Hawaiian-Inspired Sheet Pan Chicken Recipe, Spotlight on Pineapple, Choosing a Rimmed Sheet Pan, Reversing Prediabetes, and Countering Joint Pain
Sheet pan dinners are still all the rage because they allow you to cook your meal in one pan with an easy clean-up as the capper. While this recipe didn’t originate in our 50th state, it’s inspired by one of Hawaii’s most iconic crops, juicy pineapples. Along with red onions and bell peppers, they create the sweet and tangy taste this dish is known for. I’m sharing health news about two of the most prevalent conditions affecting Americans: prediabetes and joint pain.
Hawaiian-Inspired Sheet Pan Chicken
Hawaiian-Inspired Sheet Pan ChickenThis recipe is a crowd-pleaser and a delicious answer to the question, “What’s for dinner?” Note: A Microplane is perfect for grating the garlic and the ginger right over the mixing bowl for the marinade.
Ingredients
For the marinade:
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 4 garlic cloves, grated
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon wild sumac
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
For the chicken and vegetables:
- 4 cups pineapple chunks from a fresh pineapple
- 1 large red bell pepper
- 1 large yellow bell pepper
- 1 large red onion
- 1-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
Directions
Step 1
In a medium bowl, whisk together the marinade ingredients; set aside.
Step 2
Cut each pepper into 1-inch squares and add to a large bowl. Peel and cut the onion into 8 wedges, then cut each wedge in half; add to the bowl with the bell peppers. Finally, cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes and add to the bowl. Pour on the marinade and toss to coat. Marinate for 1 hour (you can also marinate overnight in the fridge).
Step 3
While the chicken marinates, prepare the pineapple. Start by cutting off and discarding the top and bottom. Stand it up on your cutting board and use a serrated knife, working from top to bottom, to cut off the peel in strips. Next, use the knife to cut the pineapple in half, then into quarters. Make V-shaped cuts in each quarter to remove and discard the tough core. Cut each of the four sections into roughly 1-inch pieces. Transfer 4 cups to a bowl and set aside (enjoy any leftover pineapple at another meal).
Step 4
When ready to cook, preheat your oven to 400°F and line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to the sheet pan and roast for 15 minutes. Then carefully top with the pineapple and any juice in the bowl; roast for another 10 minutes.
Step 5
Set your oven to broil and place the sheet pan under your broiler for 3 minutes for a caramelized finish.
Yields 4 servings
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Pineapple
If you love pineapple for its sweet taste, you’ll love it even more for its potential health benefits. According to a comprehensive review published in the journal Food Research International, it’s a rich source of bioactive compounds, dietary fiber, and minerals. Research also suggests it has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, supports heart health and digestion, and may even help lower diabetes risk.
Choosing a ripe pineapple takes a little detective work. Look for a vibrant golden-yellow color rising from its base and a crown of green leaves. It should have a tropical aroma, firm skin, a slight give when squeezed, and an underside free of any white splotches, which could be mold.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Choosing a Rimmed Sheet Pan
Sheet pans are great not only for roasting vegetables and sheet-pan dinners but also for baking cookies and certain cakes like genoise layers that are fairly thin. The sides hold in juices released during cooking and are also easy to grab with oven mitts.
The most highly rated pans are made of aluminum, and the brand name that comes up in review after review is Nordic Ware, praised for even cooking and resistance to warping. When the pan is lined with parchment paper, clean-up is a breeze.
For Your Best Health
Reversing Prediabetes
People diagnosed with prediabetes, a condition that affects up to one in three adults, have traditionally been advised to eat healthier and shed pounds to reduce the risk of progression to type 2 diabetes. This message has remained largely unchanged for decades, yet the results have been mixed. Diabetes rates continue to rise worldwide, and many individuals with prediabetes struggle to meet weight-loss targets. As a result, they often feel discouraged while their risk remains high.
New findings published in Nature Medicine point to a different path. The research shows that prediabetes can go into remission — meaning blood sugar levels return to normal — even in the absence of weight loss. In fact, about one in four people participating in lifestyle programs were able to normalize their blood sugar without losing weight. Even more striking, this type of remission offers the same level of protection against future diabetes as remission achieved through weight loss.
How can blood sugar improve without a drop in body weight or even with weight gain? The study states that the answer appears to lie in where fat is stored in the body. Not all fat has the same effect on health. Visceral fat, which surrounds internal organs deep in the abdomen, is particularly harmful. It promotes chronic inflammation and disrupts insulin — the hormone responsible for regulating blood sugar. When insulin does not function properly, blood glucose levels rise.
