Food is a huge part of our lives, and for good reason! We need to
eat to live, and it is also a very enjoyable part of our everyday
lives. A world without food would be very boring and bland indeed.
However,
there is a big difference between food and nutrition and, as time
marches on, and the demand for cheap food increases at a rapid rate, the
difference between the two things is becoming more marked!
There
is often a misconception that good nutrition is only required by people
who are sport or exercise enthusiasts; this is just not the case at all!
Good nutrition is required for anyone and everyone who wishes to live
in a healthy, lively body!
Food these days is often mass-produced,
grown in nutrient depleted soil and filled with chemicals. The meat we
eat often comes from animals which have pumped with hormones and
anti-biotics (over 50% of the anitbiotics produced worldwide are
actually used on livestock!). There are so-called 'foods' on sale which
are little more than a very clever chemistry experiment which has
somehow been formed to look like something we should eat! We fall for it
every time and the more we eat the more the companies produce.
We
have become addicted to refined sugar and have become brain-washed into
thinking that low fat foods are better for us than the fats nature
provided us with! These 'foods' are effectively de-nourishing our
bodies, stripping us of our health, energy and vitality and leaving us
sick, tired, old before our time; riddled with disease and complaints.
The fats that are replacing the natural ones are quite literally bent
out of shape and they are bending our cells and our bodies out of shape
too! Its the trans fats or 'hydrogenated fats' which are being pumped
into food that are raising our blood pressure and clogging our arteries.
It
is estimated that over 80% of all hospital and Doctor's visits could
actually be prevented through good nutrition! That's quite a shocking
figure when you consider how much stress the NHS is under.
I have
had it said to me that life is too short to worry about what you're
eating. My argument is, don't worry about it, just eat from the abundant
table of nature and give yourself a fighting chance of living a longer,
healthier, more active life.
Food is meant to nourish us, just
like the soil nourishes plants, we need the nutrients in it so that
bodies can grow and flourish. I doubt very much that you would have much
success growing carrots in the sand or seaweed in your back garden
(unless you added some dubious chemicals to alter the soil that is). The
reason is, that the correct nutrients are not available in those
circumstances for those plants to survive. Our bodies are the same, we
are made up cells and those cells need nutrients to grow and repair, yet
every day we expect our bodies to grow, thrive and not break down
whilst we fill them full of what we now term as food.
Much of the
food we eat today would be unrecognisable to our ancestors and is,
indeed unrecognisable to our bodies! Our bodies designed to consume
chemicals and thrive on man-made produce. Everything our bodies need was
provided for us by nature.
We are nature, we are not separate from it!
Our
bodies continually regenerate, renew and repair. In order to do this,
our cells need fuel. If we continually fill our bodies with low grade
fuel, we will simply get a low grade result.
Just imagine putting
diesel into your petrol engine. If, like me, you have ever done this you
will know exactly what I mean. Petrol engines were not designed to run
on diesel fuel. Once the incorrect fuel hits the engine the car begins
to cough, splutter and choke and eventually seizes up altogether. The
only way to sort it out is have the engine completely cleaned out, even
then sometimes it's just too late and the car ends up with the big car
maker in the sky!
Fortunately, our bodies are a little more
forgiving than that, but if we constantly pour in poor fuel we too will
start to cough, splutter and malfunction. We wind up feeling ill, go to
the Doctors, get some medication, the medication affects our bodies so
we wind up feeling worse and can be stuck in a very vicious cycle which
has no positive ending.
Fast living and cheap food are wreaking
havoc with our health and there is only one person that can anything
about it; that person is YOU! You have to make the decision to take
action, to be more healthy, to eat more good, natural food and to ditch
that lifestyle which has got you to where you are now! Once you make
that decision you have to make a commitment; a commitment to yourself to
treat yourself better and start living the energetic healthy life that
you deserve!
You will be amazed at how good just making that commitment makes you feel!
So,
next time you pick up some 'food' from the supermarket shelf, take a
look at the ingredients on the list; is the list longer than 5
ingredients? Are there some words you can't pronounce? Does it contain
Hydrogenated fats or oils? Artificial Sweeteners? If the answer is yes
to any of these questions the alarm bells should start ringing; 'This is
a chemical experiment and was not meant to be dumped in my body!'
Do yourself a favour and choose from nature's pantry instead!
TIP:
When shopping in a supermarket, try and stick to the isles around the
edge, in general, the further into the middle you get, the more
processed the food becomes!
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Showing posts with label Nutrition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nutrition. Show all posts
Healthy Nutrition Is The Main Key To Losing Fat
You see a lot of articles in magazines and online about exercising to burn off excess bodyfat and yes, it does help. But it's not the only, nor even the best way to lose fat. To reduce bodyfat you need to be in a calorie deficit, and following a healthy diet is your most powerful weapon in that battle for a number of reasons...
First, let's quickly look at the physics involved. Calories are a measure of stored energy contained to varying degrees within each type of food, and when ingested it takes 3,500 calories to add one pound of bodyweight. Your body uses some calories every day for internal functions, plus to power you through your daily activities. If you consume fewer calories than needed, your body converts some of its stored calories to make up the difference. If you feed it more calories than it burns, it will store the extra as fat to keep those calories available when food becomes scarce.
The best way to burn fat is a combination of calorie restriction and exercise, to hit the problem from both fronts. So why is lowering your caloric intake more effective than exercise for burning fat? Because the main purpose of exercising is to build strength, muscle and endurance, not burn fat. At best, an hour on a treadmill each day will burn about 500 calories an hour or less, depending on your bodyweight, the speed and the angle of incline. Over the course of a week, if you run for an hour every day you've burned 3,500 calories - one pound's worth of fat. Unfortunately most people will find the energy expenditure leads them to eat more, negating the effects. This explains why you see the same people using the treadmills in the gym year after year with little or no impact on their bodyfat levels.
But what about lifting weights? Weightlifting builds muscle, and muscle burns calories 24 hours a day, right? Yes - each pound of lean muscle you have burns about half a calorie per hour, 24/7. But that's just 12 calories per day - 10 extra pounds of muscle will only burn off a pound or so of fat per month. And once again, this often means an increase in appetite to go with the efforts required to build that extra 10 pounds of muscle.
