http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/health/countdown-to-lower-blood-pressure.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/countdown-to-lower-blood-pressure.html Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500 More Exercise, Less Stress, Better Nutrition

One of those studies, conducted at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, involved 86 men (average age, 57) whose resting diastolic blood pressure (the second number of your blood pressure reading; like the 70 part of a 120/70) was 95 to 105 mmHg (millimeters of mercury). The men were assigned to two groups for three months of different treatments. In one group, the men were given either 80 milligrams of the blood pressure dropping drug propranolol twice daily or two placebo pills that looked like propranolol but contained no active drug. The men in the other group got no pills at all. Instead, they exercised, modified their intake of salt, fat, and alcoholic beverages, and attended weekly stress management sessions. (The men in the drug or placebo group received no such counseling and made no changes in their diet or exercise habits.) By the study's end, the men who had exercised, improved their diet, and reduced their stress had an average blood pressure reduction of nearly 13 mmHg, compared with only 8 mmHg for those on drug therapy.
Drugs Plus Exercise No Better Than Exercise Alone.

The other study, which caused quite a buzz in medical circles, was conducted at Johns Hopkins University. It looked at the effects of exercise alone and came up with a surprising finding. Men who simply participated in an exercise program controlled their blood pressure just as well as men who worked out and took drugs to control their hypertension. The study involved 52 men aged 25 to 59, all with resting diastolic blood pressures between 90 and 105 mmHg. The men were divided into three groups. Men in the first group were given a beta blocking drug to lower their blood pressure. Men in the second group took another type of antihypertension drug, a calcium channel blocker. The men in the third group got placebo pills that contained no active drug. All of the men, however, took part in a ten week exercise regimen that included weight training, walking, jogging, or cycling. At the end of the study, the men taking the placebos had an average blood pressure of 131/84. Those taking the drugs didn't do any better. In fact, their averages of 138/88 and 132/88 were just a bit higher than the exercise alone group. These results certainly suggest that some mild hyper tensives are able to control their blood pressure simply by enrolling in a good excercise program. Johns Hopkins rehabilitation specialist Kerry Stewart, Ed.D., coinvestigator (with a cardiologist) on the study, adds that it may be possible for some men v/ho are already taking drugs to gradually (under their doctor's supervision, of course) "wean" themselves off those drugs or at least get by on lower doses.

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Read out health and wellness information. Also know about alternative health care and health food plan.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/fitness/cut-your-cholesterol-a-new-and-simple-plan.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/fitness/cut-your-cholesterol-a-new-and-simple-plan.html Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Step 1 Go For Soluble Fiber

Fiber comes in two basic styles insoluble, found in wheat bran and the indigestible parts of vegetables and fruit; and soluble, prevalent in oat bran, oatmeal, citrus fruits, and most types of beans. As for the difference between the two types, it's quite simple: Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water, which makes it great for promoting regularity (and reducing risks of colon cancer), while soluble fiber does dissolve in water, which makes it great for cleaning out cholesterol. How? Maybe by flushing cholesterol out of the small intestine before it has a chance to get to artery walls. Some scientists theorize that soluble fiber binds with bile, a digestive fluid that contains goodly amounts of cholesterol, in a way that causes the bile to be excreted in the stool. The result: less cholesterol circulating in the bloodstream, where it can cause trouble. Research by Prevention adviser James W. Anderson, M.D., shows that the addition of soluble fiber to the diet can have a significant and immediate impact on high chole sterol levels. In one study, Dr. Anderson found that men with cholesterol levels around 260 experienced 60 point drops in just three weeks (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition). In another, longer study, cholesterol levels averaging 294 fell by 76 points in six months. That's a 26 percent reduction! And it didn't take truckloads of soluble fiber to achieve these impressive results. The amount in a mere a cups of beans daily, or a single cup of oat bran daily, did the trick. Other very preliminary research suggests that the soluble fiber in rice bran and apple pectin may share these same cholesterol dissolving powers. Include a tasty variety of all of these cholesterol bas hers in your diet, and your cholesterol could suddenly find itself without a leg to stand on.

