The good, the bad (carbs) and the oily
July 13, 2004 | 12:00am
A lot of people seem to swear by it. TV host/newscaster Korina Sanchez stoutly announced on her radio program that she’s simply addicted to it. And we thought all along that love, sweet love was the only reason behind a glowing Korina! Of course, we’re talking about the much-talked-about South Beach Diet. But for those who may not know what we’re talking about, the South Beach Diet, says Dr. Arthur Agatston, isn’t really a low-carb, low-fat or high-protein diet. The rule of thumb, according to Dr. Agatston, is to "consume the right carbs and the right fats and learn to snack strategically."
Which brings us to these weighty questions: Which are the good and the bad carbohydrates, the good and bad fats?
Here are the answers straight from the expert’s mouth, as gleaned from the book The South Beach Diet Good Fats Good Carbs Guide by Dr. Arthur Agatston (available at Powerbooks Specialty Stores).
First, the good carbs. These are the carbs we’re meant to eat – those unrefined ones that have kept us healthy since we learned to chew. These include whole, unprocessed, natural foods such as whole grains, rice, pulses and starchy vegetables.
Says Dr. Agatston; "They’re also called complex carbohydrates, so named for their molecular structure. Besides being packed with fiber, vitamins and minerals, good carbs take longer to digest – a good thing, as you’ll soon see." Certainly, to see is to believe.
Come the bad carbs. They’re the refined carbs, "the ones where digestion has begun in factories instead of in our stomachs." They’re the bad guys and they’re found in processed food, such as store-bought baked goodies, pasta and white bread. Refined carbs are often made with white flour and contain little or no fiber. White and brown flour lose their nutrients, along with the bran, when the wheat is milled. Wholemeal flour, especially stoneground, has its nutrients and fiber intact.
And now, Dr. Agatston separates fat from fiction. Did you know that there are fats that are good for us and may actually reduce one’s risk of heart attack and stroke? More, they help our sugar and insulin metabolism, and on the whole help us lose weight and keep it off.
The good fats include monounsaturated fats, as found in olive and rapeseed (canola) oils, peanuts and other nuts, peanut butter and avocados. Monounsaturated fats reduce total and bad LDL cholesterol while keeping the good cholesterol.
The other good fats are the omega-3 fatty acids, which are polyunsaturated fats found in cold-water (oily) fish, rapeseed (canola) oil, flaxseeds (linseeds), walnuts, almonds and macadamia nuts. Recent studies show that those who eat more omega-3s, like the Eskimos whose diet is rich in fish, have fewer serious heart and health problems.
So, who are the culprits? The bad fats include the artery-clogging ones found in butter, fatty red meats and full-fat dairy products.
Also very bad fats are the trans fats (hydrogenated oils and fats) found in many processed foods, like pastries, biscuits, cakes and chips.
Your best bet, says Dr. Agatston, is to go natural. He dishes out these life-saving tips:
• Limit margarine, processed foods and fast food which contain high amounts of saturated and trans fats.
• Change your cooking methods: Bake, grill, barbecue or microwave rather than fry.
• Remove the skin from chicken or turkey before you eat it.
• Cook with canola or olive oil instead of butter, margarine or lard.
• Switch from whole milk to skimmed or semi-skimmed (low-fat) milk.
Beef up on the ABCs of carbs and fats and more with the South Beach Food Guide (with a dining-out guide thrown in) that lists more than a thousand of your favorite foods and their contents to help you make healthy choices.
Here’s a mouthful from a consumer who asks, "Who’s minding the business of web design?"
But that’s getting ahead of our story. Ma. Socorro Camacho-Reyes, president of the Philippine Center for Population and Development, shares:
"With the developments in information technology, many organizations/businesses now maintain websites. This brought about a new industry called the web developers. The Philippine Center for Population and Development (PCPD), an NGO, has a website and contracted an alleged web company to develop a web-based database that would be incorporated to its existing website. It represented itself as a web company with competent staff to perform the services required to develop the PCPD database website. Unfortunately, it failed to deliver on its contracted obligation. PCPD paid the company a 30 percent down payment upon signing the agreement, equivalent to P15,000 for the database development to be completed within a period of 45 days commencing from July 15, 2003 to Aug. 30, 2003. To this day, the project is not complete. PCPD terminated the agreement and demanded a refund of the down payment which the web company refused.
"We wrote the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for redress of our complaint. However, DTI said that this kind of complaint is not within its jurisdiction as it does not fall under the purview of the law RA 7394 (Consumer Act of the Philippines) as PCPD is not a natural person and the transaction is not a ‘consumer transaction’ as defined in the same law.
"Now, with many web developers offering their services to the public, what recourse can a client have other than going through a costly litigation? There ought to be a body that will police this industry to ensure that the public is well protected from unscrupulous people pretending to be knowledgeable in this technology.
"We are writing to draw attention to the need to professionalize this field through qualifying examinations and licensing of web developers, and the estalishment of organizations similar to the IBP for lawyers, PMA for doctors and PICPA for accountants that would raise the standards of excellence. By having such standards, the public will be better protected by dealing only with persons or entities that are genuinely qualified to practice their profession."
