Vitamins and Nutrition Blog

Going on a diet can be a good thing. However, there are so many new fangled diet styles out there that you just don’t know which ones work and which ones are just fads. But, regardless of whatever dieting system and style you are an advocate of, there are ten kinds of food that you should be ingesting a lot of to keep yourself trim, healthy and beautiful.

Top healthy foods
 
Fruits: Research proves that eating at least five portions of fruits each day has plenty of health benefits. It can help to prevent heart disease and some cancers.

Essential fatty acids: Essential fatty acids (EFA), also known as the good food fat, is needed to keep the cells of the functioning properly. EFA also helps improve the condition of the skin and makes the hair and fingernails grow healthier.
 
Garlic: Garlic is high in antioxidants and is a kind of food that is widely known to prevent cancer. Garlic also helps lower the body’s cholesterol levels and reduces blood pressure as well.

Green tea: Green tea is full of antioxidant that helps to prevent specific kinds of cancer from developing in the body. It also pumps up the immune system and helps lower the levels of cholesterol in the body.

Green vegetables: Vitamins A and E, as well as fiber and iron, are found abundantly in green, leaf vegetables. Vitamin A retains the moisture in the eyes, the skin and mucous membrane, while vitamin E helps maintain the skins elasticity. On the other hand, fibre improves digestion, and iron is needed for production of red blood cells.

Milk: Milk is the best source of calcium and vitamin D for the body. Calcium combined with vitamin D is good for keeping the bones and teeth strong, it prevent disease like osteoporosis. Milk also has B2 and B12, which coaxes the body to produce more red blood cells. Red blood cells bring oxygen to the cells. Having a healthy supply of red blood cells swimming in the blood stream keeps the hair and skin healthier.

Soy: Soy has a cancer preventing antioxidants as well as vitamin E and amino acids. It helps the skin retain its smoothness and elasticity.

Vitamin C: Vitamin C boosts and the immune system and makes the body less vulnerable to disease. Vitamin C is also important key in the body’s collagen production, collagen being a chemical that keeps the skin elastic and wrinkle free.

Yoghurt: Yoghurt is also a good source of calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B. Aside from these; yoghurt contains friendly bacteria that assist in digestion, hydrates the skin and clears the immune system.

Chocolate: Yes, you read it right. Chocolate is an essential food to eat to stay beautiful. Chocolate encourages the production of endorphins and serotonin harmones that generate a nice and pleasant feeling for the body. You look beautiful if you feel beautiful.

Water: Do not forget water! Water keeps the body hydrated. When the body is hydrated, the skin becomes smooth, supple and youthful. The hair has more shine and bounce when there is enough water in the body, and the nails are stronger. Water also flushes out the waste and toxins out of the body.

There are literally hundreds of different diets that have at one time or another been promoted as the best approach to losing weight. Unfortunately, most of them, in their efforts to succeed, involve omitting certain foods, and sometimes even entire food groups (for example, high proteins diets suggest significantly reducing the percent of carbohydrates in the diet, an important component of the recommended eating guidelines based on the food pyramid).
Fad diets take form in many ways, low fat low carbohydrates, high protein, or focusing on one particular food item such as grapefruit. These diets lack major nutrients such as dietary fibre and carbohydrates, as well as selected vitamins, minerals, and protective photochemical, such as antioxidants (substances found in vegetables which are protective against disease). Over the long term, by not receiving the proper amounts of these nutrients, you may develop serious health problem later in life.
For the good food groups sthat these diets do permit, the proportions are either well above or well below those recommended by major health organizations such as the American Heart Association and the American Dietetic Association, as well as the Surgeon General, and the US Department of Agriculture.
Some common claims of these diets include blaming particular hormones for weight gain, suggesting that food can change body chemistry, or touting or banning a particular food. However, they all have one thing in common: They offer only a temporary solution to what for many people is a life long and chronic condition. Once the diet is stopped, the lost weight is usually regained quickly, and when weight is lost rapidly, chances are it is not fat that is lost, but water weight and precious muscle- but when it is regained, it is usually all gained as fat. This is because none of these diets teach you how eat right.

