Saul Katz: Low Glycemic for Life!

New Natural Low GI Sweetener Introduced

Companies are lining up to introduce new low glycemic sweeteners into the marketplace, recognizing the huge need and market potential. The glycemic index is a scientific ranking of a food's impact on blood sugar. Wisdom Natural Brands recently launched a "natural" low GI SweetLeaf Stevia sweetener. Sweeteners currently on the market, such as Equal, NutraSweet and Splenda, are made from chemicals. Nutra-Sweet and Equal have glycemic indexes higher than sugar, making them less healthy products according to Jim May, CEO of the company. Wisdom's Stevia-based sweetener has no calories or carbohydrates and a zero glycemic index. The company has sold Stevia-based teas and dietary supplements since 1982. Minnesota-based Cargill, in collaboration with Coca-Cola, developed a low glycemic sweetener called Rebiana.

Thirteen countries have already approved Stevia for use as a sweetener. In addition to Stevia's super sweetner capability, its leaves have more than 100 nutrients including glycosides. Multiple processes exist to extract the compounds, called steviosides, from the leaves. For its new sweetener, Wisdom developed a new process involving the use of water and filters to extract the compounds from South American leaves, which according to the company are the highest-quality leaves known at this time. The company says it is working with farmers and scientists in South America to grow the leaves and produce the product. Wisdom will sell the sweetener in powder, tablet and liquid forms. Widsom's products are sold at natural foods stores, Bashas' and some Fry's supermarkets in the US. Their tea and dietary supplements are also sold online.

Low Glycemic Index (GI) and Low Glycemic Load (GL) foods have been proven in studies to be beneficial: dieting; weight loss; obesity; diabetes; balancing blood sugar; sustained energy; sport nutrition; mental performance; acne; eye health; macular degeneration; heart disease and forms of cancer. See also Low GI Diet, Low GI Recipes, Low GI Food, Low GI Eating.

Copyright 2008, Saul Katz

OUT ON A LIMB

The actress Shirley MacLaine wrote a book of this title, going out on a limb with the hope that her reflections may help others see things more clearly or feel more sane in contrast to her musings. Authoring a blog provides me with a canvas and editorial privilege. So here I go out on a limb, with the hope that sharing my observations will also help make the world a better place. These underpinning beliefs are my anchors and guide posts, helping me to navigate with the current and explore within its grand design.

My underlying beliefs are grounded in nature, defined as ‘the physical world including all natural phenomena and living things’. Another observation that keeps me grounded and puts things in perspective for me is our stature in the universe.  We are at the same time miniscule and exceptional.  Modern radio telescopes measure the ever-expanding outer envelop of the “Big Bang”, yet we have not discovered another living planet.

With this frame of reference I hold all life on planet Earth to be exceptional. A fine balance is kept in check by the struggle to survive and competion to flourish. I believe in the infinite wisdom of nature. Nature is too brilliant to have redundant features; even the redundancies have purpose. Nature loves diversity.  Each of us is intended to be different to ensure the survival of the human specie. For example, it may be the destiny of one soul living off a Calcutta garbage dump whose immune resistance withstands a devastating pandemic that threatens mankind; giving prophecy to the biblical doctrine, “the meek shall inherit the earth”.  As such, our differences bind us. Each individual is equally important to our survival and we are each ‘g-d like’ in this vast universe. This teaches us that we must have mutual respect and appreciation for each other, and offer support when possible. 

I believe we are each born ‘hard-wired’ for survival of the individual entity, the family unit, the tribe and the human specie in that order of priority. This program drives our behavior, our desires and our cravings. We are also preprogrammed to contribute to a tribe in a particular archetypical role.

However, in the recent past we have moved out of sync with nature and in that process we have upset the environment balance through urbanization, population growth and commoditization of our food supply.

What does this have to do with low GI? Read my upcoming blog “MOTHER NATURE WANTS US TO FATTEN UP”. 

Low Glycemic Index (GI) and Low Glycemic Load (GL) foods have been proven in studies to be beneficial: dieting; weight loss; obesity; diabetes; balancing blood sugar; sustained energy; sport nutrition; mental performance; acne; eye health; macular degeneration; heart disease and forms of cancer. See also Low GI Diet, Low GI Recipes, Low GI Food, Low GI Eating.

Copyright 2008, Saul Katz