Activity: do you see it as an opportunity or a nuisance?

Have a look at this short video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo

Does it make you want to move a bit more?

Often it’s all about your outlook

Having a positive outlook can work in your favour to increase your motivation. Instead of thinking about all the ‘cant’s’ and ‘shoulds’ why don’t you change your thinking around so that your thoughts are about ‘cans’ and ‘wills’. Why don’t you write yourself a list all the positive reasons for being more active, and then list all the things in your life that can help you get more active. Having these lists handy can help to increase your motivation to be more active and help you to overcome some of the barriers that you might currently experience which stops you from being active.

There are so many benefits

• Improve your health:
  • Reduce your blood pressure
  • Improve diabetes control
  • Increase bone density and muscle strength
  • Reduce or maintain your weight
  • Manage depression
  • Feel good and boost your mood
  • Increase your confidence and improve your self-esteem
  • Socialise and make friends
  • Sleep better
  • Have more energy
  • Reduce stress
  • Save money on transport and vehicle maintenance

What can you do?

Getting a good balance between planned and incidental activity is best – incidental is most beneficial in keeping your weight in check, and planned exercise where your heart rate rises usually gives you the additional health benefits for preventing and managing diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Incidental activity can be as simple as getting up to talk to a colleague at work rather than emailing them, or walking one block further than you usually would before work. Any way that you can move instead of being still or sitting is a good thing!

But I’ve got ailments!

This may be the case, but in most circumstances there are still activities that you can do which won’t exacerbate your health condition. Sometimes this means tailoring the type of exercise that you do so that you are working the parts of your body that are still good, or reducing the intensity, or doing activity in shorter bursts. It’s best to see a Physiotherapist or Exercise Physiologist so that you can get help to engage in activity within your physical abitities.

The Message

View activity as an opportunity every single day and figure out ways you can add activity into your usual routine – however and whenever you can!

Intense sweeteners: just how safe are they?

If you has been watching the television lately you might have seen that intense sweeteners (also known as artificial sweeteners) are under the microscope…again. They have been labelled as ‘evil’ and ‘addictive’ and ‘toxic’ – but is this really the case?

What are they?

Intense sweeteners are used to replace sugar in the diet. Their role is to make foods and drinks taste sweet while providing little or no energy (kilojoules).

There are a variety of intense sweeteners available, either in processed foods (marketed as ‘diet’) or sold for use as a sugar replacement for baking and drinks etc. All are many times sweeter than sugar, so only very small quantities need to be used.

Are they safe?

Intense sweeteners have gone through a rigorous review for safety with our nation food regulatory body (FSANZ) and they are deemed to be safe for human consumption. Concern has been raised as to the safety of artificial sweeteners however, the studies which have shown any adverse effect on health were animal studies, and the dosages of intense sweeteners that were used were many times greater than it would be possible to eat or drink. There is no credible research that indicates that intense sweeteners are addictive or toxic in humans. Some intense sweeteners (eg. Sorbitol and mannitol) can however cause tummy upsets, have a metallic aftertaste and add a different texture to foods.

Do you actually need to use sweeteners?

You really need to look at your total diet and your diabetes management to decide whether you would benefit from using these products. For someone that mainly drinks water instead of sweetened beverages, rarely consumes excess added sugar through processed foods (cakes, lollies, biscuits, ice creams etc) and adds little sugar to hot drinks then perhaps you don’t actually need to use intense sweeteners as your overall intake of added sugar is low. However if you do drink sweet beverages, eat processed foods with added sugar and do regularly add sugar to hot drinks then you might actually benefit from replacing some of the added sugar in your diet. Large loads of sugar such as that in a 600ml soft drink is likely to be far too much sugar for anyone, so it is good for everyone to choose diet options, or better still, choose water. Choosing ‘diet’ food products may also be useful if you are looking to lose weight – as the total kilojoules in the food will be reduced. Seeing a Dietitian can help you to assess whether you might need to use these and if so help you to decide which one might be best for you.

