Know What You Eat - Why You Need to Eat Organic Foods Over Canned Foods

You are what you eat. Today, a lot of us have decided to conveniently ignore this line! With obesity and health-related problems and diseases all around us, we may need to take a step back and look at our dietary habits. Most of our diets are plagued with junk food and unhealthy eating habits. While in most cases we are unable to see the immediate effects of this harmful lifestyle, we see them when we're older. Not only do they add inches to your waistline, but scientists and researchers have also indicated through various studies that junk food can actually cause serious damage to your brain and other parts of your body. Recently, the Delhi Government demanded a crackdown on junk food that is sold in schools and within 50 meters of them.

Most of us focus on eating what we commonly refer to as "weight loss foods" in order to lose weight, but the key to weight loss is healthy eating and awareness of our lifestyle.

Research has shown junk food to harm our body in the following ways:

1. It causes memory and learning problems

2. Increases the risk of dementia

3. Lessens our ability to control appetite

4. Makes you impatient

5. Leads to Depression

Another prevalent obsession of our generation is the use of canned foods regularly. Canned foods are derived of all nutrients that fresh food has to offer. That's not it though, most canned foods contain preservatives and other substances that really harm our body. Bisphenol or BPA is one such plastic contaminant. BPA is the inner lining of most aluminium containers, and is extremely harmful even in small amounts. It causes a wide range of critical health issues ranging from cancer to heart diseases.

Just like pots and pans aluminum cans also leak. In fact, what most people are unaware of is that most often foods are put into aluminium, then seals, and then cooked, supposedly to "retain the freshness". Well, it will certainly retain the aluminium free radicals hanging around after heating and contaminating the contents! Over a period of time, aluminium accumulation in the body can cause memory problems like Alzheimer's.

Preservatives in food are designed to prevent bacteria growth and spoilage but sometimes they can also prevent you from enjoying good health. Preservatives are toxic for your body. They cause difficulty in breathing, behavioural changes especially in young children, and heart damage. The most potent risk of consuming preservatives is their ability to transform into carcinogens when ingested. The nitrates and nitrites present in these preservatives react with your stomach gastric acids to transform into cancer-causing agents.

To improve our lifestyle, one must look to the consumption of organic foods. The term "organic" refers to the way agricultural products are grown and processed. While the regulations vary from country to country, the common, accepted definition is that organic crops must be grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, bioengineered genes (GMOs), petroleum-based fertilizers, and sewage sludge-based fertilizers. Organic foods must be included in our diet plan to lose weight. The benefits of organic foods are- their abundance in antioxidants which help in the prevention of ageing, vision problems, and cognitive abilities.

Canned strawberries are a trend that's picking up in India since this fruit is not available throughout the year. Most of them are laden with a thick sugar syrup and added colour which is harmful for us. For example, improperly canned strawberries can cause botulism, a serious foodborne illness. It is important for us to be aware of what we eat and strive towards a healthy lifestyle. Instead of merely following our diets for weight loss, we must focus on leading an all-round healthy lifestyle.

Along with including super foods in your diet plan, if you're looking for a quicker way to lose weight, here are a couple of tips that will help you meet your weight loss goals: https://www.prettislim.com/weight-loss

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Omkar_Satam/2430789 

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How to eat nuts the healthy way

Nuts are healthy, but limit portions to prevent calorie overload and use them as meal enhancers.

Nuts can seem like forbidden fruit to dieters. A heaping handful might contain up to 10% of the daily caloric needs for a medium-sized man. And the generous dusting of salt on packaged snack nuts says "beware" to anyone trying to control high blood pressure.

But nuts are worth the "risks" if you know how to eat them. Nuts are a good source of key nutrients, healthy fats, and protein. They can jazz up salads and side dishes, adding crunchy flavor.

The key is to consume nuts in a way that delivers health benefits without the weight gain. That means limiting portions and eating nuts instead of, not in addition to, certain other foods. "Nuts are a great source of good fats and protein," says Dr. Helen Delichatsios, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "But they should not be added onto everything else that you eat."

