I hope this newsletter finds you having a great summer!
In this Issue:
Karen’s North Shore Vacation
Diabetes Prevention a Hot Topic
Green Bean Season
Green Bean Recipes
Save on Your Food Budget and Health
Lose Twice the Weight with a Food Journal
August Special Offer
Karen’s
North Shore Vacation
As promised here are pictures of our vacation to Lake
Superior and northern Minnesota. We had a great time hiking
and seeing the sites!
My daughter and I exploring at Gooseberry Falls.
(left)
My daughter
braving the cold water of Lake Superior.
(right) |
Diabetes Prevention a Hot
Topic
Diabetes has been a popular topic in news stories since
the Centers for Disease Control came out with a press
release in June announcing an increase of 3 million people
with diabetes in 2 years. The new number is 24 million
people with diabetes. 57 million are estimated to have
prediabetes. I am one of those 57 million and have been for
several years. My mission is to prevent diabetes as long as
I can and help others do the same.
Here are some questions
to think about . . .
What is prediabetes? When blood sugars are just slightly
above normal but not quite high enough to be diagnosed as
Type 2 diabetes.
Do you know your numbers? If you don’t know what your blood
sugar results were at your last physical ask your doctor for
a copy. Don’t depend on the doctor to tell you when to be
concerned. Results can get overlooked so you need to be
proactive and make sure you know your numbers. Normal
fasting blood sugar is 70-100, Prediabetes is fasting blood
sugar 100-125 and diabetes is fasting blood sugar 126 or
higher.
Why worry about diabetes?
I call Type 2 diabetes a silent crippler. High blood
pressure is often called a silent killer because you could
have no symptoms and then have a sudden fatal heart attack.
With Type 2 diabetes your blood sugars usually creep up very
gradually and by the time you have symptoms that give you
reason to go to the doctor you can be walking around with
blood sugars over 400. By that time you may have had higher
than normal blood sugars several years. High blood sugars
over time affect almost every part of the body. The
crippling part is when you slowly lose function of your
eyesight, kidneys, have heart failure, lose toes or feet, or
have painful nerve damage. These are just a few of the
crippling results of uncontrolled diabetes.
What are the symptoms?
Fatigue, increased thirst, going to the bathroom more often,
burning or tingling in feet or hands, headaches, blurry
vision, frequent infections.
What can you do to prevent diabetes? If you are overweight
dropping 5-10 lbs can make a big difference. Exercise 5 days
a week 30 minutes helps you lose weight, especially the
belly fat that causes insulin resistance. Insulin resistance
means your body is making enough insulin but is not using it
effectively. Exercise does wonders to get your insulin
working better.
Where can you get more information?
First know your numbers. Then you can learn more about
diabetes at the American Diabetes Association website,
www.diabetes.org. You can also email me questions to
Karen@dietmn.com.
Green Beans in Season
Get some fresh green beans and enjoy at only 44 calories
per cup! The recipe below is
a version of creamed green
beans and adds only 13 more calories per cup.
You also get a great source of vitamin K, vitamin C,
manganese, vitamin A, fiber, potassium and folate.
Store fresh green beans unwashed in a plastic bag in the
crisper for up to 7 days. When ready to cook, wash, snap off
the ends and enjoy!
Creamy Green Beans
Makes 4 cups
Ingredients
1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons reduced-fat mayo
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions: Place beans in a steamer basket and steam over
2 inches of boiling water until tender, 5-7 minutes. Whisk
mayo, mustard and salt in a medium bowl. Add the beans; toss
to coat.
Source: www.eatingwell.com
Another tasty idea for green beans is to sauté them in olive
oil with mushrooms, garlic and onions!
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6 Ways to Save Money on Food
and Health at the Same Time |
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1. |
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Buy from your local meat market or farmers market.
You get fresh food and in my experience a great deal. |
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2. |
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Reduce portions. Food will go further
and you can lose weight. |
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3. |
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Don’t let leftovers go to waste. I
know I am making a big effort to have as little as
possible to throw out. |
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4. |
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Take time to cook foods and make
homemade desserts as much as possible. Buying less
processed foods will save money. |
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5. |
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Include healthy lower cost foods in
your weekly menu such as oatmeal, eggs, pancakes,
beans, pasta and rice. |
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6. |
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Eat out less often. This is a big
one. You don’t have to be a kid to pack a PB&J sandwich for lunch! |
Lose Twice the Weight with a
Food Journal
A recent study published in the American Journal of
Preventive Medicine showed that participants who kept a food
diary lost more weight. There were 1700 participants that
lost 13 lbs over 6 months following the DASH eating plan
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/new_dash.pdf),
exercising 30 minutes/day, attending weekly group meetings
and keeping a food diary. They found that those participants
who kept more records lost more weight.
I would compare this to blood sugar monitoring when you have
diabetes. Studies have shown that when people with diabetes
decrease monitoring their blood sugars usually go up. I also
see this frequently when working with patients in the
diabetes education clinic. Our reaction when something is
wrong is to fix the problem to avoid further problems. Food
journals can be a great tool when monitoring intake for
weight, cholesterol, blood sugar or blood pressure
management.
Don’t know what to look for? Take advantage of my free
August special offer!
August Special Offer: Free Food Diary Review
If you are a subscriber to this newsletter you can get a
free food diary review - available during the month of
August only. Just email me your food diary – 1 to 7 days
worth and I will review and email you my comments and ideas.
Be sure to tell me what your concerns are such as diabetes,
cholesterol, weight, and/or blood pressure.
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