Eating Healthy Doesn’t Have to Be Hard
Rachel Williamson

So many people dread the idea of “health food,” but the truth is that many foods labelled “healthy” are actually quite delicious. The key is the way you eat them, what you combine them with, and how much you eat.

When you think of healthy foods, do you think of boring Brussels sprouts and bland broccoli? Think again! You can have all the flavor you want and still keep the number on the scale down and keep your heart healthy.

Take your favorite recipes and look at the ingredients. Decide which ingredients are the least healthy and replace them. It’s as simple as that. For recipes that call for butter, try to replace it with olive oil. For recipes that call for whole milk, replace it with skim milk (or soy milk). For recipes that call for chicken broth, replace it with vegetable broth.

One big thing you can do to lower your intake of saturated fats is to lower your consumption of red meat. Whenever you can, replace red meat with fish. If you’re adventurous, you can replace red meat with soy substitutes. There are many soy products on the market that taste delicious. Soy crumbles are particularly good in homemade tacos and casseroles.

If eating healthy is difficult for you, don’t be too hard on yourself. Focus on changing gradually. If you can’t give up your usual dinner, have a healthy lunch. Every little bit helps. While it may not be true that “you are what you eat,” it is true that your health is directly affected by what you eat. You owe it to yourself and your body to feed it the proper fuel.

Besides replacing your old stand-bys with healthier alternatives, try to add 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. You’d be surprised how easy this is. For example, you might add some sliced banana to your morning breakfast, have an orange with lunch, have an apple for an afternoon snack, eat some beans with dinner, and have some blueberries on top of ice cream for dessert. Find your own way of adding fruits and vegetables into your diet so it works for you.

Small changes in your diet can make a huge difference. Don’t beat yourself up if your diet isn’t perfect. The important thing is to make it better than it was before. Even if you only add one or two pieces of fruit per day, you’re on the right track! You’ll begin to feel the difference and that will encourage you to do even better.

About the Author

Rachel Williamson shares healthy recipes and food news in Eat This!, a food blog.

Tags: Afternoon Snack, Author, Blueberries, Broccoli, Brussels, Brussels Sprouts, Bys, Casseroles, Chicken Broth, Dread, Favorite Recipes, food blog, food news, Fruits And Vegetables, Health Food, Healthy Foods, Morning Breakfast, olive oil;, Proper Fuel, Rachel Williamson, Red Meat, Saturated Fats, soy products, Tacos, Vegetable Broth, Whole Milk —

A Cheap and Natural Way to Healthy Skin
Wendy Owen

Healthy skin happens when we eats good foods, have enough exercise, minimize stress and protect our skin from the harsh environment.

Certain foods are especially beneficial to the skin. Garlic is one such food. It contains sulphur compounds (which give it its rather strong odor) which are beneficial to your skin. It also acts as a natural antibiotic and cleanses the whole system. If you like garlic, eat it as much as you can. If the smell worries you, chew a piece of parsley afterwards and this will neutralize it. Odorless garlic tablets are available if this is all too hard.

Vitamin C is probably the most important skin vitamin in my opinion. Not least because the human body can neither make it or store it. This vitamin helps collagen formation which keeps the skin looking young and plump. This could be why smokers skin can look older than a non smokers. Smoking also uses up the oxygen in the blood. Give it up if humanly possible or at least cut it down.

Vitamin C is best consumed together with bioflavonoids, the way it is normally found in nature. The two have a synergistic effect. They can be found in Citrus fruit, berries such as strawberries and blueberries and vegetables such as broccoli.

Broccoli also contain vitamin A, an important vitamin for skin as it helps it fight infection from the inside out. Great for those with acne! Have some every other day if you can.

Carrots are a great source of carotenoids such as “beta-carotene” which your body converts to vitamin A . Beta-carotene is absorbed into the skin and can also protect it from the sun’s harmful UV rays. Carrots also contain “alpha carotene” which protects against free radical damage. Carrots are a great way to get your vitamin A as excess carotenoids are expelled by the body. Too much vitamin A is toxic to the body.

Dark leafy green vegetables, particularly kale and spinach are a good source of zinc and iron. Iron will make sure your skin gets enough oxygen and zinc is a great pimple fighter. Eat some every day if you possible can or include some in a fresh juice.

Parsley deserves a separate mention as it is rich in just about all the skin boosting nutrients. It contains beta carotene, chlorophyll, vitamin B12, folic acid (great for firm skin), vitamin C and iron. Parsley can be added to juices, casseroles, sprinkled over any savory dish or simply chewed by itself. Its great for fresh breath too. Parsley is easy to grow, pop some in a pot and keep it near the kitchen door.

Olive oil is fabulous for dry skin and wrinkles. Use it for cooking – it contains monounsaturated fats and anti oxidants- or slather it on your skin after a bath.

Flaxseeds and flax oil (also known as linseed) contain the essential omega 3 oils not found in many foods. (Fish also contains omega 3). Flaxseeds contain fiber and phytoestrogens which balance the body’s hormones and are vital for younger looking skin. Sprinkle some on your cereal or use in soups and stews.

