Archive for the ‘Nutrition’ Category
Hungry? Healthy and Filling Foods
If you’re trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, it’s important to find the right kind of foods to keep yourself full. These include high-protein foods, high-fiber foods, and healthy fats. Here are five ideas that will keep you feeling full longer:
Eat your veggies
Vegetables are key to feeling full longer. They are low in calories, and high in fiber. Try adding extra veggies to your meals or start substituting a salad for those high calorie dishes. This is a great way to help you stay slender!
It’s time to go nuts!
Nuts are filling, and have plenty of healthy fats in them. They are also high in protein. Remember to keep the serving size reasonable because they are high in calories – healthy calories! Try making a trail mix with dried fruit or use them as a side dish.
Snack on prunes
Don’t judge a book by its cover. While prunes may not be the most appealing to the eye, they are a high-fiber food filled with healthy antioxidants. This sweet, satisfying snack will keep you feeling full longer.
Start with soup
Studies have shown that if you eat soup before a meal, you are more likely to eat less. This is important when you are trying to reach your weight loss goals and still enjoy eating out. Broth-based soups are full of high-fiber foods. Stay away from creamy soups; they are high in fat and sodium! If you have time, you can even make a homemade soup and then freeze it for a quick on-the-go meal when you need it.
Oatmeal
Oatmeal is high in fiber and you can spruce it up by adding sliced fruit, rice milk, and sprinkling some nuts on top! This fiber rich food is easy to make and will help you feel full longer and manage your weight.
You don’t need to starve yourself to maintain or lose weight!
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Tags: Nutrition, Weight Loss
When Organic Isn’t Healthy
Having a product labeled as “USDA Organic” doesn’t mean that you should automatically consider the product to be “healthy”. You need to take a deeper look…
Definition of Organic
That Organic label just means that the food is grown, processed, and packaged without the use of agricultural chemicals, artificial colors or flavors, genetic modification, irradiation, or other synthetic ingredients.
Simply put, the term “organic” doesn’t mean that a product is automatically “healthy” or good for your body.
Unhealthy Organic Products
There are a lot of unhealthy products out on the market today that are considered by many to be nutritious and healthy, partly due to marketing campaigns and an “All Natural” or “Organic” label on the front.
I have hand picked a couple of Organic products out on the market today that are about as guilty as the non-organic comparisons. I can’t say these are the “unhealthiest” organic products out on the market today, but they are just a few examples of products to avoid. These products just can’t be considered healthy, no matter how big that USDA Organic label is on the front of the package!
Organic Toaster Pastries
These can easily be compared to the popular Pop•Tart, nothing more than a sugary pastry. Yes, it’s made with “real fruit”, but it doesn’t quite make up for all of the other ingredients. The second ingredient is evaporated cane juice invert (which is sugar) and the third ingredient is evaporated cane juice (sugar, again!), and dextrose (simple sugar).
Organic Cream Filled Cookies
Just like an Oreo cookie, these Newman-O’s are high in calories, fat, and sugar. The organic ingredients just don’t quite remove the side effects of eating junk food.
Organic Gummy Worms
These little gummy worms are organic and contain 100% daily vitamin C, so these must be really healthy for you, right? Wrong. There’s not enough vitamin C or natural fruit juice in this little bag of candy to compensate for the amount of sugar they put in these little gummy worms.
Organic Cereal
This organic cereal is marketed as a healthy cereal for kids, yet the second ingredient is sugar. Not only that, this cereal contains dextrose (fancy word for a simple sugar) and maltodextrin (which is a food additive, mostly found in soda and candy).
Organic Ice Cream
It’s “All Natural” and “Organic”, how could you go wrong? Even though this ice cream has been touted as different from other ice creams, it still contains key ingredients that keeps it on the naughty list: saturated fat and sugar.
Organic Tomato and Cheese Sauce
This organic canned meal is marketed towards kids, so it must be healthy, right? This product clearly misses the grade, primarily made with noodles made with semolina (processed wheat flour that removes the bran – and fiber), and evaporated cane juice (sugar).
Organic Cake Mix
You can make a healthy cake (organic or not), but this cake isn’t it. It’s loaded with 18 grams of sugar per serving (12 servings per box), and that’s not including the sugar and fat that will be in the frosting!
Organic Sugar is still…Sugar
If a product is full of unhealthy ingredients, whether it’s labeled as organic or not, it’s still going to be bad for your overall health. You can still gain weight or get sick by eating organic only ingredients. As I like to say, organic sugar is still…sugar. Organic doesn’t automatically make sugar and unhealthy fat (or any other unhealthy ingredient) magically become good for you.
If you would like do eat organic foods and are truly looking for healthy products for you and your family, suggest buying fresh organic produce and organic products that don’t contain unnecessary ingredients. Check the list of ingredients thoroughly. Companies may try to deceive you by using fancy words, but ingredients will never lie. If you need to, look up the ingredient in the dictionary to decide whether an ingredient is healthy or not.
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Tags: Nutrition, Organic, Organic Products, USDA Organic
No Surprise: Heart Attack at Heart Attack Grill
An unidentified man (described as a “normal” guy in his 40′s) had a heart attack while he was eating a Triple Bypass burger at the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas this last Saturday. Perhaps he was warned?
