Category Archives: dieting

Detox Diet: How to Detox Naturally With Whole Foods

Posted on by
1

Agreed – whenever someone brings up some crazy juice fast I tell them why don’t you try the harder thing and just eat well instead.

‘Tis the season for juice diets, master cleanses and other well-intentioned but often misguided attempts to detoxify the body for the new year. You want to know how to detox most effectively? Stop worrying about detoxifying; eating a clean, varied whole foods diet will take care of that naturally.

Christine Gerbstadt, author of Doctor’s Detox Diet, said everything we need to detox is on our plates (or in our grocery carts) — “no special fasting diets, lemonade rinks or meal replacement bars” required. Simply choose whole foods that support the detox organs: The liver, kidneys, skin, lymphatic system and intestines.

Here are 13 detoxifying foods, drinks and dishes to get you started.

Apples. High in fibrous pectin, apples promote healthy colon function and waste excretion.

Artichokes. Artichokes promote liver health and soothe digestive problems like nausea and bloating thanks to a flavonoid antioxidant called silymarin. And a substance found in the leaves of artichokes, cynarin, helps the liver produce bile, which in turn helps the body break down fats.

Beets. Winter’s darlings are full of vitamins B3, B6, C and beta-carotene, iron, fiber, magnesium, zinc and calcium–all key components for colon and digestive tract cleansing. Beets also promote gallbladder and liver health.

Broccoli. Sulfurophane, a compound in broccoli and broccoli sprouts, aids in digestion and detoxification when the veggie is chewed and digested.

Curry. Or any food high in curcumin, the primary compound (or phenol) in the spice turmeric It’s anti-inflammatory and can trigger cell death in cancer cells, among other awesome things.

Detox soup. Perfect for winter, this recipe doesn’t discriminate much in terms of veggies; use what you’ve got to use up!

Green Tea. It’s high in catechins, an antioxidant flavonoid that speeds up liver activity by stimulating the production of digestion enzymes.

Greens. Greens are full of chlorophyll, a pigment that allows plants to absorb light and has powerful health benefits in humans, like binding to heavy metals and helping foster them out of the body.

Lemons. Though they taste acidic, lemons help alkalize the body, in addition to having diuretic and anti-inflammatory properties.

Parsley, mint and other leafy green herbs. Also high in chlorophyl, as well as antioxidants.

Seaweed and sea vegetables. Algin in seaweeds absorb toxins from the digestive tract “in much the same way a water softener removes the hardness from tap water,” according to Dr. John Dempster at Huffington Post. “Sea vegetables offer the broadest range of minerals of any food, containing virtually all the minerals found in the ocean — the same minerals that are found in human blood.” Dulse is his personal fave, he says. If seaweed intimidates you, try to sneak some in with miso soup or vegetarian hot and sour soup.

Water. Sounds like a no-brainer, but most people forget this easy and essential detoxification tool throughout the day.

Whole Grains. Insoluble fiber, like that found aplenty in whole grains (and fruits!), helps keep you from being constipated or bloated.

via Detox Diet: How to Detox Naturally With Whole Foods.

Can ‘Negative-Calorie’ Foods Help You Lose Weight?

Posted on by
Reply

by

Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN, CNS: Can 'Negative-Calorie' Foods Help You Lose Weight?

Well, yes and no. Digesting food burns calories. And it’s true that a few foods, such as grapefruit and celery, contain fewer calories than it takes to digest them. So, when you eat these foods, you actually burn more calories than you take in. Thus, the term “negative-calorie foods.”

Theoretically, the more negative-calorie foods I eat, the more weight I lose! How great is that? Now all I need is a job that pays me more the less I do, and a bank account that gets bigger the more I spend!

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Here’s why: When nutritionists estimate how many calories you should eat, we’re already taking into consideration how many calories you burn chewing and digesting your food. The “negative-calorie diet” essentially subtracts those calories twice. That’s the kind of accounting that will make you bounce checks (or get you a really good job on Wall Street).

How Negative-Calorie Foods Help You Lose Weight

But will eating a whole bunch of celery and grapefruit speed your weight loss? Only if you eat them instead of brownies and potato chips. In other words, you can’t eat a brownie and then burn off the calories by chasing it with a hundred sticks of celery. The only way to make this work is to eat the hundred sticks of celery first. Then, with any luck, you’ll be too full to eat the brownie.

