CARBOHYDRATES If a person consumes carbohydrates that produce glucose in an amount that exceeds what the body can readily absorb in the bloodstream, the excess is stored in the muscle cells and in the liver as the substance called glycogen. This glycogen can be released as glucose when needed, as the blood sugar level recedes. It is the same process as the simple carbohydrates called sugars. When the usable glucose level or storage capacity of the liver is surpassed, the excess is converted by the liver into body fat (lipogenesis). Just think for a minute... the liver converts carbohydrates into body fat and not calories, Hmm? Athletes particularly like carbohydrates because glycogen is readily stored and converted back to glucose which leads to strong endurance. However, for the same reason, non-athletes find that if they consume more carbohydrates than they burn, they have difficulty in controlling their weight. Regulating your carbohydrate intake has been made easier by three documents that you can easily access: First: The Dietary Reference Intakes for Macronutrients put out by The National Academies, Copyright 2002. This report, which you may access directly at www.nap.edu, lists the “Recommended Dietary Reference Intakes: Macronutrients for Carbohydrate and Fiber by Age and Sex.” The tables also list generally selected food sources and where they can be obtained. Second: Brand, Miller, Foster, Powell, and Wolever‘s book, "The Glucose Revolution including their “Glycemic Index." Although fiber has little to nothing to offer nutritionally, it plays an important role in digestion: it forms the waste that is expelled from our body. Good sources of fiber are the white inner skin of oranges in the form of cellulose and pectin, the substance used in making jelly coagulate, and Mana Diet Oat Bran Fiber. Starch was not on The National Academies www.nap.edu report, but you can lump it into the "carbohydrates" category since that is what it is. History of Oats in the Development of Mana Diet Oat Bran Fiber Oats have been a staple grain food source in almost all ancient civilizations. Dietary fibers from cereal grains can contribute many health benefits. Oats have been recognized to be effective in lowering blood cholesterol levels since as early as 1963. A recent analysis of several studies has shown the consistent efficacy of oats as a hypocholesterolemic and hypoglycemic agent in humans. The FDA has recently recognized the importance of oat soluble fiber, called beta-glucans, by allowing health claims on foods containing oat soluble fiber. Hawaii Mana Diet Oat Bran Fiber offers a highly functional and efficacious way to incorporate the healthy benefits of oat soluble fiber into our Hawaii Mana Diet. Mana Diet Oat Bran Fiber is an exciting, new-generation oat bran originally developed and patented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). At last, the disappointing functionality of traditional oat bran has been dramatically improved! The scientific and medical community has long been aware that oat soluble-fiber, or beta-glucans, contained in oat bran and rolled oats is capable of reducing serum level blood glucose. Mana Diet Oat Bran Fiber is exciting – As a new-generation of oat bran fiber it helps to: Promote maintenance of healthy blood sugar levels Support healthy immune function                                Promote digestive health Promote maintenance of healthy body weight                Slow absorption of carbohydrates Increase feeling of fullness (satiety)                            Provide needed dietary fiber Reduce risk of colon cancer          Improve the ability of diabetics to process blood sugar. In addition, Mana Diet Oat Bran Fiber is a beta-glucan, which is considered to be fiber. Fiber is non-digestible due to the absence in the human body of an enzyme capable of hydrolyzing the beta-glucosidic linkage. Therefore it can be readily passed. To test this hypothesis, Mana Diet Oat Bran Fiber was administered orally to Zucker fat rats (by whom?). These animals, if untreated, are genetically programmed to gain weight rapidly. They quickly develop high levels of blood glucose. EFFECT OF MANA DIET OAT BRAN FIBER ON BLOOD-GLUCOSE LEVELS AFTER 30 DAYS OF SUPPLEMENTATION: 123.75 mg/dl No Mana Diet Oat Bran Fiber 102.5 mg/dl 30 mg/dose 81.75 mg/dl 60 mg/dose The Zucker rats were fed Mana Diet Oat Bran Fiber orally each day for two weeks. The maximum amount of Mana Diet Oat Bran Fiber provided was less than 1% of each animal's total food intake per day. Mana Diet Oat Bran Fiber slowed body weight gain by 19% during 15 days!After 30 Days of treatment: Mana Fiber reduced blood-glucose levels in diabetic, obese Zucker rats up to 32%.