So while exercise IS a part of the overall picture, both for optimal health and for burning bodyfat, the biggest gains can be made by EFFECTIVELY managing your calories through a healthy nutrition plan. Note the emphasis on 'effectively' managing your calories - simply cutting way back in your daily calories is dangerous and counter-productive. Your body will go into 'starvation mode' if you suddenly stop eating for an extended period and will react by slowing your metabolism down drastically, thwarting your efforts to burn bodyfat.
While every body is different and each person's metabolism is different, start with this general rate: daily caloric intake for men should start at about 12 calories per pound of bodyweight, while for women it should be 10 calories per pound. Pick a reasonable bodyweight goal for your height and gender and use that as your starting point. So if a man wants to burn fat and get down to 175 pounds, he wants to start at 2,100 calories per day. A woman wanting to get back to 120 pounds would start consuming 1,200 calories per day.
Give that level a few weeks to see what effect it has on your bodyfat levels, then tweak it a bit up or down as necessary to reach, and maintain your goals. No, you won't lose fat as quickly as on some of the better fad diets, but you'll lose it safely while learning to maintain the new weight and avoid the yo-yo dieting cycle so many are trapped in.
Pay attention to WHAT you eat as well, not just how much you eat. Carbohydrates are converted to glucose in the liver and then transported through your body by insulin from your pancreas - too many carbs makes your body produce that much more insulin to try and control your blood sugar levels, and if the extra glucose isn't absorbed by your muscles it WILL be by your fat cells. Don't avoid carbs either, though - you need a balance of all 3 macro-nutrients - carbs, protein and healthy fats. Instead opt for healthier carb sources like rolled oats instead of sugary cereals, sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes and have extra vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts when you're hungrier. For snacks, have an apple or an orange instead of chips or chocolate bars.
By following a healthy diet and making exercise a regular part of your weekly routine you can hit your goal weight, get rid of the excess bodyfat and maintain the healthy weight that's just right for YOU. And you'll be helping to stave off or reduce the severity of type-2 diabetes, heart attacks and strokes. Don't put it off - get started on your own healthy nutrition lifestyle right away!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8616525
First, let's quickly look at the physics involved. Calories are a measure of stored energy contained to varying degrees within each type of food, and when ingested it takes 3,500 calories to add one pound of bodyweight. Your body uses some calories every day for internal functions, plus to power you through your daily activities. If you consume fewer calories than needed, your body converts some of its stored calories to make up the difference. If you feed it more calories than it burns, it will store the extra as fat to keep those calories available when food becomes scarce.
The best way to burn fat is a combination of calorie restriction and exercise, to hit the problem from both fronts. So why is lowering your caloric intake more effective than exercise for burning fat? Because the main purpose of exercising is to build strength, muscle and endurance, not burn fat. At best, an hour on a treadmill each day will burn about 500 calories an hour or less, depending on your bodyweight, the speed and the angle of incline. Over the course of a week, if you run for an hour every day you've burned 3,500 calories - one pound's worth of fat. Unfortunately most people will find the energy expenditure leads them to eat more, negating the effects. This explains why you see the same people using the treadmills in the gym year after year with little or no impact on their bodyfat levels.
But what about lifting weights? Weightlifting builds muscle, and muscle burns calories 24 hours a day, right? Yes - each pound of lean muscle you have burns about half a calorie per hour, 24/7. But that's just 12 calories per day - 10 extra pounds of muscle will only burn off a pound or so of fat per month. And once again, this often means an increase in appetite to go with the efforts required to build that extra 10 pounds of muscle.
So while exercise IS a part of the overall picture, both for optimal health and for burning bodyfat, the biggest gains can be made by EFFECTIVELY managing your calories through a healthy nutrition plan. Note the emphasis on 'effectively' managing your calories - simply cutting way back in your daily calories is dangerous and counter-productive. Your body will go into 'starvation mode' if you suddenly stop eating for an extended period and will react by slowing your metabolism down drastically, thwarting your efforts to burn bodyfat.
While every body is different and each person's metabolism is different, start with this general rate: daily caloric intake for men should start at about 12 calories per pound of bodyweight, while for women it should be 10 calories per pound. Pick a reasonable bodyweight goal for your height and gender and use that as your starting point. So if a man wants to burn fat and get down to 175 pounds, he wants to start at 2,100 calories per day. A woman wanting to get back to 120 pounds would start consuming 1,200 calories per day.
Give that level a few weeks to see what effect it has on your bodyfat levels, then tweak it a bit up or down as necessary to reach, and maintain your goals. No, you won't lose fat as quickly as on some of the better fad diets, but you'll lose it safely while learning to maintain the new weight and avoid the yo-yo dieting cycle so many are trapped in.
Pay attention to WHAT you eat as well, not just how much you eat. Carbohydrates are converted to glucose in the liver and then transported through your body by insulin from your pancreas - too many carbs makes your body produce that much more insulin to try and control your blood sugar levels, and if the extra glucose isn't absorbed by your muscles it WILL be by your fat cells. Don't avoid carbs either, though - you need a balance of all 3 macro-nutrients - carbs, protein and healthy fats. Instead opt for healthier carb sources like rolled oats instead of sugary cereals, sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes and have extra vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts when you're hungrier. For snacks, have an apple or an orange instead of chips or chocolate bars.
By following a healthy diet and making exercise a regular part of your weekly routine you can hit your goal weight, get rid of the excess bodyfat and maintain the healthy weight that's just right for YOU. And you'll be helping to stave off or reduce the severity of type-2 diabetes, heart attacks and strokes. Don't put it off - get started on your own healthy nutrition lifestyle right away!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8616525
14 Foods Nutritionists Never Eat
Many nutritionists will tell you that they're big advocates of the "all foods fit" approach to healthy eating—the idea that even things like cookies, cakes, and candies have a place (albeit in moderation) in an overall healthy diet. That said, there are still foods that they personally wouldn't touch with a 10-foot-stick. Granted, they may be ones that you love and simply couldn't eliminate from your diet altogether—and that's OK.
