How to determine if your diet is healthy enough
Zaak OConan

Everyone wants to eat a healthier diet, but it can sometimes be difficult to know if your diet is healthy enough. There are a number of factors that go into creating a healthy diet, and it’s important to evaluate the current state of your diet before embarking on a plan for healthier eating.

There are several questions you should ask yourself when evaluating the healthiness (or lack thereof) of your current eating plan. These questions include:

Do I eat a wide variety of foods?
Variety is one of the most important hallmarks of a healthy diet, since no one food contains all the nutrients needed by the human body. It is important to eat foods from all the major food groups, including grains and breads, fruits and vegetables, milk and dairy products, meats, beans and nuts.

If you find yourself avoiding some food groups, such as vegetables for instance, it may be time to look for a healthier diet.

Do I recognize the importance of cereals, breads and other grain products?
Eating a wide variety of grain based products is important to a healthy diet. Grains and cereals contain a large number of important nutrients, including high levels of dietary fiber.

It is important to choose whole grain products as often as possible, since whole grain products like wheat bread contain more nutrients than more refined white bread and similar products. When eating cereal, it is a good idea to choose whole grain varieties, or those that are enriched with vitamins and minerals.

Do I eat lots of fruits and vegetables?
Many people do not eat sufficient servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Most experts recommend eating between 5 and 9 servings of fruits and vegetables every day, roughly equivalent to 2 cups of fruit and 2 cups of vegetables.

When shopping for vegetables and fruits, it is important to choose a good variety of dark green, dark red, orange and yellow varieties. That is because different colored fruits and vegetables contain a variety of different nutrients, including vitamin C, vitamin A and beta carotene.

Do I eat a good breakfast every morning?
Breakfast, or the absence of it, is often a good indicator of the state of your diet. If you rush out of the house every morning and grab a donut at the local convenience store, chances are your diet can use some work. A healthy breakfast provides a foundation for the rest of the day, helps you avoid cravings and provides much needed nutrition.

Do I choose low fat foods over higher fat alternatives?
This is also an important question to ask yourself. Low fat alternatives are available for a variety of products, including milk, cheese, meats and more.

One part of following a healthy, low fat diet is avoiding prepared foods whenever possible, since prepared foods tend to have higher amounts of fat and sodium than fresh foods.

It is also important to control the amount of fat that is added at the table. Adding things like butter, sour cream and heavy sauces is a sure way to ruin an otherwise healthy meal. Even healthy foods like salads can be sabotaged by the addition of high fat salad dressings. Try using lower fat alternatives like flavored vinegars instead.

Do I drink plenty of water?
Drinking plenty of fresh, pure water is important to maintaining a healthy body and a healthy lifestyle. Water is important to maintaining optimal levels of health.

If you think you need more water, try substituting water for less healthy beverages like soda and coffee.

Am I able to maintain my optimal body weight?
Gaining weight without trying to is often a sign of a poor diet. Following a healthy diet, and getting plenty of regular exercise, is the only way to lose weight and keep it off.

Do I limit the amount of salt, sugar, alcohol and caffeine in my diet?
While all of these elements are fine in moderation, excessive amounts of any of these four can indicate a serious problem with your diet. It is important to limit the amount of unhealthy elements in any diet.
About the Author

Zaak O’Conan discovers and presents useful information on how to enhance and/or repair your life, body and relationships. You’ll find his other articles on eating better and other ways how to improve your life at http://your-health-center.com

Tags: Author, Cereals, Current State, dairy products;, Dietary Fiber, Food Groups, food;, Fruits And Vegetables, grain products;, Grain Varieties, Grains, Hallmarks, Healthier Eating, Healthiness, Healthy Diet, Human Body, Low Fat Diet, Milk And Dairy Products, Nutrients, Similar Products, Vegetables And Fruits, Vitamin A, Vitamins And Minerals, Wheat Bread, White Bread, Whole Grain Products —

Eating Healthy Myths Destroyed
Dr. Jamie Fettig

All Refined Carbohydrates are Hazardous to Your Health. The average American eats over 300 pounds of sugars each year. Most of this is because of all the sugar that is added to the everyday foods most people eat. Sugars are refined carbohydrates include anything that ends in ose. Sucrose, fructose, glucose, lactose, maltose, dextrose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup and sugar all count as sugar. An easy way to remember this is anything that rhymes with gross.

I am not talking about sugar naturally found in fruits and other such sources. If nature put it there, it is usually fine. And again, how it affects you will depend more on you individually than the type of fruit itself. Yes, sugar is natural, but it is not fresh. And when you add it to another food, the other food is not pure either.

