Variety Is The Key To A Healthy Diet
Dave Saunders

When examining the diets of my clients, I commonly find that even of those who tell me they eat from a healthy diet actually eat from a very narrow selection of foods. Most of their food choices are also processed or heavily prepared before eating. These people also frequently complain of failed diets and of their desire to maintain a more healthy weight and to feel the benefits they expect from a healthy diet. One of the most frequently cited reasons that diets and attempts at healthy eating fail is boredom. Many people simply do not know how to meet the challenge of keeping a healthy diet interesting day after day.

With just a little bit of planning and the huge variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, meats and other healthy foods at the local grocery store, it is possible to create exciting, nutritious meals that will keep boredom at bay.

The key to the success of any plan for healthy eating is to eat what you like, but to exercise moderation when it comes to the less healthy foods. Improving your level of health and fitness does not mean saying no that piece of chocolate cake, but it does mean limiting yourself to one piece, and possibly a smaller piece than you normally eat. A key contributing factor in unwanted weight gain is lack of portion control. Restaurants provide portions which often provide the entire daily recommendation for calorie intake, but in a single meal!

A healthy diet contains all types of foods, including carbohydrates, proteins, and even fats. However, there is a significant difference in the quality of the fats in fried foods compared to the fats in a lightly cooked fish, an avocado or flax seed. Seek out quality sources of nutrition and limit your intake of processed foods. Look through some simple cookbooks with pictures. Look for a small collection of appealing dishes that use similar ingredients. This way you can economize at the grocery store by shopping for ingredients you can use for an entire week. Do not buy too far in advance and avoid buying ingredients in bulk because you will likely get tired of them before you finish using them up.

The revised USDA food pyramid contains five major food groups – grains, vegetables, fruits, milk and dairy, and meat and beans. When choosing foods from these groups, it is important to eat an appropriate amount of a wide variety of foods from every food group. Doing so will not only give you a great deal of variety and keep boredom from setting in, but it will provide the best nutritional balance as well. Seek out new food items and try them out. Perhaps you can choose a new type of bean or a fruit that is new to you. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to buy it again, but try new foods and think about how the flavors might work in simple dishes or as replacement ingredients in your favorite recipes.

When choosing foods from within the various food groups, some choices are naturally better and healthier than others. For instance, choosing skim or 2% milk instead of full fat whole milk is a good way to cut down on both extra fat and calories. Choosing poultry or lean meat is a great way to get the protein you need every day without extra fat, cholesterol and calories. You don’t even need to eat animal protein for healthy protein intake. Even champion bodybuilder, and vegetarian, Bill Pearl, manages to get all the protein he needs from vegetable sources only. You don’t have to “go vegetarian,” but you don’t have to eat an animal every day either.

Not all low fat foods are created equally. Check the label! Many low fat foods add starches and sugars which will raise insulin levels and may lead to unwanted weight gain. Remember, your body is designed to store extra sugar in the fat cells around your middle, so low fat eating isn’t necessarily going to help you loose weight if that is your goal.

Cereals and breads that carry the whole grain label are healthier than those that do not. Not all breads labeled whole wheat are entirely whole wheat. Don’t forget to check the label. Even in the world of fruits and vegetables some choices are better than others. For instance, peaches packed in heavy syrup add unnecessary sugar to the diet, while those packed in water or juice provide better nutrition. The best sources are always the unprocessed variety.

Eat seasonal foods when they are available. Berries are excellent sources of essential nutrients, and antioxidants. Eat them raw, in homemade smoothies, and as toppings for a desert. Berries can also be an excellent ingredient in entries as well. Search your cookbooks, or the Internet, for great recipes that are quick and simple. In the fall, the many varieties of gourds provide a surprisingly wide range of flavors and nutrition. They are also an excellent source of dietary fiber, which is a critical factor in the support of optimal health.