On the other hand, subcutaneous fat — the fat just beneath the skin — can actually support healthier metabolism. This type of fat releases hormones that help insulin work more efficiently. The study found that individuals who reversed prediabetes without losing weight tended to shift fat away from their abdominal organs and toward areas under the skin, even when their overall weight did not change.
The researchers also found that natural hormones, similar to those targeted by medications like Wegovy and Mounjaro, play an important role. These hormones, especially GLP-1, help pancreatic beta cells release insulin when blood sugar rises. People who achieved remission without weight loss appeared to boost this hormone system naturally, while reducing the influence of other hormones that raise glucose levels.
Instead of focusing only on the number on the scale, people with prediabetes may benefit from strategies that influence how fat is distributed in the body. Certain dietary patterns can help. Healthy fats — including the monounsaturated fats in olive oil and olives, and the polyunsaturated fats in fish, nuts, and seeds typical of a Mediterranean-style diet — may help reduce visceral fat. Regular endurance exercise can also lower abdominal fat, even when overall weight stays the same.
This does not mean weight loss should be ignored. Losing weight still supports overall health and reduces diabetes risk. However, the research suggests that normalizing blood sugar should be a primary goal, regardless of whether weight changes.
For many people who have struggled with traditional weight-loss programs, this opens the door to meaningful improvements through metabolic changes rather than a sole focus on weight.
Healthcare providers may also need to expand their approach. Tracking blood sugar improvements and encouraging fat redistribution through targeted nutrition and exercise could provide alternative strategies for patients who find weight loss difficult.
Fitness Flash
Countering Joint Pain
An article written by Dr. Clodagh Toomey, physiotherapist and associate professor at the School of Allied Health, University of Limerick in Ireland, and published in The Conversation, a nonprofit news organization that shares expert findings with the public, serves as a great reminder that the most powerful treatment to ease joint pain and the stiffness of osteoarthritis isn’t surgery or medication, but rather exercise: Movement nourishes cartilage, strengthens muscles, reduces inflammation, and even reshapes the biological processes driving joint damage.
Stiff knees, sore hips, and persistent joint pain are often brushed off as normal signs of aging. But osteoarthritis, the most common joint disease worldwide, is not being treated in line with what research shows, and in many countries and healthcare systems, people are rarely directed toward the one therapy proven to reduce pain and protect joints. Specifically, the article pointed out that in countries such as Ireland, the UK, Norway, and the US, fewer than half of people diagnosed with osteoarthritis are referred to exercise programs or physical therapy by their primary care provider. More than 60 percent receive treatments that clinical guidelines do not recommend, and about 40 percent are referred to a surgeon before nonsurgical options have been properly explored.
To understand why this matters, it helps to look at how joints function, wrote Dr. Toomey. Regular physical activity does more than ease symptoms. It can biologically and physically lower the risk of developing osteoarthritis and reduce its severity. Cartilage, the smooth tissue that cushions the ends of bones, does not have its own blood supply. It depends on movement to stay healthy. When you walk or put weight on a joint, cartilage is gently compressed, pushing fluid out. When the pressure is released, it draws fluid back in, bringing nutrients and natural lubricants with it. Each step helps nourish and maintain the joint.
This is why describing osteoarthritis as simple “wear and tear” is misleading. Joints are not like tires that inevitably break down over time. Instead, osteoarthritis is better understood as a long process of breakdown and repair. Regular movement plays a central role in supporting healing and maintaining the health of the entire joint.
Osteoarthritis affects not only cartilage but also the entire joint, including joint fluid, underlying bone, ligaments, surrounding muscles, and even the nerves that control movement. Targeted exercise addresses many of these components at once. Muscle weakness is one of the earliest warning signs of osteoarthritis, and resistance training can help reverse it. Research shows that weak muscles increase the risk of both developing osteoarthritis and experiencing faster progression.
Dr. Toomey pointed out that neuromuscular exercise programs designed specifically for people with hip and knee osteoarthritis and led by physical therapists can be especially beneficial. For instance, those participating in the Denmark-based program called GLA:D® (Good Life with osteoArthritis in Denmark) reported meaningful reductions in pain, better joint function, and improved quality of life lasting up to 12 months after finishing the program.
Talk to your doctor about a tailored workout with a physical therapist experienced with the needs of people with arthritis. Or contact the Arthritis Foundation, which organizes both exercise and aquatic fitness programs offered across the country.
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