Beat Diabetes with Better Nutrition

Chili is a recipe loaded with diabetes fighting ingredients!

Chili is one of my favorite cold weather foods. Besides tasting great and warming you up on a cold day, almost every ingredient in chili has health benefits. Here is my family's favorite recipe. It's easy and good for you too!

• 1 lb lean ground beef, browned and drained
• 2 cans kidney beans rinsed and drained
• 2 cans tomatoes
• 1 medium to large onion chopped
• 1 green pepper chopped
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 2-3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• salt to taste

My favorite way to cook chili is in the crock pot and often I do soups overnight because I cook the ground beef, onions and garlic and then throw everything in the crock pot while I am cooking another dinner. That way I cook two meals at once. When I get up in the morning I turn it off, let it cool and before I go out the door put it in the fridge. All that's left is to heat it up for supper in the evening!

The health benefits of chili for diabetes are numerous. Kidney beans are one of the best food sources of fiber providing almost half our daily requirement. Even though the beans are carbohydrate the fiber slows down the blood sugar rise after the meal. Kidney beans also have 57% of our daily need for folate, which lowers homocysteine levels and 20% of our need for magnesium, a natural blood pressure medicine.

Chili powder, ground from red chili peppers, contains capsaicin, which fights inflammation, reduces insulin needs and helps lower blood sugars.

If you go easy on the salt and choose lean ground beef, every other ingredient in chili will help you fight diabetes in one way or another.  If you are watching your weight, 1 small to medium bowl of chili will provide about 500 calories. My problem is that I love bread with my chili, which puts me well over my weight control portion.

The great thing about making chili and other soups is that you can add and subtract ingredients to your liking and create your own favorite recipe. If you have a favorite chili recipe please share!

Blueberries Make an Excellent Snack Choice for Fighting Diabetes

Here's my afternoon snack today: organic vanilla yogurt with blueberries and banana. All for just over 200 calories! Blueberries are in season so enjoy some soon with the tasty recipe ideas below and let the antioxidants and anti-inflammatories go to work helping you fight diabetes!

Take a look at the powerful health benefits you get . . .  

• 38% more antioxidants than wine to protect your heart
• low calorie and high fiber to help with weight loss
• help protect the brain from dementia and Alzheimers
• good source of soluble fiber pectin to help lower cholesterol
• reducing inflammation in digestive system
• same compound found in cranberries that helps prevent urinary tract infections

BE SURE TO ENJOY YOUR BLUEBERRIES UNCOOKED. HEAT WILL DAMAGE THE ANTIOXIDANTS!

1 cup of blueberries is about 80 calories, 1 carb choice and 4 grams fiber. Also an excellent source of vitamin C and E.

So grab some blueberries at your local farmers market or grocer, whip up a smoothie or parfait, or try the recipes below!  . . . . and share your favorites with me too!!!

Fruit S'mores recipe

Blueberry Cheesecake for Calorie Counters 

Blueberry Tart with Walnut Crust

Check Out These Great Mediterranean Diet Meal Ideas!

Several studies have shown that eating a Mediterranean type of diet can help us prevent diabetes. I wanted to share some great sites with you that explain some of the questions about the Mediterranean Diet and give you some easy recipes to get you started.

What are Mediterranean Diet foods and why should I eat them?

Get your answers to these questions at this website about Mediterranean foods and way of eating. 

May is Mediterranean Month - download this calendar for ideas on how to eat more of these healthy Mediterranean Diet foods! I love most of the foods mentioned in their ideas and this calendar makes it fun trying to eat healthier. Get your family involved by letting them choose the ideas that they would like to try!

If you like pizza try this tasty Mediterranean Pizza. It's super easy to make and a favorite of mine.

Or try this Mediterranean Baby Spinach Salad.      Happy Mediterranean eating!

Beat Diabetes with a Color Filled Plate

Here's a short message to remind you of the power of fruits and vegetables in fighting disease  - especially diabetes.   (and be sure to check out the video link below)

How will more fruits and veggies help diabetes?

• Low calorie to help you lose weight and prevent diabetes.
• Lower carb to lower insulin needs.
• Great source of potassium to help lower blood pressure.
• Loaded with phytochemicals that fight heart disease, cancer and other health problems.
• Great source of fiber.
• Sodium free.
• Most are naturally fat free and those that do have fat contain heart healthy fat.
• Great source of vitamin C.

• Eating more replaces high calorie starches and sweets that are unhealthy.

There is one catch. You have to make the effort to change your eating and food buying habits. This takes time and effort but is well worth the payoff of preventing diabetes, lowering blood pressure, cholesterol and losing weight. This is probably the most powerful diet change you can make.

Start small by choosing one meal to add vegetables and one snack to add a fruit. Take advantage of fruits and veggies in season when they taste better and cost less. Check out the farmers markets or try growing something of your own!

To get you motivated check out this great 2 minute video and start to Color Yourself Healthy!

6 Reasons Eggs Still Part of Healthy Diet

Since the 1970's we were told not to eat eggs because they were too high in cholesterol. Recent review of over 200 studies has shown that eggs do not have much effect on our cholesterol but many are not aware of that or are still being told by health professionals to avoid eggs.