Refined carbohydrates also come in the form of grains and flours. Most pasta, bread, flour, and other grain-based products are refined, almost to the point of sugar, and to the point where the refined carbohydrates respond in the body the same way sugar does.

There are two big reasons why refined carbs and sugar are so bad, as well as hundreds of smaller reasons. The two big reasons are these:

1.Refined carbs and sugar have no vitamins, minerals, or anything else that is needed to operate and run a healthy body
2.Refined carbs and sugar cause blood sugar levels to be artificially raised and lead to all the problems that come with high blood sugar levels.

First, the refining process takes away all the vitamins and minerals that are naturally found in whatever plant is being refined. There is nothing left but pure carbohydrates.

Why are vitamins and minerals so important for you anyway? Let me give you a little example of why vitamins and minerals are so important. If you want to build a brick house, what do you need? Well, you need bricks and mortar, and wood, and windows and doors. You need some basic stuff to build that house. What if you dont have bricks, or mortar or windows or doors? How well do you think the house will function after you are done trying to build it? Not very well.

Vitamins, minerals and nutrients are like the bricks, mortar, windows, doors, wood, etc. of the house. They are the parts that your body uses to build you. If you dont give your body those key building blocks, things in your body are not going to work very well.

If you try to substitute cheap, not so good imitations, if you tried to build a brick house with a bunch of rocks, the house would not be as good. If you tried to use old, warped windows, the house would not function very well. If you used wood that had holes in it and was not complete, your house would not be very functional. For your body to continue to function at its best and do everything it used to, your body needs to continually be replacing the broken down worn out parts with new parts. And if the new parts, if the vitamins and minerals you give it are not whole, or not enough, your body is going to break down. If you give your body less wood than it needs, so you cannot finish the roof, you might be able to keep the wind out, but when it rains, you get wet.

The second reason refined carbohydrates are not good for you is that refined carbs drastically alter your blood sugar levels. What is the big deal with this? The easiest to show you is what happens to you after you eat. You get really tired and lethargic. You have trouble staying awake and you want to go to sleep. Guess what? The rest of your body is doing the same thing. Your cells are going into a sugar coma. Your mind, which controls everything, is also going to sleep on the job. Your brain is not doing everything it needs to do to keep you functioning properly. And if your brain is not doing its job properly, anything could be going wrong with your body, and often is.

Refined carbs/sugars also are one of the main contributing factors to heart disease and high cholesterol levels, as I showed you earlier.

About the Author

Go to http://www.HealthyEatingDiet.com to get the full e-course. Dr. Jamie wants to help give you Permanent Results with his “non-diet.” He is also giving you dozens of valuable free gifts to “ethically bribe” you into helping him make his new book, “The Ultimate Non-Diet” a #1 best seller. For details on the book go to: http://www.TheUltimateNonDiet.com/free

Tags: Author, Blood Sugar Levels, Bread Flour, Brick House, Bricks And Mortar, Dr Jamie, e-course, Everyday Foods, food;, Fructose Corn Syrup, Glucose, grain-based products, Grains, High Blood Sugar, High Blood Sugar Levels, High Fructose Corn, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Jamie, Myths, Refined Carbohydrates, Refined Carbs, Refining Process, Vitamins And Minerals, Vitamins Minerals, Windows And Doors —

Determining if your diet is healthy enough
Tony Robinson

Everyone wants to eat a healthier diet, but it can sometimes be
difficult to know if your diet is healthy enough. There are a
number of factors that go into creating a healthy diet, and it
is important to evaluate the current state of your diet before
embarking on a plan for healthier eating.

There are several questions you should ask yourself when
evaluating the healthiness (or lack thereof) of your current
eating plan. These questions include:

Do I eat a wide variety of foods? Variety is one of the most
important hallmarks of a healthy diet, since no one food
contains all the nutrients needed by the human body. It is
important to eat foods from all the major food groups, including
grains and breads, fruits and vegetables, milk and dairy
products, meats, beans and nuts.

If you find yourself avoiding some food groups, such as
vegetables for instance, it may be time to look for a healthier
diet.

Do I recognize the importance of cereals, breads and other grain
products? Eating a wide variety of grain based products is
important to a healthy diet. Grains and cereals contain a large
number of important nutrients, including high levels of dietary
fiber.

It is important to choose whole grain products as often as
possible, since whole grain products like wheat bread contain
more nutrients than more refined white bread and similar
products. When eating cereal, it is a good idea to choose whole
grain varieties, or those that are enriched with vitamins and
minerals.

Do I eat lots of fruits and vegetables? Many people do not eat
sufficient servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Most
experts recommend eating between 5 and 9 servings of fruits and
vegetables every day, roughly equivalent to 2 cups of fruit and
2 cups of vegetables.