Still, it's pretty fascinating to get a glimpse into the eating habits of people are who paid to help others eat nutritionally for a living. So we asked several nutritionists to share the foods that they would never, ever eat. Here's what they had to say:
Processed and/or Canned Meat or Cheese
"I particularly avoid those that are made with additional thickeners, preservatives, sugar, or a high content of preservatives. Animal products (and food products in general) that have to sit on a shelf inherently require a decent amount of processing to protect against microbial growth and contamination. I'd rather go for the fresh version than eat something high-sodium and preservative-rich (hence why some processed meats have earned their 'mystery meat' name)." —Jaclyn London, M.S., R.D., senior clinical dietician at Mount Sinai Hospital
Non-Dairy Creamer
"It's completely without nutrient density of any kind, and it can increase your risk for heart disease." —Kristin Kirkpatrick, M.S., R.D., a wellness manager at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute
GMOs
"If it's controversial, I err on the side of caution. Plus, I prefer organic, high-quality foods that are clean and more environmentally sustainable." —Katie Cavuto, M.S., R.D., the dietician for the Phillies and the Flyers
Pepperoni
"I personally don't love the taste, but more importantly, I'd much rather top my pizza with nutritious veggies than overly processed meat." —Keri Gans, R.D., author of The Small Change Diet
Diet Soda
"Those who are drinking diet sodas are most likely looking for that sweet taste without the extra sugar and calories. Unfortunately, that sweet taste comes with sugar cravings and increased caloric intake throughout the day. I'd recommend slowly removing diet soda from your diet. If you're looking for an extra boost of caffeine, try green iced tea. Or if you're a bubbly connoisseur, opt for a club soda with a squeeze of lemon or lime. Diet soda is all chemicals and won't help you avoid extra calories in the long run anyway." —Keri Glassman, R.D., Women's Health contributor
Maraschino Cherries
"The added sugar, chemicals, and artificial dyes ruin the health benefits of the naturally delicious fruit." —Michelle Davenport, Ph.D., R.D., a Silicon Valley nutritionist
Cold Cereal and Fat-Free Dairy
"Most cold cereals are loaded with added sugars and are missing protein and fiber. If I eat that to start, my entire day will be thrown off eating-wise, as I'll be hungry and on a sugar crash within an hour or two. Fat-free dairy is something I avoid whenever possible. It certainly doesn't taste as good as regular dairy products, but mainly because I think fat is a super important part of each meal. Having good-quality diary that's full fat is delicious and nutritious." —Brooke Alpert, M.S., R.D., founder of B Nutritious
Soda
"It's literally liquid candy with absolutely no nutritional value. Why bother?" —Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., the nutrition and health expert for NBC's TODAY Show and Founder of NourishSnacks
Fluorescent Orange Crunchy Snacks
"Most chippy packaged foods are an absolute waste of calories and are loaded with chemicals. But any of them that are orange? Well, that pushes yuck over the edge. These are salt, chemical, and artificial color cocktails in a bag! Steer clear." —Keri Glassman, R.D., Women's Health contributor
Artificial Sweeteners
"I can't bring myself to consume something I know is fake and void of nutrients. Plus, my body doesn't like them." —Katie Cavuto, M.S., R.D., the dietician for the Phillies and the Flyers
Bacon
"Unless it finds its way into my Brussels sprouts with my knowing when I'm dining out, bacon is a food that I haven't eaten since I was a child. Its high saturated fat and sodium content has been a huge deterrent for me for years." —Keri Gans, R.D., author of The Small Change Diet
Hot Dogs
"Processed meat loaded with preservatives and barely any protein? No thanks!" —Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., the nutrition and health expert for NBC's TODAY Show and Founder of NourishSnacks
Sugary Beverages
"For example: coffee, juice, and tea 'drinks.' I'd rather eat my calories (or save them for a glass of wine!) than drinking calorie-rich, nutrient-poor beverages that don't fill you up." —Jaclyn London, M.S., R.D., senior clinical dietician at Mount Sinai Hospital
source:http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/healthy-eating-facts?cm_sp=Hotlist-_-Nutrition-_-14FoodsNutritionistsNeverEat
Still, it's pretty fascinating to get a glimpse into the eating habits of people are who paid to help others eat nutritionally for a living. So we asked several nutritionists to share the foods that they would never, ever eat. Here's what they had to say:
Processed and/or Canned Meat or Cheese
"I particularly avoid those that are made with additional thickeners, preservatives, sugar, or a high content of preservatives. Animal products (and food products in general) that have to sit on a shelf inherently require a decent amount of processing to protect against microbial growth and contamination. I'd rather go for the fresh version than eat something high-sodium and preservative-rich (hence why some processed meats have earned their 'mystery meat' name)." —Jaclyn London, M.S., R.D., senior clinical dietician at Mount Sinai Hospital
Non-Dairy Creamer
"It's completely without nutrient density of any kind, and it can increase your risk for heart disease." —Kristin Kirkpatrick, M.S., R.D., a wellness manager at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute
GMOs
"If it's controversial, I err on the side of caution. Plus, I prefer organic, high-quality foods that are clean and more environmentally sustainable." —Katie Cavuto, M.S., R.D., the dietician for the Phillies and the Flyers
Pepperoni
"I personally don't love the taste, but more importantly, I'd much rather top my pizza with nutritious veggies than overly processed meat." —Keri Gans, R.D., author of The Small Change Diet
Diet Soda
"Those who are drinking diet sodas are most likely looking for that sweet taste without the extra sugar and calories. Unfortunately, that sweet taste comes with sugar cravings and increased caloric intake throughout the day. I'd recommend slowly removing diet soda from your diet. If you're looking for an extra boost of caffeine, try green iced tea. Or if you're a bubbly connoisseur, opt for a club soda with a squeeze of lemon or lime. Diet soda is all chemicals and won't help you avoid extra calories in the long run anyway." —Keri Glassman, R.D., Women's Health contributor
Maraschino Cherries
"The added sugar, chemicals, and artificial dyes ruin the health benefits of the naturally delicious fruit." —Michelle Davenport, Ph.D., R.D., a Silicon Valley nutritionist
Cold Cereal and Fat-Free Dairy
