Nutrition Is More Than The Nutrition Facts Box

Nutrition Is More Than The Nutrition Facts Box
by Connie Roemer

Nutrition usually only comes up when people are finally deciding to diet. By that point, the only purpose of mentioning nutrition is just to find a reason why one particular diet might be better than another. However, most fad diets do not work nearly as well as the originators claim they will, due to the nature of most strict diets.

The majority of weight-loss diets work by banning you from eating certain foods that you would normally eat. Sometimes this means eating less of a food or ingredient, but often it means totally abandoning certain food groups.

Obviously if the food you are cutting out altogether is junk food you will be better off nutritionally. The problem is that when you totally stop eating a food that you are used to eating regularly, you will get cravings for this food.

Right from the start you will have a major temptation to cheat on the diet. Eventually you will probably cheat and render the diet useless. You should therefore opt for diets that don't restrict you as severely as this.

Most diets tend to focus on one attribute of food as being a problem (such as carbohydrates, or fat). A better approach is to look at the overall nutritional value of the food.

For example, many popular fad diets focus on eliminating fat, or sugar, or carbohydrates from the diet. This gives people blinkered vision by looking at only part of the nutritional picture and leads to bad nutritional decisions.

Say you are on a diet which aims to avoid carbohydrates. You have to decide between a diet soda (which is bad for you in almost all respects but contains very few carbs) and a fruit juice drink (which is very good for you but is high in carbs). The diet would have you disregard your general health and go for the diet soda. The best choice is, of course, the fruit juice which is rich in minerals and vitamins and is much better for you.

The best way to take care of yourself is to make sure that your chosen meals are nutritious, as often as you can. Try to make sure that you eat a balanced diet, consisting of several different types of food.

When choosing food for its nutritional value it is best to avoid packaged meals and food. This food is packed full of chemicals and retains few of the minerals and vitamins present in fresh food. Pre-packaged food will also tend to have an unhealthy amount of salt in it.

If you get into the habit of eating fresh food that you cook yourself you will become much more aware of what you are eating and what is in it. You will be able to ensure you don't eat too much sodium for example and it will be obvious to you if you are eating too much of one thing or indeed too much of everything.

The most important thing to remember about nutrition is that in order to be healthy, you have to look closer at the ingredients in the food you eat. While different statistics like calories, grams of fat, and grams of sugar are good indicators, the ingredients list is key to figuring out whether or not you should eat that particular food.

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Raw Foods and Nutrition

Raw Foods and Nutrition
By Anthony Ceraldi

Raw foods are only raw if they're un-processed, un-altered, and un-cooked. Raw food dieters typically eschew canned, packaged, or man-made foods because they're very bad for you.

Raw vegetables, greens, and fruits are the healthiest things you can put into your body. They provide lasting, long-term, body energy unlike coffee that hits us with a jolt, a buzz, or a wired feeling. Raw plant foods are complex carbohydrates. When we eat them, the sugar is released slowly into our bloodstream so that there are no blood sugar imbalances. With cookies, candy, sweets, and soft drinks, there can be a super high and a mega low that follows. Raw fruits even hydrate us better than water in the hot sun. Day laborers prefer watermelon, cucumber, and oranges because of the high water content, sodium, and fruit sugar.

Raw foods aren't limited to vegetables, greens, and fruits. People who eat just the aforementioned foods are called raw food vegetarians. These people also consume nuts, seeds, sprouts, grains, legumes, sea vegetables, and condiments from spices, herbs, and seasonings. Some people go beyond all that and eat raw animal foods too. These people are called Native Nutritionists. This group of raw food folks tries to eat like ancient tribes did long ago. They consume raw egg yolks, raw dairy products, and raw meats, especially organ meats. These people are sometimes called Paleolithic dieters. So, you see, there are many dietary permutations of which raw foods are chosen and consumed. By far, the most popular is raw food vegetarianism. However, this is a large and growing movement that is jumping on the tribal diet train, and their favorite book is Nourishing Traditions. It is one of the only books, besides Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, that explains the tribal dietary movement.

