Remember, you are not too old to exercise! The US Department of Health and Human Services has issued the guide – Exercise & Physical Activity: Your Everyday Guide from the National Institute of Aging.

Being physically active does not become less important with age. Remaining active into your senior years has many benefits. Here are just a few of the benefits you’ll see by including regular physical activity everyday:

• Improved mobility for continued independence.
• Improve balance to decrease fall risk.
• Improved mental health.
• Reduce risk of disease and disability.
• Treatment for chronic conditions, such as arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes.

Fortunately, there are a wide variety of activity options you can select from and many are low cost. For example, taking a brisk walk, selecting the stairs instead of the elevator, and yard work all contribute to increase your activity level.

The Exercise & Physical Activity: Your Everyday Guide from the National Institute of Aging includes multiple exercises and activities to fit your lifestyle, preferences, and budget.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Heart Healthy Tips

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet is an eating plan used for lowering blood pressure through diet. Studies have shown dramatic results, in that the DASH diet can lower blood pressure in as little as 2 weeks! It’s a diet reduced in total and saturated fat and rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods can significantly lower blood pressure.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE DASH DIET

Serving Sizes and Choices
To help you follow the DASH diet, the list below suggests the number of servings per day from each of the indicated food groups. These servings apply to people who require 2000 calories per day. The number of servings may increase or decrease depending on your caloric needs, which vary according to age, gender, size, and how active you are.

7-8 servings Whole Grains and Whole Grain Products per day

4-5 servings Vegetables per day

4-5 servings Fruits per day

2-3 servings Low fat or Nonfat Dairy Foods per day

2 or fewer servings of Meats, Poultry and Fish per day

4-5 servings Nuts, Seeds and Legumes per week

Limited intakes of Fats and Sweets

Tips on Eating the DASH Way

Start small. Make gradual changes in your eating habits.

Most people find it hard to make changes in their diet if they try to do too much too fast. Start slow. You are more likely to have your healthier habits be lasting ones if you make small changes that you can realistically maintain.

Treat meat as one part of the whole meal, instead of the focus.

Although meat contains protein and other nutrients, which are good for your body, it also has a lot of fat, including saturated fat, calories and cholesterol. Often people have a large portion of meat as a main course and don’t eat enough vegetables or grains.

Use fruits or low fat, low-calorie foods as desserts and snacks.

Many people enjoy snacks. This can be a healthy benefit to your diet if you choose the right kinds of foods. Instead of chips, cookies, candy bars, or high fat muffins, try foods such as fresh fruits, unsalted nuts with raisins, graham crackers, and raw vegetables.

Remember!

If you use the DASH diet to help prevent or control high blood pressure, make it a part of a lifestyle that includes choosing foods lower in salt and sodium, keeping a healthy weight, being physically active and, if you drink alcohol, doing so in moderation.

Learn more about the DASH diet: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/new_dash.pdf.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD

When it comes to lowering cholesterol, it’s common to drastically decrease fat intake. While it’s important to reduce total fat, especially saturated and trans fats, if you limit heart healthy fats too much you can make it difficult to raise HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels.

Fat is an essential component of a healthy diet providing energy and the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Some types of fat even reduce your risk for certain chronic diseases.

What’s important is the amount and type of fat. I recommend restricting fat intake to ~30% of your total daily calories. This would mean if you are consuming 1500 calories per day, 450 calories or 50 grams would come from fat sources.

Healthy fat sources include mono and poly-unsaturated fats. Here are examples of healthy fat sources to include in your diet in moderation:

Olive oil
Canola oil
Avocados
Seeds
Nuts
Peanut butter
Fish

Some fat in your diet actually promotes weight loss by helping you feel full longer, decreasing your likelihood to snack and overeat!

