Quinoa (pronounced KEEN – wah) has become a hot commodity the past few months according to a National Restaurant Association survey.
What is quinoa?
Quinoa is not technically a grain, but the seed of a large plant called Chenoposium quinoa or Goosefoot plant. Quinoa is available in many colors (ivory, pink, red, white, brown, black) and forms (grains, flakes, cereals, pastas).
Nutrient Analysis
The effectiveness of potassium to lower blood pressure is directly related to sodium. 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.
If you want to prevent or lower blood pressure it’s very important you balance your intake of sodium and potassium. The more potassium in your diet and the lower the sodium, the better your blood pressure will be.
Sodium Recommendations
The typical American diet contains 3.6 grams of sodium daily. It’s recommended that sodium intake be limited to 2.3 grams or less daily (~1 teaspoon). If you already have high blood pressure you’ll want to restrict your sodium intake even further – less than 1500 mg/day.
How Much Potassium?
A recent study found a link between high cholesterol levels and increased kidney treatment problems. To better understand the impact of cholesterol levels on the treatment of kidney disease, physicians need to take into account malnutrition and inflammation status of chronic kidney disease patients.
Individuals living with chronic kidney disease often develop heart disease and die from heart complications. In the general population its well know high cholesterol levels put you at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, the relationship between kidney disease and cholesterol levels is not as clear. Research has actually shown individuals with high cholesterol and receiving dialysis diet at lower rates than those with lower cholesterol levels. This isn’t to say high cholesterol is desirable, but it may indicate a reduced degree of malnutrition and inflammation. Malnutrition and inflammation are two serious complications of kidney disease.
Thanksgiving is practically here. Are you thankful for your health this year?
I know when it comes to your health you may be frustrated with problems you’ve faced this past year. It is often easy to dwell on the negatives:
1. A lack of insurance coverage
2. Not able to diagnosis what’s going on
3. Difficulty contacting your physician
4. Not getting answers to your questions
5. Unpleasant medication side effects
Thanksgiving provides a great opportunity to step back and look at the positives. Some of these may apply to you:
1. You’ve had another year with your family.
2. You’ve begun treatment to control your health issues.
3. Surgery was a success.
4. You’ve been able to wean off medication.
5. You’re more active now than you were last year.
6. You’ve lowered your blood pressure.
7. Your cholesterol is within normal.
If in your case the positives don’t outweigh the negatives what can you do in the year ahead to change that around?
You probably think heart disease is only a problem for “older” individuals. Unfortunately rates of children being diagnosed with high blood pressure and high cholesterol are on the rise. This is largely linked to rising rates of childhood obesity.
Childhood Obesity
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity has more than tripled since 1980. Obesity in children between the ages of 6 to 11 years has increased from 6.5% to 19.6% and for adolescents between 12 to 19 years the rate has increased from 5.0% to 18.1%.
Also, 70% of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease in a sample population of 5 to 17 year-olds.
Here are two steps you can take today:
I know making meals a priority can be challenging with busy schedules, but that doesn’t make it any less important. Research consistently shows families that eat together eat healthier meals and better dietary outcomes. A family meal is strictly limited to the entire family being together. What’s important is that whoever is home or together takes the time to sit down and enjoy mealtime together. This means if one parent is at work the other can sit down for meal time with the kids.
A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found children who ate family meals are: