Guidelines urge Americans to clean up their diets

Many Americans' diets are a train wreck loaded with junk food, fast food, sugary beverages and too few healthful foods.
So it's no surprise that the federal government's new dietary guidelines, being released today, recommend people get back on track and eat healthier by slashing sugar, salt and solid fats such as butter and stick margarine from their diets and eating more seafood, fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
The latestDietary Guidelines for Americans, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services, are designed to help people reach a healthy weight and reduce their risk of diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer.
Consume fewer calories from solid fats and added sugars.
Eat more fruits and vegetables.
Choose a variety of vegetables, especially dark-green, red and orange vegetables, beans and peas.
Consume at least half of all grains as whole grains. Increase whole-grain intake by replacing refined grains with whole grains.
Increase the amounts of fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products, such as milk, yogurt, cheese and fortified soy beverages.
Use oils to replace solid fats where possible.

Resistant Starch Food A Possible Alternative to Dieting

A study by the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center for Human Nutrition shows that resistant starch food can help people "eat less, burn more calories, feel more energized and less stressed, and lower cholesterol."

According to Health News, the study was based on 4,451 participants. Essentially, the researchers found that the slimmest people ate the most carbohydrates, while the heaviest ones ate the least. Also, the specific sorts of carbohydrates eaten made a difference between weight gain and a trim waistline.

The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and World Health organization (WHO) support eating starch resistant food. Bananas, potatoes, pasta, whole grain bread, oatmeal, barley, and brown rice are typical examples.

The logic behind the magic of starch resistant food is that regular starch foods gets digested quickly in the small intestine, and are converted into short-term energy, which, if it is not needed immediately, is stored as fat.
Resistant starch food, on the other hand, is digested through fermentation in the large intestine and converted into energy for the body more slowly. Resistant starch food stays in the body for a longer time, making people feel fuller for longer. This increase in feeling satiated also contributes to a reduction in the overall amount of calories taken in daily.

According to Health magazine, resistant starch foods improve blood-sugar control, lower cancer risk, and foster healthy digestion.

Survey Suggests Eating Habits Don’t Match the Belief of Most Americans That Their Diet Is Healthy

Close to 90% of Americans say they eat a healthy diet, but their penchant for sweet foods and drinks suggests otherwise.

A new purchaser Reports Health telephone poll of 1,234 adults showed that 52.6% of respondents said their diet was “somewhat healthy,” 31.5% thought their diet was “very” healthy, and 5.6% said they were “extremely” healthy eaters.

But 43% of said they drank at least one sugary soda or sugar-sweetened coffee or tea drink per day, and around one-quarter said they limit the amount of sweets and fat they get every day.

These not-so-healthy eating habits may sabotage their diets and their waistlines, say Nancy Metcalf, the senior program editor for Consumer Reports Health in Yonkers, N.Y.

Junk Food Diet Works

A two month experiment proves that it is very achievable to lose weight while eating like crap.

Nutrition professor Mark Haub, who teaches at Kansas State University wanted to see if eating a reduced calory diet full of junk food and the occasional piece of fruit could help him lose weight.

Not only did he finish up losing a bit of weight, he ended up losing a lot of weight, 27lbs in only eight weeks.

urthermore, his blood level of bad cholesterol dropped, and his blood level of good quality cholesterol increased.

Did he exercise to help weight loss? He says he did not do anything that he would not normally do.

His diet consisted of things that can be purchased from a vending machine, including: cookies, brownies and chips.

His moral of the story is that it is not what you eat, but how much of it you do eat.

Diet & Nutrition : fatty

Food is one of the basic human requirements. To live without it is impracticable. But we all eat to live and not live to eat. Therefore, it is very necessary to eat the right food. If a unprejudiced diet is consumed always then it provide the human body with all the indispensable nutrients compulsory to be healthy, and thus, saves you from various health hazards.

Some factors of diet: Avoid eating stale food even if it has been well conserved in the refrigerator, as it could be overloaded with germs. Vitamin C is good for the bones, skin, and blood. So, remember to eat a citrus fruit everyday. Cooking in oil that is high in its polyunsaturated fatty acid content is optional as it protects the heart and keeps you healthy.

Iron insufficiency is the commonest but not the only cause of anemia. Therefore, if you are anemic, consult a doctor for the diagnosis. Keep the head-end of your bed raised when you sleep to avoid acid reflux and even the chances of developing a hiatus hernia. Rather have smaller meals at regular intervals rather than large meals infrequently as this can prevent wide blood sugar fluctuations.

Do not bend or lie down instantaneously after your meals. This could trigger an acid-peptic disease. Too little calories can slow down the body’s metabolism, thereby diminishing the absorption of vitamins and indispensable nutrients too.