What The Western Diet Does To Our Body

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What The Western Diet Does To Our Body

Ahh the Western Diet, the culprit for the massive rise in obesity and diabetes along with heart disease and many other chronic illnesses. The fast food diet, refined sugars and carbs and of course processed foods to save us time, that's the Western Diet. Sugary drinks are the cornerstone of the Western diet or the fast food diet. Candy bars have been highlighted as a key example of processed foods. Ingredients such as fructose and palmitic acid mean may initiate a low-level immune response in the body distracting the immune system from other infections. Here's how the Western style of eating is affecting the rest of the world. 

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Foods That Fight Aging

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Foods That Fight Aging

We all want to bask in the fountain of youth for as long as we can, but both men and women shouldn't resort to anti-aging products as the first line of defense. There are many delicious foods that help fight the factors of aging. Longevity deeply depends on how we choose to live our lives. Lifestyle choices around what we eat and how active we are matters. But here are the best foods to eat to fight the aging demons. 

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Eat These Foods to Shut Down Hunger Hormones

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Eat These Foods to Shut Down Hunger Hormones

Hunger is a constant battle. Some people even claim they're never sure if they actually feel a sensation of hunger. The truth is we eat much bigger portions than our bodies need. We also often choose unhealthy snacks throughout the day. The ghrelin hormone is produced in the stomach and intestines and is often referred to as the “hunger hormone.”  This hormone has numerous functions in the body, including the ability to stimulate hunger.  When ghrelin levels in the stomach rise, the brain gets a signal that it is time for food.  Ghrelin also slows our metabolism, just in case we cannot find any food.  Then, after a big meal, ghrelin levels drop and metabolism speeds up to the burn calories we just ate.   

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New advice on managing peanut allergies

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New advice on managing peanut allergies

If peanut allergies run in your family, there is new advice and recommendations regarding the proper time to introduce peanut products into your child’s diet.  In recent years, back in 2000, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended delaying the introduction of the top known foods that caused most allergies - eggs, milk products, fish and peanuts – until sometime after the child’s first birthday.  That advice for peanuts has done an about face.

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Regulations Aim To Make Healthier Fast Food Kid Meals

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Regulations Aim To Make Healthier Fast Food Kid Meals

According to a new study, kids' meals can become healthier if the fast food meals including toys will be regulated. A new policy in New York City was proposed in order to regulate fast food meals that come with toys for lower sodium, fat and calories content. These kind of policies can push families to healthier behaviors. The proposed policy introduced to the New York City Council requires that fast food meals that come with a small toy should include a serving of vegetable, fruit, or whole grain.

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Mediterranean diet lowers heart disease risk

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Mediterranean diet lowers heart disease risk

A new study says the Mediterranean diet lowers your risk for heart disease. What is the Mediterranean diet? The Mediterranean diet is a diet that is based on traditional foods people having been eating for many years in Mediterranean countries like Greece and Italy. Researchers in the past have said that people who consume a Mediterranean diet are exceptionally healthy compared to those who do not. Specifically, people who eat a Mediterranean diet tend to have a lower risk for many deadly diseases. Numerous studies show the Mediterranean diet can help with weight loss, prevent heart attacks and strokes, prevent type 2 diabetes, and prevent premature death.

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Consider the Shape of Starches with High Blood Sugar

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Consider the Shape of Starches with High Blood Sugar

How does blood sugar work? How is sugar transferred into the blood? Sugar in the blood or also called glucose comes directly from what we eat. The digestive system breaks down that food into glucose and absorbs it into the blood. That's why eating foods high in carbohydrates provide most of the glucose in your diet. A simple first step towards controlling your blood pressure is analyzing the starches in your diet.  A new study from Kings College in London, UK indicated that coarser starches made up of larger pieces not only digest more slowly than fine starches, but may also result in fewer blood sugar spikes. What does this mean for you and me? It shows that the shape of a starch determines how it is processed in the body.

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Coffee Lovers, Monitor Your Blood Pressure

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Coffee Lovers, Monitor Your Blood Pressure

For most of us, coffee is part of our morning ritual. We embrace it, we love it and we truly enjoy it as part of waking up and even drink it throughout the day. We've seen many studies look at the health benefits of coffee but now a new study analyzed the link between coffee intake, high blood pressure and prediabetes and found that patients with mild high blood pressure along with a heavy consumption of coffee had an increased risk of severe high blood pressure and prediabetes. 

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Mediterranean Way of Eating May Prevent Kidney Disease

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Mediterranean Way of Eating May Prevent Kidney Disease

Individually, most of the elements of the Mediterranean diet are heart-healthy.  The diet as a whole has been shown to greatly reduce the risk of cardiovascular mortality, the incidence of cancer mortality and may reduce the incidence of neurologic diseases like dementia and Parkinson’s. For this reason, the Mediterranean diet is championed by most, if not all major scientific institutions, not only as a diet, but a lifestyle change to prevent major life-shortening chronic diseases. But now new findings suggest it may benefit long-term kidney health. Researchers found that a diet high in fruits, vegetables, fish, legumes, healthy fats like olive oil which lowered patients' risk of chronic kidney disease. 

