El Diario NY

Make your cereal work for you during National Nutrition month

Impremedia — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 18:03:00 +0000

March is National Nutrition Month and a great time to focus on some aspects of a healthy diet. Because breakfast is truly the most important…

Trying to reduce belly fat? Try this snack

Impremedia — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 18:01:00 +0000

Eating right is an important part of overall health, but there some simple tricks that can benefit you in multiple ways. One of those tricks not only benefits your heart but can help decrease belly fat. All you have to do is have a healthy snack of almonds. SEE ALSO: Want to avoid prostate cancer? Try eating more walnuts Nuts aren’t necessarily the best snack for people counting calories, but for individuals looking for a well-rounded diet, nuts make an eating plan complete. The Mayo Clinic indicates contain unsaturated fatty acids and other nutrients, and it doesn’t necessarily matter which nuts you add to your diet; they call contain some quantity of heart-healthy substances. Almonds, however, take heart health a step further. According to research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, eating 1.5 ounces of almonds a day was enough to improve certain heart disease risk factors among study participants. What’s more, a daily ration of almonds was particularly effective in the reduction of leg fat and belly fat, a type of fat associated with early heart disease. “Our research found that substituting almonds for a high-carbohydrate snack improved numerous heart health risk factors, including the new finding that eating almonds reduced belly fat,” Claire Berryman, PhD and lead researcher of the study, said in a press release. “Choosing almonds as a snack may be a simple way to help fight the onset of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.” Researchers explained that one ounce serving of almonds provides 160 calories as well as 6 grams of protein, dietary fiber (4g), beneficial unsaturated fats (13g), and vitamins and minerals including vitamin E (35 percent daily recommended value), magnesium (20 percent daily recommended value) and potassium (6 percent daily recommended value). The high protein and fiber content of almonds make them an ideal snack to help stave off hunger throughout the day. “In addition to improving participants’ cholesterol levels, snacking on almonds instead of muffins also reduced central adiposity (belly fat) and leg fat,” concluded the researchers. “These findings suggest that choosing almonds as a snack may be a simple heart-smart dietary strategy to help prevent the onset of metabolic syndrome or cardiovascular disease in those with elevated LDL cholesterol.” SEE ALSO: Enjoy nuts? Make sure you do this first It should be noted that adding almonds to diets in the study did not reduce overall weight in individuals because test subjects were not on a weight-loss diet. Almonds simply promoted the reduction of fat stores in certain areas of the body. When used in a calorie-restricted diet plan, it is possible almonds could be beneficial in helping people lose weight in “problem” areas. If you are looking to add almonds to your diet, be sure to soak them in water first, to achieve the most nutrient value from them.

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Can you hear Beethovens heart issue in his music?

Impremedia — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 18:01:00 +0000

The famous composer Beethoven may have had a heart arrhythmia, and when you break down some of his music, experts say you can actually hear its rhythm. The discovery is the result of a joint effort by a medical historian, a cardiologist and a musicologist from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. SEE ALSO: Breakthrough may offer hope for people with heart damage Together, the team investigated whether or not Beethoven used his heartbeat to compose music as a substitute for sounds from the world around him. The composer was deaf while developing some of his best-known works, and experts theorize a heightened awareness of his own heartbeat was was allowed him to create music. Of course, because there was no reliable medical technology 200 years ago when Beethoven was alive, it is impossible to say with certainty what physical ailments he suffered from. Modern researchers can only go from personal accounts and descriptions noted in old writings, and the diseases Beethoven was suspected to have range from kidney disease to abnormal bones destruction. This latest study, however, puts heart disease at the forefront of the issues Beethoven may have suffered from, at least in some experts’ opinions. According to first author Zachary D. Goldberger, several of Beethoven’s compositions match the asymmetrical patterns of irregular heartbeat, creating what he called a “musical electrocardiogram.” “We can’t prove or disprove that Beethoven had many of the diseases he’s been supposedly afflicted with because almost all of today’s diagnostic medical tests didn’t exist in the 18th century, and we are interpreting centuries-old medical descriptions into the context of what we know now,” Goldberger told MNT. “While these musical arrhythmias may simply manifest Beethoven’s genius, there is a possibility that in certain pieces his beating heart could literally be at the heart of some of the greatest masterpieces of all time.” SEE ALSO: Practicing yoga is good for your heart! Arrhythmic patterns were noticed in many of the composer’s works, but particularly among those which Beethoven himself described as extremely emotional. Experts feel this emotion felt during the music was directly related to the heart rhythm Beethoven was experiencing at the time. In the middle of the Cavatina, for example, the key changes abruptly to C-flat major. The research team explained this change, coupled with with the unbalanced rhythm found in the artist’s works, evokes a negative emotion and disorientation many people described as akin to “shortness of breath.” The American Heart Association indicates arrhythmia is used to describe any abnormal fluctuation in heart rate–too fast, too slow, or with long pauses in between. Because arrhythmia is erratic, it is not surprising that so many different sequences are found in Beethoven’s extensive works.

