Energy drink concerns

• Reporter: David Richardson
• Broadcast Date: December 11, 2008

Some energy drinks are said to give you wings but experts are saying you should be wary when consuming them.

They are the fastest growing drink in the market, worth $4.8 billion a year.

One concern is caffeine levels and content varies from drink to drink, an average serving contains 107mg of caffeine, compared with 34-38mg milligrams for the same amount of Coca-Cola or Pepsi.

Monster has 120mg and Red Bull has 116mg.

Addiction specialist, Dr Ray Seidler, said there is a danger in mixing energy drinks with alcohol.

"There's a real risk in terms of violence, aggression and drink driving. I think people are more likely to get in their car if they had a stimulant because they don't feel as intoxicated and they're more likely to take risks," he said.

"You don't realise how intoxicated you are on the alcohol and you can drink more than you do normally."

Dr Seidler said there are concerns of how they also can react with your heart.

Cardio vascular researchers at the Royal Adelaide Hospital have found that just one can of Red Bull a day can increase the risk of heart attack or stroke, even in young people.

The Australian Consumers' Association has done tests on the beverages.

Their finding should serve as a warning to any parent.

Christopher Zinn from Choice said some of the energy drinks can have up to 12 teaspoons of sugar in them.

"More than most soft drinks, they're highly loaded with sugar," he said.

http://au.todaytonight.yahoo.com/article/5207518/health/energy-drink-concerns

Dietary supplement

Lately there's a big trend in Australia for both healthy individual and patients with chronic disease start taking dietary supplement, such as the most common Vitamin C, E , B-complex, multi-vitamin, or even supplements like royal jelly, propolis, etc. Hence, the verdict comes down to "Do we really need it or not?"

Definition of Dietary supplement:
A dietary supplement, also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, is a preparation intended to supply nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fatty acids or amino acids, that are missing or are not consumed in sufficient quantity in a person's diet. Some countries define dietary supplements as foods, while in others they are defined as drugs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_supplement

Hence, they are differ from any of the medication that used to treat the disease, such as Diabetes, or even headache!

Common questions raised by patients:
- "Which brand?"
- "Do I need it?"
- "Will that contraindicate with my medication?"

So "Do we need it" and which one?
Unfortunately, there aren't enough clinical studies to confirm that each dietary supplement's indication correspond with what the public's perceived. Often, there are myths spread around patients, family and friends that certain dietary supplement have super-effect?!

If the dietary supplement has been taken in an incorrect manner, not only it will affect one's health but also it can be a financial burden. For example, excessive Vitamin A can be toxic. Finally, it is worth considering to consult your own doctor and/or Dietitian before taking any supplement.

低鹽飲食遠離病痛

低鹽飲食- 坐言起行

• 新鮮蔬菜鹽分低選擇新鮮蔬菜，少吃加工醃製食品如梅菜、榨菜、鹹酸菜等
• 如必須選擇即食或加工食品，則要細閱食物標籤，以選擇含低鹽或無鹽的產品。根據食物法典委員會的指引，附有「低脂」、「低鹽」 聲稱的固體食物，每 100 克 所含的脂肪不得超過 3 克 ，而鈉質則不得多於 120 毫克。
• 選擇天然調味烹飪時用蔥、蒜、芫茜、檸汁、醋、糖、香茅、陳皮等為調味，減少豉油、蠔油、麵豉、腐乳、茄醬、味精、雞精及鹽等用量較健康

食譜改善建議

1. 即食麵(經油炸) -> 上海麵 (低脂肪, 低鹽, 低糖)
2. 腸仔火腿 -> 豬肉片魚片(低脂肪, 低鹽, 低糖)
3. 各式燒味(半肥瘦) -> 白切雞(去皮) (低脂肪, 低鹽)
4. 番茄醬 -> 新鮮番茄配少量番茄醬 (低鹽)

