Defining Diabetes

Question: A family member of mine was recently diagnosed with diabetes. Can you explain, in a basic way, what exactly diabetes is and where to go from here?

Answer: Well, I could make about 1,000 different blog entries to answer that one question. Diabetes is a very complex disease and I'm a firm believer in treating the individual, not just the disease, so without knowing your family member, it is hard for me to tell you in a blog entry how to treat the diabetes. Rather, in answer to your question about where to go from here, I would tell you to make sure your family member has a fabulous Primary Care Physician (PCP) with whom he/she has a comfortable relationship. PCP's typically treat the diabetes until/if the diabetes gets into more advanced stages, at which time a referral may be made to an Endocrinologist. Further, I would highly recommend your family member consult a Registered Dietitian to get a specific meal plan. To find a Registered Dietitian near you, log on to the American Dietetic Association's website at www.eatright.org

But in answer to your first question in regards to defining diabetes, let's start with food. Your body changes much of the food you eat into glucose, which is then carry by the blood to the body's cells. Insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas, helps to move glucose from the blood stream into the body cells. Diabetes is the name of the condition when either your pancreas doesn't produce insulin at all (Type I) or your pancreas is not producing enough insulin or the insulin it's producing isn't working sufficiently (Type 2). Either way, the result is high blood sugar, which left untreated, can have devastating effects. However, when properly treated, you can have a long, productive and very happy and healthy life. Good luck!

For any further questions, please email me at mypersonaldietitian@gmail.com

Fruits and Veggies

Question: I have a question regarding juicing fruit and vegetables. I bought a nice juicer, because I thought it would help my family do better at eating our daily intake of fruit and veggies if we could just drink it when we are busy. So far it hasn't really helped, because I don't know how many cups of juice I need to make to meet our daily requirements. Also, do you know of any good juicing recipes that will help to mix the fruits and veggies together? And lastly...I have a 5 year old (almost) and 1 year old. How many servings of fruits and vegetables do they need?

Melody

Answer: Well, to answer your first question, the guidelines for fruits and vegetables for adults is 5 servings per day of EITHER fruits or vegetables. If you are concerned about weight, eat more vegetables than fruits because there are 25 calories in a serving of vegetables and 60 calories in a serving of fruit. Starch vegetables such as potatoes, corn and peas are 80 calories per serving. If eating in the juice form, one serving = 4 ounces. If weight is not a concern, then it really doesn't matter if your 5 servings come from fruits, vegetables or a combination because the vitamin and mineral content is so similar.

As for juicing recipes, one good website with some combo juicing recipes is http://www.healthrecipes.com/ You really have to be careful on the juicing recipe websites because so much of the information provided on those sites is not only inaccurate, but can even be harmful in terms of detox or cleansing recommendations or guidelines. But the juicing recipes on this particular site are pretty good and do include some combo recipes.

Nutrition for preschoolers..... One year olds have an amazing ability to "self-regulate." So, truthfully they should eat until they are full and don't want to eat anymore. 1/2 - 1 cup of fruits and 1/2 - 1 cup of veggies is a good rule of thumb. For your 5 year old, he/she should be having ~1 1/2 cups of veggies and 1 cup of fruit. This is in the whole food form, so it would be less if juicing. One of my favorite sites is www.mypyramid.gov This site is great for adults and children. You can type in your child's name, age and gender and it will calculate the appropriate serving sizes of each food group your child should have and create a personalized food guide pyramid with your child's name on it that you can print out.

For more questions, please email me at: mypersonaldietitian@gmail.com

Weight Management, Gastric Bypass and Diabetes

Editors Post:

What do these three things have in Common?

Well, the above subjects are the three main areas of focus for me at the present time in my professional life. I will continue to entertain your questions, but I have decided to have more of a "Focus" to my blog and what better areas to focus on than what I am specializing in professionally? In addition, even if you aren't diabetic and don't need gastric bypass surgery, weight management is a subject that affects most of us.

On that note... it brings me to the question of the day: What is the difference between all the different types of fat?

Answer: First of all, all fats contain 9 calories per gram and therefore, they all need to be portioned in to your diet in order to avoid weight gain. However, not all fats are created equal outside of their caloric density.

Omega - 3 fatty acids: A type of polyunsaturated fat that aids in the body's development, especially the brain and eyes. (Found in fatty, cold-water fish, flaxseeds and walnuts).

