Diabetes Drug Actos May Also Help Prediabetes

Posted by Hugo Snowball · Leave a Comment 

Study Shows Actos Lowers Risk of Developing Diabetes in People With Prediabetes

The diabetes drug Actos, which increases insulin sensitivity, appears to dramatically lower diabetes risk in people with prediabetes, according to a new study.

People with prediabetes who took the drug had a 72% reduction in diabetes risk, compared to patients who did not take it, researchers report.

They estimate that one case of diabetes could be prevented if 18 high-risk people were treated with the drug for a year.

The study appears in the March 24 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

The findings suggest that millions of people at high risk for diabetes may benefit from taking Actos, but experts urge caution.

Actos (pioglitazone) is in the same drug class as the controversial diabetes drug Avandia.

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The Out of the Kitchen Meal Plan.

Posted by Leo Queale · Leave a Comment 

Providing healthy meals for your kids is possible by planning ahead. These are a few of the things I plan for:

  • Washing and chopping vegetables once or twice a week (after the trip to the store).
  • Having foods prepared for snacking, such as trail mix, granola bars, roasted nuts, hard boiled eggs, muffins, homemade yogurt, popsicles, etc..
  • Knowing what we’ll have for dinner by 10am.
  • I don’t plan to buy food in the house that I don’t want my kids eating. We don’t buy potato chips, fruit snacks, pop tarts, candy (The biggest junk food offenders in my opinion).

So, while I’m keeping it simple this week, I’m also going to keep this meal plan simple. There is no

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5 Strange Farmers’ Market Fruits and Vegetables – And What to Do With Them

Posted by Christopher Reeks · Leave a Comment 

Have you ever watched Bizarre Foods on The Travel Channel? If not, don’t worry — the only thing you’re missing is a few involuntary gag reflexes. The host, Andrew Zimmern, basically travels the world eating the grossest things possible (turtle jelly soup, anyone?). But the nastiness isn’t reserved for things like brain tacos and pig innards — Zimmern also downs a hefty share of some pretty unusual fruits and vegetables. I know I’ll never forget the episode where he unsuccessfully tried to eat some smelly durian fruit — he described it as “completely rotten, mushy onions.”

But unusual doesn’t have to be gross. In fact, it’s worth

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Diet Cheat Sheet

Posted by Leo Queale · Leave a Comment 

Spring is officially here, meaning nearly 1/4 of the year is over.

Are you 33% closer to the goals you set for 2011? 

Although January is typically thought of as the “weight loss month” with all the fat loss goals everyone sets for the New Year, surveys suggest March is actually a BIGGER month for dieting and weight loss attempts.  Interesting.

Is it that warm weather signals “bathing suit” season is around the corner?

Regardless of the reasons of why fat loss is a top priority in March, today we’re sharing what we call the “Diet Cheat Sheet.”

These are 7 Super Simple Steps are our “Diet Cheat Sheet” and you should keep these handy when trying to lose weight, use nutrition as medicine, and get healthy.  Print these and keep them visible so you can be sure you’re working on it daily … heck, even if you’re not trying to lose weight for bathing suit season … if you simply want to improve your nutrition, these perfect little nutrition nuggets will keep you on track.

  1. Plan your meals for the week.  We do this by sitting down with a few of our favorite magazines, picking out some recipes, and going from there.  It helps more than you can imagine and that 15 minutes of planning will save you a TON of time during the week. 
  2. Pack your food at night for the following day.  This goes with planning ahead, but doing it the night before saves you from rushing around the morning of work and forgetting everything while trying to get you and the rest of your family out the door on time.
  3. Prep your veggies when you get home from the store.  Sound crazy?  It will take you 22 minutes (don’t believe me?  Watch me prep our veggies for the week here) … and when they’re prepped, you’ll eat them because no one feels like going through the prepping process during the day.  You want quick and easy. 
  4. Don’t buy snack food — keep it out of your house.  If it’s not there, you’re less likely to eat it.  We could expand on that, but it’s pretty straightforward — and don’t tell us “it’s for the kids” because more often than not, you’re eating it.
  5. Have a bowl of fresh fruit visible at all times.  Food that’s visible will be eaten.  And those who eat more fruit weigh less and have less disease. 
  6. Eat breakfast daily.  You’ve certainly heard this one before, but it bears repeating.  Eat breakfast and you’ll lose weight faster, have lower rates of heart disease, and have more energy. 
  7. Include a veggie and/or fruit with every single meal.  The more you eat of both of those, the faster you’ll get results — if that means faster fat loss, fantastic. 

How to Use Almond Extract

Posted by Hugo Snowball · Leave a Comment 



Almond extract is made from almond oil and alcohol.

Almond extract, used in a variety of dishes, is made by combining alcohol with almond oil. You can find this clear, highly concentrated flavoring in the baking aisle of almost any grocery store near the vanilla and other extracts.

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