Can Yoghurt Be Connected To Lower Diabetes Risk?

The media is always claiming that certain ingredients can help us to maintain a healthy lifestyle and improve our wellbeing. The latest headlines state that yoghurt is key to beating diabetes; a claim based on a study which associates dairy with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The study found that the risk of diabetes was significantly lowered by as much as 28 per cent in people who ate large amounts of low-fat yoghurt, compared to people who ate none at all. The results were similar in people who ate more of all low-fat fermented products, including cottage cheese and fromage frais. The study was based on people using food diaries to report their dairy intake around the time of eating, which is one of the best ways to gauge the success of a trial rather than asking people to recall what they’ve eaten throughout the day – it tends to be more accurate. The diaries were only used over a seven-day period (which isn’t a long enough to provide an accurate assessment of whether yoghurt can help with diabetes risks). It’s not currently clear whether fermented low-fat dairy products can help to prevent diabetes, but it is a theory researchers are keen to investigate. There are a number of steps you can take to lower your risk of developing diabetes though, such as regular exercise, eating a balanced healthy diet, quitting smoking and lowering your alcohol intake. It’s also important to note the sugar levels in the foods you eat, as these can contribute towards developing not just diabetes but also obesity. If you’re concerned about your diet or weight, it’s important to seek advice as this can contribute to a number of health concerns, in addition to diabetes, such as heart problems and certain cancers.

 

The study was carried out by the University of Cambridge, as part of a larger study funded by the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK. Researchers discovered that people who ate the most low-fat fermented products were 24 per cent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who ate the least. The total dairy, high fat dairy, milk and cheese were not associated to the development of diabetes, nor was low-fat dairy. There are several limitations to this study which have led researchers to question whether or not yoghurt can actually help lower the risk of diabetes. Firstly, people’s reported dairy intake was only collected once, at baseline, over a seven-day period, so it’s possible that people’s diets didn’t stay the same during the 11 year follow-up period. Furthermore, the information was self-reported which could affect the reliability. Lastly, researchers didn’t take into account the dairy products included in cooking composite dishes. While there were attempts to take account of other factors, it is always possible that measured and unmeasured factors had an influence on the results. Further studies need to take place in order to know for certain whether fermented products can help to lower the risk of diabetes. The results do suggest that switching sugary snacks and meals for low-fat dairy products could help your overall health, as well as improving your diabetes prospects. Just be sure to choose low sugar varieties and to balance your diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, grains and lean protein to ensure your body is getting all the nutrients it needs to stay healthy.

Categories: Dairy, dairy intake, dairy products, day period, Diabetes, fermented products, new study, people, products, study, yoghurt

What Are the Healthy Foods That Could Make You Fat?

Think you know everything about diet and nutrition? Think again. The food that you may feel are beneficial for your wellness and wellbeing may actually be helping you to pile on the pounds and feel sluggish and unwell.

 

Bread is one of the biggest food traps. Bread lovers will be dismayed to find out that it is possible to eat too much bread in just one single sitting. If you really need bread in your life, and can’t live without sandwiches, then allow yourself to have some, but try to limit the amount that you eat to just one or two slices a day. Bread isn’t the enemy, but you do need to control the amount of it that you eat. Instead of bread, you can have grains such as rice, couscous, quinoa or whole-wheat pasta.

 

Fruit-flavoured yoghurt is also a trap – even if it’s low fat, it’s too easy to scoff several cartons of yoghurt, increasing the calorie intake. Instead of fruity yoghurt, buy plain non-fat yoghurt and stir in your own fresh fruit. Having to mix your own fresh fruit is enough of an incentive to stop you over indulging on yoghurt, according to a study carried out by Weight Watchers.

 

You may think that your breakfast cereals are a safe bet, but all kinds of breakfast cereal (even the healthy kinds) can make you pile on the pounds. This is especially the case if you eat breakfast cereal straight out of the packet as a snack during the day. Even healthy cereals can really help to increase your calorie count over the course of a day. To avoid falling into this trap, make sure that you only eat breakfast cereal in the morning, with milk and a spoon. When combined with the milk, you will eat less cereal, and if you use skim milk but with far fewer calories.

Categories: Bread, breakfast, breakfast cereal, Cereal, eat breakfast, Fat, foods, fresh fruit, Healthy, yoghurt

How to Take Care of Your Diet without Breaking the Bank

You want to enhance your diet and start taking care of your wellbeing, but healthy foods are so often the most expensive option. Why should you have to choose between your health and your financial wellness? According to a recent study by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), eating healthily can be fairly cheap – it just depends on the choices you make.

 

1. Fresh fruits and vegetables: ‘Fruits and vegetables pack a powerful nutrition punch,’ says registered and licensed dietician Mandy Seay, author of Your Best Health. ‘They contain a variety of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that provide benefits for the entire body.’ This means that you need to go for the least pricey produce, which, in the case of vegetables, means potatoes, lettuce, eggplant, greens, summer squash, tomatillos, and carrots. For the most economical fruits, try watermelon, bananas, apples, pears, pineapple, and peaches. To further reduce your costs while maximising on nutrition and flavour, make sure you shop for produce that is in season.

 

2. Frozen and tinned fruits and vegetables: While you may not even deign to consider frozen and tinned fruits and vegetables, they’re a lot better than their reputation. According to Seay, ‘While given a reputation of having a lesser nutrient value, canned fruits and vegetables can be just as healthy and economical (if not more so) as their fresh counterparts.’

 

3. Oats: On the nutrition rockstar stage, oats are the headliners. Seay notes, ‘These whole grains are low in calories, high in fibre and protein, and are a rich source of many vitamins, minerals, and beneficial plant chemicals. Oats offer protection against disease and reduce health issues that may already exist like high cholesterol or blood sugar. Oats are readily available, easy to incorporate into your diet, and inexpensive.’

 

4. Beans: If you want a low-fat protein, make beans your new best friends. These delicious and economical wonders – whether dried or canned – can have a huge impact on your wellbeing. Beans can help to lower your cholesterol, reduce your risks of heart disease and cancer, stabilise your blood sugar, relieve your constipation, assist with your weight management or weight loss programme and lower your blood pressure. Where have you bean all my life? (Sorry, I had to.)

 

5. Tea: As if you needed another reason to have a brew! Still, if you’re interested, when it comes to your health this low-cost beverage is worth every penny. Seay comments that tea ‘helps lower blood pressure, prevent cancer, and reduce the risk for stroke. Tea is also an antiviral, anti-cavity, and anti-allergy powerhouse.’

 

6. Nuts: ‘Nuts reduce the risks for coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and many other causes of mortality,’ Seay asserts. ‘All nuts contain some sort of health-promoting property. Eat a variety of them to enjoy all of the nutrition they have to offer. Here are just a few things you’ll find inside them: plant-derived omega-3s fatty acids, fibre, protein, vitamin D, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, niacin, folate, zinc, and antioxidants.’ Plus, they’re great value per serving.

 

7. Yoghurt: Yoghurt is a cheap sweet option anyway – albeit dependant on flavour and brand –but if you really want to save money you can always make your own yoghurt at home. Seay adds, ‘Yoghurt contains live active cultures, protein, calcium, and B vitamins. This super food has anticancer properties, lowers cholesterol, and wards off unfriendly bacteria while promoting and preserving intestinal health.’

 

8. Brown rice: ‘Brown rice, which contains a number of nutrients and antioxidants, is a whole grain that has been shown to reduce diabetes risks, assist with weight control, help lower and control blood sugar, and possibly inhibit breast and colon cancers,’ says Seay.

Categories: blood pressure, Blood Sugar, Brown Rice, Fruits, heart disease, nbsp, seay, tea, tinned fruits, vitamins minerals, yoghurt

What Everyone Ought to Know About Eating More Yoghurt

Yoghurt can be a bit of an acquired taste. If recent studies are to be believed, however, it is definitely a taste worth acquiring, as it can benefit your wellness and wellbeing in numerous ways. The nutrition that it can add to your diet cannot be underestimated.

 

Yoghurt is packed full of healthy nutrients, such as calcium, vitamin B, phosphorus, potassium and lactic acid. Lactic acid is great because it helps the body to break down protein. The calcium in yoghurt is also really important for helping to build strong teeth and bones, and enhancing muscle contractions, as well as reducing blood pressure.

 

The vitamin B content of yoghurt is also very important. By some kind of strange chemical reaction, yoghurt allows the body to set up a little factory inside the intestines, and it manufactures b vitamins right there inside your body.

 

If you’re trying to lose weight, then yoghurt is a great choice for you. A recent study by a slimming company found that obese adults who ate three servings of some kind of fat-free diet every day, as part of a wider calorie-controlled diet, lost around 22 percent more weight and around 61 percent more body fat than those who simply reduced their calorie intake and did not take in this additional yoghurt.

