Archive for the 'Diet & Healthy Eating' Category

You can curb spending by paying with cash

It’s harder to part with actual bills, which is why people who use credit cards typically buy more, according to a study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.

A picture may be worth 1,000 calories

Dieters who take photos of meals right before eating (to create a visual food log) make leaner, healthier choices, found researchers at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Your strut could signal more than confidence

Women who have vaginal orgasms tend to have looser pelvic muscles, and therefore a longer stride, say sexologists who studies women’s gaits.

Your health depends on your happiness

According to the American Journal of Health Promotion, people who reported being content with their lives were 1.5 times healthier than those who said they weren’t.

Get Healthy Desserts Here (and we’re not talking fruit salad)

Web searches for “healthy desserts” surge this time of year; last January, they soared 1,500 percent, according to Yahoo! Search Data. To save you on the trouble, we ask experts for their simple-and-sweet recipe faves. These three contain fewer than 250 calories per serving and are ready in minutes. Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate – Pistachio Apricots

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
24 dried apricots
4 tbs. chopped pistachios

Melt chocolate chips. Dip half of each apricot in chocolate. Place on waxed paper. Sprinkle with pistachios. Let chocolates set in fridge.

Serving size: 4 apricots
Calories: 140

Spiked Citrus Sorbet

1 orange Grand Marnier
½ cup citrus sorbet

Cut orange in half and remove fruit; keeping peel intact. Soak orange sections in a splash of Grand Marnier. Fill orange-peel halves with sorbet. Top with orange sections.

Serving size: ½ orange
Calories: 104

Cassata Cake

1 low-fat sponge cake
16 ounces low-fat ricotta cheese
1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ tbs. confectioners’ sugar
1 cup chopped strawberries
½ cup grated semi-sweet chocolate

Cut cake horizontally into 4 layers and set aside. In a bowl, blend cheese, vanilla and sugar until creamy. Fold in strawberries and chocolate. Place a layer of cake on a cake dish and top with ¼ of the cheese mixture; repeat with other layers. Cut into 10 slices.

Serving size: 1 slice
Calories: 243

By USANA

Because women are generally smaller than men and have less muscle mass they require fewer calories. However, you will need more calories during pregnancy (when you are eating for two), and if you decide to breast-feed, you will need extra calories and nutrients to produce enough breast milk. Athletic women also need more calories than those with a more sedentary lifestyle.

Iron for blood loss

Throughout the reproductive years, women need more iron in their diet to replace the iron in the blood lost as a result of menstrual periods. Otherwise, you may be at risk of iron-deficiency anemia, so it is important to eat plenty of iron-rich foods.

Folate for pregnancy

During pregnancy, women need extra calories and nutrients and more of most of the vitamins and minerals. The B vitamin folate is very important. An increased intake of folate before conception and in early pregnancy prevents neural tube defects in babies. Extra iron is also necessary in pregnancy, to produce new red blood cells for the mother’s increased blood volume and also for her baby.

New mothers need extra calories and nutrients. A woman’s body needs to recover after delivery. Increased amounts of iron and various vitamins and other minerals are vital for returning to normal health.

Calcium for bone health

Breast-feeding is recommended as the best way to feed your baby for the first six months of life. Mothers need a balanced, nutritious diet not just for themselves but to produce the nutrient-rich milk for their baby. Since calcium is lost from the bones to make breast milk, mothers will need extra calcium. By restoring lost calcium, you will protect yourself from the degenerative bone disorder osteoporosis during and after menopause and into old age.

Increased needs During pregnancy you need more calories than usual – for yourself and for your growing baby. Make sure you choose nutrient-rich foods to get your extra calories.

Which foods are good for women?

Folate, calcium, and iron are key nutrients for women. Try to eat foods rich in these nutrients.

Folate Good sources of folate include green vegetables, such as cabbage and spinach, and legumes, such as chickpeas and kidney beans.

Calcium This mineral is naturally abundant in milk and other dairy products, sardines, and spinach.

Iron Foods that are naturally rich in iron include spinach; dried fruit, especially prunes; and legumes, such as soybeans and kidney beans.

Your food choices throughout adulthood can help ensure good health into old age.

