Day: March 22, 2018

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Healthy Habits

You have decided to become healthier, but big changes make you anxious?

Not sure where to start, do I have to exercise 5 to 7 days right from the start? I’m a big proponent of making small changes, keeping those changes to a small number like 1 to 2 goals at a time. Depending on what areas, you think you need to improve, you can choose from the following list to get started:

Self-Care:

• Practicing stress reduction or deep breathing
• laughing or socializing
• using mindfulness or meditation
• attending a financial wellness seminar

Rest & Recover:

• Stretching
• taking a yoga class
• getting 7-9 hours of sleep
• taking time for yourself
• getting a chair massage (self-massage counts, too!).

Movement:

• Taking the stairs instead of the elevator
• going for a walk
• biking or walking to work
• taking an onsite yoga class
• running a race
• going to the gym

Nutrition:

• Eating a fruit or vegetable

• drinking water

• bringing lunch from home

• sharing a healthy snack with coworkers

Small changes will add up and make a big difference to your health. Changing your habits is a process that involves several stages. Sometimes it takes a while before changes become new habits. Healthier habits may protect you from serious health problems like high blood pressure or diabetes. If you continue these habits for a while, they may become part of your daily routine.

The four stages of changing a health behavior are:

• contemplation
• preparation
• action
• maintenance

If you started to make some changes, it is a good idea to set health goals. Review what worked, what didn’t work, and can you make changes to make sure you can accomplish that goal. Measuring progress is important to make sure your changes are yielding the results you wanted.
Changes are hard but small changes or steps can help overcome the anxiety that comes with big changes. Keeping motivated can also be a barrier, change your routine and reward yourself whenever you reach a goal. Healthy Habits become even more important for patients with chronic disease like hypertension and diabetes.

Patients with chronic disease states like hypertension or diabetes, should consult with your Primary Care Doctor before starting any kind of exercise program. More information can be found online at the American Diabetes Association for patients with diabetes or Pre-diabetes. Certified Diabetes Educators can help patients with diabetes get blood sugars under control, set health goals and develop a diabetes plan. For patients with chronic disease Ambulatory Care Pharmacist and Community Pharmacist are a great resource to help you get your health to goal.

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Can I Eat Eggs?

Eggs are a good source of protein, but they have dietary cholesterol. The cholesterol we eat does not necessarily raise blood cholesterol for most people. Our bodies make all the cholesterol we need, we do not need dietary cholesterol. What has a big impact on cholesterol is the amount of fat you eat.  For patients with cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular risk lowering dietary cholesterol is important.

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a type of fat in the body. Cholesterol helps form the lining (membrane) of the body’s cells and it plays a role in hormone production. Two subtypes of cholesterol we care a lot about are:

HDL (the “good” cholesterol) and LDL (the “bad” cholesterol).

  • LDL can get trapped in the lining of the artery. Over time, leading to a heart attack or stroke.
  • HDL’s job is to help remove LDL from the body.

Can I eat eggs or not?

Yes, but in the right way. If you regularly have an egg, reduce saturated fat in other areas of your diet.  Eating moderate amounts of eggs will have little impact on blood cholesterol for most people.
However, if you are adding a lot of saturated fat (bad fat), such as preparing eggs with butter, cheese, bacon, sausage, or eating excessive amounts of eggs a day, you are going to run into issues.
Are there other satisfying breakfast or snack choices that won’t impact cholesterol? Absolutely! Oatmeal, low-fat plain yogurt, egg whites, fruit with modest amounts of nuts, avocado and whole wheat toast, or peanut butter on whole wheat toast are excellent choices. But taste preferences, cultural differences, allergies, and time constraints make some of these challenging.

Reasons to Choose Eggs

• Good source of complete protein. If you don’t eat much red meat or high-fat dairy, eggs are a good addition to the diet. At seven grams of protein per whole egg, it’s a more efficient, readily absorbed protein option (more so than beans or lentils).
• Keep you fuller for longer and are satisfying! The fat and protein content of eggs will keep you fuller longer, prevent overeating later compared to options like bagels, toast, cold cereal, pancakes, or waffles.
• Eggs won’t raise blood sugar. This is a big for patients with diabetes, especially those who don’t eat much poultry or fish. While lentils and beans have protein, they are primarily carbohydrate (which raises blood sugar).
• Easy to prepare. They take a few minutes to cook. Hard-boiled eggs make meal and snack time simple.
Overall, yes, eggs can raise your cholesterol but not as much as saturated fat. It’s about your dietary balance in general.
Eggs can be part of your diet if you don’t over due the amount of fats you eat, egg whites are also a healthy alternative. For patients with diabetes one egg per day is OK to eat but should refrain from frying or adding a lot of butter and cheese. For patients with diabetes there is no diabetic diet, we recommend a healthy diet low in starchy carbohydrates. Using the plate method can help make sure you get enough protein in your diet.