Nutrients in commonly consumed nuts (1 ounce)

Nut                              Calories                      Fat (g)                        Protein (g)

Almond                       168                             15                               6.2

Brazil                          184                             18.6                            4

Cashew                      161                             13                               4.3

Hazelnut                     182                             17.5                            4.2

Macadamia                 201                             21.4                            2.2

                       

Pecan                         200                             20.1                            2.6

Pistachio                    160                             13                                6

Walnut                       184                             18.3                             4.3

Health benefits

A one-ounce portion of nuts is roughly a quarter-cup. For almonds, that's about 18 to 22 individual nuts, packing 168 calories. Nuts are low in saturated fat, so consuming them instead of animal protein sources can help to lower your LDL ("bad") cholesterol. They contribute fiber, potassium, and calcium to your diet.

Although nuts are a healthy protein, you can't simply substitute nuts for meat, ounce for ounce. If you did, your waistline would pay a steep price. For example, a lean 4-ounce chicken filet has around 100 calories, but 4 ounces of walnuts contains 740 calories.

However, substituting a 1-ounce portion of nuts for equivalent small portions of red and processed meat is a good move, according to major based at the Harvard School of Public Health.

In the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, men who ate meat-rich diets tended to die younger (mostly from cancer and heart disease). But for each serving of meat replaced with a serving of nuts, the risk of premature death dropped 20%, compared with that of men who continued to eat meat.

The message is not that you should ban meat completely from your diet. Instead, try to favor lean poultry over red meat—especially cured or smoked meats—and consume moderate amounts of nuts instead of meat a few times a week.

Nuts to round out meals

But where should you toss those modest handfuls of nuts? Dr. Delichatsios has a few suggestions.

First, reboot your mental image of nuts as a standalone snack in a bowl. It's true that a small handful of nuts can kill hunger pangs between meals, but Dr. Delichatsios suggests you also use nuts to "round out" the nutritional mix of your meals.

If you are trying to reach or maintain a healthy weight, the fiber and fats in nuts can allow you to leave your meals with a fuller, more satisfying feeling.

"If you are trying to lose weight and all you have in your salad are lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and low-fat dressing, you may be hungry later," Dr. Delichatsios explains. "Nuts are a good way to make it more filling; they round out the meal. Otherwise it might not be calorically dense enough and leave you hungry."

Breakfast is a good time to go nuts. Throw some in your cereal or yogurt with fruit. At lunch, toss a handful into a meatless salad.

Nuts for dinner?

At dinner, nuts are a nutritious addition to grain-based side dishes like wild or brown rice and mushrooms. Or you can use them to create an appealing meatless main dish.

Dr. Delichatsios, in her practice as a primary care physician at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital, focuses on healthy eating. One thing she does is get a group of her patients together for nutrition information sessions and cooking demonstrations.

During the sessions, Dr. Delichatsios explains how to shop for, prepare, and store the kinds of foods that can have a positive impact on common health conditions. Nuts are usually on the menu. A typical meal would consist of some sort of cooked whole grain (such as quinoa or brown rice), beans, or legumes (chickpeas, lentils). Add to it cut up vegetables, fresh herbs, olive oil, and vinegar or lemon juice. "Throw in some nuts and you have a very delicious, appealing, filling, satisfying meal," Dr. Delichatsios says.

One of the impediments to getting people to eat nuts or whole grains in healthy meals, Dr. Delichatsios says, is just the lack of knowledge or experience with preparing them in such a way that anyone would actually want to eat them. "It requires some teaching and education."

After the healthy meal, though, don't fill the snack bowl with nuts and head for the TV, Dr. Delichatsios cautions. "You can take in 500 calories without even thinking about it."

