconut milk to coffee. Just this simple addition to your daily habits can help you feel less bloated more energetic and with time you might consider more dietary improvements such as;

• lots of ginger in your cooking to spice it up without the hot chilli effect.

• Papaya leaf tea two to three times a week.

• Guava leaf tea or as your water bottle flavouring.

• Put a few cloves in your ice water bottle.

• Adding moringa + ginger to a health smoothie.

• Adding turmeric + black pepper to smoothies and recipes.

• Green coffee in your smoothie will boost antioxidants, moderate your desire to snack and lift your mood.

Small steps can become a wonderful journey to weight reduction, energy improvement leading to long walks up Mt Vaea with friends on the same journey to wellness.

OK so climbing coconut trees is not your thing and its not in your genes to resist cocoa rice, pani popo, kopai, fa'ausi esi, trifle, cakes, fruit pies and bread but we can keep it to one day a week, in fact our liver can make all the sugar we need so we do not need to consume sugar in any form. you might not know that coconut fat has a high percentage of medium chain fatty acids that our bodies can easily convert to energy.

Lets look at carbohydrates; these are converted to sugar in our gut, then enters the blood stream and is used to replace resources in our cells, excess or high sugar loading has to be moved out of the blood stream as it can cause inflammation leading to many problems, your body converts sugar to fat for storage and increased insulin levels enables more efficient movement of sugar into cells, as this all takes time whilst there is excess sugar moving around causing inflammation in many parts of our bodies, a massive imbalance in hormone levels results. A blood sugar test might show within an acceptable range but were you to have an insulin test it might show a high level of insulin, constantly pumping out high levels of insulin can overtax and result in insufficient insulin output leading to diabetes or other metabolic syndrome disorders.

What can you do to replace bread, well taro is a medium glycemic carbohydrate with far more nutrients than bread add coconut cream and you have a perfect food. Breadfruit is high in protein that is easy for the body to utilise add cocoanut cream and you have a great meal. The convenience and low price of flour based foods might be an option that satisfies but it contributes to high blood sugar. Try a no flour products day once a week and gradually build up, in time you will notice changes for the better.