Eating For Health

Protein is having a moment . Walk down any grocery aisle and you’ll see “PROTEIN!” splashed across labels—even on foods that aren’t exactly protein powerhouses (looking at you, cereal boxes). The truth is, most Americans get enough protein without trying. But what happens if you don’t ? WebMD highlights several important signs your body may be running low on this essential nutrient. Let’s break it down. 🍽️ How Much Protein Do You Actually Need? The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.36 grams per pound of body weight . Online protein calculators can help you pinpoint your needs, but here are a few examples: A 55-year-old active woman needs about 54 grams of protein per day. A 55-year-old active man needs around 65 grams per day. Athletes or people with intense training schedules may need 0.5–1 gram per pound of body weight daily. Your needs depend on age, activity level, and overall health—but protein is essential for everyone. ...

My husband showed me an article on coffee and how drinking coffee can adversely affect the medications you may be taking.   Many Americans are on medications and probably give little thought as to how their morning cup of coffee might affect their medications.   And there are ways to still enjoy your coffee and avoid those coffee-drug interactions?   In what ways might coffee interfere with prescription medications? Absorption: Coffee can interfere with the absorption of a medication. Metabolism Changes: Coffee needs some liver enzymes for metabolism and these liver enzymes may also be needed to metabolize a medication.   This can lead to the levels of medication potentially increasing or decreasing in the bloodstream.   Blood Sugar:   Coffee, especially if mixed with sugar and/or milk, can affect blood sugar levels which can make it harder to manage diabetes.   Drug interactions:   Coffee can form complexes with some medications making them...

Have you been diagnosed with prediabetes?   Cleveland Clinic notes this “is essentially a health warning stage”.   Your blood sugar level is higher than normal but not too high as to be classified as Type 2 diabetes.   There are a lot of Americans with prediabetes , about 38% of all adults in America, or 96 million adults have prediabetes.   Most are unaware they even have prediabetes. Can you reverse prediabetes? There is good news, that with lifestyle changes, prediabetes can be reversed.   These lifestyle changes include weight loss if overweight, a healthier diet, and regular physical activity.   (See:   Walk Your Way to Better Blood Sugar Control .)   CDC notes that “if you have prediabetes, losing weight by eating healthy and being more active can cut your risk of getting type 2 diabetes in half.”   What is prediabetes? Your blood carries glucose around your body to be used by your cells for energy.   Blood sugar is measu...