Archive for the ‘Healthy’ category

How to Identify Eating Disorders in Children and Teenagers

May 2nd, 2012

How to Identify Eating Disorders in Children and Teenagers

Most of us are aware that eating disorders are becoming more prevalent but this trend would also seem to be increasing in children. These disorders can often be life threatening and even more so where children are involved.

Why the Increase in Eating Disorders in Children?

Just like adults, they are prone to the pressures of media stereotypes where being rake like is the norm and anything else is simply deemed over-weight. It would also seem that if a parent or an adult close to them has suffered an eating disorder then the child is more likely to contract the disorder as they strive to copy their role models. It is also the case that competitive aspects of life such as football, gymnastics dancing etc. can feed an eating disorder in children problem. We generally associate anorexia with girls but it is becoming more and more common to see this disease get a hold on boys.

These children do not want to stray from the so called “norm” and if they do, they have a feeling of being over-weight or fat which compounds the potential problems. It is also possible that some children or teens with anorexia may also try to hide their problem by binge eating with subsequent purging and this could develop into a bulimia condition. An eating disorder in children may be more likely to develop by those that have suffered abuse whether it was physical, mental or sexual. Whatever the reasons that this unwelcome trend has started to emerge, as responsible adults we must keep a close eye on any potential signs of an eating disorder in children developing so that early remedial action and medical advice can be sought.

Any expression from a child about the need to go on some sort of diet could be an early sign of a possible eating disorder problem but at the least, a valid reason for concern.

By Mark J Emslie

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Healthy Eating – Recipes That Can Help Improve Your Health

May 1st, 2012

Healthy Eating – Recipes That Can Help Improve Your Health

It is the intention of many people to eat natural foods and use natural ways of making food so as to make sure their health remains good. This is especially so for those busy people who may not necessarily have the time to sit down and cook food. Such people desire quick and easy ways to help them stay healthy while eating natural foods. Well, with this quick and easy recipe, you can be able to achieve this. Let us look at some tips that can help you with this.

Tip 1: If you have persistent headaches, it is highly recommended to eat fruit desserts which have hawthorn and pear in them. The fruit dessert is prepared in the 10 simple steps:

Ingredients: rock sugar (200g), pear (500g) and hawthorn (150g)

Steps:
1. Boil water and have the hawthorns immersed for about 5 minutes.
2. Remove the hawthorns from the hot water and have the cores and peels removed.
3. Use warm water to clean the pears and also have the cores and peels removed.
4. The peeled pears should then be shredded.
5. Have the pot warmed but don’t add any oil or water.
6. Add the 200g of rock sugar to the pot.
7. Once the rock sugar has heated and melted, the hawthorns can be added.
8. Mix and fry the hawthorns together with the melted rock sugar. This should be done until the hawthorns become transparent.
9. The shredded pear can then be added and mixed together with the hawthorns.
10. The fried hawthorns can be held on a plate and served as a dessert of fruit.

Tip 2: If you have a cold or flu, you can overcome it with Italian pasta that has tomato sauce. Outlined below are the 5 simple steps for doing this:

Ingredients: pimento (50g), shredded beef (50g), pasta (200g) and tomato sauce (25g)

Steps:
1. Get a big pot and boil water. Add the pasta into the pot when the water reaches boiling point.
2. It takes about 8 minutes for the pasta to get ready. Once ready, remove it from the pot and put it on a place
3. Get another hot pot and have the shredded beef fried together with the 25g of tomato sauce
4. Once ready, put the fried beef-tomato sauce on the pasta and spread it
5. Shred the pimento pieces on top of the beef-tomato sauce. You can then serve the whole meal as dinner or lunch

Vitamin B and Vitamin E are 2 major cereal proteins that are found in the pasta. The tomatoes usually have compounds that are well known for protecting the body from various diseases. The pimento is usually very nutritious, low in calories and low in fat.

By Aggrey Mullwani

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Preventing Chronic Illness Through Healthy Eating

April 30th, 2012

Preventing Chronic Illness Through Healthy Eating

Eating healthy can greatly reduce the likelihood of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes. Disease prevention through proper nutrition is but one of the benefits of eating healthy.

Developing heart disease is probably the highest risk of having a poor diet. Foods high in saturated fats, cholesterol, sugars, and sodium contribute to weigh gain and increases the risk of developing heart disease. Proper nutrition has such benefits as lowering your bad cholesterol, increasing your good cholesterol, lowering your blood pressure, and regulating your body weight. By reducing the fat in your diet, lowering your salt intake, cutting down on sugars, and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. You can greatly reduce your chances of developing heart disease.

Diabetes runs a close second to heart disease in chronic diseases developed through poor eating habits. Many of the same things that lead to heart disease also contribute to the development of diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, one of the major steps in preventing the development of diabetes is healthy eating. Recommended foods such as whole grains and fresh vegetables should be eaten on a daily basis. Being overweight puts you at a higher risk of developing diabetes. A weight loss of 5 to 10 percent of your body weight can reduce the risk of developing diabetes by 60 percent. By choosing to eat unhealthy foods you greatly increase the chances that you will become overweight and develop diabetes. The good news is that these risks can easily be reduced through dietary changes.