Omega -6 fatty acids: A polyunsaturated fat that aids in the body's development; especially the brain and eyes (similar to omega -3 fatty acids). Found in cereals, eggs, poultry, whole-grain breads and margarine).

Monounsaturated fat: Provides essential fatty acids for healthy skin and the development of body cells. (Found in olive/peanut/canola oil, avocados and most nuts)

Polyunsaturated fat: A source of essential fatty acids for healthy skin and the development of body cells. (Found in vegetable oils)

Saturated fat: The number one cause of high blood cholesterol. It raises your LDL (bad) cholesterol and can contribute to clogging of the arteries. (Found in red meat, poultry, butter and whole milk).

Trans fat: Act like saturated fat in the body and can raise your LDL levels as well as lower your HDL (good) cholesterol. (Found in crackers, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, french fries, shortening).

Bottom line: Fat is essential to a healthy diet. But choose your fats wisely and try to make most of your fats from UNSATURATED sources.

Caffeine: How much is too much?

Question: I love Diet Coke. Rather, I LOVE Diet Coke. But lately I've been reading about health risks associated with caffeine, so my question is this: How much Diet Coke can I drink without increasing my health risks?

Answer: There is still a lot of research going on in regards to caffeine consumption. Caffeine consumption has been linked to heart disease, osteoporosis and diabetes, to name a few. However, in all of these cases, the research has not been consistent, and therefore is still debatable. For example, while caffeine does increase the loss of calcium as measured in urine, the net loss of calcium is actually quite small. The amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee cancels out approximately the amount of calcium in 1 tablespoon of milk. Therefore, for people drinking moderate amounts of coffee in addition to moderate amounts of milk, it does not lead to increased risk of osteoporosis.

As for your Diet Coke, most caffeinated soft drinks contain 20-40mg of caffeine in 8 ounces (compared to 65-120mg in 8 oz of brewed coffee). "Moderate" caffeine consumption is generally considered to be ~300 mg/day. Therefore, having a couple of Diet Cokes a day is not likely to increase your health risk. However, caffeine sensitivity is very individual, so if you ever have side effects like jitteriness, stomach upset or insomnia, it's a good idea to cut back.

Colon Cleansing and Acai

Question: I've been hearing about the acai berry and colon cleanse... and now both of them together... secondhand stuff from Dr. Oz. What are your thoughts? It's supposed to be used for appetite suppression and weight loss. Is this stuff safe, and effective, or an unsafe gimmick?
kim

Answer: Kim, thanks for the question! Acai is the new buzz-word, due in part I'm sure to Dr. Oz and Oprah calling attention to acai. In fact, I had a similar question in regards to acai back in December. I will post the question/answer again below. However, I did not discuss colon cleansing in my response, so I will answer that here. To answer your question in one sentence, I would say that acai is safe and effective (in terms of it's antioxidant properties) but colon cleansing in general, with or without the use of acai, in my opinion is an unnecessary and unsafe practice. Why is it unnecessary? Because your colon eliminates waste material and bacteria just fine on its own. Why is it unsafe? Because it can disrupt your body's fluid and electrolyte balance. Long-term and excessive cleansing in particular may lead to malnutrition, anemia and even heart disease. For more information on the acai berry, see below.....

Hope this helps!




Question: I know Acai Juice is a new flavor trend, but I'm now seeing it marketed as a health food and for weight loss. So, I'm wondering.... is it just a trend or does it have real benefits?

Answer: Both. Yes, acai, often used in various juice blends, smoothies, sodas and other beverages, is definitely trendy. However, it has also been dubbed a "superfood" because of it's antioxidant and flavonoid properties. Antioxidants may help prevent diseases caused by oxidative stress such as heart disease and cancer. However, while it has been proven that acai contains antioxidant properties and has been named as a superfood (a food that confers a health benefit), it's important to note that LOTS of foods (such as concord grapes and grape juice, pomegranates, cranberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and others) also contain antioxidants, so this does not make acai unique. Furthermore, according to an article published earlier this year (Feb. 2008 J Agric Food Chem), it was found that that acai juice may in fact have less antioxidants than concord grapes or pomegranates. Admittedly, it can be challenging making the comparison since acai comes in many different forms (juice mixes, freeze-dried powder, etc.) Furthermore, while it has been dubbed a "superfood," there isn't a legal definition of the word "superfood" so it may be abused as a marketing tool. Bottom line: Acai DOES have health benefits, but so far it has not been shown that these health benefits are any different or greater than that of similar berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries).