Diet

Diabetes: Tips for stable, steady blood sugar levels

Diabetes is a lifelong medical condition that makes people resistant to insulin, a hormone that allows blood glucose to enter the body’s cells where it is used as energy.

Diabetics have too much glucose in the blood because the body cannot use it properly and they need extra insulin to allow their cells to take in sugar from their blood.

Diabetes has three distinct classifications. These include Type 1 Diabetes wherein a glitch in immune system attacks its own beta cells in the pancreas. A person with type 1 diabetics is dependent on insulin shots for life.
Type 2 Diabetes is triggered by reduced insulin sensitivity combined with reduced insulin secretions. As the disease progresses therapeutic replacement of insulin becomes necessary. The third, gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancies and is fully treatable but requires careful medical supervision throughout pregnancy.

What causes diabetes?
According to experts, nature as well as nurture play a vital role in triggering diabetes. Though, the ailment is said to be passed down from parents to offspring, the gene susceptibility is just 25 percent. A sedentary lifestyle, adhering to unhealthy diet high in saturated fats and junk food, makes us more vulnerable to the ailment.

If diabetes goes uncontrolled it can lead to loss of eye sight, renal failure, cardiovascular problems, gangrene, and amputations, hence maintaining blood sugars within the target range is crucial.

Tips to control diabetes
Though not many can control diabetes without medication, awareness of what makes your blood sugar spike, plus a few simple lifestyle changes can make a real difference.

Diet
In terms of food intake, what you eat, how much you eat and when you eat is paramount for diabetes management. Switch to vegetables and fruits, whole grains, lean meats, or proteins and avoid heavy, processed or refined foods and sweets. Eat five to six small portions throughout the day at a regular time rather than when you feel like it. Balance out all the nutrients in every meal as this will help you keep your insulin level on an even keel.

Regular exercise regimen
Diabetes need to adhere to a regular exercise regimen. Physical activity not only increases insulin sensitivity, but it reduces stress, improves blood pressure and cholesterol and also controls weight. Aim to exercise at least 30 minutes a day, five times a week. Any activity ranging from brisk walking, using stairs instead of elevators, vacuuming that raises metabolic rate and levels out blood sugar counts toward your daily total.

Keeping weight in check
Being overweight is an indicator of diabetes. Excess body fat, especially stored around the abdomen, can increase the body’s resistance to the hormone insulin. Though shedding pounds and keeping it off is a challenging task, losing even a relatively small amount of weight can go a long way in keeping blood sugars levels steady.

Eyes
Visit an ophthalmologist experienced in treating diabetic to look for diseases such as retinopathy, one of the most common complications of the disease.

Quit smoking
Smokers are twice as likely to develop diabetes as opposed to non-smokers. Lighting up reportedly increases insulin resistance and also narrows blood vessels which in turn limit circulation to your legs and feet.

Drink moderately
Excessive alcohol consumption can pile on the pounds and also spike blood pressure and triglyceride levels. Two standard drinks a day for men and no more than one for women is recommended

Get enough sleep
Adjust the hours so that you get a consistent eight hours of shut eye. Researches have established that inadequate sleep has a significant effect on your blood sugar and insulin levels.

Stay hydrated.
Drink water to stay energized and hydrated. Swapping coffee, soda or juices with water will slash the total sugar and calories in your diet. You can add a dash of lemon or lime or an orange wedge for flavor.

Diabetes is serious, but is a manageable disease. Just incorporate these simple tips to prevent or delay some of the serious problems related with diabetes.

Source: the med guru

The better your mood the healthier you eat!

Previous research has found that emotions affect eating, and that negative moods and positive moods may actually lead to preferences for different kinds of foods. For example, if given the choice between grapes or chocolate candies, someone in a good mood may choose the former while someone in a bad mood may choose the latter. The research reported in this article looks at the “why:” Why, when someone is in a bad mood, will they choose to eat junk food and why, when someone is in a good mood, will they make healthier food choices?

