Posts Tagged ‘diabetes’
Food For Thought Friday #1
If YOU have any questions that you’re curious about, email me at tanktoparms@hotmail.com and look for the answers in the “Food For Thought Friday” posts!
Q: How important is 8 hours of sleep to your health? Just curious, because I think I’m falling behind.
A: Ahhhhh, the old “8 is enough”….or is it? Well, as most of us have grown up with hearing that we need 8 hours of sleep, for the most part it’s true. Getting enough zzz’s is very important to our health, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that EVERYONE can only function properly as long as you’re getting 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 hours of sleepy time. Sleep is an essential part of our lives. If we don’t get enough of it on a consistent basis, our bodies will give out on us.
Some people may find that they only need 5-6 hours of sleep to function properly, while others need 10-11 hours for optimal performance, so it’s safe to say that each person’s sleep requirement is different. To put it simply though, the average adult functions best with 7-8 hours of sleep a night. But remember, you should probably evaluate how you feel during the day to be certain that you are getting enough sleep at night.
Research has shown that when we don’t get enough sleep, there is an increased risk of diabetes, onset of weight gain, irritability, and your attention span is shorter. Among other things, your reflexes tend to be slower and depression could sneak up on you as you fatigue more and more. Get some rest!! Just be sure it’s the proper amount of rest that YOU need.
Q: What are your thoughts on Honey Therapy for allergies?
A: “Oh the allergies have been killing me!” That’s my daily spiel since Spring came around. I see the little cottonwood pollens floating in the air and I just want to hide! Rather than going the medicinal route, many people look to honey as an allergy remedy. Although there isn’t a whole lot of research for or against it, I can comfortably say that it is safe for the majority of people suffering from allergies.
Because local honey tends to have some of the same local allergens in the air, consuming honey actually helps to build your immunity to those same allergens. It works like this: the bees go from flower to flower, tree to tree, etc. when they go back to the hive and contribute their labors to make the honey, they themselves are covered in many of the same allergens that we suffer from. So consuming honey actually helps to build a slow immunity to these allergens, or so that is what is believed. 
A word of caution to honey therapy: If you have never consumed honey, be careful because you may have an allergic reaction and not know it until you’ve eaten it. Try just a little bit of your local honey, like ½ teaspoon to see if there is any reaction. If not, you’re probably pretty safe. But you can always run this by your physician as well.
Q: How far do I have to jog to neutralize a small order of McDonald’s fries? What if I replace the jog with a walk? What if I replace the walk with sitting on the couch? Note: the fries cannot be substituted.
A: I’m going to answer this because it made me laugh! Too funny to pass up you know! Here’s the low down on the question: A small order of McDonalds fries has 231 calories, with a total of 11.5 g of fat, and 18% saturated fat. So, you will probably have to jog about 25-35 minutes, depending on your pace; longer time if you’re going at a slower pace, shorter time with a faster pace. If you’re walking, you’ll probably need to walk about 45 minutes to lose those 231 cals. If you’re sitting on the couch, make sure to have the remote close by because even getting up to change the channel won’t help you much! Enjoy the cheat treat! 
Q: What are your thoughts on dietary supplements such as pills, smoothies, etc?
A: With one brow raised, I will answer this as honestly as possible. I take a supplement. It’s called a multivitamin. I also use 100% whey protein to make smoothies with. I never have been a big fan of supplement pills to lose weight, gain muscle, raise the metabolism, or to “burn fat”. For one, they aren’t FDA regulated. Nutritionists say most of us can skip taking vitamins altogether, as long as we’re eating a variety of healthy foods. But I know that I’m probably not getting ALL the vitamins and minerals I need from my diet, so that’s why I take a multivitamin. Go to RealAge to see the most important vitamins and minerals you should be looking for on that bottle.
There are so many different potential negative effects that your body can have from taking dietary supplements that you aren’t familiar with. Unfortunately in today’s society, we are bombarded with magazines, books, shows and internet ads that promote a “perfect” body whether you’re a woman or man. Marketers target desperate people that are looking for a quick fix. Many of these drugs have shown to increase heart rates to unsafe levels, raise cholesterol level as well as blood pressure. The liver, kidneys and pancreas tend to have difficulty processing these pills, but it takes a long time usually to see the side effects. By that time, the damage is done.
