15 Dec
The tool is called “MyPlate D” and it is meant to help individuals track and manage their diabetes.
The tool includes:
* Glucose level monitoring
* Insulin usage tracking
* Ability to export glucose & insulin tracking data
* New personalized charts
* Recipes from Chris Smith, The Diabetic Chef
14 Dec
For all my friends in NYC who read this blog, please check out Just Food, an organization dedicated to uniting local farms and city residents of all economic backgrounds with fresh, seasonal, sustainably grown food. The have an amazing website and the work they are doing is great! If you have any interest in community gardening and volunteering, and are interested in expanding the reach of this organization please check it out!
And for all my fellow NYU-ers who are still in school…..they offer internships! Check it here. =)
9 Dec
Very interesting article = basically Atkins must have been very gloomy =)
Boston Globe – 12/07/09
Read full article here.
Not all foods are created equal, whether the goal is having a healthier heart or losing weight. And the same could be true when it comes to what we eat and how depressed or happy we feel, how well we learn, and whether we suffer from mental illness.
A study published last month in the Archives of Internal Medicine divided a group of 106 overweight and obese people into two groups: About half spent a year following a diet low in fat – say goodbye to steak and pastries – and high in carbohydrates (breads, pastas, beans, potatoes, and rice). The other half went for a year on a low-carb, high-fat diet – have a burger, but skip the bun. In both groups, people lost an average of 30 pounds each and generally said they felt happier two months into the diet.
But after a year on the diet, the people who ate less fat and more carbs continued to report feeling happier and less depressed and anxious than they had before. The other dieters, who ate more fat and less carbohydrates, felt their moods decline from the early rise they had noted.
2 Dec
Just got an email about this. Even though I have tried mercilessly to get off this mailing list they keep sending me ridiculous stuff like this all the time.
Vanessa’s Lesson of the Day:
Don’t replace one bad pizza with another less-bad pizza. Just don’t eat the Pizza!
1 Dec
I just read an interesting article from the NYTimes about the rise of food stamp usage in American since the recession, and how the stigma of food stamps has been fading. (Read full article here).
“With food stamp use at record highs and climbing every month, a program once scorned as a failed welfare scheme now helps feed one in eight Americans and one in four children.”
For me, it is a sad fact, yet interesting study on how the US is handling this recession. For a country that is so materialistic and independent, it is almost encouraging to see young married couples or college students using the government aid. It is also more nutritous – ultimately it is better to use food stamps to buy bread and milk than to save money by eating ramen noodles. One of the families interview talked about the husband who would go hungry while working night shifts at grocery stores. “He tried to fill up on cereal and eggs. He ate a lot of Spam. Then he went to work with a grumbling stomach to shine lights on food he could not afford.” Stories like that show how unhealthy it can be, and food stamps can help to aleviate some of the stress.
“In more than 750 counties, the program helps feed one in three blacks. In more than 800 counties, it helps feed one in three children. In the Mississippi River cities of St. Louis, Memphis and New Orleans, half of the children or more receive food stamps. Even in Peoria, Ill. — Everytown, U.S.A. — nearly 40 percent of children receive aid.”
25 Nov
Unless you are super vegetarian, everyone loves turkey! So in honor of t-day, here are a few fun facts about turkey:
1. Turkey is a very good source of protein. A four ounce serving provides 65.1% of the daily value for protein.
2. Turkey is a very good source of the trace mineral, selenium. Selenium is of fundamental importance to human health. It is an essential component of several major metabolic pathways, including thyroid hormone metabolism, antioxidant defense systems, and immune function.
3. Turkeys are native to the United States and Mexico and are a food that was part of the traditional culture of the native Americans. Christopher Columbus brought turkeys back with him to Europe upon his return from the New World and by the 16th century, turkeys were being domestically raised in Italy, France and England.
4. If possible, purchase turkey that has been organically raised since these methods of raising turkey are both more humane and produce turkeys that are better for your health.
