Wellness WORD Health And Fitness Tips

Paying attention to blood sugar levels are no longer just for people with diabetes, but suggested for the whole population. Recent studies from The U.S., Denmark, and Australia show the amount of glucose, or sugar in the blood, can influence everything from your weight to your risk of developing heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

Here are a couple of tips to prevent your blood sugar levels from skyrocketing.

1. Pay attention to the Glycemic Index. You can get a calculated number of how high your blood sugar rises within 2 hours after eating 50 grams of a particular food.  Visit glycemic index for more information.

2. My preferred stategy is to consume less processed foods, low in sugar, and high in fiber. If you stick to this, you blood sugar will be very happy.

3. Another tip is to sprinkle cinnamon on higher glycemic foods. Several studies show that cinnamon lowers blood sugar and improves insulin resistance.

4. Exercise portion contol.

5. Eat lean protein with each meal.

By following these tips your blood sugar levels will be stable leading to a healthier, leaner body.

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Another star for dark chocolate! Study after study seems to show the important health benefits of dark chocolate. Now this isn’t a ticket to go ahead and eat chocolate bar after chocolate bar. However, a small amount of dark chocolate, two tablespoons each day, seems to have an aspirin like effect on the blood. The chemical in cocoa beans has a biochemical effect similar to aspirin in reducing platelet clumping, which can be fatal if a clot forms and blocks a blood vessel, causing a heart attack.

Once again, it is important to stress small portions of chocolate. If large daily portions are eaten its health benefits go south from the increase weight gain, and high saturated fat consumption.

Please note: eating small amounts of dark chocolate is only one healthy habit. It is wise to combine numerous healthy habits all together to reap fantastic health and longevity results.

To find out more information about specific name brand chocolate bars click on dark chocolate reviews.

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A research study was just released from Harvard indicating pre-menopausal women who had eaten one and one half servings of red meat daily had doubled their risk of getting breast cancer compared to women who had eaten three servings of red meat per week.

Once again, here is another study showing red meat in consistent quantities may be detrimental to our health. I  stand by my statement of eating a balanced low fat, low sugar, moderate carbohydrate diet keeping a keen eye on caloric intake.

The bottom line: Don’t overdue it on red meat!

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Surprise! Surprise!  The low carbohyrate diet news is back again. The reason the low carb diet buzz fizzled was the talk of being unhealthy due to high amount of fat intake. It was believed that high fat intake showed a greater risk for hardening of the arteries which can lead to heart disease.

Researchers from Harvard just completed a 20 year study of 82,802 women looking at the correlation between low carbohydrate diets, and heart disease. The study concluded no apparent increased risk of heart disease for those who stuck to a low carbohydrate, high fat, and high protein diet.

What was even more fascinating is when the participants made low fat protein choices such as vegetables, and consumed low fat meats, their coronary heart disease risk may be cut by as much as 30%.

The bottom line - There is no apparent difference in the risk of coronary heart disease from low carb, high protein, high fat diets versus high carbohydrate, and low fat diets. I believe it all comes down to the amount of calories you are taking in per day which can promote obesity leading to heart issues. However, I do recommend considering low fat protein sources if you wish to follow a traditional low carb, high protein, higher fat diet. Consume good fats. Avoid the protein sources which are loaded with saturated, and trans fat.

Let’s keep researching this topic to see which diet is really better for our health, if indeed one actually is.

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Another study was just released relating to childhood obesity. The numbers have been officially released. Between 1988 and 2004, abdominal obesity increased more than 65 percent in children ages 2 years to 19 years. It seems everytime we look at the news we hear more bad news about our children’s health. We, as a nation, need to stop childhood obesity right now.

To solve this problem, I believe it starts with the parents. It is a fact adult obesity has also climbed beyond belief. We, as parents, are poor role models for our kids. Parents must set a good example with healthy eating, and regular exercise. Both need to be promoted daily.

Another reason for this childhood obesity epidemic is the lack of regular physical activity. Most children get rides to school,  and then come home and sit in front of the video game machine, or computer. Along with a skewed portion size for foods, children are extremely inactive. As parents, we need to promote physical activity. Play ball with your children. Take them for walks.

I believe we can make a difference in our childrens’ lives by being good, healthy role models. It will not only benefit your child, but also you.

For further assistance in helping your child I highly recommend a book written by pediatrician Dr. Scaccia titled The Ultimate Parents Guide For Fitness And Nutrition.

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A recent study from Loughborough University in England showed endurance athletes whose competition is over two hours long could benefit from a low carbohydrate pre-competition meal. The whole idea behind this is to preserve the sugar in the muscle for a longer period of time. By ingesting high glycemic foods (foods that raise the blood sugar quickly) more insulin is released resulting in the consumption of more stored sugar during exercise.

Endurance athletes give this a try. Of course, it is always a good idea to cut back on training, and increase complex carbohydrates for a few days prior to the event to saturate the muscles with energy producing glycogen.

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Wine lovers, today is a day to hold up your glass, and make a toast to longevity, and activity. A recent scientific study lead by Harvard Researcher David Sinclair found that a compound found in red wine, resveratrol, reverses the damaging effects of a high-fat diet in mice and can prolong life.

The study, lasting 114 weeks, divided 3 groups of mice into a “normal” diet group, high fat diet group, and a high fat supplemented with resveratrol group. Interesting enough, 58% of the high fat only group died, while only 42% of the other two groups died.

The red wine compound resveratrol seed to be responsible for a 31% reduction in death for the mice on a high fat diet. The researchers also noticed the high fat supplemented with resveratrol group seemed to be more active. This possibly helped to reduce the death rate.

Next, researchers need to apply this knowledge and see how humans respond to resveratrol. A drug company already has started a clinical trial of resveratrol and its effects on Type II Diabetes.

Please don’t feel this is a ticket to consume large amounts of wine. It isn’t. The extra calories from drinking excessive wine will only cause harm to your health, not help it. Consume wine in moderation!

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