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Mindful Monday | Eat more fiber – live longer

The benefits of fiber have been supported by over a 100 years of research. A large new study reveals that eating more fiber can lower your risk of developing serious illness over time. 

“When compared with those who consume very little fiber, people at the high end of the fiber-eating spectrum saw their risk for dying from heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and/or colon cancer plummet by 16 to 24 percent, investigators reported.”

Exciting enough, the more fiber a person consumed, the risk of developing those illness continued to decrease. The range of illness that higher intake of fiber seemed to impact surprised scientists. 

The results come from 185 observational studies and 58 clinical trails performed over four decades. 

Researchers say that American’s on average, eat less than 15 grams of fiber per day. However increasing intake to 25-29 gms per day is just “adequate.” The more fiber a person incorporates in their diet, the greater the decrease in overall risk of an early death.

Every additional 15-gram bump in daily whole grain intake was found to curtail an individual’s overall risk of early death — as well as their risk of early death from heart disease — by between 2 and 19 percent.

Researchers also found that increasing fiber intake had no risky health effects and that it is never too late to start embracing fiber every day!  

“When considering all the trials of increasing fiber intakes, those participants that did reduced both their body weight and the total cholesterol in their blood, two important predictors of disease.”

Although none of these discoveries are surprising, scientists hope this will lead to changes in dietary recommendation. “This is just one more piece of evidence that supports and further solidifies the recommendations registered dietitian nutritionists have been making for years,” said Sandon.

It is never to late to start eating healthy and fiber may be a great starting point for many! 

Here are some common foods and their fiber content:

  • 1 slice of whole wheat bread has 2 grams 
  • 1 cup of boiled broccoli has 5 grams
  • 1 medium orange has 3 grams
  • 1 cup of cooked black beans has 15 grams.

To learn more: “More Proof High-Fiber Diets Help Prevent Cancers, Heart Disease” – Health Day


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Lack of sleep increases anxiety | Mindful Monday

Announced at the annual meeting of the Science for Neuroscience, research finds even in healthy adults, sleep deprivation can have an effect on anxiety levels and even alter brain activity.

A recent study by Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has determined that a lack of sleep may induce increased levels of anxiety. Also, people who are diagnosed with anxiety typically have difficulty sleeping. This study shows that there is an inverse relationship between anxiety and poor sleep.

The anxiety levels of 18 healthy individuals were examined for the sake of this study. Anxiety tests were conducted for each subject after a full night of sleep and a sleepless night. Those who experience sleep deprivation demonstrated anxiety levels 30% higher than the group of individuals who had a full night sleep. The brain activity of the sleep-deprived individuals changed as well. Subjects seemed to become more emotional in response to videos played in the lab. The prefrontal cortex, the area that reduces anxiety levels, was less active as well according to MRI scans.

The result of the study concluded that lack of sleep can be more than just a symptom of anxiety, but in some cases, a direct cause! 

The new ADA Standards encourage health care professionals to evaluate sleep habits at each visit and help with problem solving to improve sleep quality.

For more information on this topic, visit: A lack of sleep can induce anxiety – Science News, Magazine of the Society for Science & the Public


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Mindful Monday | Compassion is the Key

As diabetes educators, we may find we spend a great deal of time listening to people’s life situation, empathizing and affirming their experience. This time is well spent and has a tremendous impact on our interactions with people living with diabetes. A recent study highlights how compassion plays a significant role in our clinical practice.

According to a HealthTap survey, patients and physicians alike rate the role of compassion as most important.

Below are the fours findings from the HealthTap Survey:

“1. When making a healthcare decision, 85 percent of patients said compassion was very important to them, while only 31 percent of patients said cost was very important.

2. Although wait time to see a medical provider is often considered a barrier to patients’ happiness, only 48 percent of patients cited it as a very important factor in healthcare satisfaction.

3. Eighty-nine percent of physicians cited compassion as a very important part of delivering the best care, which was higher than the importance physicians placed on education and command of medical knowledge (86 percent).