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For more information about health care plans, have a visit at authors site. You will also know about some more articles on health food plan and health and wellness programs.



Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/earlier-study-lends-support.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/earlier-study-lends-support.html Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500
But What about the High Guys

Putting aside the pills in favor of working out and eating right is great news. But all the experts interviewed kept pointing out that they were talking only about "mildly hypertensive people," which basically refers to men with a diastolic reading of 90 to 105 or so. So what about men with more severe high blood pressure? Won't they get any benefits from working out and eating better? "We don't have the data to say with any certainty that people with more severe hypertension will be able to achieve total control of their condition with a diet and exercise program alone," explains epidemiologist Stamler. But she feels that the data do indicate that such people may get considerable benefit in terms of lowering their drug dosages and, in the long run, possibly even becoming drug free if they adopt the right diet and exercise program. Exercising and eating right will never make anyone's pressure worse, she says. And it's your best bet at controlling your blood pressure without the side effects that drugs can cause

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The authors site you will find information about health fitness has lots of tips about health and fitness articles and health fitness tips.





Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/diabetes/asthma-diseases.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/diabetes/asthma-diseases.html Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Most asthma is triggered by an allergy to such things as pollen, skin particles (dander) or hairs of cats or dogs, or miniscule mites in house dust. Some attacks start for no apparent reason. Attacks can also be caused by infections (especially of the respiratory tract), certain drugs, inhaled irritants, vigorous exercise, and psychological stress.

What are the symptoms?

The main symptoms of asthma are difficulty in breathing, a painless tightness in the chest, and varying amounts of wheezing. At times, the wheezing is audible only with a stethoscope, but sometimes it is loud enough to hear across a crowded room. In severe cases, breathing becomes so difficult that it may cause sweating, an increased pulse rate, and severe anxiety. In very severe attacks the face and lips may turn bluish because of the diminishing supply of oxygen in the body.

What are the risks?

Asthma is quite common in school age children. Most children outgrow the condition, and no more than two or three per cent of the adult population is asthmatic.

A succession of severe asthma attacks can be very disabling. Each year several thousand people die during an attack. However, most of these people are elderly and have other illnesses as well. Today, because of some recent medical discoveries, there is little risk of lasting disability or death for people who take their asthma seriously and consult a physician about it.

What should be done?

If you have asthma, there are some steps you can take to control asthma attacks. Study your own disease, take the self-help measures recommended below, and see your physician whenever you have a severe and persistent period of breathlessness. Asthma is an illness that you and your physician can work together to control. You can never be sure that the symptoms you have at home will be the same when your physician puts a stethoscope to your chest, so you must be able to give a clear description of what happened both before and during the attack.

What is the treatment?

Self-help: Because asthma is most often caused by an allergy, your first step in controlling the disease is to try to identify the allergen, or irritant, that bothers you. Your physician may be able to help by arranging skin tests with suspected allergens, but you can do much of the detective work yourself. Do you have your asthma attacks mainly at one time of the year, and do you also have hay fever? If so, your allergens are probably pollen grains. Do your attacks occur more often on certain days of the week than on others? This might suggest a link with dusts at work, such as flour in a bakery, or with something you are around only when you pursue a hobby, such as flowers in a greenhouse, or with some stressful situations, such as regular visits to a hospital. Is your asthma worse in one room of your house than another? You may be allergic to mites in house dust, especially in bedrooms, or to hair or feathers from a pet.

Another possibility is an allergy to a food or a drink. Shellfish, eggs, and chocolate are some common examples of foods that trigger asthma attacks in some people.

You can test your theory of what causes your asthma attacks by keeping a record of the frequency and severity of your attacks. Keep track of how often the attacks coincide with your exposure to the suspected allergen or allergens. One way to measure the severity of an attack is by means of a small peak-flow meter. Your physician may be able to lend you one if you cannot buy one. By measuring the maximum flow of air with the meter when you breathe out, you can keep precise records of how much the air passages in your lungs narrow during an attack.

Once you have identified an allergen, the best treatment for your asthma is to avoid exposure to that substance. This is fairly simple if the allergen is a particular food or a domestic animal. If it is something like grass pollen, you can only take precautions such as staying away from the countryside in mid summer. You will have to work in cooperation with your physician to try to control most of your symptoms.

