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Eat More Veggies. Eat More Fruit. Get Healthy–Really?

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While it is common to see scientific studies on how health can be improved by using certain, particular supplements of vitamins and minerals it is not the same for the real McCoy.

How true? Ask yourself and do a goggle search (or a PUB Med or any advanced search of scientific articles) about how many times you see a study–any study–on a particular fruit or vegetable that comes out proving some health improvement. Not a group, but a particular fruit or vegetable. And pro…

vegetables, fruits, vegetables and fruits, healthy eating

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While it is common to see scientific studies on how health can be improved by using certain, particular supplements of vitamins and minerals it is not the same for the real McCoy.

How true? Ask yourself and do a goggle search (or a PUB Med or any advanced search of scientific articles) about how many times you see a study–any study–on a particular fruit or vegetable that comes out proving some health improvement. Not a group, but a particular fruit or vegetable. And proof of health, not disease (this is an important distinction).

We are talking about real science here not just made up stuff from some science nut or health nut. And we are talking about real fruits and vegetables like a particular apple or broccoli as opposed to a group of fruits or vegetables. In other words we are talking about something very concrete and not at all abstract–this is where real scientific study comes in very handy: such study is not abstract or it is not science. And, importantly, if I can prove it and you cannot, it is not scientifically provable. Period.

How many? Which vegetable? Which fruit?

There are plenty of promoters of eating fresh fruits and vegetables and many of them provide solid credentials like the Harvard, Tufts, Eat 5 a day, and so on (for a really good goggle search try vegetables and health or fruits and health).

For example, the Harvard site cites the latest dietary guidelines that, “call for five to thirteen servings of fruits and vegetables a day, depending on one’s caloric intake. For a person who needs 2,000 calories a day to maintain weight and health, this translates into nine servings, or 4½ cups per day.” The citation for this is The USDA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is a helpful abstraction but not a particular guide to particular fruits and vegetables and how they can promote your health.

But most of what these prestigious institutions promote is air–no scientific studies demonstrating the health effects of a single fruit or vegetable could be found on the Harvard site, not one. True, it’s nice air, but air nevertheless.

Now we are not talking about the genuine research on fruits and vegetables like this one listed in Pub Med, “Electron beam and gamma irradiation effectively reduce Listeria monocytogenes populations on chopped romaine lettuce”, (J Food Prot. 2006 Mar;69(3):570-4, for those who need to know) . This kind of research is not after the health promoting effects of eating, in this case, romaine lettuce. And it does not pretend to be anything other than what it is.

Of course sites promoting the health benefits of eating of fruits and vegetables could be hiding the scientific studies and don’t want to bother their visitors with all those numbers and scientific names for turnips or plums. Or farmers who grow the really good stuff and how to buy them.

I remember a study concerning folate and green leafy vegetables and some kids on an island in the South Pacific. The study, a genuine scientific study, had to be halted because the scientists found that the children in the study could not get enough folate for their diets from the fresh vegetables because the vegetables themselves were deficient. So the study stopped because, ethically, depriving the children’s diet of this essential ingredient could hurt them–especially when the science proved the children would be deficient on a natural diet. So much for the health promoting benefits of this entire group of vegetables–and I have not seen another study to refute this single isolated, particular controlled scientific study on green leafy vegetable and exactly how they promote health in humans.

So how do you know if the fruits or vegetables you eat can really promote better health? Simple answer is you don’t. But then again, if you stopped eating fruits and vegetables what would happen? Could be all those diseases they write about in Pub Med and cited by the Tufts nutritionists and become the cover story about our fat nation for Time Magazine: eat your fruits and veggies and stay healthy or until we know, for sure, something different.

