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Healthy Comfort Foods

admin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 01:03:41 +0000

Comfort food is the food which brings back good memories. It’s what we think of when we hear the word “homemade”, and it’s the food that reminds us of simpler times. comfort food is typically inexpensive, uncomplicated and easy to prepare. It appeals to many because of familiarity, emotional security, or special reward. Comfort food often includes pleasant associations of childhood. Small children often seem to latch on to a specific food or drink and will repeatedly request it in high stress situations, while adults eat comfort food for a sense of continuity.

What foods can be classified as healthy comfort foods?
Most comfort foods we crave for are usually loaded with fat and calories. But there are healthier ways to continue enjoying comfort foods without jeopardizing our physical well-being. All it takes is a little creativity and an open mind.

• Try to keep your calories within limit – monitor portion sizes, don’t eat too little or too much, and don’t overindulge in just one food
• Modify your recipes and make healthy substitutions – like high fat ingredients with reduced fat options; skim milk and minimal butter or trans fat-free butter for mashed potatoes; oatmeal instead of bread crumbs in meatloaf; add grated, shredded or chopped vegetables like carrots to your favorite lasagna, meatloaf or mashed potato recipe
• Try smoothies – it will let you keep up with your four servings of fruit and veggies. Blend carrots along with juicy fruits like apples and berries
• If cookies are your comfort food, pick the healthier choices – reach for oatmeal-raisin, vanilla wafers, or ginger snaps
• When craving for salty food, you can try popcorn, pretzels dipped in mustard, or baked tortilla chips or salsa.
What foods could make people feel perky but at the same time promote health?

Proteins will perk you up. Eating a meal that is high in protein will improve brain power. Just as tryptophan is the precursor to serotonin, another amino acid called tyrosine is the precursor for norepinephrine and dopamine — brain chemicals that aid in alertness, reaction time, and mental acuity.

What foods should be avoided?
Sugary foods can give you a temporary high, but a quick crash in spirits soon follows. Some researchers believe that the link between food and mood has to do with fat and sugar than with other carbohydrates. A dose of carbohydrates leave people calmer an hour later, but it is the hefty proportion of sugar and fat that makes people go weak in the knees at the first taste of ice cream, chocolate, or cake.

Eating sugar can bring anxious people quick relief. Studies on animals suggest that high fat foods have a similar soothing effect. Sweet and creamy are the dynamic duo, fat makes food desirable and sugar makes the fat invisible. Hunger for fat and sugar triggers the brain to release endorphins (morphin-like chemicals) that send pleasure signals throughout the body, including the mouth.

Caffeine found in coffee, tea, dark chocolate, and sodas temporarily stimulate your brain and put you back in action. Up to two cups of tea or coffee a day are fine but overdependence can lead to anxiety, nervousness, insomnia, irritability, palpitations and irregular heartbeats.

In the long run, the effects of alcohol are more detrimental than helpful to those people who resort to alcoholic beverages just to get in the mood. Excessive alcohol increases anxiety, causes low blood sugar, interferes with vitamin/mineral metabolism, irritates liver and digestive tract, and the yeast in alcohol exacerbates allergies. More so, sugar, caffeine and alcohol can add to your stress burden.

Since kids and teens usually binge on comfort foods, how can it affect their general health?
Binge eating can lead to other problems, such as weight gain, unhealthy dieting, and emotional problems. Most people who binge are overweight or obese. Concerns about weight gain may lead them to go on extreme diets that they can’t stick to, so they return to their old behavior. Binge eating can leave a person feeling helpless, hopeless and depressed. These painful feelings may make binge eating worse if the person turns to food as a way of dealing with such feelings.

Diabetes Treatment in a New and Different Light

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:55:59 +0000

Most often, low blood sugar and weight gain are two main concerns of patients with type 2 diabetes. For a time the only solution has been injecting insulin to normalize blood sugar level. “Hypoglycemia is the most difficult obstacle in the management of blood sugar in people with diabetes;’ said Dr. Phillip Cryer, a professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

And because diabetes is a complex disease, optimal disease control is solely not addressed by injecting insulin. Dr. Harold E. Lebovitz, professor of Medicine at the State University of New York observed, “Indeed, emerging evidence suggests the importance of an additional therapeutic target: GI (Gastrointestinal) hormone regulation”.

