Keeping Your Blood Sugar in Check For a Healthy Heart

About 48 million men and women have fasting blood sugar levels high enough to qualify them as pre-diabetic – and many of them don’t know it. Having diabetes quadruples your chances of having a heart attack, which is why keeping your blood sugar in check is so important.

Try adding these foods to your diet to keep your heart healthy:

Barley – A study from Creighton University School of Medicine found that barley was better at controlling blood sugar levels than the much-touted oats. Barley has high levels of soluble fiber called beta-glucan, which is digested very slowly and helps lower the ‘bad’ cholesterol.

How to add barley in your diet: Substitute barley flour for about half of the all-purposed type flour called for in your desert recipes. You can even add barley to soups, side dishes, or in place of rice or potatoes.

Spice it up! Add Cayenne chili peppers to your next meal.
To help prevent big spikes in your blood sugar levels researches from the University of Tasmania, found that adults who ate a chili-seasoned burger with a sugary beverage, had their blood sugar levels much lower than when they finished the drink and the burger without the chili spice.

How to add cayenne to your diet: Next time you make homemade salsa or sauce make sure to drop a teaspoon or more of this fiery substance. Give your next chocolate dessert a little POW with cayenne pepper.

Carrots – Crunching on half a cup of dark yellow vegetables, like carrots, each day cuts the risk of diabetes in women by 27 percent. To enhance your absorption of antioxidants from your veggies serve them with a little fat, such as olive oil (a great side dish with dinner).

Read our next blog entry: Fighting ‘bad’ cholesterol

Should you cleanse before starting a weight loss program?

The real question is how are you planning to cleanse your body to get ready for a weight loss program? Most people will starve or drink a water concoction with maple syrup for a week before they actually start their diet. But in reality you’re doing more damage and could possibly add more weight once you do start your diet – which can be discouraging. Instead switch your focus from cleansing to training. Use the first 14 days of your diet as a trial and error period where you start making healthier choices.

Food Smart: Training tools for both mind and body

The number one rule to weight loss is fat burning. By choosing fat burning foods and incorporating exercise to your daily routine you’re on your way to making healthy life changes, which will affect the way you look and feel. Here are some great food ideas to get your metabolism going:

Healthy Protein Choices:
Crabmeat omelet
Poached eggs
Lobster salad (light on the dressing)
Chef salad
Cobb salad
Rosemary roast chicken
Spicy seafood skewers
Peppered roast beef
Lemon and dill grilled halibut
Pork tenderloin

Healthy Carbohydrate Choices:
Spinach
Kale
Mustard greens
Couscous
Artichoke (watch the mayo and butter, use lemon and herbs to season)
Romaine lettuce
Endive
Spring mix

Healthy fats and oils:
Olive oil
Nuts and seeds
Grape seed oil
Avocado
Avocado oil
Sesame oil
Coconut oil
Butter (real butter not margarine)
Ghee
Almond butter

Read our next blog entry tomorrow: Beat High Blood Sugar with these amazing superfoods.