4. Nearly all — 94 percent — of physicians said being compassionate makes their patients more likely to follow their advice, which can significantly improve health outcomes.”

To learn more about compassion and healthcare read: “85% of patients value compassion over cost in healthcare: 4 findings” – Becker’s Hospital Review


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Mindful Monday | Exercise Habits That Stick

It’s that time of year where people are flooding into gyms to start working on their new years resolutions. However, researchers have found that most people tend to give up on their resolutions by February. How can you bridge the divide between intention and doing?

Here are some tips to help turn 2019 resolutions into long-lasting habits and to get past the February funk:

  1. Give it time. It takes a while for something new to become habitual. A study conducted at Wharton School paid a group of individuals to exercise for a period of 28 days. They found that most of these people stuck with these habits after the study was over. Milkman, the head researcher on the study, states, “The key to habit is repetition. If you can get that repetition going while you have high motivation, you are much more likely to have a behavior change that lasts.”
  2. Set realistic goals. Make sure that the goals you set are small, incremental, and achievable. Many individuals tend to set unrealistic goals and then give up on the whole thing when they are unable to achieve them.
  3. Make physical activity social. Tackling fitness goals with another individual tends to increase productivity as well as longevity. So grab a friend and work on your goals together!
  4. Change the mindset. Many people start their fitness journey with only one goal: weight loss. While it is okay to have a goal like this, don’t let it be the driving force. Instead, choose performance based goals. For example, try to improve on your mile time, squat more weight than you did last time, or try to finally be able to do the splits. With these kinds of goals, the aesthetics will still be achieved but your attitude and love towards working out will drastically change.

For more information on this topic, check out the article “How to make exercise a habit that sticks.”

Contributed by: Sofia Sepulveda


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Mindful Monday | 7 Low Calorie Cocktail Concotions For the Holidays

This Mindful Monday we are happy to share seven cocktail recipes that are both festive and low-calorie! Cocktails can often be high in sugar and calories, below are seven ways to “lighten” up your cocktails this season:

“7 Low Calorie Cocktail Concoctions For the Holiday”

“1. Pomegranate Mojito

Instead of adding sugar to this classic cocktail, blend the seeds of a large pomegranate in a food processor. Strain the blended seeds with a fine mesh sieve. Add the pomegranate juice to rum and sparkling water.

see recipe here

2. A Limey Margarita

A fun drink for the holidays, especially if you plan to pair it with a Latin feast. Skip the sugary syrups and use only the basic ingredients of this cocktail: lime juice, one shot of tequila and triple sec. Avoid the salt, and garnish with lime.

see recipe here

3. Spin On The Traditional Cosmo

You can make a skinny cosmo by adding a splash of diet cranberry juice and fresh lime juice.

see recipe here

4. Low-Fat Spiced Egg Nog

You can also make this holiday favorite dairy-free!

see recipe here

5. St. Germain And Champagne

A very easy and classic holiday cocktail using just two ingredients.

see recipe here

6. Low-Calorie Sangria

You don’t want to end up drinking your calories, try this skinny sangria recipe, perfect for any party. It’s easy to make as well.

see recipe here

7. Strawberry Basil Sangria

Last but not least, another twist on a festive Sangria recipe, courtsey of Susan Watkins, CDCES, RD, who says it will be a sure hit at any party.”

see recipe here

A holiday cocktail can be fun and festive! We can all share this article with our community. It is important to remember that alcohol can raise or lower blood glucose levels for those with diabetes.

To learn more: “7 Low Calorie Cocktail Concoctions For the Holiday” by dLife


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Why I Love Being a Diabetes Educator | Mindful Monday

During our Mindfulness and Self-Compassion for Diabetes Educator Webinar, our amazing speaker, Heather Nielsen, asked our audience to type what they loved about being a Diabetes Educator.  Here are their responses.  I am grateful to be am member of this compassionate and dedicated community!

