Beauty « beauty therapy

How to Switch to Foods With Low Glycemic Index

Monday, January 18th, 2010

Making the change to foods with low glycemic index over your regular food selections may be difficult, and if you don’t progressively add these new options into your diet, you can have a real difficult time getting used to the new way!

However, it doesn’t have to be that difficult, and eating foods with low glycemic index can really make you feel energized and optimize your well being. It’s the sudden switch that can be the difficult thing!

Why This Type of Change is Difficult

There a good chance that you’ve been eating the way you are now several years. This is not a criticism on you at all, or your food choices. It’s just a well known fact that we are creatures of habit!

Drastic changes in the way that we normally eat takes a lot of will power to be able to stick with it, but also mean a purposeful step forward in changing our lifestyles. Many times this is why people ‘fall of the wagon’ when it comes to new diets.

There are lots of ways to change to your eating habits, and it absolutely depends on what type of individual you are. Some people can deal effortlessly with big changes, while others can cope better with a gradual change. The question is… what kind of change will work for you?

The ‘Drastic Change your Diet’ Method!

Taking on a drastic, sudden change in your eating choices is often what we try, because it gets rid of unhealthy practices immediately. However, for many people it can be an experience like going ‘cold turkey’ from bad foods. The easiest way to make this lifestyle change is to wait until you have hardly any supplies left in your home. Think of it like eating through your choices, and not having any unhealthy food left to consume.

Then, grab the glycemic index list, and make a list of healthy foods – those foods with low glycemic index – and take it to your store. Stock up on low glycemic index food that you can enjoy, is good for you, and perfect for your new healthy lifestyle. This will make sure that you don’t have the opportunity to eat unhealthy, and therefore pretty much ’stuck’ with eating healthy!

Or How About Slower, Measured Changes?

Introducing gradual, measured changes into your diet isn’t always the easiest way to do this either, but for some people, it’s the only option. When you gradually incorporate new foods, you tend to remain tempted towards to the bad options in your refrigerator.

However, that certainly doesn’t mean you can’t progressively change it around! How about trying to make it the goal when you go shopping to buy at least one single item (although I would suggest being a ‘tad’ more aggressive than that!) that’s in the lower index range, then just slowly progress from there. At some point soon thereafter, it’s going to be easier to eat according to the index.

So Why Make the Change?

It’s not easy changing your life long behaviors, and diet choices are so engrained in us sometimes, and changing our eating habits can be almost torture. But when you’ve taken even those first ‘baby steps’ and realize that you are better for this change in your lifestyle, and eating habits… it really feels good.

Please just make sure that you’re ready and willing for this new path you’re starting on when you make the decision to move to foods with low glycemic index, and stick to it. Not only for your well being, but more importantly – the quality of your life.

Jonathan is main contributor and co-creator of the new Glycemic Index info based web-site: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="”http://the-glycemic-index-guide.com”>http://the-glycemic-index-guide.com/””>http://the-glycemic-index-guide.com . Get lots more info there on <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="”“>http://the-glycemic-index-guide.com/foods-with-low-glycemic-index/””> Foods with Low Glycemic Index and also check out our free 10-part mini-eCourse, “Glycemic Index Secrets”, it might be all you’ll ever need (and did I mention it was free!!)

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/how-to-switch-to-foods-with-low-glycemic-index-1740077.html

Managing Stress Naturally

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

With the increased demand of today’s rapid paced society, often we find that our immune systems become more compromised than ever before, our bodies suffer from a number of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and the effects of all stress types can manifest themselves in a number of ways. However, getting help with stress and using holistic medicines, natural nutrition, and other alternative medicine practices can play in important role in our physical, mental, and emotional health.

While many of use are not taught at an early age how to manage stress in our daily lives, we often find ourselves looking for help with stress later in life. As the pressures of our daily demands at work, home, or school mount, we find that managing stress and learning new stress management techniques are vital to our performance and well being. The effects that being overstressed can have on the body can cause symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as decrease our body’s own immune response, which can make us more prone to certain illnesses and diseases. In addition, the cortisol effect caused by stress in our bodies can deplete our bodies’ essential nutrients and cause a number of vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Those who have learned to manage different stress types through holistic medicines and natural nutrition have already discovered that these methods help with stress and that stress management is essential to greater peace of mind, wellness, productivity, and performance. While managing stress is no easy task, and there is no magic pill that can eliminate the psychological stress that we all can face daily, learning about natural nutrition and incorporating a few simple stress relief techniques in your daily life can have a profound impact.