Training your tastebuds

Eating too much sweetness can train the brain to expect sweet foods, resulting in sweet cravings. If you are concerned about your intake of artificial sweeteners or sugar why don’t you try and retrain your taste overtime, reducing your intake of sweet foods all together. A few simple ways to do this is:

• Gradually reducing your intake of added sugar in hot drinks. Start by reducing it by ½ a teaspoon and try this for a few weeks
• You can also easily switch from full sugar soft drinks to diet versions and not notice the difference – except maybe in your blood glucose levels. Alternatively, choose water as your main drink
• Eat nourishing meals with low GI carbohydrates so that you are feel full and satisfied may  reduce the feeling that you need to have something sweet.

Remember that healthy eating is all about moderation so too much of anything, including intense sweeteners might actually mean that you are missing out on other essential nutrients that your body needs for good health.  And with diabetes, small amounts  at a time of sugar, jam or honey or the occasional sweet treat should only have a modest or short term effect on your blood glucose levels so it is ok to include these foods in small amounts or occasionally in your diet.

Virtual Healthy Shopping Tours

Did you know that the Dietitians at Diabetes Tasmania are now running ‘Virtual’ Healthy Shopping Tours? If you have a group that aren’t able to tour the supermarket then we can bring the supermarket to you! The session will aim to teach the principles of healthy eating, how to interpret the confusing world of food labels and has loads of practical examples to help boost your skills in reading food labels. The session can be run in 1 hour so it fits perfectly into a workplace lunch break. We can tailor the session to best suit the needs of you group too.

If you would like to talk to one of our friendly Dietitians about a Virtual Shopping Tour, why not give them a call on 1300 136 588.

Has your passion for food deserted you?

This gallery contains 2 photos.

Do you feel a bit lost with your dietary habits with your diabetes? If you feel that you need a bit of inspiration when it comes to managing food and eating with your diabetes, why don’t you check out the … Continue reading →

Chewing the fat

Fat has gone in and out of fashion for the past few decades. What is the latest in nutrition science when it comes to dietary fat?

The low fat diet

This is a thing of the past! Research has suggested that the promotion of a low fat diet has not helped us turn around the overweight and obesity trend in Australia, likely as we have ended up eating more high GI carbohydrates to replace the fat we have taken out. And new research indicates that a high carbohydrate diet in place of fat can put you at the same risk of developing conditions such as heart disease. Remember that if you have diabetes you are at greater risk of developing heart disease so this latest research is all the more important.

Good fat vs bad fat

‘Unhealthy’ fats include saturated and trans fats and can be detrimental to our heart health as they can contribute to a build-up of fatty material, inside the blood vessels and is a major cause of heart disease. Major sources of unhealthy fats include fat on meat, full fat dairy products, butter, coconut cream and milk and manufactured cakes/biscuits/pastries.

‘Healthy’ fats on the other hand can reduce the ‘bad’ cholesterol and increase good cholesterol which can benefit your heart health when eaten in moderate amounts. Healthy fats are in foods such as vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, nut pastes, avocado and oily fish such as salmon, sardines and tuna.

Choose moderate amounts of healthy fat and high quality carbohydrates

Fat is actually a really important essential nutrient in our diet and can help to make us feel full so reduce our portion sizes overall. There is a lot of information out there but the most current advice is to choose a moderate fat diet, based mainly on healthy fats whilst limiting saturated fat intake. If your diet is high in carbohydrates, replacing some carbohydrate choices with small amounts of unsaturated fats would also be great for reducing your risk of heart disease.

Putting this nutrition science into practice

• Choose low fat dairy products
• Trim the visible fat off meat
• Remove the skin from chicken
• Read food labels for saturated fat
• Limit coconut milk and coconut cream
• Bake starchy vegetables such as potato in a small amount of oil instead of boiling them, and moderate your potato portion
• Limit fried take-away foods and manufactured cakes/pastries
• Sprinkle ground linseed on breakfast cereal or choose wholegrain bread with linseeds
• Add pine nuts or sesame seeds to salads or sprinkle over vegetables
• Use tahini as a spread on crackers or as a base for dips, sauces and stews
• Choose margarine made from sunflower and safflower oils instead of butter or lard

So the message is…

Out with the low fat/high carbohydrate diet and in with the moderate healthy fat, moderate high quality carbohydrate diet. The emphasis is on ‘moderate’ as too much fat is still more likely to add up to too energy and possibly weight gain. Why don’t you see an Accredited Practising Dietitian as it is their job to figure out all the science and give you the practical everyday dietary advice!