Tinnitus 耳鳴的治療

耳鳴的成因有多種，除了噪音破壞內耳聽覺細胞，耳垢、中耳炎或耳膜穿洞亦會導致耳鳴，至於形成鳴聲的過程，則仍待醫學界研究。耳鳴者聽到的鳴音不一，有高有低，如沙沙聲、流水聲、蟬叫或「VV」尖聲。若病人因噪音而產生耳鳴，可服用紓緩藥物，並接受復康功能治療，訓練耳朵「不理會」耳鳴，重新接收外界聲音，並應戒掉煙、酒、咖啡等刺激物。若市民經常在嘈雜環境，持續1周有耳鳴、「耳朦」，聽不到高音，便應去檢查耳朵。

過分寧靜的環境 ，會令耳鳴變得明顯 ，可採用耳鳴掩蔽器的低音量寬頻帶聲音( 如雨聲、海浪 聲或近似收音機未調校時的雜音等) 掩蔽或減低耳鳴 。若然耳鳴令你難以入睡 ，可嘗試以低音 量播放錄有下雨 、流水或海浪聲音的盒帶或唱片，可令你感到輕鬆和減低耳鳴的影響。

耳鳴的治療
了解耳鳴，消除憂慮及避免壓力緊張。
避免食用刺激性食物，例如：咖啡、茶葉、辣椒等。
避免食用過多鹽分。
避免接觸噪音。
保持睡眠及休息充足，避免過度疲勞及熬夜。
藥物治療：包括維他命、促進腦部血液循環的藥物、輕度的鎮靜劑和安眠藥等。
遮蔽法：利用和耳鳴相似頻率的聲音來遮蔽，例如可在床頭開著收音機（不是收聽節目而是利用電台間沙沙的噪音），音量略低於耳鳴令病人不太注意它的存在。
有聽力障礙的患者可佩戴助聽器來改善耳鳴。

Nuts 堅果

Alot of patients of mine question about Nuts and its effect and some even asked me whether certain nuts are the ONLY "good" nuts which should be consumed for health benefit. Upon reading the latest clinical finding from HAL (Know-How for Hotriculture), I would like to take this opportunity to share with others.

很多人會問關於堅果和它的作用的問題﹐甚至問我是否某種堅果是唯一的" 好"果仁﹐ 而其他的﹐ 是“壞”的。 最近我讀到一份最新臨床發現 - 從HAL (Hotriculture的技術)，所以我希望利用這机会與他人分享有關於堅果的問題。

Benefits of nuts:
- High in healthy mono-unsaturated fat and poly-unsaturated fat
- High in fibres, including soluble for cholesterol lowering
- Good source of protein
- Good source of vitamin E (an important antioxidant)
- Good source of folate

堅果的好處：
-含健康的單不飽和和多不饱和脂肪
-高纖維，包括膽固醇降下的可溶物
-蛋白质来源
-維生素E (重要抗氧劑)的好來源
-葉酸的來源

SUGGESTION
1) Fat Profiles -> All types of nuts are likely to benefit heart health, though almonds and walnuts have had the most research to date.
2) Variety -> enjoy varieties of nuts including pistachio, pecans, hazelnuts, macadamias, etc in your diet on a daily basis
3) Portion -> Eating a handful of nuts (30-50g)/ day is recommended

飲食建議
1) 所有类型的堅果都是能有益於心臟健康，雖然杏仁和核桃迄今有多數研究。
2)每天進食不同品種的堅果﹐包括開心果、胡桃、榛子、馬卡達姆堅果等等在您的飲食
3) 建议使用吃堅果30-50克的堅果

Diabetes Chinese Education Program

Vegetarians for teenage - SBS

Nutritionist Ms Angel Chan talks about how to maintain a nutritionally balanced diet for teenage vegetarians:

http://www20.sbs.com.au/podcasting/index.php?action=feeddetails&feedid=19&id=14296

Mood-Food connection

Food is not limited to health-benefit and one's general well-being, but in fact, studies have shown that it also affect people's emotion. We are aware of the consequences that poor eating habits and too many kilojoules can have on the body such as obesity, increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. But we don't often think about the association between what we eat and drink and the effect this has on our moods.