"Most cold cereals are loaded with added sugars and are missing protein and fiber. If I eat that to start, my entire day will be thrown off eating-wise, as I'll be hungry and on a sugar crash within an hour or two. Fat-free dairy is something I avoid whenever possible. It certainly doesn't taste as good as regular dairy products, but mainly because I think fat is a super important part of each meal. Having good-quality diary that's full fat is delicious and nutritious." —Brooke Alpert, M.S., R.D., founder of B Nutritious
Soda
"It's literally liquid candy with absolutely no nutritional value. Why bother?" —Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., the nutrition and health expert for NBC's TODAY Show and Founder of NourishSnacks
Fluorescent Orange Crunchy Snacks
"Most chippy packaged foods are an absolute waste of calories and are loaded with chemicals. But any of them that are orange? Well, that pushes yuck over the edge. These are salt, chemical, and artificial color cocktails in a bag! Steer clear." —Keri Glassman, R.D., Women's Health contributor
Artificial Sweeteners
"I can't bring myself to consume something I know is fake and void of nutrients. Plus, my body doesn't like them." —Katie Cavuto, M.S., R.D., the dietician for the Phillies and the Flyers
Bacon
"Unless it finds its way into my Brussels sprouts with my knowing when I'm dining out, bacon is a food that I haven't eaten since I was a child. Its high saturated fat and sodium content has been a huge deterrent for me for years." —Keri Gans, R.D., author of The Small Change Diet
Hot Dogs
"Processed meat loaded with preservatives and barely any protein? No thanks!" —Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., the nutrition and health expert for NBC's TODAY Show and Founder of NourishSnacks
Sugary Beverages
"For example: coffee, juice, and tea 'drinks.' I'd rather eat my calories (or save them for a glass of wine!) than drinking calorie-rich, nutrient-poor beverages that don't fill you up." —Jaclyn London, M.S., R.D., senior clinical dietician at Mount Sinai Hospital
source:http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/healthy-eating-facts?cm_sp=Hotlist-_-Nutrition-_-14FoodsNutritionistsNeverEat
Ways to Speed Up Recovery after a Hard Workout
Foam rolling is a great way to speed recovery. Kneading your muscles
after a hard workout can help ease soreness by breaking up adhesions
(tight knots of connective tissue) and enhancing bloodflow. But a foam
roller is just one of many tools you can use before, after, or between
workouts to boost your mobility and fast-track your recovery. Here are
three other options you've probably never considered.
Barbell
Use this to loosen up your calves and Achilles tendons, especially after a tough run or pickup hoops game. Place your lower legs on the bar (or even one leg at a time on the handle of a dumbbell or kettlebell) and move them from side to side to break up adhesions.
Resistance Band
Secure a thick, looped resistance band to an anchor point--a squat cage is perfect. Then step inside the free end so it sits above your ankle. Facing away from the anchor, walk forward a few steps to put tension in the band. Now drive your knee past your toes several times. Repeat with your other leg. Physical therapists call this "band distraction." The benefit is better ankle mobility.
Softball
Your targets: glutes and chest. The payoff: improved hip mobility and upper-body range of motion. Sit on a softball (or a lacrosse ball if you can handle it) and dig into your glute muscles, which can become knotted and tight from prolonged sitting. Repeat with the ball sandwiched between your chest and a wall.
source:http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/relieve-pain
Barbell
Use this to loosen up your calves and Achilles tendons, especially after a tough run or pickup hoops game. Place your lower legs on the bar (or even one leg at a time on the handle of a dumbbell or kettlebell) and move them from side to side to break up adhesions.
Resistance Band
Secure a thick, looped resistance band to an anchor point--a squat cage is perfect. Then step inside the free end so it sits above your ankle. Facing away from the anchor, walk forward a few steps to put tension in the band. Now drive your knee past your toes several times. Repeat with your other leg. Physical therapists call this "band distraction." The benefit is better ankle mobility.
Softball
Your targets: glutes and chest. The payoff: improved hip mobility and upper-body range of motion. Sit on a softball (or a lacrosse ball if you can handle it) and dig into your glute muscles, which can become knotted and tight from prolonged sitting. Repeat with the ball sandwiched between your chest and a wall.
source:http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/relieve-pain
Busting The Top 10 Nutrition Myths
There is so much misinformation in the field of nutrition that it is hard to know what to believe. The media is rife with conflicting messages. Food industries spend millions on lobbying and advertising, making less-than-accurate claims about health and nutrition. Hopefully, the following will debunk some of the most common nutrition myths that you think may be true.
1. Saturated Fat Clogs Your Arteries And Causes Heart Disease
A few decades ago, due to highly flawed observational studies conducted in the 1960s and 70s on saturated fat and heart disease, and political ploy orchestrated by the vegetable oil industry to promote its own products, "saturated fat became a harmful fat that causes heart disease".
At long last, a massive review article published in 2010 looked at 21 epidemiological studies with a total of 347,747 subjects over 5-23 years concluded that there is absolutely no association between saturated fat and heart disease. In fact, research shows that saturated fat raises HDL (the good) cholesterol and changes LDL (so-called bad) cholesterol from small and dense (which is really bad) to large LDL (which is benign).
Unfortunately, conventional wisdom is still going along with the outdated and misguided fallacy that saturated fat is bad for you.
The truth is that saturated fats are essential for your body. They make up at least 50 percent of your cell membranes and are the building blocks for a variety of hormones and hormone-like substances. They are important for your bones as well as the immune system.
However, remember that saturated fat from feedlot animals also contains antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals that are in their feed. Saturated fat from unhealthy animals is not good for you. Therefore, always go with saturated fat from grass-fed and organically-raised animals, or alternatively, use coconut oil.
2. High Cholesterol Foods Are Bad For You
Among all the high cholesterol foods, eggs are probably the most demonized as the yolk contains a large amount of cholesterol. Are you one of those who only eat the whites and throw away the yolk?
Numerous studies have confirmed that consumption of high cholesterol foods, such as whole eggs, has no effect on the overall blood cholesterol level nor does it increase the risk of heart disease. Cholesterol is essential to all functions in the body, especially your hormones and nerve tissues. If you think cholesterol is the enemy, think again. Without cholesterol, you would probably die.
