Archive for the ‘Nutrition’ Category

The Beauty Foods

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

What To Eat Each Day For Looks And Health

Apple Cider Vinegar
Beside having amazing healing properties, apple cider vinegar keeps skin supple. It’s heavy concentration of enzymes helps peel off dead skin cells. It breaks down fat and helps food digest properly.

Carrots
Maintain the outer layer of the skin to prevent premature aging. What you’ll find in is the same as you’ll get in Retin A.

Cheese
To ensure a happy smile, add a slice or two of hard cheeese into your diet. Choose Swiss, cheddar, or gouda to block bacteria in the mouth and prevent cavities.

Citrus Fruits
Hold the skin cells together by forming collagen. Collagen cannot be added to the skin topically, which is why fruits and fruit juices are such an important part of the daily diet.

Cranberries
Keep urinary tract lining healthy.

Garlic
Helps combat wrinkles and restores tissue.

Nonfat Yogurt
High in calcium, which keeps your smile white and your teeth cavity-free.

Sweet Potatoes Vitamin A is known to be a remarkable anti-wrinkling agent. Sweet potatoes are full of this important vitamin. The pleasing results is clearer, smoother skin.

Tomatoes
These “love apples” will keep you loving your skin. Tomatoes are rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, and potassium.

Wheat Germ
If you want to get rid of pimples quickly and efficiently, make sure to include two or three tablespoons a day in your diet. Add it to cereal, yogurt, and cottage cheese.

You should choose foods that you enjoy, of course, but you need to include the following:

Vegetables
Three to five servings daily. Try to include one serving of raw, leafy greens.

Meat
Have no more than three three ounce servings a day. Cut off all fat. Try to make two servings of turkey or chicken. One serving of fish a day is ideal.

Fruits
Two to three servings daily. A 1/2 cup of chopped or sliced fruit is a serving.

Dairy
At least two servings daily. A serving would be eight ounces of milk or yogurt.

Fats
Salad dressing, cooking oil, butter, and mayonnaise should be limited to two servings a day.

Best food tips to help lose weight

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Many people who want to lose weight find it difficult to know which foods to choose for the best weight loss results. Losing weight by swapping and changing to different diets is not the best way, we need to find a way of reducing energy content from the normal foods we eat every day. We need to learn certain food rules to help form better eating habits.

We should learn to pick out the best foods from our normal daily diet and use them to form the basis for our new healthy eating habits. This gives familiarity to the new way of eating rather than the idea that the individual is “on a diet”. Trying to lose weight on a specific diet relays the message that it will end some day. When a diet ends many people gain back most, if not all the weight lost.

Try not to have too much variety of food for each meal

Evidence has shown humans always consume more food and calories when there is more choice on offer. For example, have you ever been at a buffet style meal where its “eat all you can” no matter how much we eat there always seems to be room for one more item maybe that delicious looking dessert or ice cream!

Many diets in the past have been based on a similar principle, the cabbage soup diet, the vegetable diet, etc.

Health experts state always eat a balanced diet which may seem to contradict the above statement. However, it is possible to select a balanced diet and lower amount of choice for each meal by slowly eating regular small meals.

Be careful what you add to healthy foods

 

Salads are one of the best foods for losing weight, they very popular for many dieters trying to lose the weight fast. The problem is people often add sauces or creams to add taste to an otherwise bland food. Mayonnaise is a common addition to salads but it is very high in calories and fat and a salad with too much Mayonnaise can be just as high in calories than some of the worst weight loss foods.

 

Baked potatoes are also a great food to help lose weight when part of a small, low calorie meal but again, some people spoil this great example by adding tons of butter. Filling a baked potato with baked beans or cottage cheese is probably the best way to add taste and more nutrition to this low calorie food.

 

The idea is when choosing the best foods to help lose weight try not to neutralize the food’s possible weight loss benefits, be careful with what you add!

The Five Worst Fitness Ideas of All Time

Monday, March 8th, 2010

The old saying goes that with time comes wisdom.

That’s certainly the case in the world of sports and fitness, where decades of research have increased our knowledge of how the body works and how best to train it.

Of course, that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the end of whacky exercise ideas or outlandish weight-loss schemes (e.g., The Hollywood Diet, Electric Muscle Stimulation machines).

But to show you just how far we’ve come, here are the top five worst fitness ideas of all time: 

1. Dehydration A common, pre-20th century belief was that you should withhold water or you’d get too heavy or sick.

2. Recreational drug use during competition In 1869 cyclists were known to use ‘’speed balls” of heroin and cocaine to increase endurance. The use of caffeine, alcohol, nitroglycerin, ether, strychnine and opium also was common among athletes in the late 19th century.

3. All-potato diet Early 20th century scientist Horace Fletcher pushed this, along with excessive mastication of food – ”chewing your way to health.”

4. Physics for the bowels Applied by early 18th-century British trainers

5. Vibrating belts that proponents claimed would shake weight off

The feel-good diet: foods to boost your mood

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Walnuts

In addition to being a boon for heart health, brain function and cancer prevention, some studies show that omega-3’s can help with depression. Some steer clear of nuts because of their caloric punch, but a little goes a long way: just a handful can stave off the afternoon munchies. Other sources: flaxseeds, wild salmon, wheat germ, herbs (basil, tarragon, mint), Chinese broccoli, oysters.

Yogurt

Vitamin D has been the talk of the town recently  because doctors have discovered the previously recommended intake is woefully inadequate and deficiency is linked to a whole host of health concerns including osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer, diabetes and depression. Eat up to make sure you’re getting your fill. Other sources: cod liver oil, numerous varieties of fish (herring, salmon, catfish, shrimp), tofu, soy milk, mushrooms, low-fat, and eggs.

Oatmeal

You’ve know that whole grains are good for you in innumerable ways, but you might not know that the mineral selenium in them can help with mood by regulating the function of the thyroid gland. Foods rich in fiber also slow down the absorption of sugar, keeping your sugar high roller coaster off a collision coarse. Other sources: whole grain bread, brown rice, beans and legumes, Brazil nuts, and low-fat milk.

Wild Salmon

The biggest money-saving, mood-boosting trick can be found in the canned fish section of your grocery store. The wild salmon that can cost as much as $16 a pound at the fish counter goes for a song once it’s packed into a can. It’s still every bit as rich in vitamin B12, which some scientists think aids in the body’s production of seratonin. Other foods rich in vitamin B12: shellfish (clams, oysters, crab), fortified whole-grain breakfast cereal, lean beef, cottage cheese, low-fat yogurt, low-fat milk and eggs.

Dark Chocolate

Saved the best for last: a little bit of dark chocolate, as fans already know, makes you feel good. And for good reason. A 1-ounce square can cause the brain to release endorphins and boost serotonin levels.