Thursday, March 24, 2011
Carb Rotation Diet - What's in the name?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Honey, it’s all about honey!
Honey is a liquid edible substance with golden color, extracted by bees from the nectar of flowers. Artificially made honey is now available and is not effective like natural honey. Glucose, starch, and cane sugar used in artificial honey can add more calories to you body. Natural honey can be distinguished by the presence of pollen grains. This can be verified under the microscope. The condition of flower blossom is the main factor that determines the quality of honey. Honey gets its sweetness from glucose and fructose. Honey contains 20% water and about 79% sugar. The sugar part in honey is further divided into; glucose 25- 37%, fructose 34- 43%, sucrose 0.5- 3% and maltose 5-12%. The calorie level is 319 kilo calories per 100gms of honey.
Honey gets granulated when kept unused for long time however heating regains its liquid form.
People have a great affiliation towards sweetness especially children. Sweeteners are needed and not harmful for the body to an extent. But using sweeteners without control can result in weight gain and other health problems. Honey is a better option than other sweeteners since it contains less calories and carbohydrates. It is better for your health since it contains minerals and vitamins.
Honey contains two inverted sugars called laevulose and dextrose. Inversion is a process that takes place during digestion, which converts normal sugars to fruit sugars. In the case of honey this process is already done by bees. So consumption of honey saves the digestive system from this process. Person having digestive problems due to the deficiency of enzymes like invertase and amylase need not depend on monosaccharide if they use honey. More over proteins in honey can build and replace tissues. Honey has germicidal effects and is free of bacteria unlike milk.
Medicinal Uses of Honey
- Honey mixed with the carrot juice improves eyesight
- Honey and ginger juice mixed equally gives quick relief to cold, cough and sore throat.
- Honey mixed with black pepper powder and ginger juice helps to cure asthma.
- One teaspoon of garlic juice mixed with two teaspoon honey taken twice a day can reduce blood pressure.
- One glass of warm water mixed with 2 teaspoon of honey and one teaspoon of lemon juice taken on empty stomach helps to purify blood, reduce fat and to clean the intestines. It is good for obesity and is an effective drink for fasting.
- One teaspoon of anise powder mixed with two teaspoon of honey strengthens the heart muscles and improves its functions.
- One drop of honey in each eye once a week cleans the eyes.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Eating Disorders – signs and symptoms
Eating Disorders are about attempting to control your life and emotions through food/lack of food. It is important to remember that most Eating Disorders, though their signs and symptoms may be different, share a great number of common causes and emotional aspects.
Warning Signs of Eating Disorders
Eating disorder is a medical problem and should be treated immediately. It is normal that some people especially teenagers tend to go for dieting. Do not misjudge this as an eating disorder. There are prominent symptoms to identify eating disorders.
* Body weight loss of 15% below the normal weight.
* Constant dieting irrespective of being thin.
* Feeling fat even after gaining the required size.
* Fear of weight gain.
* Loosing menstrual periods.
* Eating in isolation.
* Compulsive exercising.
* Insomnia, brittle hair or nails.
* Mental depression and social withdrawal.
The warning signs of bulimia include:
* Constant eating and purging.
* Frequent use of the toilets after meals.
* Swollen cheeks or glands, reddened finger due to induced vomiting.
* Over conscious on body weight
* Mental depression.
* Irregular menstrual periods
* Dental problems, such as tooth decay.
When You Suspect an Eating Disorder
A person suffering from eating disorders should be subjected to medical examination as soon as possible. They may show resistance and violence when confronted for the first time. They cannot accept the logic behind treatment for a disease they don’t feel to have, according to them they are only dieting to reduce weight. A calm and affectionate approach is required to convince them. If the person resists further, contact a pediatrician or psychologist for other solutions.
Treating Eating Disorders
Treating eating disorder involves medical supervision, nutritional counseling and therapy. This helps the person to regain normal eating habits. Severely starved people may have to be hospitalized. The treatment makes the person aware of healthy food and exercises that can help to maintain his body scientifically.
Preventing Eating DisordersThe approach to food and nutrition is an important factor in the development of healthy eating habits. Always give importance to health, rather than controlling weight.
