Healthy Eating Archives

So you have high cholesterol and need to lower it? That is no surprise considering how many people have high cholesterol these days. To help lower your cholesterol, here are 10 tips you can get started with today.

As with anything health related, diet and exercise are the two crucial components. What you eat is critical to lowering your cholesterol levels, so that is what is included here.

One thing you should know is the difference between LDL and HDL cholesterol. Simply think of HDL as “healthy” and LDL as “lousy.” HDL can actually help carry cholesterol out of your blood vessels while LDL allows it to deposit inside your artery walls.

The good news is that you can change your cholesterol for the better. Here is how to do just that:

1. Have a nice sandwich on whole wheat bread or a pita with some lean turkey and lots of fresh veggies. Skip the hot dogs, bologna, and salami, and hold the Mayo. All of those are highly processed and filled with fat and cholesterol.

2. Fish, like salmon, is good. Look for wild red salmon varieties, which are very high in Omega-3 fatty acids (good fat.) Also, flax seed is a good source of Omega-3s.

3. Avoid Trans fats! Not only do they raise the lousy LDL cholesterol, they can also lower your HDL levels! Stay away from foods like margarine, shortening, and processed foods containing partially hydrogenated soybean oil.

4. Go ahead, go nuts! Look for walnuts mainly but also try almonds, macadamia nuts, cashews, and pecans. Nuts are high in fat, but it’s the good kind. (Also, use natural peanut butter instead of the normal kind which contains unhealthy Trans fats.)

5. Limit desserts and try to eat only the healthier ones like angel food cake, graham crackers, Jell-O, and fat-free frozen yogurt.

6. Eat foods that are high in fiber. Examples include whole wheat bread, oatmeal, fruits, vegetables, beans, and some cereals. (Look for the boxes that say “may help lower cholesterol.”)

7. Use the grill. If you’re going to have steak or burgers, grill them at home and use lean meat. This practice avoids the grease, is fun, and the meat tastes great.

8. Find a new salad dressing. Most of them are full of Trans fats and cholesterol. Olive oil is good, and maybe add vinegar or lemon juice. Also, skip the bacon bits, croutons, and egg yolks.

9. Go overboard on fruits and vegetables. They contain no cholesterol and they have lots of nutrients like antioxidants.

Here are some examples: green peas, broccoli, cauliflower, apples, oranges, mangos, papaya, pineapple, tomato, garlic, onions, spinach, water chestnuts, bananas, apricots, blueberries, and kiwi.

10. Avoid fast food like french fries and anything else from the deep fryer. Those foods will raise your cholesterol like crazy, so stay away from the burger joints if you can.

11. Bonus tip: Use spices like pepper and oregano to add flavor to your dishes. They are a healthy alternative to other toppings like Mayo.

That was easy, wasn’t it? Just make some of these changes and get plenty of exercise like walking, jogging, swimming, or playing basketball. You will have lower cholesterol in no time!

You can find out more about ways to lower your cholesterol here: 30 Days To Lower Your Cholesterol

Vegetables and fruits are the easiest ways to get more alkaline into your diet. Vegetables that are alkalizing are: alfalfa, barley grass, beets, beet greens, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, chard greens, collard greens, cucumber, dandelions, eggplant, garlic, green beans, green peas, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, nightshade veggies, onions, parsnips, peas, peppers, pumpkin, radishes, rutabaga, sea veggies, spinach, sprouts, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, watercress, wheat grass, and wild greens.

Fruits that have an alkalizing effect are: apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, berries, blackberries, cantaloupe, cherries, coconut, currants, dates, figs, grapes, grapefruit, honeydew, lemons, limes, muskmelons, nectarines, oranges, peaches, pears, pineapple, raisins, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, tangerines, tomatoes, tropical fruits, and watermelon.

Remember the goal of the pH miracle diet is to have the alkaline intake higher than your acidic intake. This does not mean that you can’t enjoy the foods that are higher in acidity, quite the contrary; the balance of your diet should be geared toward alkaline producing foods. By maintaining a proper pH balance you can ensure that your body is performing at its optimum level.

Aging plus the pH miracle diet

What does aging have to do with pH and acid/alkaline foods? Some experts contend that the reason we age has to do entirely with the amount of acidic foods that we eat. The theory is that we get older because we do not effectively get rid of the wastes and toxins that accumulated through our bodies.

Even worse, modern farming and food production practices are making foods more acidic than they used to be. Inorganic acid minerals like chlorine, phosphor and sulfur seep into meats, grains and root crops through soil, air quality and farming practices. We are consuming more inorganic acid minerals than ever before. All of this contributes to our bodies’ inability to rid themselves of acid.

