Well Shiver Me Timbers!

     There seems to be no shortage of new diets to follow, many of them with no substantiated testing to support them.  They come and go more often than I change my socks.  But there's a new one just announced called The Popeye Diet that deserves a second look.



     Scientists at Lund University in Sweden discovered that a spinach extract contained in the green leaf members called thylakoids can boost weight loss by as much as 43%.  It is being touted as the latest weight loss aid, curbing cravings by nearly 95%.  The findings are based on analysis of 38 overweight women and was conducted over a period of 3 months.  Food cravings, also termed "hedonistic hunger," are the urges people have for unhealthy foods, particularly sweets and fast food (and for me usually occurs around midnight).

     Ingesting thylakoids reinforces the body's production of safety hormones and suppresses hedonistic hunger, which in turn leads to better appetite control, healthier eating habits and increased weight loss.  It's those thylakoids in the green leaf membranes that gradually slows down the digestion process giving the intestinal hormones sufficient time to be released and signal the brain that the body is satiated.

     One of the study leaders, Professor Erlanson-Albertson, has commented:

     "It is about making use of the time it takes to digest our food.  There's nothing wrong with our digestive system, but it doesn't work well with the modern 'pre-chewed" food.  The thylakoids extend digestion, producing a feeling of satiety.  This means that we are able to stick to the diet we are meant for without snacks and unnecessary foods like sweets, crisps and such."

So now I wonder if that's how Olive Oyl stayed so thin?