Avocados give skin (especially dry skin) a boost. Although fairly high in fat, its the healthy monounsaturated kind which makes dry skin supple. Avocados contain glutathione which is one of the most powerful antioxidants around and will prevent cell damage in all skin types. They are also high in potassium.

Drink as much water as you can, this flushes out toxins and helps to hydrate the skin. If you cant drink eight glasses a day – I cant unless its 40 degrees – then just drink as much as you can without being uncomfortable.

Skin needs sufficient protein to replace and repair itself. Most of us have plenty of protein in our diets but a lot of it comes with a lot of fat attached. If you can substitute low fat items e.g. milk, peanut butter, cheese etc, then do so. Youll still be eating the same amount. Lean meat is fine, fish is even better as it contains natural omega 3 oils which are great for your skin and your health.

Try and add as many fruits and vegetables as possible to your diet. If you re a committed junk food junkie this may seem impossible, but if you tackle it in small bites (pun intended!) It will be easy. Commit yourself to healthy foods on certain days of the week or drink water instead of soda in the afternoons. When this becomes comfortable, expand it to every day. Its just breaking old habits and replacing them with new ones. After a while youll be comfortable with it. And youll feel better and loose weight too.

The purists tell us that all vitamins and minerals can be obtained from foods and there is no need for us to take supplements. In theory this is true, however the stress of life today probably robs our system of vitamin B. Smoking uses up about 35 mg of vitamin C per day.
Added to this, the practice of storing fresh produce for extended amounts of time, cant help but deplete the natural vitamins in these foods. The pollution in our cities and some of our bad habits like eating junk and smoking (who me?) leads to the production of free radicals in the body. For this we need an antioxidant which contains among others beta carotene (a precursor of vitamin A), vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, lycopene (found in tomatoes) and zinc.

Healthy skin loves exercise! It doesnt matter what kind. Walking, jogging, all types of sport, aerobics, thumping around in the gym, whatever you enjoy try and fit it in three times a week. If you dont enjoy any exercise, find one! Join a group of people or find a walking buddy, you will get to enjoy it I promise!

Stress is bad for you and bad for your skin. Stress will slow the circulation of blood to the skin causing a shortage of oxygen to the cells. It will also deplete certain nutrients from the body – for example vitamin B. It can ruin your sleep thus preventing the repair and regeneration of skin cells. It will put worry lines on your face and will make you look old before your time! Who needs it? No-one! check out this page on stress to see how you can deal with this incapacitating disorder now!

As you may have gathered from all this, having a healthy skin is the same as having a healthy body, its worth maintaining a good diet and lifestyle so you not only look great but you feel great too!

About the Author

Like to have better looking skin? http://www.holistic-facial-skin-care.com will give you detailed information on all facets of skin care. The author, Wendy Owen has had a lifetime interest in general and alternative health and skin care.

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Trying to lose weight can be difficult and following specific diets can be boring. Diet Shake recipes can help you to lose weight and they are delicious which makes it easier to stay on track with your weight loss journey.

Shakes and smoothies are a particularly good way to lose weight during the summer months when there are lots of fresh fruits available. You can still drink shakes during winter by substituting fresh fruit for frozen fruit and the results taste just as good. Some low fat yogurt added to a shake makes it even more delicious.

There are lots of different diet shake recipes that you can use when trying to lose weight. One of my own favorites is to use mango which is so refreshing on a hot day. I simply mix together some mango, mandarin, oranges and some ice, then add some low fat yogurt and blend together. Sometimes I will also add some protein powder to keep me feeling full longer.

A great shake for breakfast is a cranberry juice shake as this is an amazing tonic for your kidneys. Simply blend some cranberry juice with some apple juice, blueberries, strawberries and a banana and you have a nice, healthy breakfast shake. You can also add some low fat yogurt if you wish.

If you are a chocolate lover then try adding some unsweetened cocoa powder to your shake. When using diet shakes for losing weight you need to remember that a shake does not give you all your nutritional needs so you can’t live on shakes alone. To be really successful at losing weight, shakes can help, but you still need to have an overall healthy, nutritional diet and exercise regularly.

Have a really good look at your current diet and see what you are doing wrong. See what changes you can make that will help you to lose weight, such as reducing the amount of white break, pasta and rice in your diet. These foods contain hidden sources of sugar and so aren’t very good when trying to lose weight. Instead you can change them to brown rice, pasta and wholemeal bread. You may not like the taste of the brown variety if your tastebuds are use to the white variety so try swapping over gradually. Your taste buds will begin to get use to the new taste over time.

If you stick to one particular diet you can get bored eating the same boring foods over and over again. It helps to have a variety of foods in your diet as long as you are eating healthy foods and watching the number of calories you are consuming. Try to include lots of fruit and vegetables into your diet each day and perhaps experiment with different ways of cooking them. Small changes in your diet can go a long way to helping you reach a healthy weight.

It is very beneficial to eat foods that are high in soluble fiber as they have few calories but they make you feel full. Foods like mangoes, peas, brussel sprouts, spring greens, sprouts and dried apricots are a great source of fiber and can help you to feel fuller so you will eat less.

Diet shake recipes are very effective to help you to lose weight but you must remember to combine them with a nutritional diet and regular exercise to get the best weight loss results.

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