Potatoes and thinning

How long has the potato been a staple food in almost every country in the developed world? Well I don’t know either, but I do know that during the Irish Potato Famine (1845-1852) also known as Gorta Mór or the Great Famine approximately 1 million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland to escape the famine that he had suffered. devastated the Irish economy.

The humble porridge has become an important component of most tables, but is it really that healthy?

Potatoes are very rich in long carbohydrates and starches. Eventually, each digestible starch eventually breaks down into simple sugars in the body. The sugar is then assimilated into the blood, increasing blood glucose levels. And this, in turn, increases the secretion and production of insulin, which is our fat-storing hormone.

Insulin is secreted from the pancreas in large quantities. It prevents fat burning and stores numerous nutrients in fat cells. After a while, this can lead to an apparent deficiency of supplements in the blood, and this leads to a build-up of hunger and a longing for something sweet. At this point, people eat again and the process begins again, therefore this vicious cycle leads to weight gain.

On the other hand, a low carbohydrate intake gives you a lower and stable blood glucose and reduces the amount of insulin produced by the pancreas. This triggers the release of fat from your fat stores and also increases fat burning. This naturally causes fat loss, particularly around the abdomen in people with abdominal obesity.

Unfortunately, what we all have to face is the fact that we live in a nation of increasing obesity. Statistics indicate that obesity has doubled since 1980. The latest figures from the CDC show that more than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of American adults are obese. Obesity has been cited as a contributing factor to between 100,000 and 400,000 deaths per year in the United States, costing society an estimated $ 117 billion in direct costs and accounting for 6% to 12% of deaths. national health care expenditures in the United States.

Currently, our fitness level is estimated by a calculation known as BMI (body / mass index). BMI is defined as body mass divided by the square of body height, and is universally expressed in units of kg / m2, as a result of mass in kilograms. and height in meters.

Lately there has been a discussion within the medical fraternity around the accuracy of the BMI test. Given the fact that we all have different amounts of muscle and fat, and both have different densities and weights, the measurement must logically become inaccurate.