Introducing…Nutrition Tasmania

 

 

 

Did you know that here at Diabetes Tasmania we are growing our nutrition service to assist more Tasmanians? We appreciate that our Accredited Practising Dietitians (APD) have skills in a range of areas, so we’ve decided to utilise this nutrition expertise and expand our services.

For individuals

Do you know someone that could benefit from a nutrition service? An APD can assist in the treatment of a range of medical conditions including:

• Allergy and Intolerance
• Bone health
• Eating disorders
• Gastric banding or other weight reduction surgery
• General health and healthy eating
• Gastrointestinal issues (irritable bowel syndrome, diverticular disease, lactose intolerance)
• Malnutrition (overweight, obesity, underweight)
• Maternal health (pre-pregnancy planning, pregnancy, post-partum, gestational diabetes)
• Medical nutritional therapy for a wide range of acute and chronic conditions (heart, renal, liver, respiratory, cancer, etc.)
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Any other nutrition-related conditions

For families

Does your family want to get healthier? Some people find it beneficial (and supportive) to attend appointments with their family members and/or partner as the changes that they want to make on a personal level are often changes that the whole family would benefit from.

For workplaces

Nutrition Tasmania is able to provide services including:

• Food skills, demonstrations and workshops to encourage healthy eating
• Training, seminars, talks and presentations on a range of nutrition-related topics
• Corporate health: Engaging and practical sessions in your workplace. They can also be supported by food service menu reviews (i.e. onsite canteens), individual consultations and policy development (i.e. healthy catering policy).
•  Aged Care: individual reviews
• Food service menu reviews
• Other consultancy work – e.g. nutrition policy development, resource development, media work

How to get more information about Nutrition Tasmania

Phone us on 1300 155 018 to have a chat about our exciting new service or have a look at our website:

http://www.nutritiontas.com.au/

Please feel free to share this information with your friends and family.

And let’s not forget that we are always here to assist people with or at risk of diabetes!

Breakfast: Is it really going to give you the best start to the day?

Is breakfast really that important to our overall health? The answer is yes! If you regularly skip breakfast you may well also be skipping out on some essential nutrients for good health. Not to mention you may feel more tired and irritable!

Why do people skip breakfast?

Has anyone heard the following lines from friends or family? Or do you find yourself using them?

• “Skipping breakfast will help me to lose weight”
• “I’m too busy”
•  “I’m not hungry in the morning”
• “All breakfast cereals are full of sugar”
• “I don’t know what to choose for breakfast”

No matter what your age is, there are actually many benefits to eating a healthy breakfast.

Regular breakfast eaters:

• Are more likely to be of normal weight compared to non-breakfast eaters
• Are more likely to have improved levels of alertness, concentration, mental      performance and memory
• Are more likely to be in a better mood
• Are less likely to snack on not so nutritious food during the day which can result in weight gain and poor nutrition and health status
• Are more likely to be meeting their daily fibre needs for good bowel health
• Eat more nutrients (including essential vitamins and minerals) than their breakfast-skipper counterparts

Busy? Here are some tips:

• Keep a supply of healthy wholegrain cereals in the house, these are quick and easy and very nutritious. Keep a carton of low fat UHT milk in the cupboard too, just in case you run out of milk and don’t have the time to head out and get more
• If you have trouble getting to the shops regularly, many of the major supermarket chains are not offering online shopping orders which can be delivered to your home
• Keep some low GI bread in the freezer so that you always have it on hand
• Keep some snack size cereals at work just in case your morning routine goes out the window
• A number of food companies make quick and easy breakfast drinks with added vitamins, minerals and fibre. These could be an occasional alternative when you are too busy to sit down and eat

So…what are some healthy options for breakfast?

• A bowl healthy cereal, like wholegrain or high fibre varieties, with low fat milk and sliced fresh fruit
• A delicious smoothie made from low fat milk, fresh fruit and yoghurt
• Fresh fruit and yoghurt with some wholegrain/low GI toast
• Bircher muesli with a variety of fruits and nuts added
• Pancakes topped with fruit and yoghurt
• Poached or boiled eggs on wholegrain/low Gl toast
• An omelette made with added vegetables such as onion, capsicum, mushrooms, spinach and tomato
• Wholegrain or wholemeal muffins topped with asparagus, tomato and low fat melted cheese
• Raisin toast spread with ricotta cheese, and a piece of fruit
• Wholegrain/low GI toast with a variety of toppings such as avocado, baked beans, tomatoes, peanut butter and a piece of fruit

How to choose when the options seem endless?