Januvia (Sitagliptin phosphate) works by generating the release of incretin hormones. This hormone produced in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is responsible in activating the production of insulin in the body and slowing the rate of absorption in the GI tract. It triggers the body to naturally produce insulin that is needed in the body. At the same time, it slows down the emptying of the stomach to limit food intake.

“Incretin therapy offers an alternative option to currently available hypoglycemic agents for non-pregnant adults with type 2 diabetes with modest efficacy and a favorable weight change profile”, remarked Dr. Renee E. Amori of Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, based on the analysis of 29 studies he and his colleagues conducted.

Moreover, one big advantage of Januvia (Sitagliptin phosphate) over injected insulin is that it is taken orally. Aside from this, it works with the body in such a way that when the body’s blood sugar level rises, it immediately triggers the production of insulin.

“For the millions of Americans with type 2 diabetes, who continue to have inadequate blood sugar control, the approval of Januvia marks an important advance in the fight against diabetes… We now have another new option that treats the disease in an entirely new way that can be added to existing treatment regimens to help patients gain more control over their blood sugar levels”, declared Dr. Steven Galson, director of Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in the United States.

Bone Density Test

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 04:54:46 +0000

Bones are one of the most neglected parts of the human body. We never realize how important our bones are until we grow old and experience different bone pains and injuries. According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation, “as we get older, we are no longer able to replace bone tissue as quickly as we lose it.”

Women are more prone to bone diseases than men. Their body framework and women’s declining ability to produce estrogen as they age are the reasons they are prone to such diseases. When this happens, the bones become less dense until it produces holes and becomes light and weak, causing osteoporosis. However, men shouldn’t be too complacent either for they also suffer from bone loss, although the rate of loss is much slower than in women.

To avoid getting complications of bone disorders, it is better to prevent bone diseases from developing in the first place. Aside from eating foods rich in calcium, drinking milk and doing regular exercise, having a bone health check regularly is imperative.The bone density test is a useful tool in detecting osteoporosis, bone and joint problems and the risk of fractures.

What is the Bone Density Test?
The Bone Density Test measures how many grams of calcium and other bone minerals, also known as bone mineral content,are packed into a segment of bone. The higher the bone mineral content, the denser the bones are. Dense bones mean healthy and strong bones. Apart from measuring the density of your bones, the test also detects osteoporosis before a fracture occurs, helps predict your chances of developing another fracture in the future, and monitors the effectiveness of treatments for osteoporosis.

There are two standards used to compare the bone density test “age-matched” and “young normal.” The age-matched reading compares your bone density to what is expected in someone of your age, sex and size. On the other hand, the young normal reading compares your bone density to the optimal peak bone density of a healthy young adult of the same sex.

Don’t confuse the bone density test with a bone scan. They seem similar, but the bone density test is far different from a bone scan. Bone scans require injection beforehand and are usually used to detect fractures, cancer, infections and other abnormalities in the bone.

Who Needs to Undergo the Bone Density Test?
The US Preventative Services Task Force recommends women aged 65 and older to undergo bone density test at least once a year. It is also recommended to have bone density test if you are 60 years old and have an increased risk for osteoporosis. Under the guidelines from the National Osteoporosis Foundation, all postmenopausal women under age 65 who have one or more additional risk factors*, women age 65 and older regardless of additional risk factors, postmenopausal women who have sustained a fracture, women who are considering therapy for osteoporosis if bone density testing would facilitate the decision, and women who have been on hormone/estrogen replacement therapy (HRT/ERT) for prolonged periods, should undergo a bone density test.

What to do Before theTest?
There are no necessary preparations needed before going into bone density testing. The bone density test is simple, fast and painless. In fact, there are simple versions of bone density tests which can be done in local pharmacies and clinics.
If you will have your bone test done in the hospital, be sure to tell your physician beforehand if you’ve had recent oral contrast or nuclear medicine tests.These tests require an injection of radioactive tracers that might interfere with your bone density test.

How is it done?
The test is usually done on bones that are most likely to break because of osteoporosis. These sites include the lumbar vertebrae, which are in the lower region of your spine, the narrow neck of your femur bone adjoining the hip, and the bones of your wrist and forearm.

