Category Archives: Diseases, Conditions & Disorders

Are Liquid Supplements For You?

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Until recently such products as Ensure ™ and Boost ™ were primarily used to meet the special needs of patients in hospitals and in nursing homes. Lately, we have seen companies marketing these sorts of drinks to people of all ages and states of health.

Supposedly, liquid supplements are the answer for busy moms with a tight schedule, business people running out without time for a sit-down breakfast, and older adults wanting to guarantee that they’ll be able to enjoy their grandchildren. What are the benefits liquid supplements reportedly offer?

Generally, these supplements are composed of water, sugar, milk and soy proteins, oils, vitamins, and minerals. A typical 8-ounce can contains 250 calories, and the Aplus@ version may contain as many as 355 calories. Most are lactose free, some have added fibre, and some are specifically designed for children or adults with certain health problems.

Companies are also selling supplements in the shape of pudding or bars, with a varying nutrient content.

What nutritional needs are these companies trying to help consumers answer? Here are some of the reasons companies give for buying their products.

Advertisers sometimes use fear tactics to make you worry that you’re not getting proper nutrition through ordinary foods. Although some people are consuming less than the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for certain nutrients, this does not mean they will develop a deficiency disease. If you truly feel you’re not getting enough nutrients from your food, consult a registered dietician or a KSU Extension Specialist in nutrition. They will be able to help you evaluate your need for supplements.

“Too busy to eat properly” – Liquid supplements may be a fast way to get vitamins, minerals and protein, but there’s more needed for good health! Scientists continue to discover new compounds in certain foods that provide health-protective benefits. Whereas the canned supplements may lack fibre and other healthy components, they may be high in sugar and calories. Although this was ideal for the original intent of these products, most healthy consumers do not want or need all the extra calories that these supplements provide.

“Difficulty preparing meals or no appetite” –  Liquid supplements can provide an answer for occasional use, but a continued use may lead to boredom and even less interest in eating. For a consumer with a poor appetite or impaired ability to fix meals, the solution might be found in home-delivered meals or eating at a group meal site. These meals can offer more variety and may be available at little or no cost to the consumer.

“Nutrition after surgery, during an illness or a chronic disease” –  Liquid nutritional supplements can prove to be beneficial for people with special nutritional needs brought on by serious illnesses. For example, people with AIDS or cancer have some increased nutritional needs, and liquid nutritional supplements are appropriate and valuable in this situation.

To summarize it all, whereas there is a need for liquid nutritional supplements in certain medical conditions, these products are unnecessary for the average, healthy person. The cost for a 8-ounce can of standard formula, and more for specialized formulas must be part of a decision if a person is considering to use a liquid nutritional supplement.

 

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.

Centres For General Nutrition

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General Nutrition Centres (GNC), the largest specialty retailer of nutritional supplements, including vitamin, mineral, and herbal supplements, has more than 4800 retail locations across the United States.

A large portion of these are franchise locations too. Consumers can also find GNC products in other retail locations which are contracted to distribute GNC branded products.

At GNC you’ll find a wide variety of products to provide nutritional assistance, including vitamins, powder supplements for weight loss, building muscle, and overall general health.

There are also a wide variety of sports related supplements to help you gain weight and protein. You’ll also find meal replacements, herbal supplements, and health and beauty products. Many of the products are the own brand of GNC, but there’s a wide variety of products from other brands available as well.

The company, founded in 1935 in Pittsburgh, PA was sold by Royal Numico followed by a subsequent sale to a private company.

GNC sets the standard in the nutritional industry for genuine truth in labelling and selling only top quality products in their shops. Their moto, “Live Well”, is echoed in their commitment to researching their products and discovery in the manufacturing process as well as the packaging process for all products.

A consumer walking into a GNC store will be able to find the products they’re looking for and get optimal nutritional assistance, weight loss assistance, or sports related supplements and have a wide variety of products to choose from, as well as the help of knowledgeable staff to assist their needs.

 

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.

Nutrition For Diabetics

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Finding the right nutritional approach for those living with diabetes can be very challenging, especially with the knowledge that people who are diabetic will often have different reactions to particular types of food than other diabetics.

For the uninitiated, when someone is diabetic, they’re unable to produce or correctly use insulin in their body, which is the hormone that is responsible for transforming sugar, starches and other food into energy. That is why it’s literally a matter of life and death that a diabetic diet is properly followed.

One of the main goals for a diabetic diet is to lower your weight and keep it up. Additionally, the diet is designed to help maintain regular glucose levels in your body. Since diabetes prevents your body from processing glucose the way it should do, a diabetic diet has to, to some extent, perform that maintenance. Moreover, the hope is that a diabetic diet will also help you to keep your blood pressure under control.

The benefits and assistance to your body from the diabetic diet will depend on what type of diabetes you’re trying to treat. Each type has its own challenges and level of restrictions. The important thing to remember, though, is that studies show the effectiveness of a diabetic diet is dependent not so much on the diet itself, but on how well the patient will follow the diet.

Overall, there’s no official diabetic diet to follow and it really depends on the individual. However, there’s a fairly well-defined list of food items that you should avoid. Anything that contains lots of cheese, butter, oil or mayonnaise should be avoided when on diabetic diets. If you must taste these foods during your meal, you should order them to arrive as a side dish.

Other foods that can stray from diabetic diets include those that are prepared with sweet and sour sauce, as well as teriyaki and barbeque sauce. They contain high amounts of sugar and carbohydrates that must be avoided whilst on a diabetic diet.

A few guidelines on how a diabetic can stay healthy for many years to come:

• Count the number of calories from fat as being thirty percent less than the total number of calories eaten throughout one day.

• Include foods which are low in saturated fats and cholesterol, such as skinless poultry, fresh fruit, and vegetables.

• If possible, stay away from red meats, eggs, as well as whole-milk dairy products.

• Make sure that the dairy products in your life comes from low-fat or fat-free selections.

Ten to twenty percent of your daily calories on a diabetic diet should come from proteins in foods, such as lean meat, fish, and low-fat dairy products. The rest of your diabetic diet should consist of carbohydrates coming from whole grains, beans, as well as fresh vegetables and fruit.

 

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.