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Eat More, Weigh Less Gary Gresham

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To eat more and weigh less sounds impossible doesn’t it? But with a few simple facts and gaining a little knowledge you may be able to turn the tables on your weight loss success. You may actually lose unwanted pounds without having that constant hungry feeling.
Eating more and weighing less begins with learning a new way of eating that promotes weight loss without feeling hungry. You are eating healthier to lose weight.
Nine out of ten people who try to lose weight fail to keep it off. Dieters know that empty feeling in the pit of your stomach, not to mention that growling sound that erupts when you lower your food intake.
The key to eat more and weigh less is figuring out the energy density of foods. Energy density foods are divided into four categories:
1. Very low energy dense foods, which include most fruit and vegetables, skim milk and broth based soups.
2. Low energy dense foods, which include cooked grains, cold cereal with skim milk, low-fat meats and salads.
3. Medium energy dense foods, which include meats, cheeses, salad dressings, and snack foods.
4. High energy dense foods which include candy, chips, cookies, crackers and nuts.
Our senses play an important role in being comfortable and satisfied with the amount of food we eat. A meal begins with our eyes and tiny portions make us feel we will never be full. While large portions of food make us believe that when we are done we will be satisfied and happy.
The smell and taste of food also adds enjoyment to our meals. With larger amounts of food, we have more time to take in the sensory delights. More food takes longer to digest, which sends full-feeling messages to our brain. The more we eat the more satisfied signals our brain receives.
If you want to eat more and weigh less, most of the foods you eat should come from low energy dense foods (#2) and should be combined with fruit and vegetables from very low energy foods (#1).
You can combine medium energy dense foods (#3) in small amounts and you’ll have a full plate of food and won’t leave the table hungry.
The key to all of this is to train your senses by filling your plate full with the right kinds of food with fewer calories, which in turn means you can eat more and weigh less.

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Eat Like a Stone Ager Without Feeling like One Philip J. Goscienski, M.D.