There are two kinds of equipment used in a bone density test—the central device and the peripheral device. The central device includes large machines on which you can lie down while your bones are checked. The most common central devices for bone density test are DEXA scan and Quantitative CT scan.

DEXA scan or Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry scan measures the bone density at your hip or spine. This test provides very precise results and is the preferred testfor diagnosing osteoporosis. During the test,you ‘II be asked to lie down on a padded platform for a few minutes while an imager, a mechanical arm-like device, passes over your body. However, you will expose yourself to low radiation, the same radiation emitted during a chest X-ray.The DEXA test usually takes five to 10 minutes to complete.

Meanwhile, the Quantitative CT scan uses computerized tomography (CT) scanner combined with computer software to determine your bone density, usually at your spine. It provides detailed, three-dimensional images and can take into account the effects of aging and diseases other than osteoporosis on your bones. Same as DEXA, you are to lie down on a movable table that’s guided into a large tube-like area where images are taken.The difference is that the QCT scan emits more radiation than the DEXA.Also, it takes less than 10 minutes to complete the bone density exam using this device.

On the other hand, the peripheral device is a small, portable machine that measures bone density on the periphery of your skeleton, such as your finger, wrist, or heel. This device is mostly seen in pharmacies and is considered less expensive than central devices. These small devices have limitations.

A test performed on a peripheral location such as your heel, may predict risk of fracture in your spine and hip as well. However, since bone density tends to vary from one location to the other, a measurement taken at the heel isn’t as accurate as a measurement taken at the spine or hip.

What do the results mean?
There are two ways to report the results of the bone density test T-scores and Z-scores. The T-score compares the bone density to the optimal peak bone density for your gender. It is reported as number of standard deviations below the average. A T-score of greater than minus-1 is considered normal. AT-score of minus-1 to minus-2.5 is considered osteopenia and at risk for developing osteoporosis.A score of less than minus-2.5 is classified as osteoporosis.

Meanwhile, Z-score is used to compare the results of your bone density test to others of your same age, weight, ethnicity, and gender. This is useful to determine if there is something unusual contributing to your bone loss.A Z-score of less than minus 1.5 raises concern that factors other than aging contributed to the development of osteoporosis. These factors may include thyroid abnormalities, malnutrition, medication interactions, tobacco use, and others.

What are the pros and cons of the bone density test?
The bone density test is an essential tool in diagnosing osteoporosis and is fairly accurate in knowing your risk of fractures. In spite of the usefulness of this test, it also has its disadvantages. It may not accurately predict the risk of fracture because fracture risk would depend on other factors besides bone density. The test may also encourage patients to take unnecessary medications and it exposes them to low levels of radiation.

Although the bone density test will give you a general outlook on the health of your bones, you will still need thorough medical evaluation and doctor’s advice to know the true condition of your bones.

Effective Sick Day Management

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:12:17 +0000

For people with diabetes, a bout with cough, cold or low-grade fever is no simple matter. It could increase their blood glucose levels making them more susceptible to graver conditions. When we are sick, our body produces certain hormones which help fight off the illness. However, these hormones can raise blood sugar levels, thus disabling the effects of insulin.

On the other hand, illnesses that cause vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration need more attention, as they may trigger diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) or hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state (HHS). These conditions may warrant hospitalization if not treated properly and promptly. Being alert and armed with knowledge can help you go a long way in planning for your sick days. Here are some helpful do-it-yourself tips on effective sick day management.

DOs:
Know when to call your doctor. When you are sick, it is best to know when to call your doctor. Some signs that should warn you to seek medical attention are: blood sugar level that has been higher than 240 mg/dL for over 24 hours or lower than 70 mg/ dL; urine ketone level that is moderate to high; diarrhea or vomiting; sleepiness or inability to think clearly; dry, cracked lips or tongue, and fever over 101 degrees Fahrenheit or 38.3 degrees Celsius.

Regularly check blood sugar and urine ketone levels. For those with type 1 diabetes, it is suggested that you check your blood sugar level and urine ketone levels every four hours. While for those with type 2 diabetes, it is best that you check four times a day.