Do you take your health for granted? If you are like most people between 20-50 years old, you have never had to worry about your health. However, you may have noticed that you cannot just eat whatever you want and stay thin like you did when you were younger. Maybe you have put on extra weight and have not been able to exercise as much as you used to due to your busy schedule at work or home. Those of us between the age of 20 and 50 usually feel that we are healthy. We are too busy to go to the doctor and we really do not think we need to change our diets, and why should we?

What you eat and how much you exercise can significantly impact your current and future health. If you eat lots of fat and sugar and do not exercise, chances are you will feel sluggish at work and will not be motivated to exercise. But this stage of life is the most critical time to determine your future health and probably the easiest time for you to begin adopting healthy dietary habits, an active lifestyle, and to quit smoking if you smoke. By making the effort to eat a well-balanced diet and exercise on a regular basis, you will feel better today and have more energy. You will also probably live longer and the years you have will be healthier.

Do men have specific dietary needs?

Due to a larger muscle mass, men have a higher metabolic rate than women. This means they need more calories and also more of certain vitamins and minerals, specifically those involved in releasing energy from food.

Men’s larger bodies contain more water, bone, muscle, organ tissue, and fat than women’s, and their increased muscle mass requires more protein for its maintenance. Therefore, men tend to eat more food than women.

Each day, men burn up about 600 calories more than nonpregnant women do. Men’s needs for carbohydrate are the same, but they need more fiber – 38g per day compared to 25g per day for women. There is no recommended amount of dietary fat, but men require 60 percent more essential fatty acids than women. While men’s daily recommended intake of protein is the same as women’s at 0.8g per 2.2b (1kg) of body mass, their intake needs to be 10g per day higher on average due to their greater muscle mass. Dietary and health recommendations for men include:

• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Rich in nutrients, the health benefits of these foods cannot be overstated.
• Avoid saturated fats. Keep meat intake to a minimum. Use low-fat or fat-free dairy products. Limit ice cream and other fatty foods, such as french fries.
• Drink alcohol in moderation. Limiting it to 1-2 drinks per day will give you the health benefits without the risks.
• Manage stress. Stress is unavoidable and not necessarily bad for you – it is how you react to stress that determines its effects on your health. Techniques such as yoga or meditation can help.
• Do not smoke cigarettes and cigars, and try to avoid passive smoking.
• Maintain a healthy weight. Excess weight, especially around the abdomen, is a risk for heart disease and diabetes.
• Make exercise a priority. Get plenty of physical activity to stay healthy.
• Have annual medical checkups.

Nutrients for men

The nutrients below are thought to have an impact on fertility, prostate health, and the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Lycopenes These nutrients occur in tomatoes, watermelon, and pink grapefruit and may lower the risk of prostate and lung cancer.

Vitamins B6, B12 and folate These B vitamins lower blood levels of homocysteine, thus lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Selenium and vitamins C and E These antioxidants are necessary for normal fertility in men, and adequate intake or supplements may help to improve fertility.

Zinc and folate A combination of zinc and folate supplements may improve fertility in men.

Dietary needs vary in line with a child’s stage of growth and development.

It is important to maintain a healthy diet throughout your life, but for children it is essential for their normal growth and development. Getting all the necessary nutrients from food and drinks such as milk, along with plenty of exercise, has an immediate impact on children’s well-being, as well as long-term consequences for their health when they reach adulthood.

Good habits

Establishing good eating and exercise habits early in life will help your child achieve his or her growth potential and provide the foundation for a healthy life.

Children need the same basic proportions of foods from the different food groups as adults, but in smaller serving sizes. These calories and nutrients allow a child’s brain to reach its full potential. Without sufficient nutrients, a child’s brain may not grow property, which can affect intellectual development.

Calcium for healthy bones

Although the height of a child’s parents affects how tall he or she will eventually be as an adult, diet plays a key role too. Children who do not get enough calcium and vitamin D will be shorter than children of the same age and are also at greater risk for bone fractures compared to those who get enough of these nutrients.

Energy and nutrient needs

Body composition (the relative amount of body fat, muscle, and bone), the amount of physical activity that a child does, and his or her age determine the energy and nutrient needs of the child. These requirements vary dramatically depending on the stage of a child’s growth and development. For example, the more muscle an adolescent has, the greater his or her need for calorie requirements will be.

The changing body

Boys and girls have similar amounts of body fat until puberty. Babies and toddlers have a high amount of body fat, which decreases as they enter their elementary school years. During puberty, children’s body fat increases again. At the end of adolescence boys lose some body fat, whereas girls maintain the extra body fat deposited during adolescence throughout their adult years.