Even if you cannot identify your allergen, you may have fewer attacks if you reduce the amount of dust in your house. Either replace feather pillows and fiber filled mattresses with those filled with urethane foam, foam rubber or other non allergic materials, or put airtight plastic covers on them. Use a vacuum cleaner to remove dust from crevices, and eliminate rugs or carpets or choose types that can be kept dust free. Be aware, too, that other factors such as some forms of exercise or psychological stresses like tests in school can bring on attacks.

Professional help: Once the diagnosis is made, much can be done for you. The accuracy of your account of symptoms and probable allergens may help your physician make the diagnosis without allergy tests. In the past few years the treatment of asthma has been improved enormously with the introduction of new drugs, which can be taken as pills, liquid, or inhalants. These drugs fall into two categories. They are prophylactics, and bronchodilators. Prophylactics are taken regularly to prevent attacks. These are taken primarily by people who get very frequent attacks or who can predict when an attack is likely to occur. Bronchodilators, which are best for people who have only occasional asthma attacks, are taken only after an attack has started, to relieve the symptoms.

Some prophylactic drugs are inhaled four to six times a day to prevent attacks. These drugs relax the bronchial muscles and open obstructed airways. The best way to use these is to inhale them, since an inhalent goes directly to the site of the obstruction in the lungs. But they can be taken orally by anyone who finds inhalants difficult to use. If no pill, liquid, or inhalant succeeds in relieving a severe case of asthma, a bronchodilator drug may be injected into the bloodstream. This method almost always works. One group of drugs, steroids, is effective both in preventing asthma attacks and in relieving their symptoms once they are underway.

If your asthma attacks are clearly due to an allergen such as grass pollen, it may be possible to desensitize your lungs to that allergen with a series of injections . But the drugs discussed above are effective enough that physicians seldom recommend such desensitization as a treatment for asthma.

Despite the success of drug treatment, an asthma attack is sometimes severe enough to require hospitalization. There are three things that can be done for you in the hospital

that you cannot do yourself at home. First, some drug treatments are most effective in the form of a fine mist which is given to the patient through a breathing apparatus. This apparatus requires professional maintenance. Second, if you are hospitalized, you can be given muscle-relaxant drugs and connected to a mechanical respirator. This treatment eliminates muscle spasms in the air passages inside the lungs. Your chest muscles can relax, also, since the work of breathing is done by the respirator. This gives your respiratory system a chance to recover from a severe attack. Third, the presence of nursing and medical staff 24 hours a day may relieve your anxiety about being unable to breathe. What to do for an acute attack ?

A sudden, acute attack of asthma can be frightening for you and your family. In most cases the physician will have prescribed an inhalant of a bronchodilator or steroid drug. If one dose does not relieve your wheezing, you can repeat it in 30 minutes if this is suggested by your physician. However, you should not use the inhalant again if the second dose is ineffective. An overdose may be dangerous. Instead, call your physician. It is better to get in touch with a physician too soon than to wait until it is too late, since even with today's drugs severe asthma (status asthmaticus) may be difficult to treat.

Members of the family of an asthmatic are often alarmed by a severe attack, but feel helpless because they do not know what to do about it. Here is what to do:

1. Get the drugs and inhaling apparatus together on a table, and note the time the asthmatic takes the first dose of whatever medicine or medicines that the physician has prescribed for emergencies.

2. Help the asthmatic find the most comfortable position. Usually the best position is sitting up, leaning slightly forward, and resting on the elbows or arms. Plenty of fresh air is also important.

3. Don't stand around in a worried group. This only raises the asthmatic's level of anxiety. Someone calm and level headed should stay with the patient. Everyone else should quietly go into another room.

4. Get the telephone number of the asthmatic's physician and be ready to call. If you call and the doctor is not in, be ready to take the asthmatic, quickly but calmly, to the nearest hospital emergency room.