Know what to eat. Try to stick to your diabetes meal plan to maintain blood sugar stability. However, with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, it may be tough to eat your usual fare. You may need to take 45 to 50 grams of carbohydrates every four hours to prevent ketone development and low blood sugar attacks. Here’s a list of more tummy-friendly foods that contain about 15 grams of carbohydrates: 1 cup clear soup, 1/2 cup regular gelatin, 1/2 cup non-caffeinated regular soft drink (like 7-up or Sprite), 1 double-stick frozen fruit popsicle, 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1/3 cup apple juice, 1 cup sports drink (like Gatorade or Pocari Sweat), 6 saltine crackers, 3 graham crackers, 1 slice dry toast, 1/2 banana.

Let a friend know you’re sick. If you have diabetes, wear a medical tag to let people know of your condition when an emergency arises. When you are sick, it is also very important to let others know, especially those who can give immediate help like neighbors, friends and relatives.

Be prepared. Keep medication, insulin, blood glucose and ketone test strips, emergency phone numbers, a thermometer, sugar-free cough or cold preparations handy. Talk to your doctor about your sick day management plan and agree on how to manage your blood sugar and other medical conditions during sick days.

DON’Ts:

Stop your medications. Take your medications as usual if you are eating normally. Missing your insulin or other medications can lead to ketosis. If you are unable to keep food or liquids down, you will need to adjust medicine doses, so call your physician.

Self-medicate unwisely. Over-the-counter medications and herbal remedies may contain sugar and alcohol and thus may wreak havoc on your blood sugar levels, so read the labels carefully. Medications like ibuprofen and paracetamol may be harmful for people with kidney and liver problems respectively. Decongestants may also raise blood pressure. When in doubt, get your physician’s okay.

Avoid fluids. To prevent dehydration especially when you have nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, drink at least 240 mL of water or non-caffeinated calorie-free liquid such as broth every hour while you’re awake.

Guide for Counting Carbohydrates

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 06:29:22 +0000

How would you like your favorite entree if it is served without that perfectly boiled rice or a well-blended mashed potato? Anywhere in the world, whatever form they are in, there is an almost universal preference for carbohydrate-rich foods. A day would not seem complete without eating a serving, especially for Filipinos.

Carbohydrate, to a lot of people, means sugar and starches. Technically, this macronutrient is divided into simple and complex. The store-bought table sugar, the candies and lollipops, regular soft drinks, syrups, desserts, fruits, and milk comprise the simple ones. The grains (rice, wheat, oats, barley, corn), legumes (beans and peas), tubers (potatoes, yam, cas-sava), cellulose and other fibers (pectin, hemicelluloce, lignin,gum, mucilage) make up the complex carbohydrates.
Except for fibers which are in-digestible by the human enzymes, and thus, do not provide the body with the needed energy, all of these carbohydrates, whether simple or complex, are converted into the so-called “energy currency” – the blood sugar or what is called glucose.

Primarily, carbohydrate supplies the body with the immediate energy that it needs and secondly, it spares protein (another macronu-trient) from being used for energy so that it can carry out its unique function of building and repairing tissues.
Every cell in the body depends on glucose for optimal functioning. A blood glucose below or above the normal level could have del-eterious effects in the individual, especially in someone with diabe-tes. Hypoglycemia or a blood sugar below normal is characterized by excessive sweating, faintness, headache, pounding of the heart, impaired vision, irritability, and personality changes. Chronic elevations in blood sugar on the other hand, increases the risk for microvascular (retinopathy*, neuropathy*, and nephropathy*) and macrovascular (coronary artery diseases*, cerebrovascular diseases*, peripheral diseases*) complications.

Because of the impact of carbohydrate on the blood glucose after meals, it is important that a diabetic be aware of how much carbohydrate he or she takes. Since most of the simple sugars are easily absorbed and have an immediate effect on the glycemic level, diabetics are advised to take them sparingly and that they should always be covered by oral medication or insulin. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products are significant components of a healthy diet while providing the glucose for the brain and other organs for them to function efficiently.

For diabetics, especially those who are dependent on insulin in managing their blood glucose level, the amount of carbohydrate in the meals determines the meal time doses of insulin, specifically of rapid-acting (lispro or aspart), short-acting (regular), and inter-mediate (NPH) insulins. Because of the fixed doses of the insulin, which often consists of injections before breakfast and evening meal, these individuals need to eat similar amounts of carbohydrate at regular times that are concurrent with the time actions of their insulin(s), e.g. peak hours and duration.

A health professional, usually a nutritionist-dietitian, can help the individual formulate a simple meal plan and meal pattern showing the daily allowance for carbohydrate.

