If you have diabetes or are pre-diabetic, watch how much you eat this holiday season, caution experts at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas on www.eurekalert.org.
“The obesity epidemic is surging and people don’t realize they’re setting themselves up to develop diabetes,” said Dr. Manisha Chandalia, an endocrinologist at U.T. Southwestern.
Dr. Chandalia offers these healthful eating tips:
– Set consistent meal times.
– Avoid fast food.
– At parties, don’t eat large portions of any food, and eat skinless chicken or turkey.
– Use low-calorie ingredients when making treats.
– Exercise regularly. Go on walks to see holiday displays.
– At an appropriate weight for your age? Maintain your weight.
For more information on diabetes, go to www.diabetes.org.
* * * *
A handful of pecans as part of your daily diet might help reduce your risk of heart disease, according to a Loma Linda University study published in the September issue of Nutrition Research.
Blood samples from study participants – 23 men and women, ranging in age from 25 to 55 – were analyzed. They were randomly placed on either the American Heart Association’s Step I diet, or a pecan-enriched version of the Step I diet. After four weeks, participants switched diets.
Those on the pecan-enriched diet significantly reduced lipid oxidation by 7.4 percent versus those not eating pecans. The findings backed results from an earlier LLU research project that found a pecan-enriched diet lowered total cholesterol levels by 11.5 percent over the standard Step I diet. Pecans contain different forms of vitamin E, known as tocopherols, which protect fats from oxidizing, researchers said. Pecans are especially rich in gamma-tocopherol, one form of vitamin E.
When the “bad” cholesterol is oxidized, it is more likely to build up and result in arteriosclerosis.
For more information, go to www.llu.edu/news/pr/documents/pr-pecan_study_09.06.pdf.
