DIET COLUMN

Foods rich in soy protein serve as a good alternative to meat, poultry, and other animal-based products, but did you know that incorporating soy into your diet is great for your health? This would make sense because soy is much leaner and healthier than meats and meat products. Studies have shown soy to be beneficial in reducing the risk of heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels, building and helping with bone integrity, preventing certain cancers, and helping with hot flashes! Now that you know the health benefits of soy, you should be adventurous and branch out and try to add soy in your diet. (Note: It’s recommended to consume 25 grams of soy daily to reap the health benefits.)

Here are a few soy products to consider and try out:

Edamame
Found in the frozen foods aisle, all you have to do is cook in water, either stove top of microwave, and then lightly salt to taste if needed, and enjoy!

Soy Nuts
Eat them alone or thrown into salads.

Soy Cereal
Normally found in the health or organic aisles of the store.

A pear-shaped build is “healthier” then an apple build. This is because extra pounds and fat in a pear shape are below the waist, or lower body/thigh area, versus above the waist and around your midsection in an apple shape. The idea behind this is that weight above the waist adds additional and unnecessary stress, inflammation, and padding around your internal organs.

An increased amount of abdominal fat has been linked to several health complications (diabetes, heart disease, and stroke). A recent study conducted added early death to the list of complications.

Whether you’re just beginning to start eating healthier or you’ve been doing it for a while, you can easily find yourself in a rut and doing the same boring dishes over and over again. You may find yourself wanting to cheat more often or that healthy foods don’t sounds that appealing. However, you can easily introduce new and exciting ways to keep your nutrition efforts interesting.

Below is a list of 15 different things you can do to spice up your nutrition life:

1. Experiment with new foods and combinations. Purchase a new fruit or vegetable each week and try it in a meal. This way you can look forward to something new and you can really expand your food options.

2. Take advantage of ready-to-use foods. Fresh-bagged salads, frozen vegetables, etc. Just stay smart about it and read the food label.

3. Add legumes/beans to your salads.

4. Try meat alternatives. The food industry has come along way with providing us with tofu or veggy-based meat alternatives. Buy some and try it out!

5. Use herbs and spices to add color, savory taste and sensational aroma.

What is Diabetes?

Simply put, when you eat food your body begins the digestion process and breaks down the sugar (or carbs) into glucose. The glucose is then absorbed into the blood stream where it waits to enter the cells, so the body can use it for energy. Insulin helps get glucose into the cell. In people with diabetes, there may not be enough insulin to get the glucose in; therefore the glucose sits in your blood and gives a high reading when you test your blood glucose level.

Diabetes can affect anybody! Here are a few different types of diabetes:

• Type I (Insulin Dependent)- anyone who is dependent on insulin to keep their blood glucose levels under control because their pancreas does not produce insulin.
• Type II (Non-Insulin Dependent)- anyone who can control their blood glucose levels with diet, exercise, and/or oral medications. Their pancreas typically secretes insulin, but the body has built a resistance and doesn’t utilize it sufficiently.
• Medication Induced- when medications cause an increase in blood glucose levels
• Gestational- when a woman develops high blood glucose levels during a pregnancy.
  

Obesity is a problem in our country and sadly it is effecting many children. There are numerous complications associated with obesity, including diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and depression. Due to this increased obesity occurrence in children, many have become dependent on medication to help control the severity of these health complications.

A recent study found some shocking results regarding children and medication use:
- The number of children taking drugs to treat chronic conditions increased across all treatment classes evaluated

- In use of blood pressure medications, lipid-lowering agents, diabetes drugs, and antidepressants, prevalence for youths 15-19 was at least two times greater than in 10- to 14-year-olds and three times greater than in youngsters 5 to 9

- Overall, girls took more blood pressure medication, even though boys are more likely to have hypertension

- Children more than doubled their use of type 2 diabetes medications between 2002 and 2005, with girls 10-14 showing a 166% increase

- The largest increases in high blood pressure treatments were seen in teens 15 to 19

According to a new study, women who gain more than 40 pounds during pregnancy are about twice as likely to give birth to a heavy baby compared to those that gain weight within the recommended range. This is not good! Mothers of babies who weigh more than about nine pounds at birth are at greater risk for birth complications, and heavy babies are more likely to be overweight or obese later in life. Which also means that child will be exposed to more weight related complications, i.e. diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure, etc.

Most adults, hopefully, know that water is the best choice when deciding the healthiest drink to consume. Dieters and contentious eaters realize that other fluid options do nothing but provide you with extra calories, sugar, or sodium, none of which are needed in our society’s diet. Dieting parents won’t think of consuming anything but water because they don’t want those unnecessary calories found in beverages like juice, but will quickly serve their children a tall glass of some highly sweetened beverage. Why should it be any different for your kids? Treat your kids as you treat yourself, provide them with the healthiest options possible, not only does this provide them with nutritious options, but they are learning at an early age that things (in this case juice/beverages other than water) should be consumed in moderation.

With Halloween coming up this Friday, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about this holiday and provide a few tips. First off, candy (like most things) is OK in moderation, but it would probably be best for you and your waistline if you leave the eating candy in the bowl. However, since I am big on healthy nutrition being a lifestyle rather then a diet I think it would be beneficial for you and your children if you provided the neighborhood kids with some healthier Halloween treats. Below are a few fun healthy treats you may want to buy or make and hand out this Friday night.

The best way to achieve your fluid needs for the day is by drinking water. Water is without a doubt the best fluid for your body, however it is normal to want to drink other things. Juice is a common ingredient in people’s diets, but there are some rules to think about in order to enjoy juice without having it influence weight gain. You may be wondering what to look for when purchasing juices, so below I have listed a few of my recommendations.

1. 100% Juice. The first thing to remember is to only buy 100% juice products. Any other juice that’s not 100% is only good for providing you with a ton of sugar and empty calories that give you little to no nutritional value (i.e. sweetened juice and fruit-juice cocktail drinks).

A team of UK genetic scientists engineered tomatoes with a purple pigment taken from snapdragons. This pigment contains the antioxidant known as anthocyanin, which is the same antioxidant found in blueberries and blackberries. The scientists’ rationale was the thought that inserting this pigment into the plant would boost the tomato’s level of antioxidants, however they were not expecting the surprise of the tomatoes changing colors!