Dietary Guideline USA
September 6, 2008
Are you sick and tired of the confusion about our dietary guideline? Don’t do this, do that, no not this, lose weight this way and on and on. Too much fat, more of this and it goes on and on and on. Frankly, it’s enough to drive us all nuts. Turn off the TV, boot up the computer and take a real hard look at the new 2005 dietary guideline released recently.
Let’s face it? its not easy trying to manage our lives today with so much going on. Learning about food and diet is very time consuming but frankly it’s very necessary for the benefit of ourselves, family and our grandchildren.
It doesn’t take much to see we’ve got a real problem here. Seen many obese children lately? A total society where over 60% of the people are overweight? Come on give us a break here something’s gone astray and we’re not sure what to do about it.
It seems like every-time we turn our heads a new fad hits us right between the eyes.We struggle and shuffle with the hope that we’re on to something but to no avail. Boy do we learn from those expensive lessons.
Manganese 101
September 4, 2008
Manganese is a metallic mineral that was discovered by a 17th century German chemist named Johann Glauber, though it was not isolated in a pure form until 1774, by Johan Gahn. It was Gahn’s associate, a Swedish chemist, Carl Scheele, who first determined that manganese was an element. Manganese, as a trace mineral element, is found in all forms of life. It is essential to the health and functioning of the human body and mind in many ways.
In terms of physical health, the mineral manganese is important to almost all of the body’s major systems. It works in the digestive system which is responsible for breaking down foods through digestion and transforming them into a form that the body can use. The primary function of manganese in the digestive system is acting as a cofactor in many of the enzymes responsible for releasing the energy in food making it accessible to both body and mind to fuel the essential and nonessential functions. This essential mineral is also needed to metabolize Thiamin Vitamin B1. The skeletal system requires manganese for the building of strong and healthy bones. Without it, the skeleton may not develop properly. Manganese also supports good muscular reflexes. It also serves the reproductive system having an important role in the production of sex hormones and sperm.
Magnesium 101
September 3, 2008
Magnesium is an important mineral that serves numerous essential functions in the body. There are more than 300 biochemical processes in the human body that require the use of the mineral magnesium. From the center of the human body, the heart, to the framework, the bones, some of the body’s most fundamental systems and structures depend on this very vital mineral. For a normal life and health, sufficient amount of magnesium must be taken and maintained by the human body daily.
Magnesium is important to bone health and structure. Indeed, fully half of the magnesium in the human body is found in the bones. One important contribution magnesium makes to the bones is to assist in the production of the hormone calcitonin which helps increases the level of calcium in the bones. Magnesium also controls the acidity of the blood, which is beneficial to bones, as high acid levels can weaken bone structure.
Magnesium is also believed to play a part in controlling the neuromuscular activities of the heart and helps to keep the heartbeat steady and regular. It helps to keep blood pressure levels within the normal range. For these reasons, researchers have been investigating the ways that magnesium could affect heart disease treatment and prevention. If proven positive, this could revolutionalize the treatment of the disease!
Calorie Deficit
September 2, 2008
I am sure you have heard you have to build more muscle so you can burn more fat. I’m sure you have also heard that you have to put your body into extreme calorie deficit in order to lose weight. I’ll bet you’ve also been told that eating a high protein diet will make you lose weight faster.
Do not do high protein diets! Too much protein can cause kidney failure. Be careful!
If all we had to do is burn more calories than we take in, weight loss would be easy. Why? Because most people stop eating when they want to lose weight. It works for 2-4 weeks but then all of a sudden, it stops. Your body adjusts to the lower calories. Now you have to drop your calories even further to keep losing weight. Pretty soon, you’re starving yourself.
Think about this. Let’s say your body required 1600 calories per day. If you ate only 1000 calories that would mean you would lose weight according to the theory. If that’s the case you should be able to eat all the STARCHES and SUGARS you want as long as you did not exceed 1000 calories. Let’s take it one step further. Let’s say you eat nothing but 1000 calories from doughnuts. Well, you should lose weight, right? Definitely not!
Fish Oil
August 30, 2008
The research in support of dietary omega-3 fatty acids (such as in fish oils) continues to flood the scientific literature. This is perfectly predictable given our genetic roots. In the wild, eating natural raw foods, we would be consuming large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids daily. But today, on processed, grain-based diets, we get little.
Instead, we have dramatically increased the consumption of omega-6 fatty acids. Although these too are essential in the diet, their excess results in a pro-inflammatory response that lies at the base of a mix of modern degenerative diseases such as arthritis, autoimmunities and heart disease. The natural diet should have a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 of about 1:1, but today is more like 20 or 30 to 1! See a problem?
Certain fish, algae, some vegetables, grass-fed meats, wild meats, high omega-3 eggs, seeds such as flax and supplements help. Variety is always important. Any food may contain toxins, so varying the diet gives the body an opportunity to detoxify.
Healthy Aging - The Clean-Meat Connection
August 29, 2008
It is shocking how many people are not taking advantage of the lessons from 21st Century research on cellular health. The syntax of disease is known by many researchers; and many of them are telling you what you can do to protect yourself. They wonder why so many still choose to age and ultimately die prematurely.