Egg yolks are rich in lutein and zeaxanthin that offer powerful prevention against age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness. Eggs also contain high quality proteins, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Therefore, do not be afraid of high cholesterol foods, such as eggs, liver, butter, cheese, caviar, shrimp, calamari, oysters, clams, and mussels as long as they come from grass-fed and organically-raised animals or clean, pristine waters.
3. Low-Fat Foods Are Better For Health
Since the 1980s, there has been a boom in fat-free and low-fat foods such as those found in desserts, cookies, and dairy products. How do you think the food manufacturers manage to take the fat out and still produce palatable foods so that they don't taste like cardboard?
The trick is to add sugar and additives to compensate for the lack of taste and texture that fat naturally provides. Usually the sugar is in the form of refined cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or artificial sweeteners like aspartame or sucralose. Artificial sweeteners may not have calories but they are worse than sugar. Studies have consistently associated their use with obesity and metabolic syndrome.
In reality, fat-free and low-fat foods are not healthier. They are usually highly processed food products loaded with sugar and additives. Besides, these foods give you less satisfaction, so you end up eating more.
4. High Fat Foods Will Make You Fat
Most people have the misconception that eating fat translates to fat in your belly or thighs. Despite fat having more calories per gram than carbohydrates or protein, having more fat in your diet does not necessarily make you fat. So what really makes you fat?
The true culprit is sugar. What researchers found is that when people eat less fat, they tend to eat more starch or sugar instead. Excess carbohydrates are converted by the liver into fat and stored as fat. That is why a diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates causes triglycerides (a type of fat in your blood which raises heart disease risk) to go up, good cholesterol (HDL) to go down, creates damaging small, dense LDL, and causes pre-diabetes or metabolic syndrome.
Studies show that 75 percent of people who end up in the emergency room with a heart attack have normal overall cholesterol levels. What they do have is pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes.
Eating a diet with good quality fats and protein may help prevent and even reverse diabetes and pre-diabetes, while eating excess sugar and refined carbohydrates causes weight gain and increases your risk of developing diabetes.
5. Vegetable Oils Are Healthy
Many people perceive vegetable oils as healthy. Maybe it is because it has the word "vegetable" in it. The media promotes vegetable oils saying they are high in unsaturated fats. If saturated fats are bad, then unsaturated must be good, right?
Most vegetable oils are highly processed oils like corn oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, and sunflower oil. Even though they are not really derived from vegetables, they are commonly referred to as vegetable oils.
These oils contain huge amounts of biologically active and fragile fats called omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. This is where things go very wrong.
First, the method used by manufacturers to process these oils involves high heat and chemicals, which damages the delicate omega-6 fatty acids. By the time you buy the oil from your grocery store, it is already rancid. (Many even contain trans fat.) Rancid oil is toxic to the body and is associated with multiple diseases.
Second, many vegetable and seed oils are genetically engineered (GE). GE crops are often saturated with the toxic herbicide and pesticide called glyphosate (Roundup). More than 90% of U.S. canola oil is GE.
Third, even though the body needs some omega-6 fatty acids from the diet, too much of it causes chronic, systemic inflammation in the body unless it is balanced off by even more omega-3 fatty acids in the diet. In other words, omega-6s are pro-inflammatory and omega-3s are anti-inflammatory. The more omega-6s you have, the more omega-3s you need to control the inflammation.
Simply put, a diet that is high in omega-6s but low in omega-3s is a recipe for disaster, this is what people eating a Standard American Diet gets. SAD! Avoid using vegetable oils for cooking, use coconut oil, grass-fed butter or ghee, or olive oil instead. Check the ingredients of everything you buy, make sure it does not use any vegetable oils. It is a lot more common than you think.
[Note: Some healthier brands claim that their vegetable oils are "cold pressed" which is much less damaging. However, they still have the problem of excess omega-6s if consumed on a regular basis.]
6. You Should Eat Many Small Meals Throughout The Day
The concept that one should eat many small meals throughout the day to rev up metabolism for weight loss is unsound. Controlled studies found that there is no real weight loss advantage to eating six meals versus three meals a day.
In fact, it may not be natural for the human body to be constantly in a fed state. Back in the hunter-gatherer days, humans used to fast from time to time and did not eat nearly as often as in modern times.
By grazing around the clock, you are actually preventing your body from burning fat. When you are constantly eating, you keep releasing insulin which puts your body into its storage phase. The goal is to have your body use its energy stores for sustenance and burn more fat. This can only be achieved when you are fasting, not when you are eating every 2-3 hours.
7. Grains Are A Necessary Part Of Your Diet
The idea that humans should be basing their diet on grains is flawed. In actuality, the agricultural revolution did not take place until around 12,000 B.C., which is considered fairly recent in the 200,000-year history of Homo sapiens evolution. Our genes have not changed that much after all, so it does not make sense that grains should now become an essential part of human diet.
The U.S. dietary guidelines recommend getting up to 65% of your calories from carbohydrates. You may be surprised to learn that grains, no matter whether they are refined, whole, sprouted, or fermented, are fairly low in nutrients compared to other real foods like grass-fed meats, fruits, and vegetables.
Grains are carbohydrate dense. Unless you are physically active, eating too much grains can easily lead to extra inches on your hips. They can also trigger a blood sugar and insulin response that leave you hungry an hour after a meal or cravings for sugar. Nearly 26 million children and adults in the U.S. have diabetes or pre-diabetes. If the present trend continues, as many as 1 in 3 Americans will have diabetes in 2050.
Grains contain anti-nutrients like phytic acid that prevent the body from absorbing minerals like calcium, iron, and zinc, and enzyme inhibitors that inhibit the ability of enzymes to aid in digestion. Although soaking the grains do neutralize some of the anti-nutrients, they cannot be completely removed.
Certain grains such as wheat, rye, and barley contain the gluten protein which many people do not have the enzymes to digest. Many diseases have now been linked to gluten intolerance, including Celiac disease, Addison's disease, asthma, autoimmune thyroid disease, dental enamel defects, epilepsy, liver disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, autism, and schizophrenia.
