Saturday, November 30, 2019

Stress and Heart Disease: 8 Smart Ways to Deal With Stress




Stress and heart disease are linked—exposing yourself to chronic stress can increase your risk of developing heart disease.
So, how can you deal with stress so that it will not harm your heart? What are some healthy ways to deal with stress? What are some practical ways to handle stress so that it does not give you serious health problems?
In this article, I want to show you how to deal with stress, as well as some stress management techniques you can employ to help you cope with stress at school, at work, or in the home so that you can enjoy a healthy life.
Now, what are some of the strategies you can use?

 

1.    Focus On Beautiful Scenes

  • Get 10 pictures of enchanting, exquisite, breathtaking scenes, such as waterfalls, a beach on an exotic tropical island, a beautiful lake nestled in gorgeous mountains, breathtaking shots of a forest or a botanical garden, the sun rising in the morning or setting in the evening, stars shining on a dark night, a river flowing through lush, verdant vegetation and so on.
  • Then, sit quietly and comfortably in your chair or on a mat, spread these pictures around you, and focus on each picture for five minutes, doing your best to see every element of peace and tranquility that you can possibly find in each picture.
  • Then, close your eyes and imagine yourself physically present at these locations enjoying yourself and having fun.
  • Try to breathe in deeply but slowly as you look at the pictures, and breathe out slowly through your mouth.
When you focus on pleasant scenes such as the ones listed above, the scenes will help your mind to grow calm and that can help you to relax and feel at ease.
Additionally, as you sit quietly observing and enjoying these images in a relaxed mood, your heart rate will reduce and the tension in your muscles will also ease so that you can feel calm and at peace with yourself.

2.    Exercise Regularly

Exercising stimulates chemicals in the brain which encourage the growth of nerve cells. Furthermore, exercising boosts the release of serotonin and norepinephrine, which are hormones that make one feel good and relaxed.
Additionally, when your heart rate goes up during exercising, a hormone known as ANP, which helps control the brain’s response to stress, is released into the body to induce happiness and positive feelings in your body.
Therefore, every day, try to exercise. There are various ways you can do this:
  • Sprint quickly for a distance of 50 meters, rest for two minutes, and sprint for another 50 meters every evening.
  • Run at a moderate, steady pace for 5 miles every day.
  • Climb up and down stairs continuously for 20 minutes every weekend.
  • Jump a rope quickly for 10 minutes, continue at a slower pace for 10 minutes, and then increase the pace for another 10 minutes every evening.
  • Walk briskly with your dog for 15 minutes, tickle it, tease it and play with it for 5 minutes, and then walk briskly again for another 10 minutes, during weekends.
  • Walk briskly to the canteen or restaurant at your workplace during lunch break instead of riding there in your car.
  • Use the stairs when you are going for lunch instead of using the elevator.
  • Cycle for 30 minutes with friends or family members on Saturdays and Sundays.

3.    Avoid Negativity

Hearing bad news after bad news, listening to the grumbling and complaining of people dissatisfied with life, and focusing on negative stuff can make you feel even more stressed out and worried.
Therefore, guard your mind by filling it with positive things—avoid radio and TV programs that are unnecessarily argumentative, especially the ones that argue about topics you are passionate about because such programs can make your blood pressure rise.
Furthermore,  spend a lot of time with positive-minded people who will speak encouraging words and words of motivation into your heart to inspire you.
Additionally, listen to motivational speeches when you have spare time on your hands, watch inspirational movies whose themes are peace, hope, love, contentment, faith in God, overcoming challenges and such themes, and make positive affirmations to yourself often.

4.    Try To Get Enough Sleep Every Night

A study conducted by scientists at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine suggests that when a person does not get enough sleep or when he or she suffers severe sleep disturbances, a large amount of cortisol, a stress hormone, is secreted into that person’s body.
In other words, when you don’t get enough sleep every day, your brain releases large amounts of this stress hormone and, consequently, your stress levels increase.
On the other hand, when you get enough sleep, you will wake up feeling refreshed, mentally alert, relaxed and composed, and that can help you to tackle your challenges in a calm mood.

5.    Don’t Try To Be A Perfectionist

One attitude that can make you increase your levels of stress is trying to be a perfectionist. When you are afraid to make mistakes, when you feel that you must always produce excellent work, and when you are always putting pressure on yourself to produce near-perfect work, you can become mentally exhausted and your anxieties can increase.
Therefore, remind yourself often of your fallibility and of the fact that you can’t get it right all the time.  Tell yourself that it is alright to make mistakes once in a while and that making mistakes does not make you a bad student, a bad worker, a bad spouse and so on, but a student, worker, or spouse who can get it right sometimes and get it wrong at other times.
Furthermore, look at your mistakes as opportunities to help you to grow and develop yourself instead of seeing them as signs which show that you are not good enough.