All too often people are unaware that poor nutrition can contribute to developing cancer. The second leading cause of death among Americans is cancer. We often assume that getting cancer is simply the luck of the draw. While genetics may play a role in this, luck has nothing to do with getting cancer. Scientists have found that lifestyle choices are the biggest cause of cancer. Cigarette smoking, excess stress, over exposure to the sun, and poor nutrition are but a few of the factors associated with the development of cancer. This article is about proper nutrition as it relates to health problems so I will focus on that as a cause. Researchers have found that eating red meat can be linked to nearly one-third of all cancers. Studies have also found a link between sugar and the development of some cancers. Yet another potential cause of cancer is charred foods. Drinking alcohol also increases the risk of getting cancer.

A poor diet can increase the risks of developing many other illnesses. Improving your nutrition can greatly lower the risks of developing life threatening conditions. Making these changes will also make you feel better and improve your overall general health.

By Dennis W Weaver

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How to Eat Healthy and Lose Excess Weight

April 29th, 2012

How to Eat Healthy and Lose Excess Weight

In our fastfood and massive portion sized culture, maintaining a healthy weight can be quite difficult- and losing weight, even tougher. Adding to this difficulty is the abundance of fad diets and quick fix plans that doesn’t really do any good, at least not in the long term. If you are one of those people who have tried and failed to lose weight in the past, don’t lose hope. There are plenty of small changes that you can make to your daily diet to achieve lasting weight loss. Let me share to you some of them.

1. Instead of eating three big meals a day, split it into six smaller meals and smaller portion sizes of course.

2. Avoid eating refined carbs such as white flour, rice, pasta and bread. Eat only whole grain carbs such as brown rice and whole wheat pasta.

3. Never skip breakfast. Those who think skipping breakfast is a great way to cut calories usually end up eating more throughout the day. Eating early in the day keeps us from “starvation eating” later on. Apart from that, eating breakfast also jumpstarts your metabolism, making you burn more calories throughout the day.

4. Get rid of junk food and stock up on healthy ready to eat snacks instead. Salt free nuts, whole grain granola and vegetable sticks are yummy and healthy snacks that can help you feel more satisfied.

5. Learn to read a nutrition label. Avoid buying food with ingredients you can’t easily pronounce. Chances are, these are loaded with preservatives and additives. Again, if you can’t say it, don’t eat it.

6. Reward yourself occasionally. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Treat yourself to your favorite ice cream or a big fat juicy hamburger once a week. The more you deprive yourself, the higher the chance you end up overeating.

7. Try to learn how to cook healthy food. This way you can eat healthy food anytime at the comforts of your own home.

8. Reduce your sodium and sugar intake. Excess sugar and sodium intake both carry their own sets of problems. Eating too much sugar can increase weight, blood glucose levels and your risk for heart disease. On the other hand, too much salt in your diet can cause bloating and water retention which can cause weight gain and heart strain.

9. Use a smaller plate when eating. This creates the illusion that the plate has a lot of food in it.

10. Avoid emotional eating. Bingeing can only make you feel worse about yourself in the long run.

By Mich Ching

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Get Active and Eat Healthy If You Want to Prevent Diabetes

April 29th, 2012

Get Active and Eat Healthy If You Want to Prevent Diabetes

The experts have recognized the link between diabetes and obesity.

In today’s day and age, obesity is becoming more and more common. With this rise in obesity, we have seen a rise in diabetes. This link is causing the life span of those who are obese and diabetic to be decreased by 10 or 20 years depending on the severity. The worst part of this is that many of those who are obese and diabetic are children and those in their teen years.

However, this type of situation can be prevented. Many times obesity is caused by overeating and inactivity. Preventing this type of situation can be handled rather simply. Watch what you and your children eat and get active. Watching what you eat does not mean that you can’t eat what you want. It just means that you must eat in moderation. Don’t overload your plate because you think you are starving. The key is to start out small and stop when you no longer feel hungry. Eat small meals so that your body has a chance to digest everything properly. This will help to avoid overloading your body on sugars and fat.

Being active doesn’t mean that you should be out there working out every day and running 5 miles every morning. All you need to do is get up and move around. Go for a walk, do some extra cleaning, take a bike ride, and so on. These little things can add up quite easily and before you know it you are feeling better, losing weight, becoming fit and healthy. A little activity goes a long way. Including the whole family or a buddy to do things with can help bring the support you need and make it more fun. Diabetes and obesity are related but they don’t have to be related to you.

Take the time to learn about obesity and diabetes as you are already doing. Do some research and teach your children what it means to be healthy. Show them that your and their life is worth living. A few small lifestyle changes can make a huge difference in obesity and diabetes. Lowering the risk of diabetes in the obese means lowering obesity as a whole. Obesity doesn’t have to be a problem of the future. It can be something you overcame and conquered. Get out there and get active and eat healthy. Take it one step at a time.

By Girdhar Gopal Sharma

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