Why not attend a Healthy Shopping Tour. The tours are free of charge and are run by an Accredited Practising Dietitian who will assist you to understand food packaging and labels so you can make healthy choices for all the foods that you purchase. Phone 1300 136 588 to make a booking.

Snacking: Friend or Foe

Do you really need to snack?

It all depends…

Snacks can certainly be part of a healthy diet, but snacking can sometimes end up giving your body the same energy and nutrients as a whole meal. So instead of having three meals a day and a couple of smaller snacks, you could actually end up having 6 main meals which can potentially lead to weight gain or hinder weight loss attempts. When thinking about your snacking habits the best way is to ask yourself “am I actually hungry”?

For some people, if you eat healthy meals with plenty of low GI foods, you don’t actually feel hungry in between meals so don’t really need to snack. For others, smaller meals/snacks across the day assist them to feel nourished and comfortably full so snacks are important. Some people may need snacks if they are on certain medications, or could eat more snacks to actually improve their appetite throughout the day. Think about which category you might fall into with snacking – and this should help you to determine whether you actually need those snacks throughout the day.

Snacking tips

• Listen to your inner-hunger…ask yourself, ‘am I actually hungry?’
• Change your usual activities or routine – walk around the block on your morning tea break instead of eating if you discover that you not actually hungry
• Pack your food for the day if you are working and only eat what you pack
• Portion out snack foods in the cupboard so that you don’t get out a whole box or bag and eat more than you originally intended. It is very easy to ‘just have one more…’ if the food is in front of you
• Move away from the kitchen and embark upon an activity which takes your focus off eating
• Encourage your workplace to change its ways and stock healthier snacks for everyone to enjoy
• Try a high fibre and/or low GI snacks which will keep you feeling nourished until your next meal

Need more information on your snacking habits?

Why not book into see one of our Accredited Practising Dietitians at Diabetes Tasmania. They can assist you to improve your eating habits and help you decide whether you really do need snacks! Just phone 1300 136 588 (local call cost) to discuss making an appointment.

Healthy snack ideas?

Healthy snacks are usually based on the core food groups (wholegrain breads, grains or cereals, fruit, vegetables, lean protein or low fat dairy) so try and ensure that most of your snacks include nutrient dense foods instead of highly processed foods which tend to be rich in saturated fat, salt and kilojoules. Try some of these healthy snack ideas:

• A serve of fruit (tinned, fresh or stewed)
• Low fat yoghurt
• Raisin toast or a crumpet with honey or ricotta cheese
• A fruit smoothie with low fat milk, yoghurt and blended fresh fruit
• Savoury muffin or pin wheel with carrot, mushroom, capsicum and zucchini
• Wholemeal pita bread lightly toasted in the oven until crisp, served with some vegetable-based dip
• A boiled egg with wholegrain toast

For more snack ideas/recipes, visit the Healthy Food Guide or Dietitians Association of Australia:

http://www.healthyfoodguide.com.au/recipes

http://daa.asn.au/for-the-public/smart-eating-for-you/

Weight-Loss Surgery Cuts Type 2 Diabetes

Results of a new study in Rome have been released comparing conventional diabetes treatment with bariatric surgery treatment in 60 morbidly obese people.

It’s an interesting article but begs the question: Did the patients in either category of diabetes treatment receive support from a qualified Dietitian?

Diabetes Tasmania recommends dietetic support is a is a critical element in any successful diabetes treatment plan, not to mention a great way to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Have a read:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/04/16/weight-loss-surgery-cuts-type-2-diabetes/

diabetes: the silent pandemic and its impact on Australia

It is likely that the total number of Australians with diabetes is well over 1.5 million. It is estimated that for every 5 Australians diagnosed with diabetes, there are 4 who remain undiagnosed.

Are you at risk?

Click on this link and see how you score!

The Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool (AUSDRISK)

For more information and statistics on diabetes in Australia, please click on the following link:

http://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/Documents/DA/What’s%20New/12.03.14%20Diabetes%20management%20booklet%20FINAL.pdf