Eat For Optimum Health
Eat For Optimum Health. What You Should Eat For Optimum Health? Proper Nutrition- Part-1. We often wonder what we should eat for optimum health and even the government has recently flip-flopped its food pyramid which you can see at MyPyramid.gov. Here’s an overview of the 2005 dietary guidelines from the government. First off, according to the new government guidelines a healthy diet emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk products and will include lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, and nuts.
The diet will also be low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt, and added sugars.
- The main theme the government is proposing now is to eat a diet rich in grains and to make half of the grains you eat whole grains.
- Whole grains contain the entire grain kernel the bran, germ, and endosperm, some examples would be:
What You Should Eat For Optimum Health? Proper Nutrition- Part-1
Simple Food Diet Nutrition Remedies For Common Health Ailments
- You are what you eat is a simple, time-tested adage that still holds today.
- There are non-medical remedies that can help with many of today’s most common illnesses and conditions.
- In fact, making simple changes to your food diet to cure your common cold, acne, or constipation problems is a much better choice than resorting to drugs.
- For one, natural food and diet remedies most often do not give you harmful side effects that western allopathic medicine can bring.
- Here are some health ailments that can be easily treated with a simple food and diet remedy:
Allergies.
- More Americans suffer from allergies than ever before.
- Perhaps the best remedy for allergies is drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day.
- Garlic and cayenne pepper have been used for years, and a good intestinal cleansing has been shown to provide relief.
- Almonds and walnuts, as well as sunflower seeds, reduce symptoms and make sure that you are taking a multi-vitamin with the recommended doses of vitamins C, A, E, and zinc.
Acne.
- Acne in both teens and adults is also becoming more and more common.
- There are many natural dietary changes that you can make to help clear up your skin.
- First, drink water.
- It flushes out the impurities.
- Soy protein helps, as does increase your consumption of whole grains, fresh fruits, and root vegetables.
- Have three servings of oily fish weekly and add some cold-pressed seed oil daily.
Constipation.
- To help constipation, increase your intake of folic acid.
- Apple pectin can help relieve constipation and add fiber to your diet.
- Try drinking some ginger tea or yerba mate in tea form.
- Cod liver oil is a tried and true, but hard to swallow, remedy.
- Warm dandelion tea also helps.
Stress.
- Holy basil, also known as Tulsi, has been used to relieve stress and normalize cortical levels.
- Limiting caffeine can help the body to reduce the level of adrenaline.
- When you’re particularly stressed out, eat carbohydrates and fresh vegetables.
- They help the body release serotonin which produces a feeling of well-being.
Cancer.
- Consuming the trace elements that are plentiful in seafood has been shown to help cancer patients.
- Broccoli, mustard greens, cabbage, and turnips have been recently touted as not only preventative maintenance but perhaps even cures for different types of cancers.
- Limit your fats.
- Help your body cure itself by trying some of these simple food and diet changes.
- By also including them in your regular diet, you also help in the prevention of these health problems and build a strong immune system.
What You Should Eat For Optimum Health? Proper Nutrition- Part-1
How To Find Out If Your Diet Is Healthy Enough?
- Everyone wants to eat a healthier diet, but it can sometimes be difficult to know if your diet is healthy enough.
- Several factors go into creating a healthy diet, and it is important to evaluate the current state of your diet before embarking on a plan for healthier eating.
- There are several questions you should ask yourself when evaluating the healthiness (or lack thereof) of your current eating plan!
Do I eat a wide variety of foods?
- Variety is one of the most important hallmarks of a healthy diet since no one food contains all the nutrients needed by the human body.
- It is important to eat foods from all the major food groups, including grains and pieces of bread, fruits and vegetables, milk and dairy products, meats, beans, and nuts.
- If you find yourself avoiding some food groups, such as vegetables, for instance, it may be time to look for a healthier diet.
Do I recognize the importance of cereals, bread, and other grain products?
- Eating a wide variety of grain-based products is important to a healthy diet.
- Grains and cereals contain a large number of important nutrients, including high levels of dietary fiber.
- It is important to choose whole grain products as often as possible since whole grain products like wheat bread contain more nutrients than more refined white bread and similar products.
- When eating cereal, it is a good idea to choose whole grain varieties or those that are enriched with vitamins and minerals.
Do I eat lots of fruits and vegetables?
- Many people do not eat sufficient servings of fruits and vegetables every day.
- Most experts recommend eating between 5 and 9 servings of fruits and vegetables every day, roughly equivalent to 2 cups of fruit and 2.
What You Should Eat For Optimum Health? Proper Nutrition- Part-1
Finding A Diet That Works
- Searching for a new diet that works?
- If you’re a habitual dieter, wouldn’t it be nice to stop changing diets?
- Is there a diet that actually works?
- Everyone has a habit or a vice.
- Some people smoke.
- Some people bite their fingernails.
- And Some people can’t resist having a piece of chocolate before bedtime, and others snore when they sleep.
- Others are habitual dieters, always looking for a new diet that promises astonishing results.
What You Should Eat For Optimum Health? Proper Nutrition- Part-1
How many new diet plans have you tried?
- Some people can tick off a list of new diet after diet that they have tried.
- They yo-yo back and forth.
- Atkins, weight watchers, the grapefruit diet, the soup diet, the salad diet, the low-fat diet.
- some people can’t even count every new diet they have tried.
- Often, each new diet is punctuated by a day of binge eating.
- Sure, you lost weight on that latest low-carbohydrate new diet, but now you’re craving a baked potato, French fries, and a big piece of garlic bread.
Wouldn’t it be great to find a new diet that allows you to eat all the foods you want while still losing weight?
- The bottom line is that the best option isn’t actually a new diet.
- It’s a concept that has been around for ages, but people fail to overlook it with so many new diet choices on the market.
- If you talk to most doctors, however, they will agree that fad dieting is not the smartest choice to lose weight.
- However, bombarded we may be with new diet choices; there is one fact that can’t be ignored.
- We lose weight when we limit our caloric intake.
- This isn’t about grapefruit, carbohydrates, fat-free products, or even following a strict new diet plan.
- It’s about eating in moderation.
- You don’t have to go hungry, but you need to use willpower to make sure you don’t overeat.
- Limiting your calories means shedding those unwanted pounds.
What You Should Eat For Optimum Health? Proper Nutrition- Part-1
What happens when you don’t have willpower?
- Face it; some of us just don’t have that extra willpower that we need to turn down a second serving of our favorite food.
- It’s hard to do, especially when your new diet has left you hungry.
- Willpower can’t be bottled and sold, but there is a new diet concept that will give you the willpower you need to follow through with your weight loss goals.
I’m not talking about appetite suppressants.
- Many of these products still leave you hungry and leave you feeling jittery or overheated.
- If you missed the expose on the 60 Minutes or Today show, then you probably haven’t heard about a new vegetable that could jumpstart your diet.
- This means no more signing on for a new diet every month because you’ll finally have found something that works safely and long term.
- I’m talking about Hoodia Gardenia.
- This cactus-like plant was introduced to the market recently, but it has been around for centuries.
- Bushmen in Africa used it for warding off hunger during long expositions.
What does this mean for you today?
- It means you can limit your calories while not being at all hungry.
- You’ll feel as if you have already eaten.
- I know, it sounds almost too good to be true, but it actually works.
- The best news is that Hoodia is all-natural, making it totally safe to incorporate this as a part of your daily diet.
- Stop stressing over food, the latest new diet, or losing that unwanted weight.
- Watch those pounds melt off safely and quickly.
What You Should Eat For Optimum Health? Proper Nutrition- Part-1
Cholesterol Facts
- With all the news and warnings about the dangers of high cholesterol, many people view cholesterol as a “bad” substance that should be eliminated from our lives.
- In truth, cholesterol serves some important functions in the body.
- To understand how cholesterol affects the body, one must first understand what cholesterol is.
Cholesterol is a waxy substance that is attached to the fats in our bloodstream and is present in all of the cells of the body.
- Cholesterol comes from food that we eat, as well as being manufactured directly by the liver.
- Cholesterol is an important regulator in the bloodstream, as it helps to regulate the formation of many cells as well as hormones.
- However, to have too high or too low of a cholesterol count in the blood can be a very dangerous factor, often leading to a heart attack or a stroke.
- Although cholesterol is prevalent in the bloodstream, it cannot dissipate in the blood.
- The cholesterol maneuvers throughout the body attached to lipids (fats).
There are two main types of cholesterol.
LDL (Low-density lipoprotein)
- The first type is called LDL cholesterol, and the other is HDL cholesterol.
- LDL cholesterol, otherwise known as low-density lipoprotein, is considered the “dangerous” cholesterol.
- LDL cholesterol can build up on the artery walls.
- Over time this plaque build-up blocks blood flow, reducing circulation and causing stress and damage to the heart.
- This raises blood pressure and eventually leads to heart disease or a heart attack.
- Individuals that have higher levels of LDL run a much higher risk of having heart disease.
- Although LDL is affected by genetics, there are several precautions that individuals can take towards keeping safe LDL levels.
HDL, or (High-density lipoprotein)
- The other form of cholesterol is HDL or high-density lipoprotein.
- HDL is considered the “good” cholesterol.
- HDL cholesterol is important for the body to have as this type of cholesterol helps filter out LDL cholesterol from the lining of the arteries, as well as transporting fat in the bloodstream (triglycerides) to the liver so that it can be excreted from the body.
- It is believed that even having high levels of HDL is safe, as it can help protect one’s heart from a heart attack or stroke.
- Low counts of HDL could potentially lead to a heart attack and stroke, however, this is rare for people eating a western-style diet, which is typically high in both forms of cholesterol.
Most of the cholesterol in our bodies comes from the foods we eat.
- Foods high in fats, particularly saturated and trans fats, contribute to high levels of LDL cholesterol.
- Meat and dairy products are the main sources of LDL cholesterol, while leafy vegetables, fruits, and nuts are more nutritious alternatives that have higher levels of HDL cholesterol.
- While genetics does play a role in cholesterol levels, a change in diet is the most effective way to lower dangerous cholesterol levels and reduce your risk of heart disease and associated health problems.
- Certain natural substances found in Vasacor, including plant sterols, fish oils, and policosanol have been shown in numerous clinical studies to be highly effective in promoting healthy cholesterol levels, particularly when combined with a healthy diet and exercise.
- If you are concerned about your cholesterol levels, now is the time to make a change, and Vasacor can help.
What You Should Eat For Optimum Health? Proper Nutrition- Part-1
Lack Of Vitamins Is The Result Of Careless Nutrition
- One of the most common deficiencies is that in iron;
- about two to three million people suffer from the lack of iron in their blood and some develop the anemia hypo ferric or the iron-deficiency, which is the latest stage of this kind of deficiency.
- Those who are usually at high risk are children and women in fecundity periods.
- Until the 80-ties this phenomenon was very common with babies and little children.
- Although iron was added to babies’ drops without testing the hemoglobin level contained in their blood, the deficiency was still evident.
Lack of iron in the nursery may cause strange behavior and irreversible damages to the nervous system.
- Kids who suffer from this deficiency would later have studying difficulties.
- There is more than one reason for this deficiency and there are diseases that might cause it regardless of the way you eat.
- One of the latest discoveries is that the infection with the germ called Helicobacter pylori also causes iron deficiency.
What I would suggest is to do a blood test and see what are you lacking and why is that.
- The scientific result would help you chose the right treatment sometimes it’s safer to rely on medicine than trying out a friend’s advice.
- Those who seem to experience the very same symptoms may suffer from something entirely different that you.
- Make sure to eat food that contains iron in it apples, serials, etc.
- The right nutrition is much similar to a diet; though it does not always mean to help you lose weight.
- Lacks and deficiencies are the reasons for feeling weary and sleepy.
- General weakness can be very disturbing especially if you intend to attain an active lifestyle.
- If any of the symptoms appear familiar to you, you should definitely get yourself checked!
- Remember, Health is the most important aspect of your life.
What You Should Eat For Optimum Health? Proper Nutrition- Part-1
Do The Trick With Low Carb Foods
- You can hardly turn your head these days without seeing new studies that have been done that show the importance of cutting carbs out of your diet.
- New diet plans are coming out all the time that claim to have the perfect combinations of foods that will magically allow you to lose all of your extra weight without lifting a finger or sufficing any of the tastes you love so much.
Eating low-carb foods sounds so boring and hard, but it doesn’t have to.
- As a registered dietician, it is my job and my joy to work with people in finding healthy food plans that are the best for them in achieving their health goals.
- I love sitting down with a client and discussing with them why they have decided to see me.
- Because you see, people have to get to a certain level of desperation and desire to change before they will go out of their way and make room in their tight budgets to see a dietician.
- I love hearing people talk about their struggles with weight and with making healthy eating choices.
So many people desire to hear the truth about things like low carb foods but they have been so misinformed by the media.
- Out of all the things people ask me, the questions I get most have to do with the truth about low carb foods and about switching to a low carb diet.
- People want to know whether or not it is an effective way to live, and if so, how they can do it without making their meals bland.
- This discussion is about low-carb foods because I happen to be a carb lover that has re-adjusted my eating habits in the past few years.
I tell all my clients that an important key to any health or eating program is balance.
- I tell them that this is why it is unrealistic and even harmful to think that we are doing good for our bodies by eliminated all carbs or all of anything from our diets.
- The purpose of low-carb foods, which can be great, is to still enjoy the tastes and the health benefits (yes, benefits) of carbs while keeping them under control and trying to maintain your health and weight in the process.Find some good information and read up about the truth about low-carb foods if you don’t have the time or money to make an appointment with a dietician.
- Your health is worth it.
- Be proactive and learn the truth.