The total carbohydrate computed for the day will be divided into three major meals and snacks (based on the individual’s preference). Total insulin dose is determined by supplying 0.5 to 1.0 unit per kilogram body weight. Approximately 10 to 15 grams of carbohydrate is needed for every 0.5 or 1.0 unit of insulin. The lower end is used for small people while the upper end may be given to diabetics of big frame size.

A Food Exchange Lists (FEL), one of the basic tools in nutrition, showing the various food groups and their carbohydrate content can help in the planning of meals. The FEL is divided into seven groups or “lists”. The foods included in each list have approximately the same amount of carbohydrate, protein, fat, and calories per exchange and thus, may be substituted or “exchanged” with another food found in the list.

Each diabetic has a unique tolerance for carbohydrate (carbohydrate load). It would be helpful if blood glucose monitoring is done religiously to determine the amount of carbohydrate that can be eaten at a particular meal or snack each day so that adjustments can be made regarding the meals and insulin dose.

While the right kind and amount of food is deemed important in the efficient management of diabetes, a diabetic should not fail to remember that there are other vital factors that can affect glycemic control such as stress, physical activity and illness.

As a famous personality once quoted, “Health is not everything, but without it, everything is nothing.” Effective diabetes management depends on the balance between diet, exercise, and medication. Being in control and knowledgeable in all these enables the diabetic to have power over his/her condition rather than the other way around. So go on, have that delicious lasagna, it will not hurt so long as you know your limit.

Philippine Diabetes Association

admin — Sat, 22 May 2010 05:00:43 +0000

The Philippine Diabetes Association (PDA) prides itself in being the “prime mover of excellent diabetes care and prevention in the Philippines.” And true enough, in its more than four decades of existence, the PDA has been in the forefront of activities and campaigns geared towards increasing the awareness of Filipinos about diabetes.

The PDA, which today “stands as the umbrella organization of all associations involved in the care of the diabetic patient”, had its birth in 1958 through the efforts of a group of internists and physicians committed to the care of diabetic patients. The group was formally organized and had its first set of officers on September 27, 1958,

with Dr. Wenceslao Vitug as its first President.

From then on, the hand of leadership in the PDA has been apssed on from one distinguished name in Philippine Medicine to another. One of these presidents, and definitely one of those who made their marks and invaluable contributions to the PDA, is Dr. Augusto D. Litonjua.

Dr. Litonjua served as PDA president for 11 years from 1983 to 1994. During those years, PDA’s reign as the leading agency with regards to diabetes awareness, care and prevention solidfied as PDA projects were launched one after the other.

It was during those years that PDA became a strong advocate of education as a right of the diabetic patient and a vital part in the treatment of diabetes along with nutrition, exercise, and dication. With this came the establishment of educational clinics a over the Philippines alongside with the creation of PDA provincial chapters in 1987.

The provincial chapters spearheaded the creation of local educational clinics that served the community. These efforts made the Philippines a frontrunner in the ASEAN region in bringing diabetes care to the grassroots level.

It was also during Dr. Litonjua’s term as president when the PDA Lay Organization was established. Another milestone for the organization was when it won recognition as member of the prestigious International Diabetes Federation (IDF), as well as the IDF Western Pacific Region.

Sleep Loss leads to poor Diabetes Control

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 06:31:38 +0000

A good snooze and sweet dreams may translate to acceptable blood sugar control, researchers based in the University of Chicago noted.

The Archives of Internal Medicine recently published a study which revealed the significance of sleep among type 2 diabetics. The researchers have long been aware of a link between sleep and glucose control but have only now obtained “evidence connecting chronic partial sleep deprivation and reduced blood-sugar control in patients with diabetes,” research head Kristen Knutson remarked.

Study participants, African-Americans with type 2 diabetes, were asked to answer queries called the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Afterwards, the patients’ glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), which shows one’s average blood sugar level for the last three months, was also measured.

The study revealed that majority of the participants (71 percent) were not getting enough sleep and had poor control of their blood sugars. Of the 161 patients, a measly six percent got to sleep for eight hours. Meanwhile, 8.3 percent was the average score for HbA1c. This figure is higher than the normal HbA1c rate of four to six percent.