Replacing high-calorie foods with low-calorie foods will help you lose weight because it reduces your overall calorie intake. Of course, you can also lose weight by exercising, which burns calories. But digesting negative-calorie foods does not constitute an exercise program. Take it from me: A half-hour spent on the treadmill or bike is going to burn a lot more calories than a half-hour spent digesting celery.

Those lists of negative-calorie foods you’ll find on the Internet are simply lists of low-calorie foods. And, if you’re dieting, these kinds of foods are your friends. To that end, here’s a list of “negative-calorie foods.” But take this list with a grain of salt: I’m afraid that a negative-calorie diet is, indeed, to good to be true.

via Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN, CNS: Can ‘Negative-Calorie’ Foods Help You Lose Weight?.

Why we all Need a Pre-Diabetes Diet

Posted on by
Reply


By Amy O’Connor

There’s no getting around the fact that we are a prediabetic society with an obesity epidemic. While we do hate to bring these facts up in November, a month when most families give thanks over a rich meal and look forward to a lazy, indulgent holiday season. But this also happens be National Diabetes Month. And choosing the right food is crucially important to people with diabetes. About 24 million Americans are believed to have diabetes, and nearly 6 million don’t know it. Another 57 million are thought to have prediabetes, a condition that boosts risks for diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. If current trends continue, 1 in 3 U.S. adults will develop diabetes by 2050.

If you don’t want to become a statistic, experts say you should start making small changes to your diet and lifestyle as soon as you can. High blood sugar silently damages the body, even if you don’t feel it. Having a normal, healthy weight by itself can reduced the risk of developing diabetes by 60 to 70 percent, and eating a healthier diet can slash your risk by 15 percent, says Jarad Reis, a researcher from the U.S. Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Here are some easy changes to make now:

End portion distortion

When you have type 2 diabetes, you need to gauge portion sizes correctly, so you know how many calories and carbohydrates you’re taking in and how they will affect your blood sugar. A 2004 study of 329 overweight people found that 38% of those who practiced portion control for two years lost 5% or more of body weight, compared with 33% of participants who did not (they gained 5% or more of body weight).

Health.com: 5 Healthy Snacks for People With (or Without!) Diabetes

Eat more fiber

Fiber itself doesn’t raise blood sugar because it can’t be digested, and that’s good. But even better, it can blunt the impact that carbohydrates have on blood sugar. The reason? The intestines take a bit more time to digest fiber-rich foods, and that slows the release of glucose into your bloodstream. A 2000 study of 13 patients showed that patients with diabetes who consumed 50 grams of fiber each day lowered their glucose levels 10% and insulin levels 12% more than those who consumed 24 grams of fiber a day. The problem is that 50 grams of fiber per day is a lot of fiber. Most Americans consume only 15 grams every day, according to the American Heart Association, and the American Diabetes Association recommends that people with diabetes eat 25 to 50 grams daily.

Space your meals

Choosing the right kind of carbohydrates and spacing them out evenly throughout the day can keep blood sugar from rising too high, too fast (90% of the carbohydrate calories you digest end up as glucose, so they have a much bigger impact on blood sugar than fat or protein). “The goal … is to take in enough carbohydrates to nourish ourselves, but never so much that it causes high blood sugars,” says Linda Sartor, a diabetes nutrition specialist at the Penn Rodebaugh Diabetes Center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Get some C

A European study found that people with the most vitamin C in their bodies had the lowest incidence of diabetes, although the link isn’t clear. Fruits and veggies like oranges, strawberries, and broccoli are the best sources of C.

Spice it up

Researchers from the University of Georgia tested 24 common herbs and spices and discovered that their antioxidants could prevent inflammation associated with diabetes. Cloves and cinnamon both got high rankings.

via Pre-Diabetes Diet Tips.

The Soda Ban Debate: What Does It Mean for Your Health? – Diet and Nutrition – Everyday Health

Posted on by
1

The Soda Ban Debate: What Does It Mean for Your Health?

The New York City Board of Health will decide this week whether to implement Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s controversial proposal to limit the sale of super-sized sodas.

By Brett Spiegel, Production Editor

via The Soda Ban Debate: What Does It Mean for Your Health? – Diet and Nutrition – Everyday Health.

High-Tech Shortcut To Greek Yogurt Leaves Purists Fuming : \ NPR

Posted on by
5

My takeaway – I buy greek yogurt because it’s a simple food. If you agree, always check the back of the label to make sure there are no weird additives.

EnlargeBenjamin Morris/NPR

America’s food companies are masters of technology. They massage tastes and textures to tickle our palates. They find ways to imitate expensive foods with cheaper ingredients.