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Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/diabetes/halibut-with-roasted-garlic-and-wild-mushrooms.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/diabetes/halibut-with-roasted-garlic-and-wild-mushrooms.html Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon water

2 shallots, minced

I tablespoon olive oil

½ cup sliced shiitake or other available mushrooms

3 Italian tomatoes, diced

1/8teaspoon black pepper

¾ cup stock or white wine

juice of 1 lemon

2 cloves garlic, crushed

¼ teaspoon dried thyme

4 halibut steaks (6 ounces each)

Roast the garlic bulb at 400°F for 10 to 15 minutes. Break the bulb into cloves. Peel three of the cloves, chop, and place in a medium bowl. (Reserve the remainder for another use.) Add the vinegar, water, and shallots. Whisk in the oil. Add the mushrooms, tomatoes, and pepper. Set aside. In a large pot, combine the stock or wine, lemon juice, crushed garlic, and thyme. Bring to a boil. Place the halibut on a steamer rack in the pan. Cover and steam for 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the pan. (Reserve the steaming liquid for another use.) Divide vegetables among four dinner plates. Top with halibut steaks.

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Cocoa reduces symptoms of lactose intolerance. That means some of the people who are lactose intolerant can drink chocolate milk with fewer unpleasant symptoms, such as bloating and cramping.

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The cocoa in chocolate milk does not bind calcium, as once thought, so you can enjoy your chocolate treat and still reap the full benefit of the calcium.

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It's not true that all the alcohol used in cooking evaporates. In tests sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 5 to 85 percent of the alcohol was retained in food after heating.

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Canola oil contains a kind of fatty acid that's converted in the body to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which is a type of health-promoting fat abundant in certain fish oils.

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Ounce for ounce, cranberries have twice as much total dietary fiber as apples-and black currants contain four times as much.

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Tabbouleh contains three times as much fiber per serving as a tossed green salad.

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Cooked brussels sprouts, corn, zucchini, pintos, lima beans, raw cauliflower, and fresh currants all have as much cholesterol lowering soluble fiber per! cup as does cooked oatmeal.

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Ounce for ounce, kale contains more bioavailable calcium than the calcium champ itself, milk.

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A potato has almost double the potassium of a banana.

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Learn more tips and advice for diabetes care. Also learn how to take a proper diabetes diet which will help you recover faster.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/diabetes/margarine-takes-the-lead.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/diabetes/margarine-takes-the-lead.html Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500
And the field is further crowded by what are called "spreads." To be called margarine, a product must by law be pretty much synthetic butter it must be 80 percent fat, just like butter. But spreads can be just about anything they want, and what they tend to want to be is lower in saturated fat. So spreads have much higher percentages of pure vegetable oil unhydrogenated and thus even less saturated fat. They're also easier to spread hence the name. In fact, there are even spreads in bottles now, but even Ehrhart admits that "most people aren't used to pouring spread on their toast." Butter or margarine, spreads or blends? The bottom line: Moderate use of all of these products. For example, if you're worried about those weird fatty acids in margarine but you're worried about your cholesterol too, you can have butter just not very much of it. Likewise, if you switch to margarine, you're not free of saturated fats: Eat 6 table spoons of margarine and you may as well have had a couple of butter. You can even make your own blends in a food processor (try 60 percent butter and 40 percent vegetable oil), as suggested by Dr. Green. So whether you favor your taste buds, your wallet, your arteries, your fear of the unknown, or any combination, there's a product on the shelves with your name on it. "If you're confused," says Bagby, "there's always jelly."

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Now that's been reversed. U. S. Department of Agriculture statistics cited by Ehrhart show that in 1987, Americans averaged 10.5 pounds of margarine and 4.6 pounds of butter. And despite the nearly $14 million a year spent by the Dairy Board to convince people to stick with butter, Chuck Timpko, the board's manager of consumer research, notes that in 1988 in home consumer use of butter dropped another 6 percent. The reason: Besides being about half the cost, margarine is viewed as being "healthier." A tablespoon of butter has about 100 calories, I I grams of fat (about 7 grams saturated and 4 unsaturated), and 30 milligrams of cholesterol. Margarine, manufactured from vegetable oils and artificially flavored and colored to look like butter, has no cholesterol and is low in saturated fats. (Of the 1 I grams of fat in a tablespoon of margarine, usually 2 or 3 are saturated fat.) But it's not a hands down victory for margarine. "Margarine has no nutritional value all you get is fat," says Robin Bagby, M.Ed., R.D., of the Penn State Nutrition Center. "The big misconception is that margarine has fewer calories. So people use it liberally. For people on a diet, you have to watch your total fat intake." For those who believe margarine is just a manufactured collection of undesirable artery clogging components, Michael Green, Ph.D., associate professor of nutrition science at the Pennsylvania State University, says that no study has conclusively linked any of margarine's fatty acids to negative outcomes. But he notes that "this concern has obviously led to the big increase in blends a combination of butter and margarine.