All the best,

Lisa Nelson RD
How to Lower Cholesterol in 8 Simple Steps

If you strive for optimal health, consider adding a whole food supplement to your daily regimen. However, you must be a savvy shopper to make sure you select a supplement that lives up to its claims. . .many are a waste of money! Things to look for:

1. Independent research – This means the company selling the product did not conduct the research.

2. Double blind, placebo controlled studies – This means neither the “patient” nor the doctor knew if they were taking the supplement or a sugar pill. Provides more reliable results.

3. Research that shows results – If the product claims to raise antioxidant levels and reduce high blood pressure then research studies need to back this up.

4. Publication in peer reviewed journals, such as The Journal of the American College of Cardiology or the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Juice Plus

Let’s say you are trying to lower high cholesterol, but resistant to giving up the treats you love. I want to give you some simple tips for modifying recipes and baked goods to make them more heart healthy without sacrificing the taste.

Here is a short table with basic substitutions to reduce fat and calories in some of your favorite foods while maintaining the flavor you enjoy.

Instead of . .                                Substitute. . .
Whole milk                                  1% or fat free milk
Whole egg                                  2 egg whites or egg substitute
Vegetable oil                               Non-stick vegetable oil or canola/olive oil
Butter/Margarine                         Applesauce or fruit puree or vegetable oil
Cream                                          Evaporated Skim Milk

If you’re modifying an old family recipe it will take some trial and error before you find the right balance between healthier substitutions and a quality product. It may work best when baking to replace half the ingredients with a healthier alternative. For example, if a recipe calls for 2 cups all-purpose flour instead use 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour.  Also, reduce the amount of fat added to a product. For example, instead of 1 cup of oil try ¾ cups of oil. You may not notice a difference.  Experiment with different options until you get a product you enjoy. 

Fruit Purees

Never baked with fruit purees? Well, here’s a quick lesson on how to use them to make moist baked goods without the artery clogging fat.

The reason fat makes products taste good is because it adds moisture, flavor, and a tender texture to baked goods. Substitution of fruit purees or nonfat dairy products can provide some of the same fat-like characteristics without the actual fat. The type of fruit puree you choose to use will affect the final product. For example, a prune puree provides rich flavor with a moist, tender texture. A prune puree works best in recipes containing chocolate, cinnamon, and orange seasoning. For some recipes it may be best to just replace half the fat. For example, replace 1 cup butter with ½ cup pureed prunes/bananas/applesauce and ½ cup butter instead.  

To receive free heart health and weight loss tips from dietitian Lisa Nelson, subscribe to The Heart of Health and grab your special report “Stop Wasting Money – Take Control of Your Health” today!

Here are five strategies you can start using today to promote long term weight loss:

1. Don’t cut calories too low – Drastic calorie restriction can slow your metabolism.

2. Eat a well balanced breakfast everyday.

3. Strength train to build muscle mass and boost your metabolism.

4. Eat regular meals and snacks – Do not go more than 3-4 hours between meals/snacks.

5. Include healthy fats in moderation to promote a feeling of fullness.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Mini Diet Makeover

Here’s a question I was recently asked:

How does high cholesterol affect your cardiovascular system?

Let me see if I can explain and keep the process easy to understand!

First the endothelium (thin inner lining of your blood vessels) becomes damaged and inflamed. This damage can be caused by a variety of factors, such as high blood pressure, high stress level, poor diet, toxic chemicals and metals, tobacco smoke, etc.

So, your inflamed endothelium becomes susceptible to attracting fatty particles like cholesterol. The cholesterol particles work their way into the lining. These deposits of cholesterol can then be damaged by free radicals to form oxidized LDL cholesterol.

The immune system responds to the inflamed site by secreting a substance to make the endothelium sticky. The process leads to the formation of macrophages whose goal is to “seek and destroy” foreign objects. However, the oxidized LDL is toxic to macrophages, causing macrophages to be immobilized and unable to return to the blood stream.

The process continues to draw white cells to the area where they too are immobilized by oxidized LDL leading to the formation of a “fatty streak” on the artery wall.

