Carmen Miranda, the so-called “Brazilian Bombshell,” once sported a “hat” topped with around 17 pieces of fruit and two bunches of grapes. Far more than you need to have every day! Turns out that enjoying two servings (that’s an apple and eight large strawberries, for example) a day can slash your risk for Type-2 diabetes over the next five years by 36%. Psst! Fruit juice doesn’t work that magic!
The study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism that revealed fruit’s diabetes-fighting powers also found why it’s so effective. Seems that eating whole fruit improves insulin sensitivity so the body has to crank out less insulin to control blood sugar levels. That’s important, because not only are high levels of circulating insulin related to diabetes, they also damage your blood vessels, leading to high blood pressure and heart disease, and are associated with obesity.
While eating whole fruit is tasty, you can also use it fresh in foods you prepare. Try these recipes in Dr. Mike’s “What to Eat When Cookbook”: Blueberry, Fig, Prune & Balsamic Salad Dressing; Heirloom Tomato & Peach Salad; Cucumber, Orange & Mint Salad; Snap Pea & Strawberry Salad; and a thirst-quenching Grape Escape.
If you do cook the fruit (berries are tasty when served warm on steel-cut oatmeal), the liquid you get is loaded with nutrients -- save it for smoothies, like the What to Eat When Vitality Smoothie, or freeze it in ice cub trays to use in sauces or to flavor broiled salmon.
Six ways to slash your familial risk for dementia
Ron Prescott Reagan, 63, President Ronald Reagan’s son, may be the political opposite of his conservative father, but one thing he and his dad may have in common is a familial risk for dementia. President Reagan had Alzheimer’s for 10 years when he died in 2004 at age 93. And a new study says (if you don’t adopt dementia-defeating habits) having an immediate family member with dementia ups your risk for the disorder by 78% compared to folks with no close relative who has been affected.
The good news: A study, published in the journal Circulation, identified six lifestyle habits that go a long way to preventing dementia -- even for folks with this increased familial risk. The researchers followed almost 302,239 men and women aged around age 60 for eight years. Folks with a familial predisposition for dementia slashed their risk by adopting at least three of the healthy behaviors -- and more healthy habits provide additional protection.
1. Not having obesity.
2. Getting 150 minutes or more a week of moderate to vigorous activity.
3. Regularly sleeping six to nine hours a night.
4. Consuming two (for men) or one (for women) alcoholic drinks a day or less.
5. Not smoking.
6. Eating a plant-based diet and skipping refined grains and processed meats.
Need help getting your healthy habits launched? Check out “What a Day on System Oz Looks Like” and “System Oz: What you need to know” at www.doctoroz.com. And adopt Dr Mike’s What to Eat When nutrition plan at www.whenway.com.