6.    Listen To Slow Music   

Slow, calm music can soothe nerves, help muscles to relax, as well as slow down the heart rate and decrease the levels of stress hormones in the body so that you can feel calm.
So, when you are worried about how you are going to get money to pay your child’s school fees, when you are troubled about the rape cases going on in your neighborhood because you have young daughters, when your boyfriend or girlfriend is giving you headaches, when your neighbor is acting in ways that irritate you, or when you get mad at the behavior of irresponsible drivers on the raid, listen to something cool and slow.
Close your eyes, focus on the instrumentals and the rhythms, let them sink into your mind and your heart and enjoy them. Additionally, you may hum to the music or whistle as you listen to it so that you can create happy feelings in your body, which will lower your blood pressure and help you to feel calm.

7.    Do Gardening

A study conducted in the Netherlands suggests that gardening can help a person to deal with stress. So, spend time growing food crops, flowers, fruits, vegetables, or rearing small animals such as rabbits, cane rats, or chickens.
As you tend the crops or take care of the animals, the focus of your mind will shift from work, family responsibilities, fears, and other worries and that will make you experience some amount of mental relief, which will help you to feel relaxed.

8.    Prayer

Prayer is one tool you can use to deal with stress. When you take a break from your activities to spend quiet time to commune with your Maker,  when you remind yourself that there is Someone greater than you who can help you with your struggles and problems, it can give you a sense of comfort and that can help you to have peace of mind.
So, say a prayer such as this one when you feel stressed out, “LORD, I glorify Your Name for Your mercies and Your grace which have sustained me to this day. LORD, my flesh and my heart are failing me. I feel overwhelmed by all the problems I am facing at the moment. I acknowledge that there is a limit to what I can do, but there is no limit to what You can do. Your grace is sufficient for me, LORD. Please give me Your grace and help me to solve the many problems that I have to deal with every day. Amen.”

Conclusion

To deal with stress, focus on beautiful scenes and eye-pleasing imagery, exercise regularly, avoid filling your mind with negative ideas and negative words, try to get enough sleep every day, don’t put pressure on yourself to produce perfect work always, listen to slow music when you are stressed out, do gardening often, and cast your cares and burden on God and you will feel relieved.

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How to Deal With Depression



"How can I overcome mild depression? What are some of the things I can do to pull myself out of depression? What are some of the healthy ways to cope with depression?” you may be asking.

In this article, I want to show you how to deal with depression so you can enjoy your life.

What are the strategies you can adopt?

1.    Watch Your Diet

Some foods can boost your mood and make you feel upbeat. So, for your breakfast, you may choose to drink chocolate drink or eat oats with whole grain bread, and a handful of almonds.

For your lunch, you may eat unpolished brown rice with broiled chicken stew, and for your dinner, you may eat beetroot with spinach stew prepared with chicken liver or halibut, and eat 20 grams of walnuts or Brazilnuts after your meal.

 

2.    Work On Your Mind

One of the main causes of depression is negative thoughts. When you look at the negative side of every situation, when you fail to challenge unhealthy thoughts, they will continue coming into your mind.

The way to defeat these negative thoughts is to renew your mind. This is how to get out of depression!

So, how can you challenge negative thoughts? What can you do to renew your mind? 

  • Avoid “all or nothing” thinking—do not see everything as “I win everything or I Iose everything.” For example, if you go for a job interview and you fail to get the position, don’t think that because you did not get the job it means you are a failure. Rather, think that you may not have succeeded today but you will succeed tomorrow, and think that you are not yet a failure as long as you can try to get that promotion at another time.
  • Try not to think, “I should have done this…” or “I should have done that…” when things don’t go well or when you are disappointed. Rather, think, “What is done is done. I must move on,” or “I will do it this way next time…”
  • Do not blame yourself for misfortunes. Think such as, “I did all I could. If it happened, it is not my fault. Other factors contributed to causing the misfortune, factors beyond my control,” when you experience misfortune.
  • Don’t focus on negative details and dwell on them. Rather, look for the positives in situations and fill your mind with those positive thoughts. For example, if you are involved in a car accident and your leg is amputated, don’t think, “I have lost that car which cost me $200,000. And here I am with an amputated leg, so many bills to pay, and to add insult to injury my wife has left me because of this accident.” Rather think, “That accident was horrible and it nearly cost me my life, but I still have life. I am still blessed with one leg and my two hands. With that, I can still live a happy life. And once there is life there is hope.”
  • When you are depressed, you fail to see that there are good things happening in your life, that you are doing positive things and growing as a person, and you don’t appreciate all the good things that are going on around you because you are too focused on what is going on in your head. That can make you feel miserable.
  • So, to deal with depression, separate the “real” you, the “you” that is doing good things every day from the “imagined you”. Supplant bad thoughts that come into your head with thoughts about the good things that you do each day. For example, if you think, “I am a very selfish person,” think about the gift you gave to your girlfriend when she had her birthday or the $20 you gave to a homeless child.