Aside from the length of sleep, the snooze quality was just as important. Some patients reported difficulty getting a good night’s sleep because of pain related to diabetes complications. Sleep discomfort also corresponded to increases in HbA1c.

In the long run, poor sleeping habits affect not only the glucose control of diabetics but also insulin secretion and metabolism. Pre-diabetics also up their chances of having full- blown diabetes if they maintain insufficient sleep night after night.

Fiber-rich Diet Thwarts Gestational Diabetes

admin — Wed, 12 May 2010 07:45:07 +0000

Those planning to get pregnant should go heavy on whole grain bread and cereals, according to a recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

A fiber-rich diet was found to be invaluable for soon-to-be pregnant women as it could help lower the risk for gestational diabetes. An earlier study revealed that those with a diet poor in fiber were twice more likely to deliver babies with high birth weight typical of diabetic pregnant women.

Dietary fiber, found in certain fruits and breads, can reduce risk for gestational diabetes and even prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes. To be specific, the study concluded that “every 10 grams of total daily fiber intake reducedthe risk of gestational diabetes by 26 percent.”

The indispensable benefits of fiber in preventing diabetes was even recognized by the American Diabetes Association, whose recently published Nutritional Guidelines includes the impor¬tance of high-fiber diet among people on the verge of acquiring the disease.

ADA lauds Proposal to Junk Trans Fats

admin — Tue, 11 May 2010 07:41:47 +0000

The use of artificial trans fat, present in most tasty yet greasy fattening food, will be restricted in all fast food chains and res-taurants in New York, to the delight of The American Diabetes Association (ADA) which recognizes the health hazards of trans fats for diabetics and non-diabetics alike.

A form of unsaturated fat, trans fatty acids or trans fats are naturally found in dairy products and meat. It is artificially produced through partial hydrogentation of plant fats. Trans fats, which have no proven health benefits, are linked to heart attack and stroke. Although health authorities in some countries cautioned against the use of artificial trans fats, many food manufacturers and restaurant owners opt to keep this ingredient because it makes the food crispier, creamier and generally more delicious.

According to the ADA, a strict implementation of the ban on trans fats would help thousands of diabetics living in New York City. It assures that even if these diabetics dine in restaurants and fast food chains, what they’re about to eat is trans fat-free.

Consumption of too much trans fat is dangerous as it can lead to heart disease, a leading cause of death for people with diabetes. Meanwhile, the Big Apple is also pushing for a law that would make it mandatory for restaurant owners to display the calorie content of food served. Doing so would make the consumers more aware of the food’s effect on their health and prompt them to make smarter food choices.

Weight Gain between Pregnancies Risky

admin — Mon, 03 May 2010 12:42:50 +0000

Women who put on as little as seven pounds between pregnancies can put themselves and their babies at medical risk, suggests one study.

Researchers found that gaining weight between pregnancies – not during pregnancy itself – raised the risk of complications like diabetes and high blood pressure, and even stillbirth, during the second pregnancy. While pregnant women with existing diabetes or high blood pressure are at a higher risk of convulsions or organ damage, which in severe cases, can be fatal.

The study, reported in the British medical journal, The Lancet, provides evidence that overweight or obese women who plan to get pregnant should lose weight, while those with healthy weight should avoid getting extra weight before pregnancy.

Researchers examined records of more than 150,000 Swedishwomen who delivered two children between 1992 and 2001. They focused on body-mass index (BMI) calculations – a calculation from a person’s height and weight – and examined the difference between the women’s BMI at the beginning of two consecutive pregnancies.

One important finding was that the risk of complications increased even among women who did not end up overweight. Researchers further that developing diabetes is associated not only with those who are morbidly obese but even among those who register relatively small weight increases too.

In summary, the study says that a 1 or 2 BMI unit increase in weight ups the risk of diabetes and high blood pressure during pregnancy by up to 40 percent. If BMI rose by 3 or more units during the second pregnancy, the risk of a stillbirth also increases by 63 percent.

Women who put on as little as seven pounds between pregnancies can put themselves and their babies at medical risk, suggests one study.

Researchers examined records of more than 150,000 Swedish women who delivered two children between 1992 and 2001. They focused on body-mass index (BMI) calculations – a calculation from a person’s height and weight – and examined the difference between the women’s BMI at the beginning of two consecutive pregnancies.