Archive for July, 2009

The DASH Diet

Many Americans have hypertension and need to keep track of it with the help of a physician and often are prescribed medication to control it. From a dietary standpoint, high blood pressure can be brought under control more effectively with nutritional measures combined with specific medications as prescribed. The DASH diet is specifically designed to lower blood pressure. The DASH stands for the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension. This diet has been proven to lower blood pressure in clinical studies. It is more than the traditional low sodium approach only.

The DASH diet is very high in the fruits and vegetables category. The recommendation calls for 4-6 servings of fruit in addition to 4-6 servings of vegetables per day. On the average, Americans typically eat 2-3 serving of fruits and vegetables combined per day. The DASH diet calls for 8-12 servings of the fruits and vegetables combination daily.

In the grains food group, the DASH diet calls for 6-12 servings for an individual on a 3100 calorie diet per day and 7 to 8 servings for someone on a more calorie restricted diet of 2000 calories per day. At least 3 whole grain foods need to be included in this category per day.

Dairy products need to be low fat or non fat on the DASH diet. Two to four servings of the dairy are recommended on the DASH diet. For lean meats, fish and poultry, the DASH diet recommends 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 servings for the people who are on a 3100 calorie per day diet and 2 or less servings for those who are on a 2000 calorie per day diet.

Nuts, seeds and legumes are more limited on the DASH diet. Three to six per week are recommended for the 3100 calorie per day diet and four to five servings per week for the 2000 calorie per day diet people. While the DASH diet was designed with blood pressure control in mind, often people who are on it have the added benefit of losing weight.

Adherence to the DASH diet provides a high fiber nutrition with low caloric intake and is well balanced. Another added benefit, that was not what the diet was initially designed for, is that it may curb memory loss and help to increase your focus and mental skills.

Appetite Suppressing Foods

Diet pills and products are plentiful promising rapid weight loss and immediate results. There’s a more natural approach to weight loss by selecting certain foods that make you feel full longer and curb your appetite without pills.

One such food would be nuts as they are rich in protein and are more satisfying than carbohydrate rich snacks. Research backs up that people who snack on nuts tend to be slimmer than people who don’t. The calories in nuts are high but worthwhile for their effect on your eating patterns and on your metabolism.

Eating a bowl of high fiber cereal in the morning can act to suppress your appetite for the rest of the day. Therefore, you’ll eat less at the subsequent meals of the day. The higher the percent of fiber in your cereal, the more effective the appetite suppression works.
Eggs are another food item that tends to stay with you longer for feeling full. A couple of eggs contain protein which helps to avoid sharp rises in blood sugar that lead to food cravings and overeating.

Tofu acts much in the same way as eggs for controlling appetite and food cravings. While it is a light food, as an appetizer before a meal, it will keep your meal consumption under control. Tofu is high protein and that is the key.

Using olive oil, either in your cooking or on your salads, can help you burn calories. Physiologically, there’s a quality about monounsaturated fats that boosts your metabolism. The pectin fiber found in either pears or apples has a beneficial effect on blood sugar levels. This maintenance of your blood sugar will help you to avoid snacking and overeating. I’ve noticed this when I eat apples especially. When I combine an apple with a handful of nuts, I’m not hungry for hours afterward.

Beans are naturally high in protein and fiber. The consumption of beans helps to elevate the digestive hormone, cholecystokinen, which is a natural appetite suppressant.
Other foods that can be utilized for appetite curbing and or metabolism boosting are salad, green tea, grapefruit, lean beef and vinegar. It is a safer method for weght loss without worrying about the expense of diet pills with possible adverse side effects.

Vanity Sizing Back In?

I remember the first time I heard the term “vanity sizing”. My mom actually used the term and was laughing at me when I was younger because I liked to shop at a certain store where I could fit in pants that I normally couldn’t fit into in other stores. She said something like “oh that vanity sizing will get you” or something along those lines.

I didn’t really get what that meant at the time and had to have her explain it to me (I was very young), but it’s basically where the fashion industry sizes their clothes a bit bigger than what some of the standard sizings are, in order to make you feel better about buying their clothes, and to entice you to come buy their clothes over other retailers who size their clothes smaller and therefore narrow their customer pool to skinny minnies.

For example, I can go into a New York and Company clothing store and fit into a size 4 very comfortably. But if I go to the junior department at Dillards, I may not be able to fit in size 4 pants there. You get the drift. And of course, where do I prefer to shop? Well, I’ll admit, I’m only human, and I like to shop where I can get clothes that are sized more to my advantage!