Therefore, if you have digestive problems or suffer from some of the diseases mentioned here, consider grains being the possible cause of your problem. Substitute grains with leafy vegetables, starchy vegetables (such as carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash), or a small amount of fruits. Otherwise, if you are healthy, it is all right to eat some grains but do not make grains the main part of your diet.
8. Eat More Fish... Avoid Red Meat
Do you have the notion that eating fish is a better option over a piece of steak when it comes to health? This may or may not be a good idea, depending on where the fish and the meat come from.
There is a world of difference between different types of fish, whether they are big or small, wild, or farm-raised. There is no doubt that fish is a healthy protein and a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, but most ocean fish is now contaminated with mercury, and the bigger the fish, the more mercury it contains. Farmed fish, on the other hand, may not contain mercury but due to overcrowded growing conditions, they are usually fed with high doses of antibiotics and pesticides to keep them alive.
If you want to eat fish, you need to be very selective. Among the safest are wild Alaskan salmon, sardines, herrings, anchovies, wild shrimp, and calamari.
Tuna (Bigeye, Ahi, Yellowfin, and canned tuna), mackerel (King, Spanish, Gulf), swordfish, shark, barracuda, grouper, jacks, bluefish, marlin, sea bass (Chilean), tilefish, and orange roughy have some of the highest levels of mercury.
Avoid farmed seafood including Atlantic salmon, tilapia, catfish, cod, and shrimp.
Red meat remains one of the most controversial foods in the field of nutrition. Despite the fact that humans have been eating it throughout evolution, many believe that it is harmful. Well, they are both right and wrong. Not all meat is created equal.
Today's meat is vastly different from the meat our early ancestors ate. Back in the day, animals roamed free and ate grass, insects, or whatever was natural for them. Today, the animals were born and raised in a factory, fed a grain-based diet, and pumped full of antibiotics, hormones, and drugs to make them grow faster. Then, they make processed meats (such as deli meats, sausages, and bacon) out of these feedlot animal meats by adding more artificial chemicals to them.
To sum up, if you want to eat red meat, make the distinction between factory-farmed, processed meats and grass-fed, organic meats. Not only does grass-fed meats not contain any of the disgusting chemicals, they are also higher in omega-3s, vitamin A, vitamin E, and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), all of which are beneficial to your health.
9. Dairy Products Are Essential For Strong Bones
If you are drinking milk or eating dairy products to get enough calcium for your bones, think twice. Contrary to popular belief, eating dairy products has never been shown to reduce fracture risk. Countries with the lowest rates of dairy and calcium consumption (like those in Africa and Asia) have the lowest rates of osteoporosis. Why? Because you need more than calcium to build strong bones. You also need vitamins D and K2, magnesium, and a host of other trace minerals.
Therefore, know that you can get your calcium from other foods instead. These include dark green leafy vegetables, sesame tahini, sea vegetables, bone broth, as well as canned sardines and salmon with the bones.
Another problem with dairy is that 75% of the world population do not have the enzymes to digest dairy products. As a result, they contribute to more health issues, such as digestive problems, allergies, skin problems, and chronic constipation.
However, if you are one of those who can tolerate dairy and enjoy its taste, consider using organic dairy products from grass-fed cows. You should avoid dairy products that come from conventionally-raised animals as their products contain antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals.
Raw, organic, grass-fed dairy is always your first choice as it has not been homogenized and pasteurized, and contains live beneficial enzymes. Its fermented products like unsweetened yogurt and kefir are also good.
10. Soy Is A Health Food
The meteoric rise of soy as a health food is another example of how brilliant marketing can fool millions. Unfermented soy products are not healthy, regardless of your age or gender. The only healthy type of soy food is the fermented kind and preferably organic, such as tempeh, miso, natto, and soy sauce.
Thousands of studies have linked unfermented soy to various health problems.
More than 90 percent of American soy crops are GE, which means they are heavily sprayed with the toxic Roundup herbicide and pesticide.
Soy may cause severe and potentially fatal food allergies in some children and adults.
Unfermented soy contains phytoestrogens that mimic and sometimes block the hormone estrogen.
It contains phytic acid, which blocks the body's absorption of minerals, such as iron and calcium.
It contains enzyme inhibitors, which hinder protein digestion.
It contains hemagglutinn, which promotes blood clots. People with heart disease should always avoid eating soy.
It contains goitrogens that impair the proper functioning of the thyroid gland. People with low thyroid should stay away from soy.
It is linked to premature puberty and other developmental problems in babies, children, and adolescents.
Avoid all unfermented soy products including tofu, edamame, soybean oil, soy milk, soy formula, soy burgers, soy protein isolate, textured vegetable protein, soy cheese, and soy desserts.
Carol Chuang is a Certified Nutrition Specialist and a Metabolic Typing Advisor. She has a Masters degree in Nutrition and is the founder of CC Health Counseling, LLC. Her passion in life is to stay healthy and to help others become healthy. She believes that a key ingredient to optimal health is to eat a diet that is right for one's specific body type. Eating organic or eating healthy is not enough to guarantee good health. The truth is that there is no one diet that is right for everyone. Our metabolisms are different, so should our diets. Carol specializes in Metabolic Typing, helping her clients find the right diet for their Metabolic Type. To learn more about Metabolic Typing, her nutrition counseling practice, and how to get a complimentary phone consultation, please go to http://cchealthcounseling.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carol_Chuang
1. Saturated Fat Clogs Your Arteries And Causes Heart Disease
A few decades ago, due to highly flawed observational studies conducted in the 1960s and 70s on saturated fat and heart disease, and political ploy orchestrated by the vegetable oil industry to promote its own products, "saturated fat became a harmful fat that causes heart disease".
At long last, a massive review article published in 2010 looked at 21 epidemiological studies with a total of 347,747 subjects over 5-23 years concluded that there is absolutely no association between saturated fat and heart disease. In fact, research shows that saturated fat raises HDL (the good) cholesterol and changes LDL (so-called bad) cholesterol from small and dense (which is really bad) to large LDL (which is benign).
Unfortunately, conventional wisdom is still going along with the outdated and misguided fallacy that saturated fat is bad for you.
The truth is that saturated fats are essential for your body. They make up at least 50 percent of your cell membranes and are the building blocks for a variety of hormones and hormone-like substances. They are important for your bones as well as the immune system.
