How to Prevent a Stroke

Don't be the victim of a stroke. Here are six strategies that can reduce your risk.

• While there are risk factors for stroke you can't change (age, race, family history), there are many more that you can. Here are six ways to get started now.
  Keep your blood pressure low. High blood pressure (a reading of 140/90 mmHg or higher) increases your stroke risk by four to six times. If you have high blood pressure, take steps to lower it. Controlling blood pressure is one of the most important things you can do.
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Lower Your Cholesterol

A total cholesterol level of more than 200 mg/dL puts you at higher risk for stroke. "About half of all strokes are caused by plaque in the carotid arteries," says Richard Lee, M.D., surgical director of the Center for Atrial Fibrillation at Northwestern School of Medicine in Chicago. Those are the arteries that supply the brain with blood. Elevated cholesterol can lead to plaque formation. If diet and exercise don't bring your numbers down, talk to your doctor about prescription cholesterol-lowering drugs, called statins.

Find Out if You Have A-Fib

Atrial fibrillation, or a-fib, as doctors call it, is a condition where one of the top chambers beats out of sync with the rest of the heart. This allows blood to pool, which can lead to a clot that travels to the brain. A-fib accounts for about 20 percent of strokes. Few doctors even realize it's that high, Lee says.

Here's a quick test to tell if you have an irregular pulse, which can be a sign of atrial fibrillation: Press two fingertips on the opposite wrist and find your pulse. Don't worry about counting beats; just feel for an even, steady drumbeat. It helps to tap your foot along with each beat.

An irregular beat feels like an extra or missed beat. If you discover this, or if you ever feel like your heart races or flutters for no reason, see a doctor. The effects of a-fib can be controlled with medication or surgery.

Stop Smoking

Smoking doubles stroke risk. If you haven't tried quitting in a while, see your doctor. There are new tools to help you quit. You can also check out SmokeFree.gov, a smoking cessation resource sponsored by the federal government.

Watch Your Weight

Extra baggage overworks your entire circulatory system and raises stroke risk. More younger women are having strokes, and rising obesity rates likely are to blame.

"Abdominal obesity is a known predictor of stroke in women and may be a key factor in the midlife stroke surge in women," says Amytis Towfighi, M.D., of the neurology department of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

If you need to lose weight, aim to drop only 1 pound a week while exercising three times a week for 30 minutes at a time (brisk walking works great).

Control Your Diabetes

Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are major risk factors for stroke. And strokes seem to cause more damage if they strike when your blood glucose levels are high. If you have diabetes, make sure you control your blood glucose levels as closely as possible.

Link   http://www.bhg.com/health-family/fitness/workouts-programs/how-to-prevent-a-stroke/

Knowing cholesterol better

Knowing cholesterol better

Good, bad, high density, low density? What is cholesterol exactly and why is it such a health issue?

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a soft, waxy, fatty substance made naturally in the body, and we need a certain amount because it's vital for the formation of cell structures, hormones and substances that aid digestion.

The body makes most of the cholesterol it needs. But cholesterol is also found in some animal food products, and consuming too many can contribute to blood cholesterol becoming dangerously high.

Some people have a heriditary condition where their bodies make too much cholesterol.

“Good” and “bad” cholesterol

There are basically two kinds of cholesterol:

1. “Good” or HDL cholesterol (the full term is High Density Lipoprotein cholesterol). HDL cholesterol is sometimes called “good” because it helps remove cholesterol from the arteries, the blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood from your heart to the body’s cells.
2. “Bad” or LDL cholesterol (Low Density Lipoprotein cholesterol). LDL cholesterol is sometimes called “bad” because high levels are linked to build-up in your arteries.

A helpful way to remember the difference between HDL and LDL:

• You want HDL cholesterol levels to be HIGH.
• You want LDL cholesterol levels to be LOW.

Total cholesterol is a measure of the total amount of cholesterol in your blood, including both LDL and HDL cholesterol.

What is high cholesterol?

High cholesterol is when you have too much cholesterol in your blood. It may also be called high blood cholesterol, hypercholesterolemia or hyperlipidemia.

Your total cholesterol or LDL cholesterol may be too high, or your HDL cholesterol too low.

The most important effect of high cholesterol is that it can cause narrowing and blockages in the arteries.

Excess cholesterol, and other substances normally found in the blood like calcium and fat, can start to build up just under the lining of artery walls. 

The areas of the artery wall where cholesterol and other matter collects are called “plaques”.

