6. Try bouillons, broths, and consommés. If your palate leans toward the savory, you may pass on tea and start sipping one of these hot and savory liquids instead. Choose low-fat and low-sodium versions for maximum health benefits. Because soup is water-based, a cup of hot soup will count toward your daily fluid consumption.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Make Water Taste Better - Part 5
5. Drink tea. Herbal, fruit, green, white, and red teas are generally considered to be better for you than black teas (or coffee, for that matter) because they contain little to no caffeine. And there are countless flavors of these teas to choose from. Start with the selection at your local market or health food store. If you're interested in pursuing more exotic flavors and sophisticated teas, start researching the vast array of specialty teas that come from all parts of the globe.
Make Water Taste Better - Part 4
4. Get creative with ice. Some say that ice water tastes better than water served at room temperature. If that's so, flavored ice cubes may make an even better drink. Use some of the flavoring suggestions above and start experimenting with fresh fruit, mint, or cucumber ice cubes. Simply chop your additive of choice, add it to your ice cube tray along with water, then freeze. You may also consider juice, tea, or coffee cubes. If you want to be more creative, use ice cube trays that come in fun shapes, like stars, circles, or even fish.
Make Water Taste Better - Part 3
3. Make it bubbly. Many people prefer sparkling to still water. If plain old water isn't inspiring to you, try a naturally effervescent mineral water — which will give you the added benefit of minerals. Or try bubbly seltzer, a carbonated water. You can add fresh fruit or natural juice flavors to your seltzer, as suggested above, or look for naturally flavored seltzers at your local market. If you become a seltzer devotee, you might want to consider getting a seltzer maker for your home.
Make Water Taste Better - Part 2
2. Use juice. Any fruit juice can be a good base flavor for water, but tart juices, like cranberry, pomegranate, grape, and apple, are especially delicious. Go for juices that are all natural, with no added sugars. And remember: Fruits and their juices don't just taste good — they contain vitamins and antioxidants that can benefit your health too
Making Water Taste Better - Part 1
1. Add fresh fruit. Citrus fruits, such as lemons, limes, and oranges, are classic water enhancers, but other fruit flavors might also tempt your taste buds. Try crushing fresh raspberries or watermelon into your water, or adding strawberry slices. Cucumber and fresh mint are refreshing flavors as well — especially in summer.
Can Cinnamon Help Treat Diabetes?
Some studies have investigated the effect of cinnamon on blood sugar levels, but there aren't enough of them or enough carefully compiled results — or consistency in those results — to draw hard and fast conclusions yet. "There's not very much research on it," explains Philip A. Kern, MD, an endocrinologist and director of the Barnstable Brown Diabetes and Obesity Center at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Lexington. But there is potential.
The studies that have tried to measure the effects of cinnamon on blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetes have been small and not well controlled. In general, a reliable study is one that is large (at least 500 to 1000 patients), has patients randomly assigned to different groups, and is double blind — meaning neither the researchers nor the subjects know who is getting the treatment. That type of detailed and careful research just hasn't been done on the subject of cinnamon’s role in diabetes, says Dr. Kern, adding that the results of the small studies that have been conducted "are all over the place."
"Some say that the cinnamon does lower blood sugar or improves some other measure — some studies report a benefit, and some studies don't report a benefit," says Kern. His initial reaction was dubious, he admits, but after studying what little research is available, the effects of cinnamon are "probably something deserving of a larger study."
For instance, one study suggests that cinnamon may be effective in lowering blood sugar levels because it has a similar effect on the body as insulin, the hormone that people with type 2 diabetes produce in insufficient amounts.
Cinnamon: A Dash or a Dollop?
The amount of cinnamon needed to produce a positive effect is unclear. In some of the clinical trials, diabetic patients were given about 1 gram of cinnamon in a capsule — that amount of pure cinnamon is about the size of the tip of your pinkie finger.
Swallowing that much cinnamon powder would be downright painful (and probably not taste very good), so Kern says you shouldn't try to ingest cinnamon on your own in an effort to lower blood sugar. You also shouldn't chow down on a big cinnamon bun or sip a cinnamon latte, thinking you're getting a health benefit — even if additional research concludes that cinnamon is of benefit in lowering blood sugar and managing diabetes, Kern says you're still not getting a free pass for the sugar and calories.
So what's the take-away message? Kern believes it's not so much that people with diabetes should eat more cinnamon, but that "maybe [it] has a property that might be beneficial." He adds, "If you could figure out exactly what it is about cinnamon, you could design a drug that would target that beneficial property.”