Actually, vanity sizing is making a big comeback and is pretty much being done by most clothing companies as America’s waistlines increase, and now you may be a size ten whereas before you would have been a size 14, which is quite a substantial difference. But are the clothing companies really doing us any favors? Not really, they’re helping to lull overweight Americans into a false sense of complacency with their weight, since people tend to go by what size they are to determine whether they are still in their healthy comfort zone as far as weight goes, BMI and all that good stuff that goes along with maintaining a healthy weight and slimmer waistline.

Do Digestive Enzymes Help?

As I get older, I notice that some foods, in particular dairy or a lot of meat in a meal, or especially a high fat meal, cause a lot of havoc in my digestive system. The fat part I think may have something to do with my pancreas, and that scares me a bit because the pancreas is an important organ, so that is part of why I lost so much initial weight, because I really focused on cutting out a lot of the fattening foods in my diet. Here and there I will treat myself to pizza or a cheeseburger and french fries, both of which are extremely greasy, fatty foods.

I inevitably will be extremely uncomfortable after a high fat meal though, and will take digestive enzymes to help with the discomfort as well as to help break down the food properly and completely so that it doesn’t clog up my whole system. However, if you eat right, and you don’t eat enough, you really shouldn’t need digestive enzymes since your body should be pumping out just the right amount of these helpful little organisms on it’s own. You may have a deficiency though, and that most likely could be disagnosed by a Doctor or even a naturopath, and they may recommed that you always use digestive enzymes, even with meals that are properly portioned and combined.

I do notice a difference when I take them with meals that may normally bother me, or meals that are too large that make me uncomfortable afterwards. So does my boyfriend, he says that when he takes them after too large a meal, it does make the discomfort subside within a half hour, so that’s useful as well. I would say to keep digestive enzymes around for those times when you know you’ll have indiscretions about what you eat. It really is helpful during those times in assisting your digestive system in doing what it needs to, when you’re not treating it right.

Lower Fat Lentil Soup Recipe

I was looking for a lower fat, high protein and high fiber lentil soup recipe with some kick, and found the perfect recipe online, which I added my own little touches to (as everyone always does), and we had five nights of tasty, delicious, healthy lentil soup that had a lebanese flavor to it due to the curry powder. I had never actually made lentil soup before, but I had it at a local Lebanese restaurant, and I absolutely loved it as did my mom, who came along with me and got it as an appetizer as well.

That’s when I decided that it could be a great addition to my repertoire of menus, which had grown a little tired and old as of late. I found the recipe for curried lebanese lentil soup, and liked most of the recipe, except added my own twists, like adding way more chicken broth so that it wouldn’t be more of a stew but more like a soup, especially after the lentils expanded a lot after a few days in the fridge. Lentils are a great bean, they have a somewhat nutty flavor, and their texture is almost that of a pasta after they really soften, so it’s almost like you’re eating a pasta after they’ve been softening a few days, which is different.

Here is the recipe, hint, if you want to eliminate some of the fat added by the coconut milk, use half to three fourths of the can instead of the whole thing. I do recommend using some though, it adds a wonderful flavor in conjunction with the curry powder.

Recipe for Lower Fat Lentil Soup:

1 bag of lentils.
10 cups of lower sodium chicken stock
2 tsp. olive oil for sauteeing
2 cups of celery finely chopped
2 cups of carrots finely chopped
2 cups of red bell pepper chopped
2 cups of onion chopped
2 TB curry powder
1 TB cumin
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 can coconut milk
1 bunch of kale or other preferred greens. Kale is loaded with nutrition, so I chose kale and it tasted great.

Sautee the celery, carrots, onions and red bell pepper in the olive oil. When done sauteeing, add to the mixture of the coconut milk, chicken stock and lentils. Bring to a boil before you add the sauteed veggies though, to cook the lentils. at the last moment, add the chopped kale. It will turn a bright green color, let it wilt and your soup is done. The curry combined with the coconut milk gives this soup a delicious, satisfyingly nutty and somewhat smoky flavor. It gets even better as it sits, as with most soups, and is packed with nutritious foods. Enjoy!

Liquid and Detox Diets Really Just a Form of Starvation?

I’ve been around long enough, and intuned with the diet and weight loss circuit, to see a lot of fad diets and kind of crazy weight loss theories and diets, and one of the most perplexing to me is the liquid and detox diet, which go hand in hand because a detox diet is usually one that is based in the dieter mostly just drinking some sort of concoction.

I even tried one, the most popular and well known detox diet, called the Master Cleanse, whose instructions come in a neat little pamphlet-like yellow booklet, and instruct the user to prepare a concoction of lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper, and drink only that for days, combined with preparing a salt water internal enema, where you drink warm salt water and basically poop within a half hour, cleansing the intestines and the colon – it’s called something like a “salt water bath”. My boyfriend went on the Mater Cleanse with me, he lasted one day and I lasted three. We hated it to be honest.

