Even a little exercise linked with lower stroke risk in people with afib
Testosterone therapy without evidence of deficiency may boost heart risk
Weight-loss drug may lower risk of heart attacks and infections
What to eat on the DASH diet
Migraine: How it's diagnosed and what that means
Tricep workouts you can do at home
Mindfulness practices to reduce stress and improve focus
Antihistamines may not offer meaningful relief from eczema symptoms
Overweight and taking blood pressure medications: Study finds it's a trend that's working
FDA approves first mRNA-based flu vaccine
Healthy Eating Archive
Articles
How to cut back on sugar and salt
Most Americans consume much more than the recommended levels of sugar and salt. However, you can retrain your palate to be satisfied with less of both.
Image: tsvibrav/iStock
If you own a sugar bowl and a saltshaker, you may be wondering if you should ever fill them again. The panelists crafting the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasized that we're consuming much more sugar and salt than is healthy for us and have advised us to pare our intakes of both considerably. That said, they have acknowledged that the sugar bowl and saltshaker aren't the principal villains at the dining table. About 80% of the sugar and salt we eat is added to packaged and commercially prepared foods.
What are added sugars?
Reducing your sugar intake
Although beverages are the most important source of added sugars, they aren't the only ones. There are additional ways to reduce your intake of added sugars, and it doesn't have to mean giving up desserts. Here are several ideas for reducing the amount of sugar in your diet, targeting sugary drinks just as a first step:
Give your taste buds time to adjust. If you're in the habit of having two spoonful's of sugar in your coffee or tea, for instance, start by going to one-and-a-half for a week, then down to one. If sodas are part of your regular routine, cut your consumption by one a week, then two.
Adapt your recipes. You can make your favorite recipes less sugary by reducing a little bit at a time—try using one-quarter less sugar than the recipe calls for, then one-third—right up until you notice the difference. You may come to prefer the less-sweet variation.
Reach for fruit rather than juice. Squeezing fruit breaks down the cells and releases sugar into the juice, so that it enters the bloodstream more rapidly. Moreover, a glass of juice is usually the caloric equivalent of three whole fruits. Instead of drinking fruit juice, eat a piece of fresh fruit. You can make fruit drinkable and still preserve its fiber by blending it with almond milk or low-fat yogurt in a smoothie. If you just can't give up juice, make it 100% fruit juice that is not sweetened and limit the amount to a 4-ounce glass.
Check your cereal box. If you enjoy cold cereal or instant oatmeal for breakfast, look at the labels and choose one with minimal added sugar. It's also worth noting that cereals made with refined grains are quickly broken down into sugars in the body. To wean yourself off your favorite cereal, try combining it with a whole-grain, high-fiber cereal, and add fruit.
What about salt?
Cutting down on salt
Even if you ban salt from your table, it is still easy to exceed the sodium limit. To avoid doing so, try the following:
Eat mostly fresh foods. Most of the sodium we eat comes from restaurant meals and processed foods, including canned vegetables and soups, pasta sauces, frozen entrées, lunch meats, and snack foods. If you start with unsalted, fresh foods and prepare them yourself, you can exercise better control over your sodium intake.
Take care with condiments. Sodium is found in many condiments besides ordinary table salt—including soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salad dressings, ketchup, seasoned salts, pickles, and olives. Baking soda, baking powder, and monosodium glutamate (MSG) also contain sodium.
Read the labels. The Nutrition Facts label on packaged food lists milligrams of sodium per serving, so it's important to note how many servings the container holds. The percent daily value is based on 2,300 mg, so if your own daily sodium limit is lower, the amount of sodium in a serving is actually a higher percentage than the label indicates. Be aware that some over-the-counter drugs also contain sodium.
Speak up. When dining out, ask to have your food prepared with less salt. You can also ask for a lemon or lime wedge to add more flavor to your food.
Spice it up. Cut back on salt by using more herbs and spices like basil, coriander, cumin, cayenne, powdered mustard, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, and turmeric. You might try making your own blends of spices and herbs to use along with lemon or lime juice or flavored vinegars.
Seek out specialty salts. Some kosher and gourmet salts contain less sodium than standard iodized table salt; check the Nutrition Facts label to make sure.
The good news
Should you try a subscription meal kit?
They provide hassle-free home-cooked meals. But watch the nutrient content.
Image: Bigstock
Wouldn't it be great if you had an assistant chef at home—someone who developed a delicious menu and then shopped for and measured all the ingredients to make it? All you'd have to do is cook and enjoy it. That's the idea behind the hot trend of subscription meal kits, which are delivered to your door. "It's very convenient, and it can challenge someone to try new foods with different seasonings," says Kathy McManus, director of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.
How it works
Downsides
Most meals take 30 or 40 minutes to prepare, a drawback if you're unable to stand for long periods. You'll have to do any necessary chopping yourself, a potential challenge if you have arthritis.