Smoothies can be a good source of energy and protein if you prepare them at home with raw foods and maybe a scoop of 100% whey protein. When we purchase smoothies from the outside, such as Jamba Juice, you may think that you’re getting a healthy dose of fruits for the day, but in reality you’re getting a ton of sugar and carbs. As I said earlier, if you prepare your drinks at home, you can make them so much healthier than if you buy it somewhere else. Personally, I use 100% Whey protein from Nectar (brand) in the vanilla bean flavor. I mix it with ¼ cup water, ½ cup skim milk, 1 scoop of protein powder, and I usually add ½ banana, or raspberries, or ½ papaya. For my multivitamin, I take Mega Woman Sport from GNC. Aside from that, I make sure to eat a really healthy diet 80% of the time so I can “cheat” with my food the other 20%. 
Q: What are the health benefits of sex, red wine and dark chocolate…
A: Sex: Earlier I blogged a post all about the benefits of sex. Aside from burning about 85-100 calories in roughly 30 minutes (depending on how…ahem…vigorous it is), sex can help relieve tension, improve cardiovascular health and improve intimacy between you and your significant other. Other research has shown that sex can help relieve pain by producing oxytocin, slows the aging process and finally it can help reduce the risk of breast cancer!
Red wine: drinking it in moderation, red wine can have some pretty significant positive effects on our bods. The University of Bordeaux found that moderate wine consumption (about 2 glasses a day) was associated with a 30% reduction in the death rate from all causes; a 35% percent reduction in death rates from cardiovascular disease; and an 18-24% reduction in death rates from cancer. Aside from all the news of chronic illness risk decreasing with red wine consumption, there are also anti-aging effects in red grape skins.
Dark chocolate: According to the Mayo clinic, eating small amounts (notice I didn’t say candy bars every day) of dark chocolate everyday can offer some health benefits. Flavonoids are a naturally occurring antioxidant that is found in teas, red wine and some fruits and veggies. These same flavonoids are found in the deliciousness of dark chocolate. They have been associated with having a good effect on the heart by lowering blood pressure by a couple of points for both the systolic (top) and diastolic (bottom) numbers. Bon apetit!! 
My Cholesterol is what?
Today was another day at work. Pretty routine as far as doing blood pressure measurements, cholesterol checks, glucose screenings for diabetes and of course health coaching. As so, there were a couple of times during the day where we had a few lulls and we would walk around…organize the education pieces…talk with other health educators, and so on.
Well, at some point, I decided that, “hey, I want to check my cholesterol just to see where it’s at”. I mean really, I’m pretty fit, I eat healthy foods and have a consistent blood pressure reading of 106/69….what could go wrong, right?????
I waited the normal 6-7 minutes that it takes for the blood to be read and like an easy bake oven, the beep went off. My co-worker turned the machine towards me and as I casually (and confidently) read the numbers, I couldn’t believe my eyes. 241. That’s it. I saw 241. I looked at her, then looked at it again and I saw 241. Did I mention that it was 241?
Oh My GOSH!!! I knew that I was somewhat border-lined due to a genetic disposition, but I had never even gone over the recommended max of 200, and yet here I am, fit as a fiddle, health nut mom and owner of a health coaching company and I was just sideswiped with a 241 cholesterol reading! *sigh* but I digress. What to do, what to do.
This is a perfect time (I think) to not only say, “I told you so,..I’m NOT superwoman”, but to also engage you on the topic of cholesterol. It’s an important number to know for your overall health. Cholesterol builds up in your arteries along the walls, similar to how a drain slowly gets clogged up over time until water can’t get through it anymore. Eventually if it gets totally clogged up, your heart can’t do it’s job and you have a massive coronary and bye-bye (shock factor). But just because you get a high reading, doesn’t mean you’re about to pop like a kernel and drop dead, but it’s a pretty good idea to know what it is so that you can do something about it if you do happen to pull a high number. 
