Let's make Healthy Muffins!

Make Me Some Muffins!
Try these recipes for an easy, versatile treat that Mom (and everyone else) will love.

What can you make in one bowl, with using any electrical device or sharp cutlery? Muffins! What can be whipped up in less than 10 minutes and ready to serve 20 minutes after that? Muffins! What never gets boring because there are so many possible flavors and combinations to behold? Muffins!

Muffins are one of the most versatile breads in America, and the simple fact is, people love them. What's not to like? If you don't like banana, choose another type of muffin. If you want fiber, use whole wheat, oats, or bran in your muffins. If you don't have blueberries, stir in raspberries or any other chopped fruit. If you don't want nuts, leave them out.

Muffins are members of the "quick bread" family because they use baking powder or baking soda to add air bubbles (instead of yeast) and, well, because they're quick to make. Anyone can make muffins; they don't require candy thermometers, double boilers, or sifters.

All that means they're perfect for little ones wanting to make mom breakfast in bed (say, on Mother's Day) with a dad or a grandparent supervising. To personalize the muffins, add her favorite fruit and nuts. If mom likes coffee, try the Mocha Chip Muffins below. If she goes bananas for bananas, make the Banana Coconut Macadamia Muffins. If her favorite cookie is oatmeal-raisin, try the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Muffins.

Muffins fit perfectly into an on-the-go lifestyle, too. Make a batch of muffins over the weekend; pop them into the freezer in a zip-lock bag, and you're a microwave minute away from breakfast or a snack.

Of course, I can't talk about any food without mentioning ways to make it healthy. Here again, muffins score big with potential. Because you're creating air bubbles with baking powder, instead of by whipping the fatty ingredient with sugar (as you do with a cookie or pound cake), you can add the fatty ingredient in liquid form. That means you can use canola oil instead of margarine or butter. Right away, this makes your muffin lower in saturated fat and higher in two "smart" fats: monounsaturated fat and plant omega-3s.

Here are some other tips for making healthful muffins:

Use a "smart" fat when possible (like canola oil or Take Control margarine)
Use a minimum of fat - say, 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil or 4 tablespoons of less-fat margarine -- per 12-muffin recipe.
Reduce the sugar, or substitute Splenda sweetener for a third or a half of the sugar.
Substitute whole-wheat flour for half the white flour
Use higher omega-3 eggs. If the recipe calls for two eggs, you may use one egg and 2 egg whites, or one egg and 1/4 cup egg substitute.
Add nutrient-rich ingredients, like bananas, shredded carrots, nuts, fruit, ground flaxseed, etc.

And now for those recipes …

Lemon-Blueberry Corn Muffins

Journal as: 1 small muffin

Bake the batter in a nonstick mini angel food pan (or similar) for a pretty presentation. This is a great way to work some fruit, whole grains, and plant omega-3 fatty acids (from canola oil) into your morning.

1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal (finely ground works best)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup Splenda (or other sugar alternative for baking)
1 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Zest from 1 lemon, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 teaspoon)
1/4 cup canola oil
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
3/4 cup fat-free half-and-half or low-fat milk
1 large egg
1/4 cup egg substitute
2 cups frozen or fresh blueberries


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 15 muffin cups with paper or foil liners.
Whisk together the flours, cornmeal, sugar, Splenda, baking powder, salt and lemon zest in a large bowl.
Add canola oil, fat-free half-and-half, egg and egg substitute to a large mixing bowl and beat on medium until well blended. Gradually add flour mixture to the batter in the mixing bowl, while beating on low speed, until just combined.
Gently stir in blueberries and spoon batter into prepared muffin cups using a 1/4-cup-measuring cup. Bake until a tester inserted in center of largest muffin comes out clean (about 18 minutes).
Yield: around 15 muffins

Per muffin: 145 calories, 4 g protein, 23 g carbohydrates, 4.4 g fat, .4 g saturated fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 198 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 27%.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Muffins
Journal as: 1 small muffin

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 large egg (higher omega-3 if available), beaten lightly
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup lite pancake syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup raisins


Add oats and buttermilk to large mixing bowl. Let stand for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with paper or foil liners.
Add egg, brown sugar, syrup, vanilla, and canola oil to oat mixture in mixing bowl. Stir until just combined.
In another large bowl, whisk together flours, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and baking soda. Stir into oat mixture until just combined. Fold in raisins.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups using a 1/4-cup measuring cup and bake until golden (about 20 minutes).
Yield: 12 muffins

Per muffin: 165 calories, 4 g protein, 26 g carbohydrate, 6 g fat, .6 g saturated fat, 18 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 229 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 30%.