 

3.    Express Your Emotions To Someone Who Cares About You

When you keep all those negative feelings and negative thoughts bottled up, it will make you feel even more miserable. Therefore, try to pen up to someone.

  • Talk to a friend who will listen to you with patience without judging you or making fun of how you feel.
  • Talk to your brother or sister and let them know what you are going through. They may give you moral support which will make you feel better.
  • Talk to your husband or wife, if you are married, and ask for support. Do not be embarrassed about your condition. Your spouse will encourage you and motivate you and that will help to lift your spirit.
  • Talk to an experienced, elderly person in your neighborhood or in your church.
  • Talk to a therapist or a psychologist. Visit a website such as this one and search for a therapist online.
  • Have a conversation with your pastor and tell him about all that you are going through. He will share Bible verses with you which will strengthen your spirit and help you to feel fine.

When you open up to others, when you share your inner feelings and inner conflicts, it will help you to see your condition from another angle—something someone says may make you see that you are overreacting, or something someone does will make you see that you do not need to worry so much about whatever is causing you to feel depressed, and that will fill you with new hope and new energy which will make the thoughts of gloom and doom leave your mind and your heart.

 

4.    Do Your Best Not To Isolate Yourself

You may feel like isolating yourself from your siblings, school mates, and family members, but you have to fight those feelings and, instead, make an effort to socialize. Isolating yourself will cause the negative thoughts to bombard your mind.

I suffer from depression often myself because of some sicknesses I am battling and I have realized that isolating myself makes me think one bad thought after the other—the negative thoughts just keep coming unrelentingly into my head as though they are in love with me.

However, when you socialize, when you talk to people and listen to conversations, when you laugh with other people and play with them, it will help to distract you and you will be able to break the routine of always thinking about negative things.

 

5.    Volunteer Often

Volunteering can help you to beat depression. When you volunteer to help other people, especially the underprivileged in society, you will form associations and develop friendships that will let you see how fortunate you are in life. That will make you feel more grateful about the privileges you enjoy in life and, as a result, you will change the way you see life—you will see that you must enjoy what you have because you can lose it if you don’t, and that can help you to start living again.

  • So, volunteer to teach in deprived schools in Africa.
  • Clean the house of an elderly couple in your neighborhood.
  • Teach street children.
  • Raise money for your church.
  • Feed hungry children during Christmas.
  • Visit sick people in your neighborhood.
  • Cook for physically challenged people in your town.

 

6.    Pray

When Hannah, in 1 Samuel 1 of the Bible, was depressed because her rival was taunting and provoking her, she prayed to God and she felt better after that.

So, make it a habit to pray to the God of all comfort who pities us when we are going through suffering, hopelessness, and despair.

You may intone prayers such as, “Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for this day. I thank You for giving me life to see this day. Lord, I am not happy about life. Please help me to find joy despite my circumstances. Remind me of all the blessings You have given me and all the blessings I get every day. Let me find fulfillment in the love that my friends and family members show to me every day. Remind me of the wonders of Your hand, the singing birds, the beauty of flowers, the shining sun, the wind that blows, and the beautiful oceans so that I can see that there is a lot to enjoy about life, which will remind me of the fact that I should not stop living, I should not trap myself in my mind and think about imaginary things, but that I should experience life and enjoy it. Amen.”

Conclusion

If you want to deal with depression, make sure you consume enough vitamin B12, vitamin D, selenium, and Omega-3 fatty acids, toughen yourself mentally, do gardening often, share your feelings with someone who cares about you, go out often, help other people, and strengthen yourself spiritually by asking the Merciful and Gracious God to help you.

When you do these things, as well as when you adopt these strategies, you will be fine and you can enjoy life better.   

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Women and Heart Disease: How to Avoid Getting Heart Disease




Facts about women and heart disease show that this disease is  the leading cause of death for women in the United States.
Yaa Amankwaah is one woman who has suffered as a result of this disease—her only sister died after getting a heart disease some years ago. That experience taught her a valuable lesson which she wants to share with her sisters around the world.
“Before my sister developed heart disease, we ate anything and lived anyhow—we partied often, ate a lot of fatty foods, consumed a lot of salt, drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes, did all sorts of bad things, you name it. It was when she was diagnosed with the disease that we started learning about the causes of women’s heart disease. And when I found out about the ways she could have avoided getting the disease, I kicked myself. Just because of a little lack of knowledge, she developed that disease that took her life. If only we had known about the ways to…” Yaa started to cry at this point.
Taking women’s heart health issues seriously, making just a few changes to your life, choosing to eat healthy foods instead of unhealthy ones, and a few other changes, can help you to prevent getting this disease.

