Blog for Saturday, March 12, 2016

Good afternoon, hope everyone's weekend is off to a great start! We're a day later than usual with today's blog, as I decided to do something healthy yesterday evening and played 9 holes of disc golf! With the improving weather, it's getting harder to make excuses to not exercise! That said, on to our first article for today. This article gives some tips on substituting in flours made from "pulses" for regular flour. A "pulse" is a category that includes beans, chickpeas, green peas, etc. While pulse flours might not be familiar to you, they're a staple of gluten-free bakers. But there are benefits for those of us who tolerate gluten as well.  Flours made from pulses are high in fiber, and contain protein, B6, zinc, potassium, and other vitamins that some of us are lacking in. So, if you're looking for some simple ways to "healthify" your favorite recipes, maybe try a pulse flour! Our second article offers up 10 "painless" nutrition tips. They're all pretty simple, and sound easy enough to implement. For example, don't forget about frozen vegetables. They're as healthy as fresh vegetables(as long as there's no sauce they're frozen in!) and more convenient in a pinch. Other tips offered include the health benefits of adding foods such as cherries and edamame to your diet, as well as a charge to eat "mindfully" and avoid eating while doing other activities that distract your brain from the fact that you're eating. One of the other simple suggestions is to plan and pre-chop fruits and vegetables so that they're ready for you when head to work in the morning. This will help you ward off the donuts in the break room! Next up, this article  looks at a study by scientists at UCLA that found that 46% of Californians are pre-diabetic! While not everyone who is pre-diabetic develops diabetes, 70% do develop diabetes at some point in their lives. Worse yet, 90% of those with diabetes have type 2 diabetes, which is preventable. The biggest problem is that there are no symptoms of pre-diabetes, so most people don't know that there is something wrong. If 46% of Californians are pre-diabetic, I wonder what the rate is for other states? And lastly, this piece looks at the results of a poll with some interesting results. 92% of those polled said they thought sustainability in food production is a very high priority, 79% think scientists-not politicians- should make our dietary guidelines, 74% think sustainability measures should be included in the dietary guidelines, and 52% said that a candidate that ignored sustainability measures in dietary guidelines would be less likely to receive their vote in the future. Some pretty solid majorities on most of those. It's good to know that people say they want these things, now it's just a question of whether they'll get them. Lobbyists have pretty deep pockets! Guess that wraps it up for today! Get outside and enjoy the beautiful day, if you're as lucky as we are in the Tri-Cities. Be healthy, my friends.