National Nutrition Month Plant-Based Eating | Free Resource Friday
March is the National Nutrition Month!
To kick things off, Coach Beverly has collected an entire page of plant-based eating resources. This page includes recipes, instructional videos, reading materials, and more!
We hope this list informs and inspires you!
Click here to read more.
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Sugar Sweetened Beverages Increase Diabetes Risk
In a 2019 study published in Diabetes Care, researchers evaluated the associations between long term consumption of sugary beverages and the risk of type 2 diabetes. These sugary beverages included both sugar-sweetened beverages, (SSBs) artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs) as well as 100% fruit juice.
After adjustment for BMI and lifestyle covariates, the study found that:
Increasing total sugary beverage intake by as little as a half serving a day was associated with a 16% increased risk of diabetes over the next 4 years.
To conduct this large cohort study, the researchers followed up with 76,531 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study plus and additional 81,597 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study 2. They also included 34,224 men in the Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study. Since these studies were ongoing since 1986 so there was plenty of data to crunch.
The researchers specifically looked at the change in sugary beverage consumption from the food questionnaires the participants received every four years. They found that when the total consumption of sugary beverages increased there was a 16-18% higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
The opposite was proven to be true as well: replacing one daily serving of a sugary beverage with coffee, water or tea but not an (ASB) was associated with a 2-10% lower risk of diabetes.
This extensive study demonstrates that regardless of the type of sugar-sweetened beverage, the risk of diabetes increases with each SSB consumed.
To read more about this study click here
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[yikes-mailchimp form=”1″]Mindful Monday | 8 Steps to Live Healthier
There are a number of “life hacks” out there recommending adding butter to coffee, taking specific miracle supplements, or engaging in even more extreme methods like blood transfusion, all in an attempt to slow aging, improve health, and decrease weight.
However, the simple approach of regular exercise, healthy eating, and not smoking increases longevity and enjoyment with the additional benefit of increased lifespan in a multitude of studies.
In 2011, the American Journal of Public Health published such a study showing these lifestyle behaviors can increase lifespan by 11 years.
In 2016, the British Medical Journal found the following lifestyle behaviors reduce all-cause mortality 61 percent! Brad Stulberg of Outside Magazine, has compiled a number of these studies and synthesized the lifestyle changes in to 8 simple steps:
8 Simple Steps to Live Longer
- Move Around: 30 minutes of moderate to intense daily physical activity can lower heart disease, cancer, and other physiologic diseases as well as psychological ones!
- Eat “Real Foods”: avoid plastic wrapped foods, it normally means they are ultra processed, which can result in excessive calorie consumption without as much nutrition.
- Call Friends & Family: social connection is associated with reduced cortisol and improved sleep quality, among other positive effects.
- Avoid Supplements: without proven deficiency or need, studies have often shown more harm than good from supplements.
- Sleep 8 Hours: continuous deep sleep is critical for mental and physical health.
- Enjoy Nature: getting outside can curb negative effects of stress and alleviate anxiety and depression.
- Don’t Smoke: it’s associated with dozens of cancers and causes 1 out of every 5 deaths in the U.S.
- Don’t Drink Too Much: excessive alcohol use is associated with chronic diseases. “Moderation is key.”
Read more here.
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[yikes-mailchimp form=”1″]Matching Meals to Biological Clock May Lower Glucose
A Tel Aviv University study found a starch-rich breakfast consumed early in the morning, coupled with a smaller low-carbohydrate dinner could decrease the need for injections and other medications for people with diabetes!
The body’s natural metabolism and biological clock are optimized for eating starches in the morning and fasting during the evening and night when the body recovers through sleep.
The study found eating 3 meals a day produced with the majority of starches in the early part of the day, promoted glucose balance and improved glycemic management for people living with type 2 diabetes. The results led researchers to believe it is possible for people with diabetes to significantly reduce or even stop injections of insulin as well as medications.
This study contrasts the recommendation for people with diabetes to eat 6 small meals throughout the day or “6M-diet”. Researchers found the 6M-diet has not been effective for glucose control.
“Their need for diabetic medication, especially for insulin doses, dipped substantially. Some were even able to stop using insulin altogether,” said Prof. Jakubowicz, lead author of the study.
The Tel Aviv study was inspired by the knowledge that insulin injections can lead to weight gain which further increases blood sugar, so their goal was to find alternatives. The biological clock diet (3M-diet) is designed to allow bread, fruits, and sweets in the early hours of the morning, a substantial lunch, then a small dinner specifically lacking starches, sweets, and fruits.
In the study, participants on the 6M-diet did not lose weight and did not experience any sugar level improvement. In contrast, the participants on the 3M-diet lost weight and substantially improved sugar levels.
Read more on MedicalXpress.
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[yikes-mailchimp form=”1″]5 Facts About the New Nutrition Labels
2020 marks the official release of the updated nutrition label.
To help sort out how this new version is different, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a treasure trove of helpful information, including this label comparison.
The goal of this updated label is to all consumers, including people with diabetes, to make quick, informed food choices to help start eating healthier.