Eating well does take a bit more effort than popping a prepared meal in the microwave, but with a little bit of planning it should not require a significant time investment. You also don’t need to be a gourmet cook. Preparing your own meals is easier than you may think so give it a try and don’t be afraid to mess up a dish from time to time. The learning experience will lead to you being an even more skilled cook. The benefits include better nutrient intake, and lower intake of sodium, transfats, and preservatives. Invest a little time for a healthier you and enjoy the wide variety of tastes that real, unprocessed foods have to offer.
About the Author

Dave Saunders is a professional lecturer, and certified nutritional educator. He enjoys creating interconnections through his writings and lectures to help others create context and see new discoveries and technologies in more a practical light. You can find out more about how to maintain a healthy diet at www.glycoboy.com.

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Using fish as part of a healthy eating plan
Tony Robinson

It is hard to beat fish and seafood for high protein and low
fat. Fish has been shown in study after study to have a positive
impact on health, and to lower the risk of heart disease and
other diseases. In addition, fish is delicious and easy to
prepare.

Many nutrition experts recommend eating fish at least once or
twice every week. The most nutritious varieties of fish, and
those that contain the greatest amounts of heart protecting
omega-3 fatty acids, tend to be those that live in cold ocean
waters. These varieties of fish include salmon and sardines.

The benefits of a fishy diet Fish has long been thought to have
a positive benefit on the heart. So far the results of clinical
studies have been inconclusive, but research into the heart
healthy effects of fish continues. No matter what the benefits,
there is little doubt that fish is a healthy food, containing
significant levels of protein and smaller amounts of fat and
calories than other types of meat.

As a matter of fact, fish is one of the best sources of protein
there is. Everyone needs protein for building muscles and
repairing damaged body tissues. In addition, protein plays a
vital role in the growth of nails and hair, in hormone
production and in many other vital bodily processes.

In addition to fish, many other animal based products, such as
meat, eggs, poultry and dairy products, contain significant
amounts of protein. Plant based sources of protein exist as
well, in nuts, beans and lentils, among others.

The key to getting sufficient protein in the diet is to balance
the healthy effects of protein on the diet against the large
amounts of fat and cholesterol that protein rich foods often
contain. The combination of high protein and low fat is one of
the things that makes a diet rich in fish so appealing.

With the exception of salmon, almost all commonly eaten
varieties of fish are very low in fat, and even salmon contains
lower levels of fat than many varieties of meats. In addition,
fish is low in saturated fat, the type of fat that is most
associated with heart disease and clogged arteries.

Fish is low in unsaturated fat because of the nature of where
and how they live. Instead of storing energy in the form of
saturated fat as land animals do, fish store their fat in the
form of polyunsaturated oils. That adaptation allows their
bodies to function normally in the cool oceans and streams where
they swim. It also makes them a great choice for anyone seeking
to cut levels of saturated fat in the diet.

For all these reasons, fish remains an important part of any low
fat, heart healthy lifestyle. Substituting high fat, greasy
foods like hamburgers and ribs is a great way to make a change
for healthy living.

One note about fish and pollution, however. It is true that many
fish caught in polluted waters contain high levels of mercury.
While most commercially caught and grown fish is low in mercury,
it is important for fisherman to limit their consumption of
locally caught fish. Pregnant women are also advised to limit
their intake of fish, due to the potential harm to the baby.

Fitting fish into your busy lifestyle Many people avoid fish
because they do not know how to prepare and cook it. While it is
true that fish can present more of a challenge for the
inexperienced, there are many recipes and cookbooks that make
preparation easier. In addition, many packaged seafood products
contain cooking tips and serving suggestions that take some of
the mystery out of preparing a nutritious and delicious meal of
fresh fish.

Even those who do not cook, however, can enjoy the many benefits
of fish in the diet. There are a number of canned seafood
products on the market, including canned salmon, sardines and
the ever popular tuna. So there is no reason fish cannot fit
into your healthy eating plan.

About the author:

Tony Robinson is a Company CEO, webmaster husband and dad. In
his busy lifestyle he has placed importance on health and
fitness. Visit http://www.eat-healthily.com for good eating tips
and techniques to assist you maintain a healthy lifestyle.