To get at the “why,” we married the theories of affective regulation (how people react to their moods and emotions) and temporal construal (the perspective of time) to explain food choice. Conceptually, when people feel uncomfortable or are in a bad mood, they know something is wrong and focus on what is close in the here and now. We hypothesized and demonstrated that this kind of thinking gets us to focus on the sensory qualities of our foods – not things that are more abstract like how nutritious the food is. Analogously, we hypothesized and demonstrated that when people are in a good mood, things seem okay and they can take a big picture perspective. This kind of thinking allows people to focus on the more abstract aspects of food, including how healthy it is.

We studied these hypotheses in four laboratory experiments. In the first study, we investigated the effect of a positive mood on evaluations of indulgent and health foods by examining 211 individuals from local parent-teacher associations (PTAs). Next we studied whether individuals in a negative mood – who had read a sad story– evaluated indulgent foods more positively and whether those who were in a positive mood indicated a desire to remain healthy into their old age. 315 undergraduate students participated in this study. In the third study, involving 151 undergraduate students, we altered participants’ focus on the present versus the future along with their mood and measured how much healthy and indulgent food they consumed. To get more direct insight into the underlying process, the fourth study, involving 110 university students, focused specifically on the thoughts related to food choice and differentiated concrete taste versus nutrition benefits.

Ultimately, the findings of all the studies combined demonstrated that individuals select healthy or indulgent foods depending on whether they are in a good or a bad mood, respectively. The findings also indicate the integral aspect of the time horizon, showing that individuals in positive moods who make healthier food choices are often thinking more about future health benefits than those in negative moods, who focus more on the immediate taste and sensory experience. Finally we found that individuals in negative moods will still make food choices influenced by temporal construal which suggests that trying to focus on something other than the present can reduce the consumption of indulgent foods.

Source: eureka Alert

Lack of exercise and high fat diet fueling obesity epidemic in Europe

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that lack of physical inactivity and diets high in fats, salts and sugars has led to obesity and overweight is becoming “the new norm” throughout Europe.

Up to 27 percent of Europe’s 13-year-olds and 33 percent of 11-year-olds are overweight, officials said ahead of an EU summit in Greece with a special focus on “the grave public health concern” of childhood obesity.

Countries with the highest proportion of overweight 11-year-olds included Greece, with 33 percent, Portugal (32 percent), and Ireland and Spain, both with 30 percent, the Independent reported.

Overall the UK is performing slightly better, but in Wales 30 percent of 11-year-old boys are overweight.

The WHO’s regional director for Europe, Zsuzsanna Jakab, said that Europeans’ “perception of what is normal has shifted”.

She said that being overweight is now more common than unusual, adding that we must not let another generation grow up with obesity as the new norm.

Inactivity, listed by the WHO as the fourth leading cause of death globally, is now viewed as one of the major health threats affecting developed countries.

In the UK more than two thirds of people over the age of 15 were insufficiently active, according to the WHO’s latest data, from 2008.

It is recommended that adults get 150 minutes moderate-intensity exercise per week, while children and adolescents should have an hour per day, according to international guidelines.

Source: Yahoo news

Vegetarian diets may lower blood pressure

People who eat a vegetarian diet tend to have lower blood pressure than non-vegetarians, according to a new review of past studies.

Researchers said for some people, eating a vegetarian diet could be a good way to treat high blood pressure without medication.

Vegetarian diets exclude meat, but may include dairy products, eggs and fish in some cases. They emphasize foods of plant origin, particularly vegetables, grains, legumes and fruits.

High blood pressure contributes to a person’s risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disorders and other health problems. For many people, the only treatment has been medication, but that means costs and possible side effects, lead author Yoko Yokoyama told Reuters Health in an email.

“If a diet change can prevent blood pressure problems or can reduce blood pressure, it would give hope to many people,” Yokoyama said. She is a researcher at the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Osaka, Japan.