And the field is further crowded by what are called "spreads." To be called margarine, a product must by law be pretty much synthetic butter it must be 80 percent fat, just like butter. But spreads can be just about anything they want, and what they tend to want to be is lower in saturated fat. So spreads have much higher percentages of pure vegetable oil unhydrogenated and thus even less saturated fat. They're also easier to spread hence the name. In fact, there are even spreads in bottles now, but even Ehrhart admits that "most people aren't used to pouring spread on their toast." Butter or margarine, spreads or blends? The bottom line: Moderate use of all of these products. For example, if you're worried about those weird fatty acids in margarine but you're worried about your cholesterol too, you can have butter just not very much of it. Likewise, if you switch to margarine, you're not free of saturated fats: Eat 6 table spoons of margarine and you may as well have had a couple of butter. You can even make your own blends in a food processor (try 60 percent butter and 40 percent vegetable oil), as suggested by Dr. Green. So whether you favor your taste buds, your wallet, your arteries, your fear of the unknown, or any combination, there's a product on the shelves with your name on it. "If you're confused," says Bagby, "there's always jelly."Now that's been reversed. U. S. Department of Agriculture statistics cited by Ehrhart show that in 1987, Americans averaged 10.5 pounds of margarine and 4.6 pounds of butter. And despite the nearly $14 million a year spent by the Dairy Board to convince people to stick with butter, Chuck Timpko, the board's manager of consumer research, notes that in 1988 in home consumer use of butter dropped another 6 percent. The reason: Besides being about half the cost, margarine is viewed as being "healthier." A tablespoon of butter has about 100 calories, I I grams of fat (about 7 grams saturated and 4 unsaturated), and 30 milligrams of cholesterol. Margarine, manufactured from vegetable oils and artificially flavored and colored to look like butter, has no cholesterol and is low in saturated fats. (Of the 1 I grams of fat in a tablespoon of margarine, usually 2 or 3 are saturated fat.) But it's not a hands down victory for margarine. "Margarine has no nutritional value all you get is fat," says Robin Bagby, M.Ed., R.D., of the Penn State Nutrition Center. "The big misconception is that margarine has fewer calories. So people use it liberally. For people on a diet, you have to watch your total fat intake." For those who believe margarine is just a manufactured collection of undesirable artery clogging components, Michael Green, Ph.D., associate professor of nutrition science at the Pennsylvania State University, says that no study has conclusively linked any of margarine's fatty acids to negative outcomes. But he notes that "this concern has obviously led to the big increase in blends a combination of butter and margarine.

And the field is further crowded by what are called "spreads." To be called margarine, a product must by law be pretty much synthetic butter it must be 80 percent fat, just like butter. But spreads can be just about anything they want, and what they tend to want to be is lower in saturated fat. So spreads have much higher percentages of pure vegetable oil unhydrogenated and thus even less saturated fat. They're also easier to spread hence the name. In fact, there are even spreads in bottles now, but even Ehrhart admits that "most people aren't used to pouring spread on their toast." Butter or margarine, spreads or blends? The bottom line: Moderate use of all of these products. For example, if you're worried about those weird fatty acids in margarine but you're worried about your cholesterol too, you can have butter just not very much of it. Likewise, if you switch to margarine, you're not free of saturated fats: Eat 6 table spoons of margarine and you may as well have had a couple of butter. You can even make your own blends in a food processor (try 60 percent butter and 40 percent vegetable oil), as suggested by Dr. Green. So whether you favor your taste buds, your wallet, your arteries, your fear of the unknown, or any combination, there's a product on the shelves with your name on it. "If you're confused," says Bagby, "there's always jelly."

