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| Aging and Good Nutrition |
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Saturday, December 29, 2007
What is good nutrition and how do we follow it? Learning to eat a well-balanced diet is not as difficult as it sounds and the rewards are endless; a longer, healthier life, a reduced risk of many diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, and obesity, and a renewed feeling of energy and vigor. GUIDELINES FOR GOOD NUTRITION *EAT A WELL-BALANCED DIET, one that includes plenty of fruits and vegetables (whole foods are best), as well as foods that are high in complex carbohydrates, moderate amounts of protein, and low in fat. Make sure you eat regular meals. Skipping meals or eliminating certain foods can lead to out-of-control hunger, resulting in overeating. Eat in moderation. Most people eat for pleasure as well as nutrition. If your favorite foods are high in fat, salt or sugar, the key is moderation. *EAT FOODS THAT ARE HIGH IN ANTIOXIDANTS. These include brightly colored fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, herbs and teas. Antioxidants help to ward off many diseases, including cancer, and keep our cells healthy and regenerating. Of course, no matter how old we are, antioxidants are vital for good health. *DRINK WATER. Most of us are dehydrated because we do not drink enough water for our body to operate at optimal capacity. Water is the most important nutrient that our body needs in order to function properly. When the body becomes dehydrated, the organs can become damaged, resulting in various types of degenerative diseases. Every major system in our body depends on water. (It is great for the skin, too!) ADDITIONAL TIPS FOR HEALTHY LIVING *EXERCISE REGULARLY. Regular activity is vital to maintaining good health and helps mobility later in life. Anyone can benefit from starting a basic aerobic exercise program. If you get little exercise, even walking 10 minutes a day can greatly help your body. Exercise controls blood sugar, helps you lose weight, and helps your body detoxify. Walking is the most easily accessible and beneficial exercise and anyone can do it. *REDUCE STRESS. Nothing ages you faster than excessive amounts of stress. Avoid excessive amounts of caffeine that can increase your anxiety level and avoid alcohol that can mask symptoms and make them worse. Try deep breathing exercises, massage, guided imagery, and meditation. Learn it is okay to say NO occasionally. Make time for yourself, your number one priority. *GET ENOUGH REST. A good night’s sleep is something that many of us do not get. However, getting enough sleep is vitally important for physical and emotional health. If you have difficulty sleeping, NEVER read, eat or watch television in bed. *SEE YOUR DOCTOR REGULARLY FOR PREVENTIVE CARE. Doctors do not only treat patients when they are ill. With regular checkups and preventive services, you can help prevent serious health conditions such as heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. Your doctor may also recommend a multivitamin just to make sure that any gaps in your nutritional needs are covered. There are now dietary supplements available that specifically address nutrition and aging needs. At a minimum, choose a product that includes a good range of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, with detailed information. You must be committed to a healthy lifestyle in order to enjoy its benefits. If you are not willing to make the extra effort, you will enjoy minimal anti-aging benefits. Are You An Emotional Eater? All of us experience occasional emotional eating. Celebrating with food is what birthday parties, holiday parties and cookouts are all about. Sometimes, however, emotional eating becomes something else, something that can lead to serious physical and emotional imbalance in our lives. Using food to cope with stress, grief, loneliness and boredom causes a destructive cycle that becomes an unconscious behavior. This behavior is very difficult to change and if left unchecked can lead to obesity and other forms of weight-related illnesses. Emotional eaters are never satisfied no matter how many calories they consume. This leads to more and more weight gain, usually complicating the emotional reasons for eating in the first place. The excess weight then becomes almost impossible to lose. WARNING SIGNS OF EMOTIONAL EATING *Eating when not physically hungry. *Eating when bored, angry, sad, or anxious. *Eating too fast. *Eating until uncomfortably full. *Eating immediately after coming home from work. *Feeling disgust or guilt after overeating. ARE YOU AN EMOTIONAL EATER? If you experience any of the following more than occasionally, you may be an emotional eater: *You think about food a lot. *You eat when you are stressed (sad, bored, anxious, depressed, etc.) *You binge eat. *You eat even if you are