Chicken, bacon and lentil soup with ciabatta

Creamy chicken soup is the ultimate winter meal – this version gets a flavour boost from bacon, lentils and a dollop of sour cream. Served with crunchy warm bread, I can’t think of anything better!

This is a great recipe to cook up and freeze in portions for a rainy day. If you wanted to make this creamy chicken soup dairy-free you could replace the sour cream with some coconut yoghurt or even coconut cream.

Ingredients

Creamy Chicken, Bacon, Lentil Soup

• streaky bacon 250g, diced
• onion 1, diced
• carrots 2, peeled and diced or grated
• celery 3 stalks, diced
• leek 1, white and pale green part only, thinly sliced
• chicken thighs 450g, boneless, skinless
• thyme 1-2 tablespoons chopped
• split red lentils ½ cup
• chicken stock 2 cups
• water 2 cups
• salt ¾ teaspoon
• sour cream ¼ cup

Chipotle sour cream

• sour cream ¼ cup
• chipotle sauce 1 tablespoon (optional)
• parsley 1-2 tablespoons chopped

• To serve

  • parsley ¼ cup, chopped
  • ciabatta or other bread warmed or toasted, sliced (omit for gluten-free, or replace with gluten-free bread)
  • pinch of paprika or smoked paprika

METHOD

1. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pot on medium to high heat. Add bacon and cook for about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add onion, carrots, celery and leek. Stir, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally until vegetables are just tender.

2. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt. Add to pot with thyme, lentils, stock, water and salt and bring to a simmer while stirring. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked and lentils are tender.

3. In a small bowl mix all chipotle sour cream ingredients together.

4. Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken from soup, roughly dice or shred and return to pot. Stir in sour cream and season to taste with salt and pepper.

TO SERVE, ladle soup into bowls, add a dollop of chipotle sour cream and sprinkle with parsley and paprika. Serve with ciabatta on the side.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION PER SERVING

CALORIES

534

CARBS

32.6 g

TOTAL FAT

27.6 g

PROTEIN

38.8 g

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Exercise vs. diabetes: New level of detail uncovered

Although exercise is already known to reduce type 2 diabetes risk, a new study brings additional detail. Using data from more than 1 million participants across four continents, researchers measured the precise benefits of exercise.

Diabetes in the United States is reaching epidemic proportions. Almost 1 in 10 Americans are estimated to have diabetes - that is more than 29 million people.

Also, an additional 86 million are thought to have prediabetes; this describes a state where an individual's blood sugar level is higher than it should be, but not high enough to trigger a diabetes diagnosis. It is considered an early warning signal.

With the global number of type 2 diabetes cases expected to hit 592 million by 2035, all knowledge of how this disease might be managed is vital.

The risk factors for type 2 diabetes (the most common version of diabetes) are well known.

Being overweight or obese, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and inactivity are all known to play a substantial role. All of the above can be managed, at least in part, by exercise.

Exercise and diabetes: A fresh look

A new study, published this week in the journal Diabetologia, takes a deeper look at the role of exercise in the development of type 2 diabetes. It is the most in-depth study to examine exercise independent from other influential factors, such as diet. The conclusions from the report are clear:

Currently, physical activity guidelines in the U.S. and the United Kingdom recommend 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week; this could include cycling, walking, or sports. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fewer than 50 percent of American adults meet these recommendations.

The current study was a result of collaborative work between two institutions - University College London and the University of Cambridge, both of which are based in the U.K. Data from more than 1 million people was collated. In all, the team analyzed 23 studies from the U.S., Asia, Australia, and Europe.

Thanks to the vast amount of information available to them, the investigators were able to strip out the effects of exercise and examine them independently of other behavioral factors, such as diet and smoking. This is in contrast to earlier work that has not been able to isolate the impact of physical activity alone.

The researchers found that any exercise is beneficial in staving off diabetes, but individuals who exceeded the 150 minute recommendation saw the greatest benefits.

'More is better'

According to the analysis, cycling or walking briskly for 150 minutes each week cuts the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to 26 percent.

Those who exercise moderately or vigorously for an hour each day reduced their risk by 40 percent. At the other end of the scale, for those who did not manage to reach the 150 minute target, any amount of physical activity they carried out still reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes, but to a lesser extent. Our results suggest a major potential for physical activity to slow down or reverse the global increase in type 2 diabetes and should prove useful for health impact modeling, which frequently forms part of the evidence base for policy decisions.

As mentioned, exercise has long been known to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes; however, now we have a clearer picture of the exact figures behind this effect. As Dr. Brage says:

"These new results add more detail to our understanding of how changes in the levels of physical activity across populations could impact the incidence of disease. They also lend support to policies to increase physical activity at all levels. This means building environments that make physical activity part of everyday life."

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Pork with Blueberry Herb Sauce Recipe

MAKES: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4 boneless pork loin chops (6 ounces each)
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon fresh sage or 1/4 teaspoon dried sage leaves

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the garlic, pepper, salt and cayenne; sprinkle over pork.

In a large ovenproof skillet coated with cooking spray, brown pork chops. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160°. Remove pork and keep warm.

Add remaining ingredients to the pan. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened, about 8 minutes. Serve with pork. Yield: 4 servings.

• Nutritional Facts

1 pork chop with 1/4 cup sauce: 343 calories, 12g fat (5g saturated fat), 87mg cholesterol, 364mg sodium, 25g carbohydrate (21g sugars, 2g fiber), 33g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 5 lean meat, 1 starch, 1/2 fruit.

If you're interested in more recipes for diabetics as well as some alternative diabetes treatments click Here

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J&J warns diabetic patients: Insulin pump vulnerable to hacking

Oct 4 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson is telling patients that it has learned of a security vulnerability in one of its insulin pumps that a hacker could exploit to overdose diabetic patients with insulin, though it describes the risk as low.

Medical device experts said they believe it was the first time a manufacturer had issued such a warning to patients about a cyber vulnerability, a hot topic in the industry following revelations last month about possible bugs in pacemakers and defibrillators.

J&J executives told Reuters they knew of no examples of attempted hacking attacks on the device, the J&J Animas OneTouch Ping insulin pump. The company is nonetheless warning customers and providing advice on how to fix the problem.

"The probability of unauthorized access to the OneTouch Ping system is extremely low," the company said in letters sent on Monday to doctors and about 114,000 patients who use the device in the United States and Canada.

"It would require technical expertise, sophisticated equipment and proximity to the pump, as the OneTouch Ping system is not connected to the internet or to any external network."

If you're interested in alternative diabetes treatments click Here

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