KTK-Nutrition

Who doesn’t love some sweets, some desserts?   Everyone knows candy, cookies, pies, cakes, and other desserts have sugar.    But you may not be aware of the amount of added sugar in everyday foods.   What are some food sources of hidden sugar that may surprise you?   What is the difference between the natural sugar in foods and added sugar?   It is the added sugar in foods that can lead to a number of health problems including obesity, heart disease, diabetes, dental disease and even liver disease.      What foods have natural sugar? When health professionals recommend cutting back on “sugar”, they usually aren’t talking about the natural sugar in foods.   Did you know cow’s milk has some natural sugar called “lactose”?   It is not very sweet so milk doesn’t taste very sweet unless it is chocolate milk and sugar has been added.   Fruit contains a natural sugar called “fructose”.   So why don’t you get a sugar high when you eat an apple or an orange?   Because the fiber in fruit sl

A relative just asked me about their triglyceride levels.   She wanted to know what to do if her triglycerides were high.   What are triglycerides?   What does a high level of triglycerides mean for one’s health?   Do we get triglycerides from food?   Does our body need triglycerides? What are triglycerides? Triglycerides are a fat that circulates in your blood and is the most common fat in your body.   After you eat a meal, you burn up some of the calories from food but your body converts the calories it doesn’t need right away to triglycerides and stores these triglycerides in your fat cells.   If you need energy between meals, your body can release some triglycerides from the fat cells to use for energy.   What do high triglyceride levels due to our health? High triglyceride levels in our blood can lead to several health issues including heart disease, stroke and even pancreatitis.   Why?   Too many triglycerides in our blood causes artery walls to thicken which can lead to