I know that they say that after day three is often when you lose any desire for food, but for me quite frankly, I felt that it just wasn’t normal. And for someone who has struggled with eating disorders her whole life and still lives with the demon of bulimia from the past, I felt like not eating was just another (accepted) form of an eating disorder. I hated having to smell people’s lunches and foods when I went out to the mall during that time, and I even suffered through watching my boyfriend eat a piece of pizza since he hopped off the wagon before I did.

Honestly, for the few pounds I would have lost that would have been all water weight anyways – you don’t lose any fat that short term – I just felt that it was sort of a bizarre disguise for a starvation type eating disorder. I know there are some that swear by the health effects of the cleanse, but for me, it just wasn’t the right thing, and I personally believe that you can eat right and cleanse the body through eating, not starvation, better than you can by only consuming liquids and defacating more often, which is what these diets are designed to do for you.

There are some who do the cleanse regularly, a couple times a year, and swear by it, and that’s great for them, but I just don’t think it’s for everyone, and I don’t think that it should be primarily used for weight loss purposes, I think it should be used as more of a cleansing – break from food and it’s trappings sort of thing, otherwise, you’re going to tread in dangerous territory with thinking that this will be a long term weight loss goal getter for you.

The Wonderful Walnut

Everyone always talks about one nut in particular that is so good for your health and is loaded with those omega 3 fatty acids that are so good for your heart, diet and well being, the almond, that it seems that another great nut has kind of gotten lost in the shuffle. I used to be an almond devotee and only put those in my yogurt, until I discovered that walnuts have about the same calorie content, and also have some additional health benefits to the almond with in my opinion, more taste and texture, and seemingly more filling fiber content.

So, don’t walnuts have omega 3 fatty acids in them too? They sure do! In fact, their content of these healthy fats may rival that of the almond, it’s just not as widely used of a nut and may not be considered as portable and easy to snack on as the almond. Walnuts also have fiber in them, so you’re getting added dietary advantage of filling up faster when you eat them. In my opinion, they are superior to the almond this way, as I feel twice as satisfied after eating walnuts as I do almonds. It seems to take more almonds to make me feel like I’ve eaten enough. But that may just be my personal preference.

Walnuts also contains vitamin E, which is a great vitamin to incorporate into the diet, and often doesn’t get as much intake as it should in the American diet. It also has magnesium, another mineral that is hard to get in many processed foods and in such a pure, natural form. But the walnut is also an excellent source of plant derived protein, so you can eat it and get your protein content without eating the animal fat, so it’s a great nut for vegetarians and vegans to incorporate into their diet.

Walnuts also contain B vitamins, which are a great source of energy. You do want to be careful not to overeat walnuts, as they are caloric in nature, like most other nuts, but eating them in moderation is the best way to enjoy their healthy benefits and great, rich and satisfying taste. I like to snack on a few with an apple sometimes, or I also like to put them in my yogurt and fruit in the morning to add some crunch and interest in my breakfast, and also to add the additional protein and vitamins.

Can Alpha Lipoic Acid Regulate Blood Sugar?

We all know that regulating our blood sugar levels is key to maintaining a healthy weight, and also to maintaining a healthy heart and other healthy organs, but it is also key in losing weight because our blood sugar levels are a HUGE contributing factor to our appetites. If your blood sugar wildly fluctuates throughout the day, you will notice that your appetite seems almost totally out of control at times, which just means your body thinks it needs more fuel in the form of food, in order to keep normally functioning and also to keep the body alert and able to perform physical activities.

When your blood sugar plummets, you experience ravenous hunger, and the foods you eat and the combination you eat them in contributes greatly to whether your blood sugar stays at a stable level all day. For instance, I guarantee that if you eat a breakfast loaded with simple carbs and sugars, you will feel on the verge of passing out within a few hours, because the sugary breakfast caused a huge surge in blood sugar immediately that was not sustainable due to high sugar and low protein. What follows is a “crash” in the blood sugar levels that makes you feel lethargic, moody and unable to focus – oh, and very hungry!

So, to avoid these crashes, many people believe that taking the antioxidant supplement alpha lipoic acid with every meal helps their body to correctly regulate it’s blood sugar levels for hours after a meal. Many people even believe that it can virtually “cure” diabetes when it is taken properly and conistently. It is not totally clear why it might do this, but for some reason taking the supplement is thought to slow down the absorption of simple sugars and carbohydrates into the blood stream, creating more of a stability that lasts a lot longer than it would without the supplement of alpha lipoic acid.