A number of steps now take place involving C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, white blood cells, elastin, and collagen that eventually form a tough, fibrous cap over the fatty steak. Under the fibrous cap, dead cells accumulate, decay, and produce pus. You now have the development of a dangerous plaque within your artery walls. Plaque can continue to grow and instigate the development of additional plaque within the arteries leading to the narrowing of your blood vessels, reduced blood flow, heart attacks, etc.

FYI – Cholesterol does not necessarily need to be elevated for the above steps to take place. It’s becoming more clear that knowing your LDL and HDL particle size gives you a better overview of your heart health than typical cholesterol levels. Particle size can be determined with lab work, such as a Lipoprotein Particle Profile.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Heart Healthy Tips

All right, this green tea article has been hanging over my head for at least a month now. I just couldn’t get motivated to wade through all the research to determine if yes, this is an effective way to lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease, or no, it’s just a lot of hype.

Well, I sat down and sorted it all out today and here’s what I found.

Health Claim

The proposed health claim for green tea is that drinking at least 5 fluid ounces as a source of catechins may reduce risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease.

What are catchins?

Green tea contains catechins, which are a type of flavenoid with antioxidant properties. Antioxidants slow the oxidation process. The oxidation of LDL molecules is what results in plaque formation. Therefore, increasing antioxidant intake should slow oxidation of LDL, resulting in less arterial plaque formation.

Also, when molecules are oxidized, free radicals are released that damage cells. These free radicals can increase inflammatory issues associated with cardiovascular disease.

How flavenoids work

The body recognizes flavenoids as foreign particles and works to eliminate them from the body. Flavenoids themselves do not act as an antioxidant and they are poorly absorbed by the body. However, the proposed benefit of extra flavenoids is that as the body eliminates the unwanted flavenoids, damaging free radicals are also eliminated.

Tea production

The various types of tea are produced differently. The leaves of oolong tea and black tea are allowed to oxidize (enzymes in the tea change catechins to larger molecules). Green tea is not oxidized, but produced by steaming fresh-cut leaves whereby enzymes are inactivated and little oxidation occurs. The least processed tea is white tea, which contains the highest levels of catechins. Green tea contains the second highest catechin level, approximately 125 mg catechins per serving (or ~25% dry weight of fresh tea leaves).

Here’s a little breakdown on tea oxidation:
Black tea – Highest oxidation; also, highest caffeine content and strongest flavor; 90% of all tea served in the West is black tea
Oolong tea – 10-70% oxidized
Green tea – Low oxidation
White tea – Minimal oxidation; Uncured, unfermented; Lower caffeine content that other teas

FDA Review

In 2005, the FDA did not approve the health claim for green tea, because the link between green tea and reduced cardiovascular disease risk was too weak and more conclusive evidence was needed.

Recent Research

This past June, 2008, a study was published that links green tea to reduced flow-mediated dilation of brachial arteries (major blood vessels in the upper arms). Flow-mediated dilation is related to coronary endothelial function and is an indicator for cardiovascular disease risk. Increased dilation is good. It means the heart has to do less work to move blood throughout circulation. (The endothelium is the inner layer of an artery, which blood flows against.)

This was a study of 14 healthy individuals that consumed 6 grams of green tea, followed by a measure of flow-mediated dilation. The results showed an increased flow-mediated dilation with tea (peak at 30 minutes post consumption). There was no change to antioxidant status after consumption. It’s proposed that the improved flow-mediated dilation is how green tea reduces cardiovascular disease risk.

The Hype

I came across multiple articles with headlines screaming “Green Tea Protects Against Heart Disease” since this study was published in June. I think there is significant research that still needs to be completed before it can be determined for sure how tea works to prevent heart disease. A study of 14 individuals is a small study.

Drinking 6 grams of green tea, would equal about three – 6 ounce cups of green tea each day. (Based on making 1 six ounce cup of tea with 1 teaspoon or 2.25 grams of green tea.) However, the study results are based on consuming 6 grams of tea in one setting followed by improved flow-mediated dilation at peak levels 30 minutes after consumption. How likely is it for you to drink three cups of tea quickly, back-to-back to reproduce the short-term benefit shown in this study?