1.    Drink The Juice Of Natural Lemon Regularly

High blood pressure can cause damage to the blood vessels which supply blood to the heart. As a result, a person can get heart disease. Therefore, controlling your blood pressure can reduce your risk of developing a cardiovascular disease.
One way to do this is to drink natural lemon juice often. A study published by the National Center for Biotechnological Information of the National Institute of Health suggests that lemon can reduce the blood pressure of people who drink it often.
Accordingly, do your best to drink natural lemon juice every day. Some medical experts advise that one drinks a glass of warm water to which lemon has been added first thing in the morning. Alternatively, choose to drink about a teaspoonful of natural lemon juice after you eat your breakfast every day, or add two or three drops to your normal drinking water before consuming it.

2.    Reduce Your Consumption Of Red Meat

Research conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health has found that eating red meat often can increase your risk of developing heart disease. Furthermore, the research found out that eating red meat regularly can also increase the likelihood that you may die from cardiovascular disease.
On the other hand, when you replace red meat with other sources of protein which are healthier, such as beans, poultry, fish, you can reduce these risks significantly.
Therefore, instead of eating white rice with boiled or fried beef, choose to broil or cook chicken, without the skin, or eat your rice with mackerel or sardine stew. And instead of eating potatoes with minced beef meat, sausages, hot dogs, or goat meat, choose to eat it with grilled salmon and lemon, boiled or broiled rabbit meat, boiled duck meat, or roasted herrings.
Additionally, choose to prepare meals with beans, such as cowpea pie, often. Below, I show you how you can prepare this meal:
  1. The ingredients you need are:  about 340 grams of beans, about 150 grams of rice, ground smoke herrings, margarine, and wheat flour, and ingredients you will use to prepare a gravy.
  2. To prepare this meal, cook the beans and rice until the beans are very soft, and then mash the rice and the beans together.
  3. Prepare gravy and then add half of the gravy to the mashed rice and beans.
  4. Afterward, make the pastry using about 120 grams of the wheat flour and about 60 grams of the margarine.
  5. Then, line a greased pie dish. Subsequently,  pour the mixture into the pie dish and bake it in a moderately hot oven for about 20 minutes.
  6. When the food is cooked, spread the remaining gravy on it and serve. Approximate adult serving is 170 grams.

3.    Eat A Lot Of Fruits And Vegetables

A study conducted in Harvard found out that eating plenty of fruits and vegetables can help to lower blood pressure, thereby helping to reduce the risk of developing heart disease.
Therefore, instead of eating a breakfast such as tea with added sugar, muffins, and  eggs, or coffee with added sugar, bread with a spread of marmalade, jam, or jelly, choose to eat a breakfast of tea with no added sugar, bran bread, and slices of bananas or slices of watermelon.
Additionally, instead of eating a lunch such as white rice with ham, sausages, or hotdogs, choose to eat lunch such as white rice boiled together with beans, cabbage or eggplant stew, and have a dessert of one natural tangerine or one natural orange.  Furthermore, bake fruit cakes or vegetable cakes often for yourself and your family.

4.    Dance Often!

The Harvard Health Publication of the Harvard Medical School reports that a study conducted in the United Kingdom, and published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, has found that when one dances, it reduces his or her risk of developing heart disease. And it seems women benefit more from this form of exercise than men.
So, enroll in a dance studio this week or go to a community center to learn how to dance. On the other hand, if you already know how to shake your body to the rhythm of music, regularly play your favorite songs and dance to them for about 30 minutes in your room.
Alternatively, to make the exercise more engaging and more exciting, have dance parties or dance competitions with your friends.
Additionally, dance during praises and worship time at church. Give God glory for giving you your body which is so wonderfully created, and also for taking care of you throughout the week. That will please God and He may bless you with even better heart health.

5.    Pray for Your Heart Often

God tells us through the Bible in Psalms 127 v 1 that, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” In other words, unless God protects your heart and gives it strength, all the human efforts you make, all the health checks you do at the hospital, all the foods you eat in an the effort to have good heart health, and all the attempts you make to try to have a good heart will be in vain if He does not bless your efforts.
Accordingly, acknowledge God’s influence over the health of your heart by praying to Him to give you good heart health, often. You may intone prayers such as this one every day, “Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your mercies and grace. I thank You for giving me this wonderful body. Lord, I want you to protect my heart. Let it continue to be strong, and please make it even stronger so that I will have the strength to serve You. Give me the grace to avoid habits and lifestyles that can adversely affect my heart. And please give me the wisdom to live my life in such a way that I will avoid damaging my heart. Amen.”

Conclusion 

The statistics about women and heart disease may frighten you, as a woman, but if you decide to drink lemon juice every day, if you cut down on your consumption of red meat, and when you decide to eat fruits and vegetables often, as well as dance frequently and ask for God’s protection for your heart every day, you will enjoy good heart health, which will help you to enjoy your stay here on Earth.