Parents are responsible for feeding children to make them reach a state of fatness. After that they will either become anxious or the child becomes self conscious and turns to unhealthily eating habits leading to eating disorders.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Stay healthy with fast food
The habit of depending on fast food is rapidly increasing. People are finding it difficult to avoid fast foods due to lack of time or the variety and taste offered. But the damage it is doing to your arteries and kidneys are terrible. People are forced to fast foods when they are away from home or lack of time. Choosing the right fat is necessary when eating at fast food. There should be a way to go around this to keep the safety of your health and life.
You can have a better nutritious diet from fast food if you can follow some simple rules.
- Avoiding non vegetarian fast food dishes can be a better solution.
- It is irresistible to have cheese with pizza or burger but you can choose less fatty cheese or single cheese burger rather than double cheese burger with more calories.
- Chicken or fish products are better to health than beef or pork.
- Satisfy yourself with plain salads instead of fries or onion rings for your side dishes.
- Avoid deserts altogether or keep a strict limit if tempted.
- Completely replace carbonated drinks such as cola with low fat milk, iced tea, or fruit juice. Actually some pure water is the best choice.
- Replacing coffee with green tea will be better.
- Blot all fried dishes on paper towels.
- Prefer fresh fruits over packages fruit juices as they contain lots of preservatives. Use fresh-frozen fruit without added sugar if fresh fruit is not available.
- Choose baked and grilled sandwiches instead of fried ones.
- Ordering foods early helps you to avoid choosing less nutritious and higher calorie fast foods.
- Eat food in a relaxed manner enjoying every bite. This digests food rapidly and gives more satisfaction.
- Buffets promote overeating, so avoid it otherwise you will be tempted.
- Fast food restaurants now offer a wider range of healthy choices and most will provide nutritional information, so choose you menu wisely. If nutrition information is available pay attention to the sodium, fat, saturated fat, and calorie content in food items.
Fatty acids are essential for the building of cell membranes and functioning of brain, eyes and lungs. Fats from raw foods like nuts, seeds avocados and olives are ideal for your health. Avoid using processed oil and always use pure oil for cooking. Partially hydrogenated oils and deep fried fast foods are harmful. Avoid using animal fat. Always try to include Omega 3 fats in your diet.
You can take care of unnecessary fat not only at the time of eating but also when cooking. Reducing the quantity of oil when you cook is the best method to keep fat away. Cooking sprays instead of oil will reduce fat to a large extent. Using broth instead of oil for cooking also reduces fat. Try to boil, broil or bake foods rather than frying. Removal of skin from meat eliminates fat. Marinades like red wine vinegar, soy sauce, crushed garlic, lime and ginger can be used to tenderize lean meat as it contains less fat.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Make exercise an extra activity
Weight loss seems a simple bargain - eat less, exercise more and weight will go away. Some feel diets are difficult while others exercise. But why is exercise the difficult part of the bargain?
Diet is so much easier than exercise to lose weight?
Often due to a sedentary lifestyle, people gain weight due to excess calories from eating or lower calorie expenditure. When it comes to losing weight most choose dieting as it appears easy and there's always the prospect of reward after a bout of dieting. With exercise it requires a lot more effort, very boring, and there's always no time or space to do it. Also one cannot do without food; but on the other hand one can do without exercise, it's not critical to daily life.
How important is exercise for weight loss?
The more we think of exercise as an exclusive weight loss activity the less is the chance of making it a way of living. This is the first mind shift one must make. Exercising activity has three major benefits - health, fitness and weight maintenance. Dieting and exercise both help you lose weight - but dieters also lose the value of building healthy muscle. Healthy muscle improves functional fitness and metabolism - the latter helps in burning fat mass. At another level good aerobic workouts improve health in terms of lowering risk factors such as high cholesterol, diabetes, etc. So, being physically active has a three-tier improvement in your way of life - health, functional fitness and maintenance of weight. Losing weight without appropriate exercise is inadvisable.
How do I make exercise a way of living?
To make anything a way of living requires two conditions - first it should be easy to do at home and secondly it should fit into our daily routine, just like brushing teeth twice a day. It is not essential to join a gym or go out to get an aerobic workout. There are a number of exercises you can do in the privacy of your home, at your convenience, to your music and perhaps with the whole family. Think of exercise as a fun activity with the family or kids who bring a whole lot of meaning and wonderment to life.