What is Konjac? #GardenCuizine #guthealth #weightloss #diabeticfood #WLS

Magical Konjac
Zero Calories? 
Zero Carbohydrates? 
High in dietary Fiber

People who want to control or prevent diabetes, obesity, or who just want to succeed at weight loss, have discovered that a healthy diet and lifestyle are the keys to success. Healthy eaters never get bored from discovering new foods. Have you ever tried a food made with Konjac? Just what is Konjac anyway?

Low carb and no carb foods are popular with Keto and Paleo dieters. Personally, the clients I see that inform me they started trying a keto diet never really get to the stage of ketosis; we can talk more about ketosis another time. Just know that I do not recommend a ketogenic diet for the average person whose is looking to lose weight. 

Eating and cooking with lower carb foods and balancing carbohydrate intake throughout the day is always a winning strategy for glycemic control and weight management. Foods made with Konjac are often near zero calories and zero carbohydrates. 

Studies have shown that Konjac may promote increased butyrate, which improves gut health. And, people with diets low in fiber who suffer from constipation may notice improved bowel movements since Konjac is high in dietary fiber [1].

Knojac comes from a large plant native to China with the botanical name of Amorphophallus konjac. The corms (tuber-like roots) can grow to 10-inches and are the part that is harvested for use in foods. Konjac is most popular in Asian cuisine in flour, jelly, Konnyaku (yam cake) and Shirataki noodles.
Doesn't a food with no calories or carbs sound magical or like every dieter or diabetics dream food? Maybe that's why a noodle brand calls their noodles made from konjac "Magic Noodles." Often noodles made from knojac are packed in water with instructions to buyers to rinse them well before using. 

Reviews from people who have used Konjack noodles are all over social media. So check them out or try them for your self and let me know what you think.

Happy and Healthy Cooking!

Diana 

References and photo credit
[1] Chen, HL; Cheng, HC; Wu, WT; Liu, YJ; Liu, SY (Feb 2008). "Supplementation of konjac glucomannan into a low-fiber Chinese diet promoted bowel movement and improved colonic ecology in constipated adults: a placebo-controlled, diet-controlled trial". Journal of the American College of Nutrition.
Photograph: By James Steakley [CC BY-SA 3.0  (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

Carving Carbs at Thanksgiving #GardenCuizine #EatWellAmerica @eatright

Carving Carbs at Thanksgiving

If a person had lung cancer from cigarette smoking, what would you think if they wanted to smoke just for the day on Thanksgiving? It's not a good idea, right? Like cancer, obesity is a disease. Overeating during the holidays, or any day for that matter, can be harmful to the health of adults and kids, especially those with diabetes and/or obesity.

If you are not sure you weigh more than you should, calculate your body mass index (BMI) on a free online app. Adults with a BMI greater than 30, and children and teens with a BMI percentile greater than the 95th percentile, should pay attention to diet and lifestyle choices to prevent obesity-related diseases like diabetes.

Diabetics and those overweight or obese know that it is hard to portion control carbohydrates on holidays - especially when you see food overflowing in the environment. The environment can be either at home, at a friend or family member's, or at a restaurant. No matter where you go, holiday feasts can be tempting to over indulge. The good news is that you can still enjoy a holiday feast while portion controlling carbohydrate foods at the same time.

Carbohydrate foods are important for energy, but excess can lead to high serum glucose levels and/or obesity. Excess carbs can come from sugary pies, cakes, cookies and drinks, or in classic Thanksgiving menu items such as cranberry jelly, starchy mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, stuffing and corn.

There are all kinds of ways to carve carbs on Thanksgiving. One way is to rethink candied sweets; you may be able to drastically cut the butter and brown sugar in your recipe and still find it fabulous. Or have you ever tasted rutabaga? Rutabaga can replace most of the potato in mashed potatoes. We made this and got thumbs up from kids and adults at a recent Inspira Health Network’s Diabetic Cooking Class. 

Some diabetic Thanksgiving recipes for cranberry jelly use sugar-free jello or artificial sweetener. I’m not a fan of artificial sweeteners, so I prefer to use pure sugar and eat a smaller portion. Knowing the nutrition data can also be helpful. For example, the GardenCuizine recipe for whole cranberry jelly uses 12 oz cranberries, 1/2-cup sugar and 1/2-cup orange juice, which yields 12 servings at only 12 grams net carbohydrates per serving.

Drink preferences easily put one at risk for consuming excess carbs. Depending on age, holiday drinks often include alcohol or sugary beverages such as sports drinks, soda, juice and sweet teas. Try substituting iced-water with sliced fruit. You may be surprised to see who drinks more calorie and carb-free water instead.

Another strategy to avoid eating excess carbs this Thanksgiving is to keep cookies and sweet treats out of sight until dessert time. Adults need to take the lead and not serve or allow children to eat excess carbohydrates. Keep dessert portions as small as possible. And, don’t forget to include fresh fruit. 

Did you know that stress increases blood sugar levels? So don’t stress out this holiday season and don’t skip or forget to eat breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. Eating breakfast may prevent overeating at dinner.  

Blessings for a Happy Thanksgiving from our kitchen to yours!

Related Links
Carve Carbs at Thanksgiving
Navigating the Holiday Feast
Photo and blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. 

23% of teens have either pre-diabetes or diabetes according to @AmerAcadPeds

Is Your Teen Overweight?

More and more doctors are referring teenagers to see a Registered Dietitian with their parent(s) for weight management. Most teens I speak with tell me they don’t even want to go, but do so reluctantly. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 23% of teens have either pre-diabetes or diabetes. 

Are you an overweight teen? Are you a concerned parent? Participate in physical activities and learn all you can about healthy cooking and eating right. Start your healthier diet and lifestyle today to prevent obesity-related diseases like diabetes.

Related Link
Report of Teen Study by The American Academy of Pediatrics

Control or Prevent Type 2 Diabetes w/Healthy Eating #diabetes #gardencuizine @NDEP

Diabetes Control

Control or Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

After spending the day helping patients deal with the consequences of undesirable, painful complications of slow healing wounds, amputations, peripheral artery disease, diabetic retinopathy and foot pain from obesity coupled with uncontrolled diabetes, I wanted to share this healthy eating with diabetes video. 

Healthy eating is critical for losing and maintaining a healthy weight and is important to control:

• blood sugar
• blood pressure
• cholesterol 

If you or someone you care for has diabetes and does not know how to control their blood sugar, Certified Diabetes Educators (CDE) and Registered Dietitians (RD) can help. Dietitians can be found in hospital out-patient settings and in private practices. Your doctor may have a referral or you can contact the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for a Dietitian near you.
 

 A dietitian can help you learn about which foods raise your blood sugar and come up with an easy to follow meal plan.

• Think “small steps”  

A few small changes can go a long way in helping you live a healthy lifestyle with diabetes.

Related Links: 

National Diabetes Education Program
Diabetes
American Diabetes Association