Archive for the ‘Diabetes’ Category
Why Coffee Is Healthy for Seniors!
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Recent studies have shown that coffee has a number of health benefits for seniors who want to take preemptive aging steps to foster their senior health. Coffee is loaded with phytochemicals that contribute to coffee’s ability to protect us against diseases. In addition to the health promoting phytochemicals coffee contains healthy polyphenols that act directly on our cells. The leading phytochemical in coffee is chlorogenic acid. It turns out that drinking even one cup of coffee a day can reduce a persons risk of diabetes by more than 10 percent. The more coffee a person drink the greater the risk reduction for contracting diabetes. A dozen cups of either regular or decaffeinated coffee can reduce the risk more than 65 percent. This is good news for seniors who are living under the shadow of an oncoming national epidemic of diabetes. Coffee is a natural, tasty and healthy drink that seniors can imbibe to their good health. For those who do not want to drink coffee standardized chlorogenic acid supplements are available. These supplements deliver high levels of the healthy coffee compounds to help reduce the risk of contracting diabetes.
Why is Cinnamon So Healthy for seniors?
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With the onset of the cooler weather brought by Autumn, we typically shift from drinking cool drinks to savoring warmer ones. Hot ciders, hot teas and hot chocolates are the choices for many folks for Autumn beverages, because they warm us up on cold mornings and evenings. The spice that is often chosen to enhance these beverages is cinnamon, because it enhances the taste of the hot drinks. Cinnamon does more than enhance the flavor of hot beverages, it’s water soluble component provides a balanced anti-inflammatory effect for our senior bodies. It turns out that inflammation in our bodies is like a two-edge sword. We need an inflammatory response, because without it infections and wounds would never be healed. The second edge of inflammation acts as an accessory in many serious diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and many others. For good health, especially for good senior health, we need to keep the inflammatory response in balance. As we age the inflammatory processes tend to fall out of balance causing those serious diseases.
Fortunately our bodies have their own balancing mechanisms that utilize certain proteins that can be induced by insulin, which is an anti-inflammatory hormone, and cinnamon extract. Recent research has shown that water soluble cinnamon extract lessens a type of intestinal inflammation. In addition to lessening inflammation, cinnamon has been shown to mimic the effects of insulin, manage blood-sugar metabolism, help regulate fatty acids, help reduce blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and act synergistically with insulin. Working together with insulin cinnamon reduces the type of inflammation in order to improve cardiovascular health.
Strength Training for Cardiovascular Health
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One of the issues seniors face is diminishing muscle strength. Seniors who want to take preemptive steps to maintain the strength of the muscles need to hear some good news. Recent studies about the difference in strength between younger adults and seniors show that 70 percent of the muscle loss is due to lack of physical activity and absence of strength training. Only 30 percent of the loss of muscle strength is due to aging. Seniors need strong muscles in order to live a full senior life. The good news is that seniors can maintain or regain their muscle strength by engaging in strength training exercises. Strength training fosters weight control, bone health, and improves cognition. By reducing body fat with strength training seniors lower their risk of diabetes. Improving muscle strength seniors reduce their risk of injury from falls and other injuries. Seniors need adequate muscle strength in order to exercise at a rate that promotes cardiovascular health. Strength training helps build up the muscle strength of seniors so that they can easily participate in cardiovascular exercise. Seniors can engage in strength training at home or in a gym. This training needs to be tailored to the starting condition of each individual senior. For example, seniors can begin slowly at home with simple exercises such as sit-ups and push-ups combined with the use of resistance tubing. As their strength builds up they can include light weights such as barbells. Finally they can advance to performing strength training at a gym.
Cinnamon Can Help Seniors Stay Healthy
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According to a recent health report from London, cinnamon may provide health benefits for seniors, because we typically suffer from increasing blood sugar levels despite making the recommended changes in our daily diet. The London study reported dramatic positive results when patients with type 2 diabetes took cinnamon. The researchers concluded that supplementing with cinnamon should be considered as an added dietary supplement, in order to regulate blood glucose and blood pressure levels in parallel with conventional medications for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Additional information about taking cinnamon for controlling blood glucose specifies that one should take the water-soluble extract and avoid the fat-soluble portion of cinnamon for optimum results. It turns out that type 2 diabetes is one of several diseases that are triggered by inflammation in our bodies. Recent research has shown that water soluble cinnamon extract lessens a type of intestinal inflammation. In addition to lessening inflammation, cinnamon has been shown to mimic the effects of insulin, manage blood-sugar metabolism, help regulate fatty acids, help reduce blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and act synergistically with insulin. Working together with insulin cinnamon reduces the type of inflammation that is known to the increase the risk for cardiovascular disease.
Vinegar Aids Seniors’ Blood Sugar Levels
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As we age our bodies undergo changes. One of the changes that seniors face is rising blood sugar levels that can lead to type 2 diabetes unless some measures are taken to deal with this change. Some of the measures that can contribute to lowering blood sugar levels in seniors include changes in diet, exercise, weight loss, and supplements. Seniors who are interested in taking preemptive aging steps to foster their senior health should certainly includes these measures in their daily routines. In the event that blood sugar levels are still too high another step can be taken; it requires a prescription medication. The alternative to that well known prescription is a common household item that is often used in salad dressings. The household alternative is none other than common vinegar. Numerous studies over the years have documented the ability of vinegar to reduce blood sugar levels by 25-35% provided it is taken before or with meals. Vinegar lowers the glucose levels by inhibiting the enzymes required to digest starches and complex carbohydrates. Similarly taking vinegar upon retiring in the evening will result in lower morning fasting blood sugar levels. In this case it turns out that vinegar acts in a manner parallel with the well known prescription drug metformin to lower blood sugar.