Heart Attack at the Heart Attack Grill.
Oh, the Irony. Someone at the Heart Attack Grill gets a…(gasp!) Heart Attack. Sad? Yes. Surprised? No.
Every day we choose how we are going to eat, and every day those choices matter. Bad food choices on a regular basis have a negative affect on your overall health. An average 40-something doesn’t just get a heart attack! Those customers who weigh 350 pounds or more eat free at the Heart Attack Grill – perhaps this particular client (or as they call it, “patient”) was one of those who received a free meal?
Caution: This Establishment is Bad for Your Health
Everyone knows fast food is bad for you and can lead to poor health. The problem with those who eat at the Heart Attack Grill is that they have been fully warned about how bad the food is, yet they still willingly eat there.
Just as you enter the Heart Attack Grill, there is a sign on the front door that reads, “Caution: This Establishment is Bad for Your Health.” Probably the most honest advertising that I’ve ever seen.
The company slogan is, “taste…worth dying for”, which is sad and even ironic considering the last company spokesman for Heart Attack Grill was a morbidly obese man who died at the age of 29.
When are we going to wake up and actually do something about our health? What foods we put into our body matters. Act like it, please.
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Image Credit: Heart Attack Grill
Tags: Heart Attack Grill
Top Sources of Calcium
There are plenty of easily accessible sources of calcium that will benefit your body.
Health Benefits of Calcium
• Bones and teeth contain 99% of the calcium in the body, which makes it no surprise to know that calcium is a huge factor in maintaining healthy and strong bones.
• There have been studies showing that calcium may help prevent colon cancer.
• Prevents osteoporosis, which is a disease that is characterized by brittle and porous bones.
• In 1999 a study revealed that calcium was a “sound treatment” for women who experienced symptoms of premenstrual syndrome(PMS).
• Helps with blood clotting, muscle contraction, regulation of enzyme activity, cell membrane and proper nerve function.
• Calcium is heart healthy! In studies, it has been shown to help lower blood pressure.
Top Sources of Calcium
• Yogurt (44%)
• Tofu (39%)
• Sesame Seeds (35%)
• Goat Milk (32%)
• Sardines (31%)
• Milk (29%)
• Collard Greens (26%)
• Spinach (24%)
• Pink Salmon (17%)
• Blackstrap Molasses (16%)
Note: Percentages based on the daily value based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Tips for Absorbing Calcium More Efficiently
• Eat foods containing Vitamin D since it will accelerate the absorption of calcium from the gastrointestinal tract.
• If you eat food containing high amounts of potassium, it will reduce the urinary excretion of calcium, which will help you keep your calcium levels at a normal level.
• Calcium and Magnesium “compete” with each other for intestinal absorption. If you are taking supplements of each, you may want to consider taking the supplements at separate times.
• If you eat a lot of food or drink containing caffeine, sodium, or protein, it will increase the urinary excretion of calcium, which depletes your calcium levels.
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Image Credit: Yogurt
10 Steps To A Healthier Heart
Your heart is constantly working, so why not give your heart a “break” by focusing on a lifestyle that will promote a healthy heart!?
10 Steps To A Healthier Heart
1. Keep your Cholesterol low, aiming for less than 200 milligrams/deciliter and keep your Blood Pressure below 120/80. Garlic has been shown to reduce both cholesterol and blood pressure levels.
2. If you smoke, it’s time to quit the habit. Three years after a person quits smoking, their chance of having a heart attack is the same as someone who has never smoked before.
3. Eat more heart healthy fats such as wild salmon, nuts, avocados, olive oil, and flax seeds. Studies show that consuming two or more servings of fish per week is associated with reducing the risk of developing coronary heart disease by 30 percent.
4. Reduce the stress in your life. Take a break. Get a massage. Go on vacation. Meditate! Do whatever you need to do to reduce the amount of stress in your life. Stress has a negative affect on your heart and overall health.
5. Exercise! Physical activity is a huge factor when it comes to having a healthy heart. Aim for either 1 hour and 15 minutes each week of vigorous physical activity or 2 1/2 hours each week of moderate intensity exercise.
6. Get to – or maintain – a healthy weight. Those with a healthy BMI were shown to have less risk of heart disease.
7. Avoid fried, fatty, and sugary foods. Yep, they may taste good, but they aren’t doing your heart (or the rest of your body) any favors since these foods have been linked to heart disease, clogged arteries, cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, and the list goes on. In the long run, it’s just best to stay away.
8. Keep your glucose levels down. You should aim to have your fasting blood glucose levels to be less than 100 milligrams/deciliter.
9. Eat more fiber rich foods, such as whole grains, beans, lentils, apples, tomatoes, carrots, pears, and squash (ok, just about all fruits and vegetables).
10. Limit the amount of sodium you consume each day! You should try to have less than 1,500 milligrams a day.
Get Started Today
Choose which step to work on for a healthier heart. You don’t have to try and tackle all of these steps today. Work on steps that are easier for you, and work on them one at a time. You’ll soon realize how good it feels to take care of the little muscle that works so hard to keep you going.
A healthy heart, a healthy you!
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Tags: February, Fitness, Heart Health, Heart Health Month, Nutrition, overall health
