The Best Treatment for #Hypoglycemia #CBHealthNY

At the Center for Balanced Health, we help patients manage their hypoglycemia by telling them to: 1. Eat five to six small meals a day about every three hours. Think of yourself as a fuel-efficient automobile. You want constant flow of energy (glucose) throughout the day. 2. Avoid meals that are too small or too large especially at night. Meals that are too small will not provide enough energy to get you through the day. Meals that are too large place a larger burden on your metabolic system to process these nutrients and thus can trigger a hypoglycemic reaction. 3. DON'T skip meals especially breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day because it sets the tone. 4. Balanced eating. Always have some protein and fat at each meal or snack. Avoid and limit foods high in sugar or other refined carbohydrates especially on a empty stomach. Still utilize a controlled carbohydrate approach and get your carbohydrates from foods high in fiber (dark green leafy vegetables, non starchy vegetables, avocado, high fiber low carbohydrate crackers as examples). 5. Get a good night’s sleep. Good sleep helps replenish your system so that your body works more efficiently. 6. Use of a fiber supplement (make sure you take with enough water) or eating a high fiber food (without refined carbohydrates or sugar) before meals or snacks can help slow the absorption of carbohydrates and thus prevent rapid declines in blood sugar. 7. Exercise regularly. Strength training can improve glucose metabolism. 8. Avoid alcohol, caffeine, tobacco use. 9. Avoid the use of stimulants.

Struggling with temptation? A Progress Report can make a huge difference. #TheStubbornFatFix #DrKeithBerkowitz

Create a weight loss Progress Report and carry it with you. It does’t have to be fancy. Some notes jotted down on a piece of paper will do. Write down how much you’ve lost and any side benefits you’ve noticed. Feeling more energetic? Write it down. Has your mood improved? Write it down. Have you been able to reduce your dosages of specific medications or stop taking them altogether? Definitely write it down! Are you physically able to accomplish tasks you were not able to accomplish before you lost weight? Write it down. Think of as much as you can, and jot it down on your Progress Report. Add to it over time. Whenever you are tempted to eat emotionally, pull it out and read it out loud.

Eat Fat, Live Longer #TheStubbornFatFix #DrKeithBerkowitz

You’ve probably heard that the typical American diet- with its high emphasis on fatty cuts of meat- is what causes heart disease. We’re wondering, however, if anyone ever told you about the high-fat diets of the Masai? No, you say? That’s the answer we expected you to give, because many industry groups would probably rather you didn’t know about the Masai and others who seem to thrive on a high-fat diet. It seems to confuse the low-fat message, doesn’t it? The Masai are a tribe in Africa that consumes a diet that is almost 100 percent saturated fat. Whole milk and beef are dietary stables. Do the Masai drop dead from heart attacks at age 40? No, they do not. The members of this tribe do not suffer from heart disease. They just don’t get it. The Masai are just one of many societies around the globe that thrives on a diet rich in fat. How can this be? It’s because animal fat alone is not what causes heart disease, cancer and other health problems. It’s not until members of these healthy-fat-eating societies start eating typical American convenience foods such as fast food and processed foods that their rates of heart disease start to climb. It appears that natural sources of fat are not what make Americans more likely to suffer a heart attack than folks living in other countries around the world. It’s the sugar, processed flour and starch, and synthetic fats.

Share your diet with your family #TheStubbornFatFix #DrKeithBerkowitz

If you eat one way while everyone else in the family eats another way, you won’t stay on the diet for long. There’s no reason not to introduce the Stubborn Fat Fix way of eating to your entire family. We’re talking about real food. More than one in five kids is overweight, and type 2 diabetes affects kids as young as age four. Both overweightness and diabetes are related to diets rich in processed foods and fast food. To get your kids on board, introduce pure foods such as fresh fruit, vegetables, and other whole foods. The only reason children like Twinkies is because grown-ups let them taste them. We know kids who say, “McDonald’s? That’s yucky!”. That’s because their parents taught them this view, and, more important, never took them to a fast food restaurant during their formative years. Get your kids involved in choosing healthful foods when shopping. Let them put the carrots, apples, another foods in the cart. Save less-healthy snacks for special occasions.

Choose Carbs with Fiber #TheStubbornFatFix

We allow bread, fruit, and other carbohydrate foods on all of our plans, but we recommend choosing higher fiber, naturally lower carb versions of these foods so you can maximize the nutritional value form the carbs you eat. To do so, calculate a food’s fiber score. What’s that? The fiber score is the number you get when you divide the grams of fiber in a food by the grams of carbohydrates and multiply it by 100. Try to choose the foods with the highest scores in each food category, opting for the highest fiber veggies, fruits, grains, and other foods. (Keep in mind that you should combine high-carbohydrate foods with some protein and fat to minimize the blood sugar response.

Fats 101: Polyunsaturated Fats #TheStubboenFatFix

These fats are found in plant oils, and some types decrease both LDL and HDL. There are many types of polyunsaturated fats, including omega-3 fats, omega-6 fats, and omega-9 fats. Of these, omega-3s are most beneficial to heart health- they’ve been shown to lower triglycerides and blood pressure and prevent blood clots. They are found in salmon, mackerel, herring, halibut, scallops, and shrimp. Plant foods such as flaxseeds and walnuts contain a type of fat called alpha-linolenic acid that is converted into the usable form of omega-3 by the body. Other sources of omega-3s are dark green vegetables such as seaweed, broccoli, spinach, and kale. It’s thought that consuming a diet high in omega-6 fats (found in vegetable oils, such as corn and soy) and low in omega-3 fats increases the risk of heart disease.

Decrease your #insulin levels, increase your life span. #CBHealthNY

Researchers have long known that people who reduce their insulin levels either through exercise or calorie restriction ten to live longer than people with higher insulin levels. For example, studies show that centenarians tend to have lower insulin levels than people who die earlier, and their cells tend to be more sensitive to the hormone’s effects. High insulin levels have been shown to speed the aging rate of cells and tissues throughout the body. When insulin levels remain low, cells more easily fight off age-related diseases such as cancer, dementia and stroke.