While there is no set approach to identify fad diet, here’s how you can spot one:               
• Recommendations that promise quick fix.
• Dire warnings of dangers from a single product or regimen.
• Claims that sound too good to be true.
• Simplicity conclusions drawn from a complex study.
• Recommendations based on a single study or testimonial.
• Dramatic statements that are refuted by refutable scientific organizations.
• Lists of ‘good ‘and ‘bad’ foods.
• Recommendations made to help sell a product.
• Recommendations based on studies published without review by other researches.
• Recommendations from studies that ignore differences among individuals or groups.
• Eliminating 1 or more of the 5 food groups.

Devoting you to a lifestyle that includes exercise and eating a proper diet with moderate portions is still the best method to lose weight. People who will take on to a lifestyle that follows a diet based on the recommended food pyramid will slowly and safely lose weight.

Guided by fundamental theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditonal Chinese Diet (TCD) therapy is concerned with the study of how to make good use of foods and natural nutriments, as well as the Chinese material to medica to preserve health, prevent and heal diseases, quicken their recovery, and slow down ageing. TCD has remained an important component of traditional Chinese medicine, the same as acupuncture, herbology, Tui Na (massage), Qi Gong, etc. The therapeutic effect of TCD has been proven through the clinical practice of centuries, especially in areas like preventive medicine, rehabilitation and gerontology.
TCD is based on the fundamentals of traditional Chinese medicine in the aspects of both theory and clinical practice, i.e. the theory of Yin-Yang, Five Elements, Zang-Fu organs, meridians, etiology and pathogenesis, diagnostic methods, therapeutic principles, etc.
TCD concentrates on the idea of holistic entity and the principle of curing diseases in accordance with the differential diagnosis of syndromes. It is believed in Traditional Chinese Medicine that foods as well as herbs have different natures and flavours, accounting for their actions of reinforcing or reducing bodily benefits.
Foods are able to balance Yin and Yang, and Qi and blood in the body. To prevent and cure diseases, both foods and medicines could exert important roles since they share the same source, are based on the same theory, and have similar medicinal actions. Hence, food and herbs are combined in clinical use.

As in Chinese medicine, the most fundamental type of treatment in Tibetan medicine is the modification of behaviour and diet.
Tibetan medicine is a “nomadic” type of medicine, that is, since the doctor travelled around the country on a yak to treat patients, he was only able to come around once every six months to a year. So not only was dietary regulation a less intrusive form of treatment, but the patient could also adhere to these instructions without constant supervision from the doctor.
According to Tibetan medicine, inadequate, excessive, or inappropriate diet will result in disease. Inadequate would be considered not enough quantity of food and liquids to sustain one, i.e. under eating or inappropriate fasting or not having enough of the proper foods. Excessive means eating too much at one time or over the course of the day. Intake of food while there is still an undigested meal present will lead to problems. Buddha stated that stagnant food (in the stomach) is the, original cause of most disease.
To avoid stagnant food, it is recommended that the stomach only be filled to % full. One half should be food and one-quarter liquid. Inappropriate diet is one in which unwholesome foods, foods that one is not accustomed to or are not appropriate to one’s ailments are eaten. It also includes the practice of untimely dining. Unwholesome foods are those that are not fresh, or whole foods. This includes any ‘junk foods” and highly processed foods. Untimely dining refers to eating the wrong foods during a particular season.

