Posts Tagged ‘nutrition’

6 Hidden Dangers Of High Protein Diets

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

High protein diets are extremely seductive. After all, they can cause a massive amount of weight loss in a very short amount of time. But there is a catch, most of the weight is water.

Moreover, there are many other nasty side effects with high protein diets.

So here is why ketogenic diets may not be for you:

1. Fast muscle catabolism: This process literally happens over night when you restrict carbohydrates. You see, without carbohydrates your body turns to its own tissues for energy. In other words, you put your muscle tissue on the dinner plate.

2. Increased cortisol: This further accelerates muscle breakdown while simultaneously decreasing your immunity. You see, cortisol has an immunity suppressing effect. This is one of the many reasons people feel so weak when on high protein diets.

3. Less mental performance: You see, although your body can convert muscle protein to sugar for your brain, it’s not a very efficient process. Subsequently, your mental performance decreases. So if you need to maintain mental performance, high protein diets are probably not for you.

4. Less serotonin: Your levels of serotonin go up as your carbohydrate intake goes up. Taking out carbs from the equation will cause your serotonin levels to plummet. So make sure you are prepared for this worsened mental state before going into ketosis.

5. Decreased exercise output: You cannot reach your exercise potential without carbohydrates in your diet. You see, carbs are what give your muscles energy to function at peak capacities. Unfortunately, a decrease in intensity translates into less calories burned.

6. Decreased muscle tone: Without carbs, your muscles will not looked toned. There is no way around this effect. You see, your muscles look best when they are full of water and carbs. Both of these give them their tight and toned look.

Ketogenic diets are very hard on the body. And they will prevent you from reaching peak performance. So make sure you take into account the pointers in this article before ditching your carbs!

Author Katherine Crawford, an exercise physiologist and former arm fat sufferer, teaches how to do arm exercises for women. Unearth how to get sexy and toned arms by visiting her website with shake weight reviews right now!

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How A Meal Delivery Service Can Help You Lose Weight

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Following a low fat and low calorie diet is one of the best ways to get healthy and lose weight. Preparing all of these meals at home can be extremely time consuming and difficult to figure out. Eating out constantly can be a strain on your pocketbook which may be a great reason to consider a diet meal plan delivery service.

Such services measure out the correct types of food and the portions that will help you achieve your goals. They prepare the recommended servings and the correct types of food and deliver the exact amounts you need directly to your plate. Overeating won’t be a problem and it will be much easier for you to stick to your diet. If you are looking to jump start a diet, such delivery services are a great way to begin. They provide great tasting food that is low in calories and really good for you.

Such services make sure that all of your portions are controlled and several even offer support regarding lifestyle and exercise tips. Such services aren’t as expensive as you might believe. The meal delivery plans differ but you can find a comprehensive service for as little as $10 a day.

However, certain meal delivery service programs can be victims of their success. These programs do all of the hard work which most dieters should be doing on their own like resisting triggers and temptations that can often derail diet goals through overeating. It’s just like attempting to quit smoking. For reducing nicotine in your body, there are many solutions that reduce levels gradually. However, when these helpful tools are eliminated, is it possible for you to continue cold turkey?

So, when it comes time to do the heavy lifting on your own without the help of such services, will you be able to continue a health lifestyle? Ask yourself if you will be able to continue your dietary goals once you no longer use the meal delivery service. If you’re up for the difficult task of carrying on once the service is complete, you might find great benefit from the jump start to healthy living that such services provide.

For help with dieting and healthy meals that you and your family will enjoy, visit NutrifitOnline.com.

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Discussing The Methods Utilized By Some Poultries In Raising Eggs

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Chicken is an all time favourite in our dining tables but have you ever wondered how these animals were raised or bred? If you knew, you may reconsider having them on your menu at all and stick with veggies for the rest of your life which isn’t a bad idea at all. While this may seem a bit too exaggerated, some thought should be given over the fact that these animals are typically raised in enclosed environments that you would often find six or more chickens sharing a single cage.

You may at times find comfort in addressing this through proud statements of retailers that the commodity the eggs and meat that they sell are bred in wide areas and have not been subjected to all sorts of artificial substances but the only way to be sure about that is if they have a credible certification for it. Otherwise, the chicken meat and eggs that you purchased from them could possibly have been subjected to all sorts of antibiotics and growth stimulants that would allow sellers to process them quickly and effectively but all these substances can have a relatively unhealthy effect on the human body. The idea of having all those chicken dwelling in such a limited space and unsanitary environment doesn’t help either.

Furthermore, the sanitary measures employed by individuals who regularly handle poultry products must also be taken into account. The fact that they need to use bleach to sanitize themselves after exposure to these animals should give a thought about how much of a health risk they can be.

Thus go ahead and ask yourselves, does the thought of eating something that once required the application of bleach in order to sanitize individuals exposed to them appealing to you? Sure enough that whatever bacteria that is initially in them can be killed by cooking the meat at specific temperatures but who honestly pays close attention to this? The premise of eating it while filled with disease causing bacteria is clearly a possible one.