 

There are bacterial benefits to yoghurt, too. It contains live cultures of bacteria, such as lactobacillus and acidophilus which can have all kinds of great effects on the gastrointestinal tract. For one thing, if you have been on antibiotics recently, yoghurt can help to restore the normal flora in the gut, which will have been killed off by the ‘bacteria killers’ in antibiotics. Secondly, it can help to prevent constipation and ease diarrhea and reduce the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease or irritable bowel syndrome.

Categories: bacterial, body, diet, health, lactic acid, nbsp, vitamin, yoghurt

How to Eat the Right Foods to Beat the Aging Process

Everyone wants to look younger these days, as evidenced by the fact that the US anti-aging product market is valued at around $80 billion. Some experts are now saying, however, that to look younger all you really have to do is improve your general wellness, and that that can be done solely through the food that you eat.

 

Many foods contain important nutrients that can boost your wellbeing and take years off your age. There are different types of foods and varying benefits, and we’ve identified some of the best ones for you, which can be eaten in pairs as follows.

 

Blueberries and yoghurt are both thought to be particularly beneficial, for example. Blueberries are rich in antioxidants and are also believed to help prevent memory loss and to fight some degenerative diseases, such as high blood pressure and heart disease. Smothering your blueberries in yoghurt also keeps up your calcium levels, which helps keep your bones young and strong, and the good bacteria in live yoghurt also keeps your gut healthy and fights off age-related stomach problems.

 

Tomatoes and avocado can be paired together to make a nice salad which will help protect your skin from the sun and thus reduce sun damage and the aging effects of the sun. Vitamins C and A in tomatoes and E in avocados, as well as omega-3 fatty acids, help your body to repair itself and to live longer.

 

Garlic and fish also make a youthful combination. Garlic in particular helps to lower cholesterol and is an anti-oxidant. Fish, meanwhile, has been proved to reduce your risk of having a stroke and is packed with healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

 

Oatmeal for breakfast gives you a great source of soluble fibre and helps to rid your body of bad cholesterol. Drinking a glass of orange juice on the side will help you to stock up on vitamin C and beta carotene and should give you lots of energy.

Categories: aging, blueberries, fatty acids, foods, helps, nbsp, skin, yoghurt

Three Anti-Ageing Foods that You’ll Actually Want to Eat

You want to stay looking young and gorgeous for as long as possible, but all that anti-ageing wellness seems like a lot of bother, doesn’t it? People inject their faces with botox, slather themselves with expensive creams and even undergo surgery in their quest for youth – surely there’s a better way than that? Some people turn to dietary wellness to delay ageing, but that still means you have to bother with oily fish and broccoli that you don’t really like. Fortunately, there are some anti-ageing foods that you actually want to eat.

 

Dark chocolate – Let’s start with the good stuff, shall we? Although you may feel guilty for munching away, dark chocolate is actually hugely beneficial to your wellbeing. As it is made of cacao, dark chocolate contains more antioxidants than almost any other food, being a rich source of polyphenols like catechin, epicatechin and procyanidins. These antioxidants work to open your blood vessels and protect your nerves from injury and inflammation.

 

Red wine – If sitting around with the girls and sharing a bar of Bourneville isn’t enough to help you look younger, get out your wine glasses. Red wine contains a compound called resveratrol which activates the genes in your body that slow cellular ageing. A wealth of evidence has shown that the resveratrol in red wine stimulates your body’s production of SIRT1. This is a serum which blocks diseases by speeding up your cell’s energy production centres, known as the mitrochondria. Made with the dark skin and seeds of grapes, red wine is also heart healthy because it contains high levels of polyphenols.

 

Yoghurt – While it may not be quite as exciting as red wine or dark chocolate, yoghurt is still a yummy food that delays the signs of ageing. Yoghurt’s rich levels of calcium help to guard your wellbeing against osteoporosis – a disease in which your bones become brittle and are more likely to fracture. Plus, yoghurt contains the good bacteria that help to maintain the health of your gut and reduce your chances of age-related intestinal illness. That’s only if you eat yoghurt; if you apply it to your skin, yoghurt fights acne, works as a moisturiser, prevents premature ageing, relieves your sunburn and reduces discolouration. This is because yoghurt contains lactic acid, which dissolves dead skin and tightens pores.

Categories: Dark Chocolate, Red Wine, yoghurt