To me, that is not a very effective way to reduce heart disease risk. But, I will say that if you like green tea – drink it. Many studies are showing that green tea is beneficial to heart disease. The what, how, and how much is yet to be determined. Who knows what future studies will find?!

To receive regular heart health and weight loss tips for dietitian Lisa Nelson, sign up for The Heart of Health and grab your copy of the special report “Stop Wasting Money – Take Control of Your Health” today!

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD

1. Reduce your SODIUM intake.

Too much sodium in your diet can contribute to high blood pressure and make your blood pressure treatment less effective. Simply reducing your sodium intake to 2.3 grams (6 g table salt) daily can decrease your blood pressure.

The average American consumes 6-18 grams of table salt daily (about 3 teaspoons). The body only needs 200 mg daily. That is 30 times less than what American’s typically consume.

To be heart healthy, sodium intake should be reduced to less than 2300 mg (1 teaspoon) daily.

Quick tips to cut back on sodium:

• Don’t add salt when boiling water.

• Leave the salt shaker off the table.
• Read food labels to avoid foods high in sodium.
• Avoid foods high in sodium, such as gravies, cheese, and soy sauces.

2. Increase your POTASSIUM intake.

Potassium works to balance out the sodium in your diet. An adequate potassium intake can lower systolic pressure ~4.4 mm Hg and diastolic pressure ~2.5 mm Hg.

Good potassium sources:
Cantaloupe, bananas, dates, nuts, oranges, and green leafy vegetables

Maintaining an adequate intake of potassium is especially important if you are taking diuretics. Some diuretics increase potassium loss via the kidneys.

3. Add more MAGNESIUM to your diet.

Research has shown an inverse relationship between magnesium and blood pressure. In other words, individuals with a high magnesium intake, typically have a low blood pressure.

Good sources of magnesium include:

Peas, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, lima beans, squash, broccoli, spinach, and seafood

Supplemental magnesium of ~500 mg can effectively lower blood pressure. Some studies have found magnesium supplements to reduce systolic blood pressure 2.7 mm Hg and diastolic 3.4 mm Hg. Discuss all supplements with your MD!

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Heart Healthy Tips

Do you get enough sleep? 7-9 hours each night? If you are struggling to lose weight, adequate sleep is essential.

Sleep deprivation affects the balance of two hormones that regulate appetite and satiety – leptin and ghrelin. Leptin is produced by fat cells and signals the brain when you are full. Ghrelin is produced by stomach cells and signals the brain when you are hungry and should eat. Studies show when you are sleep deprived, leptin levels decrease and ghrelin levels increase. This causes you to feel the urge to eat more when you do not get enough sleep.

Here are five tips to help you get a good nights sleep:

1. Exercise regularly.

Being regularly active during the day makes falling asleep easier. As little as 20-30 minutes of activity helps. Don’t exercise too late, which can actually stimulate the body and make sleep more difficult.

2. Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco.

Alcohol makes falling asleep easier, but reduces the quality of sleep you receive. Caffeine can still interfere with sleep up to 10-12 hours after consuming it. Nicotine found in tobacco acts as a stimulant which may disrupt sleep.

3. Select bedtime snacks that promote sleep.

A light snack before bed may promote better sleep, especially if it contains the amino acid tryptophan, calcium, and carbohydrates. Some good bedtime snacks include:

Warm milk with half a peanut butter sandwich
Low fat yogurt with granola
Hot chamomile tea with a piece of fruit

4. Avoid a large meal or too much liquid close to bedtime.

Consuming a large meal before bed can make sleep difficult due to the bodies focus on digestion. Too much liquid before bed can cause you to wake for frequent bathroom trips.

5. Keep a regular bedtime schedule.

This is one of the most important habits you can maintain to achieve adequate sleep. Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, including weekends. This will make it easier to fall asleep and improve your overall quality of sleep.

What is one thing you can do this week to get more sleep?

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Top 5 Key Strategies to Lose Weight Permanently