However, remember that saturated fat from feedlot animals also contains antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals that are in their feed. Saturated fat from unhealthy animals is not good for you. Therefore, always go with saturated fat from grass-fed and organically-raised animals, or alternatively, use coconut oil.
2. High Cholesterol Foods Are Bad For You
Among all the high cholesterol foods, eggs are probably the most demonized as the yolk contains a large amount of cholesterol. Are you one of those who only eat the whites and throw away the yolk?
Numerous studies have confirmed that consumption of high cholesterol foods, such as whole eggs, has no effect on the overall blood cholesterol level nor does it increase the risk of heart disease. Cholesterol is essential to all functions in the body, especially your hormones and nerve tissues. If you think cholesterol is the enemy, think again. Without cholesterol, you would probably die.
Egg yolks are rich in lutein and zeaxanthin that offer powerful prevention against age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness. Eggs also contain high quality proteins, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Therefore, do not be afraid of high cholesterol foods, such as eggs, liver, butter, cheese, caviar, shrimp, calamari, oysters, clams, and mussels as long as they come from grass-fed and organically-raised animals or clean, pristine waters.
3. Low-Fat Foods Are Better For Health
Since the 1980s, there has been a boom in fat-free and low-fat foods such as those found in desserts, cookies, and dairy products. How do you think the food manufacturers manage to take the fat out and still produce palatable foods so that they don't taste like cardboard?
The trick is to add sugar and additives to compensate for the lack of taste and texture that fat naturally provides. Usually the sugar is in the form of refined cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or artificial sweeteners like aspartame or sucralose. Artificial sweeteners may not have calories but they are worse than sugar. Studies have consistently associated their use with obesity and metabolic syndrome.
In reality, fat-free and low-fat foods are not healthier. They are usually highly processed food products loaded with sugar and additives. Besides, these foods give you less satisfaction, so you end up eating more.
4. High Fat Foods Will Make You Fat
Most people have the misconception that eating fat translates to fat in your belly or thighs. Despite fat having more calories per gram than carbohydrates or protein, having more fat in your diet does not necessarily make you fat. So what really makes you fat?
The true culprit is sugar. What researchers found is that when people eat less fat, they tend to eat more starch or sugar instead. Excess carbohydrates are converted by the liver into fat and stored as fat. That is why a diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates causes triglycerides (a type of fat in your blood which raises heart disease risk) to go up, good cholesterol (HDL) to go down, creates damaging small, dense LDL, and causes pre-diabetes or metabolic syndrome.
Studies show that 75 percent of people who end up in the emergency room with a heart attack have normal overall cholesterol levels. What they do have is pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes.
Eating a diet with good quality fats and protein may help prevent and even reverse diabetes and pre-diabetes, while eating excess sugar and refined carbohydrates causes weight gain and increases your risk of developing diabetes.
5. Vegetable Oils Are Healthy
Many people perceive vegetable oils as healthy. Maybe it is because it has the word "vegetable" in it. The media promotes vegetable oils saying they are high in unsaturated fats. If saturated fats are bad, then unsaturated must be good, right?
Most vegetable oils are highly processed oils like corn oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, and sunflower oil. Even though they are not really derived from vegetables, they are commonly referred to as vegetable oils.
These oils contain huge amounts of biologically active and fragile fats called omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. This is where things go very wrong.
First, the method used by manufacturers to process these oils involves high heat and chemicals, which damages the delicate omega-6 fatty acids. By the time you buy the oil from your grocery store, it is already rancid. (Many even contain trans fat.) Rancid oil is toxic to the body and is associated with multiple diseases.
Second, many vegetable and seed oils are genetically engineered (GE). GE crops are often saturated with the toxic herbicide and pesticide called glyphosate (Roundup). More than 90% of U.S. canola oil is GE.
Third, even though the body needs some omega-6 fatty acids from the diet, too much of it causes chronic, systemic inflammation in the body unless it is balanced off by even more omega-3 fatty acids in the diet. In other words, omega-6s are pro-inflammatory and omega-3s are anti-inflammatory. The more omega-6s you have, the more omega-3s you need to control the inflammation.
Simply put, a diet that is high in omega-6s but low in omega-3s is a recipe for disaster, this is what people eating a Standard American Diet gets. SAD! Avoid using vegetable oils for cooking, use coconut oil, grass-fed butter or ghee, or olive oil instead. Check the ingredients of everything you buy, make sure it does not use any vegetable oils. It is a lot more common than you think.
[Note: Some healthier brands claim that their vegetable oils are "cold pressed" which is much less damaging. However, they still have the problem of excess omega-6s if consumed on a regular basis.]
6. You Should Eat Many Small Meals Throughout The Day
The concept that one should eat many small meals throughout the day to rev up metabolism for weight loss is unsound. Controlled studies found that there is no real weight loss advantage to eating six meals versus three meals a day.
In fact, it may not be natural for the human body to be constantly in a fed state. Back in the hunter-gatherer days, humans used to fast from time to time and did not eat nearly as often as in modern times.
By grazing around the clock, you are actually preventing your body from burning fat. When you are constantly eating, you keep releasing insulin which puts your body into its storage phase. The goal is to have your body use its energy stores for sustenance and burn more fat. This can only be achieved when you are fasting, not when you are eating every 2-3 hours.
7. Grains Are A Necessary Part Of Your Diet
The idea that humans should be basing their diet on grains is flawed. In actuality, the agricultural revolution did not take place until around 12,000 B.C., which is considered fairly recent in the 200,000-year history of Homo sapiens evolution. Our genes have not changed that much after all, so it does not make sense that grains should now become an essential part of human diet.
The U.S. dietary guidelines recommend getting up to 65% of your calories from carbohydrates. You may be surprised to learn that grains, no matter whether they are refined, whole, sprouted, or fermented, are fairly low in nutrients compared to other real foods like grass-fed meats, fruits, and vegetables.
Grains are carbohydrate dense. Unless you are physically active, eating too much grains can easily lead to extra inches on your hips. They can also trigger a blood sugar and insulin response that leave you hungry an hour after a meal or cravings for sugar. Nearly 26 million children and adults in the U.S. have diabetes or pre-diabetes. If the present trend continues, as many as 1 in 3 Americans will have diabetes in 2050.