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Diabetes and Heart Disease

Introduction

Diabetes is on the rise worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of people with diabetes rose from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014, and in 2015, about 1.6 million people died worldwide as a result of diabetes.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that, “more than 29 million Americans have diabetes.”
Heart disease is another medical condition which plagues a lot of people. According to WHO, it is the leading cause of death among adults worldwide.
Interestingly, diabetes and heart disease are closely linked. In this article, I explain the relationship between diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes, and heart disease, and how you can prevent both conditions.
Ready to learn more about this topic?
Let us start by taking a look at the link between the two medical conditions.

1.    Are Diabetes and Heart Disease Really Related?

You may be wondering, “Is there really a link between diabetes and heart disease? Is it true that there is a relationship between diabetes and heart disease?” Well, as sure as there is hell, there is a link between the two diseases.
Several years ago, the Framingham Heart Study showed that when a person has diabetes, that person’s risk of getting heart disease is increased significantly.
Additionally, according to the Harvard Health Publications of the Harvard Medical School, about 66.6% of people who have diabetes eventually die of heart disease or stroke.

2.    Diabetes Increases Your Heart Disease Risk

According to Dr. Benjamin Scirica, a cardiologist working at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, diabetes, which causes high levels of blood sugar in your body, activates your immune system and, as a result, your body develops chronic inflammations.
A combination of the high blood sugar and the inflammations causes the arteries to get bruised. Consequently, the walls of the coronary arteries become more prone to becoming hardened when cholesterol builds up in the arteries.
Furthermore, when there is an increased amount of sugar in the blood, the arteries become stiff. As a result, they find it extremely difficult to expand well. Consequently, blood platelets become stickier and there is a greater likelihood that they can form blood clots.

3.    The Relation Between Diabetes and Heart Disease

When a diabetic eats a lot of fatty foods, cholesterol gets deposited in the arteries and that causes the arteries to become stiff. Just as when clay gets very hard it can break up and develop cracks, the cholesterol that has been deposited in the arteries can cause the arteries to break up.
When this occurs, the body’s repair mechanism goes into action quickly—the body sends blood platelets to seal up the ruptured portions of the arteries.
However, the coronary arteries are very small and so some of the blood platelets may impede blood flow, thereby hampering the smooth delivery of oxygen to the heart. As a result, a heart attack may occur.
Now that we have seen that there is a connection between the two diseases, how can we prevent it?

4.    The Diabetes and Heart Disease Connection: the Sexes Connection

According to the CDC, women who have diabetes are more likely to develop a heart disease than men with diabetes. In fact, such women have a 40% greater risk of eventually ending up with a heart disease than men who also have diabetes.
Why does this happen? It may be because women usually have more fat in their bodies than men, and this fat increases the likelihood that a woman with diabetes can develop heart disease.

5.    How to Prevent Diabetes and Heart Disease

What can you do to prevent these two conditions, if you have a family history of diabetes and heart disease, or if you don’t have a family history of these diseases but you just want to stay healthy?
  • Ensure that you are active all the time. This can help to prevent type 2 diabetes.
  • Keep your blood sugar level low at all times.
  • If you are overweight, exercise regularly so that you can cut down on your weight drastically.
  • Try to reduce the amounts of stress that you experience every day.

6.    Diet to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes and Heart Disease

There are certain foods that you can eat to ensure that you do not develop these two medical conditions.
  • Cut down on your consumption of sugar or avoid consuming it altogether.
  • Eat a lot of fruits, vegetables, and foods containing a lot of fiber, such as brown rice, wheat, corn, sorghum, millet, Guinea corn, and dried peas and beans.
  • Broil your meat and your fish instead of frying them with vegetable oil. This will help to lower the amount of cholesterol you consume.
  • Roast your meats instead of frying them. Roasting helps you to get rid of some of the fat, and consequently, some of the cholesterol, in the meat.
  • Consume your poultry meats without the skin—the skin contains a lot of fat.
  • Choose to eat lean meat such as rabbit meat.
  • Avoid drinking alcohol.
  • Avoid smoking, or stop smoking if you are already in the habit.
  • Avoid eating butter.

7.    Pray

If you are a patient with diabetes and heart disease, and if you have tried all that medical science and man can do but you still find yourself suffering because of these two conditions, look up, for there is help beyond the skies for you—there is a God in heaven who is able to do the things that men cannot do.
Have faith in God and intone prayers reverently every day such as, “Dear Heavenly Father, Jehovah-rafai, our Healer. I thank You for the gift of life. I thank You for giving me this fearful, wonderful body. Father, I am suffering because of diabetes and heart disease. Please touch me and heal me, just as You healed so many of incurable diseases in the days of Jesus, and just as You are healing people of diseases every day, in current times. Nothing is too hard for You and I know You can do it easily. Please heal me for Your glory. Amen.”
God will honor your faith and touch you so that you can experience relieve.

  Conclusion

Diabetes and heart disease are two prevalent diseases that are also linked to each other. However, when we live healthy lifestyles, when we are circumspect about what we eat, and when we exercise regularly, we can prevent these two diseases from afflicting us.