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Enjoy nuts? Make sure you do this first

Impremedia — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 17:01:00 +0000

Nuts can be part of a heart-healthy diet; most nuts contain unsaturated fatty acids, omega-3’s, fiber, vitamin E, and other beneficial nutrients. But if you’ve been adding nuts to your daily routine, there is one important trick you should know: Nuts are most beneficial if they are soaked first. SEE ALSO: Eating nuts makes people live longer First, don’t be alarmed: most nuts won’t lose their crunch when soaked overnight, but even if they are a little more tender than you’re accustomed to, the benefits are worth the texture change. Soaked nuts don’t gain any nutrients from the water they are soaked in, rather, the nutrients they already contain become more accessible to the body. Why should you soak nuts before eating them? When you think about nuts you have to think about how they were designed by nature. A nut was created to withstand the forces of the environment until the time was just right for it to germinate. This is why most nuts have an outer shell and it is also the reason why nuts last so long in the kitchen cabinet. Nuts contain something called phytic acid, an enzyme which the Daily Health Post explains acts almost like a preservative in the nut until it is ready to germinate. Phytic acid keeps the nut safe until it is exposed to the things it needs to grow: water, nutrients and sunlight. The issue is that the same phytic acid also prevents the human body from absorbing all the nut’s nutrients when consumed. “When we eat raw nuts, we also eat the enzyme inhibitors that prevent the seed from sprouting,” explained nutritionist Sarah Britton to Yahoo Health. “Simply by soaking nuts in a little water, the nuts release these harmful enzymes, and at the same time, their nutritional value skyrockets.” SEE ALSO: Want to prevent prostate cancer? Try eating more walnuts When exposed to water, the nut is tricked into activating as if it were ready to grow and the phytic acid is neutralized. You don’t have to get fancy with your soaking methods either; simply placing nuts in water for at least 7 hours usually does the trick. Some nutritionists recommend using warm water or adding salt to speed up the process, but both these steps are not necessary if you enjoy your nuts as-is and want to keep salt levels under control.

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Hispanic mothers of large families in danger of this heart issue

Impremedia — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 17:11:00 +0000

Hispanic women with five or more children are more likely to develop the heart condition ventricular diastolic dysfunction, compared to women who have fewer children.…

AHA: Hispanic Heritage Month should be about cardiovascular health

Impremedia — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 16:09:00 +0000

The American Heart Association (AHA) is urging Hispanic families to discuss cardiovascular health this National Hispanic Heritage Month, as Hispanics are disproportionately affected by many…

Is culturally tailored heart care for Hispanics on the way?

Impremedia — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 16:07:00 +0000

The American Heart Association (AHA) released a statement this week advising medical professionals to take a culturally tailored approach when it comes to heart care…

Young Latinos and weight: A bad combination for heart health

Impremedia — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 15:07:00 +0000

It’s no secret that Hispanics are disproportionately affected by obesity, but new research from the American Heart Association indicates the problem may be more serious…