The formation of plaques in the arteries is a condition called atherosclerosis, arteriosclerosis or “hardening of the arteries”.

How arteriosclerosis progresses

Over time, the plaques get harder and narrow the arteries further, limiting blood flow and damaging the artery wall. The rougher the plaques make the artery lining, the more likely substances like platelets, which make the blood sticky and promote clotting, will also get trapped there.

If narrowing occurs in the coronary arteries, which carry oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle itself, the condition is called coronary artery disease or coronary heart disease, which raises risk for heart attack.

Coronary artery disease may cause angina: pain or a sensation of pressure in your chest. You may also feel angina pain in your arms, shoulders, neck, jaw or back; it may even feel like indigestion.

A section of plaque can break open, causing a blood clot to form: this can suddenly and dramatically block blood flow to a vital organ. Blood clots can also break free and travel in the body to cause blockages elsewhere.

A heart attack occurs if blood flow to part of the heart muscle suddenly becomes blocked. If you don't have emergency treatment to quickly get the blood flowing again, the section of heart muscle starved of oxygen-rich blood can die. A heart attack may be fatal.

Blockages in the arteries that supply the brain can lead to stroke, which damages the section of brain tissue deprived of oxygen-rich blood. Strokes are also sometimes fatal.

Link  http://www.health24.com/Medical/Cholesterol/Cholesterol-explained/Knowing-cholesterol-better-20130210

High Blood Cholesterol Home remedy

High Blood Cholesterol or Hypercholesterolaemia:

Hypercholesterolaemia is a medical term which means that abnormally high concentrations of cholesterol are present in the blood stream. This can lead to heart disease, hardening of the arteries, heart attacks and strokes.

Causes:

Increase in cholesterol is mainly a hereditary disorder. It is also caused by taking excessive fried foods; milk products like ghee, butter, cream;sugar, cake, pastries, sweets,ice-cream, cheese; meat, fish and eggs. Irregular eating habits, smoking, drinking alcohol also increases cholesterol level. Recent studies have shown that stress is a major cause of hypercholesterolaemia.

Here we discuss natural home treatment to cure high blood cholesterol.

Home Remedies For Hypercholesterolaemia:

cholestrol Control Cholesterol with Fibre:

The fruits, vegetables and cereals which are rich in fibre lowers cholesterol level in blood.

Cholesterol Treatment with Sunflower seeds:

Sunflower seeds are valuable in decreasing cholesterol level in the blood. Substituting sunflower seeds for some of the solid fats like ghee and cream leads to improvement in health.

Cure Cholesterol with Bitter Gourd and Lime Juice:

Extract the juice of bitter gourd(kerella). Mix one cup of juice with a teaspoon of lime juice. This juice should be taken everyday empty stomach for a month. It helps to remove toxin from blood and stops frequent occurrence of boils.

Cholesterol Remedies with Garlic:

Garlic is very beneficial in reducing cholesterol level. Consume 5 to 7 cloves of garlic in any form everyday.

Natural Remedy for Cholesterol with Coriander Seeds:

Prepare a decoction by boiling two tablespoons of dry coriander seeds in a glass of water. Stain the decoction when it cools. This should be taken twice daily to lower blood cholesterol.

Lower Blood Cholesterol with Ishabgol:

The oil of the seeds of the herb ishabgol Should be given to the patient to lower blood cholesterol. One teaspoon should be taken twice daily.

Cholesterol Remedy with Lecithin:

Lecithin has the ability to break up cholestrol into small particles. So, a good intake of lecithin prevents building up of cholesterol against the wall of the arteries and veins. Egg yolk, soyabeans, unpasturised milk, wholegrain cereals and vegetable oils are rich sources of lecithin.

Link  http://www.usefulhomeremedies.com/cholestrol.html

7 Super Foods to Improve Cholesterol

Whole foods and great recipes for a healthy heart.

The best meal for anyone worried about their cholesterol is a meal low in saturated fat and abundant in fruits and vegetables. And although there are no magic bullets beyond that healthy prescription, certain foods have been shown to give cholesterol levels an extra nudge in the right direction.

Weave some of these whole foods, all pinpointed by research as cholesterol-friendly, into your daily diet, and be sure to try some of our heart-healthy recipes below.

Alcohol

Drinking a glass of wine with dinner—any alcoholic beverage, in fact—has been shown to raise good-cholesterol levels and lower the risk of a heart attack. (Excessive drinking, however, raises heart-disease danger.)