Here are 5 Facts and Label Highlights:
- Serving size is larger and bolder font and helps quickly answer the question, “how much is one serving” first, to help accurately gauge actual calorie, fat, sugar, and carb, protein and micronutrient intake.
- Daily value– based on a 2000 calorie diet, the label tells you how much one serving of this food will contribute to the daily value of the most critical nutrients.
- Fiber – Processed foods have little or no fiber. By encouraging people to choose foods that have 3 or more grams of fiber per serving, they will be choosing less processed, more nutritious foods.
- Added sugars– In addition to listing the carbs and total sugar, the label calls out how much sugar (sucrose, high fructose corn syrup or other type) has been added. This is an excellent information add on for people interested in limiting added sugar.
Each 4gms of sugar = 1 teaspoon - Important Micronutrients – the nutrients listed further down on the label (Fiber, Vitamin A, C, etc.) are nutrients most Americans don’t get enough of, so looking for labels that have a higher percentage of this can help consumers increase nutrient intake.
Read more on FDA Nutrition Labels here.
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[yikes-mailchimp form=”1″]Carb Counting Quick Reference | in English and Spanish
Download Here in Spanish
We created this Carb Counting Quick Reference sheet based on the ADA handbook. With the holidays and New Year around the corner, this cheat sheet of the most common carbs with serving size is a perfect reference for people counting carbs. Plus, it is perfect for exam prep for the health care professionals.
If you are studying for the diabetes certification exam, this reference provides the most common 15gm carb sources and their serving size. One exception is the milk serving – this list was created for people with diabetes and was simplified – we have modified it to reflect the actual carb count of a serving of milk (12 grams, not 15 grams of carbohydrates).
Learn more carb counting tips and tricks, and nutrition information in our Level 1 and 3 courses!
Start 2020 off right with Level 1 updates in January, Boot Camp (Level 3) updates in February and March, and a bundle to save on all the courses! We’re here to help make your New Year’s resolution a reality with great, on-demand videos, podcasts, handouts, extra resources, and practice tests to help you succeed at any diabetes certification exam.
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[yikes-mailchimp form=”1″]Sugar Sweetened Beverages: Out of Sight and out of Mind
In a study conducted by University of California San Francisco’s (UCSF) Elissa Epel and colleagues, Epel wanted to evaluate the relationship between access to sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) in the workplace and total daily consumption.
Epel and team banned the sale of all SSBs at UCSF for 10 months. Her team found that in employees deemed “frequent” SSB drinkers, consumption went down from 35 fluid ounces to a startling 17 oz.
Even though the employees still had access to SSBs outside of the campus, their consumption decreased significantly, highlighting the impact of eliminating access to SSBs in the work environment.
“This shows us that simply ending sales of sugary drinks in the workplace can have a meaningful effect on improving health in less than one year,” Epel said in a statement. “There is a well-known pathway from soda to disease. High sugar intake leads to abdominal fat and insulin resistance, which are known risk factors for diabetes, heart disease, cancer and even dementia. Recent studies have also linked sugar intake to early mortality.”
But this correlation was not enough for Epel. Before the ban went into effect, her team recruited 214 full-time employees who were self-reported “frequent” SSB drinkers. Epel and her team then randomly separated the employees into two groups: one group would receive a motivational intervention along with the SSB ban, while the other group wouldn’t receive any intervention. The motivational intervention included a 15-minute motivational session to begin and 5-minute calls one week, one month, and sixth months after the ban was put into effect.
The results were astounding; the participants in the intervention group consumed 25.4 oz less compared to the control group who only consumed 8.2 oz less.
Epel and her team had successfully proven a correlation between banning SSBs and consumption as well as a correlation between intervention and consumption. To read more about Epel’s study click here.
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[yikes-mailchimp form=”1″]Changing your diet may lower depression
A new trial conducted by researchers at Macquarie University found a strong association between poor diet and depression. To conduct this trial, researchers split participants into two groups: one group ate a Mediterranean-style diet while the other control group continued to eat their usual diet.
They found that in the group that had changed their diet to eat healthier, depression levels decreased from moderate to non-depressed. The other group remained in the moderately depressed severity range.
“Highly processed foods increase inflammation,” researcher Heather Francis, a lecturer in clinical neuropsychology at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, told NPR via email. What’s more, “if we don’t consume enough nutrient-dense foods, then this can lead to insufficiencies in nutrients, which also increases inflammation,” she said.
The “healthy group” ate around six more servings of fruits and vegetables than the control group. They were also told to increase their intake of whole grains and healthy proteins and avoid processed foods.
NPR noted that this trial was not a stand alone. In 2017, one study found a link between eating a diet full of refined grains, red meat, and high-fat dairy products and depression.
Although there may be other factors affecting this data, such as the fact that there is no way to “blind” the participants (hence there’s the potential for placebo), this trial could be the first step to lower levels of depression. What this trial truly highlights is how much of one’s life can be affected by the food choices they make.
Read more on this study here.
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