Posts Tagged ‘diet’

Following a pregnancy diet

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

Pregnancy is one of the most important phases of your life when you actually experience another life that becomes attached to you and breathes within you. However, this phase also puts extra responsibility on you as you have to consider the wellness and health of your forthcoming baby as well.

Therefore, achieving and maintaining a good diet schedule during pregnancy is of utmost important not only for the fitness and nutrition of your own body but also for the mental and physical health of your about-to-be-born baby.

Following are some simple, easy to use steps to eat a diet during pregnancy:

Eat modestly: Being pregnant does not mean you need to get maximum calories. You should eat only 300-400 extra calories a day. Eating for two does not mean eating two times the amount of food. Pregnant mothers only need about 300-400 extra calories in their diet to assure their babies get enough nutrients.

Eat proteins: While eating A-Grade proteins (such those found in meat) is important, you should choose chicken and turkey and lean beef. Some nutritionists also advise to avoid fish during pregnancy as the mercury levels in some fish have been shown to contribute to birth defects in the baby.

Eat green leafy vegetables: Make sure you get 2-4 servings of vegetables a day in your pregnancy diet especially dark green leafy vegetables like spinach and broccoli. These are high in folic acid, something your baby needs in the first trimester to form properly.

Eat fruits: Make sure you are eating 2-4 servings of fruitss a day. Be sure to include citrus fruits (rich in Vitamin C) like oranges or grapefruits in your pregnancy diet. These are also high in folic acid and will help your baby develop properly.

Eat whole grains: Choose foods like oatmeal and whole grain breads to keep you on track for healthy weight gain during pregnancy. For example, you can go for brown rice over white rice.

Eat nuts and oils: Make sure you are getting enough omega 3 fatty acids in your diet by eating a handful of nuts or using diet friendly oils such as olive oil. Omega 3 contributes in helping develop a healthy brain in your baby.

Take supplements: You should also make sure that you are taking daily prenatal multi-vitamins and mineral supplements as recommended by your doctor to maintain a consistent supply of essential anti-oxidants, nutrients and minerals.

Eat short but frequent meals: You should take small meals and snacks throughout the day to help you minimize nausea and heartburn (morning sickness) during pregnancy. Eating 5-6 small meals throughout the day is recommended.

Plan ahead: Pregnancy diet is all about planning and thinking in advance for the new arrival. Accordingly, you should stock your refrigerator with healthy snacks and meals that you’ve prepared ahead of time. Plan ahead and put together your menu plan each week to make sure that you have enough time to buy and prepare your food.

Drink plenty of water: Drinking at least 7-8 glasses of water on daily basis has multiple health benefits. It helps you stay hydrated throughout your pregnancy and has a good impact on your urinary system (including kidneys) and digestive system. Therefore, you should replace any teas or sodas in your diet with water.

Finally, do remember that consuming a healthy, well balanced pregnancy diet is vital to both you and your baby. And yes, never forget to consult your doctor / obstetrician before beginning any pregnancy diet.

Tags: ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 31 Comments »

Diabetic diet

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

Diabetes is the most important chronic problem which is directly related to your dietary / eating habits and calorie consumption. Accordingly, you can take good care of yourself and your diabetes by learning:

  • What to eat
  • How much to eat
  • When to eat

Hence, the term “diabetes diet” is all about making wise food choices that can help you feel good every day, lose weight if you need and lower your risk for heart disease, stroke, and other problems caused by diabetes.

 

The recommended daily calorie intake of a diabetic diet

According to the most dieticians and nutritionists, you should ideally take 1,200 to 1,600 calories a day. Your daily diabetic diet plan should also be based on your receiving 50 to 60 percent of the daily calories from carbohydrates, 15 percent from proteins, and the remainder as fats.

 

Benefits of a diabetic diet

At the first place, healthy eating helps keep your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, in your target range. In diabetes, the real culprit is high blood glucose levels and hence, by following the recommended diabetic diet, you can help prevent various health problems and complications such as blindness, stroke, kidney failure, heart failure and gangrene.

