Spirit of Women magazine is a national publication presented to women by hospitals and their physicians. The magazine provides up-to-date, evidence-based healthcare information and promotes our hospitals as leaders in women's health excellence.
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2 H E A LT H Y S P I R I T S U M M E R 2 015 w w w. s a m c . c o m H E A L T H C E N T R A L D I E T SHUTTERSTOCK Going vegan for weight loss Turn up the heat on oatmeal To avoid mid-morning hunger pangs, switch from cold oat cereal to hot oatmeal. That's the conclusion of a recent study comparing the same-calorie meal of either hot oatmeal (instant or old-fashioned oats) with cold, ready- to-eat oat cereal. In an experiment, 48 volunteers were randomly given either the hot or cold cereal with milk on three different test days separated by at least a week. After each meal, the volunteers rated their hunger scores for the next four hours, and both versions of the hot oatmeal provided more satiety than the cold oat cereal. Oatmeal's soluble oat fiber has a viscosity that may be the key, according to the research published in Nutrition Journal and funded by Quaker Oats Center for Excellence and PepsiCo R&D; Nutrition. • Fruits and ovarian cancer Some of your favorite healthy snacks—apples, grapes and citrus fruits—may help reduce your risk of developing epithelial ovarian cancer. These fruits contain specific types of flavonoids, or plant chemicals, that may have an antioxidant benefit. In a study of the dietary habits of more than 170,000 women for more than three decades, those who consumed foods and beverages including tea, red wine, apples and grapes, which are high in flavonols, and citrus fruits, which are rich in flavanones, had a significantly lower risk of epithelial ovarian cancer. In fact, just drinking two cups of black tea a day was beneficial, according to the researchers, who published their findings in the Ameri- can Journal of Clinical Nutrition. • I n the perennial debate about which diet is best for weight loss, vegan is proving a winner, according to a new study released by the University of South Carolina. The study followed participants who were randomly assigned to one of five diets: vegan, which excludes all animal products; vegetarian; semi-vegetarian with occasional meat intake; pesco-vegetarian, which allows for seafood; and omnivorous, which includes all foods. After following their assigned dietary restrictions for six months, those on the vegan diet—which emphasized non-starchy plant foods—had lost the most weight at the two- and six-month check-ins, with an average of 4.3 percent more weight loss at the end of the six-month trial period. The vegan dieters also showed the greatest amount of decrease in their levels of fat and saturated fat. • Two diets cut stroke risk You can reduce your risk of first- time stroke by adopting either a traditional Mediterranean diet or the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet. Following either diet, getting regular exercise and keeping blood pressure under con- trol are the latest updated guidelines from the American Heart Associa- tion/American Stroke Association. Both eating plans emphasize vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, fish, poultry and nuts, while minimizing sodium, red meat and high-fat dairy products. The DASH diet also advocates low-fat or fat-free dairy foods. •