There is also a difference in the proportion of muscle that boys and girls have. They have similar amounts until puberty, at which stage boys triple their muscle mass, but girls only double theirs. This difference helps explain the higher energy requirements of teenage boys and men compared to that of teenage girls and women.

Growing children Young children are active and curious about the world around them. Frequent snacks and meals are necessary to replenish the calories they burn.

Energy requirements

The table below shows the recommended amounts of energy in calories that children from different age groups should be getting from food each day. It also shows the average amount of calories per lb (0.45kg) of body weight that each group needs for healthy growth. Although children of all ages grow rapidly, their energy needs vary; for example, the amount of energy needed, on a per lb/kg basis, for an 18-year-ole teenager is much lower than that of an 18-month-old toddler. Babies double their body weight over a few months, whereas older children and adolescents may double their weight over 5-10 years.

Energy requirements vary in special cases. Physically active children use up more energy, so they need more calories than less active children. In addition, children who are ill or recovering from an injury need almost double their normal amount of calories to aid the healing process and continue growing.

Spring loaded Seven-year-olds are energetic and need about 2,000 calories per day, ideally from nutrient-dense foods, such as lean meat, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

Do children need vitamin and mineral supplements?

If children eat a varied diet, they should not need supplements. A very picky eater may need them. The most common vitamins and minerals that may be insufficient are listed below:

Calcium Most children get enough calcium as long as they drink milk and include yogurt and cheese in their diet. However, those who do not eat dairy products or do not drink milk may require a calcium supplement. Calcium needs are particularly high for adolescents because they gain more than 20 percent of their adult height and about 50 percent of their adult skeletal mass in this period.

Vitamin D Recent recommendations for all babies, including those who are exclusively breast-fed, now state that they should have a minimum intake of 0.005mg of vitamin D per day, beginning during the first two months of life. It is recommended that this intake level of vitamin D should be contained throughout childhood and adolescence to ensure strong and healthy bones.

Vitamin K Most newborn babies are given an injection of vitamin K immediately after delivery in order to prevent a bleeding disorder called hemorrhagic disease of the newborn.

Fluoride A supplement of fluoride is recommended for strong teeth development of babies 6 months or older who are exclusively breast-fed or living in an area without fluoridated water. Ask your doctor because too much fluoride can discolor the teeth.

Iron Newborn infants usually have enough iron stores from their mother for about four months. If they are not breast-fed, they should receive iron-fortified formula. Once babies begin to eat solid foods, they should be given iron-fortified cereal to prevent the risk of iron deficiency.

Whether by choice or necessity, there are many occasions when you eat away from home - and these occasions will probably present a challenge to your healthy-eating program.

But eating is not just about satisfying nutritional needs. It is also a major focus of social activities - whether it s eating in restaurants with friends, taking part in office celebrations, or meeting family at parties and other events where hospitality, in the form of food and drink, is offered. There are ways to enjoy such occasions without losing sight of your long-term healthy diet goals: eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; choosing lean meats and fish over red meats; limiting your intake of refined carbohydrates, saturated fat, and salt; and being careful with portion sizes and alcohol consumption.

Making healthy restaurant choices

There is no reason to avoid eating in restaurants, but, if you want to maintain your healthy-eating habits as well as preventing unwanted weight gain, you need to be very careful when ordering.

Whether you are making a quick stop at a fast-food outlet for lunch or enjoying a leisurely restaurant meal in the evening, it is possible to make healthy choices. Fast food and restaurant meals tend to be higher in calories and saturated fat than most of the meals that you prepare at home, so to enjoy a meal without sabotaging your weight-control program, balance restaurant meals with lighter meals at home. Do not be afraid to ask questions about how a dish on their menu is prepared - the same dish can usually be prepared in different ways, some healthier than others. And if you wish to order your entrée but without the rich sauce or other high-fat accompaniments, do so: the chef is unlikely to refuse your request.

Dinner-party strategies

Although you have no control over the food served when friends and family invite you to dinner, you can still limit how much you eat and drink. Fill up on salads and vegetables offered, and ask for a small portion of dessert.

You can offset any extra calories you are likely to eat by taking a walk or visiting the gym during the day: increasing your level of activity will help you burn the extra calories you are likely to take in. exercise can also reduce your appetite and help you control how much you eat.