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The word is getting around that the modern dietary lifestyle is one of the reasons why Americans are overweight and burdened by chronic disease. The diet that’s right for us, according to many experts, is what our Stone Age ancestors ate. But is that realistic? Didn’t they eat food raw, and have lots of meat?
“There are loads of misconceptions about the Stone Age,” says physician-author Philip J. Goscienski, M.D. “Sure, they ate most foods raw, but keep in mind that man has controlled fire for more than a hundred thousand years, and not all their barbecues were accidental.”
We eat lots of our vegetables and most of our fruits raw, according to Dr. Goscienski, whose book, Health Secrets of the Stone Age, is due for a January 2005 release. Cooking, on the other hand, releases nutrients that would otherwise be less readily available, such as those in cereal grains and meats, and it gives us a head start on digestion.
Here are 10 foods that Stone Agers would find familiar if they were to drop in for dinner.
1. Lean meat. Remember that animals in the wild enjoy a huge variety of foods, not like farm-raised cattle, hogs and poultry. T-bone steaks from grain-fed cattle that stand around all day contain about 38 percent fat; the meat from active, grass-fed animals contains about 7 percent fat. Lean cuts of range-fed beef are not perfect substitutes for wild game, but it’s a start.
2. Poultry. Back in the Stone Age they could choose from hundreds of different kinds of birds whose meat and eggs provided plenty of nourishment, especially protein. We could have lots of variety too, if we worked at it. Instead, we settle for only two kinds of fowl: chicken and turkey. If you would really like to enjoy something from the Stone Age, try some wild game. You’ll find plenty of sources on the Internet. Search for “wild game meat.” Most meat markets can order pheasant or quail. Duck, goose and Cornish game hen are available at most major supermarkets.
3. Fish and other seafood. This includes lake and stream varieties. Their high content of omega-3 fatty acids may have helped our species become the dominant animal on the planet. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential to the proper development of the brain and eyes, just what slow-moving humans with no claws or fangs needed eons ago in order to survive.
4. Leafy green vegetables. Until humans became skilled hunters, which took them a couple of million years, they were mostly vegetarians, as apes are today. It’s important to recognize that this food group is what our body chemistry was designed for, with its abundance of vitamins, folate, flavonoids and thousands of other nutrients that are essential for optimum health. Of course, they had no salad dressings, which are definitely not health foods, especially when eaten in the large quantities that most of us find so hard to resist.
5. Fruits. Hunter-gatherers, which we all were during the Stone Age, had an enormous, seasonal variety of fruits from which to choose. Of course, these plant products weren’t as large, plump and juicy as the ones in your local market, but without chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other pollutants they probably were a lot more nutritious. They certainly were not as sweet as our commercial hybrids, and they all contained much more fiber than domesticated fruit.
6. Berries. We tend to think of berries and fruits together, but there are some differences. Back in the Stone Age, berries, like fruits, were smaller and less sweet than our highly domesticated varieties. However, they are easy to gather, vary with the season, and are even more richly endowed with antioxidants than most fruits. Nutritionists advise that we eat some variety of berries every day.
7. Nuts. The health benefits of nuts become more apparent year after year. Walnuts, almonds, pecans, hazelnuts and pistachios contain healthy amounts of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, as well as substances that have heart-protective (saponins) and cancer-preventing (squalene) properties. So do peanuts, although strictly speaking they are not nuts, but legumes. The FDA recommends that we eat about 1.5 ounces of nuts a day, which is about 30 almonds, or the equivalent volume (one-third cup) of the other nuts. Depending on the type of nut, that’s about 240 to 300 calories, comprising one-tenth or more of the calories we take in every day, so don’t overdo it.
8. Roots. Folks back in the Stone Age probably got some of the minerals they needed (iron, copper) from the dirt left on the outside of edible roots. A modern Ms. or Mrs. Clean wouldn’t think of serving unscrubbed carrots! All root vegetables, with their abundance of fiber, vitamins and antioxidants, provide healthful substitutes for refined carbohydrates. Think of beets, yams, turnips, parsnips or carrots to replace rice or pasta, neither of which was available during the Stone Age.
9. Mushrooms. Mushrooms are such ancient forms of life that thousands of species populated the planet by the time humans arrived. More than likely, Stone Age people were aware of mushrooms that could kill as well as those that caused hallucinations. The several kinds of mushrooms that we find in the supermarket, fresh or canned, have moderate amounts of B vitamins and small amounts of healthy polyunsaturated fat. Mushrooms are likely to become more popular as their cholesterol-lowering and immune-boosting properties become better known.
10. Grains. I deliberately left this group for last because they are latecomers to the human diet. Before the Agricultural Revolution, which took place roughly 12,000 years ago, grains were not a major food source. Grain harvesting requires cutting tools, a method for removing the seed from the stalk, and storage containers, none of which were available tens of thousands of years ago. Without heating and grinding, humans cannot easily digest most grains. Our ingenuity and skill, however, eventually overcame these problems, and grains (including rice and corn) now constitute more than half the calorie intake of most people throughout the world. As long as these are whole-grain products, they bear at least a little resemblance to what our ancestors ate during the Stone Age.
None of these food items exist today exactly as they did in the Stone Age, but they form a healthy approximation, with good fats, phytonutrients, fiber, vitamins and minerals. A diet that contains only these ingredients is far from boring and is readily available. But be sure to wash those carrots!
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Eat healthy Live Long.

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To accomplish a healthier status and preserve weight diet must combine with exercise, since one without the other will not work. The body and mind is intricate, however both work together to manufacture results.

Hydroderm, health, men’s health, mens health, women’s health, technology for health, nutritional health supplements

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To accomplish a healthier status and preserve weight diet must combine with exercise, since one without the other will not work. The body and mind is intricate, however both work together to manufacture results. Many experts, including theorists, doctors, scientist, and philosophers are continuing to find answers to the body’s functions.

Beauty, health, and nutrition are all included. If you eat a balanced diet you will be able to continue your physique and glowing beauty externally and good health inside. A balanced diet is one that provides all the nutrients you need, the right amount of proteins, carbohydrates, and fat.

To achieve goals you need to ensure a good balance in your diet, set up variety into your meal, and practice moderation. The basis of nutrition lies in your height, weight, size, and your daily energy needs. Once you know this you can compute what your daily calorific needs are and set goals for weight maintenance, gain, or loss. By regulating your diet you can be active as well as happy.

Eat plenty of whole fruits, grains, and vegetables. They will supply you with essential vitamins, minerals, and protection from several diseases.