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/nutrition-nuggets-surprising-health-facts-about-food.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/nutrition-nuggets-surprising-health-facts-about-food.html Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500
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Roasted chestnuts make great diet snacks, with less than 5 percent of their calories from fat.

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Macadamia nuts, on the other hand, deliver 95 percent of calories in fat albeit most is monounsaturated.

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Oil popped popcorn can be 45 percent fat, even if it's not buttered!

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Caramel coated popcorn (usually air popped) gets only 7 percent of its calories from fat.

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Spinach is considered a good source of iron, but less than 2 percent of it is bioavailable; that means up to 98 percent of the iron in the plant cannot be readily absorbed by the body.

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By drinking orange juice with your meals, you can boost your body's absorption of iron from plant foods by as much as 400 percent, because vitamin C, which is abundant in oranges, enhances iron's bioavailability.

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Red peppers have almost 1½ times more vitamin C than green and almost 11 times as many carotenoids, which your body converts to vitamin A.

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Chasing an iron rich dinner with a cup of coffee or tea can reduce your body's absorption of the mineral by 40 to X5 percent. The culprit, apparently, is the tannin in tea and coffee, which binds iron.

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In terms of vitamin C content, oranges pale in comparison to black currants. One half cup of black currants has almost 1½ a times the vitamin C of an orange.

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Ounce for ounce, cauliflower also has more vitamin C than oranges. In fact, just 1 cup of cauliflower delivers more than your daily requirement.

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Pink or ruby red grapefruit contains up to 26 times more carotenoids than the white variety.

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Tofu, a high-protein soybean curd, actually contains more than half of its calories in fat. The good news is that, unlike animal protein, which can be high in saturated fat and cholesterol, tofu is mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat with no cholesterol.

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Not all pork products are as fatty as you might think; lean pork tenderloin gets only 26 percent of its calories from fat.

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Not all turkey products are as lean as you might think.

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While skinless turkey breast has less than 5 percent fat calories, turkey bologna and franks can contain up to 70 percent of their calories in fat.

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A 3½ounce serving of roast venison has fewer calories and fewer calories from fat than roasted skinless chicken breast.

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Trimming visible fat from meat and skinning poultry can cut the saturated fat content by more than one half; inter estingly, however, it has very little effect on the cholesterol content.

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Shellfish are generally high in cholesterol but surprisingly low in saturated fat; four large raw shrimp, for example, tip

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the scale with 152 milligrams of cholesterol but a scant! of a gram of saturated fat.

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Even though it sounds rich, buttermilk has less fat per serving than 1 percent low fat milk.

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Two percent low fat milk is 2 percent fat by weight, but actually contains 35 percent of calories from fat; 1 percent low-fat milk is about 23 percent fat calories.

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Less than 5 percent of the calories in skim milk come from fat.

* An ounce of fudge has about half the fat of a I ounce brownie.


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For more information on diabetes types, refer authors site. There are mainly two types of diabetes - Type 2 Diabetes and Type 1 Diabetes.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/diabetes/marinated-cheese-buttons.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/diabetes/marinated-cheese-buttons.html Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500
2 tablespoons chicken stock

1 teaspoon canola oil

I teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil or thyme I teaspoon coarse mustard

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

½ cup nonfat yogurt cheese

6 slices French bread, halved

In a 9 inch glass pie plate, whisk together the vinegar, stock, oil, oregano, basil or thyme, mustard, and pepper.

Roll well rounded teaspoons of the yogurt cheese between your hands to form smooth balls. If the balls become sticky, wet your hands a bit with the marinade. Flatten the balls slightly and place in the marinade. Use a spoon to drizzle marinade over them.

Cover the dish and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Serve slightly chilled or at room temperature on pieces of bread.

