Health Care Reform Bill – Medicaid Changes
Here’s a few details on how the Health Care Reform Bill impacts Medicaid from a nutrition standpoint.
Medicaid
A 5 year grant will be established to provide incentives for implementing a healthy lifestyle. This includes weight loss, cholesterol reduction, diabetes prevention, and diabetes management. The grant will cover preventive services that are recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and will eliminate cost sharing for prevention services. The grant won’t be effective until January 1, 2011. (FYI – The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is established with the passing of the bill into law.)
High Blood Pressure Linked to Dementia
It’s well known high blood pressure increases your risk for stroke. A stroke occurs when blood flow to an area of the brain is blocked and brain cells become deprived of oxygen and die. Individuals with high blood pressure are 4-6 times more likely to have a stroke. An individual’s risk of having a stroke is directly related to how elevated their blood pressure is.
Now there is evidence linking high blood pressure with dementia and the risk is also directly related to how high your blood pressure is.
Steps to Lower Blood Pressure
A few steps you can take right now to promote a lower blood pressure include:
- Quit smoking
- Lose and/or maintain a healthy weight
- Decrease salt intake to less than 2400 mg sodium per day
- Restrict alcohol to less than 1 drink/day for women and 2 drinks or less per day for men
- Exercise 30 or more minutes daily
- Following a heart healthy diet, such as the DASH diet to lower blood pressure
Be sure to sign up for the free e-course 7 Natural Ways to Lower Blood Pressure and http://www.lowerbloodpressurewithlisa.com.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
https://www.lisanelsonrd.com
Hidden Calories: Watch out!
There are some changes you may make in an attempt to be healthier than can actually be sabotaging your weight loss efforts. Let’s discuss some hidden calories that may hide in some supposedly “healthy” choices.
Bagels and Muffins
Muffins and bagels have changed drastically over the years. In the past, if you grabbed a muffin at your local coffee shop they would’ve been about the size of a tennis ball. Nowadays muffins are closer to softball size, while bagels have increased an average of 4-6 inches in diameter.
The increased size equals a dramatic calorie increase. One standard muffin or bagel can provide 400-600 calories.
If you’re in a hurry and the only option is to grab breakfast on the run, choose to eat half the muffin or bagel and save the rest for another day.
Salads
Just because it’s a salad doesn’t mean it’s the best choice on the menu.
Can You Be Fat and Fit?
A study conducted in the Netherlands found some obese individuals to not be at increased risk for heart disease due to their weight. I’m going to share what they learned because I don’t want you to start seeing headlines saying you can be fat and still be fit and start thinking it’s okay to remain a couch potato.
The Study
Dutch researchers identified a subset of 1,325 obese individuals, between the ages of 28 to 75 years-old, from the 8,356 participants in the Dutch Prevention of Renal and Vascular Endstage Disease study. Out of the 1,325 obese individuals only 90 were determined to be “metabolically healthy”.
Metabolically healthy means the participants did not have risk factors for diabetes and heart disease, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, or the use of cholesterol lowering medication. The Dutch study found only 6.8 percent of obese individuals in a larger population are metabolically healthy.
The Results
Steps to Lose Weight
Here are a few steps to promote weight loss:
- Increase physical activity throughout your daily routine (i.e. park further from your office door, take the stairs instead of the elevator)
- Cut back on dining out (i.e. pack a lunch for work)
- Keep fresh fruits and vegetables within reach
- Clean out your cupboards and eliminate foods that don’t support heart health
- Cut back on TV time (just how many hours do you log each day in front of the tv?)
The list of steps you can take to promote weight loss and reduce heart disease risk goes on and on. Take it one step and a time!
Receive 1-A-Week Weight Loss Tips at http://www.weightlosswithlisa.com.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
https://www.lisanelsonrd.com