Map to exercise every day. Either walk or take up aerobics, dancercise, or join a gym for the fitness. Exercise will not just burn calories but put a glow into your skin; your body will shine, tone your muscles, and strengthen your bones. Exercises also remove accumulated toxins from your body and make you fit.

Create a time-table for your meals. Never fast, starve yourself, or skip a meal. Eat when your body demands nourishment but not huge quantity.

Read more at :-
http://www.healthsuperstore.com/

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Eat healthy Foods – It Makes Sense!

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We all know the importance of eating healthy foods for their vitamin and mineral content. However, in recent years, scientists have discovered that there are hundreds of substances in food that have healing and disease prevention properties.

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We all know the importance of eating healthy foods for their vitamin and mineral content. However, in recent years, scientists have discovered that there are hundreds of substances in food that have healing and disease prevention properties.

So why, if there are foods that will heal many of our common ailments, have we not heard more about them? Maybe it’s because, just as we’ve become a fast food society, we’ve also become a fast cure society. We’re always looking for the easy way to cure and prevent diseases by just popping a pill.

Just look at the increasing number of ads on TV and in magazines for drugs. Often the side effects are worse than the disease they’re meant to prevent or cure!

Wouldn’t it be better to use natural remedies? Remedies with no side effects, to cure and prevent diseases? Of course it would! That’s why I decided to write this article. Here’s to a healthier life!.

Perhaps as a child you were told by your mom to eat all your carrots because they were good for your eyes? As you grew up, you may have cynically been told by others that this was just an “old wives tale”. Guess what, recent studies have shown that Mom was right! Foods can prevent eye disease, heart disease, arthritis and much more.

Some Basic Science:

In recent years scientists have discovered that foods contain “phytochemicals”, which is a fancy name for naturally occurring chemicals. This is not the same as nutrients, which we all know are the substances necessary for sustaining life.

Phytochemicals have properties that can aid in disease prevention and cures. Scientists have identified thousands of these chemicals in the foods we eat and a single serving of fruit or vegetables can contain as many as one hundred different phytochemicals.

The most commonly known phytochemicals are the antioxidants. Antioxidants protect our cells from damage by toxic substances and free radicals (a by-product produced by our bodies which converts oxygen into energy). Free radicals can damage cells in our bodies which can lead to disease. Antioxidants protect the body from oxidation and reduce the risk of acquiring many common ailments.

The full article is a big one and covers:

Fruits and Vegetables
Healing Properties Of Fruits
Healing Properties Of Vegetables
Seeds, Nuts, Oils and Fish
Healing Properties Of Seeds, Nuts, Oils and Fish
Grains
Healing Properties Of Grains
Healing Properties Of Beans and Lentils
Healing Properties Of Herbs and Spices
Healing Teas
Other Healing Foods

Hit the link below to continue reading it.

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Eat Healthy and Lose Weight Christopher Ayu

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If you accept the analogy that our bodies are like an engine, then it follows that this engine will perform better if it receives the type of fuel that it was designed to run on. In years gone by, before artificially processed and manufactured foods, our bodies normally received the correct nutritional balance every day.
As more and more families saw both the husband and wife holding down jobs outside the home, the dynamics of eating, exercise and nutrition began to change. “Convenience” and “fast foods” became the norm, and farms were gradually replaced by processing plants. Today, the average meal is so laden with artificial preservatives and saturated fat that our bodies are starving for the ingredients that they need, and overflowing with the ingredients that they don’t need.
This nutritional imbalance manifests itself through weight problems, skin problems, tiredness, disease, and overall poor health. Although this problem has reached pandemic proportions, you can reverse the effects of poor diet in your own life if you truly want to.
Garbage In – Garbage Out
While this phrase may have been coined for the computer industry, it’s very relevant when it comes to our own body. Every moment that we are alive, our body is busy manufacturing the chemicals, fluids, proteins, and tissues that are required to keep us healthy. Food, or rather the nutrition that is derived from food, is what the body depends upon to handle all of these tasks.
Everything that we consume is used, stored, or discarded by the body. The body’s particular nutritional needs can vary widely depending upon what’s going on inside and outside of us at any particular time. Our body makes decisions on whether to burn carbs or fat based upon our immediate energy needs, how long it has been since our last meal, and the general condition of our health.
The body burns fuel in a very specific order. Alcohol is burned first because our bodies have no way to store it for later use. Protein is burned next, then carbohydrates and, finally fat.
Because fat is consumed last, and the average person has a diet which is rich in fat, our bodies store the fat away to be used at a future time. How is this fat stored? You guessed it; it’s stored as fatty tissue. And that’s why we call being overweight “fat”.
These excess fat stores not only affect our physical appearance, but they have a tremendous impact on our overall health. Study after study has shown that excess fat in our diets are directly linked to these medical conditions:
– Increased risk of developing certain cancers.
– Increased risk of arterial and heart disease due to elevated cholesterol levels.
– Increased risk of stroke.
– Increased risk of Diabetes.
– Increased risk of Liver disease.
– Direct impact on the body’s immune system.
Doesn’t it just make sense to avoid these unnecessary health risks by reducing the amount of fat that we consume every day? Of course it does.