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Understanding Carbs to Stay Healthy
Barbara Morris

Low carb diets are popular. How good are they? How healthy are they? It all depends on what you know about the difference between different types of carbohydrates.

Common table sugar represents 20 to 25 percent of the daily caloric intake of Americans who live on the typical All American processed food diet. In the early 1800s average sugar consumption was about 12 pounds per person a year. In 1997, it was 152 pounds per person. Is that too much? You bet it is. Its making us old before we need to be.

Do we need carbohydrates? No, we dont. They are non-essential to the human diet. We do need water, fat, and protein. It is possible to survive for long periods without carbohydrates providing fat and protein needs are met. Fat and protein are broken down to make building blocks of carbohydrates as food and energy. This is something the carb-rich processed foods industry doesnt tell us.

Regardless of what is known about carbohydrate needs, we continue to consume massive quantities of carbohydrates. Therefore, its important to know which carbs are better than others. Its simple: All carbs are broken down into sugar in the body. The key is the rate and the amount that determines the level of sugar in the blood.

Complex carbs such as green leafy veggies, brown rice, potato, whole grain products, and fruits break down slowly. The result is a gradual rise and fall in blood sugar. It is generally understood that most complex carbs are good for you.

Refined, simple carbs such as cake, ice cream, cookies, breakfast bars, so-called cereals, and refined grains break down quickly in the body. This causes rapid elevation of blood sugar levels. These are not good for your health.

It should be understood that while refined carbs should be avoided because they are harmful, some complex carbs such as potatoes are not good because of their relatively fast breakdown.

How do you determine which carbs are really good, and what to avoid? Simple. Become familiar with something called the Glycemic Index of foods. When you look at a glycemic index for foods, bear in mind that the lower the rating, or number, the slower the digestion and absorption process and the better it is for your health.

As useful as the glycemic index is, you will need to learn which foods are good for you.. For example, a cup of low fat ice cream has a glycemic index of 50, which is lower than the glycemic index of a baked potato. Thats because the glycemic index rating of a refined sugar product is lower than that of a starchy food! So, learn to discern the difference between refined sugars and everything else. Just assume that if its made in a factory, its suspect!

Here are some glycemic index numbers for some popular food choices:
Baked Potato: 85; Cheerios: 74; Fanta soft drink: 68; Cheese pizza: 60; Banana: 54; Sweet potato: 54, Low fat ice cream: 50; Carrots: 49; Grapefruit juice: 48; All-bran: 42; Spaghetti: 41; Apple: 38; M&Ms (peanut): 32; Peanuts: 15; Yogurt, lot fat, artificially sweetened:14.

You can see from the above how misleading, yet useful the glycemic index can be.

The bottom is this: Do your homework. Dont rely on advertising or uninformed advice of well meaning friends to give you guidance about healthy eating. Making educated choices about what you put into your body puts you in the drivers seat and allows you to be in charge of how healthy you are, and how quickly or slowly you age.

About the Author

Barbara Morris, R.Ph., is a 76-year-old working pharmacist and recognized expert on unique anti-aging strategies. Author of Put Old on Hold, her message is for Boomers who want to feel and function as a healthy 40 or 50 year old for 25 or more years. She calls it Liberation Living a process she has discovered that bypasses infirmities and indignities of traditional old age. http://www.PutOldonHold.com

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Unchaining Yourself from an Unhealthy Food Addiction
Protica Research

The cry of I have no willpower! often emerges from the consumers who jokingly surrender to their lack of will when it comes to eating something clearly unhealthy. However, scientific nutritional research has identified that something much more serious much more dangerous is often at work here. For many people, what they perceive as a harmless lack of willpower is actually an addiction an addiction to chemicals that the brain secretes in response to stimulation by certain foods, such as chocolate or cheese[i].