not hungry. *You feel guilty and ashamed of yourself and your eating habits. *You try to lose weight but are always unsuccessful. *You do not feel in control of your eating. TIPS TO OVERCOME EMOTIONAL EATING If you think you are an emotional eater, there are ways to overcome it. The suggestions below can help you: *When you reach for something to eat, stop and ask yourself if you are hungry or if you are upset. If you are upset, why are you upset? *If you are upset, do not swallow it. If someone has upset you, let that person know they have upset you and that you will not tolerate it any more. Deal with it right away. *Focus on the solution to your problem, not the affect. Focusing on the problem will not help you solve it. By focusing on the solution to the problem, you will not be stressing about the problem itself. *Make yourself, not a diet, responsible for what you eat. Dieting can easily lead to emotional eating and will not address the core reason for being overweight. *Focus on feeling better. Start eating healthier foods and getting a little bit of exercise. The result will be an almost immediate sense of feeling better. *Take up a new hobby (or an old one). Knit, crochet, work jigsaw puzzles, play games with your kids, take a long leisurely walk. *You are in control of your life. Stop thinking about food. Get out and LIVE! Remember, to solve emotional eating, you must change the behavior that is causing it. The next time you reach for food because you are upset, stop and think! Get out of the kitchen and go take a walk, read a book, listen to music, or call a friend; whatever makes you feel better. What Smoking Can Offer You? It is known that smoking is a risk factor of heart disease. But, do you really know what smoking can offer you? Perhaps the facts stated hereafter will give you some clues: every 8 seconds, someone dies from the use of tobacco; every cigarette smoked shortens at least 7 minutes of life on average, about the time taken to smoke it. If smoking can cause such harmful effects to the body, why the youths are still picking up this deadly habit? Statistics shows that between 80,000 and 100,000 children worldwide start smoking every day and roughly half of whom live in Asia. Young people start to smoke for a variety of reasons. They may want to relax or relieve stress which they think they can. They may be out of curiosity or for fun. Or, they simply want to seek for peer acceptance. For whatever reason young people start to smoke, they will eventually become addicted to smoking due to nicotine that is as addictive as heroin or cocaine. Some studies had found that about 1/3 to 1/2 of those who experiment with cigarettes end up as regular smokers. Nicotine enters the body through the mouth, throat and lungs. Nicotine takes only about 10 seconds to travel from the smoke in the lungs to the brain where it starts to work. Like drugs, it stimulates the brain for a short while before dependence and tolerance set in to reinforce the smoker’s drive to continue smoking more cigarettes so as to avoid unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Thus, it is best for young people not to try smoking at all as it can lead so quickly and easily to addiction. In addition, every cigarette that a smoker smokes contains 4,000 other chemicals apart from nicotine, many of which are poisonous and several of which are known to cause cancer. Staying smoke-free can lower the risk of contracting diseases such as heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, and stroke. Besides, a non-smoker enjoys better self-image. Non-smokers will have no cigarette smell on their clothes and hair; no bad breath; no yellow teeth and fingernails; no dry and wrinkled skin that makes them look older than their peers and better stamina to enjoy the activities they like. Smoking is also a expensive behavior. In addition to the similar health risks as male smokers, female smokers also face a higher risk of contracting female-specific diseases. They are twice as likely to develop cervical cancer, 30 percent more likely to develop breast cancer, have a higher chance of hip fractures, and experience reduced fertility as well as irregular and painful menstruation compared to female non-smokers. Ask yourself this question: will you still want to smoke after looking at the list of “bad things” that smoking can offer? America's Most Trusted Doctor Reveals ... How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease - Without Drugs or Surgery. Read more about his confession at: http://www.howtopreventheartdisease.com/heart-disease-prevention-dr-robert-article.html Feel free to use this article on your website or ezine as long as the following information about author/website is included. Heart Disease Prevention - 8 Simple Ways You Can Do Immediately, Go to: http://www.howtopreventheartdisease.com |
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