Diet or Meal Planning? Part 3

USDA and HHS Guidelines - Introduction

FBG - 118.  I attended the most amazing traditional Christmas service last night with my lovely wife and it was amazing.  One of the great things about Nashville is it has just a tremendous amount of talent and all of the songs and singers sounded like they come from the radio.

Nope, that did not drive up my glucose level, I had pizza before the service, a small dish of ice cream and when I got home I had 3 small homemade cookies - prepared by my personal chef.  Yes, I knew I was in for a rough ride this morning but was not something I worried about last night.

Today I ask for prayers for Trish, BRR, and James.  These are diabetics I have gotten to know in the community and each have things going on that I ask that you help me lift them up to your high power.  

As the title says, I am going to use the professionals to guide us through this meal planning.  Keep in mind you will need to find out on your own, what works and what does not.  Regardless, you need to have a balanced meal plan and eating regiment.  

You can read ahead of me at:  USDA   This is a series of pulling it all together and I think this along with some of my own experience will help set the final stage - a meal plan.

Introduction

 "In 1980, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the first edition of Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These Dietary Guidelines were different from previous dietary guidance in that they reflected emerging scientific evidence about diet and health and expanded the traditional focus on nutrient adequacy to also address the impact of diet on chronic disease."

This is us - we have a chronic disease.  Most of us were born with this and did not eat our way into it.  However, we contributed to the onset of our disease.  Remember me as a young man, I would never eat - never felt hungry.  Now I am an old man and wish I had listened to my wife.  I would still be a diabetic, but not as pronounced as I am now.  My entire reason for this blog - maybe just maybe one person will listen and wake up before it is too late.

"Poor diet and physical inactivity are the most important factors contributing to an epidemic of overweight and obesity in this country. The most recent data indicate that 72 percent of men and 64 percent of women are overweight or obese, with about one-third of adults being obese   Even in the absence of overweight, poor diet and physical inactivity are associated with major causes of morbidity and mortality. These include cardiovascular disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and some types of cancer. Some racial and ethnic population groups are disproportionately affected by the high rates of overweight, obesity, and associated chronic diseases."

BANG - in your face - we Americans are not very smart when it comes to eating.  I have had the opportunity to manage people in 30 different countries, and I can say - we do not get it when it comes to eating.  I was also stationed in Okinawa, and now there are many advertisements about supplements and pills that have harnessed the life longevity of the people in Okinawa.  Sorry medical world, you cannot harness how they life in a pill.  It is their diet, but also many other things they have going for them including low stress.  But here, we are focused on diet and meal planning.

"The DGAC report presents a thorough review of key nutrition, physical activity, and health issues, including those related to energy balance and weight management; nutrient adequacy; fatty acids and cholesterol; protein; carbohydrates; sodium, potassium, and water; alcohol; and food safety and technology. Following its completion in June 2010, the DGAC report was made available to the public and Federal agencies for comment."

And there we have it summed up in one sentence,  it is about eating balanced meals and living a balanced life.

The heavy toll of diet-related chronic diseases 

The study goes on to list the major diseases related to a poor diet or life style.

Cardiovascular disease

• 81.1 million Americans—37 percent of the population—have cardiovascular disease.  Major risk factors include high levels of blood cholesterol and other lipids, type 2 diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), metabolic syndrome, overweight and obesity, physical inactivity, and tobacco use. 

• 16 percent of the U.S. adult population has high total blood cholesterol.

Hypertension

• 74.5 million Americans—34 percent of U.S. adults—have hypertension.

• Hypertension is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and kidney disease.

• Dietary factors that increase blood pressure include excessive sodium and insufficient potassium intake, overweight and obesity, and excess alcohol consumption.

• 36 percent of American adults have prehypertension - blood pressure numbers that are higher than normal, but not yet in the 16 hypertension range.

Diabetes

• Nearly 24 million people—almost 11 percent of the population—ages 20 years and older have diabetes. The vast majority of cases are type 2 diabetes, which is heavily influenced by diet and physical activity.

• About 78 million Americans—35 percent of the U.S. adult population ages 20 years or older—have pre-diabetes. Pre-diabetes (also called impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose) means that blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be called diabetes.

Pardon me, but this is where the world goes wrong and I can only hope someday they get it right.  PRE-DIABETES - that is like saying Pre-Pregnant - or partly pregnant.  I HAD THE WRONG GENE POOL TO STRAT WITH - ONCE I HAD THAT I WAS DESTINED TO BE A DIABETIC - THAT IS WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE SAID.  No they come at me like - "Hey you might be going to be a diabetic, you need to change your eating habits.  Eat 45 carbohydrates a meal and 3 snacks of 15 carbohydrates" - I did and now I am a full blown diabetic.

Cancer

• Almost one in two men and women—approximately 41 percent of the population—will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime.

• Dietary factors are associated with risk of some types of cancer, including breast (post-menopausal), endometrial, colon, kidney, mouth, pharynx, larynx, and esophagus.

OUCH and scary.

Osteoporosis

• One out of every two women and one in four men ages 50 years and older will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime.

• About 85 to 90 percent of adult bone mass is acquired by the age of 18 in girls and the age of 20 in boys. Adequate nutrition and regular participation in physical activity are important factors in achieving and maintaining optimal bone mass. 

Okay, I have had all the bad news I can take for one day - get the picture.  This is about taking care of our bodies and feeding it what God intended it to get.  If you are younger, or have those that you love that are younger.  Get them started, reading this says many of us will have 2 ailments or chronic diseases by the time we reach age 60.  I have one right now - diabetes and I am blessed.

In the beginning I asked you to pray for some people and unfortunately, they are those that have reached the stage of having more chronic diseases then just diabetes.

Let's all commit to take care of ourselves.  If you are one of my readers outside of the United States - you might be lucky from certain respects as you do have better eating habits - but you do not have some of the resources we have.  We all need to learn our bodies in our environment and help it live long and prosperous.

God please help us to understand the power you have given us over our body.  Yes we truly understand that many of us will get these ailments and they are not from you.  However, you have given us a body and a mind where we can take care of our bodies and it starts today - today I will be better and think of the greater picture.  Thank you for the people you have placed here on earth to help us gain the knowledge we need.  Now we just need the spirit and the will power.

Bob,