 

Components of diabetic diet

Starches: Starches are bread, grains, cereal, pasta, and starchy vegetables like corn and potatoes. They provide carbohydrate, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Whole grain starches are healthier because they have more vitamins, minerals, and fiber. You should eat some starches at each meal. Eating starches is healthy for everyone, including people with diabetes. However, you should buy whole grain breads and cereals. Also eat fewer fried and high-fat starches such as regular tortilla chips and potato chips, French fries, pastries, or biscuits. Try pretzels, fat-free popcorn, baked tortilla chips or potato chips, baked potatoes, or low-fat muffins. Use mustard instead of mayonnaise on a sandwich. Similarly, eat cereal with fat-free (skim) or low-fat (1%) milk.

 

 

 

Vegetables: This is, perhaps, one of the most important components of a typical diabetic diet as vegetables provide vitamins, minerals, and fiber and they are low in carbohydrate glucose. However, not all vegetables are that good for diabetics. You should go for green leafy vegetables that contain high amount of fiber, vitamins and minerals. Also, you should go for raw and cooked vegetables with little or no fat, sauces, or dressings. Try low-fat or fat-free salad dressing on raw vegetables or salads. Steam vegetables using water or low-fat broth can also be consumed. If you do use a small amount of fat, use canola oil, olive oil, or soft margarines (liquid or tub types) instead of fat from meat, butter, or shortening.


Fruits: Fruits are a rich source of energy, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Contrary to the popular beliefs, a diabetic diet does not stop you from eating sweet fruits. Instead, it just asks you to be more cautious in your selection.

In a diabetic diet, you can eat fruits raw or cooked, as juice with no sugar added, canned in their own juice, or dried. You should buy smaller pieces of fruit and choose pieces of fruit more often than fruit juice. Remember, whole fruit is more filling and has more fiber. You should also save high-sugar and high-fat fruit desserts such as peach cobbler or cherry pie for special occasions.


Meat & meat products: The meat and meat products include poultry, eggs, cheese, fish, and tofu. In diabetic diet, you should eat only a small amount of some of these foods each day.

Meat and meat substitutes provide protein, vitamins, and minerals but may also have high fat content. Therefore white meat (poultry / fish) is usually preferable. However, if you are taste-conscious, you can also choose modest amounts of leaner meat.

In addition, adapting the following measures for meat related foods can help you greatly.

  • Buy cuts of beef, pork, ham, and lamb that have only a little fat on them. Trim off the extra fat.
  • Eat chicken or turkey without the skin.
  • Cook meat and meat substitutes in low-fat ways such as broil, grill, stir-fry, roast , steam, microwave
  • Limit the amount of nuts, peanut butter, and fried foods you eat. They are high in fat.


Fats and Sweets: You should restrict the amount of fats and sweets you eat. Fats and sweets are not as nutritious as other foods. Fats also have a lot of calories. Sweets can be high in carbohydrate and fat. Some contain saturated fats, Trans-fats, and cholesterol that increase your risk of heart disease. Limiting these foods will help you lose weight and keep your blood glucose and blood fats under control.

As for sugar, non-nutritive sweeteners (like aspartame, acesulfame, saccharin) are preferable to both sucrose (table sugar) and fructose (fruit sugar) in drinks, cereals, puddings, and other foods. This is especially true for overweight diabetics.


Alcoholic beverages: Alcoholic drinks have calories but no nutrients. If you have alcoholic drinks on an empty stomach, they can make your blood glucose level go too low. Alcoholic drinks also can raise your blood fats. It is, therefore, best to avoid alcohol altogether.