 Almonds

Substances in almond skins help prevent LDL “bad” cholesterol from being oxidized, a process that can otherwise damage the lining of blood vessels and increase cardiovascular risk.

• Sprinkle almonds on cereals and salads, nibble on a handful for an afternoon snack.

Avocados

The mono unsaturated fats in avocados have been found to lower “bad” LDLs and raise “good” HDLs, especially in people with mildly elevated cholesterol.

• Slice avocados into sandwiches and salads or mash with garlic, lemon juice and salsa for a terrific guacamole.

Barley

When volunteers in a USDA study added barley to the standard American Heart Association diet, LDL “bad” cholesterol levels fell more than twice as far.

• Barley makes a great substitute for rice, adds depth to soups and is terrific combined with dried fruits, nuts and a little oil and vinegar for a hearty salad.

Beans & Lentils

From a recent study in the Annals of Internal Medicine, LDL “bad” cholesterol levels fell almost twice as far in those volunteers on a low-fat diet who added beans and lentils (along with more whole grains and vegetables) to the menu.

• Experiment with beans in soups, salads, and dips. Tuck them into burritos, lasagnas and casseroles.

Blueberries

Blueberries contain a powerful antioxidant called pterostilbene that may help lower LDL cholesterol.

• Toss a cup of frozen blueberries together with a half-cup of orange juice and vanilla-flavored yogurt into the blender for a healthy breakfast drink. Sprinkle fresh blueberries on cereals and eat them by the handfuls for snacks.

Oats

When women in a University of Toronto study added oat bran to an already heart-healthy diet, HDL-cholesterol levels—the beneficial kind—climbed more than 11 percent.

• Consider a daily bowl of oat bran hot cereal or old-fashioned oatmeal for breakfast. Oat bran muffins can also pack a tasty dose into your day

Link  http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/cholesterol/7_super_foods_to_improve_cholesterol?

Top 10 foods that control cholesterol

Top 10 foods that control cholesterol

Have you been diagnosed with high cholesterol? Then you'll be happy to know that certain foods can be a boon to your health. Check the list out.

Then you might be interested to know that certain foods can be particularly useful in controlling your cholesterol levels. We did the legwork for you and listed them here.Research shows that more than 5.5 million South Africans are at risk for disease due to their high cholesterol levels. Are you one of them?

Note that these foods are arranged in random order, and that being listed first doesn't mean that the specific food or food group is superior to any of the others. Also keep in mind that it's essential to always follow a varied diet that contains foods from all the different food groups.

1) Olive oil and olive products

Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E. Research has shown that foods with a high monounsaturated fatty acid content lower "bad" low-density lipoprotein(LDL) cholesterol and increase 'good' high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.

Anyone with raised cholesterol levels needs to increase his HDL cholesterol and lower his LDL cholesterol levels, which olive oil and products made of olives, will promote.

Have one or two tablespoons of olive oil a day over salads or use for cooking, and add some olives to your salads. Keep an eye open for margarine made from olive oil as this also has the benefit of a high monounsaturated fatty acid content.

2) Polyunsaturated, 'lite' and Flora 'pro-activ' margarine

Soft or tub margarine with a high polyunsaturated fatty acid content will also help to lower LDL cholesterol.

Then there are the 'lite' margarines, which have a reduced fat, energy and salt content – all factors that can contribute to heart health.

Flora 'pro-activ' margarine has been specifically developed to lower LDL cholesterol by up to 25% if you use it every day. This type of margarine contains added plant sterols that prevent the uptake of fats from the diet and lower blood fat levels. You can use this margarine to replace butter or other types of margarine on bread and cooked vegetables.

3) Legumes

Legumes include dry, cooked or canned beans, lentils, peas and all the soya products (cooked or canned soya beans, soya mince, cubes, milk, tofu and tempeh).

Legumes have a high dietary fibre content and are rich in protective nutrients, including minerals, B vitamins and phytonutrients. These nutrients protect the heart and the dietary fibre content lowers cholesterol and energy intake.

Legumes are also naturally low in fat and don't contain any cholesterol. On top of this, they have a low glycaemic index (GI). The South African Food-based Dietary Guidelines recommend that we should eat dry beans, peas, lentils and soya regularly.

Make an effort to eat legumes at least three to four times a week, ideally every day.

4) Fat-free yoghurt and other fat-free dairy products



Full-cream dairy products and most cheeses have a high saturated fat content and need to be avoided if you have raised cholesterol levels.

However, this doesn't mean that you should cut out this food group altogether. Cutting out dairy products will deprive you of calcium, a mineral that's essential for the healthy functioning of the heart and many other important roles in the human body, such as the prevention of osteoporosis.