Many carbohydrates, such as bread, cereal, pasta and candy, can produce this temporary increase in serotonin and a calming effect. A rise in serotonin in the brain can also lead to drowsiness, which is why some people may feel sleepy after a large meal of pasta.

Dopamine and norepinephrine - produce a feeling of alertness, an increased ability to concentrate and faster reaction times. Which, the consumption of protein-rich food such as chicken, egg, beef and pork trigger the production of the alertness transmitter.

Cost Effective in Healthy Eating

But it’s too expensive to eat healthily... or is it?

Shopping Trolley: total $80

Chips, multi packsCrackers, multi packs
Frozen chips
Frozen pizza
Frozen pies
Soft drink cansBiscuits
Sugary cereal
Flavoured milk
Custard, snack packs
Cordial
Ice cream
Pre-made meal-to-go
Chocolate bar

Healthy Shopping Trolley: Totaly $60

Fresh fruit (apples, strawberries, oranges)
Fresh vegetables (broccoli, capsicums, carrots, zucchini)
Brown rice
Pasta
Whole-grain cereal
Lean beef, diced
Chicken breasts, skin off
Low-fat milk
Tins of beans
Whole-grain bread
Dark chocolate
Couscous

Practical Tips to eat healthy and cost less!

• Frozen chips -> Baked jacket potato
• Packed chips -> Sultana and nuts pack
• Soft drinks -> water
• Frozen dinner -> homemade baked dinner (chicken without skin and vegetables)
• Lollies -> fresh fruit
• Chocolate -> tinned fruit witht yoghurt
• Packed sauce -> fresh herbs
  

Different Dieting methods 不同減肥方法？！

食肉減肥法:
這種備受爭議的減肥法由03年逝世的阿特金斯博士（Dr. Atkins）提出，鼓吹透過只吃肉而減肥，只要不吃碳水化合物，就可以任吃高脂食物。

飲水減肥法:
飲水減肥法要求每日飲用涼開水2000毫升左右。

蔬菜減肥法:
蔬菜所含的纖維素、特殊物質和水分對減輕人類體重，減少脂肪的堆積都極有好處。蔬菜中的纖維素在腸道中停留時間短於其他食品，可以干擾營養物質的過分吸收，減少脂肪堆積；同時纖維素本身的熱能極低，可以降低熱量的貯存。此外蔬菜中含有的許多物質都能促進脂肪的分解，使體內的脂肪消耗。有利於減肥的蔬菜包括：芹菜、白菜、菠菜、韭菜、白蘿蔔、黃瓜、大蔥、南瓜、冬瓜、豆芽菜等。

花粉減肥法:
這是流傳在美國的一種減肥方式，服用花粉製劑不僅能使疲勞的身體恢復氣力和精力，還可以使肥胖的體重減輕。它的優點還在於，它對於人體無任何毒副作用。

消脂湯減肥餐:
連續7日進食椰菜可減15磅，每個月只可進行1次。全日三餐只可喝湯及吃湯渣，不能吃其他食物。

不同減肥方法的危害！！！！！

非按個人需要:
市面上的減肥餐單有一個弊病﹕不論高矮肥瘦，都吃同樣的食物分量。其實，熱量需要受不同高度、年齡、運動量、性別所影響，因此，每個人的減肥餐單都應有分別。

熱量偏低:
減肥期間，攝取熱量並非愈低愈好，以免減慢新陳代謝率。除非有營養師監督進度，否則絕不適宜自行使用。

食物欠多樣化:
健康均衡的減肥餐單，每天都應 包含所有食物種類，包括五穀類 、蔬菜、水果、肉類和奶類。因 為每類食物都有不同營養，長期 缺乏某一種類，會引致營養不良 。這是不健康餐單所缺的。
飲食缺乏五穀類，身體常常處於 低血糖狀態，即是缺乏能源，會 使人疲倦、乏力、精神不振、影響工作表現，更重要的是常常感 到肚餓難忍。