“Those who eat flesh are but eating grains and vegetables secondhand How’ much better to get it direct, by eating the food that God provided for our use!” - Ellen G. White
Vegetarians do not eat meat for health, philosophical or moral reasons. Some, such as Jains and Brahmins, are vegetarians because of religious beliefs.
There are three main types of vegetarians: lacto-ovo-vegetarians, who eat dairy foods and eggs; lacto-vegetarians, who eat dairy foods, but no eggs; and vegans who consume no animal foods of any type.
Food influences every aspect of our well-being including the physical and emotional. There are arguments for and against vegetarian diet. Many argue that man was born to be a vegetarian and God intended him to be so; it is only a deviation that we have taken to eating non-vegetarian food. The argument that if nature wanted us to be meat eaters, it would have equipped us with sharp teeth to tear into flesh and given us acidic saliva to digest animal protein backs their theory. For instance, carnivorous animals have claws, teeth that can tear into flesh and a round stomach, which produces enough hydrochloric acid to digest meat. They also have shorter intestines to shorten the process of meat digestion and a liver that is equipped to get rid of excess uric acid.
That man was created as a vegetarian is borne out by the molars that are designed to crush and grind. Our saliva is alkaline in nature, which is perfect to digest plant protein; we have a stomach and greater length of intestines, designed for vegetarian food. The liver of human beings is also not equipped get rid of excess uric acid that the animal protein breakdown produces. That is one of the prime reasons for the painful disease called gout.
On the other hand the proponents of non-vegetarianism argue that all food that can be digested by man should be considered normal and healthy. Their point is that only non-vegetarian food can provide all the elements of a nutritious diet and so it is healthier than the vegan diet.
There are many factors against the consumption of meat. Animal protein is tough to digest and the food putrefies inside the system creating toxins that are harmful to the body.

Sugar Information
Sugar is a carbohydrate found in foods such as milk, fruit and honey, as well as in sweets and desserts. Sugar has a bad reputation, and can cause tooth decay and weight gain, but some foods that are high in sugar, such as milk and fruit, are very good for you because they contain vitamins and minerals as well as sugar. Where sugar deserves its bad reputation is in the so-called empty calories it contains-those that come without beneficial nutrients. A piece of fruit might have the equivalent of a teaspoon of sugar, but since it also contains vitamins, minerals and fibre, the calories it contains are far from empty.

Sugar consumption
People in the developed world are eating more sugar than did in the past. For example, people in the UK now get 17 per cent of their calories from sugar, as opposed to about 10 per cent only 20 years ago. Carbonated (fizzy) soft drinks such as cola account for one-third of the added sugar in some people’s diets.

Sugar and tooth decay
Refined sugar is the major, but not the only, cause of tooth decay. Other sugars, such as those from fruit or milk, also play a role. The enzymes in your saliva turn starch to sugar, so even bread becomes sweet as you chew it. The longer sweet foods stay in your mouth and the more they stick to your teeth, the worse they are for the teeth. Foods such as raisins are just as bad for dental health as sweets like caramels. If you consume sweet, sticky foods, rinse your mouth with water or brush your teeth afterwards.

Read the label
Sugar comes in many different forms, both naturally and as refined products. All sugar is the same: brown sugar is no better for you than white sugar, nor is honey any better than table sugar. Processed foods often contain sugar, even if you cannot see it listed in the ingredients. It might be hidden under a different name: barley malt, brown sugar, cane sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, honey, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, maple syrup, sorbitol or sucrose.

Colon therapy- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a condition that is characterized by cramps, bloating, constipation and diarrhea. While IBS doesn’t harm the intestines or cancer, it can turn a person’s life upside down, making it difficult to go to work, attend social outings or travel. Experts don’t know why some people develop IBS and others don’t. It’s thought that sufferers may have a colon that’s extra sensitive to stress and even certain foods, or that the immune system is somehow involved. What is known is that in people who have IBS, the colon doesn’t function normally: It may go into spasms or respond too strongly to outside stimuli, such as stress, or transport contents too quickly-causing diarrhea-or too slowly, causing constipation. Though there’s no cure for IBS, doctors usually recommend a combination of stress management techniques, regular exercise, and even medication to ease symptoms. And since many people often complain of IBS symptoms after eating certain foods, or large, rich meals, dietary changes make sense, even though no single food or dietary pattern has been implicated in the syndrome.
Now a study, published in the American journal of Gastroenterology, suggests that some IBS sufferers actually may have a hypersensitivity to common foods. British researchers tested the blood of 108 IBS patients and 43 healthy controls for IgG4 antibodies to 16 common foods, including milk, eggs, wheat, cheddar cheese, rice, yeast, potatoes, peanuts, cod fish, chicken, lamb, beef, pork, tomatoes and soy bean. Doctors also performed skin prick tests-which exposed patients to the same 16 foods-to determine allergic reactions. The result was that IBS patients had much higher Igg4 antibody lavels than did people in the control group to wheat, beef, pork, lamb and soy bean. Borderline significance was detected for egg yolks and egg whites. There was no significant correlation between antibody levels and the severity and frequency of symptoms. But the mechanism that leads to increased levels of Igg4 antibodies is still speculative, say the researchers. However, higher levels have been linked to food hypersensitivity in people with atopic condition such as eczema, hay fever and asthma, which suggests a similar process, might be occurring in IBS sufferers. Further research in this area could pave the way for more effective treatments.