First things first: what exactly is cholesterol? Well, in a nutshell, it’s a waxy substance that is produced by your liver and travels in your bloodstream. Kind of sounds nasty huh? It is also found in fats, particularly animal fats. Our bodies produce approximately 1000 mg of cholesterol per day, so we really don’t need to consume much of it at all…but we do, don’t we! Don’t mistake me though, not all high cholesterol occurs because of poor diets. Sometimes (like in my case) our bodies produce more than necessary for one reason or another and it’s hard to remove the excess. Total cholesterol is broken down into several categories: HDL (high dose lipoprotein-Healthy kind), LDL (low dose lipoprotein- Lousy kind), and Triglycerides. My 241 includes all three of these, but in the test that I was screened in, out of the three it only shows the HDL number, which I scored a whopping 75! (you want to be above 45). Guess what this means? I’m going to be taking a trip to my provider to get a complete cholesterol test done. I’ll have to fast for 12 hours before, but that’s ok. I want to know all my numbers!
Speaking of numbers, here’s the scoop on that: According to the American Heart Association, which is what we also use for work, less than 200 mg/dL of total cholesterol is desirable; 200-239 is considered to be borderline-high risk; and 240 and over is considered high risk (DON’T REMIND ME), but I don’t consider myself to be a ticking time-bomb. Wanna know why? Because my HDL was pretty darn high. HDL cholesterol is also known as the “healthy” kind. In the average woman, HDL’s range from 50 to 60 mg/dL. An HDL cholesterol of 60 mg/dL or higher gives some protection against heart disease. Score one for the Spanish girl! What I don’t know yet is my LDL levels or triglycerides. The lower the number for these two, the lower the risk for heart disease. At least I have my HDL going for me!
LDL Cholesterol Levels (American Heart Association)
Less than 100 mg/dL Optimal 100 to 129 mg/dL Near Optimal/ Above Optimal 130 to 159 mg/dL Borderline High 160 to 189 mg/dL High 190 mg/dL and above Very High
So now you have your number (assume), and it turns out that it’s above the desirable 200 mg/dL. What can we do? 
Diet: Foods that are low in fat are best. Saturated fat in particular is a BIG culprit. Saturated fats are those that typically become solid at room temperature. If you cook ground beef and leave the grease behind to cool off, what happens to it? It hardens right? That’s your saturated fat. The more lean your meat is, the less saturated fat it will have. Milk, egg yolks, cheese, and butter all contain fats, but you can modify the amount of fat by choosing the skim or 1% milk over the 2% or whole; reduced fat cheeses are available; egg beaters have no cholesterol and 2/3 less calories than whole eggs; chicken breast and fish are excellent protein sources as oppose to red meats and chicken legs/thighs/wings. These are just a few examples of little changes you can make to reduce your saturated fat consumption. More fruits and veggies is ALWAYS a great idea to incorporate into your diet. Eat more fiber! Remember that there are no bad foods…everything in moderation. Learn some discipline and self control.
Physical Activity: I said it before and I’ll say it again. Do something you enjoy!! If you don’t, you’ll quit. To lower cholesterol levels, aerobic exercise is better than strength training, but I’m not saying not to do weight bearing exercises, ok? Don’t put words in my mouth. Aerobic activity specifically helps to raise the HDL levels too…bet you didn’t know that! On the flip side, exercise doesn’t always lower the cholesterol for everyone. Just keep that in mind, but please don’t dismiss it. We need to be physically active either way because it is part of a healthy lifestyle. 
Tobacco use: Just don’t. Can I be any more clear? It’s bad, it’s bad, it’s bad. In case you didn’t know also, it’s bad. Just don’t do it. 
Medication: You and your doctor will work this part out together. She/he will decide (with your feedback) if medications will be necessary. In my humble opinion, a good doc will opt for lifestyle changes first. Perhaps the simple addition of fish oil pills, skim milk and walking an extra 2 days a week will help to reduce your numbers. Who knows, but what I do know is that if your doc recommends putting you on meds immediately after taking one test…I would get a second opinion.
Well, well well. Shall I go crawl under a rock and wallow? Of course not! I’ve come out! Well, sort of…I am a fit, healthy eating 35 year old mom of two, triathlete, and health educator….and my number is 241! 
I’m off to the doctor now….