Banana Coconut-Macadamia Muffins

Journal as: 1 small muffin

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 large)
1/3 cup Splenda (or other sugar alternative for baking)
1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons cup canola oil
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon low-fat milk or fat-free half-and-half
1 large egg (higher omega-3 if available)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped roasted or toasted macadamia nuts
1/2 cup flaked or shredded coconut


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with paper or foil liners.
Whisk whole wheat and white flours, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg together in a large mixing bowl; set aside.
Add bananas, Splenda and brown sugar, canola oil, milk, and egg to another large mixing bowl and beat or stir until completely blended. Pour banana mixture into the dry ingredients in mixing bowl and stir until just combined.
Fold in macadamia nuts and coconut. Fill each muffin cup using a 1/4-cup measuring cup. Bake until muffins are golden brown and tester inserted in center comes out clean (about 25 minutes).
Yield: 12 muffins

Per muffin: 194 calories, 4 g protein, 26 g carbohydrate, 9 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 18 mg cholesterol, 2.2 g fiber, 222 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 42%.

Mocha Chip Muffins (with pecans)
Journal as: 1 small muffin

1/4 cup hot water
4 tablespoons instant decaf coffee (or 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder)
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup fat-free sour cream
1 large egg (higher omega-3 type, if available)
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup unbleached white flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup Splenda (or other sugar alternative for baking)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk or semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans or pecan pieces, toasted (about 3 ounces)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
Stir hot water and instant coffee together in a large mixing bowl. Add buttermilk, canola oil, fat-free sour cream, egg and egg substitute, and vanilla. Whisk until well blended.
Add flours, Splenda, brown sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to another large bowl and whisk to blend well. Stir in the buttermilk mixture, stirring only until just combined. Mix in chocolate chips and pecans.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups using a 1/4-cup measuring cup. Bake until tester comes out clean (about 25 minutes).
Yield: 12 muffins

Per muffin: 206 calories, 5 g protein, 27 g carbohydrate, 9 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 18 mg cholesterol, 2.5 g fiber, 355 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 38%.

How Diabetes Can Affect A Woman Sexual Health

Women, Sex, and Diabetes
Men aren't the only ones who experience sexual problems as a result of diabetes.
By Colette Bouchez

FeatureReviewed by Louise Chang, MD

When most people hear the words “diabetes and sexual dysfunction," they automatically think it's the man's problem. But women with diabetes can also experience sexual problems related to their blood sugar levels.

For diabetes educator Ann Albright, PhD, RD, that’s not only a medical fact, it’s a fact of life.

Living with type 1 diabetes for 41 years, Albright says that when glucose isn’t under good control, a woman’s sex life can suffer.

“It’s not diabetes per se that harms your intimate life. It’s the complications of uncontrolled blood sugar levels that cause problems for both men and women -- the only difference is that many women simply aren’t as aware of this complication as men are,” she tells WebMD. Albright also is the president of health education for the American Diabetes Association.

Albright says women are getting better at coming forward with intimacy issues, but when it comes to diabetes, most are still reluctant to talk to their doctor.

Endocrinologist Loren Wissner Greene agrees. “Women aren’t talking to their doctors about it, doctors aren’t talking to women about it, and so for many it remains a silent problem that goes undiagnosed and untreated.” Greene is a clinical associate professor at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.

When Glucose and Intimacy Collide
Although women with diabetes may be slow to admit there is a problem between the sheets, the medical community has been even slower to study the issue. It wasn’t until 1971 that a groundbreaking study was published on this subject in the journal Diabetes.

In the study, 35% of women with diabetes reported being unable to have an orgasm during intercourse, compared to just 6% of the women who didn't have diabetes.