Why is the Omega-6 GLA Good for Seniors?
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The health news reports are full of glowing accounts of the health benefits of the Omega-3 fatty acids especially the EPA/DHA from fish and other foods. In parallel many health reports point out that the typical American diet is unbalanced, because it contains too much omega-6 fatty acids. It turns out that most vegetable oils including corn, soybean, and safflower provide an excess of omega-6 fatty acids. Eggs and poultry are additional sources of excess omega-6 fatty acids in the typical American diet. The one exception to this general rule is the omega-6 fatty acid known as gamma linolenic acid (GLA), because research has shown this nutrient has the power to combat atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, obesity, diabetes and cancer. As we age our bodies begin to stop producing GLA and most folks do not get enough from their diet. The latest research is providing very strong evidence that GLA can contribute to preempting a wide range of typical age-related disorders by itself and together with EPA/DHA. Many of these disorders are caused by inflammation that senior bodies can not moderate because of the breakdown of of the aging bodies ability to produce the anti-inflammatory enzyme. This enzyme produces anti-inflammatory molecules from dietary fats. Taking supplemental GLA derived from Borage can substitute for this defect in senior bodies, in order to reduce inflammation. The health results can be substantial particularly in regard to promoting cardiovascular health.
Blood Sugar Control On Your Kitchen Shelf
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Reading the reports in the health news a number of articles are promising to control your blood sugar which is of considerable importance to seniors who are concerned about fostering their senior health. A number of articles promise that they can control your blood sugar provided that you purchase their supplement with all the right ingredients at a price that benefits the seller. It turns out that seniors can access some common inexpensive items typically found on the selves in their kitchens that will assist in lowering blood sugar. It seems hard to believe, but cinnamon and vinegar can both be taken separately in the manner appropriate for each, so that they can produce the desired effect of lowering blood sugar levels. Seniors who take both of these common kitchen items will be taking preemptive aging steps to promote their senior health. The appropriate manner recommended for cinnamon is to add a half a teaspoon of it to tea or coffee before brewing. Vinegar is best taken right before a high-glycemic meal in this way. Mix two tablespoons of vinegar in water with a sweetener other than sugar such as stevia or xylitol. An alternate way is to put it on a salad.
Lowering Blood Glucose Protects Senior’s Hearts
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The general news and the health news publications are full of articles recommending ways to deal with diabetes, but most of them do not make the connection between high blood glucose and cardiovascular disease. Many of the news articles address what folks can do to relieve their diabetic symptoms, but not too many provide preemptive remedies to prevent diabetes. They are following a ‘fix the sick’ approach or what has been called ‘sick care’ versus genuine health care which initially provides preemptive steps to prevent diabetes and other diseases. It turns out that the current medical standard used for deciding whether or not a person’s fasting blood glucose level is too high is about 15% higher than it should be according to a report in the one of the American Diabetes Association’s journals. In addition the report found that older men with glucose levels above the lower number of 80-85 mg/dL were predictably on a path to cardiovascular death. For senior men and most probably for senior women who are concerned about taking preemptive steps to foster their senior health it turns out that there is a solution that can provide a preemptive remedy against the dangerously high blood sugar. This remedy can provide a preemptive remedy against diabetes and promote the cardiovascular health of seniors. The remedy includes a water-soluble extract of cinnamon, chromium, and nutrients from seaweed and bladderwrack.
Seniors Need Full Spectrum Vitamin E
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The health news regularly includes articles that claim that vitamin E is very good for our health, but the articles tend to be a little slim on providing the details that can make a real difference in getting the form of vitamin E that is genuinely healthful for seniors. Seniors who are concerned about taking preemptive aging steps to benefit their senior health require more than the typical form of vitamin E found in most supplements. Many multivitamins contain vitamin E, but typically they contain only the form known as alpha tocopherol. This alpha tocopherol is the principal component in vitamin E that supports our health, but it is not the only form that is necessary for senior men and most likely for senior women, too. The vitamin E found in foods such as sunflower seed kernels, avocados, and asparagus contains all the components of vitamin E which number at least eight. For senior men research has found that in addition to the alpha component they need the gamma component, in order to ensure their prostate health. It would not be surprising to discover that senior women need the gamma component to insure the health of their breasts and reproductive organs. It turns out that for senior men the lack of the gamma component of vitamin E can have a very negative effect on their prostate health.
Seniors Can Reduce Risk of Colorectal Cancers
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For seniors who are concerned about taking affordable, preemptive steps to promote their senior health, here are five steps that, if taken, can greatly reduce the risk of contracting colorectal cancer. The results are from a study in Europe that were recently published in a medial journal in Britain. The researchers found that folks who lost weight, limited their consumption of alcoholic beverages, stopped smoking, maintained a healthy diet and exercised about 30 minutes a day reduced their risk of colorectal cancer by more than 20%. This was the first study that combined all five factors, because earlier studies had considered these factors individually in isolation from the others. It is not certain why following these recommendations helps to prevent colorectal cancer, but suffering from high insulin and diabetes are known risk factors for colorectal cancer. Lack of physical activity and obesity lead to high insulin states, that typically lead to the growth of cancer cells. The European study found that women who lost weight sufficient to reduce their waist size to 35 inches and men to reduce their waist size to 40 inches were in the healthy zone. In terms of alcohol consumption men who consumed no more that 14 drinks per week and women no more than 7 were also remained in the healthy zone. In summary seniors who want to take preemptive aging steps to foster their senior health would be well advised to implement these five lifestyle recommendations.
