Tag Archive for: healthy eating

Happy Fat Tuesday!

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Today is Mardi Gras—in case anyone doesn’t know, Fat Tuesday is the literal meaning of the French term. It’s the final celebration before the period of Lent that culminates in Easter Sunday. Many Christians use this time to give up something they enjoy as a sacrifice. The idea is to reflect and focus on our spiritual self; no matter your beliefs, giving up something you enjoy to focus on your inner self is a good idea. This week, I’m going to talk about giving up three typical categories of food and drink: sugar, salt, and alcohol. What benefits could you gain in the 40 or so days of abstinence from these foods? What may be a healthier substitute?

Let’s start with sugar, and by that I mean cake, cookies, donuts, sweet rolls, pies, ice cream, and candy. These are the ultimate in refined carbohydrates. If you were to abstain from these foods for 40 days, several things could happen. First, your insulin levels would probably drop because you wouldn’t have high levels of sugar hitting your bloodstream. If you’re prediabetic, you might see your triglyceride and HbA1c levels decline. If you had a fatty liver, it would most likely begin to clear up.

What could you substitute that would be healthier? Berries, fresh or frozen, any type, and you could even put a tablespoon of whipped cream on them. The antioxidants and phytonutrients would be better than the refined sugar; fruit sugar is processed differently, so it would not affect your blood sugar. Second choice would be citrus, and third would be apples.

If you’re considering giving up something for the next 40 days or so, make sure it’s something you really enjoy and eat regularly. Paula has a friend from Montana whose father, years ago before every food was available year round, gave up watermelon every Lent. It has to be meaningful.

What are you prepared to do today?

 

Dr. Chet

 

Dreading Thanksgiving?

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Thursday is America's biggest eating holiday, and a lot of us who need to watch what we eat are dreading all the choices we'll have to make. How do you handle it?

Here's my suggestion: give yourself a moderate serving of everything that appeals to you and enjoy it thoroughly. If you absolutely must take a serving of Aunt Minnie's casserole, take a tablespoon or two; as long as you eat some, tradition is maintained and no feelings are hurt.

Then take a breather. Sit and talk with everyone for 10 or 20 minutes. If you . . .

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Why You Need to Supplement

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The author of the opinion article in JAMA recommended that physicians make their patients aware of the research that questions the effectiveness of supplementation, hence his title “Negligible Benefits, Robust Consumption” (1). In making that recommendation, he gives the precise reason why that’s a bad idea. As I said Thursday, the answer can be found in the data used in the original article in JAMA about supplementation use in the U.S. (2).

While the JAMA article focused on supplementation, it also included data on food . . .

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Nutrition: Knowing Isn’t Doing

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In Tuesday’s message, I said that both the experts and the public in a New York Times nutrition survey considered the vitamin and mineral content of food important or very important when they consider whether a food is healthy or not. But do people have enough information to make a decision about which foods are healthy? Not surprising that the nutrition experts almost all said they did. What shocked me was that 81% of the public also said they had enough information to make healthy choices.

That’s interesting because it contradicts what the authors of the New York . . .

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Nutrition: Experts and the Public Disagree

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A recent New York Times survey compared the survey results of nutrition experts, including me, with the public’s opinions. Some differences make sense—others, not so much.

When asked whether a food was healthy, experts said foods high in fat and/or sugar were generally not healthy. The greatest differences were in granola, granola bars, and frozen yogurt with over a 30% difference between experts, who thought they were not healthy, and the public who thought they were.

What surprised me was that experts viewed coconut oil as not healthy while the public indicated it was healthy. The only . . .

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Nutrition: Experts and the Public Agree

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A couple of months ago, I was asked to participate in a nutrition survey. I don’t usually answer surveys, but this was a request through the American Society of Nutrition (I’m a member) and we were told we’d get a chance to view the data, so I decided to do it. For comparison they also surveyed 2,000 people who were not in the nutrition field, and we’d get to see that data as well. The New York Times health writers published an article on the results (1). I decided to look at the data and . . .

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Why You Need Your Seven

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Green leafy vegetables and fruit convey health benefits to eyes and men’s sexual function. Why? It all comes down to blood flow and specifically, how those foods help blood vessels.

Nitrates cause dilation of blood vessels, especially the minute blood vessels in the heart, the eyes, and other organs, exactly when we need it most. Most people associate nitrates with processed meats, but green leafy vegetables and root vegetables such as beets have a far greater nitrate content without dragging along a lot of fat and sodium. The nitrates provide the raw materials that help the nitric oxide system . . .

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Green Leafy Veggies and Glaucoma

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Vegetables and fruits led the health news last week. You know my mantra: Eat less. Eat better. Move more. Research reported this past week provides some insight into the benefits of eating better. Let’s start with vegetables.

Researchers analyzed data from the Nurses Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study. They were interested in the relationship between dietary nitrates and glaucoma; as the nitrate intake increased, the risk of glaucoma decreased when compared to the lowest intake. This is a longitudinal study and used Food Frequency Questionnaires as the source of the food intake. I’ve ranted about . . .

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Why the Experts Hate the Dietary Guidelines

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One more time, I hope that you’ve taken the time to read the link I gave you for the 2015 Dietary Guidelines. It’s a summary that’s easy to read. Is there more information? Absolutely, good information, and you can spend some time looking around using the links in the left hand side of the summary. I especially love the section on what Americans currently eat. Do you know that adults eat less than one serving of whole grains a day? And men . . .

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Why You Should Follow the New Guidelines

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Did you do your homework? Did you read the Executive Summary of the Dietary Guidelines as I asked you to do on Monday? If not, do it right now: click on the link below and take the 10 minutes to check it out before you read on.

Here are my thoughts.

There are really no arguments with the five Dietary Guidelines. They’re intentionally vague, but they resound in my mind. For example, the first recommendation says to eat healthy over a lifespan. That implies you should consistently eat healthy—not just kale, because it’s the hot new veggie . . .

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