 

Salt (Sodium): Most people with diabetes eat more salt than they need. Salt can raise blood pressure, which increases the chances for heart disease or stroke. Remember, you need less than 1,000 milligrams of sodium per 1,000 calories, and should not consume more than 3,000 milligrams of sodium per day. Accordingly, a diabetic diet is a low-salt diet. Use less salt when cooking and at the table. One-half teaspoon is equal to about 1,000 milligrams of sodium. Limit foods that are high in sodium, such as processed meats, cheeses, condiments, chips, fast foods, convenience meals, crackers, and salted nuts. Read labels for sodium (NaCl) content

Last but not least, if you have diabetes and you are overweight, you should also start losing weight to lessen the risk of complications that becomes even greater when diabetes is associated with obesity. Remember, high blood sugar levels make you feel hungrier than normal. Proactol Plus is a potent herbal supplement that works naturally to suppress your appetite partially (not completely) so that you can still eat just the right amount of foods from your diabetic diet. Weight loss with the help of diabetic diet, Proactol Plus and healthy exercise reduces the risk of developing diabetes and returns many Type II diabetics to normal blood-sugar regulation. Studies have shown that losing even as little as 10 extra pounds can make a difference in your blood glucose, cholesterol, and fat levels in diabetes.

Tags: ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments »

Cabbage Soup Diet

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

Also known as fad diet or a crash diet, the Cabbage Soup diet is considered one of the most modern diets that (if used properly and regularly) can be a good way to experience quick and effective weight loss.

What is a Cabbage Soup diet?

The Cabbage Soup diet is based on a fat-burning soup and unique combinations of food along with a regular, daily consumption of a specially prepared cabbage soup.

This very specific low-calorie homemade vegetable soup includes green onions, green peppers, tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms, celery, cabbage, vegetable flavored soup mix, bullion, vegetable juice and various condiments.

 

Duration of the Cabbage Soup diet plan

According to the most weight loss experts and nutritionists, this diet should only be utilized for seven days which essentially involves eating cabbage soup along with a selection of specific fruits, potatoes, bananas, skimmed milk, tomatoes, beef, vegetables, brown rice and unsweetened fruit juice.

 

One-week Cabbage Soup Diet Plan

Day 1 (Fruits): You are supposed to eat only the cabbage soup and the fruit on the first day. Eat all of the fruit you want (except bananas). For drinks, you are can drink unsweetened teas, cranberry juice and a plenty of water (8 to 10 glasses).

Day Two (Vegetables): On the day 2, you can eat all the vegetables (no fruits) you want along with your soup. These many include fresh, raw or cooked vegetables of your choice including leafy green vegetables. You are instructed to stay away from dry beans, peas and corn. At dinner, you can eat a big baked potato with butter.

Day Three (Fruits & vegetable mix): The day 3 is basically a mixed combination of the previous 2 days. You can eat all the soup, fruits and vegetables you want except the potatoes.

Day Four (Bananas and skim milk): The day 4 is recommended to reduce your cravings for sweets and desserts. On this day, you can eat as many as eight bananas and drink as many glasses of skim milk as you would like on this day, along with your regular cabbage soup.

 

Day 5 (Beef & tomatoes): On day 5, you are supposed to eat ten to twenty ounces of beef and up to six fresh tomatoes. You should also drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water to wash the uric acid (found in the beef / meat) from your body. However, if you do not like beef, you may eat broiled or baked skinless chicken instead of beef (but no skin-on chicken). Alternatively, you can also substitute broiled fish for the beef on one of the beef days i.e. day 5 or day 6 (but not both).

Don’t forget to drink your cabbage soup at least once this day.


Day 6 (Beef and vegetables): You can eat as much as lean beef and leafy green vegetables (except potatoes) as you like. However, don’t forget to drink your cabbage soup at least once.

Day 7 (Mixed): On this last day, you can eat brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices and vegetables. While there is no limit to the servings, try to be modest. As usual, be sure to eat your cabbage soup at least once this day.


Benefits of Cabbage Soup diet

If the diet is correctly followed, it should cleanse your system of impurities and give you a sense of wellbeing with weight loss. One of the very attractive benefits that is claimed to be associated with this diet is “rapid weight loss” as, according to the claims, you can lose from 10 to 15 lbs. in 7 days.