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Eat Healthy and Be Free from Anxiety

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Studies have shown that having a healthy diet may reduce signs and symptoms of anxiety. One can relieve tension and manage stress better by what a person do and don’t eat. This article focuses on changing the diet plans of a person so he or she can live anxiety-free.

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Everyone experiences anxiety, even children. In fact, being unable to do so can be the sign of quite a serious problem. In our hazardous world, anxiety is a strategy that the body uses to help the mind recognize and keep well out of the way of danger. As with most mental illnesses, it’s not the presence of anxiety alone that creates problems. It is more about how severe it is and how much it gets in the way of life.

Most people feel anxious at some time in their lives. However, about five per cent of people experience severe anxiety but rarely seek professional help. Anxiety is a mixture of physical and mental symptoms. They are part of what psychologists call the “fight or flight” response. When the body is under threat, it automatically prepares either to defend itself or run.

Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. It helps one deal with a tense situation in the office, study harder for an exam, keep focused on an important speech. In general, it helps one cope. But when anxiety becomes an excessive, irrational dread of everyday situations, it can become a disabling disorder. Effective treatments for anxiety disorders are available, and research is yielding new and improved therapies that can help most people cope with anxiety disorders lead productive and fulfilling lives.

However, studies have shown that having a healthy diet may reduce signs and symptoms of anxiety. Although food can’t cure an anxiety disorder, consider some changes to your diet:

Avoid or limit caffeine intake as much as possible. Caffeine is present in many soft drinks, not just tea and coffee and it can set up its own vicious cycle. It can speed up heart rate and disrupts sleep which are signs of anxiety. Trying to overcome tiredness by drinking more caffeine only makes the long-term problems worse.

Avoid too much alcohol. Similarly, alcohol can worsen the symptoms of anxiety and disrupt sleep. Many people reach for a drink to calm their nerves, but the consequences of overindulgence can outweigh the benefits of initial relaxation. For some, a hangover, insomnia and dehydration make one feel worse than before one had a drink, and the depressants in alcohol can make you feel sluggish and anxious. Alcohol, like a simple sugar, is rapidly absorbed by the body. Like other sugars, alcohol increases hypoglycemia symptoms; excessive use can increase anxiety and mood swings.

Eat complex carbohydrates. During anxious times, turn to comforting carbs. These foods act as a mild tranquilizer by increasing the amount of serotonin, a calming neurotransmitter, in the brain. Complex carbs, such as potatoes, wholewheat bread and pasta, take longer to digest than sugary simple carbs like white bread, so one can stay fuller longer and blood sugar is likely to stay steady, eliminating stress and anxiety. Carbohydrate-rich meals and snacks are thought to increase the amount of serotonin in the brain, which has a calming effect.

Be sure to drink eight or more glasses of water a day. Dehydration can lead to fatigue, headaches and stress. One should be well hydrated and drinking lots of water a day can decrease symptoms of anxiety.

Take multivitamins and mineral supplement. B vitamins, whose role is to unlock the energy in food, are crucial, particularly B-6, which helps manufacture serotonin in the brain. Choose a daily supplement that supplies 100 per cent of the daily recommendation of all vitamins and minerals.

