KTK-Nutrition

Every winter people get sick with colds, flu and now COVID is added to the mix.   Yet, we all know some people who seem super healthy.   While everyone in the office, the school or our friends have come down with something, there are those people who seem to have the latest illness bypass them.     Why aren’t they getting sick like everyone else?   Instead of being jealous at how healthy these people are, why not copy some habits that will build your immune system and lead to a healthier you?   My sister sent me a great article about 10 habits of healthy people .   What are some of those habits can you adopt for a healthier you? Drink water – lots of water .   What does drinking water have to do with a healthy immune system?   The University of California, Irvine notes :   Hydration is a key element to maintaining a healthy immune system .   Why?   To have a healthy immune system your body needs nutrients.   We need en...

Everyone with diabetes or prediabetes knows that control of blood sugar levels is important.   But did you know that just walking for 2 minutes after meals is helpful in lowering blood sugar?   Yes, just 2 minutes.   After you eat a meal, your body digests the meal and turns the carbs you eat like starches, fruit, and desserts into sugar.   This sugar enters your blood raising blood sugar levels.   Exercising after one eats a meal or snack helps your body get that sugar into cells to be used for energy.    Walking is good exercise as everyone knows.   But for those with high blood sugar, when is it best to walk?   Is it better to go for a 45 minute walk every morning, to walk before you eat a meal or walk soon after you eat a meal?   What does the research show? Going for a 15-minute or a 20-minue walk after meals – A study in 2009 found that going for a 20-minute walk about 15 minutes after a meal lowered one’s blood sugar level ...

My daughter has a friend who was diagnosed with prediabetes.   And this is becoming increasingly more common.   What is prediabetes?   How many people have it?   If you have prediabetes, what lifestyle changes should you make?   Focusing on exercise and diet are two important areas to focus on.   What is prediabetes? The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says prediabetes is a “serious health condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes”.   To determine if you have diabetes your health care provider will take a blood test: o    A1C Test – this test measures how much sugar is in your blood over the past 2-3 months.   o    Fasting blood sugar – This test measures how much sugar is in your blood after you have fasted overnight.   Your health care provider may also do a Glucose Tolerance Test or a random blood sugar test.   Know your num...

Have you heard people say, “I need to get in shape.” But then nothing happens.   Oh, they mean to join a gym someday or they join a gym and then don’t go.   Going to the gym is great but so is just going for a walk.   My sister sent me some interesting articles this week about the many ways simply going for a walk benefits your health.    What if you only have a few minutes to walk.   Are there benefits to walking a mere 10 minutes a day ?   Self-confidence – Research has found that a short walk , say 12 minutes (yes, a little more than 10 minutes), can lead to better attentiveness, a more positive mood, and greater self-confidence.   Reduce Your Risk of Death by 15% - a short, 10- minute walk a day, can reduce your risk of an early death by 15%.   A physician , Muir Gray, in the UK states, “I’d advise anyone of any age and activity level to start to fit in at least one 10-minute brisk walk a day as a simple way to get more active, especial...

After being in our homes for that past few weeks, many of us have added on some unwanted pounds.   Now that the weather is better, can walking help you lose some of that weight?   Popsugar has a good article , “Yes, You Can Lose Weight Walking as Little as 30 Minutes a Day..”.   What are some keys to know about walking and weight loss? Amount of time – note the article indicates walking 30 minutes a day.   Much research has shown that if you want to lose some fat, you need to exercise for more than 20 minutes.   So, a 30-minute walk is a great way to start. How often?   Aim for walking and exercising for at least 150 minutes a week .   That breaks down to at least 21 minutes a day.   If you walk 30 minutes a day, you will meet and exceed the recommendation for 150 minutes a week of exercising. How long?   One may not get quick weight loss by walking.   But a JAMA Internal Medicine article reported that without changing their diet, stud...

Many of us can’t go to the gym or participate in our usual fitness classes right now, but we can still go for a walk.   And walking is good for your health.   A new study by the National Cancer Institute, CDC and the National Institute on Aging finds the more you walk, the longer your lifespan.   The article in JAMA notes:   “Greater number of steps per day were associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality”.  What was the study? Researchers looked at 4840 adults at least 40 years of age who wore a step counter for up to five days over the study period of 2003-2006.   Not just any step counter but an accelerometer that not only measured steps taken but also the intensity of the walking.    How many steps did study participants take? The average number of steps taken a day by this group was 9124.   Those taking 8000 steps a day had significantly lower mortality than those taking 4000 steps a day. Going up to 12,000 steps...

Exercise.   Who has time to fit exercise into their day during the holiday season?   And what are the guidelines for how much exercise we should get each day?   A frequently asked question from my students is “How much exercise do I need each day?”   Well, recently, November 2018 to be precise, the federal guidelines on physical activity were updated.   So, what are the latest recommendations and who sets those guidelines anyway? Who sets the guidelines for exercise? The federal government sets guidelines for what we should eat at MyPlate.   A number of federal agencies worked together to update the physical activity guidelines including:   Centers for Disease Control, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, National Institutes of Health and the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.   The guidelines were first issued in 2008 and November, 2018 is the first time the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans have...

How can you add some activity to your every day life?   So much to do?   Commute to work.   Sit at a desk job. Commute back home and watch some TV or have some other screen time.   How can you switch up a sedentary lifestyle to a more active lifestyle?   And doing so will lower your risk of a number of diseases.   Just moving more can help one lose weight or keep off the weight you have lost.   And reducing your weight by 5% or more can lower your risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.   An article in Verywell Health described, 9 Ways to Beat a Sedentary Lifestyle .   What are some of their suggestions and others you can try? Walking – aim for a 30 minute walk a day.   I used to commute to work, have a desk job, but planned a walk with friends at lunch every day.    No time for 30 minutes?   Then take three 10-minute walks each day. If you commute by bus or train, then get off a few blocks before your stop and wa...