When it comes to daily exercise, nearly all forms of exercise will improve your body’s sense of balance and help with stress, but it has also been proven that methods such as Yoga or Tai Chi can also improve your moods, provide greater help with stress, and allow you to remain more at peace throughout the day. While these forms of exercise are easy to do and can be performed virtually anywhere without the added cost of equipment, you can also incorporate a simple meditation or prayer time into your daily routine that will also help with stress and allow you to remain more focused. In addition, hypnosis therapy has also proven to be beneficial at centering the mind and can also help with stress throughout the day.

Natural nutrition is also a great way to help with stress and ensure that your body is performing at its peak potential to ward off the threat of illness or disease. In today’s society, we are inadvertently exposed to a number of toxins in the form of preservatives, caffeine, and sugar that can all threaten our physical health. Eating natural foods is the best way to ensure that your body’s resources are best spent fighting off other forms of bacteria that can cause illness. Supplementing with fish oil or consuming foods that are rich in Omega 3 fatty acids can also help with stress, as they reduce the cortisol reaction in the body caused by stress. Another nutritional factor to help with stress is to ensure that you are eating the proper amount of B vitamins in your daily diet.

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Dr. Gendron has been treating patients in the clinical setting for over 23 years. He specializes in nutrition and earned post graduate degrees as a certified clinical nutritionist and a Diplomate with the American Board of Clinical Nutrition. He has formulated his own cutting edge nutritional products.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/managing-stress-naturally-1735229.html

Better Health Is just Ten Pounds Away

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

Many people knew about the health problems associated with obesity but didn’t do anything until one of their family members developed diabetes and had a heart attack. Let’s take for example the case of Amie*. Even though she didn’t have a high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes and later realized she was probably at risk for all three. The first ten pounds she lost made a tremendous difference. She’d had chronic lower-back pain, and suddenly that was gone. She felt much better. Her energy level shot up. Her self-respect increased and she felt in control – of her weight, her looks and her health. Her experience is not unusual.

Medical experts generally agree that even a modest, ten-pound weight loss can yield significant health benefits. Obesity is among the main risk factors for a variety of medical conditions. The good news is that the first several pounds you lose can be important for reversing the risk or delaying the onset of certain diseases, even if that loss doesn’t make you ‘thin’. So start losing as early as possible.

There are a number of strategies from health experts for taking of ten pounds – and keeping them off. These include cutting 500 calories a day, staying in motion, and getting high-tech help-free. In general, if you cut 500 calories a day every day, that’s a pound a week. Independent of weight loss, exercise strengthens joints and bones, lowers blood pressure and improves the efficiency of your cardiovascular system. Walking or jogging a mile burns about 100 calories. Certain ordinary activities burn about 150 calories: gardening for 30 to 45 minutes or even just raking leaves for 30 minutes. There are also websites that provide weight loss tips and strategies and will only ask for some details i.e. your age, height, weight, normal activity level and gender and you’ll be told what changes to make in your diet and physical activity in order to lose the recommended pound a week.

The key thing is to get the first ten pounds off, keep it off for a while and let your body adjust. It may be the most important weight you can lose. Then if you want to lose more, you can do it. In the meantime, you will have improved your health.

If you’re ready to learn the truth from a trustworthy expert, the New Body Blueprint will easily guide you to a lifetime of health and vibrant longevity. Find out more about Health and Wellness Tips and how you can possibly turn back your biological clock 10 years in 90 Days!

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/better-health-is-just-ten-pounds-away-1731629.html

Ketosis and the Benefits of a Low Carb Diet

Friday, January 15th, 2010

The ketosis diet has become increasingly popular in recent years as more people become aware of the harm of excessive consumption of processed carbohydrates. Ketones are molecules generated during fat metabolism, produced when the body is breaking down fat for energy When we eat less carbohydrates, our bodies turn to fat for energy, so more ketones are produced.