“However, in order to make healthful food choices, people need guidance from scientific studies,” she said. “Our analysis found that vegetarian diets lower blood pressure very effectively, and the evidence for this is now quite conclusive.”

According to the American Heart Association, blood pressure readings under 120 mm Hg systolic and 80 mm Hg diastolic (120/80) are considered normal. High blood pressure starts at 140/90.

The new review, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, combined results from 39 previous studies, including 32 observational studies and seven controlled trials.

“Observational studies show what happens when people have chosen their own diets and stuck with them, often for years,” Yokoyama said. “Controlled trials are different – a diet is given to people who had not tried it before, and that will show the effect of beginning a new way of eating.”

Together the studies included close to 22,000 people.

The researchers found that in the observational studies, people who had been eating a vegetarian diet had an average systolic blood pressure that was about 7 mm Hg lower than among meat-eaters and a diastolic blood pressure that was 5 mm Hg lower.

Participants in the clinical trials who were given vegetarian diets to follow had, on average, a systolic blood pressure that was 5 mm Hg lower and a diastolic blood pressure that was 2 mm Hg lower than participants in control groups who were not on vegetarian diets.

“Unlike drugs, there is no cost to a diet adjustment of this type, and all the ‘side effects’ of a plant-based diet are desirable: weight loss, lower cholesterol, and better blood sugar control, among others,” Yokoyama said.

She said a plant-based diet is typically low in fat and high in fiber, so it helps people lose weight, which, in turn, causes a healthy drop in blood pressure.

“But there is more,” Yokoyama said. “Plant-based foods are often low in sodium and are rich in potassium, and potassium lowers blood pressure.”

The same foods are also very low in saturated fat – the type of fat in meat and cheese – and eating less saturated fat means blood can circulate more easily, she explained.

“I would encourage physicians to prescribe plant-based diets as a matter of routine, and to rely on medications only when diet changes do not do the job,” Yokoyama said. “And I would encourage everyone to try a plant-based diet, and especially to introduce plant-based diets to their children – they could prevent many health problems.”

Alice Lichtenstein, director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at Tufts University in Boston, said the results of the review are encouraging, but added that it didn’t take sodium in the diet and lifestyle factors into account.

“Individuals who adhere to vegetarian diets are likely to use fewer processed foods, the major source of dietary sodium, and adhere to healthy lifestyles behaviors such as maintaining a body weight in the optimal range and engaging in regular physical activity,” Lichtenstein told Reuters Health in an email. She was not involved in the new research.

“Until we understand the contribution of these factors we can’t attribute the effect observed solely to adhering to a vegetarian diet,” Lichtenstein explained.

“We certainly would not encourage substituting a slice of quiche for a grilled chicken breast for dinner, due to the sodium, calories and saturated fat,” she said.

What’s more, the findings do not mean that people taking blood pressure medication should go off their drugs in favor of diet changes without talking to a doctor.

Yokoyama said doctors who would like to prescribe diet changes need tools.

“We have developed a free program, called the 21-Day Kickstart program, which introduces a plant-based diet through daily emails that provide menus, recipes, cooking videos, and a discussion board for questions. It is available at no charge in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Japanese, along with a special English-language program for India,” Yokoyama said.

The program is affiliated with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, an organization that promotes plant-based diets.

Source: Reuters

Low-sugar vs. low-fat: Twin doctors experiment to see which diet works best

In the quest to lose weight, is cutting out sugar or cutting out fat the solution?

To find the answer, 35-year-old identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken, who are both doctors, conducted a month-long experiment. While Chris, a physician at University College Hospital, London went on a low-fat, high-carb regime, Xand, director of the Institute of Humanitarian Affairs at Fordham University in New York, chose a high-fat, low-carb diet.

The brothers both lost weight. Xand lost the most– nine pounds in one month.

In conclusion, the brothers found that eliminating a single macro-nutrient like fat or sugar is not a solution to weight loss, nor are fad diets.