Consider these 6 reasons why eggs are part of a healthy diet.

1. Cholesterol in food does not have much effect on our blood cholesterol. Eating too much saturated fat is actually what contributes to high cholesterol levels. Focus on controlling the amount of saturated fat you eat instead. 

2. Eggs are actually low in saturated fat. One egg has less than 2 grams saturated fat and for heart health we should try to eat no more than 15-20 grams saturated fat daily. So 2 eggs for a meal would be no more than 25% of that daily limit. In comparison, a small 95% lean burger has 3 grams saturated fat.  Eggs also contain 44% monounsaturated fat, which is the type of fat that can help lower cholesterol.  Don't forget to keep the butter, bacon and sausage to a minimum though or you will get a lot of saturated fat.

3. Eggs are a very high quality source of protein, contain 13 essential vitamins and minerals, and are a good source of choline and lutein, important for healthy brain and eyes. 

4. Eggs can help control hunger and make weight loss easier. In one study comparing an egg breakfast to a bagel breakfast, those who had eggs for breakfast reported feeling less hungry throughout the day and lost 65% more weight. 

5. Eggs are a low calorie food. One egg has about 75 calories. So if you eat an breakfast of 2 eggs, 2 whole grain toast with a little preserves, and fruit  - you will have a tasty well balanced meal for under 500 calories! 

6. Eggs make a nutritious, low cost meal.  Just this weekend I bought eggs at the grocery store for $1.29 a dozen. That's only about 10 cents per egg. We could all use a little savings right now on the grocery bill right?

So there you have it - 6 reasons to stop worrying about eggs clogging up your arteries. Try some new egg recipes and don't forget about egg salad sandwiches, deviled eggs, or a hard-boiled egg in your salad.

Here's a recipe for Mushroom, Tomato, Basil Frittata . A frittata is basically an Italian version of the omelet. This recipe is easy, healthy and low calorie! Enjoy! 

How Many High Sodium Foods are You Eating?

Recommendations for sodium range from 1500 to 2400 mg daily. So if we limit our meals to 600-700 mg sodium we should be doing well. How hard can that be?

Well, if we eat a lot of packaged and processed foods it will be very difficult. 75% of our sodium intake is from packaged or processed foods. Take a look at these examples.

1 cup of most canned soups has 900 mg sodium

1 dill pickle has 900 mg sodium

1 Tbsp Soy Sauce 900 mg

3oz ham has 1100 mg

3oz smoked fish 650mg

6oz V8  or tomato juice 600 mg

1/2 cup tomato or pizza sauce averages 600mg

All of these contain 500mg sodium or more

1 Alka-Seltzer tablet

Some waffles, bagels,

Most frozen dinners

Most restaurant meals

Stuffing mixes

Salami, pepperoni, hot dogs

You have a couple choices to lower sodium intake. All of the processed foods will have a nutrition label. Check the sodium content and look for lower sodium versions, especially in soups, frozen dinner, juice and sauces. Better yet - skip the processed and make your own soups and dinners with minimal added salt.

7 Reasons to Have Your Blood Pressure Checked and Keep it Down

 90% of Americans are expected to have high blood pressure during their lifetime.

Why?

We know high blood pressure is largely related to our diet, specifically our high sodium diet. Studies show that populations that have little or no added salt in their diet do not have high blood pressure.

Why should you try to keep your blood pressure at an optimal level of less than 120/80?

1. Like blood sugar, you often can't feel when your blood pressure is elevated. 
2. Your risk of heart attack, stroke, dementia, kidney failure or going blind increases significantly with high blood pressure. 
3. You will save money in the long run.  High blood pressure often requires 2 or 3 different medications to treat.  
4. High Blood Pressure puts you at higher risk of developing diabetes.
5. The opposite is also true. Having diabetes puts you at higher risk for having blood pressure problems. High blood sugar and blood pressure levels are both hard on your kidneys and blood vessels.
6. Some blood pressure medications can raise blood sugar.
7. Most importantly, if you catch it early high blood pressure can be reversed with diet.

Stay tuned this week for more tips on HOW to lower your blood pressure with diet.

Lower Your Blood Pressure Naturally with Potassium

 Did you know that you can lower your blood pressure 10-15 points by getting enough potassium foods? In the DASH  study it only took 2 weeks. We always hear about sodium and blood pressure but potassium is just as important - and it is easier to eat more of something than to always try and eat less.

Potassium and sodium try to keep a healthy balance in our body. The problem is we eat 2-3 times the sodium we need in our average American diet - and we are lucky if we get half the necessary amount of potassium.

How much potassium do we need?    4700mg daily

What should your blood pressure be?    120/80 or a little lower is great.

What do we eat to get potassium? If you are thinking bananas you are correct. But there are also a lot of other foods that you may not know are good for potassium. Smoothies, milk and yogurt are good dairy sources. A baked potato  or sweet potato averages 700-800 mg. Other great foods are spinach, tomato paste or juice, nuts, garlic, beans, mushrooms, onions, berries and cantaloupe. If you shoot for 3 servings low fat dairy and 5-10 servings fruits and veggies daily you will be getting your potassium.

Now you have another reason to join me in the fruit & veggie challenge.