And sometimes, that technological genius leads to controversy. Continue reading →

A slightly more appropriate place for all your meal pics…

Posted on by
1

Instagram your every meal? Text your friends dinner pics? I’ve been guilty of both… Now here’s a new place to fulfill that compulsion (and not bother everyone else who could give a…)

I recently read an article about new health apps. I downloaded this one (it’s free) and have been playing around with it for the last few days. If you’re someone who doesn’t feel like weighing all of your food (though it’s a great practice even for a day to know how big servings really are), this may be a baby step towards food logging.

Description

Want to take real steps to improve your eating habits? Use The Eatery to snap photos of your food. We’ll give you something much more helpful than calorie counts.

— Stop Counting Calories. Start Eating Better —

• Studies show that simply recording your meals helps you lose more weight.

• It’s not about counting calories — it’s about becoming aware of your habits.

• The Eatery makes that process fast and beautiful — just snap and rate.

Continue reading →

Eat Fat To Burn Fat | LIVESTRONG.COM

Posted on by
Reply

Put down the snackwells… here’s a great article why.

Eat Fat To Burn Fat | LIVESTRONG.COM

Eat Fat To Burn Fat | LIVESTRONG.COM.

For a long time, we thought avocadoes were good for nothing but ready-made guac and a decent California burger every now and then. But these little nutritional hand grenades were having an explosive impact on our diets for all that time. How so? They’re infused with a key nutrient for maintaining healthy weight: fat. 

Wait…fat can help us maintain our weight? Fat doesn’t make us fat? In a word: exactly.
…

Most of the fat that you eat—especially if you want to lose weight—should come from unsaturated sources, both monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA), Glassman says. Why? These good-for-you foods (like fish, seeds, nuts, leafy vegetables, olive oil, and, of course, avocadoes) pack tons of nutrients. Besides removing LDL cholesterol from arteries and promoting a healthier heart, unsaturated fat can help you burn fat big time without cutting calories. A 2009 study in the British Journal of Nutrition, found that participants who consumed the most unsaturated fatty acids have lower body mass indexes and less abdominal fat than those who consumed the least. Why? The unsaturated folks ate higher-quality foods. 

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/557726-eat-fat-to-burn-fat/#ixzz21N0LBp1A

 

Your brain is a calorie hog (and other reasons not to fast/juice cleanse/starve yourself)

Posted on by
Reply


sad

Did you know that your brain and nerves take about half of your glucose (simple sugar we use for energy) a day? (About 500 calories!)

This fact is key in why yo-yo diets don’t work and why people tend to gain more weight back after one. Your brain and nerves function best on carbs/glucose. Because of this your body stores branches of glucose in your liver (called glycogen) and breaks bits off when you haven’t eaten for a few hours and your blood sugar drops. If you’re very active you only have about 3 hours of stores, and if you’re very inactive you can go about 24 hours.

So what’s next? Once you run out of glycogen your body signals to release amino acids from your muscles. Your body can make glucose from your muscle tissue (and a fact that sounds scary to me, this process also breaks down your liver a bit too).In the first few days of your diet you aren’t using your fat stores so much to fuel your body – 90% of your energy comes from your muscles breaking down.

After a few days your body switches to ketosis – where it fuels your body with fat, but it still breaks down some protein to help fuel the brain. (Your body’s pH also becomes more acidic which leads to a sexy foul odor in your mouth called acetone breath.) In ketosis your appetite is suppressed and your metabolism slows down, partially because your muscle is wasting and demanding less energy.

On a low carb diet, the body does use some of the proteins you’re eating to be converted for glucose for your brain, but some still do come from your muscle tissue.

So it honestly drives me a bit crazy when I see someone trying to lose weight on say, the ‘master cleanse’ which just consists of drinking water with lemon, cayenne pepper and maple syrup. I once saw a male model on his 20+ day of that!

I think many people get frustrated with their weight and decide to take ‘hardcore’ action and then go on super calorie restricted diets, but in the end those 30 pounds you lose may be (will probably be) even more gained. Sticking to a healthy diet for the long haul will not only make you skinnier, but healthier with more energy too (and you won’t go through a couple of weeks of hating life and acting out at people too!) And if you hate exercise, at least go for a 30 minute walk, 5 days a week.

Remember if a diet makes you feel awful to follow, it’s probably not a good diet!

Enjoy your day everyone!