5. Turkey puts you to sleep.
Facts provided from “The World’s Healthiest Foods” – the last point was mine =)
18 Nov
The Washington Post recently released a study done by the USDA that states how food sources are inadequate for children and families in our country. Well, I could have told you that a looooong time ago.
The article puts most of the blame on our struggling economy, however this is a trend that has be going on for quite some time. Only more reason to start investing time in backyard gardens and funding for proper school lunches. We wonder why are country has such high obesity rates – it is because no one has access or education on proper food sources.
“The data show that dependable access to adequate food has especially deteriorated among families with children. In 2008, nearly 17 million children, or 22.5 percent, lived in households in which food at times was scarce — 4 million children more than the year before. And the number of youngsters who sometimes were outright hungry rose from nearly 700,000 to almost 1.1 million.
Among Americans of all ages, more than 16 percent — or 49 million people — sometimes ran short of nutritious food, compared with about 12 percent the year before. The deterioration in access to food during 2008 among both children and adults far eclipses that of any other single year in the report’s history.”
Read full article here.
9 Nov
“Over 100,000 types of cancers are caused by excess body fat, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research, which Thursday released comprehensive data on cancer cases in the United States and reaffirmed its message that people should maintain a normal body weight and remain physically active throughout life.
Being overweight makes a person susceptible to cancer because it increases the amount of hormones like estrogen circulating in the body and disrupts how the body processes insulin, which is linked to higher risk of cancer. Being overweight also creates low-grade inflammation in the body, which is increasingly being found to play a role in cancer, according to AICR health experts.”
The Independent. Read full article here.
6 Nov
“The United States ranks 31st in life expectancy (tied with Kuwait and Chile), according to the latest World Health Organization figures. We rank 37th in infant mortality (partly because of many premature births) and 34th in maternal mortality. A child in the United States is two-and-a-half times as likely to die by age 5 as in Singapore or Sweden, and an American woman is 11 times as likely to die in childbirth as a woman in Ireland.”
New York Times by: Nicholas D. Kristof
Amazing OP-Ed, please read the whole piece here.
I am posting this because it saddens me that so many Americans are under the impression that we have this great health care system. I would like to be the example that this is NOT true. I am a full-time working employee of a major university, and I have full health benefits with the university medical plan. Sounds perfect right?
I have waited months to get a doctor appointment, I can only see residents, and have gotten beyond poor service for the amount of $$ I pay every month.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation did a report on how the quality of US healthcare compares globally. Guess what? We ranked last.
If this is the system that we will continue to have, if Obama’s plan does not pass, then I urge everyone to really look at preventative care, good healthy eating and exercise, and try to see the doctor as much as you can. Demand good health care and patience from your practicioners – you are paying them a lot to take care of you!!
Stay healthy….
V
3 Nov
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The owner and operator of a Houston-area durable medical equipment (DME) company today pleaded guilty to defrauding the Medicare program, announced Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer, U.S. Attorney Tim Johnson of the Southern District of Texas and Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).
Noel Wayne Jhagroo, 47, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore in the U.S. District Court in Houston. In his plea, Jhagroo admitted that he owned and operated a DME company called Trucare Medical Equipment Services (Trucare), and that he billed Medicare for equipment and supplies that were in most instances medically unnecessary, or were never actually provided to Medicare beneficiaries. Sentencing has been scheduled for Feb. 23, 2010.
Jhagroo admitted that beginning in April 2004 and continuing through July 2009, he conspired with others to submit approximately $962,000 in fraudulent claims to Medicare. Specifically, Jhagroo admitted that he billed Medicare for enteral nutrition products that, according to Medicare regulations, were only to be used for patients who had feeding tubes inserted or surgically implanted in their noses, mouths or stomachs. Only one of the numerous Medicare beneficiaries for whom Jhagroo submitted bills to Medicare for such nutrition products had such a tube. Jhagroo also admitted to actually delivering only a fraction of the products for which he billed Medicare.
Read Full Newswire Here.
