Australia (CU)_ More doctors and even government health authorities recognize the importance of healthy foods. Simple activities such as walking and other basic exercises, that The George Institute for Global Health and UNSW Sydney have found are that individuals with type 2 diabetes and high blood sugar who participated in a study, prescribed fruits and vegetables over 12 weeks ate nearly two extra servings of fruit and vegetables a day which lead to the loss of 1.7kg and indicated a 10% drop in their LDL (low-density lipoprotein).
Health experts describe LDL as bad cholesterol as opposed to HDL (high-density lipoprotein) which is good cholesterol that often pushes back against LDL. Hence to become healthier we need to lower our LDL. Many foods can help naturally lower LDL, which include many types of fruits such as pears, apples and avocados together with many vegetables, dark chocolate and many others.
Lead author Jason Wu, Head of Nutrition Science at The George Institute and Professor at UNSW Medicine & Health’s School of Population Health stated that 1 in 20 Australians eat enough fruit and vegetables and most face hardship in accessing healthy foods, particularly individuals from the most disadvantaged communities and added that unhealthy diets lead to over 20,000 premature deaths a year locally.
The study was conducted with specialist doctors at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney who had 50 people with type 2 diabetes having food insecurity where every individual consumed a healthy food box designed by nutrition professionals together with recipes and the availability of a dietitian every 2 weeks. After 12 weeks, the study participants witnessed a remarkable improvement in diet, blood cholesterol levels and body weight, where 96% of them said the program was significantly beneficial for improving them individually as well as their families’ diet, and wanted to continue the program with their own funds.