As dangerous as this addiction is, however, recent studies suggest that it is actually much more frightening than it first seems. According to one notable study, the human brain can release dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter linked with feelings enjoyment, when a person merely sees or smells certain foods[ii]. As such, people who may be sensibly avoiding foods that release serotonin and other chemicals (such as chocolate) may still be susceptible to a sight and smell-based addiction to unhealthy food.

Understanding this complex problem begins with understanding the word addiction. Defining a clear-cut definition of addiction is in itself a challenge and a rather hotly debated pursuit at the moment. Still, there is enough unity among credible social and biological scientists to say that a person who is powerless to stop an action is addicted[iii]. When applying this rather grave concept to eating, it becomes starkly clear that choosing an extra slice of pizza or bar of chocolate may be the expression of a very serious addiction to unhealthy food.

Remarkably, unlike how addictions to things like alcohol, drugs, and sexual activity viewed biological and psychological illnesses, addiction to eating is often ignored or, at the very least, diminished to be something that is based on willpower. The insulting advice of just dont eat it if you dont want to get fat! that some obese people actually hear from their doctors, relatives, or colleagues is one of the most common manifestations of this often well-meaning, but potentially harmful, ignorance.

The bottom line fact and one that more medical professionals are accepting based on scientific evidence is that obesity and related eating disorders are often the results of an addiction they are a serious health condition that must be approached methodologically like other diseases[iv].

Understanding that food addiction is indeed a problem a severe disease, in fact is a fundamental key in addressing this unique health challenge. At the same time, the notion of willpower should be removed, in most cases, from the eating disorder vocabulary, and replaced with the word addiction. This will make that extra piece of pizza or that third slice of chocolate cake be seen for what they often are: the means to satisfy a bonafide addiction.

Once the eating disorder as an addiction paradigm is in place, then and only then can both unhealthy eaters and those supporting them take steps to solve the problem. While there are no overnight solutions, there are paths that eaters can take that head in the right direction: freedom from eating addiction. The first step on this path is to eat a complete and balanced source of nutrition.

Taking this first step, like so much else associated with the addiction to unhealthy food, is easier said than done. Eating sensibly is unusually difficult in a time-starved culture and even more difficult when there are arrays of self-described nutritious dietary sources to choose from. Whether it is energy bars or fad diets, finding a simple, convenient, and practical source of balanced nutrition is hard to find.

However, some exceptional products are garnering serious positive attention from scientific community. These products deliver complete protein in a vitamin enriched formula. Furthermore and of critical value is that these products contain no carbohydrates, no unsaturated fat, and few calories none of which are from fat. These products are helping people unchain themselves from food addictions, and reflect a trend towards nutritious and ethical nutritional supplement manufacturing.

Of ultimate importance, however, is that these products return eating choice control back to where it must always remain: with conscious and empowered consumers, and not to some hidden and potentially destructive addiction.

About Protica

Founded in 2001, Protica, Inc. is a nutritional research firm with offices in Lafayette Hill and Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Protica manufactures capsulized foods, including Profect, a compact, hypoallergenic, ready-to-drink protein beverage containing zero carbohydrates and zero fat. Information on Protica is available at www.protica.com

You can also learn about Profect at www.profect.com

References

[i] Source: Thats Why We Call it Junk Food. MSNBC. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3606198/

[ii] Source: Food on the Brain. Forbes.com. http://www.forbes.com/home_europe/free_forbes/2005/0110/063.html

[iii] Source: Addiction. eHealth Connection. http://www.ehealthconnection.com/regions/ehealth/health_information/ 00036220.asp

[iv] Source: Obesity as a Disease. MPR News. http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/03/29_bensonl_desease/

Copyright 2004 – Protica Research – http://www.protica.com

About the Author

About Protica

Founded in 2001, Protica, Inc. is a nutritional research firm with offices in Lafayette Hill and Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Protica manufactures capsulized foods, including Profect, a compact, hypoallergenic, ready-to-drink protein beverage containing zero carbohydrates and zero fat. You can learn more about Protica at www.protica.com — Information on Profect is available at www.profect.com

Copyright 2004 – Protica Research

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