The pH miracle diet is a perfect balance to our over-acidified lives that cause premature aging. Aging occurs because of the build up of acidic elements in the body. Healthy cells naturally have a slightly alkaline pH level, and since acid and alkaline are chemical opposites, high acid levels destroy cells.

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Quick Diet Tips

Does anyone have any easy heart healthy diet recipes?
Question: My husband just returned from the hospital and was told to change to a more heart healthy diet. (less fat, no salt, fewer calories, etc.) Does anyone have any easy heart healthy diet recipes.They are considered healthy they could forward me or point me to online? I have an older versi . tagged: Heart Healthy Diet RecipeA healthy diet provides all the nutrients we need in a day. The amount a child needs from each food group depends on age, gender and daily physical activity. Children who are very physically active, for example, need more than children who get little or no physical activity. For students who get 30 to 60 minutes of daily physical activity it that means consuming at least 6-5-3-3-2: My students eat some foods I’ve never seen or tasted. I have no ideas what food group they belong to.Question: My husband just returned from the hospital and was told to change to a more heart healthy diet. (less fat, no salt, fewer calories, etc.

What exactly is healthy diet?
A healthy diet provides all the nutrients we need in a day. The amount a child needs from each food group depends on age, gender and daily physical activity. Children who are very physically active, for example, need more than children who get little or no physical activity. For students who get 30 to 60 minutes of daily physical activity it that means consuming at least 6-5-3-3-2: My students eat some foods I’ve never seen or tasted. I have no ideas what food group they belong to.You can start planning a healthy diet by looking at the Dietary Guidelines for Americans ( by the U.S.

How can I follow a healthy diet if I eat out a lot?
The American Heart Association gives these tips for a healthy diet, even when you aren’t cooking at home:Unhealthy eating habits and poor nutritional guidance have lead to an American obesity and diabetes epidemic of unprecedented proportions.

What your (very short please) healthy diet tips?
Question: What your healthy (very short please) diet tips? Answer: For losing weight: calories out – calories = weight change A positive number = weight loss A negative number = weight gain tagged: Healthy Diet TipYou can start planning a healthy diet by looking at the Dietary Guidelines for Americans ( by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). These guidelines contain the Food Guide Pyramid, which shows how different food groups can come together to form your total diet. Eating is one of life’s greatest pleasures.

Do You Have A Healthy Diet?
Healthy diet is crucial to feeling good, strong and alert. If you have been eating a diet lacking in nutrition, you will certainly be feeling the effects on your overall health – and may even be setting yourself up for more serious diseases. If you indulge in high calorie diets on a regular basis you will definitely notice the effects of over feeding yourself with empty calories. Weight gain, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, etc.A healthy diet provides all of the essential nutrients that your body needs to promote health, support a fit and active life, and reduce your risk of chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, diabetes or cancer. A healthy diet includes a variety of foods: cereals and grains; fruits and vegetables; protein foods such as meats, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts and vegetables; milk and other dairy products like cheese or yoghurt; and small amounts of fats and oils.You can start planning a healthy diet by looking at the Dietary Guidelines for Americans ( by the U.

How can a snack bar be considered part of a healthy diet?
GR2eat bars contain the correct balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fat needed to nourish your body while keeping your blood sugar and insulin levels stable. Unlike other “snack” bars, it is low in sugar, fat, and calories.Having a healthy diet is one of the most important things you can do to help your overall health. Along with physical activity, your diet is the key factor that affects your weight. Having a healthy weight for your height is important. Being overweight or obese increases your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, breathing problems, arthritis, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea (breathing problems while sleeping), osteoarthritis, and some cancers.A healthy diet provides all the nutrients we need in a day.

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You may have heard of the Cabbage Soup Diet. Many people have lost immediate weight the first week or two they go on this diet, but have lost interest after that and regained the weight, which is much like the results on other low to no carb diets. For a diet to work long term, it must offer enough variety to be enjoyed and eaten over a period of time.

This diet is well known as a fat burning soup diet, being that it contains ingredients which are believed to help the body burn off fat. However, other than the cabbage soup, dieters on this regimen do not have a lot of dietary choices besides low to no carb foods such as fruits and vegetables.

When taking a closer look at the recipe for this cabbage soup or fat burning soup, it is clear that this can be considered a low to no carb diet. The soup includes fat burning vegetables like onions, peppers, tomatoes and cabbage. You can also substitute other cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower or broccoli for the cabbage. Spices and hot sauce can be added to liven up the soup.