Throughout human history, infectious disease was the leading cause of death. By the 20th Century, non-infectious ailments like heart attacks, strokes and cardio-vascular disease along with cancer replaced it as the leading cause. Furthermore, this occurred among the industrial nations, despite greater wealth, better housing and so-called, better nutrition.
So, whether you live longer and healthier than your parents just may depend, not on your monetary wealth or your medical insurance card, but on how well you know and react to the mechanisms of disease in the modern world.
While the message of ancient wisdom has also spoken clear enough, leaving us clues for the last 6,000 years of mankind’s history, our modern world has equally spoken. In a world that has the greatest scientific research available, men, women and children still die prematurely. Why? Is there a root cause for this effect?
The Crucial Role of the Salt in Our Health
August 28, 2008
Salt is vital for our health. Right now, you have around 250 gr. of salt - about a cupful - working for keeping you alive. Without enough of it, muscles won’t contract, blood won’t circulate, food won’t digest, and the heart won’t beat.
Salt, the sodium chloride, is an essential part of the diet of humans and animals and is a part of our fluids, such as blood, sweat, and tears.
The two elements of salt - sodium and chloride - play a variety of very important and crucial roles in our bodies as maintaining the balance of our fluids, which carry oxygen and nutrients around our bodies.
The sodium it contains is helping maintain the fluid in the blood cells and enables the transmission of electrical impulses between our brain, nerves and muscles. It is responsible for our taste, smell and tactile senses and helps our muscles - including the heart - to contract.
The chloride is essential to our food digestion process by providing chloride for hydrochloric acid - an essential element of human digestive fluid - and helps in preserving the acid-base balance in our body. It plays an important role in absorbing potassium and helping the blood to carry carbon dioxide from respiring tissues to the lungs.
Antioxidants - Add a Lean, Muscular Body to the List of Benefits!
August 26, 2008
I’m sure by now you’ve heard all about the amazing health benefits of antioxidant rich foods in your diet. Not only do these free-radical fighting antioxidants help you look and feel younger by slowing down the aging process, but they also help to prevent cancer, heart disease, and loads of other degenerative diseases. But that’s not all. Antioxidants also help you to recover better from exercise…and that means more muscle and less fat on your body in the long run!
The function that antioxidants play in aiding your recovery from exercise is the inhibition of free radicals produced during exercise. Any time you workout, free radicals are produced in the body that damage muscle tissue. Having an adequate supply of antioxidants about an hour or so before your workout can greatly reduce the muscle damage caused by free radicals, hence, improving your muscular recovery from exercise.
Some of the most potent sources of whole food antioxidants are berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cranberries), cherries, acai fruit, various teas (green tea, white tea, black tea, and red tea - a.k.a. rooibos tea), nuts, seeds, red and black beans, purple potatoes, grapes, red wine, cinnamon, and dark chocolate or cocoa. Don’t be fooled by all of the intense marketing for expensive antioxidant supplement pills…remember whole foods are always better for you (and cheaper) than a pill.
Post Workout Nutrition: Secrets to a Hard, Lean Body
August 25, 2008
As you’ve probably heard before, your post-workout meal may very well be your most important meal of the day. The reason is that when you’re finished with an intense workout, you’re entering a catabolic state where your muscle glycogen is depleted and increased cortisol levels are beginning to excessively break down muscle tissue. These conditions are not good and the only way to reverse this catabolic state (and promote an anabolic state) is to consume a quickly digestible post-workout meal as soon as you can after training. The goal is to choose a meal with quickly digestible carbs to replenish muscle glycogen as well as quickly digestible protein to provide the amino acids needed to jump start muscular repair. The surge of carbohydrates and amino acids from this quickly digested meal promotes an insulin spike from the pancreas, which shuttles nutrients into the muscle cells.
The post-workout meal should generally contain between 300-500 calories to get the best response. For example, a 120-lb female may only need a 300-calorie meal, whereas a 200-lb male may need a 500-calorie post-workout meal. Your post-workout meal should also contain anywhere from a 2:1 ratio of carbs:protein to a 4:1 ratio of carbs:protein. While most of your other daily meals should contain a source of healthy fats, keep the fat content of your post-workout meal to a bare minimum, since fat slows the absorption of the meal, which is the opposite of what you want after a workout.
The Benefits of Iodine
August 23, 2008
Initially discovered as a new element in 1811 by Barnard Courtois, knowledge of this substance has come to include the host of benefits it brings to the body as an essential nutrient. For many years, getting enough iodine in the diet naturally was difficult in many geographic regions and remains so for an unfortunately high percentage of the world’s population in the developing nations. With the introduction of iodized salt, meeting the daily iodine requirement became nearly effortless and inexpensive in the industrialized nations. In these nations, iodine deficiency is now rare. As developing nations are able to make the shift to iodized salt, their rates of iodine deficiency and the diseases associated with it have also begun to decrease.
One of the main ways that iodine affects the body and health is through its interactions with the thyroid gland. Approximately 80% of the iodine found in the body is located in the thyroid. With the help of iodine, the thyroid is able to produce its hormones: thyroxine and triodothyronine. These hormones play a major part in regulating processes relating to growth and development of the body and influence the maturation of the reproductive system.