Although tension and daily stresses are unavoidable, one can relieve tension and manage stress and anxiety better by what a person do and don’t eat.

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Eat Fiber and Avoid Constipation Rudy Silva

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To have regular bowel movements and escape constipation you need to eat more fiber. Fiber from raw vegetable and fruits is better for you than fiber from grains. Why? Raw vegetables and fruits are live foods with enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and many antioxidants that are charged electrically. They have a magnetic energy that is absorbed by your DNA. So get more fiber from this source and less from grains.
Don’t forget about water. If you don’t get enough water during the day, your body will take the water out of your fecal matter in the colon and make your stools hard. Drink a minimum of 3 glasses a day of pure water and work up to drinking 5-6.
Here’s where you need to do some “fiber work.” You need to increase your fiber intake to around 40 – 60 mg or more. Yes this is a lot. In the past, I recommended 35mg of fiber, but this is an average. You want to have more than the average amount. Here are some foods with high fiber. Add them to your eating habits so that you will not be constipated. Fiber does much more in your colon than make you regular, it:

combines with toxins and moves them out in your stools
combines with heavy metal and moves them out in your stools
combines with cholesterol and bile and prevents them from being reabsorbed into your blood stream.
helps to prevent colon cancer and other colon diseases.
keeps your colon walls strong and healthy by not allowing toxins to accumulate there.
cleans the colon walls and pulls toxins out of colon pockets and holes.

The following foods provide 3 gm of fiber. Add a variety of these foods to your daily diet to get more fiber into your eating habits. Start eating these foods little by little to get use to eating high fiber levels.

1/3 cup prunes
2 slices of whole wheat bread
1/2 cup cooked winter squash
1/2 cup fresh cooked green peas
1/2 cup cooked kidney beans, or pinto beans, or cowpeas
1 cup of cooked barley, 1 1/2 cup of brown rice, 1 cup of millet
3 corn tortillas
1 1/2 cup spaghetti, 1/3 cup of spinach spaghetti
1/6 cup 100% bran, 1/2 cup cream of wheat
1 cup applesauce, 1 cup of apple slices, 1/2 cup of bananas, 1/2 cup figs
1 cup fruit salad, 1 cup of prune juice, 1 ounce of raisins
1/2 avocado
1 cup blueberries, 3/4 cup of cranberries
1/3 cup guava, 1 kiwifruit, 1/2 of a mango, 2 nectarines, 1/3 papaya
1 orange, 1 cup peach slices, 1 cup pears slices, 1/2 persimmon
1 1/2 cup pineapple, 1 cup strawberries
1/2 cup raisins, 3/4 cup coconut
1/2 cup rhubarb, 1/3 cup of artichoke hearts
1.2 ounces of almonds, 1/2 ounce sesame seeds, 1/3 cup of sunflower seeds
1/4 cup of baby lima beans, 1/7 cup of black beans, 1 cup green beans
1/4 cup of kidney, pinto, white or navy beans, 1/3 cup of lentils
1/2 cup broccoli, 1/2 cup Brussels sprouts, 1 cup cabbage
2 carrots, 1/2 cup of carrot juice
1 cup cauliflower, 5 stalks of celery
1 cup of chard, 1 cup of mustard greens
1 ear of corn
1/2 cup of mixed vegetables
1/2 cup of olives
1/2 baked potato, 1 baked sweet potato, 1 cup yams
1 cup tomato juice, 1 cup vegetable juice

How do you know when you are starting to get plenty of fiber in your diet? When you are getting plenty of fiber in your diet, your stools weigh less and float in your toilet water. So if your stools sink in water then you need more fiber. This is just a general rule. If you eat excess fiber your stools may sink, but I doubt any of you fall in this category.

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Eat a variety of veggies for a healthier you

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So don’t forget to get your five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day. It may seem like a lot, but you can meet this quite reasonable goal simply by including fruits and vegetables as snacks, as garnishes, as side dishes and as meals.

