Tag Archives: heart disease

Prayer and Fasting With Diabetes

Posted on by
2

In the July issue of Today’s Dietitian, we published an article titled Prayer and Fasting With Diabetes. If you’re a person of faith who has diabetes or know someone of faith with the disease, this article is a must-read.

The American Diabetes Association reports that more than 23 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes. Seventy-nine million have prediabetes, a condition characterized by elevated blood sugar levels, which place them at high risk for developing the disease later in life. And each year, there are now 1.5 million people newly diagnosed with diabetes. African Americans are disproportionately affected by this disease and suffer more complications, such as blindness, kidney failure, neuropathy, and heart disease, than other races.

Given these statistics, you can surmise there are many people of faith with diabetes who set aside time to commune with God while abstaining from food, drink, or both. But the question is can they fast safely without putting their health at risk?

In this article, we discuss that fasting is practiced by the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths and how these practices differ from one another. We review how fasting can impact the health of those with diabetes and provide strategies for fasting safely. Please let me know your thoughts about the article. If you have diabetes or know someone who has the disease and fasts safely, I’d like to hear about your  experiences and theirs. I hope you enjoy the article as much as I did in assigning and editing it. Thank you!

Eat ‘Til Your Heart’s Content

Posted on by
Reply


The print and digital version of the April issue of Today’s Dietitian has just published. It contains an article on celiac disease, a condition characterized by a sensitivity or intolerance to gluten, an ingredient in wheat products. If you suffer from this disease or know someone who does, the article Gluten Free and Healthy will help you find out what’s safe to eat to promote intestinal healing and how to get the nutrients your body needs.

And if you’ve heard about the Mediterranean diet and are interested in incorporating this heart-healthy eating style into your life, read The Mediterranean Diet. The article is chock full of practical shopping tips, menu ideas, and recipes. The diet has been followed by people who live in Italy, Greece, Crete, and other countries along the Mediterranean for centuries. The diet consists of fish, grains, vegetables, fruits, olives, olive oil (the principal fat), nuts, beans, legumes, and herbs and spices that have been proven to prevent heart disease, heart attacks, and stroke. This diet isn’t out of our reach. We can easily go to the supermarket and purchase all the foods necessary to eat according to the diet and reap the awesome health benefits. The article instructs you on exactly what foods to buy from the grocery store and provides a couple of recipes to give the diet a test drive.

What’s more, the article Nurturing the Heart discusses women and heart disease and the different nutrition needs in pre- and postmenopausal women. And we list six of the most common heart attack symptoms in women, which are different than those in men. Heart disease is the number one killer of women, so taking care of ourselves is paramount. Next month we’ll be publishing an article on young women and heart attacks and how this dire health crisis is on the rise.

Another great article is Uterine Fibroids and Nutrition, a condition that disproportionately affects black women. The article explores the possible link between diet and uterine fibroid risk, prevention, and management.

I hope you enjoy this issue as you did the previous one. Let me know what you think about the articles by leaving your comments below. As always, see ya around in cyberspace!