Detox your Diet: Healthy Lifestyles Linked to lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

According to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, older adults with healthy lifestyles have a significantly reduced risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes.

Researchers followed 4900 adults, aged 65 or older and without diabetes at baseline, for 10 years. During that time, they periodically assessed participants' lifestyle habits. Factors associated with low risk for diabetes were:

• physical activity above the median;
• dietary scores in the upper two quintiles;
• no smoking;
• moderate alcohol use;
• not being overweight.

Diabetes developed in 7% of the subjects. In adjusted analyses, each low-risk lifestyle factor was independently associated with reduced diabetes risk. Patients with all five healthy lifestyle factors had an 89% reduction in risk.
The authors say their findings "support the need for emphasizing healthy and achievable physical activity and dietary goals," as well as other healthy habits, among older adults.

So what's in it for you? You can add health to your lifestyle at any age!

• If you're sedentary, learn to exercise. This doesn't mean you need a membership to a gym. 20 minutes /day of moving is all it takes to get started. How about starting with a walk on your lunch break?
  
• If you smoke, you must quit. By smoking you are putting yourself at considerable risk of not only developing Type 2 Diabetes, but also many other preventable smoking related diseases. Not to mention it stinks, and you stink! This is a very hard habit to kick, get your support network to see you through, including your health care practitioners.
  
• Consume a heart healthy Mediterranean style diet. In short high fiber, lots of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, and healthy fats (omega3 and omega 9)
• Moderate alcohol use: no more than 1 small glass of red wine per day. Red wine is full of antioxidants.
  

Detox your Diet: Reasons why we love extra virgin olive oil...

Pure, extra virgin olive oil is a light and tasteful addition to many dishes, it is one of the most health-promoting types of oils available. Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat, a type of fat that researchers are discovering has excellent health benefits.

Researchers have shown that people who use olive oil regularly, especially in place of other fats, have much lower rates of heart disease, atherosclerosis, diabetes, colon cancer, and asthma. Furthermore, a Mediterranean style dietary pattern - characterized by high consumption of olive oil, raw vegetables, soups, and poultry - was associated with a significantly lower risk of death from all causes.

Dose: consuming 2 tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil a day has been shown to result in significantly decreasing LDL (bad) cholesterol and increasing HDL (good) cholesterol
Practical Tips:

• Instead of serving butter, fill a small condiment dish with extra virgin olive oil for use on bread, rolls, potatoes or other vegetables.
• For even more flavor, try adding a few drops of balsamic vinegar or a sprinkling of your favorite spices to the olive oil.
• To get the most health benefit and flavor from your olive oil, buy and store oil in opaque containers, and add olive oil to foods immediately after cooking
• Use extra virgin olive oil (instead of regular olive oil or virgin olive oil) because contains richer sources of polyphenols, which are known to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticoagulant action. Plus it is the best source of vegetable oil for a healthy heart