This is a diet which is very low in carbohydrates, which your body converts to sugar – the unused energy is then stored as fat. This is a low carb vegetable soup, made with ingredients which encourage your body to burn fat and lose weight. It works for most, but since most of these dieters quickly lose interest in the diet, it is only effective in the short term.

The diet works like this: Eat all the soup you want every day, whenever you are hungry. In addition to the soup, the only thing you can eat on Day 1 is Fruit, except bananas, Day 2 is vegetables, except for dry beans, peas and corn, also forbidden on low to no carb diets. However, on Day 2 for dinner, you can have a baked potato, which is carbs, but they use it to fool the metabolism into thinking you are eating carbs again.

Day three allows fruits and vegetables, day four you can have bananas and skim milk. On day five, you can eat lean meat and tomatoes; day six allows leafy greens and lean meat. On day seven, brown rice can be eaten. This isn’t a diet which offers a lot of variety, not to mention protein. This is why many do not manage to stick with the fat burning soup diet for very long.

The cabbage soup diet is a lot like the other low to no carb diets; it limits your carb intake. It also does not limit how often or how much you can eat, but it does limit your choices.

The cabbage soup diet is much like the other low or no carb diets in that it allows you to eat as much and as often as you like. However, the best diets are ones which incorporate fat burning foods while still offering variety and a nutritional balance and allow you to eat several times a day so you can stick with it over the long term, such as the diet provided by Fat Loss 4 Idiots that is highly recommended in the link below.

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Improve Your Health and Eliminate Man Boobs!

Excessive tissue around a male’s chest is often crudely referred to as “man boobs.” The medical condition gynecomastia, can be a serious, and involves actual female breast tissue in men. This is sometimes a side-effect of medication or a symptom of a serious illness. Pseudogynecomastia, as it is technically called, is fatty tissue around a male’s breasts, and occurs in up to 40% of all adolescent males during puberty. Most of the time, this fatty tissue will disappear on its own, but if not, it can be eliminated through proper diet and exercise.

While results won’t be achieved overnight, there are simple steps that can be followed to help eliminate pseudogynecomastia, or “man boobs.” Consistent effort will pay off in a big way! Let’s look at some of these steps now.

One of the most significant remedies for this problem is to eat healthy on a regular basis. This would require learning about the food pyramid recommendations, learning to read and understand nutrition fact labels, and learning proper portion sizes.

Eliminating sweets from the diet is another important step. This would especially include sweet drinks and drinks containing artificial sweeteners. Water should be your main beverage of choice. Skim milk and unsweetened tea are acceptable as well. At the same time, severely limit sweet foods. They provide nothing of value to the diet.

It is impossible to downplay the significance of exercise in the fight against “man boobs.” A minimum of thirty minutes of cardio should be competed each day, with activities such as power walking, running, biking, swimming laps, racquetball, skating, basketball, biking, jumping rope, and dancing. In addition, weight training and target exercises should be included in the daily workout.

By following these steps, pseudogynecomastia can be eliminated or greatly reduced. Patience is imperative as it takes several months for the body to show off the benefits of a new program. There are other easy steps that can be taken to deal with this condition, but these are by far the most important ones.

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Can You Lose Weight Without Exercising?

by Kaye Medalla

Have you ever tried doing at least 5 mile runs twice a day and still don’t burn fat? After a week or two you throw in the towel and say at lease you’ve tried? You see, you can actually lose weight even without exercise. But before you say that’s baloney hear me out first.

You may not know, just like I did before, you can go for marathon runs everyday and still not lose weight. You could pump up your muscles and lift heavy weights and still bulge with fat and have a big belly. This is primarily because you fail to create a caloric deficit.

You will burn fat without exercise if you can create a caloric deficit every day. This is proven from studies made and this is a fact. I know it’s not easy to lose weight but I also know that it is not as hard as you think. If you can’t exercise, what you just have to do is eat less calories every day than what your body needs.

It is important that you don’t misunderstand this. You need less calories not less food. So don’t go on a starving phase and deprive yourself of your favorite foods otherwise you will only make your weight loss harder for yourself. I know it is not easy but if you just follow the following steps, your weight loss is guaranteed.

How You Can Lose Weight With No Exercise

1. Try to find out how much you weigh, multiply it by 13 and that is how much calories you would need each day. If you weigh around 160 lbs. you will need approximately 2000 calories for energy every day.

