Jerusalem Artichoke: The Answer to Your Sugar Cravings?

[Guest guest]

Jerusalem Artichoke: The Answer to Sugar Cravings? JoAnn Guest Mar 30, 2003

14:16 PST

What’s in a name?

 

Not necessarily anything straightforward in the way of information. From

the name of this plant, you’d think it was an artichoke from Jerusalem.

Not only is it not from Jerusalem, it’s not even from nearby – it hails

from North America. Neither is it an artichoke, but a member of the

sunflower family. There is some notion that it got its Jerusalem

nomenclature from its Italian name, which is ‘girasola’. This translates

as ‘rotate towards the sun’ and relates to its habit of following the

sun through its orbit. A distortion of ‘girasola’ probably landed the

plant with ‘Jerusalem’ as a name.

 

Jerusalem artichoke (JA) should equally not be confused with Globe

artichoke, which is used for managing cholesterol and lipids in the

blood. Jerusalem artichoke can also help with weight control, not

through better metabolism of fats but through better management of

sugars. The tuber of JA contains inulin, which is an oligosaccharide –

there’s a name for you. Oligosaccharides are dietary fibres and have

sweetening properties, but despite their sweetness they don’t need the

pancreas to produce insulin to deal with them, so they don’t have an

adverse effect on blood sugar levels like most sugars do.

It is wobbly blood sugar levels that trigger sugar cravings, causing

people to feel hunger pangs that drive them towards sweet foods. If your

blood sugar levels are more stable, you will experience fewer cravings

and less need to snack frequently. Just what you need when on a diet.

 

So what else does this American Jerusalem sunflower artichoke do?

Remember the inulin? Due to its status as a dietary fibre, it shares the

actions of other fibrous substances that swell in the colon to move

everything in the right direction. This means that more waste products

leave the body and there is less unnecessary weight hanging around in

the gut – another bonus for those wanting to lose weight. Having a

happily working gut is one of the best ways of feeling energised and

active, so exercising is less likely to be a drag.

 

The other benefit of the ‘bulking’ action is that it creates a feeling

of fullness, which helps to decrease the urge to go and eat your entire

larder.

 

There are no drawbacks to using this herb, although those with a

sensitive digestive tract may find that the bulking action is too strong

and they need to decrease the dose if they experience intestinal

discomfort.

 

Overall, then, this particular member of the sunflower family could

potentially bring not a little sunshine into your life, as it helps you

to control sugar cravings, regulate your eating habits and feel more

active.

 

 

http://www.healthywaymagazine.com/issue27/08_artichoke.html

 

 

JoAnn Guest

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