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Overweight and Healthy?

In the past I have blogged about how health isn’t strictly based on body size. In fact, you can be skinny and unhealthy. Now a new study says that not everyone who is overweight is at risk of developing health problems. In other words, you can be carrying around extra pounds and still be healthy. The term being given to these people is “metabolically healthy.” This means they don’t have high blood pressure or cholesterol, diabetes or a resistance to insulin. So their risk of death is no greater than another person at a healthy weight. For whatever reason, unexplainable … Continue reading →

How Much Do You Value Your Life?

How much value do you place on your life? I was reading an article in the “Huffington Post” the other day where it was reported that by the year 2030, there will be 42% of Americans who are obese. Think about that…nearly half of the population in this nation will be at risk of developing serious health problems such as diabetes and heart disease. And that’s not even taking into consideration those who don’t quite fall into the obese category, such as the overweight. After I read this article the first thought that crossed my mind was, “Do we really … Continue reading →

Obese Young Adults in Trouble

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You may have noticed that America is getting larger and not in a good way. A study, titled Add Health and conducted by the University of North Carolina showed that young adults between the ages of 24 and 32 are at a higher risk than ever for high blood pressure among other health problems. High blood pressure is defined as that above 140/90. When I was that age, few of us worried about any health problems. But, the expanding waistlines and higher body mass index (BMI) of these young adults is taking its toll. The study, which was published in … Continue reading →

Why You Should Take Gestational Diabetes Seriously

Today I took my glucose test for my monthly pregnancy check-up… you know that gross orange sugar drink they make you swallow down without any food or drink before or after. Well I failed my test. I had failed it during my first pregnancy, but then passed the actual test a week later. This time I failed by a greater margin, so much so that they aren’t even sending me for the actual gestational diabetes test, they are just assuming that I have gestational diabetes. So now what? Turns out there’s a lot more at risk than just having a … Continue reading →

Treating Pre-Diabetes

A diagnosis of pre-diabetes can be a serious wake up call. Pre-diabetes means that you have elevated blood sugar levels, but they aren’t quite high enough to be considered diabetes… yet. According to the American Diabetes Association, more than a tenth of people diagnosed with pre-diabetes end up dealing with the full version of the disease within a year. There are two main things you can do to treat pre-diabetes and prevent going into full diabetes: make changes to your diet and increase your activity. Making a lifestyle change works — the Diabetes Prevention Program study from the American Diabetes … Continue reading →

What is Pre-Diabetes?

A family member was recently diagnosed with pre-diabetes. Pre-diabetes is when your blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. Pre-diabetes is a new name for an existing condition: impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose. Those names come from the test used to determine the blood sugar levels. Why the new name? Because calling it “pre-diabetes” gives patients a much clearer view of what the test results mean. A person with pre-diabetes is on his or her way to full blown diabetes. A person with pre-diabetes may already be experiencing some … Continue reading →

Gestational Diabetes and Type II Diabetes

Gestational diabetes is generally described as different from other types of diabetes in that it is specific to pregnancy. In the vast majority of cases, gestational diabetes begins during pregnancy and resolves on its own after the baby is born. This is in contrast to women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes prior to pregnancy who will remain diabetic after the pregnancy. New research suggests this may not always be the case. The study, published in The Lancet, suggests women with gestational diabetes have more than seven times the chance of developing type 2 diabetes than women who don’t … Continue reading →

Diabetes on the Rise in Pets

Obesity is on the rise in pets — just like in people. And just like in people, diabetes is rising in dogs and cats. Diabetes affects as many as one out of every fifty pets, and overweight pets are at higher risk. What is diabetes? When the body doesn’t produce enough insulin, the body can’t process or properly use glucose (blood sugar). The glucose isn’t going into the body’s tissues, and instead builds up in blood and urine. If your pet is overweight, watch for these signs that may indicate diabetes: You may notice your pet drinking a lot of … Continue reading →

10 Foods You Should Add to Your Diet

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The following foods are high in nutritional value and low in calories. If you can incorporate them into your diet you should. Almonds These have heart-healthy monounsaturated fat. Recent studies have found that one ounce of almonds every day can reduce LDL cholesterol and reduce risk of heart attack. Almonds are also rich in calcium, protein, copper, zinc, potassium, magnesium, B vitamins and vitamin E. Bell Peppers Bell peppers (red, orange, yellow or green) are loaded with vitamins A and C, vitamin B6 and folate. Red peppers also have lycopene which is a powerful antioxidant that may reduce the risk … Continue reading →

Diet Soda or Regular? They’ll both make you fat!

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The Journal of the American Heart Association recently published a report done by some Harvard researchers that has determined that drinking more than one soft drink daily, whether it is sugar free or not, may be associated with an increase in the risk factors for heart disease. Well, what does this have to do with weight gain, you ask? Those risk factors for heart disease have everything to do with weight gain! According to the senior author of the study, Ramachandran Vasan, M.D.: “We were struck by the fact that it didn’t matter whether it was a diet or regular … Continue reading →