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9 Best Ways to Prevent Diabetes

Picture 1: Eating nuts such as yellow nutsedge can help you to prevent diabetes

 Diabetes is affecting, and killing, a lot of people!
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2014, 422 million people worldwide had this disease, and in 2016 alone 1.6 million people died from the disease.
And in the United States, as of 2015, 30.3 million Americans (9.4% of the population) had diabetes, that’s according to the US CDC.
However, the disease, which is caused by genetic factors (type 1 diabetes), or which occurs when the pancreas (an organ behind the stomach) does not produce enough insulin, can easily be prevented when one is careful about his lifestyle.
So, what kind of life can you live to prevent this disease? What change should you make to your life? What food options should you consider? What habits should you adopt?
Here are some of the best ways you can prevent becoming a diabetes patient.

Related: How to Prevent Diabetes



Figure 1: Quiz! Do you know how Type 2 Diabetes occurs?

1.    Munch A Handful Of Sunflower Seeds Every Day

A study done at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, and published in the journal PLOS Medicine, suggests that eating healthy fats found in seeds, such as sunflower seeds, can help you to prevent developing type 2 diabetes.

How This Food Can Help Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

According to the research, seeds increase the sensitivity of the cells of the body to insulin, thereby helping to improve blood sugar control.

Use This Information

  • Bake a sunflower cake every weekend.
  • Sprinkle a handful of the seeds in your breakfast porridge or oatmeal.
  • Eat it with your jelly sandwiches.


Figure 2: Global prevalence of diabetes rose from 4.7% in 1980 to 8.5% in 2014.
Are you living a lifestyle that will help you to prevent it?

2.    Eat Lots Of Fresh Blueberries, Red Grapes, And Apples…

Research done by Harvard University, and published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), has revealed that eating whole fruits can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
However, the study revealed that eating blueberries, grapes, and apples are more effective in preventing diabetes than other fruits. Blueberries are the most effective, followed by grapes, and then apples.
According to the researchers, these three fruits contain high levels of anthocyanins, which increase the uptake of sugar from the blood. So, use fresh fruits as your main sources of vitamins and minerals.

… And Avoid Fruit Juice

On the other hand, the study found out that drinking all kinds of fruit juice increased the risk that one can develop diabetes. The study discovered that eating fresh blueberries instead of three servings of fruit juice can decrease your risk of developing type 2 diabetes on average by about 33%.


3.    Chew A Handful Of Nuts Every Day

A review of 29 studies which looked at the data of more than 800,000 people worldwide by an international group of researchers, and published in the journal BMC Medicine, suggests that eating 20 grams of nuts a day, or a handful, can reduce your risk of developing diabetes by about 40%.

How Nuts Can Help Prevent The Disease

Obesity is one of the risk factors for the development of diabetes. It causes insulin resistance or makes the cells of the body become resistant to insulin, thereby inhibiting the absorption of excess blood sugar by the body’s cells.
Nuts are very rich in fiber and nutrients, as well as healthy fats and antioxidants. These substances reduce the risk of growing overweight by helping to limit overeating, thereby preventing obesity-related diabetes.

4.    If You Are An African-American Woman, Eat A Fiber-Rich Diet

A study carried out by the Boston University School of Public Health over an eight-year period, and involving 40,000 African-American women, has revealed that African-American women who eat a lot of cereal fiber in their diet can reduce their risk of developing diabetes.

How Cereal Fiber Will Help You

Cereal fiber lowers insulin production and the production of glucose after one eats a carb-rich diet and so can help to stabilize blood glucose levels in the body.

Use This Information

  • Eat a cup of Fiber One from General Mills, which contains 36 grams of fiber, instead of eating a cup of Country Corn Flakes, which contains less than 1 gram of fiber.
  • Instead of eating white bread for breakfast, eat food made from grains such as three slices of wholemeal bread or bran bread.
  • Instead of eating a cup of corn Chex (which contains 0.3 grams of fiber), eat oatmeal which contains 4 grams of fiber.
  • Instead of eating a cup of rice Chex that contains just 0.3 grams of fiber, eat a cup of raisin bran which contains between 5 and 8 grams of fiber.

5.    Eat 2½  Handfuls Of Black-Eyed Peas Every Day

Do you love eating black-eyed peas? If not, you might consider eating it more often. That’s because research done by the University of Eastern Finland, and published in the British Journal of Nutrition, suggests that eating 5 grams of plant protein a day can help you to prevent diabetes.
In fact, the study found out that men who eat a lot of plant protein can reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by about 35%, and eating 5 grams of plant protein every blessed day can reduce your risk of developing diabetes by about 18%.

6.    Consume ½ A Cup Of Cooked Carrots Every Day, If There Is A History Of Diabetes In Your Family

Research done by Stanford University in 2013, and published in the journal Human Genetics, discovered that beta carotene, which is found in large quantities in carrots, can help to prevent type 2 diabetes in this group of people.
Although the scientists do not yet know the exact relationship between beta carotene and diabetes prevention, they concluded after reviewing CDC data that eating about 6.5 mg of beta carotene every day helps reduce type 2  diabetes risk. 