Published: November, 2012

Source: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-to-eat-nuts-the-healthy-way

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New More Simple Measure Of Body Fat

Could we all be saying good-bye to BMI? Waist to height ratio might be a better measure of body fat than the more widely used body mass index (BMI) for predicting health risks - so says new research.

The team of researchers examined 31 studies that included over 300,000 subjects belonging to a variety of ethnic groups, finding that waist to height ratio was far more accurate than either BMI or waist circumference at predicting specific health risks - things like hypertension, diabetes as well as heart disease.

In another report saw experts take the research to the next step. They reported that a man, aged 30 who did not smoke would have a lower life expectancy (by up to 14%) if the circumference of his waist was over half his height.

Keeping that waist trim is key, and could help many people the world over according to researchers. The great thing about waist to height ratio is that it can be used across all genders and ethnic groups. As this method also accounts for different heights, it can be used in any nation and on any population.

In the U.S., the findings are welcome news, as there are many professionals who are not happy with relying on BMI. Other nations, including the UK. Australia, Japan, India and Brazil are also coming to support this approach.

Experts suggest that all of us take out that tape measure and check your own waist measurement. Pay attention to the ratio between your waist measurement and your height - your true height, not the one listed on your driver's license or that you were in your 20s.

The problem with the more widely used BMI is that it's based on your height and weight, without considering muscle mass. This means that a very muscular person's BMI might classify them as obese, even though clearly that weight is not fat, but muscle. Waist circumference, considered an improvement over BMI, shows just how much weight you're carrying around the middle, the most dangerous place on the body for fat to be, as it increases your risk of heart disease, a stroke, diabetes and even a few cancers.

To get your waist measurement, put a tape measure around your waist at the belly button and rest it against your skin, not pushing in, and being sure you have the tape measure in the same place all the way around. The measurement you want is the one where the end meets the tape beginning. See... easy and affordable, though more research is required to show experts how to use the information.

As a rule of thumb, when assessing your measure of body fat try to keep your waist to less than half of your height; you'll likely live longer. Or at least keep your waistline measurement to under 60% (0.6) of your height. Even a small weight loss can have a big impact. You can do this by eating a healthy, balanced diet that's low on fat and sugars, being active on most days of the week and making sure you get a good night's sleep most of the time.

FREE Bonus Secret Health Reports - For a limited time you can grab 5 FREE essential health reports from the Daily Health Bulletin. Click through now to discover more effective ways to measure of body fat than BMI.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Kirsten_Whittaker/10824

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Control Your Weight and Insulin With Antioxidants

In the 1950's Denham Harman proved the free radical theory of aging is right and over the years it has also been found that free radicals are a foundation of a number of diseases like atherosclerosis and cancer. They causes inflammation in the body and degeneration and disease follows. Obesity is one result. Inflammation is also involved in Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and Alzheimer's as well as many other diseases.

Free radicals are molecules that react with oxygen and help in forming oxygen. They play a part in the signals cells send to each other and environmental stress affects them because cells get damaged and there are less cells. This leads to what may be called oxidative stress. This also happens when you are exposed to cigarettes, stress, chemicals, alcohol, pollution, high-fat foods, the ozone, food additives and during physical exercise.

Normally cells and antioxidants in the body such as glutathione defend against this but when the levels get too high the antioxidants we make in our body are not enough to destroy the bad molecules and the DNA, RNA and protein can damage so we age faster.

Insulin resistance happens when cells become less sensitive to insulin and then sugar is unable to enter the cells. The body ignores the message insulin is trying to send it and needs to make higher and higher amounts of insulin. The sugar builds up in the blood to a high, destructive level. There is now scientific proof that insulin resistance is behind a lot of illnesses which means that our level of anti-oxidants in our body needs to be kept high to avoid oxidative stress.

Mainstream medicine is finally beginning to recognize this link of insulin resistance. Current research only goes to prove this link between insulin resistance and other diseases ranging even to cognitive decline, various cancers, depression and maybe even breast and colon cancer.