There are many low carb diets around, but what differentiates the ketosis diet is that it is designed to bring the body to a state of ketosis. There are many misconceptions about the word ‘ketosis’. However, ketosis merely means the state when the body starts turning to fat for energy.

When a person is overweight, the state of ketosis can be a speedy and effective route to burning up excess fat. The ketosis diet, therefore, can be ideal for fast weight loss. Principles of the low-carb diet can then be used in the longer term for healthy weight maintenance. The ketosis diet required dramatic reduction of starch and sugar consumed for the first week.

This means no bread, pasta, rice, sugar or sweets. Instead, a plentiful diet of protein-rich meals in introduced. During this first week, the body needs to adapt to the sudden withdrawal of excess starch and sugar which we, as a society, have become accustomed to. This has been referred to as ‘carb crash’, while the body adapts. However, after a few days on a low-carb diet, most people report feeling lighter and more energetic than they have for years. In the long term, using the principles of a low-carb diet can maintain healthy weight loss.

Many people find low-carb diets much easier to stick to than ‘traditional’ diets, and therefore are less likely to fall back into old habits and put the weight back on. Low carb diets are partly easier to stick to as they don’t leave the person hungry (you will eat as much and often as you feel you need to as long as you follow the principles – so no portion control.) Many low carb dieters also love the fact that food is tempting and satisfying – including sumptuous lean steaks, olive oil on your salads, delicious omelettes for breakfast and event desert (low sugar of course!)

My name is Xavi Smith, and I love to write about diets.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/ketosis-and-the-benefits-of-a-low-carb-diet-1727899.html

Highly Nutritious Low Glycemic Index Vegetables

Friday, January 15th, 2010

I wouldn’t be exaggerating in saying that the planet is literally overloaded with vegetables that sit on the lower realms of the glycemic index. Low glycemic index vegetables are abundant and boast a remarkable quantity of beneficial factors that we can take make use of and take pleasure from. The ‘index’ aids diabetics and dieters alike in picking foods that, when consumed, will not add sugars (glucose) into the blood too quickly. And whereas the majority of veggies do rank on the low end of the index, some warrant additional kudos because they’re just full of illness battling properties and minerals and vitamins. Anyone seeking low GI alternatives will find that selecting from the wide range of low glycemic index vegetables is effortless.

Top Notch Picks From Low Glycemic Index Vegetables

With such a variety of wonderful vegetables to pick from it might be difficult to make a decisive start. A good starting point is to identify GI vegetables that are generally obtainable and full of nutrition. One or two examples immediately come to mind. Spinach is not just one of the most excellent low glycemic index vegetables; it is also one of the premium foods around! This leafy green veggie is so jam-packed with nutrients that it puts pretty much all others to utter shame, and you can see it in stores any time of the year. Spinach is perfect for freezing too and still maintains almost all of its nutritional value on being frozen. Additionally, it’s really handy for adding to salads, omelets, soups and many other meals. In the process it will significantly perks up the general nutritional value of any serving of food. Possibly the most welcome news of all for weight watchers is that spinach is a very low calorie food.

Up there with spinach though is broccoli. Broccoli has had a lot of good press during the past several years for its capacity to combat seemingly any illness we hear about. It regularly sounds like if there is an ailment out there, broccoli is being researched as a prospective preventive agent or cure. Bearing this in mind, broccoli is an obvious choice as one of the finest low glycemic index vegetables. And, as we mentioned earlier about spinach, broccoli is fine with being frozen and is a wonderful & healthy supplement to all kinds of meals.

Red and green peppers are another group of veggies worth considering when looking for low GI vegetables to include in meals. They are also nutrient dense, and are just loaded with vitamin C. As a matter of fact one low calorie portion of peppers has more vitamin C than even an orange! And they include comparatively elevated concentrations of B vitamins as also.

