Why is it so important of eating healthy food?

Anybody eat healthy food, his body will be healthy, too. Food is the fuel that gives him energy. Healthy food gives human body the energy for mending everything, from cuts and grazes to broken bones.

Depending on the lifestyle, the key to healthy diet is eating right number of calories; the calories requirement for an average men and women is 2500 and 2000 calories respectively.

Eating healthy food is extremely crucial to maintain good health to lead a long life that is free from illnesses. They are the cornerstone of improving the quality of life. Human body needs food for energy but also needs the essential nutrients that healthy food provides to function properly.

There many reasons why human must have to eat healthy balanced meals on a day to day basis: heart health, central nervous system, digestive system, gut health, liver health, mental health, immune system, hair health, teeth health, bone health, skin health, muscle building, aging better, hormonal balance, etc.

For example a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can:
*Reduce chances of having heart attack or stroke
*Lower blood pressure
*Can avoid constipation and painful intestinal aliment called diverticulitis
*Can guard against two common aging-related eye diseases: cataract and macular degeneration
Why is it so important of eating healthy food?

Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)

The typical North American diet can contain a whopping 3,500 mg of sodium or more a day – more than human body needed. Diets with high sodium content consistently have been cited as a cause of hypertension, confirmed in both animal and human studies.

High sodium intake is linked to high blood pressure, a risk factor for heart attack, among other serious health problems. Blood pressure can be unhealthy even of its stays only slightly above the normal level of less than 120/80 mmHg.

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is a dietary approach designed to help treat or prevent a high blood pressure.

Dietary patterns based on the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, which is rich in fruits, vegetables and low fat dairy foods, with reduced saturated and total fat, together with a reduction in dietary sodium, may help in the management of hypertension.

General principles of the DASH Eating Plan:
*Low in saturated fat, cholesterol and total fat
*Emphasizes high in fruits, vegetables and fat-free or low-fat dairy products
*Includes whole grain products
*Includes lean meats, fish and poultry and nuts
*Reduced in lean red meat, sweets and sugared beverages
*Rich in magnesium, potassium, and calcium, as well as proteins and fiber

The DASH diet is low in cholesterol; high in dietary fiber, potassium, calcium and magnesium; and moderately high in protein.

The DASH eating plan follows heart healthy guidelines to limit saturated fat and cholesterol.

It focuses on increasing intake of foods rich in nutrients that are expected to lower blood pressure, mainly minerals (such as potassium, calcium and magnesium), protein and fiber.
Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)

Healthy Eating

Healthy Eating
Big foods are those that are low in caloric density, but they give you a feeling of satiety on fewer calories.

Examples include salads, noncreamy soups, vegetables fresh fruits, water, nonfat plain yogurt, fish and seafood, and cooked oatmeal.

Because these natural high-volume, or “big,” foods are high in fiber and water they fill you up on fewer calories than the calorie-dense highly processed foods.

You are hard-wired to eat until your stomach is stretched, which generally takes about fifteen to twenty minutes.

If you are eating cheese fries, chicken nuggets and M&M’s and drinking sugared sodas, during that fifteen to twenty minute meal, you will consume thousands of calories, mostly in the form of unhealthy and nutritionally barren foods that will be stored as belly fat and leave you hungry again in two or three hours.

On the other hand, if you sit down to a meal of boil shrimp, crisp celery sticks with guacamole dip, an apple and a tall glass of iced tea, fifteen to twenty minutes later you will be just even full though you consumed a fraction of the calories and loads more antiaging antioxidants, fiber and vitamins.

As a bonus, you remain full for four to six hours without cravings for junk food.

Many healthy foods are essential calorie-free, including spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce and asparagus. But not everybody enjoys all the vegetables.

Drinking calorie-free beverage such as water tea and coffee is another way to fill up without stressing your system with excess calories.
Healthy Eating

Diet During Pregnancy

Diet During Pregnancy
Many women will experience nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, especially during the first trimester. The nausea can result from an accumulation of gastric acid in the stomach and can be alleviated by eating small amounts of food every 3 – 4 hours. Some women also benefit from eating dry toast or crackers, especially if they are nauseous when they first wake up in the morning. It is also important to consider avoiding eating food and drinking fluids at the same time. Toward the end of the pregnancy, many women will experience a return of nausea, which is often attributed to decreased gastric peristalsis. Again, eating small meals frequently may be helpful. Women need to have a good source of bulk in their diet and to maintain exercise at an appropriate level.

During pregnancy, women need to eat a well balance diet that has sufficient calories and represents a variety of food groups. They need to be encouraged to maintain a healthy diet and sufficient exercise throughout pregnancy. Inappropriate weight gain can place the newborn at greater risk for infection, illness, disabilities, and even death. Some women experience pica (persistent eating of foods that have not nutrient value). Pica behavior may lessen the nutritional level of the mother and her fetus since the mother may not eat nutritious foods in sufficient quantity, which can lead to poor weight gain, low birth weight and intrauterine growth retardation. Also, the substance that the woman is eating may have harmful effects to the maternal fetal unit.

Women who drink 2 – 3 cups of coffee each day have a daily caffeine intake about 300 mg. Caffeine decreases the absorption of iron, which has a direct effect in the maternal fetal unit. During pregnancy, caffeine decreases the blood flow through the placenta and also increases the risk of spontaneous abortion during the first trimester. Caffeine consumption during pregnancy may lead to caffeine withdrawal symptoms in new born.

Aspartame (found in some artificial sweeteners) contains the amino acid phenylalanine and should be avoided by pregnant women because high levels of phenylalanine can lead to impaired fetal brain development and result in mental retardation. Women need over the counter products that may contain phenylalanine.
Diet During Pregnancy