Heart Healthy Recipes and Nutrition

A recent study in the Journal of Nutritional Sciences finds that small changes to your first and last meals of the day can lower body fat. ¹

Scientists used “time-restricted feeding,” a form of intermittent fasting, in a 10-week study at the University of Surrey to evaluate the impact that altering meal times had on food intake, body composition, and lab markers for diabetes and heart disease. The study was led by Dr. Jonathan Johnston.

Subjects were divided into two groups — one that was required to delay eating breakfast for an hour and a half and eat dinner an hour and a half earlier, and a control group that ate meals at their normal times. Participants had to provide samples of blood and complete food diaries before and during the 10-week trial period as well as complete a feedback questionnaire right after the study.

Unlike other diet studies, subjects were allowed to eat freely and were not advised to stick to a strict diet, as long as they ate meals within a certain window. This allowed researchers to evaluate whether this type of eating plan could be sustained in everyday life. ²

In the group that changed meals to a later breakfast and earlier dinner, subjects lost on average over twice as much body fat than the control group who did not change their eating times or habits. If larger studies on time-restricted feeding can be repeated, they may have greater impact on health.

Scientists in the study discovered that even though no restrictions were advised in the study group, subjects that altered meal times ate less food overall than the control group. Questionnaire replies confirmed a reduced food intake as 57% of subjects cited less appetite, fewer opportunities to eat, and a reduction in snacking, especially in the evening. It is unclear whether a longer fasting period was an additional factor in body fat reduction.

Researchers included questions regarding sustainability of the new eating times with participants. When asked, 57% of subjects said that the new times could not be sustained after the 10-week period due to family and social life. But 43% of subjects answered that they would continue the eating patterns if times were more flexible.

Johnston maintains “Although this study is small, it has provided us with invaluable insight into how slight alterations to our meal times can have benefits to our bodies. Reduction in body fat lessens our chances of developing obesity and related diseases, so is vital in improving our overall health. However, as we have seen with these participants, fasting diets are difficult to follow and may not always be compatible with family and social life. We therefore need to make sure they are flexible and conducive to real life, as the potential benefits of such diets are clear to see.”

Johnston will use this pilot study to develop bigger, more comprehensive research on time-restricted feeding. More research needs to be conducted in this area as some animal studies show that intermittent fasting may raise the risk for diabetes by impacting insulin levels and damaging the pancreas. ³

For clinicians counseling clients on weight loss, reductions in body fat, or improvement in blood sugar and lipids, intermittent fasting may be worth a try but is not considered safe during pregnancy or for those at risk for/or suffer from eating disorders. Patients taking diabetes medication should be monitored closely for episodes of hypoglycemia. Medications may need to be adjusted to compensate for changes in meal times. ⁴

By Lisa Andrews, MEd, RD, LD

References:

1. Rona Antoni, Tracey M. Robertson, M. Denise Robertson, Jonathan D. Johnston. A pilot feasibility study exploring the effects of a moderate time-restricted feeding intervention on energy intake, adiposity and metabolic physiology in free-living human subjects. Journal of Nutritional Science, 2018; 7 DOI: 10.1017/jns.2018.13
2. Ruth Patterson, Dorothy Sears. Metabolic effects of intermittent fasting. Annual Review of Nutrition. Vol. 37: 371-393. Aug, 2017.
3. Ana Cláudia Munhoz Bonassa & Angelo Rafael Carpinelli. Intermittent fasting for three months decreases pancreatic islet mass and increases insulin resistance in Wistar rats. Endocrine Abstracts (2018) 56 P519 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.56.P519.
4. http://www.endocrinologynetwork.com/t2-diabetes/type-2-diabetes-and-fasting-how-dangerous-could-it-be

© Food and Health Communications

Woodholme encourages a healthy diet and proper nutrition as one aspect of maintaining heart health. The nutrition information and recipes are presented for informational purposes only and are not intended take the place of one-on-one advice from your doctor. Please follow your personal physician’s recommendations if any recipes, ingredients, or advice found here conflict with what your doctor

Serves 4 | Serving Size: 2 cups

Total Time: 50 min | Prep: 5 min | Cook: 45 min

A memorable delight for holidays and winter

Ingredients:

• 3 small red beets, roasted and cut in quarters
• 1 head of fennel, sliced thin
• 1/4 red onion, peeled and sliced thin
• vegetable oil cooking spray (or olive oil cooking spray)
• 4 cups assorted fresh lettuces (we used red romaine and frise)
• 1 golden beet, raw, sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons baked pecan halves
• Dressing: juice of one lemon, 2 tsp olive oil

Directions:

Roast the red beet in the oven at 400 for one hour. Allow to cool slightly then use a paper towel to slip off the skin. Cut in quarters.
Place the sliced red onion and fennel on a pan and spray with vegetable oil. Roast together until they are brown and crisp, about 40 minutes to one hour.

Toast the pecans for 4 minutes.

Arrange the lettuce on a platter with the darkest one on the outside. Add shaved golden beets, quartered roasted red beets, toasted pecans, and carmelized onion and fennel. Mix the lemon and olive oil and drizzle over the top. Serve immediately.

Chef’s Tips:

You can make all of the ingredients ahead of time and then assemble at the last minute. If you don’t have golden beets you can use carrots.

© Food and Health Communications

Woodholme encourages a healthy diet and proper nutrition as one aspect of maintaining heart health. The nutrition information and recipes are presented for informational purposes only and are not intended to take the place of one-on-one advice from your doctor. Please follow your personal physician’s recommendations if any recipes, ingredients, or advice found here conflict with what your doctor

Cardiovascular disease is the largest cause of death and disability in people with diabetes. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), over 65% of people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke. People with diabetes often focus primarily on managing blood glucose levels and forget about the importance of an overall healthy lifestyle to reduce the very real risk of heart disease.

People with diabetes can use the new American College of Cardiology (ACC) and AHA cardiovascular guidelines to improve their cardiovascular health in the following 4 ways:

Choose a healthful diet that emphasizes vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Include low-fat dairy products, poultry, fish, legumes, nontropical vegetable oils, and nuts. Limit sweets, sugar-sweetened beverages and red meats. The DASH diet, MyPlate, and the AHA diet plan are examples of food plans that meet this goal.

Participate in moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise for at least 150 minutes per week. Even 10 minutes of exercise spread throughout the day can be effective. More exercise provides additional benefits, and it’s important to recognize that some physical activity is better than no physical
activity.

Measure fasting LDL and HDL cholesterol levels every year. Decrease blood levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol by reducing saturated fat intake to 5-6% of total calories.

• Increase intake of foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids, like salmon, herring, and halibut.
• Increase intake of fiber-rich foods like oats, legumes, and citrus.
• Increase intake of foods containing plant stanols/sterols. Try wheat germ, sesame oil, corn oil, and canola oil.
• Decrease intake of trans fats.

Measure blood pressure at every medical office visit. The goal is to have systolic blood pressure of <140mmHG and diastolic blood pressure of <90mmHg. In addition to the diet and exercise recommendations, lifestyle modifications to lower blood pressure include:

• Reduce sodium intake to 2,400 mg daily.
• Limit alcohol to no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men.

By Lynn Grieger, RDN, CDE, CPT, CWC

© Food and Health Communications

Woodholme encourages a healthy diet and proper nutrition as one aspect of maintaining heart health. The nutrition information presented here is for informational purposes only and are not intended take the place of one-on-one advice from your doctor. Please follow your personal physician’s recommendations if any recipes, ingredients, or advice found here conflict with what your doctor