Dining out When eating out, don’t lose sight of your long-term healthy-eating plan. Order carefully, stop eating when you are full, and, if you over-indulge, eat less the next day.

Enjoying buffets

An inviting array of buffet food is difficult to resist. Here are some tips to help you maintain control:

• Since going up to the buffet is the fun part, pace yourself.
• Start with a salad and skip the soup and bread.
• Avoid dressed vegetables, such as potato salad and coleslaw.
• Choose a low-calorie dressing rather than mayonnaise.
• For your entrée, pick low-fat foods such as turkey or fish.
• Choose fruit, sorbet, or low-fat yogurt for dessert.
• At a breakfast buffet, opt for the cold buffet, which includes fruits, breads, yogurts, and cereals.

Choosing healthy restaurant options

Eating out is often arranged as a celebration or treat. It is possible to enjoy your experience without losing sight of your healthy eating habits.

Ordering appetizers

Think whether you need an appetizer; would you eat one at home? Consider skipping the first course, especially if you plan to have a full entrée.

• Consider ordering an appetizer and salad as your main meal, or share an appetizer or entrée.
• Choose low-fat, high-fiber soups such as vegetables or lentil soup. Avid soups with added cream.
• Fried appetizers, such as potato skins, are high in fat and calories, so they are best avoided.
• If you have bread, eat it plain, or dip it in olive oil, rather than adding butter.
• When ordering salad, ask for the dressing on the side. Vinaigrette made with olive oil is the healthiest option. However, it is still high in calories.
• Choose a salad without shredded cheese, fried croutons, or a special dressing, such as Caesar dressing.

The best entrees

Use eating out as an opportunity to eat a healthy meal, cooked well. You could also try something new.

• Grilled, baked, or broiled white meat poultry, fish, and shellfish are the best choices, since they are low in fat.
• Choose tomato-based pasta sauces rather than cheese- or meat-based.
• Order the smallest portion of meat, or share. If you are hungry, order extra vegetable and salad.
• Select barbecue sauce, horseradish, salsa, lemon or lime juice, mustard, or relish instead of condiments such as sour cream or mayonnaise.

Enjoying desserts

For a healthy, refreshing dessert, have a fruit salad or fresh berries that are packed with vitamins.

• Skip fruit pies or cobblers: the crusts may be made with unhealthy vegetable shortening and sugar.
• Sorbet is a good choice, especially if you share a portion. Ice cream and frozen yogurt served in restaurants can be high in fat and/or sugar.

Fast – food choices

The national fondness for fast food is a major factor in the increasing prevalence of obesity and associated diseases. This type of food is often high in saturated fat, calories, and sodium, lacking in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, and marketed to encourage the intake of unhealthily large portions. If you do not want to eliminate fast food from your diet, balance it out with what you eat the rest of the time, and try to make healthier choices when you do have it.

• Choose a small hamburger with lettuce and tomato (no cheese).
• Have salad or baked potato with your meal instead of fries.
• Eat broiled-chicken sandwiches with mustard instead of fried-chicken sandwiches.
• Use mustard or ketchup instead of mayonnaise or “special sauce”.
• Order fat-free milk, water, or a small diet soda.
• Skip dessert, or try a yogurt and fruit parfait.

Chinese meal transformation

Most North Americans consider Chinese food to be a healthy option, and while this can be true, many of the most popular dishes are high in saturated fat and calories. Dishes that are batter-dipped, deep-fried, sweet and sour, or in a thick sauce are best avoided.

Chinese can be healthy

Choose dishes based on authentic everyday Chinese cooking, which are low in fat and protein and high in fiber. The cholesterol levels in China are far lower than in North America; this is because the diet is based mainly on grains and a wide variety of vegetables, with small amounts of protein and fat.

Stir-fried vegetables with tofu, chicken, or shrimp are healthy, low-fat Chinese options. Accompany any of these with plain steamed or boiled rice for a well-balanced, healthy meal.

Unhealthy choice Batter-coated, deep-fried shrimp in sweet and sour sauce, with egg-fried rice. This meal provides 397 calories, 18g fat, and 122mg cholesterol.

Low-fat option Lightly steamed shrimp and vegetables, with plain steamed or boiled rice. By contrast, this meal provides only 250 calories, 1g fat, and 65mg cholesterol.