2. Start reading product labels and look for food with lower calorie content. Replace your usual and favorite foods with these lower calorie foods without sacrificing the amount of food that will satisfy you. Go for low fat dressings and non fat milk.

3. If your schedule at work doesn’t allow you time for a good exercise then you can replace it with any other physical activity to help in your energy consumption like walking to or from work if it’s just a short drive away.

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What is your child Ideal weight ?

by Joel Riley

With all the talk about obesity, you may be wondering what your child should actually weigh. While adults can use the Body Mass Index to determine their ideal weight, the scale for children is different. It’s based on percentages.

If your child weighs more than children in the 95th percentile, he or she is considered overweight. Above the 85th percentile and your child is considered to be at risk of becoming overweight.

The growth charts for comparison for children between the age of 2 -20 months can be obtained from the cdc website at www.cdc.gov/growthcharts.

It’s important to remember that this is just a general guideline.You shouldn’t become too obsessed with making your child’s weight fit into a specific category. Instead, worry about his or her overall health.

Check your family lifestyle and try to adjust accordingly if you see your child reaching the 85th percentile weight range. However before drawing any conclusions, consult your pediatrician first.

It’s important to help your child maintain a healthy weight because that will contribute to a healthy adult weight. However, it’s also important that you take things in moderation. Constantly weighing your child and becoming fanatical about keeping his weight on target can do more harm than good.

A little common sense can go a long way when deciding on matter regarding your child weight. Be a good role model and encourage your child to exercise regularly. Also provide him or her with a nutritious diet so that they can have a healthy lifestyle.

You can’t expect for your child to change her lifestyle while you keep the same unhealthy one. When you work to keep the whole family healthy, your child will be more likely to have a healthy weight.

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by Shannon Linnen

To put it succinctly, whatever anyone says, seafood is healthy. Well, with some caveats: seafood fished from polluted rivers, city rivers, or contaminated lakes are far from healthy — they may contain PCBs, mercury, or other harmful chemicals. But across the board the fish, shellfish and crustacean dishes you can find at restaurants or supermarkets near you all are nigh-guaranteed to do your body good. Considering the latest dieting crazes, seafood has in place in most of them. This is because seafood has nearly miraculous nutrition powers. To put it succinctly, whatever anyone says, seafood is healthy.One way to ensure the highest of quality when obtaining your seafood is to purchase from a reputable online vendor. They can have your seafood shipped overnight from a coastal location where freshness is guaranteed!

Their entire body is lean muscle, the delicious seafood fillets that wind up on your plate.One of the reasons that seafood is healthy has to do with the biochemistry and lifestyle of the fish. Fishes, in order to breathe, must swim constantly.Compared to the chubby unattractive cow, the life of a fish is one constant streamlined marathon.

A side benefit to eating healthy seafood is that it is so delicious and simple to prepare. Unlike unpleasant “healthy” choices like algae goo and grass juice, seafood tastes wonderful. You can’t go wrong preparing fish dishes. The simplest way to prepare salmon, for example, is to rub it with some spice – simply salt and pepper will do – and pan fry it in a quarter-sized drop of olive oil. 6 minutes on the skin side first, then 3 to 4 minutes on the flesh side should cook an average-sized salmon fillet through.

Lobster meat can by steamed by boiling lobsters in the shells, but dealing with fresh live lobster can be unnerving, and the best addition to lobster is drawn butter – not as healthy as pan seared salmon. Serve it with sautee’d or steamed vegetables, and you’ve got a healthy and filling meal.

Another healthy substitution is to grill tuna steaks instead of greasy hamburgers, at your outdoor grill party. They prepare exactly the same way. Your guests will agree that seafood is healthy, and it also seems classier than humdrum burgers, when arranged on nice plates with a colorful garnish – maybe grated carrots and a lemon wedge.

Fish is an important source of omega-3 fatty acids, found especially in salmon. These fatty acids assist in clearing up acne, rosacea, and can improve the effects of aging on the skin. Also seafood can be a good source of beneficial fat and cholesterol. Vegetarians that rely on fish for protein are healthier than meat eaters.

To conclude, fish is utterly beneficial to your health. It is full of substances that are good for you, and unless the fish is from some unsavory source, it is free of substances that are bad for you.Eat some fish today, I know I will.Fish can be prepared very easily, and it takes little seasoning to make seafood taste good. Fish also has the added benefit of being classier than red meat or poultry.

As recently as 5 to 7 years ago, finding good quality seafood for people living far away from the coast was almost impossible. The good news is that this is no longer the case. You can now get very good quality seafood sent straight to you, even if you life in Utah or Arizona. Fedex and UPS both offer overnight delivery so when you choose an online seafood vendor make sure they offer this shipping option. If your not sure where to start, just search for Quality Fresh Seafood, they are an excellent choice.