盲目節食禍害深:
營養師並不鼓勵「節食 」，反而是按照現時的 飲食習慣，逐步作出飲 食行為上的改變，並長 遠維持，這套方法稱為 「飲食治療」。即使採 用餐單，也是按個人生活形態寫成。

降低脂肪吃的健康

Nutrition@Cafe(銅鑼灣店) in Hong Kong

香港除了是購物天堂之外,亦是區內公認的美食天堂,各國的美食、中國地方菜及港式美食、街邊小吃通通也可以在此品嚐得到,但每每發現絕大部份的食肆提供的也是多鹽、多脂及多油的「滋味美食」,在一片修身的風潮下令很多想前去光顧的人為之卻步! 食物方面全是低脂、低糖及低鹽的健康之選,其中的焗瑞士雞翼更是經秘方醃製,烤焗後鎖住雞翼的瑞士汁,讓其味道加倍香濃;一系列的沙律同樣清新!

http://cafe.up4food.com/nutrition

Such an interesting cafe in HK, very ideal for health conscious people looking for delicious yet healthy meals. Will soon try to capture some healthy receipes as well as local restuarant in Sydney to share with everyone.

Glycemic Index? 「升糖指數」

Glycemic Index?

The glycemic index or GI describes this difference by ranking carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose levels. Choosing low GI carbs can helps to reducing your risk of heart disease and diabetes and is the key to sustainable weight loss. Low GI food will incread blood glucose levels steadily, whereas high GI food will caused a sharp raises of blood glucose levels and therefore caused the flutuation of glucose levels.

High GI food: > 70
Medium GI food: 56- 69
Low GI food: <55

Other than eating different types of carbohydrate can affects the glucose levels, the structure and processing methods can also affects GI as well:

1. Higher fibre content = lower the GI. I.e. wholegrain bread's GI = 69, white bread's GI = 88. This is one of the reason why white bread is not recommended for diabetic diet.
2. Cooked and uncooked fruit. I.e. Cooked banana's GI = 52, raw banana's GI = 30. As the cooking process helps to release the sugar content of the fruit.
3. Carbohydrat's GI is lower compare to sugary (refined) products. I.e. rice/noodle's GI is lower compare to sweets like candy.
4. Chopped food's GI will be higher than its whole food. I.e. mashed potato & jack potato.

Low GI food can be high in fat content as well, as GI is only an index for carbohydrate fod. So, a low GI foood can be potentially very high in fat content as well. For example, full cream milk's GI is 27, whereas skim milk's GI is 32! Hence, never just choose food containing low GI food without considering the total energy intake, as excessive caloric intake and high cholesterol intake can increase the risk of heart disease.

http://www.glycemicindex.com/

「升糖指數」?

GI值，英文叫Glycemic Index，就是營養學上所說的「升糖指數」，是指食物吃進去後，血糖升高相對於吃進去葡萄糖時的比例。選擇低GI carbs 的食物幫助減少心臟病和糖尿病的風險和是減重策的略. 低GI的食物，吃後令血糖上升的速度及幅度相對較平穩﹔高GI的話，即表示進食後會令血糖快速上升

GI值的3個級別：
高GI值 ： 大過或等如70
中GI值 ： 56至69
低GI值 ： 小過或等如55

除了碳水化合物的含量與種類以外，食物的不同形態及所含的其他營養素，都會影響GI﹕

1. 纖維量愈高GI愈低纖維量較高的全麥麵包，GI為69，屬中升糖指數食物﹔白麵包的則為88，屬高升糖指數食物，怪不得吃白麵包不利血糖控制。
2. 熟生水果GI有差距熟透的水果與未熟透的，GI會有差距。例如熟香蕉與生香蕉，前者GI為52，後者為30，因為熟香蕉糖分較高。
3. 澱粉質GI低 糖類GI高澱粉質消化時間長，GI因而較低，例如粉麵飯﹔相反，糖類很快被身體吸收，GI自然較高，例如甜品糖水。
4. 切碎食物GI較高薯蓉的GI較整個薯仔高，因為稀爛及切碎的食物較易吸收，令血糖快速上升。