So with just these three healthy, nutritious veggies… spinach, broccoli and peppers, we have some great low scoring options regarding glycemic index vegetables. But the absolute wealth of really healthful veggies that are also low on the index means that people seeking healthy low GI diets will have a large selection available to them, regardless of their taste. But of course what’s unique about these three particular ‘goodies’ is the fact that they are very nutrient dense and normally obtainable any time of the year. Being so available makes them an obvious choice when we want to regularly include additional healthy low glycemic index vegetables to our meal plans.

Jonathan is main contributor and co-creator of the new Glycemic Index info based web-site: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="”http://the-glycemic-index-guide.com”>http://the-glycemic-index-guide.com/””>http://the-glycemic-index-guide.com . Get lots more info there on <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="”“>http://the-glycemic-index-guide.com/glycemic-index-vegetables/””> Glycemic Index Vegetables and also check out our free 10-part mini-eCourse, “Glycemic Index Secrets”, it might be all you’ll ever need (and did I mention it was free!!)

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/highly-nutritious-low-glycemic-index-vegetables-1724067.html

Shopping and the Food Glycemic Index

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

The glycemic index was developed by a group of Canadian researchers in the 1980s that were attempting to make life a little easier for diabetics by keeping their blood sugar levels from fluctuating. The end result was a very useful tool that is referred to as the food glycemic index or “GI” for short.

The food glycemic index enables users to look at almost any food and instantly see a number that will tell them how much that food will impact their blood sugar levels. Obviously, this tool takes out much of the guesswork involved in the process and has no doubt saved lives.

One of the major ways that the index has impacted individuals is that it has changed the way that users shop for food. Armed with the GI, users can make safer and smarter choices built around the knowledge of how much their blood sugar levels will be changed by a given food.

Shopping can still be tricky, of course. But with the food glycemic index, choices can be a bit less murky. However, without a photographic memory or a copy of the GI in hand, there are still some general rules that can be followed to help shoppers may better food buying decisions.

The easiest way to shop for low GI foods is to stick with as many fruits and vegetables as possible. This may seem like an obvious point, but it bears repeating. If one studies the index for even a moment, it quickly becomes obvious that the superstars of the index are fruits and vegetables. As a result, one of the easiest moves someone looking to eat on the low side of the food glycemic index can make is to keep the bulk of their shopping in the fruit and vegetable category.

By opting for fruits and vegetables, one naturally reduces one’s reliance on processed food and the sugar and white flour it often contains. Food based on white flour should be avoided; other picks such as rye and oatmeal are far better choices. By selecting breads and other carbohydrates that are lower on the food glycemic index, one can take a massive step toward avoid many of the high GI foods.

Sugar is obviously a high GI food and avoiding it should be your priority. One clear way of doing this is to pass on the soda and sugary packaged drinks. A good alternative is to make your own juice with a juicer at home. Fruits and vegetables are low on the food glycemic index. By juicing at home, you will know that no sugar has been added to your juice. While this may be time consuming, consider juicing enough juice for the entire week. Of course, this does mean buying enough fresh fruits and vegetables while at the store. There are lots of great juicing recipes so you should never feel limited.

With a little planning, a good cookbook and a juicer you can reduce the amount of foods you eat that are high on the food glycemic index. Shopping is where the entire process begins. With a little forethought, you can shape your meals and your diet in advance.

Jonathan is main contributor and co-creator of the new Glycemic Index info based web-site: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="”http://the-glycemic-index-guide.com”>http://the-glycemic-index-guide.com/””>http://the-glycemic-index-guide.com . Get lots more info there on the <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="”“>http://the-glycemic-index-guide.com/food-glycemic-index/””> Food Glycemic Index and also check out our free 10-part mini-eCourse, “Glycemic Index Secrets”, it might be all you’ll ever need (and did I mention it was free!!)

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/shopping-and-the-food-glycemic-index-1715793.html

What Makes Thanksgiving So Unhealthy?

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Everyone knows that Thanksgiving is the worst eating day for everyone in the US. Anyone that is on a “Diet” is either going to blow it or will have to use every ounce of unnatural will power to not give in to the Holiday’s tradition of stuffing your face until you can’t move. Even more specifically for us Texans, stuffing your face until you can’t move and waddling into your relative host’s living room to watch the Cowboys.

