Posts Tagged ‘Whole Grains’

A Healthy And Successful Weight Loss Diet

Saturday, August 8th, 2009

If you are like most people who are concerned about their weight, chances are you place far too much importance on watching out for the foods you shouldn’t be eating, and not enough importance on the foods you should be eating. Daily nutritional allowances for vitamins and minerals are recommended for good reason. Without meeting these daily allowances, your body can’t function properly.

To start, forget about any fad weight loss diet that promises instant weight loss, and requires you to eat one specific category of food for extended periods of time. There’s no single type of food in existence that can provide you with the variety of necessary vitamins and minerals you need for healthy body function. Not only that, chances are you won’t be able to stick to a fad diet for very long. Diets that require you to eat only one kind of food soon become so boring that you’ll be back to your old eating habits in no time.

There’s only one kind of weight loss diet that health professionals recommend for safe weight loss. It doesn’t involve eating obscure foods, or only one type of food for an extended period of time. It’s the same diet you have been hearing about all your life. The only diet for proper weight loss is a nutritionally balanced diet.

A nutritionally balanced diet will contain enough vitamins and minerals to help your body function well, and enough carbohydrates, protein, and fat to meet your energy requirements. This diet is high in healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

The best part of eating a balanced diet for weight loss is the added benefit these foods offer by making you feel full without adding significantly to your calorie intake. Fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain breads and cereals are all low in calories. They are also high in vitamins and minerals

So when trying to lose weight, be sure you don’t cut these healthy foods out of your diet. Just eat smaller portions of everything. To safely lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, you will need to reduce your total daily calorie intake by 500 to 1,000 calories. It is important to distribute the remaining calories into carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Your body needs all three!

Carbohydrates are your body’s primary source of energy, and are found in a wide range of foods that include whole grain breads, pasta, rice, and sweets. However, as far as the sweets go, they are high in calories but offer little, or no nutritional benefit. Leave them out of any weight loss diet. Be sure to meet your body’s carbohydrate requirements with foods that are nutritious.

Protein provides us with the necessary material for tissue repair, and growth. Protein can also be a source of energy for the body, but only as a last resort. Some foods that are high in protein would be meat, fish, legumes, and whole grains. Remember, that when it comes to meat, red meat is high in fat. Unless you enjoy extremely lean cuts, it might be best to minimize your intake of red meat while on a diet. You will be far better off sticking to fish, legumes, and whole grains.

Fat intake should be as little as possible when trying to lose weight, even though it is true that your body needs a certain amount of fat to function properly. Fat is available in a wide range of foods, but you should stick with the healthiest sources which will come from fish, nuts, seeds, and olive oil.

A solid weight loss diet will include foods from the different food groups that provide you with the highest amount of vitamins and minerals. To maximize the success of your weight loss diet you must add regular physical activity. If you follow a proper balance of diet and exercise, you’ll be well on your way to successful weight loss.

Copyright &copy2007 Carl DiNello

Carl DiNello is an Article Author and Wesbite Owner whose articles are featured on websites covering the Internets most popular topics. To read more on this topic, please visit Weight Loss Solutions! You may republish this article on your website, or e-zine so long as none of the content, or author information has been edited or changed in any way, and all links are left active and unchanged.

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The Secret to Healthy Weight Loss Diets

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

Losing weight is seemingly simple – expend more calories than you take in and you will lose weight. As millions of dieters can tell you, though, losing weight isn’t as easy as it sounds. In order to use more calories than you consume, you either have to eat fewer calories, burn more calories through exercise, or a do combination of both. The problem with this is that eating fewer calories often results in hunger and lack of energy.

A diet that will provide nutrients and energy, as well as a satisfying amount of food, is one that will result in permanent healthy weight loss. So what is this diet?

The secret is the concept of calorie density. The best foods for weight loss are bulky and high in nutrients while being low in calories. This is why vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes are excellent foods to eat for weight loss. They contain a large amount of water and fiber to satisfy hunger, and they also contain a lot of nutrients to provide energy and promote overall health.

