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Lipids
So, what exactly is in the yogurt we are buying? Let’s take a look, starting with “Yobaby,” the health food for babies and toddlers. The food label states that “Yobaby” is made from cultured pasteurized organic whole milk. Sound good? I guess. All real yogurts are made from milk, although not necessarily from organic milk nor from whole milk which is naturally rich in fat content. The package label also says that “Yobaby” is made without the use of antibiotics, synthetic growth hormones or toxic pesticides. All of that is indeed good.
However, the second ingredient listed on the “Yobaby” label is “naturally milled organic sugar – organic, yes, but sugar nonetheless. Ingredient order on labels is based on how much of the substance is in the food. There are 16 grams of sugars in a 4 ounce container of “Yobaby.” Although some of these sugars are the naturally occurring milk sugars, the label makes it clear that additional sugar has been added. In fact, there is twice as much sugar in “Yobaby” than there is in plain unsweetened yogurt. Is this a health food? Or is it a dessert? No wonder my granddaughters love this stuff!
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Filed Under:
Lipids, Benefits or hazards of certain foods, Public health, Dietary Fat, Food labels, Children, Weight loss (benefits), Overweight/obesity, High fructose corn syrup, Food policy, Calorie counting, Nutrition, Healthy eating, Weight loss
Multiple choice - What is the leading source of saturated fat in American diets?
a. Beef
b. Milk
c. Cheese
The answer is cheese according to Marion Nestle, a university based nutritionist, in her recently published book "What to Eat." She goes on to explain that a hard cheese, like cheddar, may be one-third fat by weight (oh my!). Close to two-thirds of the fat in cheddar is saturated (bad fat). A slice of cheddar cheese or a few small cubes can have 120 calories and about 10 grams of fat, 6 grams of which are saturated.
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Weight loss behaviors, Lipids, Benefits or hazards of certain foods, Dietary Fat, Food labels, Overweight/obesity, Heart disease, Calorie counting, Nutrition, Healthy eating
The first presentation at this symposium described how fat deposits in the liver lead to insulin resistance. We have known for years that “central obesity” is a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes. Remember the warnings that fat in an “apple” pattern is worse for us than fat in a “pear” pattern?. But it isn’t that subcutaneous fat (fat deposited below the skin) that’s really bad for us, rather it is fat inside the abdominal cavity, called visceral fat, that increases our risk for heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Now we know that the worst fat may be the fat that gets deposited in our organs—fat in our liver cells, fat in our muscle cells, and maybe, fat deposited in our heart cells.
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Filed Under:
Exercise (benefits), Diabetes , Lipids, Weight loss (benefits), Insulin resistance, Pre-diabetes, Research on obesity/overweight, Abdominal obesity, Complications of obesity
This study adds to the growing body of evidence that suggests when it comes to LDL, lower is better. Although the authors point out further studies are needed to prove it definitively, I suspect we will see the major medical organizations, including the American Diabetes Association, coming out with stronger recommendations regarding attaining even lower targets of LDL (i.e., less than 70 mg/dl) for people with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. If you fall into this category, take some time to discuss these new findings with your doctor. When it comes to management of diabetes, it is important to “know your numbers and know your target.”
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Filed Under:
Diabetes , Lipids, Medications (diabetes and pre-diabetes), Cholesterol, Healthy behaviors
Fiber, sometimes called roughage, is an important dietary component that is often under-consumed in our modern “fast food” lifestyles. In ancient times, dietary fiber was commonly ingested as primitive man foraged for wild, fiber rich vegetables and fruits. Today, we forage for food at Mickey D’s, Jack-in-the-Box, and the frozen food section of the supermarket. Most of us ingest less than 20% of the amount of fiber that our early ancestors ate. Even as recently as the beginning of this century, fiber rich foods were commonplace in our eat-at-home meals. Today, all too frequently, our fiber consists of a limp, mayonnaise-slathered wisp of lettuce laying on top of a double cheeseburger.
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Weight loss behaviors, Lipids, Benefits or hazards of certain foods, Food labels, Insulin resistance, Nutrition, Healthy eating, Carbohydrates, Weight loss, Healthy behaviors, Vegetables, Fiber
Remember, PCOS is not just a problem with periods or trouble getting pregnant. It is a medical condition that has implications for your health over your lifetime. If you think you have PCOS, see your doctor and ask to be evaluated for PCOS and insulin resistance. Be sure to ask about her/his experience taking care of PCOS patients. If you need help finding someone in your area, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists has a web-based Physician Finder that is easy to use (be sure to click on PCOS when asked to enter the specialty you are seeking).
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Filed Under:
Lipids, Pregnancy and overweight/obesity, Weight loss (benefits), PCOS, Insulin resistance, Complications of obesity, Infertility
My husband and I are on vacation in Israel. Last night we had dinner with some Israeli friends. One of them, Avinoam told us a story about his brother, a lawyer, David. David is in his late 50s, a hard-driving attorney who pays attention
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Exercise (benefits), Diabetes , Lipids, Weight loss (benefits), Overweight/obesity
We’ve heard that trans fats are bad for us and something we should avoid. In fact, trans fats notoriety has earned them a place on the Nutrition Facts food label starting this year. We are also familiar with the fact that polyunsaturated fats
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Filed Under:
Lipids, Benefits or hazards of certain foods, Dietary Fat
Check out DiabetesPHD on the American Diabetes Association website. It is a risk assessment tool that uses Archimedes, a sophisticated computerized health modeling program to determine your risk of developing heart disease, stroke, and/or diabetes
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Filed Under:
Diabetes , Lipids, Tools
The American Heart Association has published heart healthy goals for women:
Total cholesterol: less than 200 mg/dl
LDL (bad) cholesterol: less than 100 mg/dl (if you are at high risk for heart disease); less than 130 mg/dl (if you are
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Lipids
Everyone knows that a reduction in caloric intake and an increase in physical activities are key behaviors if one hopes to lose weight. But all of us who have tried to lose weight and, equally important, tried to maintain a healthy weight, know
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Filed Under:
Lipids, Medications (weight loss)
Most of us know that having a high total cholesterol level in our blood is not a good thing. We also may have learned that one type of cholesterol, LDL or low-density lipoprotein, is particularly bad and places us at risk for coronary artery disease and other forms of atherosclerosis, such as stroke. However, a significant number of individuals who have had heart attacks and other forms of atherosclerotic disease do not have high total cholesterol or high LDL levels. So screening for total cholesterol or LDL cholesterol alone will miss a some people who are at risk for bad things, like heart attacks and strokes. It is important to know and control your LDL cholesterol, but, for many people, it is not enough.
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Filed Under:
Lipids, Cholesterol
One reason for this is that obese people make cholesterol at higher rates than do lean people. So the contribution of dietary cholesterol is less important than that being produced internally. The report goes on to state that "the most effective way for obese people to normalize their blood lipids is to lose weight."
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Filed Under:
Lipids, Dietary Fat, Weight loss (benefits), Cholesterol, Healthy behaviors
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