7.    Use Olive Oil To Fry Your Fish

A study authored by Lampusi et. al., and published by the US National Library of Medicine, suggests that eating olive oil can help to prevent the disease.

How Olive Oil Will Help You

Olive oil contains high amounts of phenolic compounds, such as oleuropein and flavonoids, which improve the function of the endothelia, or lining, of the body cells so that body tissues can absorb glucose.
Olive oil also contains oleic acid, which reduces the amount of insulin that the body releases, as well as increases the sensitivity of the body cells so that they can absorb a lot of glucose from the blood after one eats.

8.    Drink Non-Alcoholic Red Wine

One factor that can increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes is the inability of the cells of the body to process insulin, a condition known as insulin resistance.
A study carried out by researchers at the East Anglia Norwich Medical School in the UK, and published in the journal Nutrition, has revealed that drinking red wine can help you to prevent this disease.

How Red Wine Will Help You

Red wine contains high amounts of flavonoids, which contains high amounts of a protein called adiponectin. Adiponectin helps to lower the resistance of the body’s cells to insulin so that one’s body can better regulate the levels of glucose in the blood.

9.    Exercise Every Day

Research has revealed that exercising can increase the sensitivity of your body’s cells to insulin. Consequently, large amounts of glucose can be absorbed into your cells, thereby reducing the levels of glucose in your blood.
In fact, one study published by the National Library of Medicine revealed that people with prediabetes who do moderate-intensity exercise can increase their insulin sensitivity by about 51%, whilst high-intensity exercise can increase insulin sensitivity by about 85%.
So avoid a sedentary lifestyle and ensure that you engage in physical activity every day. Draw up an exercise regimen and discipline yourself to follow the regimen to ensure that you get regular exercise.

Key Points To Remember 

To prevent diabetes so that you  can enjoy wellness:
  • eat nuts, seeds, and blueberries often;
  • eat oatmeal and black-eyed pea often;
  • prepare carrot stew with olive oil; and
  • give yourself a red wine treat once in a while.



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Author Bio: I Am A Freelance Writer for Hire
Hi, I'm Isaac. I’m a health writer, health blogger, and health copywriter. I’m an indie author as well. I am very passionate about sharing health information with people to help them live healthy lives.
Thanks for reading this article. I hope you found it useful.
I wanted to let you know that I'm also a freelance health writer and health copywriter for hire who offers blog writing, in-depth researched article writing, SEO writing, copywriting, proofreading, editing, and eBook writing services.
If you need a freelance writer to help you create content for your website or blog, or if you need someone to create an eBook for you,  view my portfolio page, my hire my services page, and contact me. 





















11 Best Ways to Prevent Diabetes

Picture 1: Eating fresh fish can help you to prevent diabetes


Diabetes affects over 30 million adults in the US, that’s according to the US CDC.
However, this condition, which occurs when the body is unable to make effective use of the insulin produced by the pancreas to control glucose that is released after the digestion of food, can be prevented easily.
All you have to do is to change certain habits and eat particular foods.
Here are tips about foods you should eat, ways you should live, and other tips to help you keep yourself healthy so that you will not develop this disease.

Related: How To Prevent Diabetes

Figure 1: Process by which Type 1 Diabetes occurs

  

1.    Eat Brown Rice

The next time you have a party at home, you might consider cooking brown rice in addition to the potatoes, meatloaf, fried alligator, or pizza. That’s because brown rice doesn’t cause the levels of glucose in the blood to rise rapidly after you eat it.
In fact, a study carried out by researchers at Harvard University has revealed that eating two or more cups of brown rice in a week can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by about 10%.

Figure 2: Increase in diabetes cases worldwide between 1980 and 2014.
You want to avoid becoming one of these stats, don't you?


2.    Consume A Lot Of Fish Oil Supplements

A review of 14 clinical trials by scientists at Harvard School of Public Health has revealed that taking a lot of cod liver oil supplements or halibut oil supplements can help to prevent you from ever going to see a doctor because of this disease.
Fish oils are rich in a hormone known as adiponectin, which increases the sensitivity of body cells to insulin. This helps to promote the absorption of sugar by the body’s cells. Consequently, the levels of sugar in the blood drop significantly after one eats.



Figure 3: Total number of Americans with diabetes and prediabetes (having high sugar levels but not high enough for you to be considered a diabetic)

3.    Eat A Lot Of Fish

Research done by scientists at the University of Valencia suggests that eating herrings, wild trout, catfish and other types of fish leads to lower glucose concentrations in the blood. Fish increases the amount of omega-3  in the cells of the muscles of the skeleton and it also improves insulin sensitivity.