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Fresh Shrimp Is Great For Your Health

by Shannon Linnen

You should prefer to eat shrimp that is fresh as it is both healthy and delicious. You can use it to prepare any dish. Shrimp can be eaten with pasta salad, slaw or as an appetizer. It turns out to be a pleasing snack when served with lemon juice and cocktail sauce.

Smoked Maine shrimp is from the state of Maine, and everyone knows Maine is where the best seafood is found. It can be prepared with sauces, barbequed or just served cooked and cold. You can do a search for an exceptional shrimp recipe, or make one up yourself!

The opportunities when cooking with fresh shrimp are truly endless. Shrimp is used in seafood dishes along with other fish and shellfish. For instance, fresh shrimp makes a wonderful addition to stews, soups and Cioppino. Rubbed with Cajun spices, shrimp makes excellent Creole meals such as Jambalaya.

Italian restaurants use shrimp in dishes such as scampi, linguine and tortas. Thai dishes add coconut juice, peanut oil and lime to shrimp to create exotic-tasting meals.Shrimp is used in Mexican dishes, as well. It puts a healthy spin on fajitas, tacos and burritos. It adds a fresh, light flavor not found in traditional, heavier meats.

Free shrimp and smoked Maine shrimp are both tastier and healthy. These foods can induce to eat more whether it is brunch, lunch or dinner. Shrimp is a good food and satisfy any kind of diet due to its high protein and less calories. Shrimp can satisfy you whether you eat less or more.

Fresh shrimp is indeed very versatile. One often overlooked way to include shrimp is to have a shrimp cocktail. Not only is this delicious but it is also a very fun way to use shrimp. Even if you are not cooking a full blown meal, a shrimp cocktail can be both delicious and filling.

You don’t really need a recipe to make a great-tasting shrimp dish, though recipes abound online and in cookbooks. It is very easy to include it in your menu, even if you never cooked shrimp before. There are many delicious and colorful shrimp dishes that can be prepared without spending much time and effort to learn the entire gamut of cooking. That is one of the important advantages of eating shrimp; just sprinkle green salad on top of shrimp and a bland dish becomes a gourmet item.

It is a good idea to make sure that the shrimp has already had the shells removed as well as the veins on the shrimp. There is nothing wrong with doing this yourself, however it takes time. One of the best things about fresh shrimp is that when this is already done, it is so easy and quick to prepare.

There are not many foods, especially meats out there that are healthier for you than fresh shrimp. So, if having a healthy lifestyle is important to you at all, adding shrimp to your diet is a sure way to help fortify and improve you healthy lifestyle.

Remember that if fresh shrimp isn’t readily available in your area, you can always visit a reputable online vendor on the internet and have some sent to you overnight. Typically shrimp that you find either in a grocery store or from an online seafood vendor has already been cooked. Once they have been cooked they will then flash freeze the shrimp and package them for shipping.

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Vegetarian Diets for Weight Loss

Think about it, have you ever seen a fat vegetarian? Probably not. In fact, for most of us, vegetarian is almost synonymous with lean and healthy, isn’t it? And when you start any diet, what’s the first thing the experts tell you? Generally it’s to increase the amounts of vegetables you’re eating and to eat limited amounts of meat, especially high-fat red meat and pork.

And what happens when you resume your old eating habits? Generally the weight will come right back on. Even the greatest will-power can’t overcome the unhealthy effects of eating high-fat meat.

When you eat a diet that’s higher in dietary fiber, that’s primarily if not totally vegetarian, you’re naturally healthier. You’re feeding your body and getting it the nutrition it needs to run efficiently. You have more energy and stamina; you wake up more easily and more refreshed. It’s easier to exercise, because you’re not so weighed down by digesting the high fat and excessive protein that comes from eating a carnivorous diet.

Many diets fail because we think of them as depriving ourselves of food we love. The trick is to change that thinking. There are so many compelling reasons to eliminate meat from our diet, so why not forget about losing weight? Focus instead on eating healthier, or eating in a way that’s in balance with the earth, and that doesn’t need to subsist on the suffering of animals. You’ll probably find you’ll start to lose weight without even thinking about it!

And when you do lose weight, so many other health risks can fall by the wayside as well. You’ll find your blood pressure falls into a healthier range and your risk for Type II diabetes can decrease. You’ll look better and feel better and probably never go back to your old ways of eating!