You may think that this is no big deal and that if that’s actually the case, then you’ll just avoid eating poultry products but this is actually not the case and the same condition is applicable to other mass produced animals as well. One good example would be turkeys. Besides, all these animals have been exposed to so much artificial substances that you may find them to taste a tad bit different. Although such effects are hardly surprising since even the most well prepared poultry products have been exposed to artificial substances at one point or another.

Now you might think that this is still all too exaggerated and if that’s the case then I would urge you to read a book entitled “Diet for a Small Planet”. It was written by a man named John Robbins and contains a lot of images about poultry chickens and how they are typically handled. Imagine someone grabbing one by the neck and just shoving it as though it was some sort of plaything. It’s not a pretty picture to paint.

Efforts at artificially breeding any animal for purpose of human consumption are a very unnatural thing to do. It’s certainly not a healthy diet to keep and is utterly cruel.

Humans are natural hunters. That premise is certainly true. However, the level of antibiotics and artificial substances such as growth enhancers in which these animals are subjected to all veer much too far from the definition of the word natural.

Check out more of this author’s advice on items such as plastic popcorn boxes and buy bulk popcorn.

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Who Says Chocolate Is Bad For Your Health?

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

You may feel guilty about your love of chocolate, but the truth is that there are times of the year when we can all indulge in a few pieces of chocolate without feeling ill effects. There’s a saying that nine out of ten people love chocolate, and the tenth person is lying.

Why does all this guilt surround those who eat chocolate? Do we really need to feel guilty about eating it? Fortunately, the answer is no! There’s nothing intrinsically unhealthy about chocolate comprised of 70% cocoa or more. Of course, the relative healthiness of chocolate depends on the quantity and quality of the chocolate being eaten.

First, let’s examine some of the health benefits of chocolate. You may feel like you get a sense of euphoria when eating chocolate, and you’re not imagining it. Chocolate contains a phyto-nutrient, which acts as an endorphin – these are the human body’s natural pleasure hormones.

Chocolate can almost be considered an antidepressant. This could explain why so many people indulge in chocolate when they’re feeling down. Swiss scientists showed that eating 40g of dark chocolate each day lowered the occurrence of stress hormones in the bloodstream, which helps people manage the effects of stress.

There have been many studies conducted on the health benefits of dark chocolate and they’ve turned up some surprising results. One Swedish experiment proved that those who ate chocolate at least twice a week after a heart attack were three times more likely to survive over the following eight-year period.

In a Canadian study that provided chocolate’s health benefits, those who ate chocolate once a week were at a lower risk of stroke over those who did not.

The health benefits of chocolate come from flavinoids. These compounds, found in cocoa, act as a potent anti-oxidant in humans. They have also been shown to prevent oxidative damage to our genetic material, or DNA. This means that chocolate could potentially function as an anti-aging compound.

So don’t feel guilty about eating a little chocolate on Easter, or any other day, for that matter. Of course, it’s still best to eat chocolate in moderation; a full bar every day is too much. You’ll also want to find chocolate composed of 70% cocoa or more, and organic chocolate is great if it’s available to you.

Refer to additional works written by this very writer about topics including the 70 inch round tablecloth and round linen tablecloths.

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Improved Eating For A Healthier You

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Good nutrition doesn’t mean staying on a strict diet or constantly striving to lose weight. Although those who eat for good nutrition often lose weight in the process, the primary focus of good nutrition is health and feeling great. Introducing better nutrition into your daily meal plans is often as easy as learning a few “eat smart” tips.

Eating healthy is a very simple task to implement in our daily lifestyles, and can greatly reduce the chance of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. You may have already known that, but what you don’t know is that good nutrition can also provide more energy, mental focus, and memory for you to thrive on.

Moderation is often the key to better nutrition. Instead of prohibiting certain foods, reduce your consumption of unhealthy foods while adding healthier foods to your daily diet.

Portion control is also important for better nutrition. Just as in moderation with food types, moderation with the amount of food consumed is important. Familiarize yourself with standard food portions so that you know what they look like.

You need to maintain a strict focus and keep to your healthy eating patterns. It may help to try and change your eating habits with another person so you can help motivate each other and be there to offer encouragement when it is need. This will help you to achieve your objectives.

Make sure that you get as fresh a produce as possible. Also, try to eat at least 4 to 5 servings of fruit and vegetables every day as this is the recommended minimum.

A help guide to the nutrient content of fresh produce is their brightness and luminosity, the brighter and more luminous the better. Also, try to eat as many whole grains as possible as they help your digestive system.

Stay away from processed items and any food that has a lot of salt, sugar, or fats, as these are all bad for you. The best idea is to cook for yourself as often as possible and to make a meal schedule, rather than eating out. The great thing is that not only is this not too hard to do but way cheaper too.

This individual has been blogging on health for the last six years. Additionally, the writer is fond of providing knowledge with respect to different things, like paper tubes and plastic mailing tubes.

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