And while the food is fresh, it may not always be healthy. Some meals are high in sodium and calories. "And some recipes don't use whole grains or healthier carbohydrates; they use white potatoes and refined grains like jasmine rice," says McManus. That's especially important if you're on a restricted diet because of high blood pressure or diabetes.
What you should do
Can I substitute nuts for animal protein?
Nuts are a good source of plant fats and protein, but they are high in calories. It’s a good idea to limit nut consumption to 1 ounce per day.
The lowdown on low sodium
Here's how to keep your daily salt intake in check.
Image: Mark Poprocki/Thinkstock
Most men probably consume too much sodium, and new federal guidelines are aimed at helping them curb their habit.
The FDA advises no more than 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium daily—the amount in about 1 teaspoon of salt. (People with prehypertension and hypertension should limit their intake to 1,500 mg, roughly the amount in 3/4 tea-spoon of salt.)
Is eating dried fruit healthy?
Ask the doctor
Image: lola1960/iStock
Q. I love dried fruit and thought it was healthy. But I hear that you gain a lot of weight eating dried fruit, which is not healthy. What's the truth?
A. The truth is that the actress and comedian Mae West was wrong when she allegedly said "Too much of a good thing ... can be wonderful!" Food contains calories, and eating too many calories-even of healthy foods-leads to weight gain. But there are healthy calories and unhealthy ("empty") calories, and fruit is a healthy source of calories. That's as true of dried fruit as fresh fruit.
Substituting plant for animal protein may extend life for people with health risks
An analysis of two observational studies involving 130,000 participants suggests that substituting plant protein for some animal protein may reduce the risk of early death by one-third in people with unhealthy lifestyles.
6 suggestions for adding whole grains to your diet
Although they may seem unfamiliar, these nutritious foods are as easy to cook and use as white rice.
Image: Shalith/Thinkstock
Refined carbohydrates are out; whole grains are in. That's one of the messages from the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It makes a lot of sense, given that diets rich in whole grains are linked with a reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and certain cancers.
"All the grains we eat now started as whole grains, but we've stripped them down and lost some of the nutrition," says Stacey Nelson, manager of clinical nutrition at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.
Why Harvard experts have a beef with the new meat guidelines
The final recommendations do not specify limiting consumption of red and processed meats, which have been linked to cancer risk.
Image: Thinkstock
The report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, released in February 2015, suggested that the then-forthcoming update to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans adopt several changes from previous versions. It advised limiting added sugars to 10% of calories; removing the ceiling on dietary fats as long as saturated fat comprises no more than 10% of calories; and limiting consumption of red and processed meat.
When the final guidelines were released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) in January 2016, the caveat on red and processed meat was missing. Through that omission, the guidelines "censored conclusions of the scientific advisory committee," according to a statement on the website of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Frank Hu, Harvard professor of nutrition and epidemiology, was a member of the federal Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which spent two years reviewing reams of scientific evidence on diet and health and drafting the guidelines that were submitted to HHS and USDA. "Although there are some areas of improvement in this edition over previous ones, some simple but important recommendations are watered down, especially reducing consumption of red and processed meat," he says.
How much meat can you eat
Image: Thinkstock
Ask the doctor
Q Everything I read in Harvard Men's Health Watch about nutrition says to minimize the amount of red meat in my diet. Would it be best if I just gave it up completely? Or is there a safe amount to eat?
A Numerous studies have observed that consuming red meat is associated with diseases such as heart disease or colon cancer. In fact, the World Health Organization recently classified processed and red meats as cancer-causing substances. In most studies, it does appear that the lower your consumption of red meat, the better your health.
The Nordic diet: A northern twist to the Mediterranean diet
Image: iStock
With a focus on whole grains, berries, and fish, Northern European cuisine has some heart-friendly features.
If you've never heard of the Nordic diet, you might imagine a plate of those Swedish meatballs sold at Ikea. In fact, this eating style focuses on healthier fare, including an abundance of the plant-based foods nutritionists always encourage us to eat. And while the data are limited so far, some studies suggest that following a Nordic eating pattern may foster weight loss and lower blood pressure—both of which are good for the heart.
Even a little exercise linked with lower stroke risk in people with afib
Testosterone therapy without evidence of deficiency may boost heart risk
Weight-loss drug may lower risk of heart attacks and infections
What to eat on the DASH diet
Migraine: How it's diagnosed and what that means
Tricep workouts you can do at home
Mindfulness practices to reduce stress and improve focus
Antihistamines may not offer meaningful relief from eczema symptoms
Overweight and taking blood pressure medications: Study finds it's a trend that's working
FDA approves first mRNA-based flu vaccine
Free Healthbeat Signup
Get the latest in health news delivered to your inbox!
Sign Up