You can, however, use fat-free milk, yoghurt and cottage cheese in a low-cholesterol diet. Once the fat has been removed from a dairy product, it also removes practically all the cholesterol.

Fat-free yoghurt is a particularly good choice as it is rich in protein, calcium and Lactobacillusmicroorganisms which may help to lower blood cholesterol levels.

5) Antioxidant-rich fruit and vegetables

All fruits and vegetables can help to lower cholesterol and protect the heart. Two groups are particularly useful, namely those fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamin C, or rich in beta-carotene.

a) Vitamin C

Foods rich in vitamin C include all the citrus fruits (oranges, grapefruit, lemons and naartjies), all berry fruits (cranberry, strawberry, blackberry etc), guava, spanspek, mango, the entire cabbage family (green and Chinese cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts), as well as sweet and chilli peppers.

b) Beta-carotene

Foods rich in beta-carotene include all dark yellow fruits (apricots, yellow peaches, spanspek and mango) and vegetables (pumpkin, sweet potatoes, butternut, carrots) and all dark green vegetables (broccoli, cabbage and spinach).

If you have heart disease or raised cholesterol levels, make sure you get your five portions of fruit and vegetables per day.

6) Garlic and other members of the onion family

Garlic has been used for centuries to promote good health. Research shows that members of the allium family, such as garlic, spring onions and other onions, can be used to lower cholesterol and protect the heart. Use garlic liberally in cooking and on fresh salads.

Researchers believe that the high garlic content of the so-called Mediterranean diet is one of the factors that make this diet so heart-friendly.

7) Whole, unsifted or unprocessed grains

All unsifted and unprocessed grains and cereals, and the foods produced from unmilled flour, are rich in B vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre (both soluble and insoluble), but low in fat and cholesterol.

Grains and cereals made of unprocessed wheat (wholewheat and seed bread, crackers, high-bran cereals) help to ensure regularity because they have a high insoluble fibre content. On the other hand, oats and oat bran have a high soluble fibre content which can actively lower blood cholesterol levels.

Have a bowl of oats or muesli, which contains raw oats, every day to keep your cholesterol in check.

8) Fish

Researchers have discovered that people who eat fish three or more times a week are less likely to suffer from heart disease and high blood pressure. This is primarily due to the high omega-3 fatty acid content of fish.

The best fish sources of omega-3 fatty acids are fatty fish like salmon, tuna, trout and sardines, but eating any type of fish will benefit your heart.

Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to reduce atherosclerosis, ventricular arrhythmias, blood fats, atherosclerotic plaques and blood pressure – all good reasons for eating fish regularly.

9) Venison and ostrich

South Africans are known for their love of meat, and many people who need to follow a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet are horrified by the restrictions on eating red meat.

You can, however, eat moderate portions of venison and ostrich on a low-cholesterol diet, because these meats are low in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol. Just make sure that you don't add large quantities of fat to the meat during preparation and cooking.

The present boom in our ostrich industry is due to the fact that this meat is so low in cholesterol that it has become a popular item on the menus of health-conscious people all over the world.

10) Omega-3-enriched foods



As mentioned before, the omega-3 fatty acids can play a significant role in helping to reduce the risk of high cholesterol levels. Unfortunately, modern Western diets don't contain sufficient omega-3 to meet our needs.

Some food manufacturers have taken this to heart and now produce standard foods that are enriched with omega-3 fatty acids. In South Africa, you can purchase milk, eggs and bread that are enriched with omega-3. You may have to hunt around, but you should be able to find these products in most large supermarkets.

The eggs in particular can make a difference. The rule for egg intake is that anyone with heart problems should not eat more than four eggs a week. So make sure that if you eat eggs, they are omega-3 enriched, because the increased levels of omega-3 balance out the high cholesterol content of the eggs.

Link   http://www.health24.com/Diet-and-nutrition/Nutrition-basics/Top-10-foods-that-control-cholesterol-20120721

Lifestyle linked to diabetes

Lifestyle linked to diabetes

A new study reports that weight, diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol intake may each independently influence a person's risk of getting diabetes.

Researchers found that even when people had a family history of diabetes or were overweight, they were less likely to get the chronic disease if they were healthy in other ways.A new study reports that weight, diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol intake may each independently influence a person's risk of getting diabetes.

And each additional lifestyle improvement lowered their risk.