On the other hand, the foods dieters should avoid provide very few nutrients, contain little water or fiber, and are high in calories. Fat and/or sugar are what make foods calorie dense and nutrient poor. We all know which foods these are! Ice cream, hamburgers, deep dish pizza, and cake are just a few examples.

If you want to be satisfied and feel healthy on a weight loss diet, you have to eat foods that contain a lot of water, fiber, and nutrients. Eating these foods will make you feel great! And when you feel good and see the scale moving in the right direction, it can be easier than ever to keep losing weight.

The reason many diets fail is that they just plain make you feel miserable. They rely on nutrient-poor, fiber less foods like meal replacement shakes and bars. These diets are destined to fail because they can’t be sustained over the long term. No one can eat like that forever!

Diets that do work are ones that make you feel so good you want to keep it up. Eating nutrient-packed vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes along with low fat meats and dairy products (if you so desire) is healthy, satisfying, and will result in reaching your perfect weight and optimum health.

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Healthy Diets – Ten Steps to Easy Weight Control

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

Healthy diets promoted by many companies and gurus are anything but healthy diets – in fact, they can be harmful to your long-term health.

So if you are looking for healthy diets then you should consider if they take into account the 10 points below, which are universal in scope and are actually not that difficult to follow.

1. Balance Fat and Protein

Fat should supply around 30% of your total daily calories. Limit your intake of fat by having more vegetables in your diet.

Eat lean meats, light-meat poultry without the skin, fish, and low-fat dairy products. In addition, make sure you limit vegetable oils and butter in your diet.

Protein should be around 15% of your calorie intake. Don’t fall for the myth of so-called healthy diets that recommend eating protein at the expense of fat, it’s not natural and can cause health problems.

2. Limit Your Intake of Saturated Fat

This is the kind of fat, found mostly in animal products, that increases blood cholesterol levels and has other negative health effects. It should supply less than one-third of the calories derived from fat.

Keep your cholesterol intake below 300 milligrams per day.

3. Eat Foods Rich in Complex Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates should contribute around 55% of your total daily calories. Don’t fall for the hype that carbohydrates are bad for you they are not, just make sure you eat complex carbohydrates.

To help get the right sources, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and six or more servings of whole grains. This will help you obtain the 25 grams of fiber you need each day.

4. Avoid too Much Sugar

Many foods that are high in sugar are also high in fat. Look at the labels to see how much sugar is in a product – many products say they are low in fat, but they are high in sugar, and this turns to fat.

5. Eat Green, Orange, and Yellow Fruits and Vegetables

Examples would be broccoli, carrots, cantaloupe, and citrus fruits. The antioxidants and other nutrients in these foods are increasingly important in helping protect against a variety of diseases.

6. Variety

Eat a variety of foods – this really is the key to a balanced diet. Don’t try to fill your nutrient requirements by eating the same foods every day – it won’t work.

7. Limit Sodium Intake

Your sodium intake should be a maximum of 2,400 milligrams per day. This is equivalent to about a teaspoon of salt. Therefore, Avoid salty foods and be careful to check food labels carefully for sodium content.

8. Vitamins and Minerals from Food

Supplements cannot substitute for a healthy diet, which supplies nutrients and other compounds besides vitamins and minerals. Foods also provide the “synergy” that many nutrients require so that they can be effective, and be broken down in the body and utilized correctly.

9. Maintain a Desirable Weight

Don’t ignore exercise, it only needs to be moderate, you don’t have to kill yourself in the gym! The two biggest causes of obesity are processed unnatural foods and our modern lazy life style.

10. Enjoy your Food

If you drink alcohol, eat chocolate, crisps etc you can – but don’t overdo it. Why shouldn’t you eat what you really enjoy? There is no reason why you can’t.

Healthy Diets are Balanced Diets

There are many healthy diets to choose from, and they’re all different, but the basis of any healthy diet should take into account the 10 points outlined here.

