RESUMO
Researchers recognize that society needs accurate and comprehensive estimates of the economic value of rain forests to assess conservation and management options. Valuation of forests can help us to decide whether to implement policies that reconcile the value different groups attach to forests. Here we have measured the value of the rain forest to local populations by monitoring the foods, construction and craft materials, and medicines consumed or sold from the forest by 32 Indian households in two villages in Honduras over 2.5 years. We have directly measured the detailed, comprehensive consumption patterns of rain forest products by an indigenous population and the value of that consumption in local markets. The combined value of consumption and sale of forest goods ranged from US$17.79 to US$23.72 per hectare per year, at the lower end of previous estimates (between US$49 and US$1,089 (mean US$347) per hectare per year). Although outsiders value the rain forest for its high-use and non-use values, local people receive a small share of the total value. Unless rural people are paid for the non-local values of rain forests, they may be easily persuaded to deforest.
RESUMO
The importance of the treatment of diabetes mellitus in the diet, is well known. Given that the glycemic response of the foods can not be predicted simply based on their chemical composition, prior to advising diabetics, one must have comparative data on the physiologic effects of the different foods. In this work we have studied the effect of nougat on glycemia and insulinemia, because this is a common food in our culture, and its knowledge may be of great use to diabetic patients. For the study we chose 7 healthy volunteers who were asked to ingest, on different days, a portion of whole wheat bread and one of Jijona nougat with an equivalent number of carbohydrates, and blood samples were taken before breakfast and at different times after initiating the ingestion, and in these samples we determined the plasma concentrations of glucose and insulin. We calculated the peak distances of glycemia and insulinemia, that is to say, the differences between the minimum and maximum values, and the areas under the curves. The difference between the glycemia peak distance between the trial done with nougat and that done with whole wheat bread, was statistically significant with a p < 0.02. The area under both curves did not show statistically significant differences. The same was true for the insulinemia figures. In conclusion, nougat, which traditionally is banned from the diet of diabetics, in this study does not show to produce a greater functional overload of the pancreatic islets than whole wheat bread does, and, although it has a high caloric value, it can probably be added to the diet of diabetic in small quantities, without producing great metabolic alterations.