“It is about building an environment in your life where you could easily eat a cheap and healthy diet and get enough exercise. It is amazing that we are not all fat and I come away with a sense that I know enough about diet and nutrition and I should be reducing the calories and building an environment where I can do that rather than looking for one toxic ingredient,” Chris said.

After the experiment ended, the British twins also concluded that the real villains when it comes to weight gain are processed foods that contained a combination of high fat and high sugar.

Susan Jebb, professor of diet and population health at the University of Oxford, agreed with their conclusion.

“Processed foods pack calories in and are unbelievably attractive and delicious,” she told the Daily Express. “They are temptations for all of us and it is astonishing that any of us stay slim.”

The brothers’ experiment will be featured in the UK on BBC Two’s Horizon program tonight.

Source: met4love

The Daniel plan—a new diet from the Bible

Some Christian participants say a trimmer waistline is just a side effect of a fast they do for religious reasons, but others follow ‘The Daniel Plan’ or the ‘Daniel fast’ to become healthier so they can better serve God.
Looking to slim down in the new year? Perhaps it’s time you tried the “God diet.”

Christians looking to strengthen their relationship with God and adopt a healthier lifestyle are seeking out diets and fasts inspired by the Biblical prophet Daniel.

In the Old Testament, Daniel, who was being held captive by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, decides not to follow the monarch’s diet of wine and meat. Instead, he and his companions eat nothing but vegetables and drink only water for 10 days.

Daniel 1:15 states that, at the end of the period, the men looked healthier than those who had eaten the king’s food.

“He understood God wanted him to live a healthy lifestyle so he could serve God no matter where he was located,” reads the website for Rick Warren’s official Daniel Plan. “Healthy living requires faith as the foundation, trusting that God’s way is the best way, while following his prescription for your health.”

Warren is the pastor of the Saddleback Church in Southern California. He and his mega-church advocate a long-term version of “The Daniel Plan,” which begins with giving up proceessed foods, sugar, caffeine and alcohol for 40 days, according to The Atlantic.

His version of the Daniel diet, as outlined in his forthcoming book “The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life,” eventually permits followers to eat dairy and meat.
It also has a large online community to help followers remember “the essentials,” namely faith, food, fitness, focus and friends.

Other versions of the Bible-based diet call for a 21-day fast modeled after Daniel 10:3, during which he abstained from bread, wine and meat.
This Daniel fast has been described as “a vegan diet with even more restrictions.” Participants stay away from “pleasant foods” like breads, sugars and sweets, all animal products and alcohol.

“Fasting is for spiritual purposes, and when using the Daniel Fast you will benefit physically along with the benefits to your soul and spirit,” Susan Gregory, the author of “The Daniel Cure: The Daniel Fast Way to Vibrant Health,” writes on her website.
So are these so-called “God diets” work as a way to drop some unwanted pounds?
Sarah Neumann, of Ypsilanti, Mich., told The Atlantic that she followed the diet with her church a few years ago for religious reasons, and the weight loss was a secondary effect.
“Since the experience I’ve lost a lot of weight just from learning how to have more self-control,” she said.
Registered dietician Leslie Bonci told The Atlantic that the faith element makes diets like the Daniel fast more successful.
“Everybody needs their dangling carrot,” she said. “We don’t always do ‘I just want to eat better.’ There has to be some other motivation. If that motivation is a higher power, fine.”

Source: Daily News

 

Say no to diets which promise speedy weight loss!

The best way to lose weight is to eat the right food, at the right time, in the right quantity, and exercise daily for 45 minutes

I have to lose weight in 10 days for a wedding’ or ‘I need to shape-up quickly to fit into my dresses – how often do we think about these things and look for quick solutions? In an attempt to lose weight quickly, many people knock the doors of fad diets. They may come to your rescue at times like these but beware – they do more harm than good to your health. Renowned nutritionist Neha Chandna explains why fad diets are bad for you including seven popular ones like cookie and liquid diet.