Albright says one reason women with diabetes may have trouble achieving orgasm is that high blood sugars can affect vaginal lubrication.

“The lubrication issues not only can impact sensation, they also can make sex very uncomfortable, even painful,” she says.

In a 1986 study now considered a cornerstone of research on the topic, nearly half the women in the study had a sexual problem. Of these, 32% of women reported experiencing problems with lubrication. Eighty-nine percent said the problems started after their diabetes diagnosis.

Albright says there are many health benefits of good blood sugar control, but many women don’t realize that better lubrication, and, ultimately, a better sex life may be among them.

Blood Sugar and Sexual Desire
Lubrication can be a huge intimate issue, but it's not the only one women with diabetes may have. Endocrinologist Spyros Mezitis, MD, says there are also important links between glucose levels and genital stimulation -- a factor that affects not only how pleasurable sex feels, but also a woman’s desire

Blood Sugar and Sexual Desire
“It all comes down to microcirculation,” says Mezitis, an endocrinologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. “When blood glucose is uncontrolled, it impacts the tiny blood vessels that feed our nerves and allow a woman to experience the full spectrum of intimate sensation.”

When microcirculation is impaired in men, erectile dysfunction occurs -- so the impact is obvious to both partners, he tells WebMD. In women, the effect isn't as apparent. It’s all about arousal and sensation in the genital area, which frequently no one but the woman herself must acknowledge.

Greene says the longer sugar levels remain uncontrolled, the more likely it is for circulation problems to interfere with intimacy.

“Over time, increased glucose in the blood begins to destroy myelin -- a protein that covers nerves,” Greene says. When this happens, it leads to neuropathy -- a type of nerve damage.

The most frequent type is peripheral neuropathy. It commonly results in foot problems such as numbness and tingling. Another type of neuropathy -- autonomic neuropathy -- affects nerves in areas such as the stomach and urinary tract and may also impact the nerves in the pelvis -- nerves that are directly connected to sexual stimulation.

“Again, it’s damage to the tiny blood vessels supplying the nerves that are at the root of the problem,” she says.

“Some people believe only those with type 1 diabetes, which develops at an early age, are at risk for these kinds of problems, but in reality many people with type 2 diabetes have it for many years before they are diagnosed, and when they are diagnosed, most of the time some damage has already occurred,” Greene says.

Women, Sex, and Diabetes: The Role of Infections
In addition to problems related to blood supply and nerve function, doctors say women with diabetes are also prone to two types of medical problems that also can interfere with intimacy: Yeast infections and urinary tract infections.

“The vagina is a moist, warm place that favors the overgrowth of yeast anyway -- add excess sugar into the mix and you have the ideal breeding ground for yeast, one reason women with uncontrolled blood sugars frequently develop chronic yeast infections,” Mezitis says.

What many may not recognize is the impact these infections have on delicate vaginal tissue -- and the role they can play in making sex very uncomfortable, even after the infection has cleared.

“It can leave the vaginal tissue raw and irritated, particularly if the infections are chronic and keep coming back -- the irritation continues, and combined with a lack of lubrication, this can make sex extremely uncomfortable, even painful,” Greene says.

Urinary tract infections can have the same effect, Mezitis says. “The burning and pain can make sex very uncomfortable -- and when there is chronic infection, there is chronic discomfort that can cause a woman to avoid sex for long periods of time,” he says.

And avoiding sex may only make the problem worse.

“The longer a woman goes without having sex, the more difficult and sometimes painful it can be for her to begin again," Greene says.

Women, Sex, and Diabetes: A Complex Issue
Experts have suggested that one reason there is so little research on women, sex, and diabetes is that for women, achieving sexual satisfaction is a complex and multi-faceted issue. That means finding a single “smoking gun” becomes a daunting, and some say, impossible, task.

Albright believes the complexity of a woman’s sexuality is one of the main reasons the impact of diabetes can be so devastating.

“Sometimes sexual problems can be clearly glucose related, but sometimes it’s also the demand that diabetes itself takes on a woman’s life and how coping with the disease can ultimately impact sexual functioning,” she says.

