Emilia Klapp, R.D., B.S. asked:


During my childhood and teenager years I ate fruits and vegetables because my mother told me I had to eat them. After I left my parents’ house, I kept eating various fruits and vegetables on a regular basis because I was used to do it (not a bad reason in this particular case).

 

However, when I moved from my hometown in Spain to the United States, I decided that I was too busy to eat fruits and vegetables. I was always in a rush. So a piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken and a biscuit for lunch became the norm.

 

But after I lost two friends to breast cancer and one to a heart attack, I decided to engage in a career as a Registered Dietitian.  I then realized that when my mother insisted that I ate the vegetables on my plate, she was offering very healthy, sage advice.

 

Through nutrition research I also discovered that fruits and vegetables, among many other health benefits, help us maintain our blood pressure at a healthy level.

 

 

What is high blood pressure and why is important to prevent it?

 

Blood pressure is how forcefully the blood is banging against the walls of the arteries. If you have high blood pressure it means the heart is pounding harder than it should to send through the blood vessels the nutrients and oxygen the cells need to maintain life. Continuous high blood pressure can cause havoc in your body because it:

 

1. Causes the walls of the arteries to thicken, a condition that reduces the blood flow.

 

2. Makes the inside of the arteries rough, contributing to the formation of plaque, mounds of fat and debris deposited in the wall of the arteries. Plaque reduces the space available for blood to circulate.

 

3. Enlarges the heart. An enlarged heart becomes weak and has to work harder to send the nutrients through the blood vessels which results in high blood pressure.

 

4. Weakens the inner walls of blood vessels triggering the formation of a balloon or aneurysm. This ballooning may cause the blood vessel to rupture causing a hemorrhagic stroke.

 

 

What can you do to keep a healthy blood pressure?

 

- Be physically active

- Limit sodium (salt) in your diet

- Don’t smoke

- Avoid high alcohol consumption

- Maintain an appropriate body weigh

 

 

Why can sodium be a problem?

 

Sodium can be a problem because when we eat a lot of salt we retain a large volume of fluid in our blood vessels that needs to be moved around. And what do you think moves all that fluid in your body? Your heart.

 

The standard recommendation for sodium is between 1,500 and 2,400 milligrams a day. American public consumes between 4,000 and 8,000 milligrams per day. How do we manage to ingest so much sodium in our diets? Because we eat lots of processed foods and very few fruits and vegetables.

 

 

Why are processed foods so high in sodium?

 

Manufacturers of processed foods use salt as a preventive measure because salt keeps microbes-microscopic organisms that transmit disease, at bay. Always keep in mind that about 75 percent of the salt we eat every day comes from processed foods, 15 percent comes from cooking and 10 percent from natural foods.

 

 

So How Can Fruits and Vegetables Maintain Low Blood Pressure?

 

- Fruits and vegetables are very low in sodium. The sodium content of a piece of fruit ranges from 0 to 5 and from 1 to 70 milligrams in vegetables. An average portion of vegetables contains about 10 milligrams of sodium. At the same time, when you eat fruits and vegetables, you are replacing other foods in your meals that may be high in sodium.

 

- Fruits and vegetables are high in potassium. Potassium is a mineral that plays a key role in heart functions and muscle contractions, making it an important nutrient for a normal heart (remember the heart is a muscle). Potassium works with sodium to regulate the water balance in the body. Diets low in sodium and high in potassium lower blood pressure, which reduces the risk for strokes¹.

 

- Fruits and vegetables are rich in calcium and magnesium. Calcium and magnesium are extremely important to maintaining normal blood pressure because they are required for nerve transmission and regulation of heart muscle function. Many studies have shown that as we increase the consumption of foods with a high content of calcium, the risk of high blood pressure decreases, especially if we maintain adequate intakes of magnesium.

 

Now that you know one of the main reasons why you need to eat fruits and vegetables, would you find the time to include them in your daily diet? Here are some practical ways to help you do it:

 

1. Have a piece of fruit for dessert after your main 3 meals.

2. Have a piece of fruit or some veggies as snack if you are hungry during the day.

3. Have your veggies as part of your main dish with your two main meals.

4. Eat salads with your meals. And by salads I don’t mean macaroni or potato salad.

 

Final Thoughts

Making fruits and vegetables part of a lifestyle that includes regular physical activity as well as a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol can work wonders for you when it comes to maintain a healthy blood pressure. Remember, prevention is better than cure.