First and foremost, there are no shortcuts to weight loss. You haven’t put on all the weight overnight, so how can you expect to lose it at a lightning speed? These days, everyone wants to lose weight in the blink of an eye and to achieve their dream body, they resort to fad diets which definitely work but for a short period of time. They help you lose weight from your muscles and bones leaving you feeling weak and ill. And once you go back to your normal routine, you gain all the weight or even more in no time. You do the math and see the whole point of following some diet regime which is short-lived, deprives you of nutrients and has many hazardous effects on your body?

The best way to lose weight is to eat the right food, at the right time, in the right quantity, and exercise daily for 45 minutes to one hour. The point is to lose weight gradually rather than rapidly. A lifestyle change is the answer to losing weight than falling into the trap of fad diets. So how do you know if it is a fad diet? Here are some tips.

How to spot a fad diet

  • It promises exaggerated results in few days which is too good to be true
  • Will mostly have rigid eating rules
  • It restricts you from eating a lot of food groups like carbohydrates, fats, etc
  • It promotes ‘magic foods’
  • The diet is sold based on a few testimonials without any research or studies done on its effect
  • It doesn’t involve much exercise along with the meal plans

Ill-effects of fad diets on the body

  • Causes constipation
  • Leads to weakness
  • Loss of concentration
  • Nausea
  • Headache
  • Depression
  • Muscle loss
  • Health risks like osteoporosis and many more

While there are a number of fad diets that keep cropping up every now and then, especially when they are endorsed by celebrities, here a few popular ones to stay away from.

Cookie Diet: Invented by Dr Siegal, this a diet in which one has to eat nine cookies a day that makes up to 500 kcal and then have a 500 kcal dinner, totalling up to 1000 kcal every day.

Why is it bad: This diet gets monotonous and can cause nutrient deficiencies.

Baby Food Diet: This diet is about eating 14 jars of baby foods throughout the day and a sensible dinner. The baby foods include mashed fruits and veggies.

Why is it bad: It does not meet your nutrient needs and is low in protein. Eating like an adult is recommended.

Cabbage Soup Diet: This is 7-day diet which focuses on having as many bowls of cabbage soup every day with some fruits and vegetables.

Why is it bad: This diet is bland, boring and makes you feel weak and resulting in poor concentration. The biggest drawback is that it makes you gassy and bloated.

Liquid Diet: The idea is to cleanse the body and rejuvenate it with juices, water, clear soups.

Why is it bad: It is again very low on protein and can make you really weak. Not recommended to do it more than a day.

Atkins Diet: Written by Dr Robert Atkins, this is the most popular fad diet which aims at reducing the main source of energy – carbohydrates to up to 20g/day and focuses more on vegetables, fats and proteins.

Why is it bad: The side-effect of this diet is, it recommends more than 30% fat intake which is above the recommended allowance and can lead to extreme ketosis which can cause damage to the organs in the long run.

Blood Type Diet: Created by Dr Peter D’Adamo, it focuses on eating some and avoiding some foods as per your blood type. It follows a ‘one size fits all’ concept.

Why is it bad: It bans a lot of health promoting foods making eating out difficult and some people may be healthy despite eating foods forbidden for them.

General Motor’s Diet: This is a 7-day diet plan which is based on the intake of specified food items which include raw vegetables, fruits, juice, and lean meat. It restricts the intake of any dairy products and promises weight loss of 10 pounds in week. Each day is restricted to 1-2 raw foods in unlimited amounts.

Why is it bad: This diet can make you weak and hungry, leads to the inability to exercise, depression and body pain.

To avoid any damages to your body, do not opt for any fad diets. Just eat balanced meals and engage in physical activity to see the difference both physically and mentally. The process may be longer and less dramatic unlike fad diets, but the results will be long-term and benefit your body’s health than spoiling it with extreme restrictions. So, the next time you think about opting for any such diet, remember, it’s a fad… err bad idea!

 Source: Zee News