Grains contain anti-nutrients like phytic acid that prevent the body from absorbing minerals like calcium, iron, and zinc, and enzyme inhibitors that inhibit the ability of enzymes to aid in digestion. Although soaking the grains do neutralize some of the anti-nutrients, they cannot be completely removed.
Certain grains such as wheat, rye, and barley contain the gluten protein which many people do not have the enzymes to digest. Many diseases have now been linked to gluten intolerance, including Celiac disease, Addison's disease, asthma, autoimmune thyroid disease, dental enamel defects, epilepsy, liver disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, autism, and schizophrenia.
Therefore, if you have digestive problems or suffer from some of the diseases mentioned here, consider grains being the possible cause of your problem. Substitute grains with leafy vegetables, starchy vegetables (such as carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash), or a small amount of fruits. Otherwise, if you are healthy, it is all right to eat some grains but do not make grains the main part of your diet.
8. Eat More Fish... Avoid Red Meat
Do you have the notion that eating fish is a better option over a piece of steak when it comes to health? This may or may not be a good idea, depending on where the fish and the meat come from.
There is a world of difference between different types of fish, whether they are big or small, wild, or farm-raised. There is no doubt that fish is a healthy protein and a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, but most ocean fish is now contaminated with mercury, and the bigger the fish, the more mercury it contains. Farmed fish, on the other hand, may not contain mercury but due to overcrowded growing conditions, they are usually fed with high doses of antibiotics and pesticides to keep them alive.
If you want to eat fish, you need to be very selective. Among the safest are wild Alaskan salmon, sardines, herrings, anchovies, wild shrimp, and calamari.
Tuna (Bigeye, Ahi, Yellowfin, and canned tuna), mackerel (King, Spanish, Gulf), swordfish, shark, barracuda, grouper, jacks, bluefish, marlin, sea bass (Chilean), tilefish, and orange roughy have some of the highest levels of mercury.
Avoid farmed seafood including Atlantic salmon, tilapia, catfish, cod, and shrimp.
Red meat remains one of the most controversial foods in the field of nutrition. Despite the fact that humans have been eating it throughout evolution, many believe that it is harmful. Well, they are both right and wrong. Not all meat is created equal.
Today's meat is vastly different from the meat our early ancestors ate. Back in the day, animals roamed free and ate grass, insects, or whatever was natural for them. Today, the animals were born and raised in a factory, fed a grain-based diet, and pumped full of antibiotics, hormones, and drugs to make them grow faster. Then, they make processed meats (such as deli meats, sausages, and bacon) out of these feedlot animal meats by adding more artificial chemicals to them.
To sum up, if you want to eat red meat, make the distinction between factory-farmed, processed meats and grass-fed, organic meats. Not only does grass-fed meats not contain any of the disgusting chemicals, they are also higher in omega-3s, vitamin A, vitamin E, and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), all of which are beneficial to your health.
9. Dairy Products Are Essential For Strong Bones
If you are drinking milk or eating dairy products to get enough calcium for your bones, think twice. Contrary to popular belief, eating dairy products has never been shown to reduce fracture risk. Countries with the lowest rates of dairy and calcium consumption (like those in Africa and Asia) have the lowest rates of osteoporosis. Why? Because you need more than calcium to build strong bones. You also need vitamins D and K2, magnesium, and a host of other trace minerals.
Therefore, know that you can get your calcium from other foods instead. These include dark green leafy vegetables, sesame tahini, sea vegetables, bone broth, as well as canned sardines and salmon with the bones.
Another problem with dairy is that 75% of the world population do not have the enzymes to digest dairy products. As a result, they contribute to more health issues, such as digestive problems, allergies, skin problems, and chronic constipation.
However, if you are one of those who can tolerate dairy and enjoy its taste, consider using organic dairy products from grass-fed cows. You should avoid dairy products that come from conventionally-raised animals as their products contain antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals.
Raw, organic, grass-fed dairy is always your first choice as it has not been homogenized and pasteurized, and contains live beneficial enzymes. Its fermented products like unsweetened yogurt and kefir are also good.
10. Soy Is A Health Food
The meteoric rise of soy as a health food is another example of how brilliant marketing can fool millions. Unfermented soy products are not healthy, regardless of your age or gender. The only healthy type of soy food is the fermented kind and preferably organic, such as tempeh, miso, natto, and soy sauce.
Thousands of studies have linked unfermented soy to various health problems.
More than 90 percent of American soy crops are GE, which means they are heavily sprayed with the toxic Roundup herbicide and pesticide.
Soy may cause severe and potentially fatal food allergies in some children and adults.
Unfermented soy contains phytoestrogens that mimic and sometimes block the hormone estrogen.
It contains phytic acid, which blocks the body's absorption of minerals, such as iron and calcium.
It contains enzyme inhibitors, which hinder protein digestion.
It contains hemagglutinn, which promotes blood clots. People with heart disease should always avoid eating soy.
It contains goitrogens that impair the proper functioning of the thyroid gland. People with low thyroid should stay away from soy.
It is linked to premature puberty and other developmental problems in babies, children, and adolescents.
Avoid all unfermented soy products including tofu, edamame, soybean oil, soy milk, soy formula, soy burgers, soy protein isolate, textured vegetable protein, soy cheese, and soy desserts.
Carol Chuang is a Certified Nutrition Specialist and a Metabolic Typing Advisor. She has a Masters degree in Nutrition and is the founder of CC Health Counseling, LLC. Her passion in life is to stay healthy and to help others become healthy. She believes that a key ingredient to optimal health is to eat a diet that is right for one's specific body type. Eating organic or eating healthy is not enough to guarantee good health. The truth is that there is no one diet that is right for everyone. Our metabolisms are different, so should our diets. Carol specializes in Metabolic Typing, helping her clients find the right diet for their Metabolic Type. To learn more about Metabolic Typing, her nutrition counseling practice, and how to get a complimentary phone consultation, please go to http://cchealthcounseling.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carol_Chuang
06:30
Nutrition
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