So, Kern says, if anything does come of cinnamon as a blood sugar-lowering agent, the recommendations for patients with diabetes will be in the form of a new medication that has captured the properties of cinnamon, not necessarily dietary changes.
Creamy Dill Ranch Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 small shallot(s), peeled
- 3/4 cup(s) cottage cheese, nonfat
- 1/4 cup(s) mayonnaise, reduced-fat
- 2 tablespoon buttermilk, powdered
- 2 tablespoon vinegar, white wine
- 1/4 cup(s) milk, fat-free
- 1 tablespoon dill weed, fresh, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper, black ground, freshly ground
Preparation
Servings
Types of Diabetes
If you have diabetes, your body has problems producing or effectively using insulin, which can cause your blood glucose levels to be out of control. There are several different causes of insulin problems, and your treatment plan will depend on which type of diabetes you have.
Type 1 Diabetes: An Autoimmune Disease
With type 1 diabetes, which used to be called juvenile diabetes, your body does not produce insulin or produces very little. Type 1 diabetes is known as an autoimmune disease because it occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks the insulin-producing cells in your pancreas.
Type 1 diabetes usually develops in children and young adults and accounts for 5 to 10 percent of diabetes cases in the United States. Symptoms may include thirst, frequent urination, increased hunger, unexplained weight loss, blurry vision, and fatigue.
People who have type 1 diabetes need to take insulin injections daily to make up for what their pancreas can’t produce.
Type 2 Diabetes: The Lifestyle Connection
Type 2 diabetes, which used to be called adult-onset diabetes, is the most common form of diabetes, accounting for 90 to 95 percent of diabetes cases. While most people who develop type 2 diabetes are older, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in children is on the rise.
The exact cause of type 2 diabetes is largely unknown, but the disease tends to develop in people who are obese and physically inactive. People who have a family history of diabetes or a personal history of gestational diabetes are also at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes usually develop gradually, and are similar to symptoms of type 1 diabetes.
Treatment for type 2 diabetes usually includes dietary changes, regular physical activity, and oral diabetes medications to help control blood glucose. If left untreated, serious health conditions such as heart disease or stroke can develop.
Gestational Diabetes: A Pregnancy Concern
Gestational diabetes is a condition that occurs in 3 to 8 percent of pregnant women during late pregnancy. Its cause is thought to be pregnancy-related hormonal fluctuations and a shortage of insulin that often occurs during pregnancy.
Many women with gestational diabetes have no symptoms, so it is important to get screened for this condition during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes can lead to problems such as high-birth-weight babies, breathing problems in the baby, and high blood pressure in the mother during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes is usually treated with dietary changes and exercise, and sometimes insulin injections.
Women who have had gestational diabetes have a 40 to 60 percent chance of developing type 2 diabetes within 5 to 10 years after their pregnancy.
Other Types of Diabetes
Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, or LADA, is a less common form of diabetes that usually affects people over the age of 30. In LADA, what looks like type 2 diabetes at first eventually develops into a condition more closely resembling type 1 diabetes.
People with LADA make enough insulin at first, but their immune system later begins making antibodies against insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. Patients will usually require insulin injections as part of their treatment. It is estimated that up to 10 percent of people with type 2 diabetes have LADA.
"Double diabetes" occurs when someone with type 1 diabetes develops resistance to the insulin they are taking, a hallmark of type 2 diabetes. This condition is more and more frequently seen in children, especially those who are overweight or obese.
All types of diabetes require attention to keep blood glucose in check, but the medical plan differs by diabetes type. Getting the right diagnosis is the first step.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Sauteed Mushroom Caps
Sautéed Mushroom Caps
8-12 extra large button mushrooms
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3-4 Tbsp. dry vermouth or chicken stock
Fresh ground white pepper
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Lightly clean mushrooms and remove stems. Place oil in sauté pan over medium high heat and add mushrooms. Sauté for 2-3 minutes per side. You could add some freshly chopped herbs after turning mushrooms. Add the vermouth or chicken stock, cover and cook for 2 minutes longer. Remove mushrooms to serving platter and sprinkle with pepper and parmesan cheese. Makes 4 servings.
Nutritional Info:
Calories 86; total fat 8 grams; saturated fat 1 gram; % calories from fat 77%; cholesterol 2 mg; carbohydrate 3 grams; protein 3 grams; fiber .6 grams
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