Tag Archives: nutrition

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.

Nutrition For Kids

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When it comes to feeding your children, it may seem like there are a large number of rules to follow. Your child needs certain nutrients to grow strong and healthy, but you also have to limit treats and serving sizes so that your child does not develop weight and health problems down the line.

Obesity has become a common problem in the United States. Almost 2/3 of Americans are overweight or obese, and more than half of them get too do very little physical activity.

U.S. nutrition officials are trying to help with this problem. In 2005, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created some new dietary guidelines to provide more practical advice on how to give your child a healthier, more balanced diet. The new guidelines suggest that kids eat more fruit, vegetables, and whole grains than in the past and that they get from 30 to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every day.

The recommendations are tailored for children based on their age, gender, and exercise habits. You can find out which guidelines are appropriate for your child by logging on to the USDA’s website. (See the Additional Resources tab).

Along with the new guidelines, the Food Guide Pyramid also got a new look and a new name: MyPyramid.

Inside this pyramid, six stripes represent the five food groups as well as the oils and fats that your child should get each day. Stairs on the pyramid represent the importance of exercising and the simple steps you can take each day to improve your child’s health.

On the pyramid, each colour represents a different food group.

• Orange: grains
• Green: vegetables
• Red: fruits
• Blue: dairy and calcium-rich food
• Purple: proteins (meats, beans, and fish)
• Yellow: fats and oils

Bear in mind that the serving sizes are just guidelines and that, on some days, your child may eat more or less of a certain food group. That’s still OK. Different foods have different proportions of nutrients, so it is important to offer your child a variety of foods on a regular basis. Moderation is the key to a healthy diet.

Also, remember that the nutrition content of a certain type of food can vary depending on how you prepare it. Apples, for example, are packed with nutrients and can make a great after-school snack. Apple pie has all those nutrients too. But it contains lots of fat and sugar, too, so you may want to limit how much you serve of it.

 

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.