Encouraging Health

You use it for cooking, cleaning, gardening, and a hundred other household chores. But for your blood sugar?

You bet. Seems vinegar — the tart stuff in tasty vinaigrettes and marinades — may help clamp down on blood sugar spikes from eating starchy carbs like potatoes and pasta.

Keep It Steady
Keeping blood sugar from surging may cut down on diabetes risk in the long run. But stabilizing blood sugar can do good things instantly, too — like stymieing hunger pangs, keeping your energy up, and keeping pounds off. To get the blood sugar benefit of vinegar, try pairing starchy foods with vinegar-based sauces or dressings. Or start a meal with a salad dressed in oil and vinegar.

Reality Check
Of course, a shot of vinegar will only go so far when it comes to keeping your blood sugar steady. To really ward off blood sugar problems, you’ll need to:
Get moving . . . so your body uses blood sugar better.

Load up . . . on low-glycemic-index foods that help keep blood sugar stable. We’re talking high-fiber fruits, veggies, and whole grains.

Pare down . . . maintaining a healthy weight helps reduce your risk of diabetes.

Try this easy-on-the-joints workout:

Chi-Gong Workout
Ever tried chi-gong (also spelled qigong)? Ever even heard of it? No, it’s not a tea or percussion instrument, but a 2000-year-old series of bodily movements and breaths that calms the spirit and the mind. It has also been shown to strengthen the immune system, reduce stress, and improve balance and posture (all important as we get older).

The most important goal of chi-gong is to learn how to breathe correctly — which involves breathing from the tan tien — a point 2 inches below the navel.

In each exercise, breathe in slowly. Focus on a point on the wall in front of you, with your chin parallel to the ground — this will help maintain balance. Your eyes should never drop during any exercise. Ideally, do this series of movements, crafted by the YOU Docs and chi-gong master Karl Romain, once daily to help keep your mind and body calm and focused.

Repeat each move three times before moving on to the next.

1. Loosening the Neck
Sink to the ground with your elbows and knees slightly bent and your chin parallel to the ground. Turn your head to the right as you inhale, and exhale as you come back to the middle. Then, turn your head to the left and repeat the sequence.

2. Picking the Fruit
Exhale as you reach for imaginary fruit, and inhale while bringing the fruit down. Reach for the closest fruit first, and then progressively move up the imaginary tree. Keep your knees bent and your back straight.

3. Relaxing the Shoulders
Lift your shoulders first, then elbows, then wrists. Roll your shoulders back; your elbows go out and your hands angle toward the middle — as if you’re grabbing a pole — with your hands sliding down to the level of your waist. Feel the energy as your hands pass down your body.

4. Reaching to Heaven
Inhale and clasp your hands at the level of your navel, and then raise your arms as if you’re reaching toward heaven. Lean to the right as you exhale, and then inhale as you come back to the center. Use the same technique as you lean to the left. Finally, bring your hands down in front of your navel as you exhale.

5. Bow, Bend, and Stretch
As you inhale, bow forward from the waist while your hands slide down your thighs and onto your knees. Bend at your knees and squat with your hands on the insides of knees. (Do not exhale until you come back up; this really works the control of your breath.) Then, stretch your legs as you let your torso hang to the floor, keeping your knees slightly bent. As you slowly rise up, exhale, allowing your head to be the last part of the body to rise up.

6. Stepping over the Fence
Inhale and deliberately shift your weight to the left until the right leg has no weight on it. Lift your leg only when it is weightless. Pretend that your right hand is attached to your right knee by a string. With your hand over your knee and leg, exhale as you rotate your leg and arm to the right — as if you’re stepping over a 1-foot fence. Slowly lower your heel, foot pointed out, and then rotate your foot frontward as you transfer weight to the right. Repeat with your left side.

see the rest of the work out here.

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