Also, the diet is simple, easy to prepare and follow and does not require several and multiple recipes that require weeks or even months to be consumed.


Limitations & drawbacks of Cabbage Soup diet

Risk of weakness & disorientation: Experts suggest that if you commit to this diet for more than seven days, you could suffer from weakness and become disoriented due to an insufficient caloric intake. As this diet is low in calories, if consumed for longer period of time, it actually deprives your body of the necessary nutrients to lead and sustain a healthy life.

Finally, while the Cabbage Soup diet is still popular, it is well worth the effort to research its drawbacks and limitations before you decide to try it as your health comes first in any diet plan you choose. One of the best ways to increase effectiveness of Cabbage Soup diet is to add up a safe, natural appetite suppressant like Proactol Plus in your 7-day diet plan for daily usage. This will not only help you lose weight faster but will also reduce your food cravings naturally especially in the initial 3-4 days when the hunger is the greatest.

Tags: ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments »

South Beach Diet

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

Rationale of South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is based on the glycemic index of foods and uses the index to integrate specific foods back into the diet. In other words, this diet is consumed on the theory that eating the wrong carbohydrates leads to insulin resistance (major cause of diabetes) and weight gain. Hence, the rise in blood sugar after eating carbohydrate is not the main factor in weight gain. Instead, the amount of total calories eaten is the major factor affecting weight loss or gain. Glycemic index looks at the effect of specific foods on blood sugars and how much they are raised after eating each respective food. By including foods that do not increase blood sugar as much, such as those with a low glycemic index, the South Beach Diet claims that dieters will have less insulin response and ultimately lose weight.

Overall the diet will be lower in total energy than previously being consumed and hence more weight loss will be seen.

 

Phases / stages of South Beach Diet

 

South Beach Diet plan generally consists of three phases or stages:


Phase 1 (Restraint)

In this phase, the body depletes its storage form of glucose known as glycogen. Due to the diuretic affect of the diet, you lose more water and sodium through frequent urination. The body than enters a state in which one’s hunger level is decreased.

This phase consists of two weeks of restraint that only allow a lot of protein, certain fat and carbohydrates that are considered to have low glycemic index. The dieters are instructed to avoid all fruit, starch and dairy. However, unlike Atkins the South Beach Diet does include and recommends choosing low-fat or fat-free meats and cheeses.

By the end of this phase, your cravings will have vanished and you will not be hungry and if you do feel hungry you could be limiting yourself too much.

 

Phase 2 (Liberal Meals)

In this phase, you gradually reintroduce more carbohydrates from a selected list and foods with a low glycemic index (such as fruit, sweet potatoes, whole grain products and whole-wheat pasta) are progressively incorporated back into your diet. A healthy weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds a week is advised.

You stay in the second phase of your diet until you reach your target weight. If you start gaining weight you can re-enter phase one and start over.

 

Phase 3 (Maintenance, rest & freedom)

The last diet phase is considered more liberal due to the incorporation of a variety of foods. This phase is also called the maintenance phase because that’s how you are supposed to eat for the rest of your life. However, it is recommended that if you begin to put weight back at any time during this phase, you go back to phase 1 for a week or two and re-start the diet once again.

Limitations of South Beach Diet

While south beach is considered to be effective by many, it does have its own share of limitations or drawbacks. For example, it is based on the “glycemic index” and the way you prepare a food item can greatly alter the glycemic index. Also, ripeness, cooking procedures, particle size and many other factors can also influence the glycemic index. The index looks at specific foods when eaten alone, but most people do not just eat just one food item at a time. Most meals are mixed with a combination of carbohydrate, protein, and fat.

All in all, losing weight often while sticking to the South Beach Diet may take a bit of adjusting, but if you follow the strategies suggested above along with the regular consumption of a safe, natural fiber-based herbal weight loss supplement such as Proactol Plus, you’ll find that you can happily eat just about anywhere, no matter what phase of the diet you are on and are able to improve your health the South Beach Diet way.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments »