Posts Tagged ‘nutrition’

The consumption of carbohydrates, or the lack thereof, has been the focal point of many diets over the last several years. Certainly, fast results can be noted for those who nearly rid their diets of carbohydrates completely and follow a strict dietary regimen. If this particular diet isn’t followed consistently, however, the weight is quickly regained and the cycle must begin anew.

Carbohydrates are one of the three essential macronutrients, and are vital to maintaining your body’s health and nutrition. Red blood cells get all of their energy from carbohydrates, which is the body’s main carrier of oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. Additionally, carbohydrates fuel our brains and central nervous system, and are of paramount importance for neonatal development.

Continue Reading »

Maintaining the best health and weight is simply a question of permanently following consistent dietary guidelines. Simply forget everything you’ve read or heard so far about dieting to lose weight and start using the tested “Rule of Fours” method.

Eat every 4 hour
Metabolism that is now working at a more effective level will make you want to eat sooner than before. Having four meals a day at intervals of 4 hours keeps your metabolism moving constantly as it has to continuously absorb, distribute and convert the foods into energy. However, this rule is easier said than done. Planning and preparing your every day meals on the previous night/day is more likely to keep you on course with your diet. If you have not prepared yourself like this you are more likely to give up after a few day. Once you skip a meal, the metabolic processes in the body will slow down dramaticaly to preserve the energy.

This will interrupt the “kick-start” that you’ve been trying to enforce upon your metabolism.

Divide your food into 4 equal sized meals
Now that you should have a pretty good idea of how often you should eat, however, you should also know what to eat and how much to eat of it. Health diets include dividing your every day meal into four parts. Quarter of your food should be protein-rich food including lean meats, yogurt, tofu, fish, eggs and legumes. The second quarter should contain unrefined carbohydrates, which includes various whole grains, pastas, breads and brown rice. And finally the remaining half of your food should consist of fruits and vegatables.

It’s always a healthy choice to avoid any fried foods like crisps, KFC etc… and foods that are known to have high levels of saturated fats. Although it may be acceptable to treat yourself to some special food every now and then but you should keep in mind that the amount of those should be kept to minimum. In fact when it comes to food, you should make sure that everything, even your meal size is best when enjoyed in moderation. Remember to have smaller sized portions, after all its only 4 hours till your next meal.

The nutrition label placed on every food products will tell you all the information about that food. This information isn’t always reader friendly. Believe it or not, as it’s actually easier than you
think.

Serving Size
This size is based on the number people. Similar food items will have similar serving sizes, therefore making it easier to compare two food of the same class.

% Daily Value
This shows how food will fit in a 2,000 calorie diet. This would help you to understand if the food has many or just a bit of the crucial nutrients.

The Middle Section
The nutrients you will find labeled in the center section are the ones that are most important to your health. This information can help you to work out your daily limit of fat, fiber, sodium, and other nutrients.

Vitamins & minerals
The percentage daily value found here is identical to the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance for vitamins and minerals.

Now that you know what the nutrition label really means, it will be a lot easier for you to eat healthy if you use those informations as guide. Eating healthy is a great thing – especially when you use the nutrition label to help you with your food choices.

Our true wealth is our health. Isn’t it worth your time bring it into peak condition and maintain it? Diet fitness is all about an accurate mix of diet and an appropriate fitness program.

This basically includes three levels of consideration:

1. Balance-A balanced diet must contain carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamin, mineral salts and fiber in well proportionate quantity. Carbohydrates are the source of energy so these play an important role in balanced diet. Intentional inclusion of all foods from fruits to vegetables and meats to grains.

2. Moderation- portion control, small quantity at regular intervals. I had to laugh when I heard the results of a 5-year study costing millions of dollars the government ran to find out why the population of the US is getting heavier. The results…they determined we eat larger quantities! ‘Super Size it!’

3. Variation – wide variety in foods,means higher chances of complete nutrition. And variety in your workout routine means a greater chance of sustaining it.

Health and nutrition experts recommend the following eating and dietary practices for all people aged 2 years and older:

• Eat a variety of foods to get the energy (calories), protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber you need for good health.
• Maintain a healthy weight for your height (see “Appendix 1 – Height and Weight Charts” on page 29) to reduce the chances of having a stroke or developing high blood pressure, heart disease, various cancers, diabetes, and other health complications.
• Eat a diet that is low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol to reduce your risk of heart disease, various types of cancer, and other health complications. Fat contains more than twice the calories of an equal amount of carbohydrates or protein, so a diet low in fat can help you maintain a healthy weight.
• Eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, and grain products that provide the required vitamins, minerals, fiber, and complex carbohydrates. These products are also generally lower in fat, which is also good.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Eat sugar in strict moderation. A diet consisting of lots of sugar will result in too many calories and too few nutrients for most people, and can also cause tooth decay and other health complications.
• Eat salt and other forms of sodium in moderation to help reduce your risk of high blood pressure and other health complications.
• If you drink alcoholic beverages, then do so in moderation. Alcoholic beverages are high in calories and contain little or no nutrients. Drinking alcohol is also the cause of many health problems and can lead to addiction.