"There are implications certainly for individuals to take one step at a time towards a healthy lifestyle," said Jared Reis, one of the study's authors from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.

Benefits of a healthy lifestyle

And, he told Reuters Health, there is certainly benefit for those who may have a tough time withlosing weight if they adopt these other healthy lifestyle factors.

The data came from more than 200,000 Americans who filled out surveys about their lifestyle, diet and health status in 1995 and 1996, when most were in their fifties and sixties. None of them had diabetes at the start of the study.

Ten years later, researchers sent them another survey asking whether they had been diagnosed with diabetes.

In all, about one in 10 men and one in 13 women reported having the disease.

Healthy diet lowers risk

Looking back at the original surveys, the researchers broke health and lifestyle-related questions into five categories: body mass index (BMI, a measure of weight in relation to height), diet, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption.

They found that each healthy behaviour listed on that survey – such as exercising for at least 20 minutes a day, three times per week, or never smoking or quitting at least a decade ago – lowered a person's future diabetes risk independent of the other lifestyle components.

For example, people who smoked, drank heavily, and got little exercise still had a lower diabetes risk if they ate a healthy diet than if they ate lots of saturated fats and few fibre-rich whole grains.

That was also the case for people who had a family history of diabetes, and so were at higher risk to begin with.

Weight a factor in diabetes risk

Overall, normal-weight women who ate a healthy diet, exercised, drank moderately and didn'tsmoke were 8 % less likely to get diabetes than women who were overweight and didn't fit any of the criteria for a healthy lifestyle. For healthy men, the diabetes risk was cut by 72% compared to men with unhealthy habits.

Even though heavy people were still better off if they were healthy in other ways, the researchers said weight was the most important factor in predicting who developed diabetes.

"While the message is that all these things matter... the number one top-of-the-list take-home is, don't be overweight in the first place," said Dr Lawrence Phillips, an endocrinologist at Emory University in Atlanta who wasn't involved in the new research. "It's important not to confuse the baby with the bathwater here," he added.

Asians more at risk

Lawrence also pointed out that the cut-off used to define a normal, healthy weight in the study was a BMI of 25 – the equivalent of someone who is five feet, five inches and weighs 150Kgs.

While that's realistic for people who are white, he told Reuters Health, studies have suggested that Asians and people of other ethnicities might have an increased diabetes risk at lower BMIs as well, and that their threshold for being overweight may be different.

One limitation to the study, the researchers reported in Annals of Internal Medicine, is that participants may have changed their lifestyle during the decade following the first survey – and those changes wouldn't be reflected in the findings.

Cutting fats no guarantee

The study also can't prove definitively that by cutting out cigarettes or saturated fats, any one person can lower his or her risk of diabetes. It's possible, for example, that people who exercised less were also less healthy for other reasons not measured by the surveys.

But Dr David Jenkins, a nutrition researcher from the University of Toronto who also didn't participate in the new study, said the findings point to a way forward for people who are motivated to lower their risk of diabetes. "This just says, look, this is what you have to do," he told Reuters Health.

"This would suggest again that even for those who have a family history, if you adopt a healthy lifestyle you can have a strong influence on whether you end up developing diabetes," Reis said.

"The fact that those findings are evident in this older population is also a good thing," he said. "It means it's never too late."

(Reuters Health, September 2011) 

Link  http://www.health24.com/Medical/Diabetes/News/Lifestyle-linked-to-diabetes-20120721

Type 1 diabetes: diet and lifestyle

Type 1 diabetes: diet and lifestyle

All type 1 diabetics need to see a dietician so that correct and healthy eating patterns can be implemented.

Apart from providing guidelines on what to eat, a dietician can also help to establish the amount of kilojoules required in the diet, and can help teach the diabetic how to do carbohydrate counting.All type 1 diabetics need to see a dietician so that correct and healthy eating patterns can be implemented. Healthy eating implies a high-fibre, low-saturated-fat diet, which limits high-cholesterol foods and snacks, and which includes lean protein from fish, poultry and legumes.

As smoking can have a dramatic impact on cardiovascular health, diabetics are strongly urged to stop smoking. Doctors can provide guidance in terms of smoking-cessation aids, such as nicotine replacement therapy (patches, inhalers, gum) and/or prescription medication in the form of Zyban.

Link   http://www.health24.com/Medical/Diabetes/Treatment-type-1/Type-1-diabetes-diet-and-lifestyle-20120721

Diabetes dietary advice good for everyone

Diabetes dietary advice good for everyone

Researchers investigated whether the associations between lifestyle factors and mortality risk differ between individuals with and without diabetes.

