Condiments are a food’s best friend. Ketchup and French fries, a soft warm pretzel dipped in deli mustard, or even ranch drizzled over cold pizza. Although that last one is a favorite of mine, low-fat ranch with veggies is a better and healthier alternative.

There is a vast array of condiments that enhance the flavor of most foods, or condiments can be a must needed compliment to a certain meal like dressing for salad. However, condiments are pretty sneaky because they come in small packages and may be consumed in tiny quantities, but condiments often add extra calories, fat, sugar, and sodium to meals and snacks. The chart below is a few of the most common condiments used, along with their calorie, fat, sodium and sugar content.

From the chart, most of the condiments are low calorie per serving size, but when more than the recommended serving size is consumed, the calories, fat, sugar, and sodium add up. Always be aware of the serving size and try looking for low calorie, low sodium and low fat options when choosing your condiments and dressings.

You can even hold the mayo, and try these healthier alternatives instead:

• Mustard: This condiment seems so lonely without its counterpart ketchup, but ketchup can be loaded with high fructose corn syrup. Mustard alone is great, and comes in many varieties from regular yellow, whole grain to honey mustard.  Substitute it for mayonnaise on a sandwich, add it to homemade dressings or use as a dipping sauce.
• Salsa: Make it fresh. It is a great way to increase fruit and vegetable intake. Make it at home by chopping tomatoes, onions, jalapenos for heat, and herbs. Add fresh lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper for a tasty salsa to put over an egg white omelette or to eat as a snack with low sodium corn chips.
• Vinaigrette Salad Dressing: A much healthier substitute to the traditional creamy dressings, made with healthier fats like canola, grape or olive oil. It also serves a double role as a delicious marinade.
• Hot Sauce: This spicy condiment is packed with flavor, and low in calories; a tiny bit goes a long way. Chili peppers contain capsaicin, a compound that makes peppers hot, helps with congestion, and has antioxidant properties.

“97% of people with prediabetes are unaware they have this condition. By partnering with Freedom Meditech, our goal is to change this statistic.” – Marlayna Bolinger, Executive Director of the Skinny Gene Project

Screening for Prediabetes

Currently, 79 million Americans have a condition known as prediabetes, which generally precedes type 2 diabetes. People with prediabetes have blood sugar levels that are higher than normal, but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. They are at higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems, including heart disease, and stroke. Without lifestyle changes to improve their health, people with prediabetes will most likely develop full-blown type 2 diabetes within 5 – 7 years.

Since prediabetes and type 2 diabetes have no noticeable symptoms,  the disease is  commonly only diagnosed several years after its onset, when complications are already present.  The Clearpath DS-120 has the ability to detect prediabetes and early diabetes up to 7 years before complications begin.  Once a person’s risk has been determined, they can go to their primary care provider for a formal diagnosis. This information gives a person the opportunity to take the necessary actions to prevent the further development of type 2 diabetes and begin to restore their health.

The Clearpath DS-120 is revolutionizing prediabetes and early diabetes screenings, because with a 6 second, painless scan of the eye, a person will be able to understand their risk. Then, they have options on how to proceed. That’s putting the power of prevention back into the hands of the people.

Through the partnership, the Skinny Gene Project and Freedom Meditech are providing pre and post-screening education materials to be distributed to patients, including a “Next Steps” brochure to direct those at-risk to the appropriate professionals.  In San Diego, CA, the two organizations work together to provide prediabetes screenings in low-income communities that have an increased risk for diabetes.

Detecting Prediabetes

How does it work? The Clearpath DS-120 detects prediabetes by scanning the crystalline lens of the eye with a blue light to measure autofluorescence. Studies have shown that elevated autofluorescence measurements can be an indicator of glucose control, the body’s aging process and the presence of systemic disease.

Being able to identify risks of diabetes 7 years prior to complications is crucial in helping to detect and treat diabetes before it can affect an individual’s quality of life. Together, Skinny Gene Project and Freedom Meditech want to inform the public about the benefits of the Clearpath DS-120 and how its use will aid in diagnosing  undetected prediabetes and diabetes early on.

Since the first symptoms of diabetes to appear are usually related to the eye, the Clearpath DS-120 will be useful as part of a yearly check up at the eye doctor. The device could easily be implemented under a professional’s care during each visit, in addition to screenings for glaucoma and retinopathy.

By including the Clearpath DS-120 in Optometrist and Ophthalmologist offices, where patients receive an annual eye exam, we are not just increasing early detection screenings; we’re increasing the opportunity to prevent diabetes.

For more information about Freedom Meditech and their mission you can visit their website at: www.freedom-meditech.com.

About Skinny Gene Project

The Skinny Gene Project (a division of the J.Moss Foundation) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to preventing diabetes. We help educate those who are at-risk; empower them with the resources, tools, and support needed to make healthy lifestyle changes; and teach them how to make the long-term social, environment, and behavioral changes needed to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.

If you at-risk for diabetes, please contact us today to see how we can help!

Skinny Gene Project was a proud participant in the American Liver Foundation’s 16^th annual Liver Life Walk in San Diego.

