Archive for September, 2006

Good carbs versus bad carbs: Do you know the difference?

Published by
stayfit
at September 21, 2006 in News and Nutrition. 1 Comment

Carbohydrates have gotten a bad rap, and that’s a shame. Eat the right kind of carbs — the low-glycemic index (GI) kind — and you’ll lose weight and lower both LDL and total cholesterol. Eat the wrong kind and . . . well, your heart suffers the consequences. GI index refers to how quickly starches break down and affect your blood sugar. Opt for low-GI lentils, beans, bran cereal, and high-fiber fruits and veggies to reach your lighter, heart-healthier goals.

Don’t be swayed by low-carb diets. You need carbs to supply your body with energy, fiber, B-vitamins, magnesium, and other important nutrients. Completely eliminating carbs from your diet isn’t healthy. Instead, go for low-GI carbs, the kind your body digests slowly, to help keep your blood sugar steady. You’ll stay full longer, have more consistent energy, and feel better overall.

Researchers recently tested this out with four groups of obese men and women. Each group followed a different diet, but calorie intake was the same (women 1,400 calories a day, men 1,900). The diets varied in their percentage of protein, high-GI carbs, and low-GI carbs. After 12 weeks, all groups lost weight, but the people who got the most calories from low-GI carbs also lowered their LDL and total cholesterol levels. The people in the high protein/fewer carbs (mostly high-GI carbs) group experienced an increase in LDL and total cholesterol levels. Ouch!

Use this table to look up the GI index of common foods (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/76/1/5/T1).

Compliments of RealAge.com. Originally published on 09/20/2006.

Tip References: Comparison of 4 diets of varying glycemic load on weight loss and cardiovascular risk reduction in overweight and obese young adults: a randomized controlled trial. McMillan-Price, J., Petocz, P., Atkinson, F., O’neill, K., Samman, S., Steinbeck, K., Caterson, I., Brand-Miller, J., Archives of Internal Medicine 2006 Jul 24;166(14):1466-1475.

Plums

Published by
stayfit
at September 21, 2006 in News and Nutrition. 0 Comments

Berries may boast the most antioxidant power, but plums win hands down over grapefruit, oranges, and even purple grapes. Toss a handful of dried plums onto your cereal or into your pancake batter before cooking and enjoy with a glass of orange juice. The vitamin C in the juice will help you absorb the iron in the plums.
After berries, plums are one of the fruits that have the highest levels of antioxidants — about 23 milligrams (mg) per half cup. A half cup of cherries serves up the same amount. And plums offer up additional nutrients, such as potassium, magnesium, iron, fiber, and vitamin A.

Your body uses antioxidants to neutralize nasty molecules that contribute to aging and chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. You can get antioxidants from a variety of fruits, vegetables, beverages, and even dark chocolate. In this study, coffee and black and green teas also were found to have high levels of antioxidants.

Compliments of RealAge.com. Originally published on 09/18/2006.

Tip References: Phenolic acids in berries, fruits, and beverages. Mattila, P., Hellström, J., Törrönen, R., Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2006 Sep 20;54(19):7193-7199.

Grilled Pears

Published by
stayfit
at September 11, 2006 in Rebecca's Recipe of the Week. 0 Comments

Ingredients:

2 Pears (your choice of variety)

1 tsp. organic melted butter

1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Wash pears and slice vertically, remove core.

Brush with melted butter inside and out and sprinkle inside with cinnamon. Place facedown on grill (med heat around 250 degrees) and close lid. Flip after several minutes (should start to look brown on facedown side). Cook till fork tender. Serves 2-4. Guilt free dessert!

Polenta with Broccoli

Published by
stayfit
at September 11, 2006 in Rebecca's Recipe of the Week. 0 Comments

Tube of pre-made organic polenta

3 large bunches of organic broccoli

2 tsp. coconut oil

Veggie Spike

 

Slice polenta into ½ inch thick rounds

Wash broccoli and cut into bite sized pieces. Steam lightly.

Melt coconut oil in a large pan on med heat and cook polenta on each side till slightly crispy (2-4 minutes).

Serve side by side and sprinkle with Veggie Spike. Serves 3-4. This is a delicious, healthy dinner that won’t weigh you down.

 

A Beef With Iron

Published by
stayfit
at September 4, 2006 in Nutrition. 0 Comments

Too much red meat can overload you with heme iron, a kind of iron that may boost type 2 diabetes risk if you get too much. So shove aside a few of those T-bones and make room for some veggie kabobs and chicken, which have less heme iron than red meat does. Then round out your plate with a scoop of baked beans — they’re rich in nonheme iron. Although there are two main kinds of iron in food — heme and nonheme — plant-based foods contain only nonheme, which isn’t associated with diabetes. But both kinds of iron are found in meat, chicken, and fish, and red meat is particularly rich in heme iron. Men need about 8 milligrams (mg) of iron a day and women need about 18 mg; most get a small fraction of that in the form of heme iron. Good thing, since it turns out that too much could spell trouble. A new study has found that adult women who get more than 2.25 mg per day of heme iron have the highest risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Results may be similar in men, but research is ongoing. Spinach, beans, oatmeal, bagels, dried apricots, almonds, broccoli, peas, and enriched pasta are some of the healthiest sources of iron around — and they contain only nonheme. One catch: Iron from plant foods tends to be less bioavailable than iron from meat sources.

Here are a few tricks for helping boost your absorption of nonheme iron (something vegetarians need to be particularly conscious of):

• Eat iron-rich foods with vitamin C-rich foods (oatmeal and OJ, chicken and broccoli; see, it’s easy). Vitamin C helps your body absorb iron.

• Use an iron skillet to cook nonheme foods. Your food will absorb additional nonheme iron from the cookware.

• If you take a calcium supplement, wait a few hours before eating iron-rich foods; in the same way that vitamin C helps your body absorb iron, calcium blocks it.

• Don’t gulp down tea or coffee with iron-rich meals. These can interfere with iron absorption. And when you need a protein fix, tilt your diet toward fish and poultry, which have far less heme iron than beef.

Compliments of RealAge.com. Originally published on 09/04/2006.

Tip References: Iron intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes in women: a prospective cohort study. Rajpathak, S., Ma, J., Manson, J., Willett, W. C., Hu, F. B., Diabetes Care 2006 Jun;29(6):1370-1376.