Figure 4: Percentage of Americans in different age groups who have diabetes


4.    Consume Between 55 And 450 Micrograms Of Selenium Daily

Do you love eating roasted corn? Do you love eating wholemeal bread for breakfast before you go to work? Do you love chewing Brazil nuts?
If you don’t, then add them to your diet. That’s because research done by scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health has revealed that eating at least 55 micrograms of selenium (found in bread and nuts), and at most 400 micrograms, daily, can help to prevent you becoming a diabetes patient.
Selenium contains high amounts of antioxidants, which make the body’s cells receptive to insulin. Consequently, glucose finds it very easy to move from the blood into the cells.  


5.    Eat A Lot Of Food Rich In Vitamin D…

A study published in the British Medical Journal BMJ has revealed that vitamin D can help to prevent type 1 diabetes.
Vitamin D, which you can get from oily fish such as sardines, mackerel, and salmon, stimulates the manufacture, as well as the secretion, of insulin.
And if you don’t eat enough vitamin D, don’t forget to take vitamin D3 supplements.

…Or Stay In The Sun For 20 Minutes Daily

Another way you can get vitamin D is to bask in the sun for between 15 and 20 minutes a day. That’s because the skin synthesizes the vitamin when one exposes himself to sunlight.


6.    Eat One Egg Daily From Monday To Thursday Every Week

Research carried out by scientists at the University of Eastern Finland, and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,  has revealed that eating 4 eggs a week can help you to reduce your risk of ever developing this disease. This is because eggs contain nutrients that enhance glucose metabolism.

7.    Drink Tea, But Without Milk

A study done in the Netherlands in 2009, and another study done by scientists at Framingham State University in the US, has revealed that drinking 3 cups of tea can reduce one’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Tea contains compounds known as polyphenols that block pancreatic alpha-amylase and intestinal alpha-glucosidase, two enzymes that cause spikes in blood sugar levels after one eats a carb-rich diet, and that helps to stabilize glucose levels in the body.


8.    Consume Fresh Meats Instead Of Processed Meats

Thinking of ordering hot dogs for your date with your wife next week? Considering eating bacon or hot dogs when you have your next birthday? Or, are you going to eat sausages or cold cuts when you have lunch tomorrow?
Then you might consider killing your chickens, asking your friend to give you parts of his goat he killed this week or ordering beef from the butcher’s shop instead.
Why?   
A study carried out by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health has revealed that eating one serving daily of processed meats ( the equivalent of one hot dog) can increase one’s risk of developing diabetes by 19%.

9.    Add More Broccoli, Cabbages, And Lettuce To Your Diet

You might consider buying two more cabbages than you normally buy, or ordering 6 servings of lettuce or spinach the next time you have a date with your girlfriend.
Research done by a group of nutritionists at the Diabetes Research Unit of Leicester University has revealed that eating 1 ½ serving of green leafy vegetables a day can reduce one’s risk of developing diabetes by 14%.
Green leafy vegetables contain high amounts of polyphenols, vitamin C, and magnesium, which help to boost glucose metabolism and insulin secretion. 


10.                      If You Have Prediabetes, Scrunch and Ingest 3 Handfuls Of Pistachio Nuts Daily

Research done by Universitari Hospital of Sant Joan de Reus and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III in Spain, suggests that people who have prediabetes can prevent it from developing into diabetes by enjoying these nuts.
The study revealed that eating 57 grams of the nuts (about 3 handfuls) improved the metabolism of glucose, as well as improved insulin sensitivity, in the prediabetic patients who ate them and that caused significant reductions in the levels of sugar in their blood.


11.                      Do Weight Training

You swim regularly, right? You run on your treadmill before you go to work, right? But have you considered adding resistance training to your exercise regimen?
If you haven’t, then you might consider incorporating strength training into your exercise regimen. That’s because according to a study done at the Harvard School of Public Health, doing both aerobic exercise and weight training for at least 150 minutes in a week can reduce one’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 60%! 
Weight training improves the sensitivity of insulin receptors. Consequently, the cells of the muscles can absorb glucose quickly and efficiently and thus prevents the buildup of excess sugar in the blood.

 

Takeaways

If you want to prevent diabetes:
  • eat brown rice, fish or fish oil supplements, and four eggs a week;
  • eat fresh meat more often than you eat processed meat;
  • add at least 5 servings of green veggies to your diet daily; and
  • pump iron too in addition to doing aerobic exercises.

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Author Bio: I Am A Freelance Writer for Hire
Hi, I'm Isaac. I’m a health writer, health blogger, and health copywriter. I’m an indie author as well. I am very passionate about sharing health information with people to help them live healthy lives.
Thanks for reading this article. I hope you found it useful.
I wanted to let you know that I'm also a freelance health writer and health copywriter for hire who offers blog writing, in-depth researched article writing, SEO writing, copywriting, proofreading, editing, and eBook writing services.
If you need a freelance writer to help you create content for your website or blog, or if you need someone to create an eBook for you, view my portfolio page, my hire my services page, and contact me.