低GI食物可以很高脂而且GI只針對食物中的碳水化合物，所以，低GI的食物，可以很低脂，也可以很高脂。例如全脂牛奶和脫脂牛奶都是低GI食物，GI分別為27及32，可是，不要忘記，全脂牛奶的脂肪含量高。盲目崇拜GI飲食，而沒有考慮全脂牛奶的脂肪能影響體內膽固醇水平的話，會攝取很多卡路里，也容易影響心臟健康。

Food to lower your cholesterol
Choice: March 08

To lower your cholersterol from food......
Eating 2–3 g per day of plant sterols in the form of enriched spread, yoghurt, milk or a combination of these products can help lower your cholesterol.

What is Plant sterols?
Plant sterols (also known as phytosterols), which have a similar chemical structure to cholesterol. When eaten, they’re thought to compete with and block the absorption of cholesterol from the intestine, ultimately reducing the amount of cholesterol that ends up in your blood.

Which product can lower your cholesterol, and is cost effective?
Vaules are per 0.8g of plant sterol

Woolworths Select Pro-Col Light spread $0.14
Logicol Original spread $0.16
Logicol Plus Vitamins spread $0.17
Logicol Extra Light spread $0.17
Flora Pro-Activ Ultra Light spread $0.17
Devondale Reduce milk $0.66
Yoplait HeartActive yoghurt $1.50
Logicol yoghurt $2.00

Local: Chinese News March

Nutritional Talk for Australia Children Disability Association

Individual development and obtaining good health is restricted for disability, no matter in medical care, or under parental care. In addition the physiology or other factor, disable patients would require greater special support. Australia Children Disability Assoiation will be holding a health and nutritional information session in next month, which will discuss and investigate children nutritional concerns, how to obtain a balanced nutrition, and improve general wellbeing. The information session will invite Dietitian Miss Angel Chan, to introduce the health diet, and general healthy principles. Miss Chan has once worked in Fairfield Hospital as a Clinical Dietitian, and been an invited guest speaker promoting health and nutrition in broadcasting station such as 2AC and 2CR.

Another guest for the information session is the Assosication sub-chairman, who will be introducting practicial dietary tips as well as healthy recipes on the day.

Information session:
Date: 5th April Sat 2008
Time: 2:30-3:45pm
Venue: Belmore Senior Citizens Centre, Redman Parade, Belmore
Cost: free

新聞 :. 社區新聞

澳洲弱能兒童協康會舉辦營養資訊講座

弱能人士不論在醫療護理，以至個人潛能的發展上均受到限制。基於發展上的障礙，弱能人士普遍未能照顧個人健康，加上生理或其他弱能因素，他們在健康護理方面更需要特別的支援。
澳洲弱能兒童協康會將於下月初繼續舉辦家長資訊講座，探討弱能子女營養問題，和如何通過均衡營養，去改善弱能子女健康。今次講座將邀請到營養師陳鈺晶小姐作為主講嘉賓。陳小姐將會介紹有關均衡營養的常識，如何改善弱能子女的個人健康，同時亦可以幫助他們發揮潛能。現私人執業的陳小姐曾任 Fairfield 醫院營養師，她也曾在電臺上介紹營養學的常識。

另一位嘉賓是本身也是弱能子女家長的協康會副會長陳劉秀蓉女士，她將會介紹一些營養均衡的餐膳和分享個人照顧弱能子女的經驗。這項講座歡迎弱能子女家長參加和發表意見。

家長資訊講座:
日期: 二零零八年四月五日 星期六
時間: 下午二時三十分至三時四十五分
地點: Belmore Senior Citizens Centre, Redman Parade, Belmore
費用: 免費

http://www.chinatown.com.au/news/news.asp?loca=cm&newsid=42787&videourl