Skinny Gene Project is a San Diego based non-profit focused on educating and empowering people who are prediabetic, or at risk for type 2 diabetes. At this event, Skinny Gene Project offered free information to participants, focusing on the connections between obesity and insulin resistance, which can be major factors for both diabetes and liver disease.

Here are a few of our pictures from the race…

The American Liver Foundation has been around since 1976 and focuses on research and education of liver diseases. The San Diego Liver Life Walk took place Saturday the 28th of June. Funds from this event go towards education and research of liver disease. The liver works together with your body to regulate the amount of sugar the body stores, and later how much of it gets released into the bloodstream. Therefore the liver plays a vital part in controlling blood sugars. Liver disease can cause many lasting complications, such as diabetes, kidney failure and loss of muscle mass.

Skinny Gene Project is an organization focused on the prevention of type 2 diabetes, giving advice for healthy lifestyle changes such as cooking and workout tips for free through their blog and social media accounts in order to reduce obesity, insulin resistance and high triglycerides. Skinny Gene Project also offers nutrition counseling services to people who are at-risk of type 2 diabetes.

Information about the American Liver Foundation: http://www.liverfoundation.org/about/

Springtime has arrived and with this season comes spring cleaning. While you’re getting ready to clean out old storage items and organize closet spaces, why not spring clean your bodies as well by throwing out processed foods in your kitchen and replacing it with fresh fruits and vegetables? Spring clean your metabolism by clean eating and improve your life one meal at a time.

What exactly is “clean eating”?

“Clean eating” is a trend that is suddenly everywhere, but what does “clean eating” really mean? The term means to eat the best and healthiest options in each of the food groups, embracing foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy proteins. This includes staying away from junk foods and processed foods. When you are eating clean, you try to give your body the best fuel that is out there, which are foods that will keep you healthy and at a healthy weight. Clean eating is not necessarily about weight loss, but it focuses on general health.

The current craze of “cleansing” or eating only raw food or fresh juices for a set period of time is not the same as clean eating. In fact, our organs are what cleanses are bodies of toxins. The main idea is to replace processed foods, pastries, and fried foods with more fruits and vegetables. You’ll definitely feel the difference!

Clean eating can also entail looking more closely at where your food comes from. This could mean buying organic produce to avoid pesticide residue, or avoiding meat that comes from large factory farms. It is possible you might spend a little more money on high-quality meat and produce and more time preparing meals from scratch rather than heating up packaged convenience foods. But, as clean eating advocates say, it may be more expensive to eat clean and healthy, but it is an investment in your future health that you may otherwise pay for in the long run.

Here are some tips to get you started on clean eating:

• Try fresh fruits and vegetables instead of salty and sugary packaged foods to eat as snacks.
• Instead of buying blueberry yogurt with added sweeteners and less than 5% real blueberries, buy unsweetened yogurt and add your own fresh fruit.
• Try to buy meat from a farmer’s market in your area or at a grocery store, look for grass-fed meat and dairy products without hormones or antibiotics.
• Instead of margarine, try substituting it with grass fed butter or avocados to have with your whole grains or veggies.
• When you’re screaming for ice cream, save calories and fat by drinking a fruit and low-fat yogurt smoothie instead.
• If you love to savor the crunch, skip the full-fat chips and try more satisfying crunchy snacks such as pretzel chips, nuts, or whole-grain tortilla chips.

Clean eating has been a recent major movement amongst people who want to feel good about what they put into their bodies. The main principle of eating clean is replace processed foods with wholesome, fresh, and natural foods. For example, instead of a banana nut muffin, eat a banana and a handful of nuts. Clean eating may be a bit overwhelming at first, especially if you have a lot of changes to make. Try to make little changes every day and don’t beat yourself up if you make mistakes. It is what you do the majority of the time that counts.

Here are 5 steps to get you started on eating clean and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

1. Let the ingredients guide you. The first thing a clean eater looks at is the ingredient list of the product they are interested in buying. Reading the list is the only way to really know what is in your food and help you choose foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. A good rule of thumb is to look for the number of ingredients (the fewer the better) and if they are all “real” and recognizable ingredients—a list that practically reads like a recipe you could recreate in your own kitchen.

2.Eat lots of plants. Eat mostly foods that are off a tree, bush, plant or vine. The idea is to stay away from anything that has been altered in any way (by food corporations).

3. Enjoy whole grains. Eat grains that are still complete and haven’t been broken down. Stick to brown rice, whole wheat and other whole grains. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that at least half of all the grains you eat are whole grains. They are good sources of complex carbohydrates and some key vitamins and minerals. They’ve also been linked to a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers, and other health problems.

4. Eat a healthy breakfast. Eating a nutrient-rich morning meal shortly after getting out of bed literally wakes up your metabolism. For example, try an oatmeal with almonds and berries or a spinach and feta omelet with a slice of whole grain toast.

5. Do it yourself. One aspect of clean eating is replacing packaged foods with homemade versions. These days, with the internet at our fingertips, you can find a clean recipe for just about anything. For example, for a stir-fry, instead of buying a pre-made sauce, loaded with sodium, sugar, and preservatives, whisk together a little brown rice vinegar, fresh squeezed citrus juice, minced garlic, and fresh grated ginger.

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 Images courtesy of Marianna Lyubskaya