Category Archives: Nutrition

Benefits Of A Healthy Diet

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A healthy diet is something everyone who cares about their health claims they want. But the question is how do we really get it?

The Key To A Healthy Diet

Developing a healthy eating habit is not as confusing or as restrictive as many people tend to imagine. The first principle of a healthy diet is to simply eat a wide variety of food. This is important because different foods make different nutritional contributions to the body.

Secondly, fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes—foods high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, low in fat, and free of cholesterol—should make up for the bulk of the calories you consume. The rest should come from low-fat dairy products, lean meats, lean poultry, and fish.

You should also try to keep a balance between calorie intake and calorie expenditure – that is, do not eat more food than your body can use. Otherwise, the chances are you will gain weight. The more active you are therefore, the more you can eat whilst still maintaining this balance.

Following these three basic steps does not mean that you have to give up on your favourite food. As long as your overall diet is low in fat and rich in complex carbohydrates, there’s nothing wrong with an occasional cheeseburger. Just make sure you limit how frequently you eat these foods, and when you do, try to eat small portions of them.

You can also see healthy eating as an opportunity to expand your range of choices by trying foods – especially vegetables, grains, or fruits – that you do not normally eat. A healthy diet does not have to mean eating foods which are bland or unappealing.

 

John Rifkind is a contributing editor at FitnessHealthArticles.com. This article may be reproduced provided that its complete content, links and author byline are kept intact and unchanged. No additional links permitted. Hyperlinks and/or URLs must remain both human clickable and search engine spiderable.

Herbal Dietary Supplement Look Outs

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Bear in mind that herbal dietary supplements can affect other substances in your body, including your medication.

More than 100 million Americans take vitamins or dietary supplements daily—including dozens of herbal nutrition supplements—and with a good reason. Research has shown that many herbal nutrition supplements can:

• Provide us with essential nutrients
• Boost the human’s immune system
• Enhance the memory and quality of sleep

Nevertheless, despite the popularity of herbal nutrition supplements to promote better health, not everybody who uses them is well informed about all of their properties or how they may interact—or interfere—with a variety of prescription drugs and other medication. As a result of this:

• Many people don’t share information about their use of herbal nutrition supplements with their health providers.
• Health providers do not think to ask if patients are taking herbal nutrition supplements.

Both are oversights that could have potentially dangerous consequences.

If you have had surgery in the past, you were probably told that you should stop taking aspirin several days before the operation to avoid excessive bleeding, even if you normally take aspirin daily to help protect your heart. (NOTE: There is news that stopping aspirin therapy suddenly can increase your risk of heart attack or stroke).

But what about herbal nutrition supplements which may increase bleeding, decrease the effectiveness of anti-clotting medications, or elevate heart rate or high blood pressure under certain conditions?

Benefits and Side Effects Of Nutrition Supplements

People who are contemplating surgery, or who even take medication regularly, should become familiar with the power and properties of any herbal nutrition supplements that they are taking.

Herbal dietary supplements are able provide important health benefits but it is important to know how they react to medication you may already be taking. Before you take herbal dietary supplements, do check with your health care provider to be sure the herbal supplement is safe for you.

 

John Rifkind is a contributing editor at FitnessHealthArticles.com. This article may be reproduced provided that its complete content, links and author byline are kept intact and unchanged. No additional links permitted. Hyperlinks and/or URLs must remain both human clickable and search engine spiderable.

What’s Good About Nutrition

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Nutrition is a hot topic in all places, with differing opinions and approaches all around us. For some honest, straightforward advice, there is still nothing that beats the current USDA guidelines. They are something everyone should know!

USDA Key Recommendations For All The General Population

Adequate Nutrients Within Your Calorie Needs

• Try to consume a variety of nutrient-dense foods and drinks within the basic food groups whilst choosing foods that limit the intake of saturated and trans-fats, cholesterol, added sugars, salt, and alcohol.

• Meet the recommended intakes within energy needs by adopting a balanced eating pattern, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Guide or the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Eating Plan.

Managing Your Weight

• To maintain your body weight within a healthy range, balance the calories from foods and beverages with calories expended.

• To prevent gradual weight gain over time, make some small decreases in food and beverage calories and increase physical activity.

Physical Exercise

• Try to engage in regular physical activity and reduce your sedentary activities to promote health, psychological well-being, and a healthy body weight.

• To reduce the risks of chronic disease in adulthood: try to engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, above usual activity, at work or home on most days of the week.

• For most people, greater health benefits can be achieved by engaging in physical activity of more vigorous intensity or longer duration.

• To help you manage body weight and prevent gradual, unhealthy body weight gain in adulthood: Engage in approximately one hour of moderate- to vigorous-intensity activity on most days of the week whilst not exceeding caloric intake requirements.

• To sustain your weight loss in adulthood: Participate in at least 60 to 90 minutes of daily moderate-intensity physical activity while not exceeding caloric intake requirements. Some people might need to consult with a healthcare provider before participating in this level of activity.

• Achieve physical fitness through including cardiovascular conditioning, stretching exercises for flexibility, and resistance exercises or calisthenics for muscle strength and endurance.

Safety With Food

• To avoid micro-bacterial food borne illness:

• Always clean hands, food contact surfaces, and fruits and vegetables. Meat and poultry should always be washed or rinsed.
• Separate raw from cooked and ready-to-eat foods while shopping, preparing, or storing food.

• Cook your food at a safe temperature in order to kill micro-organisms.

• Put perishable foods in the fridge promptly and defrost foods properly.

• Avoid raw (unpasteurized) milk or any products made from unpasteurized milk, raw or partially cooked eggs or food which contains raw eggs, raw or undercooked meat and poultry, unpasteurized juices, and raw sprouts.

 

John Rifkind is a contributing editor at FitnessHealthArticles.com. This article may be reproduced provided that its complete content, links and author byline are kept intact and unchanged. No additional links permitted. Hyperlinks and/or URLs must remain both human clickable and search engine spiderable.