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Why You Should Eat More Olive Oil and Nuts

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Why You Should Eat More Olive Oil and Nuts

The health benefits of the Mediterranean diet have been cited over and over again.  Hailing from the traditional dietary patterns of residents along the Mediterranean coast, the main staples of the diet include nuts, whole grains, olive oil, fruits, vegetables, unrefined cereals, lots of legumes, just as much fish, some cheese and yogurt and occasional consumption of wine. The cornerstone of this diet is its limit in the consumption of red meat to only a few times a month. Scientists have recently found that those who follow a Mediterranean Diet without any calorie restrictions and chock full of delicious olive oil and nuts. Why? Read on. 

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DASH Diet Named Best Diet Overall

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DASH Diet Named Best Diet Overall

U.S. News & World Report has once again named the DASH Diet the 'Best Diet Overall.' DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. This type of eating is mainly used for improving high blood pressure through an emphasis on portion size, eating a variety of foods and getting the right amount of nutrients. The food emphasized in this type of diet are whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, fish, poultry, nuts and legumes. It does allow for small amounts of red meat and sweeter items. 

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7 ways to fit eating healthy into your busy lifestyle

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7 ways to fit eating healthy into your busy lifestyle

Do you ever feel too rushed or busy to be able to actually sit down to eat, let alone eat a healthy meal?  Does it seem like there’s just not enough hours in the day to plan ahead or take the time to take care of your health through proper food choices?  Is your schedule so full due to work obligations, going to school, raising a family or maybe all three that eating healthy gets pushed down the list of things to do?  If you’ve answered “yes” to any of those questions, it’s time to take some time to rethink why and how eating healthy can and should be a part of your busy lifestyle.

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10 Foods That Will Help You Live Longer

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10 Foods That Will Help You Live Longer

.    Dark chocolate

a.    Dark chocolate is packed with flavonoids and antioxidants, both of which can reduce inflammation and help prevent blood clots.

b.    Research shows that inflammation is associated with aging and age-related diseases, so anti-inflammatory foods may be a key to a longer life.

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10 Zinc-Rich Foods

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10 Zinc-Rich Foods

Did you know that a healthy amount of zinc in your diet has been linked to an improved immune system and faster wound healing? Some studies have linked proper zinc intake to reduced severity and duration of the common cold, improved thyroid function, more effective blood clotting, and even decreased effects of age-related macular degeneration. A June 2015 study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry found that zinc may also play an important role in regulating heartbeat — a potential advancement in the fight against arrhythmia-related heart failure.

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Put the pinch on salt to reduce hypertension

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Put the pinch on salt to reduce hypertension

Reducing your salt or sodium intake is an important step in reducing hypertension or high blood pressure.  When was the last time you had your blood pressure checked?   Do you ask and do you know what your blood pressure is?  These are questions everyone should have answers to.  It is often referred to as “the silent killer” as it often has no warning signs or symptoms.  That’s why it’s important to have it checked regularly and why it is always checked at any visit to a doctor’s office.

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It’s football season! Time to tailgate – and eat healthy

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It’s football season! Time to tailgate – and eat healthy

Score a touchdown this fall by serving up great-tasting healthy food at your next tailgate.  Typically foods associated with tailgating are loaded with fat, sugar and calories.  By the time you’ve eaten your way through hamburgers, brats, buffalo wings, chips and dip, cookies, and other desserts all washed down with high calorie alcoholic beverages and soft drinks, it’s not uncommon to have already consumed more than 1,200 calories before you’ve even entered the stadium.  And that’s not counting the calories you add on from foods and beverages sold at the stadium.  

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The #1 Secret to Lose Belly Fat

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The #1 Secret to Lose Belly Fat

Did you know belly fat is the worst fat we can have on our bodies? Belly fat is something both men and women find creeps up onto their bodies. Visceral fat is a type of belly fat that lives deep in the body and wraps itself around the organs, causing long-term risk for chronic diseases. A new study has linked obesity and sodium intake so closely that cutting down on salt might be the best way to shed that belly fat. Think of it this way, for every extra gram of salt eat in a day (just a 1/5 of a teaspoon) or about the amount found in tiny salt packets, the risk of obesity increases by 25% according to the research from the Queen Mary University in London. Researchers speculate that sodium alters our metabolism, changing the way we absorb fat. 

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7 Foods to Fight Off Cold & Cough

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7 Foods to Fight Off Cold & Cough

We all get the occassional cold and cough especially when you work in a school or office where others around you are sick. The question is, what are the things you can do to fight it off? It starts with food. A weakened immune system is what protects you from a whole host of infections like cold and cough, skin infections and respiratory ailments. There are 7 immune-strengthening foods that you should eat an abundance of during peak cough and cold times throughout the year. Here you go. 

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7 ways to lose belly fat without exercise

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7 ways to lose belly fat without exercise

If exercise is not your thing and yet you have excess belly fat that doesn’t want to budge, is it possible to lose your muffin top without resorting to breaking a sweat?  It’s possible but only with a lot of dedication and diligence by adopting a healthy eating pattern along with other habits.  It’s always best to combine exercise with a healthy diet to get the best results but for those who won’t or can’t exercise, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

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Good Cholesterol vs. Bad Cholesterol

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Good Cholesterol vs. Bad Cholesterol

What is cholesterol? Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is found in the body’s cells. Our bodies make cholesterol in order to make other substances like vitamin D or hormones. It also makes substances to help us digest food. Cholesterol is also found in the food we eat. Foods that we eat that contain cholesterol include poultry, meat, and dairy products. When we eat foods like this that are high in saturated and trans-fats, our livers produce even more cholesterol. When our bodies produce too much cholesterol, plaque develops in the walls of the arteries. This can lead to serious health conditions such as blood clots, stroke, or heart attack.

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