Chose to lose weight to a level that doesn't compromise your health nor quality of life.
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If you eat processed foods you are likely to be eating excessive salt, a cause of high blood pressure and related heart disease and stroke.
It is estimated the average American consumes 1,000 mg more than the recommended 2,300 mg daily intake. Additional health benefits could occur if total salt intake is reduced to 1,500 mg per day.
The challenge is to reduce the amount of processed food eaten or find low salt processed food (that is also low in refined sugar and bad fat). Restaurant meals are another potential source of high salt dishes.
K Palar & R Sturm, American Journal of Health Promotion, Sept/Oct, 2009
There you have it. Restrict your salt from all sources to less than a teaspoon a day. Regards, Keith
Losing weight if you are obese will improve your health. This might seem obvious but a recent study provides the numbers to reinforce the importance of being a healthy weight.
Research published under the title Healthy Living is the Best Revenge concluded four lifestyle factors can have a strong impact on preventing chronic diseases. In order of their impact the four factors are: having a body mass index of less than thirty, never having smoked, exercising 3.5 hours per week and eating healthy food.
People with all four factors had a 93% lower risk of developing diabetes, an 81% lower risk of a heart attack, a 50% lower risk of a stroke and a 36% lower risk of getting cancer compared with people that had no factors.
The full report can be downloaded from www.archinternmed.com. For example in the detailed results a body mass index of less than thirty was strongly related to a lower risk of diabetes.
Healthy Living is the Best Revenge
E S Ford, M M Bergmann, J Kroger, A Schienkiewtz, C Weikert and H Boeing
Archive of Internal Medicene, Vol 169, No 15, August 10/24, 2009
Lose weight eating tomatoes! Tomatoes are a great food to eat as part of a low-glycemic diet. With a low glycemic load and valuable nutrients they should be a regular part of your diet.
Tomatoes have lycopene, potassium, vitamin C, B vitamins, alpha and beta carotene, chromium and fibre.
Lycopene, a contributor to the red colour, is effective in reducing free radicals thereby reducing the incidence of cancer. It has been found to be particularly effective in reducing prostate cancer. It also assists to protect the skin from the sun.
To release the lycopene tomatoes are best cooked. This will break down the vitamin C so make sure you get adequate vitamin C from another source – including raw tomatoes.
Eat well, Keith
Lose weight eating eggs! Eggs have complete protein and fat, making them healthy and filling food. Eating eggs with carbohydrate rich food such as bread slows down the absorption of the carbohydrate and evens out the supply of glucose into the blood. Eggs are therefore a useful contributor to a low-glycemic diet.
While eggs have cholesterol they are not considered a risk to health as cholesterol eaten in food is not necessarily coverted into blood cholesterol. It is now believed the majority of cholesterol in blood is produced by the body. If you eat well overall and maintain a healthy weight cholesterol from eggs wont be a problem.
They also have vitamin A, vitamin B12, vitamin D, vitamin E, riboflavin and selenium. All the vitamins A, D and E are in the yolk, as is the fat.
Eggs also have lutein/zeaxanthin which protects the eyes against degeneration and cataracts.
Eat well, regards Keith
Do carrots improve your night vision? Apparently not. However, carrots have vitamin A, necessary for maintaining good vision.
Carrots have many nutrients, making them a key part of a healthy diet. They have a low glycemic index and thereby fit within a low-glycemic diet. They’re also fat free!
Cooking makes some nutrients more available so eat carrots both cooked and raw.
regards, Keith
A brief note on the humble cabbage. Cabbage has fibre, vitamin C, folate and vitamin B6 as well as other nutrients. Cooking both makes some nutrients more available and breaks down vitamin C, so have cabbage raw and cooked. It has glutamine, an amino acid that has anti-inflammatory properties.
As well as cabbage the cabbage family includes broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, collard greens, kale and kohlrabi.
I’m also a fan of ‘Chinese cabbage’. Try bok choy and wong bok as alternatives to cabbage.
All the best, Keith
A brief sales pitch for broccoli! Broccoli has fibre, folate, vitamin C, vitamin K, calcium, beta carotene, iron, sulphoraphane, indoles and lutein/zeaxanthin.
Broccoli inhibits cancer, boosts the immune system, supports cardiovascular health and builds bones. It has been found to reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Steaming retains the anti-cancer properties whereas the benefits are reduced if broccoli is boiled for longer then 10 minutes.
Broccoli has a negligible glycemic load. So, broccoli once or twice a week is a valuable contributor to a low-glycemic diet.
Eat well!
Keith
In praise of the mighty bean! Beans have fibre, B vitamins, iron, potassium, magnesium and phytonutrients. Beans help lower cholesterol and reduce type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and diverticular disease.
They are an excellent source of low fat protein and provide complete protein when combined with nuts, dairy and grains.
Beans taste great too. Love green beans in green Thai curry! They are a valuable contributor to a low-glycemic diet.
Cheers, Keith
A quick sell for almonds! Almonds have protein, fibre, vitamin E, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium. Almonds have been found to lower low density lipoproteins, the nasty cholesterol. They have arginine which promotes blood flow. Flour made from almonds is gluten free.
While Almonds have saturated fat they have less saturated fat than many other nuts. They also have monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat – the good olis.
Almonds make for a great snack as part of a low-glycemic diet. Just remember a handful is a snack and three handfuls are a meal.
regards, Keith
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