When shopping for vegetables and fruits, it is important to
choose a good variety of dark green, dark red, orange and yellow
varieties. That is because different colored fruits and
vegetables contain a variety of different nutrients, including
vitamin C, vitamin A and beta carotene.

Do I eat a good breakfast every morning? Breakfast, or the
absence of it, is often a good indicator of the state of your
diet. If you rush out of the house every morning and grab a
donut at the local convenience store, chances are your diet can
use some work. A healthy breakfast provides a foundation for the
rest of the day, helps you avoid cravings and provides much
needed nutrition.

Do I choose low fat foods over higher fat alternatives? This is
also an important question to ask yourself. Low fat alternatives
are available for a variety of products, including milk, cheese,
meats and more.

One part of following a healthy, low fat diet is avoiding
prepared foods whenever possible, since prepared foods tend to
have higher amounts of fat and sodium than fresh foods.

It is also important to control the amount of fat that is added
at the table. Adding things like butter, sour cream and heavy
sauces is a sure way to ruin an otherwise healthy meal. Even
healthy foods like salads can be sabotaged by the addition of
high fat salad dressings. Try using lower fat alternatives like
flavored vinegars instead.

Do I drink plenty of water? Drinking plenty of fresh, pure water
is important to maintaining a healthy body and a healthy
lifestyle. Water is important to maintaining optimal levels of
health.

If you think you need more water, try substituting water for
less healthy beverages like soda and coffee.

Am I able to maintain my optimal body weight? Gaining weight
without trying to is often a sign of a poor diet. Following a
healthy diet, and getting plenty of regular exercise, is the
only way to lose weight and keep it off.

Do I limit the amount of salt, sugar, alcohol and caffeine in my
diet? While all of these elements are fine in moderation,
excessive amounts of any of these four can indicate a serious
problem with your diet. It is important to limit the amount of
unhealthy elements in any diet.

About the author:

None

Tags: Author, Cereals, Current State, dairy products;, Dietary Fiber, Food Groups, food;, Fruits And Vegetables, grain products;, Grain Varieties, Grains, Hallmarks, Healthier Eating, Healthiness, Healthy Diet, Human Body, Low Fat Diet, Milk And Dairy Products, Nutrients, Similar Products, Tony Robinson, Vegetables And Fruits, Vitamin A, Vitamins And Minerals, Wheat Bread, White Bread, Whole Grain Products —

The majority of people who hear about Atkins diets think that you are going to have to eat bars, not eat any bread, and never have another dessert. This is quickly proved incorrect when you look through the available recipes hat you are able to find in cookbooks at your local store or even on the internet. Many people have many different beliefs as to why the Atkins diets are not actually healthy or do not actually help you to lose weight. Yes, it is true, many different people have many different body types and many different nutritious needs meaning that for some this diet may not work, but in many people who take on this diet correctly you can not only see a difference in their weight but in their health due to having a healthier eating lifestyle.

Most people who take on this diet decide to plan out their daily routine in intervals of: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and diner. Which in itself proves that to be healthier you do not have to eat less, but rather monitor your eating and nutrition. The recipes that you can find are split into the following groups most often; Appetizers, first course, main course, beverages, grains, bread, and dessert.

No matter what style of food you like or from what culture you can find a recipe that is for the Atkins diet in the form you would find pleasing or you can make changes to a recipe that you find to make it more Atkins friendly. You can find different types of dishes in each category of food. This means that even if you are looking for a beverage to have dinner or a dessert beverage you can find them within the beverage section. Making the items that you are looking for much easier to find.

When you look through each list you may find many different recipes that are appealing to you, you should then see which ones fit your Atkins dietary needs. Many people view Atkins diets as a way to eat without bread or items like that which you enjoy, when the main point of Atkins is to try to make a healthier you.

Once you try to Atkins diet you are sure to find that it is very similar to other diets in many ways. It is not about forcing you not to eat items that you enjoy, but rather about limiting yourself where you need to and finding ways to get the nutrition that you need to be fit and healthy. You can find any number of recipes that will be to your liking, with chocolate, slushies, chili, squash and much more that when cooked properly can be nutritious and still very healthy. If you are looking to find a diet that you can mold to fit your need Atkins is perfect for you. You can make your favorite treats healthy and good for you.

Tags: Atkins Diet, Atkins Diet Recipes, Atkins Diets, Atkins Recipes, beverage, beverage section, Beverages, Breakfast Snack, Cookbooks, Daily Routine, Dessert, dessert beverage, Diet Plan, Different Body Types, Dishes, Fit, food;, Grains, Health, Healthier Eating, Intervals, Lifestyle, Local Store, Lunch, Nutrition —