There is considerable controversy about whether or not it's healthy to consume raw plant foods exclusively. Recent research has indicated the following health problems in people who consume a purely vegetarian diet: lower bone density, amenorrhea, underweightness, dental erosion, elevated plasma homocysteine, low serum HDL cholesterol, vitamin B-12 deficiency. However, recent research has also verified that raw foods are good for the following health problems: obesity, hypertension, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis. By far, the biggest benefit is in obesity. Before-and-after pictures of raw food vegetarians show dramatic weight loss and anecdotal testimonials from the dieters explain a sense of pleasance, well-being, and energy that's unprecedented in their lives. Some call this the Raw Transformation. Clearer faces, smoother skin, and vibrant, youthful, happy demeanors are the rewards of a raw food diet. Many of these before-and-after pictures can be seen on the Shazzie website. She's super close friends with David Wolfe, who owns the Raw Food website. These two people are shining examples of vibrant health and positive energy. Perhaps people need a mixture of raw plant foods and supplementary animal foods to be successful on the diet. Since we are part of nature, it only makes sense to eat from nature.

Raw foods contain living enzymes that help them digest that are eliminated when food is cooked. They also contain minerals and vitamins that would be lost in cooking. Raw fruit and vegetable fiber helps regular blood sugar.

Besides inner calm and outward peace, there are diseases that are helped by raw foods. The diseases mentioned before in this article were only the ones mentioned in scientific studies. However, raw food dieters from all over the world have said they get relief from the following health conditions with the raw food diet: diabetes, acne, migraines, bodily pain, asthma, arthritis, allergies, depression, menopause, chronic fatigue, and even cancer. It probably does this through creating homeostasis in the body that balances the system out. These health problems don't have to be treated conventionally. Try a natural approach first of all.

Raw fruits and vegetables aren't limited to supermarket store shelves. Exotic foods like Plantains, Durians, Elderberries, Pomegranates, and Breadfruit are just a few of the amazing and tempting foods we should be eating. We would probably be living a lot longer if we had access to them. Search online and try to find someone that will ship them to you.

Make raw food power smoothies that are chock full of antioxidants to look and feel younger and have more energy. Get a blender like a Vitamix or K-Tec that can blend raw vegetables and greens and splash in a lot of berries for taste. Add some fresh-squeezed orange juice. Jack LaLane, a 94 year old, eats 5 to 7 different fruits and vegetables per day. He is a fitness superstar in the United States. The Juice man, well into his 70's, looks like he's in his 50's. He sells a power juicer online. Diamond Organics can ship you raw foods from all over the country so what are you waiting for?

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Nutrition - Ten Reasons for Proper Nutrition

Nutrition - Ten Reasons for Proper Nutrition
By Julieanne Van Zyl

Nutrition is what we provide to our bodies, in the form of food and drink, to support life within our body's cells. It is what we eat and drink, which is known as our diet.

People provide themselves with all kinds of nutrition, and not all of it is beneficial to supporting life. Experts recommend that we eat and drink certain nutrients for good reasons.

In this article, we discuss ten reasons for giving your body proper nutrition.

Ten reasons for giving your body proper nutrition are:

1. Reduce the risk of certain illnesses.

Most people want to have the chance of a long healthy life, and therefore want to reduce illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and certain cancer. Proper nutrition goes a long way towards reducing the risks.

2. Improve our Immune System

By taking certain nutrients, we build up our immune system, and are less susceptible to viruses that other people have.

3. Get Fit

If we are unfit already, it's a real challenge to exercise because of the lack of energy. So, if we feed our bodies with proper nutrition, we'll get more energy and feel like exercising to get fit.

4. Have Fun and Do the things we Want to do

If we are on a good diet most of the time, we can do new and strenuous activities like rock climbing or wind surfing, or scuba diving, things that take a lot of energy and strength. Having the right nutrients in our bodies, builds our strength and confidence to do different things.

5. Look Good and Healthy

When taking good nutrition, we look good. Our bodies are trim and lean, and our skin looks clear and healthy, nails are stronger, and our hair looks shinier.

6. Feel Good

I believe this is the most important. With good nutrition, we feel much better because our cells are getting the nutrients they require.

7. Improve the Quality of Our Lives

When we look and feel good, we have a lot more confidence. It's easier to get the job we want or to have a successful business, or just to do the things we love doing.

8. Learn More Easily

Healthy children learn more easily, and this is shown by research studies. I believe this is true for adults also, and that learning is a fun part of life at any age.

9. Improve Vision

Good nutrition improves our vision, including night vision.

10. Improve our Memories

Our memories will be improved if we take certain nutrients, and this will improve our working life, or make it more fun in relationships with other people, to remember things we've heard or read before.

source : http://ezinearticles.com/?Nutrition---Ten-Reasons-for-Proper-Nutrition&id=1128017