Smart Bytes™
Feeling nutrition info overload? I will help you sort through to find what’s important to you. Read more. . .
Chocolate and Health: Looking past the headlines
A person could have whiplash following nutrition in the news recently. In less than one week’s time, hundreds of news stories and Twitter posts have been careening back and forth between discussion of a study linking chocolate with a healthier weight and a television broadcast linking sweets with a wide array of health problems.
- Chocolate: Forbidden fruit? Weight loss wonder?
Coupled with reports from presentations at a major cancer research conference reminding us that weight control is one of the most important steps we can take to reduce our cancer risk, you may be wondering what on earth to make of all this.
Is chocolate a help or a hindrance to health? Does it really pose no barrier to a healthy weight? For me, the answers lie in the study details that you don’t get from looking only at the headlines. Continue reading
The Diabetes-Cancer Connection: What does it mean?
OK, call me a Pollyanna, but some good can come from realizing the increase in cancer risk linked to type 2 diabetes. By supplying evidence of an important pathway in cancer’s development, we have more clarity on steps that can have double impact, decreasing risk of diabetes and all its complications AND decreasing cancer risk at the same time.
Last week I was fortunate to speak on this topic as part of a webinar for the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE). My co-presenter was the distinguished Canadian researcher in this field, Michael Pollak, M.D. Don’t get me wrong – the diabetes-cancer link is worrisome, since the skyrocketing rates of type 2 diabetes in the U.S. suggest that in years to come, rates of diabetes-related cancers could soar as well. Today, though, let’s focus on the silver lining: if we act now to create a few basic changes in lifestyle and eating patterns, we might still turn this Titanic around in time. Continue reading
Nutrition Distraction Disorder: Fight it with Sloppy Success
Nutrition Distraction Disorder: If it were a real diagnosable condition, a lot of people would have it. Do you? Whether I’m at a speaking engagement or simply watching the headlines, I’ve noticed lately how many people are dipping a toe in the pool of a healthier lifestyle, and then jumping out and running to something else. They never stick with a change long enough to feel the benefits, and are frazzled from trying to keep up with the latest “sure-fire” nutrition strategy.
On a conference call recently, my valued colleague Bridget Swinney, MS, RD shared one of the take-home messages from a writers’ conference she recently attended: “Sloppy Success is better than Perfect Procrastination.” That may have been said regarding writing, but I think it’s relevant to much more. Let’s look at how some imperfect changes to your eating habits and lifestyle might be the answer to replace “Nutrition Distraction Disorder”. Continue reading
Fighting Inflammation with Your Fork: What matters?
Identifying a food as “anti-inflammatory” comes close to giving it “super food” status, since avoiding or reducing chronic low-grade inflammation offers potential to reduce risk of cancer, heart disease and more. The scientific-sounding explanations of what makes a food or diet anti-inflammatory, however, aren’t always as solid as they seem.
Anti-Inflammatory Foods?
You may have heard of certain foods that supposedly promote or fight off inflammation. Yet a Columbia University study of more than 2200 adults found that a scoring system, introduced in a book for the general public, that was designed to rate the inflammatory impact of foods turned out to be unrelated to blood values of CRP (C-reactive protein), a marker of inflammation that can be measured in the blood. Continue reading
Extended Sitting: Why researchers see health impact & What you can do
Put aside thoughts of whether or not you meet recommendations for walking or other moderate activity, and answer two questions of newly recognized importance: How many minutes a day do you spend butt-in-chair or-car? And of that time, how much is extended sitting versus up-and-down?
Are too much sitting and too little activity independent health risks?
The potential relevance of these two questions to your risk of cancer and other chronic diseases was one of the major topics emerging from last week’s research conference held by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR).
Since I’ve been back from the conference, I’ve been plowing through the latest findings. There’s enough here that I will be making some simple changes in my life, and will be more intentional about encouraging them in my work with clients and in speaking.
How bad is a little bad? When it spells Metabolic Syndrome
Someone recently asked me, “If my blood sugar and blood pressure are only a little high…not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes or hypertension…does it really matter?” He acknowledged that he’d been gaining weight over the last ten years and asked (with a reluctant look in his eyes), “Do I really need to go on a diet now?” 
This is Metabolic Syndrome, and one in every three American adults has it. It doesn’t only change your risk of heart disease; it affects your risk of cancer and other diseases, too. Fortunately, you can do something about it. More on that in just a minute….
What is metabolic syndrome?
Major health organizations have now agreed on criteria for diagnosing metabolic syndrome. Continue reading