Diets

February is American Heart Month

Healthy Diet Goals

The American Heart Association has a new national goal:
By 2020, to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20 percent while reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20 percent.

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of Americans. We can reduce heart disease by promoting a healthy diet and lifestyle. Getting information from credible sources can help you make smart choices that will benefit your long-term heart health.

For the first time, the American Heart Association has defined what it means to have ideal cardiovascular health, identifying seven health and behavior factors that impact health and quality of life. We know that even simple, small changes can make a big difference in living a better life. Known as “Life’s Simple 7,” these steps can help add years to your life:

1. don’t smoke;
2. maintain a healthy weight;
3. engage in regular physical activity;
4. eat a healthy diet;
5. manage blood pressure;
6. take charge of cholesterol; and
7. keep blood sugar, or glucose, at healthy levels.

Let's Shop!

Shopping for Fruits and Vegetables:

• Be sure to buy and eat plenty of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables.  Fruits and vegetables that are deeply colored throughout – such as spinach, carrots, peaches and berries – tend to be higher in vitamins and minerals than others, such as potatoes and corn.
• When fresh foods aren't available, choose frozen or canned vegetables and fruits in water without added sugars, saturated and trans fat, or salt 
• Buy more fruits and vegetables that are good sources of fiber, including beans, peas, oranges, bananas, strawberries and apples.
• Stock up on raw vegetables for snacks such as carrot and celery sticks, broccoli, cherry tomatoes and cauliflower.
• For desserts, buy fresh or canned fruits (in water without added sugars), dried fruit (without added sugars), and gelatin that contains fruit, instead of baked goods and sweets. 
• Don’t buy lots of fruit juice.  It doesn’t provide the fiber whole fruit does and it’s not as good at satisfying hunger.
  
  To continue reading about shopping for dairy, meats, fish and breads, click here to go to the American Heart Association.
  
  To make your shopping list or check prices of your favorite foods, click here.

Lower your risk of kidney stones with DASH diet

According to the latest findings you can greatly reduce your chances of developing kidney stones by including more fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, low-fat dairy products, and whole grains in your diet and less sodium, sweetened drinks, red meat, and processed meats.

The study included over 240,000 men and women who completed periodic surveys on their diets and other lifestyle habits over a period of 14 to 18 years.

The diet, known as Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension or "DASH", advocates eating plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and moderate amounts of low-fat dairy and lean meat and fish.

Following the DASH diet may cut down on kidney stones as well as improve high blood pressure.

Read more:
Lowering Your Blood Pressure With DASH

'DASH' diet may prevent kidney stones - Rueters

Which diet is right for you?

With over 53 popular diets to choose from (WebMD) which one works the best? Often it would seem that the most successful diets would be the ones that advertise the most you know them; Weight Watchers, Atkins, Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, etc.

A study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, and published Feb., 26, 2009, in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals some surprising facts.

"The hidden secret is it doesn't matter if you focus on low-fat or low-carb," said Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Limiting the calories you consume and burning off more calories with exercise is key, according to Dr.Nabel.

 “This new information should focus weight loss approaches on reducing calorie intake rather than any particular proportions of fat, protein or carbohydrate. This is important information for health professionals who prescribe weight loss for their patients, and for adults who are seeking ways to sustain a healthful eating pattern,” said Frank M. Sacks, M.D., principal investigator of POUNDS LOST and Professor of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in the Nutrition Department at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Read more:
Heart-Healthy, Reduced-Calorie Diets Promote Long-term Weight Loss

Old-Fashioned Calorie-Cutting The Only Diet That Works

3 foods to help prevent cancer

Scanning through my news feeds this morning I came across this article, "Expert: 40 percent of cancers can be prevented through diet". A powerful headline and well worth the read.

According to David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., Ph.D., himself a cancer survivor,  cancer cells develop all the time in a healthy body and  we are all equipped with natural defenses that can counteract these rogue cells. The sad truth however according to Dr. Servan-Schreiber is that our dietary habits inhibit our natural defenses.

Dr. Servan-Schreiber in this article states that the 3 most powerful foods in helping the body counteract cancer cells are the spice turmeric, broccoli and green tea.

His book "Anticancer: A New Way of Life" has been on the bookshelves since September.

This year manage your weight in steps, lots of them.

Another new year and another set of commitments to make lifestyle changes. One of the most popular of those desired changes is to lose weight or get in shape. Obesity is poised to be our country's next major health crisis. About two-thirds of U.S. adults are currently overweight or obese, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The lifestyle changes usually associated with loosing weight or weight loss aren’t easy, as anyone who has tried it knows. This year try focusing on getting more steps in each day.  It's easier that swearing you are going to stop eating this or joining a gym and it works!

When you put the body in motion you burn calories, strengthen bones and muscles, increase your oxygen intake, feel better and loose weight.

You can start with simple changes like parking the car a farther from the entrance to a store and getting a few extra steps or start using the stairs instead of the elevator. Simple steps such as these can actually cause a person to lose weight over the course of a year, providing there is no increase in your caloric intake.

An inexpensive tool called a pedometer makes tracking these steps fun and lets you know exactly how you are progressing.

In recent years, pedometers have emerged as popular tools that are easy to use (clipped to a pocket or waistline) to count steps walked per day. The devices are affordable, selling for as little as $7 to $25. This could be key to your commitments to make lifestyle changes and increase physical activity.

Researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine found that the use of a pedometer resulted in significant increases in physical activity and weight loss as well as improvements in blood pressure.  

"Much to my surprise, these little devices were shown to increase physical activity by just over 2,000 steps, or about 1 mile of walking per day," said, Dena Bravata, MD, MS, a senior research scientist in medicine. "This goes a long way toward helping people meet the national guidelines for daily physical activity."

Dr. Bravata's study, which is the first published review of literature on the effectiveness of pedometers, appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"Just over 2,100 steps might not sound that much, but it equates to a 27 percent increase in physical activity—which is really astounding," said Bravata.

So this year make a difference, buy a pedometer, set goals to increase you total steps each week and enjoy the changes it will make in your lifestyle ans waistline this year.

Walk 2000 More Steps a Day and Never Gain Another Pound - About.com
Walking for fitness: How to trim your waistline, improve your health - Mayo Clinic
Pedometers help people count steps to get healthy - Stanford School of Medicine