Now, browse this e-mail from Danny Chaplin of the Chaplin Public Relations (Singapore):
"For those of you who may have been searching for an alternative to the Microsoft monopoly on web browsers – Mozilla Firefox. An informative article can be found at the link, and the fully functional browser can be downloaded – for free – from the second URL. I’ve been using it for a week and find it quite superior to IE in many ways. Web pages do seem to load faster and it blocks annoying popups. And anything which breaks Microsoft’s monopolistic practices can’t be all that bad."
Don’t just sit there, write something. Better yet, e-mail us at ching_alano@yahoo.com.
Which brings us to these weighty questions: Which are the good and the bad carbohydrates, the good and bad fats?
Here are the answers straight from the expert’s mouth, as gleaned from the book The South Beach Diet Good Fats Good Carbs Guide by Dr. Arthur Agatston (available at Powerbooks Specialty Stores).
First, the good carbs. These are the carbs we’re meant to eat – those unrefined ones that have kept us healthy since we learned to chew. These include whole, unprocessed, natural foods such as whole grains, rice, pulses and starchy vegetables.
Says Dr. Agatston; "They’re also called complex carbohydrates, so named for their molecular structure. Besides being packed with fiber, vitamins and minerals, good carbs take longer to digest – a good thing, as you’ll soon see." Certainly, to see is to believe.
Come the bad carbs. They’re the refined carbs, "the ones where digestion has begun in factories instead of in our stomachs." They’re the bad guys and they’re found in processed food, such as store-bought baked goodies, pasta and white bread. Refined carbs are often made with white flour and contain little or no fiber. White and brown flour lose their nutrients, along with the bran, when the wheat is milled. Wholemeal flour, especially stoneground, has its nutrients and fiber intact.
And now, Dr. Agatston separates fat from fiction. Did you know that there are fats that are good for us and may actually reduce one’s risk of heart attack and stroke? More, they help our sugar and insulin metabolism, and on the whole help us lose weight and keep it off.
The good fats include monounsaturated fats, as found in olive and rapeseed (canola) oils, peanuts and other nuts, peanut butter and avocados. Monounsaturated fats reduce total and bad LDL cholesterol while keeping the good cholesterol.
The other good fats are the omega-3 fatty acids, which are polyunsaturated fats found in cold-water (oily) fish, rapeseed (canola) oil, flaxseeds (linseeds), walnuts, almonds and macadamia nuts. Recent studies show that those who eat more omega-3s, like the Eskimos whose diet is rich in fish, have fewer serious heart and health problems.
So, who are the culprits? The bad fats include the artery-clogging ones found in butter, fatty red meats and full-fat dairy products.
Also very bad fats are the trans fats (hydrogenated oils and fats) found in many processed foods, like pastries, biscuits, cakes and chips.
Your best bet, says Dr. Agatston, is to go natural. He dishes out these life-saving tips:
• Limit margarine, processed foods and fast food which contain high amounts of saturated and trans fats.
• Change your cooking methods: Bake, grill, barbecue or microwave rather than fry.
• Remove the skin from chicken or turkey before you eat it.
• Cook with canola or olive oil instead of butter, margarine or lard.
• Switch from whole milk to skimmed or semi-skimmed (low-fat) milk.
Beef up on the ABCs of carbs and fats and more with the South Beach Food Guide (with a dining-out guide thrown in) that lists more than a thousand of your favorite foods and their contents to help you make healthy choices.
But that’s getting ahead of our story. Ma. Socorro Camacho-Reyes, president of the Philippine Center for Population and Development, shares:
"With the developments in information technology, many organizations/businesses now maintain websites. This brought about a new industry called the web developers. The Philippine Center for Population and Development (PCPD), an NGO, has a website and contracted an alleged web company to develop a web-based database that would be incorporated to its existing website. It represented itself as a web company with competent staff to perform the services required to develop the PCPD database website. Unfortunately, it failed to deliver on its contracted obligation. PCPD paid the company a 30 percent down payment upon signing the agreement, equivalent to P15,000 for the database development to be completed within a period of 45 days commencing from July 15, 2003 to Aug. 30, 2003. To this day, the project is not complete. PCPD terminated the agreement and demanded a refund of the down payment which the web company refused.
"We wrote the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for redress of our complaint. However, DTI said that this kind of complaint is not within its jurisdiction as it does not fall under the purview of the law RA 7394 (Consumer Act of the Philippines) as PCPD is not a natural person and the transaction is not a ‘consumer transaction’ as defined in the same law.
"Now, with many web developers offering their services to the public, what recourse can a client have other than going through a costly litigation? There ought to be a body that will police this industry to ensure that the public is well protected from unscrupulous people pretending to be knowledgeable in this technology.
"We are writing to draw attention to the need to professionalize this field through qualifying examinations and licensing of web developers, and the estalishment of organizations similar to the IBP for lawyers, PMA for doctors and PICPA for accountants that would raise the standards of excellence. By having such standards, the public will be better protected by dealing only with persons or entities that are genuinely qualified to practice their profession."
"For those of you who may have been searching for an alternative to the Microsoft monopoly on web browsers – Mozilla Firefox. An informative article can be found at the link, and the fully functional browser can be downloaded – for free – from the second URL. I’ve been using it for a week and find it quite superior to IE in many ways. Web pages do seem to load faster and it blocks annoying popups. And anything which breaks Microsoft’s monopolistic practices can’t be all that bad."
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