SALUD: Mexican-Born Doctor & Author Aliza A. Lifshitz Discusses Diabetes, Weight Loss, and Her Flipboard Magazine Catered to Latinos

Could acculturation make the difference in a person's health? Do most people know whether or not they are at risk for diabetes?

All of these questions -- and many others -- have been answered by Dr. Aliza A. Lifshitz, a renowned Mexican-born physician, author and health commentator, who spoke with Latin Post and shared important insights regarding obesity, diabetes and her history in medicine.

As the founder and Editor-in-Chief of VidaySalud.com and LatinaHealthLetter.com, Lifshitz is also a long-time health expert for Univision, appearing on program such as "Despierta América"; a host for the weekly Univisión Radio network call-in program, "El Consultorio de la Dra. Aliza"; and a health columnist for numerous national magazines, including People en Español and Ser Padres (Parents).

She also maintains a private practice in Internal Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and maintains a weekly column in impreMedia newspapers. She recently launched a bilingual Flipboard magazine, titled "En Cuerpo y Alma," which has over 18,000 viewers and 3,500 followers, acquiring more than 500,000 page flips with its 300+ featured articles. "En Cuerpo" showcases curated info geared toward the Latino community, and it offers insights and intelligence in a comprehensive way, communicating vital information about pre-diabetes, diabetes and so much more.

According to the Latina opinion leader, 40 percent of those who are at risk of developing diabetes hadn't considered it a possibility. But, interestingly, many of the risk factors for developing Type 2 Diabetes can be modified, such as being overweight or having a sedentary lifestyle. At the same time, one can't change his or her family's history of diabetes or having gestational diabetes. However, one can become diligent about certain lifestyle changes, preventing diabetes.

"En Cuerpo y Alma" features columns on proven facts about dieting and weight loss; how to eat deliciously with diabetes; how to share a meal with someone with diabetes; and why diabetes is a woman's issue, due namely to the fact that "certain aspects of diabetes affect only women, like pregnancy and menopause."

"When it comes to developing healthier habits, you need to change your eating habits, not only for a little while but for good. It may be hard at first, but little by little, your mind and body will get used to the new lifestyle," said Lifshitz, who communicated that her life in medicine was driven by a desire to simultaneously help people and be creative. "You need to change your relationship with food, and you should incorporate regular physical activity. You shouldn't look at it as if you're depriving yourself, because there's many ways to make the food extremely tasty."

When improving one's daily diet, Lifshitz explained, it opens up the possibility to discover new spices, new vegetables, new dishes and new ways to prepare old dishes. Lessening the amount of fat in one's diet, especially saturated fat; learning to eat food that's not fried; and, of course, paying to attention to serving size, can and will lead to losing weight and maintaining an ideal, healthy weight.

Other Flipboard columns address weight; the relationship between diabetes and depression (as depression can impact weight and diabetes control); metabolism and its relationship with diabetes; and ties between new technology and diabetes control.

Each column also quietly addresses the fact that being obese has an impact on health and self-esteem. Several studies have shown that people who lose weight and keep it off successfully improve their emotional health, "because they've achieved something, improving self-esteem and self-confidence."

For Latinos in the United States, several studies have suggested that acculturation has been associated with several lifestyle changes, including a low intake of fruit and vegetables as well as a higher consumption of fat. Among other things, acculturation has also tied to a dip in home cooking and increased smoking. There's also a change from more physical jobs, to more desk jobs, and physical activity declines as individuals become more sedentary.

The dietary habits of Latinos who are less acculturated in the U.S. are actually healthier than Latinos who are more acculturated; they're also more physically active. In Mexico, overweight and obesity is a stark issue, but the worst culprit when it comes to obesity is the calories from regular soda. The consumption of soda and sugary drinks has doubled among teenagers, and tripled in adults.

According to Lifshitz, "even the poorest of the poor will spend money on soda." For this reason, the Nutritional Health Alliance in Mexico and other organizations in Mexico often rise against soda companies, like Coca-Cola, which recently launched a Christmas marketing campaign entitled "Make Someone Happy." More than 12 percent of deaths from diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity-related cancers in Mexico can be attributed to sugary drink consumption. Also, consuming one to two servings of sugary beverages a day increases the risk of suffering from Type 2 diabetes by 26 percent.

"What we eat, and what we drink, and how we move is extremely important. Also, a recent study stated that Latinos were especially vulnerable to developing diabetes because they tend to store more fat in the pancreas. And an astatic pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin to properly fulfill its functions," Lifshitz said. "We have a column on Flipboard that talks about these studies. The upsurge of diabetes among Mexico and U.S. Latinos has some biological factors, but there are issues concerning statistics regarding Latinos and diabetes in the U.S."

According to National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the difference between diabetes and obesity among Latino subgroups are often masked, because all of these individual groups are combined into a single group.

"With most health reporting, it either sensationalizes topics that have very little bearing on the rest of our lives, or everything is made too complicated or too overwhelming to act on," Lifshitz explained. "I work to make health more understandable to a person who doesn't have a PhD in biology, and to give readers a simple understanding of medicine and science that isn't boring; it can be informative, useful, interesting provocative, and all without speaking without speaking down with anyone. Latinos can learn a great deal about health by being aware, taking care off themselves and staying away from lard while cooking."