Cheese Stuffed Potatoes

2 large potatoes, baked

1/3 cup dry curd cottage cheese 3 tablespoons buttermilk

I small carrot, grated

½ tablespoon minced fresh parsley teaspoon dried thyme

pinch of ground paprika

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop out the centers with a spoon, leaving inch shells. In a medium bowl, mash the potato flesh roughly with a fork. Add the cottage cheese, buttermilk, carrot, parsley, thyme, and paprika. Mix well. Spoon the filling into the shells. Sprinkle with the Parmesan. Place the potatoes on a broiler pan and broil until lightly browned and warmed through, about 4 to 5 minutes.

How To Appease A Sweet Tooth

Yet many people still insist that they have a sweet tooth. And furthermore, they feel that if they don't get their sweets, they'll feel deprived. If they won't settle for a banana or a nectarine, I offer advice that usually surprises them: "Fine. Then have your sugar straight up, without the fat." What does that mean? Toss the cheesecake and replace it with a light, low fat, angel food cake. Say No, thanks! to the afternoon doughnut and have a couple of plain low fat gingersnaps instead. You'll have the sweets you desire, without unwanted side effects of fat.

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For more information on diabetes types, refer authors site. There are mainly two types of diabetes - Type 2 Diabetes and Type 1 Diabetes.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/diabetes/a-palate-retraining-program.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/diabetes/a-palate-retraining-program.html Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Renew Your Contract

Unfortunately, one week isn't long enough to ingrain you to healthy eating habits for life. It's just enough to give you a taste of what, with a little more effort, could become a lifelong habit. So now's the time to renew your contract with your self this time for a two to four week period. Add some additional low fat, high nutrition dishes to your repertoire. Keep in mind that the longer you stick with this palate retraining program, the longer the results are likely to last. Of course, at some point, your taste buds will probably start to drift again. So I suggest a refresher course for two weeks every six months or so. Or take your vacation at a health spa. You'll be back on track in no time.

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Learn more about diabetes and diabetes management

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/diabetes/sweets-and-weight-loss.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/diabetes/sweets-and-weight-loss.html Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500
What about desserts and soft drinks sweetened with nonnutrient sweeteners like aspartame? Can they aid a weight loss program? Research at our weight loss clinic at the New England Deaconess Hospital indicates that non nutrient sweeteners can make a small, positive difference to dieters. A study we conducted in 1988 (which, it should be noted, was supported by grants from the NutraSweet Company as well as the National Institutes of Health) looked at whether artificially sweetened foods and bever ages affect weight loss. Fifty nine obese women and men (but mostly women) were put on a low fat, calorie reduced diet, about 1,000 calories a day for the women and 1,200 calories daily for the men. Emphasis was on low-fat foods, and there was also an exercise component and training in behavioral modification. Half the people were encouraged to consume nonnurient sweetened foods-at least two daily-containing as partame. They chose offerings like puddings, soft drinks, and frozen desserts. The other group was told to avoid use of all aspartame or saccharine-sweetened products, and were given food guides on low calorie snacks and beverages free of nonnutrient sweeteners.

Both groups lost weight. After 12 weeks, the women who were permitted to eat nonnutrient sweeteners had lost 3.7 more pounds than women in the other group, a difference that is not statistically significant but does indicate that nonnutrient artificial sweeteners aren't a disadvantage to dieters, and might provide a small advantage. It should be emphasized that both groups not only lost weight but enjoyed improvements in their health and quality of life. That's not because of sweets or lack of them; it's bccause they were on a balanced program with group support, behavioral training, exercise, and close monitoring. I'd say the nonnutrient sweeteners provided a small additional advantage for two reasons. First, those sweeteners contain fewer calories than sugar. And second, the people eating the sweetened products may have felt less deprived and more satisfied because they could eat more desserts. There has been great controversy over whether non nutrient sweeteners are safe. They've been the subject of what are probably the most intensive Food and Drug Administration investigations of any food product. Since they've passed these tests, they don't pose a health threat. My view is that there are other things the public should worry about, like fat in the diet, before they worry about the health impact of moderate amounts of nonnutrient sweeteners.

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For more information on diabetes types, refer authors site. There are mainly two types of diabetes - Type 1 Diabetes abd Type 2 Diabetes.



Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>