Alhough alpha lipoic acid is primarily used and known as an antioxidant supplement, it has shown benefits to many people who are hypoglycemic or hyperglycemic by bringing their blood sugar into normal ranges, especially when consumed with each meal. It is thought to even help regulate blood sugar when a huge “no no” meal is consumed, like a large stack of pancakes drowned in maple syrup in the morning. For this reason, it’s really a form of natural appetite suppressant if you think about it, since blood sugar spikes and falls result in huge appetite gains.

One of it’s side effects in excess doses is actually known as being low blood sugar, but when taken properly, many people report that it helps greatly with the regulation of their blood sugar. Some have even taken readings after meals with and without the alpha lipoic acid and have consistently gotten better, more stable readings when they take their meals with the supplement, so it’s worth googling if you think you may have blood sugar issues.

When Buying Bread, Go for Fiber

We recently started adding sandwiches to our lunch routine, which previously had consisted mainly of things like Subway and Lean Cuisines that were around 300 calories or slightly more or slightly less. Of course, the Lean Cuisines I always bought were the Italian versions, things like the Lasagna Florentine and the Chicken Parmesan, since they felt like you were being naughty without actually breaking your diet,and while eating pasta to boot. I like the Lean Cuisines and Smart Ones because they offer an alternative to a nice hot lunch that isn’t so high in calories and teaches you how to control your portions and hopefully get filled up on less food.

I know there is a lot of criticism out there on them because they aren’t very nutritious and can tend to be small portions that don’t really fill you up, but I personally think they are a great way to re-teach how to control portions while still enjoying your food. For their lack of “nutrition” all I can tell you is that I always add a piece of fruit or some veggies to them anyways, and I get my fiber and vitamins that way, or I add some grated parmesan cheese and a little salad to make it more complete.

Speaking of parmesan cheese, many people don’t know this, but it’s a great low calorie addition to your Italian meals, ringing in at only 20 calories for a whole tablespoon, which goes quite a long way with parmesan cheese. If you happen to like grated romano cheese better, like me, it brings the same amount of calories to the table, so you can add that robust cheesy flavor for minimal calorie count.

Back to the sandwiches and the bread you should choose though. I could tell you to choose a nice, light wheat bread that rings up at about 40 to 50 calories a slice, but I’ve had those before and quite frankly they are like eating air. For double the calories, you can also get double the fiber by buying one of the bigger, more robust loaves of bread, like the kind by Sara Lee and Pepperidge farm which feature nutty, fiber filled selections with things like ground flax seed and whole wheat for maximum fiber count.

You should try for anything 4 grams and above per slice. I even found one at 6 grams per slice because it added inulin fiber to it, and let me tell you, when you eat that bread every day it really does help to keep you regular, which helps contribute to weight loss and healthy weight maintenance. Now, as far as choosing good meats to go on it, I try to stick to only low fat, lower salt meats, but if nothing else I go with low fat. This can be a nice light shaved turkey breast, a light ham, or even a light turkey pastrami, but you won’t get a low sodium count on that one of course.

Once in a while you can splurge on red meats like roast beef or even a london broil, but it’s probably best to stick with lighter meats like ham, chicken and turkey. I don’t add cheese to my sandwich either, just a little horseradish sauce, which is low cal to begin with, and a little bit of light mayo.

Cheap Food Equals More Pounds

Yeah, unfortunately there are few exceptions to the rule of cheaper foods being worse for you, both in terms of health and wellness, and your ability to keep a certain size and weight. That’s why some people do feel that the economy being worse is actually going to make us fatter, because people are being forced to eat cheaper foods that are devoid of fiber and high in calories and fat, and also because people aren’t able to afford fresh produce and higher priced food items that tend to be healthier (like foods that are purchased at health food stores, and organic produce, etc.)

Not only are cheaper foods usually higher in things like fat and sodium and high in empty calories, but they are processed, which means they don’t have many nutrients that are readily absorbed, and actually end up making you more hungry in the end for junk foods, because they don’t truly nourish the body. However, there are some items that you can always buy that aren’t too highly priced that also aren’t bad for you, and believe it or not, even some of the higher priced whole foods stores aren’t riding high on the prices lately.

I just went to our local natural foods store and found that they had tons of specials and incentives to shop there. I even bought natural sulfate free shampoos and found that they were priced lower than they ever had been there, much to my obvious delight. The produce of course is always going to cost a little more when it’s organically grown, but you’ll find that it also tend to satisfy you more and stick with you for a longer time – at least it does for me. All in all, eating organic, whole and natural foods is a win/win situation in the end, and you actually may end up spending the same amount of money on it because you eat less of it, although it is more expensive.