As soon as your food is served, ask for a box and put half of your meal into it, to take home. Restaurant portions are usually twice the size they should be anyway.
• Don’t ruin a nice, low fat salad with creamy dressing. Go for the vinaigrette or oil and vinegar, and use them sparingly. These days you also get low cal dressing and low cal mayonnaise, which are great substitutes in look and taste.
• Don’t let yourself down by getting (or sharing) a dessert. Order some fruit or Jell-O instead, if you must have something sweet. Or if must have, go for a sorbet, which is made of frozen ice, or a smoothie, which is made of fresh fruit and yoghurt.
• Arrive with a healthy meal in mind and ask for it without opening your menu. This will spare you the pain of looking at an array of temptation. Salads and soups are the safest bet.
• After each bite, put your fork down, and don’t pick it up again until you’ve completely swallowed the last bite.
• Drink a glass of skim milk before you leave your house. This will fill up your stomach and help you eat less.
• Look for restaurants that serve ‘contemporary’, ‘spa’ or ‘lean’ cuisine.
• When ordering seafood, choose the leanest types, such as haddock, sole, trout, scallops, shrimp and crab.
• And lastly, never treat your controlled diet as a pain. A well thought of ‘lean meal’ will give you the best of both taste and nutrition.

Almost all scriptures and ancient medical texts mention the potency of certain foods during specific seasons. Nature has created vegetables and fruits according to the requirements of the season. If watermelons and cucumbers are generally found during the summers, there is a reason for it. These vegetables and fruits have a high water content and quench thirst and that is the reason they are available during the hot months, whereas fruits and vegetables like peas, cabbage, cauliflowers and apples are available during the winter time because they have certain warming properties in them. The human body responds differently to different seasons, we also need to eat differently. It is advisable to eat the right kind of food during the appropriate season because of the natural goodness that is contained in them.
Just as our body requires more energy to cater for the normalizing of body temperature during winters, it need a lot of moisture during the summer to combat the drying and dehydrating effect of high temperature. Food is, therefore, to be planned to provide the required contents.

(Fat-free or low-fat milk, curd, buttermilk, cheese, cottage cheese)
Superpowers: Strengthening bones, firing up weight loss, building muscle
Secret weapons: Calcium, vitamins A and B 12, riboflavin, phosphorus, potassium
Fight against: Osteoporosis, obesity, high blood pressure, cancer
Dairy is nutrition’s version of a typecast actor. It gets so much good press for strengthening bones that it garners little attention for all the other stuff it does well.
But there’s mounting evidence that calcium is a prime belly buster. A University of Tennessee study found that dieters who consumed between 1,200 and 1,300 milligrams of calcium a day lost nearly twice as much weight as those taking in less of the mineral. Researchers think calcium probably prevents weight gain by increasing the breakdown of body fat and hampering its formation.
Low-fat yoghurt, cheeses, and other dairy products can playa key role in your diet. But plain milk should ideally be your major source of calcium. Liquids take up lots of room in your stomach, so your brain gets the signal that you’re full. A little cocoa stirred in can help curb sweet cravings.
Another way to take in more milk is to have it as a shake. Smoothies - blended mixtures of milk, low-fat yoghurt (curd), ice, and fruit (grapes, banana, berries, oranges) - can act as meal substitutes and as potent snacks. You can even add whey powder or peanut butter to the mixture for more nutrient punch. Also their thickness takes up space in your stomach.