Most importantly inflammation is also thought to be the underlying reason for putting on weight and obesity. Inflammation could be a foundation for post-menopausal breast cancer, cancers of the endometrium, colon and kidney, and malignant adenomas of the oesophagus. Many of the latest studies show that free radicals are behind all this.

The most powerful antioxidants improve inflammation and insulin sensitivity. N-acetyl cysteine has been shown to prevent fructose-induced insulin resistance in rats and the turmeric part Curcumin also is an agent to improve insulin sensitivity. EGCG is also a well-researched antioxidant part in animal studies as is green tea for obesity and diabetes although it does not affect in this study the blood glucose levels. Bilberry has been known to improve the function of fat cells which also affect insulin resistance. Grape seed and Rosemary also help in raising anti-oxidant levels.

A two-step approach using antioxidants and blood-sugar-maintaining nutrients is needed to help improve your health. The body tends to become less sensitive to the effects of insulin as we get older so this becomes important. Add to this over-eating that increases blood sugar, too many carbohydrates - white breads, pasta, pizza etc and it means we need some antioxidants to help restore the insulin balance.

So antioxidants are important in helping the body prevent major illnesses, regulating the insulin and therefore help with weight loss. It is never too late to start looking after your health and it is important to see a qualified practitioner to design a program to suit you.

Jenetta Haim runs Stressfree Management (R) at Greystanes in Sydney, Australia. Jenetta specializes in assisting your health and lifestyle in all areas by developing programs on either a corporate or personal level to suit your needs. Contact Jenetta now for her to assist you with your personal or corporate needs. Email info@stressfreemanagement.com.au. For more information check out the website at http://www.stressfreemanagement.com.au

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jenetta_Haim/1034207

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Other Benefits of High Intensity Training

Lately we have heard a lot of good news about the health benefits of high intensity workouts. We have pointed out in our articles what these benefits are, but now there has been advanced a real connection between HIIT and cancer control. This simply isn't a connection about better general health, which exercise is going to give you, but how it will help your body's ability to fight cancer. This has to do with the interplay of myokines, which are anti-inflammatory agents, and how they affect cellular structure.

Obviously diet has a lot to do with this as well. If you load your body with highly inflammatory foods like sugar, Tran's fats and other processed foods, all the exercise in the world is not going to compensate for this. These foods produce cytokines, which are secreted proteins released by cells that are important in cell signaling. But if you truly give your body a chance by feeding it natural foods, preferably organic, an exercise program that involves high intensity strength workouts has been found to lessen the risk factors for cancer.

This competition is between the anti-inflammatory myokines and the inflammatory cytokines, and what properties win this battle will give us greater or diminished risk to our cellular structure, and therefore cancer risk. We talked briefly about how diet interplays with this, but just how can high intensity training, and specifically high intensity strength training help?

Myokines have a very specific impact on systemic inflammation of the cells, and as the result the risk of chronic disease. The best way we can have the body produce myokines is with high intensity strength training. These workouts really challenge our muscles to the point they become fatigued, and that's where we attain the extra benefits; that is, by counteracting the inflammatory cytokines and keeping our cells in balance. So to summarize, when our diet is such that our bodies are overwhelmed by inflammation, the production of myokines through intensive strength training will not be able to compensate.

All of this is important to recognize that exercise does not cause physiologic improvements; it is merely a stimulus for your body to recoup itself. It is your body's way of reacting to this physical stress that makes it stronger. But the constant breaking down the body and then recovering takes a period of time. Never believe that just by continuing to pile on the physical stress will allow you to develop your body at a faster rate. It just doesn't happen that way. The recovery part is in some ways more important than the actual physical training part, and just because it's the easy phase of the process doesn't make it less important.

It also means that your training will constantly demand upgrades. As you become stronger it will take additional stress for the body to produce the necessary myokines. Most physical trainers, however, do not advocate longer sessions, but training sessions that add more intensity as we get stronger. This thinking now probably seems counterintuitive to the times when we had to supposedly put in so many hours in the gym in order for our training to be beneficial. The thinking now is: more is not better, but more intensity means less time in the gym.