“The demands of the diabetes itself can affect you emotionally and if you’re a woman the stress of those demands is simply more likely to play out in the bedroom."

Greene adds that for many women with diabetes, depression is also a factor. “In and of itself," she says, "depression can impact your intimate life, but so can many of the medications prescribed to women who do develop depression as a result of their diabetes."

Women, Sex, and Diabetes: Getting Help
Although there may be no single answer for every woman whose sex life is affected by her blood sugar, there are two tactics experts say works for every woman:

Bring your problem out into the open. Telling the doctor about problems in the bedroom may not only help your sex life, it could clue in the doctor that your blood sugar isn't under control. "It’s important to bring that aspect of your life into the examining room," Mezitis says. "It can help you work with your doctor to fine-tune both your medication regimen and the suggested lifestyle changes so you do get the best possible control of your blood sugar."
Keep your doctor in the loop. Don't be shy about asking your doctor about specific treatments for sex-related problems, Mezitis says.
“If it’s a lubrication issue, for example, or even a sensation issue, there are localized hormone treatments that might be a huge help,” he says.

Likewise, if you’re suffering with chronic yeast infections that you’re treating with over-the-counter preparations, Greene says to share that with your doctor.

“This is important because chronic yeast infections can be a sign that your blood sugar is not being well controlled during certain times of the month,” Greene says. He says studies have shown many women need more insulin when they're premenstrual.

“Telling your doctor about chronic infections, or any lingering vaginal soreness that interferes with your sex life may actually lead to better control of your sugar levels," Green says, "while at the same time helping to reduce intimate problems."

The bottom line: If you’re experiencing problems between the sheets, don’t pull the covers over your eyes and hide.
"Talk to your doctor, either your endocrinologist or your gynecologist," Albright says, "very often there are treatments or lifestyle changes that can make a difference.”

Why Osteoporosis is On the Rise?

Why Osteoporosis is On the Rise
By Jim LaValle, R.Ph, ND, CCN

Recently, I did some radio and TV interviews on the topic of osteoporosis. Rates are increasing, especially in men; 55% of people over the age 50 have osteoporosis; and another 34 million or so have low bone density.

As a pharmacist, I feel obligated to warn people that one of the contributing factors to these increased rates is taking prescription and over-the-counter drugs that reduce or block the production of gastric acid. I'm talking about proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and other acid blocking drugs like H2 antagonists for heartburn and ulcers.

Besides lowering B12 absorption which influences red blood cells and homocysteine levels, these drugs reduce stomach acid so effectively, they keep your body from absorbing calcium, and therefore can reduce bone density.

In people aged 50 and over, PPIs are associated with a 2.6 times increased risk of hip fracture when taken for over one year. The longer you use PPIs, the greater your risk of fracture.1 In 2003, one PPI became available over the counter. Needless to say, this tremendously increased the use of this class of drug. Used short term, acid blockers and PPIs are not a problem, but many people use them for much longer than the recommended few months.

The next thing we know, we see headlines that osteoporosis rates are increasing, and what used to be a condition seen mostly in women is now being seen more frequently in men.

But the question is, do you have to live with chronic gastric distress to protect your bones? The answer is a resounding No!

Rather than taking calcium-depleting drugs, try natural measures to reduce or neutralize the production of gastric acid. Start by making dietary changes. The best way to reduce acid load from the diet is to reduce your intake of sugary foods and drinks (especially soft drinks which contain phosphoric acid), along with grains. Instead, eat a diet high in vegetables and greens.2

Next, try gentle, natural products to control acid production and provide support to your gastrointestinal system. At LMI, we recommend DGL licorice, mastic extract, probiotics, and digestive enzymes.

We also advise limiting coffee and other caffeine, colas, and alcohol until the problem resolves, with limited use as tolerated after that. If you do use acid blockers more than occasionally, make sure to supplement with nutrients they deplete like calcium and vitamins B12 and D.

References

Yang, YX et al. Dec 27 2006 JAMA. 296 (24): 2947-53; doi:10.1001/jama. 296.24.2947. PMID 17190895.
Sebastian et al. Dec. 2002 Am J Clin Nutr. 76 (6): 1308 - 1316