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The new food guidelines issued by the United States government recommend that all Americans eat between five and nine servings of fruits and vegetables each and every day. When you first hear that number, it may seem like a lot, but it is actually much easier than you think to fit that many servings of fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. For one thing, the shelves of the grocery stores are fairly bursting with fresh fruits and vegetables. In addition, vegetables and fruits are some of the least expensive, most nutrient rich, foods in the supermarket. With all these fruits and vegetables to choose from, it is very easy to make these nutritious, delicious foods part of your daily meals and snacks.

When you take into account how much a serving really is, it is actually quite easy to get five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day. For instance, the recommended daily amount actually equates to a quite reasonable two cups of fruit and two and a half cups of vegetables every day. When you consider how many fruits and vegetables are available, and how low the prices usually are, it is easy to see how easy to reach this daily goal really is.

One great way to get the nutrients you need from fruits and vegetables every day is to take full advantage of the variety of these foods available. Eating the same thing every day quickly becomes boring, so why not pick a variety of fruits and vegetables, in every color of the rainbow and in every conceivable shape, size and texture, to give yourself a varied diet every day.

When shopping for fruits and vegetables, it is important to choose a variety of different colors. This is for more than purely artistic reasons. Different color fruits and vegetables have different types of nutrients, and choosing a variety of colors will help ensure you get all the vitamins and minerals you need each and every day.

Finding new recipes is another great way to ensure you get those five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Everyone likes to try out new recipes, and these new recipes may just provide the impetus you need to eat all those fruits and veggies.

New recipes can also provide you the important opportunity to try out some fruits and vegetables you have never tried before. For instance, everyone has eaten oranges, but have you tried kiwi fruit or mangoes? How about spinach or kale? Trying new things is a great way to find new favorites while getting the best nutrition available.

Many people mistakenly think that they do not need to eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day if they just take a vitamin supplement. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. That is because fruits and vegetables contain far more than the micronutrients identified by science and synthesized in vitamin pills. While these micronutrients, such as vitamin C, vitamin A and vitamin E are important to good health, so too are the hundreds of other elements that are contained in healthy foods like fruits and vegetables. These elements are not available in any pill, they must be ingested through a healthy, balanced diet that contains plenty of fruits and vegetables.

In addition, fruits and vegetables are much less costly than vitamin pills. Fruits and vegetables are very inexpensive, especially when purchased in season and grown locally. In the long run, getting the nutrition you need from the food you eat is much less expensive, and much better for you, than popping those vitamin pills every day.

So don’t forget to get your five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day. It may seem like a lot, but you can meet this quite reasonable goal simply by including fruits and vegetables as snacks, as garnishes, as side dishes and as meals.

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Easy-To-Follow Nutrient Ratios: One Minute Lesson

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What you are about to discover is a sure-fire, effortless way to easily determine an appropriate nutrient ratio for your own personal goals.

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Copyright 2006 Marc David

What you are about to discover is a sure-fire, effortless way to easily determine an appropriate nutrient ratio for your own personal goals.

But before I get too far ahead of myself, make sure you understand how to estimate your caloric and protein needs. If you don’t, you can get a copy of the Top 12 Report [link at the end of this article] which will show you the simple to use formulas for calculating your calories. I’m going to 3,000 as the overall calorie requirements for any examples.

While there are several methods to determine your nutrient ratios, this will explain two popular methods referred to as the ISSA 1-2-3 Nutritional Rule-of-Thumb (International Sports Sciences Association). Once you know how many calories a day you need, you can determine the correct ratio.

Let’s examine the ISSA intake guideline of approximately 1 part fat, 2 parts protein and 3 parts carbohydrates. This is generally accepted as a safe way to burn fat for those who are weight training and exercising.

If you were to follow this rule, you would guarantee you you’d be following a diet that was low in fat, moderate in protein and high in carbohydrates.

This probably comes as no surprise but this rule-of-thumb makes it amazingly easy to prioritize your thinking when it comes to purchasing food, preparing meals or even eating out! You won’t be like a rat trapped in a maze anymore.

What I am about to share are two methods for determining your nutrient ratios based on the 1-2-3 rule.