 

References:

1. Ding EL, Mozaffarian D. Optimal dietary habits for the prevention of stroke. Seminars in Neurology. 2006 Feb;26(1):11-23

 

willyboy asked:


A diabetic diet plan is one of the best proven ways to combat diabetes; this can help to improve your blood sugar control, reduce and eliminate your need for insulin shots.

The diabetic food plan takes recommended foods for diabetics and creates a plan to suite both your tastes and your needs, by creating the diabetic diet plan you can improve your health and help fight diabetes.

It is essential for anyone fighting diabetes to maintain optimum weight and reduce blood cholesterol. Reducing saturated fats with unsaturated or monounsaturated fats is a priority for anyone fighting diabetes. Diabetes prevents your body from processing glucose the way it should, so a diabetic diet helps to perform that maintenance. In addition, the hope is that a diabetic diet will also help you to maintain healthy lipid levels and keep your blood pressure under control. The most important part of a diabetic’s diet is the meal plan, foods with similar nutrients and calories are grouped together. A diabetic’s meal plan is about ensuring the food intake is the right amount of food at the right time.

A diabetes diet plan can differ from each type of diabetes; diabetics who fight type 2 diabetes have fewer restrictions which help to make a more flexible diabetic diet plan which may seem to look more like a normal healthy diet plan. However type 1 have more restrictions and is more accustomed to your own diabetes.

You may be thinking that creating a diabetic meal plan sounds like a lot of hard work, that you don’t know any different food groups and that you find it all a little too confusing. However a couple of weeks becoming more knowledgeable in the area of diabetes may help to make you more comfortable and healthier.

It is essential for anyone suffering from diabetes to be aware of different food groups, what they contain and how they affect there meal plan and dieting. A large knowledge and understanding of diabetes will help you daily and to achieve your health goals.

Diabetes Info asked:


On “The Sopranos,” Aida Turturro plays the kooky sister of a mob boss – an aging hippie whose New Age mantras served as a wake-up call for her brother as he recovered from a life-threatening gunshot wound. In real life, it was Turturro who had the wake-up call three years ago when her doctor sat her down and warned her about the damage type 2 diabetes could be doing to her body.

The actress, who was initially diagnosed in 2001, knew it was time to get her blood sugars under control. Working with her doctor, a nutritionist and other specialists, Turturro learned how to balance the busy life of an actor with the detailed diet, exercise and insulin therapy demands of her disease.

Priority Publications: How has diabetes changed your life?

Aida Turturro: I have a lot of details to think about every single day. I need to do a lot of planning about food. When I take a car ride, I can’t stop at McDonald’s. I have to think, “Do I have a half an apple with me?” Every time I go away, like for filming, I have to make sure I have my insulin and all my supplies.

PP: Do you think the demands of your career as an actor have made it harder or easier to manage your diabetes?

AT: I don’t think I have it harder. But sometimes I’m on the set, we’re filming in some weird location and it’s really hard. I have to watch the time and watch my food and sometimes it’s like, “Guys, can you get me some turkey?” It’s hard for me if I’m getting up and filming at 4 a.m. and the next day it’s 11 a.m. As a diabetic, you want to keep a regular schedule, like one meal at nine o’clock and one meal at one o’clock. But you can’t always do that [on the set].

PP: What about scenes where you are supposed to be eating?

AT: I either don’t eat or I tell them, “Just give me vegetables.” If it’s a wine thing, I can’t drink the grape juice [they use] because it’s filled with sugar. So I have them go get this dye they use [in water]. I don’t eat the pasta. They know on the set, so they’re fine when I say, “I won’t eat that.”

PP: Has diabetes ever interfered with your career?

AT: It’s never stopped me from going to work. There are days I have a little struggle, but nobody knows at work. But, you know, I feel so much better [since seeking treatment]. For a while there, because I was out of control with my blood sugars, I was up and down, moody. And I was wiped out for a while – really exhausted. Now, I’ve got my energy back and I do 80,000 things.

PP: In that sense, would you say this has been a positive experience for you?

AT: I wouldn’t say it was positive. I think that it’s hard. I wish I didn’t have it. It’s a lot of work. But I’m grateful that I have it in a time when, with hard work, you can live a very healthy life.

PP: You’ve been visiting hospitals and speaking with other diabetics about your experience. What’s your motivating force?

AT: I’ve seen how much it helps other people. Even if I get one person to start taking care of themselves, then I’ve helped somebody.