Striving for a healthier lifestyle balance and trying mashed faux-tatoes!
November is National Diabetes Month. Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood sugar (also called blood glucose) is too high. Having too much glucose in your blood can cause a variety of health problems, including heart disease, nerve damage, and kidney disease. An estimated 30.3 million people in the United States, or 9.4% of the population, have diabetes.
National Diabetes Month 2020 is focused on Taking Care of Youth Who Have Diabetes. Diabetes is one of the most common chronic conditions in school-age youth in the United States, affecting about 193,000 youth under the age of 20. Youth sometimes need additional support with their diabetes care, making it important to develop a management plan. See tips from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases below for assisting youth with diabetes:
GLIM's Maureen Milota, APRN, NP-C is a certified diabetes educator
Today, almost 10% of the U.S. population has diabetes with another 84 million (~34%) adult Americans at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. In 2017, $327 billion was the total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes, including $237 billion in direct medical costs and $90 billion in reduced productivity. While these results are staggering, the great news is that interventions focusing on lifestyle modifications such as increasing physical movement, decreasing sedentary time, and improving nutrition are the foundation of successful treatment and prevention of type 2 diabetes.
There truly isn't such a thing as a "diabetic diet." Whether we have diabetes or not, we should all be striving for a healthier lifestyle balance.
Looking for a healthier approach to traditional holiday potatoes?
Try making making Mashed Faux-tatoes with Cauliflower! Cauliflower is loaded with Vitamin C, a potent antioxidant packed with anti-inflammatory properties.
Mashed Faux-tatoes
Serves 4-6
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Ingredients: · 1 head of cauliflower (~4 C)
· 4 T coconut oil or butter
· 1 head roasted garlic, mashed to paste when cool enough to handle
· 1 t kosher or sea salt
· 1 t dried or 1 t fresh rosemary (sage and thyme are also good additions or substitutes)
1) Chop the cauliflower into medium size florets (roughly 15-20 pieces).
2) Steam the cauliflower until fork-tender (~9-13 minutes) and then, while warm, place into a food processor with the garlic and coconut oil/butter. Puree until creamy and smooth.
3) Add the spices and pulse 2-3 times to blend.
4) Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy!
At GLIM, Maureen Milota, APRN, NP-C is a certified diabetes educator with experience working with all ages of clients with diabetes, from those who are insulin dependent to those who manage their diabetes through diet and lifestyle medicine. Let us know how we can work together!
Sign up for your free intro call with Great Lakes Integrative Medicine today to see if we are a good fit!
To your best health!
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