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More dieting and general health information and FREE exclusive diet and health magazines, are available on our web site: www.net-planet.org

Which Low-Carb Diets Are Healthy?

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

There are many diets on the market today that call themselves low-carb diets, but which ones are healthy. That is what is important. You may lose weight on all of them, but some of these low-carb diets are also high in fat and that is not necessarily good either. The best kind of low-carb diet is one that is balanced. You are not looking to eliminate all carbs, but you want to stick mostly with the whole and unprocessed carbohydrates.

You should have about 5 servings of carbohydrates per day and if possible, you want get them from foods that are as close to natural as possible. Here are a few suggestions for making healthy choices on a low-carb diet:

1. Legumes-they are a great choice for a carbohydrate serving. Beans, peas and peanuts are all examples of legumes. Legumes are high in protein and fiber. They are also low in fat and very economically priced.
2. Select whole grain foods-this is not always easy, because so many foods today are highly processed. Look for foods that list a whole grain as the first ingredient on the ingredients list. Whole grains are usually high in fiber, low in sugar and they also keep your blood-sugar levels more even.
3. Try to eat more soy products-Unfortunately soy is not known for its taste, but soy products have a lot of nutritional value. Most low-carb diets do not allow soy products, because they do contain carbohydrates. The nutritional value of soy far outweighs any negative impact that its carbs may have. Soy is high in protein and has been known to reduce the risks of cancer and heart disease.

Here are some foods that are normally limited on most low-carb diets, but they are natural and can be eaten within reason:

1. Fruits-they are low in calories and high in vitamins and fiber making them a healthy choice. They have a natural sweetness that can be used to satisfy that craving to eat sugary foods. However, not all fruits are created equal. Some do have more sugar than should be consumed on a low-carb diet.
2. Leafy green and non-starchy vegetables-They are full of vitamins and a healthy choice at any time.

The things that you will want to limit as much as possible are refined sugars and carbohydrates. They add calories to your diet and do not have much nutritional value. These bad carbs come in the form of breads, pastas and starchy vegetables. These food products do not do anything for you nutritionally and they cause your blood sugar levels to be very inconsistent.

Low-carb diets are very healthy as long as you do not load them with high fat protein. Like any other weight loss plan, this one is all about the choices you make and how well you can make it fit into your lifestyle.

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Marjorie Salada is the owner of Weight Loss 3000, a website that contains information on weight loss, exercise, weight loss surgery and living a healthy lifestyle.

Eating Low Fat Products For Better Health

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

When you eat a diet that is high in saturated and Tran’s fats, you are causing a buildup of calcium in your blood vessels that can later cause many different medical conditions. If you change your eating habits to include low fat foods, you can ensure that you will live for a good long time.

For those with a normal heart, each time the heart contracts, calcium is pumped in and out. When too much calcium accumulates, it can cause a myriad of problems with the electrical system of the heart. It can cause cardiac arrest, heart attack or arrhythmias. It has been found that when there is an abundance of saturated fat in the cells of the heart at the time a person experiences a heart attack, the chances of death are greater and the complications afterward can be severe.

Incorporating low fat eating to your daily routine can help you avoid many heart problems as well as circulatory problems. Any doctor or medical professional will tell you eating a low fat diet is the best way to stay healthy, and allow your body to function at its best. Low fat eating can be quite enjoyable if you do your research and you are willing to experiment with new flavors and textures.

Many people view low fat diets as bland and boring, but nothing could be further from the truth. Foods that you can enjoy on a low fat diet are fresh crisp vegetables in season as well as fruits, lean meats and fish and a variety of whole grains. Using sauces and spices to flavor food is also a great way to help you stick with a low fat diet.

Eating a low fat diet can contribute to feeling good about yourself again as it will enable you to lose weight. You may also experience a greater feeling of energy when you are eating a low fat diet. You will eliminate all of the foods that make your body work hard to digest them and it will give you more energy than you ever thought possible.

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