Shutterstock

New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes [EASD]) suggests that lifestyle advice for people with diabetes should be no different from that for the general public, although those with diabetes may benefit more from that same advice. The research is by Dr Diewertje Sluik, Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Nuthetal, Germany, and colleagues.

In this new study, the researchers investigated whether the associations between lifestyle factors and mortality risk differ between individuals with and without diabetes.

Within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), a cohort was formed of 6 384 persons with diabetes and 258 911 EPIC participants without known diabetes. Computer modelling was used to explore the relationship (in both those with and without diabetes) of mortality with the following risk factors: body-mass index, waist/height ratio, 26 food groups, alcohol consumption, leisure-time physical activity, smoking.

Healthy diet good for all

Unsurprisingly, the researchers found that overall mortality was 62% higher in people with diabetes compared with those without. Intake of fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, pasta, poultry and vegetable oil was related to a lower mortality risk, and intake of butter and margarine was related to an increased mortality risk. While the strength of the association was different in those with diabetes versus those without, the associations were in the same direction in each case. No differences between people with and without diabetes were detected for the other lifestyle factors including adiposity, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and smoking.

The authors say: "It appears that the intake of some food groups is more beneficial (fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, pasta, poultry, vegetable oil) or more detrimental (soft drinks, butter, margarine, cake, cookies) with respect to mortality risk in people with diabetes. This may indicate that individuals with diabetes may benefit more from a healthy diet than people without diabetes. However, since the directions of association were generally the same, recommendations for a healthy diet should be similar for people with or without diabetes."

Link  http://www.health24.com/Diet-and-nutrition/News/Same-advice-for-people-with-and-without-diabetes-20131014

Snacking For Diabetes

Snacking For Diabetes

To maintain healthy blood-glucose levels, meals and snacks should be balanced to provide a mixture of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Because people with diabetes need to eat fairly often to maintain a healthy blood sugar, developing healthy snacking habits is particularly important. Check out these helpful tips and snack ideas that are sure to help keep your blood sugar, and overall health, in check.

(Adapted from Magic Foods for Better Blood Sugar and Foods That Harm Foods That Heal)

Craving a little something sweet? While fruits are the way to go, too much natural sugar can also be a challenge for diabetics.

Nuts for Peanuts

30 g (1 oz) peanuts

Calories: 165

The bargain lover in you will appreciate the dense, filling nutrition you can get from a relatively small serving of peanuts. Full of protein and good fats, the nuts actually appear to help people lose weight. Feel free to substitute peanuts for a palmful of almonds. Nuts are full of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which are good for the heart and also slow the digestion process, helping to stabilize blood-sugar levels.

So Cheesy

30 g (1 oz) fat-free string cheese

Calories: 80

Whoever invented string cheese was on to something: These portable snacks are tasty and full of protein; and low-fat cheese will make you feel full. If you prefer, you can simply cut your favourite low-fat cheese into small strips and take them with you; cheese can be enjoyed on its own or as part of a veggie-based snack. The calcium and vitamins in cheese are very beneficial for your overall health.

Cinematic License

4 cup air-popped popcorn

Calories: 100

Who says popcorn is only for the movies? Take popcorn out of the multiplex and enjoy it as a light snack. Why not? It’s low in calories and high in fibre, which has been shown to improve glucose metabolism in people with diabetes.

A Call to Grapeness

20 seedless grapes

Calories: 100

Grapes are full of water, which makes them automatically low in calories. Twenty grapes registers in your brain as lots of separate items, and popping them into your mouth one by one makes you feel that you’re getting more food than you really are. Grapes also contain vitamins and antioxidants that zap dangerous free radicals.

Veggie Variety Pack

1 to 2 cups sliced raw vegetables 

Calories: 35

Think of vegetables as sociable foods: They hate to be alone. Even when you snack, you’ll have a livelier time if you throw veggies together and let their tastes mingle. Soft and crunchy, watery and dense, this combination makes for a pleasing mix. Vegetables are an excellent source of fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. They are one of the healthiest snacks for people with diabetes, providing a good balance of carbohydrates, and fibre.

Aside from choosing healthy snacking items, it’s always a good idea to have a plan. Bring some almonds and grapes to work; that way, you won’t be temped to go to the vending machine for a sugar-filled treat. By following these wholesome-snack tips, you’ll be well on your way to maintaining a healthy blood-sugar level.

Link   http://www.readersdigest.ca/veggies/snacking-diabetes