Guest post provided by Rebecca S. Reeves, DrPH, RD, FADA

2013 is shaping up to be a year of prevention, which should have you thinking about how well you are treating your own heart. If you are trying to maintain healthy cholesterol levels, or your doctor has said that you need to lower your cholesterol, you are probably trying to keep a close eye on your diet.

This does not mean that you must avoid all your favorite foods. What it might take is substituting different ingredients in a recipe or stir-frying a food rather than deep fat frying it.

Learning the difference in the types of fat that we eat and where these fats are found in our food is also important to controlling the cholesterol levels in our blood. Taking precautions today could prevent a heart condition tomorrow.

Here are some of the most common myths and facts that you should know.
Continue reading ‘Common myths about cholesterol, foods and fats’ »

If losing weight was easy, we wouldn’t be facing this obesity epidemic in the U.S. There are so many factors working against us that successful weight loss is a struggle. It doesn’t help if you are self-sabotaging your own efforts to lose weight.

Here are 5 ways you may be hindering your weight loss success:

1. Liquid calories

   All calories add up and you may not realize how quickly liquid calories add up. Think about what you add to your coffee in the morning (or throughout the day!), any juice you drink with breakfast, sports drink or soda you may grab as a “pick me up”. . . all those calories add up and can add up substantially.

2. Ordering a salad because it’s a salad
   Continue reading ‘Weight Loss: Are you sabotaging your results?’ »

Flax is an oilseed similar to canola and sunflower being oilseeds. Flaxseeds are derived from flax.

Benefits of Adding Flax to Your Diet

There are many benefits associated with adding flax to your diet, which are derived from a different part of the flaxseed. The heart healthy fat content, the fiber, and the lignan.

Lignan’s are a class plant compounds called phytoestrogens that act as antioxidants.

Some of the health benefits that may be associated with flax include:
Continue reading ‘Tips to Add Flax to Your Diet’ »

Way too frequently people spend weeks losing weight, just to reach their goal, stop the diet, and then gradually regain the weight. It’s a terrible cycle to be stuck in.

A study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that individuals who successfully lost weight AND kept the weight off altered their principles after losing weight.

This was a telephone survey of 1165 adult who had successfully lost weight with some maintaining the weight loss. Researchers took the data and compiled a list of 36 behaviors at least 10% of the surveyed adults adapted.

Weight loss was defined as losing 10% or more body weight during the previous 12 months. So for a 200 pound individual this would equal a weight loss of 20 pounds.

Maintenance was defined as losing 10% or more body weight during the previous 12 months and keeping it off for one year or more.

How They Lost the Weight

Continue reading ‘The Right Mindset for Weight Loss’ »

There are a variety of factors that impact your success losing weight. The results of a recent long term study shed light on the impact your food choices and lifestyle choices have on weight gain.

The Study

This study included 120,877 women and men participants who were followed for 12 to 20 years. Relationships between diet, lifestyle, and weight changes were examined.

The Results

Continue reading ‘Losing Weight Involves More Than Simply ‘Eat Less, Exercise More’’ »

If you had a heart attack do you think you’d ‘clean up’ your dietary habits to prevent a future heart attack? Surprisingly most people do not.

Continue reading ‘Fast Food – Have you decreased your intake?’ »

Did you know when you diet you are frequently sacrificing vitamins and minerals?

When you diet, you don’t just cut calories, you also reduce your intake of vitamins and minerals.

Standford University researchers evaluated the effects of different diets (Atkins, Zone, LEARN, and Ornish) of 300 overweight and obese women. The women reduced their daily caloric intake by 500 calories and all women reduced their overall vitamin and mineral intakes. Vitamin E was reduced the most – 65%.

Researchers were surprised to note that women following the Zone diet actually saw an increase in vitamin A, E, and K intake and no reduction in other nutrients.

When losing weight it’s important to not compromise your overall health. The best bet is a balanced weight loss plan you can stick with long term.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
http://lisanelsonrd.com

Here’s a few details on how the Health Care Reform Bill impacts Medicaid from a nutrition standpoint.

Medicaid

A 5 year grant will be established to provide incentives for implementing a healthy lifestyle. This includes weight loss, cholesterol reduction, diabetes prevention, and diabetes management. The grant will cover preventive services that are recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and will eliminate cost sharing for prevention services. The grant won’t be effective until January 1, 2011. (FYI – The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is established with the passing of the bill into law.)

Continue reading ‘Health Care Reform Bill – Medicaid Changes’ »

High blood pressure is a serious condition that requires treatment. Here are answers to four frequently asked questions you need to know.

What is high blood pressure?

Blood pressure equals the force pushing against your artery walls when your heart beats and when it rests. The systolic pressure is the force against artery walls when your heart beats (contracts), while the diastolic pressure is the pressure against your artery walls when the heart relaxes (between beats).

High blood pressure is a reading equal to or greater than 140/90 mm Hg. A reading between 120-139/80-89 mm Hg falls within the pre-hypertension category. A blood pressure below 120/80 mm Hg is considered normal. High blood pressure is typically diagnosed after more than one elevated blood pressure reading.

Why is high blood pressure dangerous?

Continue reading ‘High Blood Pressure – 4 Frequently Asked Questions’ »

Have many diets have you tried . . . and failed? Are you ready to stop the dieting roller coaster and gain control of what makes you overeat?

Emotional eating is one of the major causes of overeating, weight gain, and weight regain and one that many traditional weight loss plans and diets fail to address. For many smart, busy women, it’s the root of their overeating problem.

Next week at the Virtual Health Retreat, Dr. Melissa McCreery will explain what emotional eating is, what you need to know about it, and how to prevent it from sabotaging your weight loss plans. She’ll also tell you the steps you can take to take control of your eating and begin to create effective and lasting change in your health and make peace with food.

Here’s a little of what she’ll be covering . . .

• Why diets don’t work and the missing ingredient you need to be effective
• How to identify what you are really craving (if you are overeating, you MUST break this cycle!)
• How to create your own customized blueprint for making peace with food-once and for all

Continue reading ‘3 Tips to Stop Emotional Eating (Before it Sabotages Your Next Weight Loss Plan!)’ »