An unhealthy overall diet or level of body fat can mean you require higher doses of medicine than would otherwise be needed to control your blood pressure and blood sugar.
Q: As long as my doctor can keep my blood pressure and blood sugar controlled by adjusting my medication, does it really matter how I eat or how much I weigh?
A: Absolutely! An unhealthy overall diet or level of body fat can mean you require higher doses of medicine than would otherwise be needed to control your blood pressure and blood sugar. Those higher doses mean greater chances of side effects that can reduce your quality of life. Besides, additional doses or stronger choices of medicines are often more expensive, which increases the financial burden not only for you but for our whole country. Medications to control blood pressure and blood sugar are life-saving, but use them as additions to a healthy lifestyle, not alternatives to it.
Researchers now point out that although controlling blood pressure and blood sugar are important, this control does not necessarily stop underlying metabolic changes from unhealthy eating habits and excess weight that can promote chronic, low-level inflammation, heart disease and long-term cancer development. Excess weight increases risk of conditions that impact your quality of life, such as osteoarthritis and urinary incontinence. Healthy eating habits and weight management do more than just improve your blood pressure and blood sugar: the pay-off includes more energy and lower risk for many cancers and other chronic diseases.
Q: If blood pressure control is all about limiting sodium, what has eating more vegetables and fruits got to do with better blood pressure?
A: Limiting sodium is an important step to reduce risk of high blood pressure and, for many people, to control it. However, eating lots of vegetables and fruits adds another layer of protection. In the ENCORE study, overweight men and women with above normal blood pressure achieved drops of 11 mm Hg / 8 mm Hg after just four months on a diet that limited sodium and fat and loaded up on vegetables and fruits.
These foods supply potassium, magnesium and dietary fiber, all of which seem to help control blood pressure. Aim for at least one cup total of vegetables and fruits at each meal and a snack, and you’ll easily reach the level consumed in studies of the DASH diet, a high vegetable-fruit diet that consistently reduces blood pressure. The ENCORE study showed that adding exercise and weight loss of about a pound a week to this high-produce eating style can reduce blood pressure even further.
Q: How much could I cut calories and saturated fat if I bake with egg whites instead of whole eggs?
A: The amount of fat saved depends on how many whole eggs you replace and the number of servings in the recipe. Each time you substitute two egg whites for one whole egg, you save 40 calories and 1.6 grams of saturated fat. While that can add up to a substantial total in the entire recipe, when you divide the total savings among the number of servings, the substitution saves about 10 calories and only 0.3 to 0.5 grams of saturated fat per serving of most muffins, cookies and cakes. Depending on what you’re making, you cut saturated fat more by reducing or replacing butter, stick margarine, shortening or cream cheese.
Changing egg use also usually doesn’t cut calories as much as when you reduce the amount of these added fats and oil. Some recipes use so much that you can simply reduce the amount listed by one-fourth and the result will turn out great. You can also adjust recipes by substituting an equal amount of applesauce, baby food prunes or low-fat plain yogurt for some of the fat. And when it comes to calories, remember that reducing sugar also helps, as does simply making smaller serving sizes of the final product.
Karen Collins, D.C.N., M.S., R.D., serves as the nutrition advisor to the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). Karen writes two syndicated weekly columns, "Nutrition Notes" and "Nutrition-Wise," distributed by AICR. Karen was an expert reviewer for AICR's landmark international report, "Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective," which provides recommendations based on an examination of more than 7,000 research studies by a panel of internationally renowned scientists.
source: msnbc
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