What do you love about being a diabetes educator?

I am grateful that I can be a source of comfort and knowledge to others.

Being able to empower people to better manage their diabetes.

Grateful to have a job I love and help others lead a happier and healthier life. Grateful to have a roof over my head, a a loving husband, fur baby and human baby on the way!

Walking beside others as they move to their best healthier selves.

I am so delighted to be here, alive, passionate and experiencing more and more to help others with! 

The “ah-HA” moment where people understand the science behind diabetes, those “light-bulb” moments.

I’ve realized that the more knowledgeable I am about what I’m educating about, the less burnout I tend to experience.

Building relationships and journeying with people who are struggling with diabetes.

Giving patients hope that they can live a healthy quality of life.

Click here to add what you love about being a diabetes educator!

View this Mindful Diabetes Encounter FREE Webinar, our gift for diabetes educators that you can view as often as needed!

 

Mindful Monday | Let the Sunshine in

Florence Nightingale believed that letting sunlight into hospitals had health benefits for patients. Looks like she may be right!

Research conducted by the University of Oregon, compared sun exposure in multiple different rooms for 90 days. Turns out grandma was right, letting sunshine in can help keep you healthy, or at least kill harmful bacteria.

“Rooms exposed to daylight have fewer germs. In fact, the study showed that the lit rooms had about half the viable bacteria (those that are able to grow), compared with dark rooms. Rooms that were exposed only to UV light had just slightly less viable bacteria than ones exposed to daylight.” 

This study gives us new insight on the correlation between daylight and bacterial count indoors. Considering we spend so much time inside, this could have big impacts on how we design our homes and commercial spaces to help optimize the health of our community. 

Now we are able to say “daylighting” a room has an impact on air quality, even killing certain microbiomes that are tied to respiratory disease. This might have future implications for the design of hospitals and health care clinics.   Take home message; If you can, let the light in! 

To learn more: Grandma Was Right: Sunshine Helps Kill Germs Indoors – NPR

Happy Veterans Day and we will never forget!


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Mindful Monday | Daylight Savings – Tips to stay healthy during the dark days

With our digital clocks now automatically adjusting, technology seems to have made daylight savings pretty easy on us. However, we can’t say the same for our internal clocks.

Scientists have discovered that the time shift can actually be detrimental to our overall health. In addition to the master clock in our brains, every cell has a “time-keeping mechanism” helping us regulate important functions in the body such as metabolism and sleep.

Because our bodies are hard-wired to to synchronize with the 24 hour cycle, the time shift can have a big influence on mental and physical health.

Scientists have discovered that the shift in time can cause an increased risk of heart attacks, affect mood, alter our diets and increase rates of traffic accidents. 

Luckily, NPR has shared a few tips on how to prepare for the shorter days ahead and keep your physical and mental health in mind:

  • Adjust your bedtime – with the time shift, we have more daylight to enjoy in the morning. Go to bed an hour early to enjoy the sunshine in the morning. 
  • Make nutrition a priority – be sure to stock your pantry with nutritious foods and snacks. It’s easy to eat unhealthy during the winter months.
  • Enjoy an early dinner and keep it light – make lunch your main meal. Eating the majority of calories earlier in the day can help stave off unwanted weight-gain. 
  • Get involved with a group activity or club – engaging socially is important and can help fight seasonal depression.
  • Take a trip south – Travel to a location with more sun, if even for a few days. Make sure to enjoy outside light as much as you can throughout the day. 

To learn more, please enjoy: We Just ‘Fell Back’ An Hour. Here Are Tips To Stay Healthy During Dark Days Ahead – NPR


Our Diabetes Detective Team scans the diabetes news to discover the most relevant info that Diabetes Educators need in their daily practice. We post one daily Blog Byte from Monday to Friday. And of course, Tuesday is our Question of the Week. It’s Informative and FREE!  Sign up below!

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