Method 1

If you were any good at math, you can see that the 1-2-3 rule adds up to 6 parts. 1 part fat, 2 parts protein and 3 parts carbohydrates add up to 6 total parts. That is about the number of times per day you should be eating. Small but frequent meals that you might have read about elsewhere.

First, dividing up the number 3,000 in our example by 6 will give you 500 calories per part.

Second, knowing that one part equals 500 calories we can figure out the number of calories for each part based on the 1-2-3 rule-of-thumb.

Fat: 1 part x 500 = 500 calories allotted to fat
Protein: 2 parts x 500 = 1000 calories allotted to protein
Carbs: 3 parts x 500 = 1500 calories allotted to carbs

Note: If you don’t know how many calories are in fat, protein and carbs, let me show you really quick so we can continue on with figuring the proper ratios. You’ll use this later to keep it handy.

Fat = 9 calories per gram
Protein = 4 calories per gram
Carbohydrates = 4 calories per gram

Finally you should begin to notice that if you take the calories allotted to each part and divide that number by the numbers above you get:

Fat Calories: 500/9 = 55g of fat
Protein Calories: 1000/4 = 250 grams of protein
Carbohydrate Calories: 1500/4 = 375 grams of carbs

Figuring out the ratios at this point is just as easy as dividing the nutrient totals by the overall calorie totals.

For example, 500 fat calories / 3000 overall calories = 16% fat. Carrying on you’ll see this is broken down into:

Fat: 17% (rounded up)
Protein: 33%
Carbs: 50%

How’s that for determining your own custom ratio? Now you know how to figure out how many grams of what nutrient you need per day using this simple rule.

Using a diet tracking program, that task should be as easy as cutting a fresh apple pie! But we aren’t finished yet…

Method 2

But what if you don’t want to just follow the simple 1-2-3 rule to lose weight? What if you really want to build muscle and you know you will need more protein?

That’s where you simply modify the above rules to ensure protein is the #1 factor in your calculations. If you’re thinking you have to reverse the formula, you are right but it’s easy if you know how.

Example: Male, 200 lbs, 15% body fat, competitive athlete; using 1.14 grams of protein per lb of body weight for this example.

Protein:

1.14 x 200 lbs = 228 grams of protein a day. If you recall, we know that protein has 4 calories per gram right?

228 grams x 4 calories per gram = 912 calories from protein

Based on the daily calorie needs we used above, 912 protein calories / 3000 overall calories = 30%

30% of the overall calories we need a day are from protein.

Fat:

While the RDA might recommend 30% or less of your calories from fat, keep in mind the 1-2-3 rule which states that 1 part is fat.

1 part in this guideline is roughly 16.6% (but we’ll just round that up for now).

All this means is you want to get 17% of your total daily calories from fat.

17% x 3000 total daily calories = 510 calories from fat…

Are you with me still?

Let’s figure out how many grams that is simply by recalling that a gram of fat is 9 calories.

So 510 fat calories / 9 calories per gram = 56 fat grams per day!

Note: This may be a reduction for some people considering that it’s quite possible you were getting 50% of your total calories from fats. If this is the case, you might just have to adjust the ratios at this point so it’s not too drastic of a change. Slow and steady changes win the race.

Let’s keep going.

Carbohydrates:

3000 daily calories – 510 fat calories – 912 protein calories = 1578 carb calories.

Again, if you recall there’s 4 calories in a gram of carbohydrates.

1578 carb calories / 4 calories per gram = 395 grams of carbs per day.

If you ever wanted to know the specific ratios, it’s just as simply as taking the nutrient calories divided by the number of overall calories.

In this example, 1578 carb calories / 3000 daily calories = 52%. So 52% of your overall daily calories come from carbs. You can do the same formula for the rest to see the exact nutrient percentages as shown in Method 1 above.

Hopefully you are still reading and if you are then just remember no matter if you use Method 1 or Method 2 of the 1-2-3 rule-of-thumb that is 1 part fat, 2 parts protein and 3 parts carbohydrates, it’s valid for most people who are trying to melt fat while exercising. The rule can be changed to allow for muscle gain or fat loss.