Endorphins are an important regulator of pain, but also pleasure. Most people produce them through exercise, but certain foods, especially chocolate can produce a similar effect. Read more about it on our website.  Rich Carroll is a writer and health advocate now living in Chicago.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Rich_Carroll/1009184

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Common Health Issues Overweight People Face

Many people face several health issues while overweight. I'm going to talk about the top 10 most common issues and how these issues can affect you.

Let's begin with type 2 diabetes. With Type 2 diabetes, blood sugar levels are above normal. This is not a good thing. High blood sugar is a major cause of coronary heart disease. stroke, amputation, kidney disease and blindness. In the last decade this disease has been one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States and Canada. More than 85% of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight. You can lower your risk by losing weight and increasing your amount of physical activity. Studies have shown that losing 5-7% of your body weight and doing moderate exercise of 20-30 minutes a day 5 days a week may prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Another major concern with overweight people is coronary heart disease and stroke. This means that your heart and blood flow are not properly functioning. Common problems that occur while suffering from this disease are heart attack, congestive heart failure, sudden cardiac death, chest pain and abnormal heart rhythm. This disease along with strokes are the top three causes of death in North America. You may prevent this disease with a few changes in your lifestyle. If you weigh 220 pounds, losing as little as 12 pounds may very well improve heart function, blood flow, improve blood pressure and lower cholesterol levels.

Metabolic syndrome has several obesity related risk factors. For example, a major factor is having a large waistline. For men, 40 inches or more and for women 35 inches or more is considered dangerous. Another related risk is high triglycerides. A level of 150mg/dl or higher is considered at risk and should be treated immediately. A few other concerns to watch for are low levels of good cholesterol, (men) below 40 mg/dl, and (women) below 50mg/dl are considered a risk. High blood sugar and high blood pressure are very common when diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.

Cancer is another factor to watch out for when overweight. The colon, oesophagus and breasts should be screened carefully if you are overweight. Losing weight and healthy eating can play a very big role in prevention. Physical activity is also recommended.

Sleep apnoea is a very common problem and can occur prior to any of the maladies listed above. Sleep apnoea is a condition where one stops breathing for short periods during the night. This can result in daytime sleepiness, difficulty concentrating and even heart failure. The most common reason for sleep apnoea is when one has fat stored around the neck resulting in the airway becoming smaller and producing substances that cause inflammation.

Osteoarthritis is definitely aggravated by excess weight. This very common joint disorder wears away tissue that protects the joints. OA is most common in the knees, hips and lower back. If you are overweight, avoid any heavy lifting that could cause extra pressure on your joints. Prevention of inflammation will significantly reduce the risk of pain from this disease. For those that have OA, losing 5% body weight is the first step in making a difference.

Gallbladder disease is when solid materials mostly made of cholesterol form in the gallbladder and will cause abdominal pain. This disease mainly occurs when a person tends to eat fatty foods. The best way to treat this condition is to have a healthy weight loss program that helps you lose 1-2 pounds per week.

Another serious ailment to watch for is called Fatty liver disease. This disease is common when a person is overweight for 10 years or more. This disease occurs when fat builds up in the liver cells, causing inflammation and injury to the liver. It can lead to severe liver damage and liver failure. This disease is similar to alcoholic liver damage and can be prevented by putting healthy nutrition in to your body.

Last but not least we have one of the scariest issues of all. Pregnancy complications are very common in overweight women. Problems such as defects of the brain and spinal cord, stillbirth, premature and large birth weight for gestational age are most common. Women who are obese and overweight should speak with their health care provider before coming pregnant.

If you want to avoid diseases such as these, I highly recommend that you speak with your doctor or a health professional about programs to assist you in losing weight. Losing weight can be difficult but there are several good programs available that are very affordable to assist you in your weight loss.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Dylan_J_Alarie/1137167

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