So, Thanksgiving stands accused as the least healthy holiday. Like your mother used to say, “Don’t hang out with the wrong crowd.” Thanksgiving, as far as its effect on health, is just another day in November, it’s just guilty by association. More specifically, its association with food, lots of food! Well, this is a free country, we are free to do, or eat what we want, and we are innocent until proven guilty. So let’s give Thanksgiving a fair trial and see what our final verdict is.

First up, I’d like to call to the stand, Turkey, the main character in the Thanksgiving feast.

5 ounces of Turkey (White Meat): Total Fat: 11.8g Saturated Fat: 3.3 Trans Fat: 0 Cholesterol: 107.7 mg Sodium: 89.3 mg Carbs: 0 Protein: 40.5g

Well, it looks like Turkey has a little fat, but not saturated or trans fat, but healthy unsaturated fats. It has relatively small amounts of cholesterol, sodium and no carbs. It is loaded with protein. Protein from turkey is an excellent source because it is a complete protein with all of the necessary amino acids. It appears that turkey is not only not bad for you, but actually healthy. The Verdict: Turkey is innocent.

Next Up, Sweet Potatoes.

Sweet Potatoes, Dark Orange, Fresh, 5″ long Total Fat: .1g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 71.5mg Carbs: 26.2g Protein: 2g

Hmm, it appears that sweet potatoes are essentially fat free, and cholesterol free. The sodium content is negligible, and so is the protein content. It does have 26.2g of GOOD carbs. Good carbs you ask? Yes, the carbohydrates found in sweet potatoes are complex carbs, meaning they digest slowly, providing your body with energy, not your “spare tire” with more “air.” No fat, nothing else unhealthy, healthy source of essential carbs: The Verdict: Sweet Potatoes are innocent!

Next I would like to call to the stand, Cranberry Sauce.

Cranberry Sauce, Sweetened and Canned, 3 slices: Total Fat: .3g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 49.6mg Carbs: 66.5g Sugars- 64.5.g Protein: .3g

Cranberry Sauce has no fat (the FDA allows foods to be called “NO FAT, Preservatives, Trans Fat as long as each serving has less than .5g of fat. Don’t be fooled thinking you aren’t eating fat, first look at how many servings you are eating, then multiply it by .49 and that’s how many actual grams of fat you just ate, FYI). It has no cholesterol, and the salt content of two saltine crackers, not bad. The bad part is, it has 66.5 grams of carbs, and 64.5 of those is sugar! Measure 65 grams of sugar in a measuring cup, now imagine that pile of sugar being added directly to your waistline, because that’s what happens when you eat 64.5g of sugar, unless you are currently running a marathon, and a sprint to the dessert line does not qualify as a marathon. The verdict: Guilty! Canned cranberry sauce is guilty of having way to much sugar and adding padding!

Next on the stand is Stuffing:

Stuffing, bread, prep/dry mix 1/2cup Total Fat: 8.6g Saturated Fat: 1.7g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 543mg Carbs: 21.7g Sugars: 2.1g Protein: 3.2g

Stuffing has a bit of fat, but not bad fat. It has negligible amounts of cholesterol and protein, but a boatload of sodium. This tasty treat has a lot of sodium, but less than one can of most canned goods. So compared to most people’s diets, stuffing is low in sodium. The carbs are a little high, but the sugar isn’t. That means that the carbs are actual food and not sugar. Now these carbs are from the white bread found in the mix, so they aren’t the best, but 21g of it isn’t enough to worry about, it’s less carbs than a 20oz Gatorade. The Verdict: Innocent!

The jury is in, we’ve seen all we need to see. Turkey is not bad but healthy, sweet potatoes are not bad but healthy, cranberries are healthy, but the sweetened canned version is loaded with sugar, and stuffing isn’t healthy, but isn’t bad.

So, is Thanksgiving innocent or guilty? It’s innocent. Think about it, if we eat a serving of turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberries (not the canned sugary kind), and stuffing, we actually have a pretty healthy meal made of real, natural food. For some, it would be the healthiest meal they have eaten in a while.

So if Thanksgiving dinner is basically a healthy meal, who is guilty?

Well, that’s obvious. The truth is, if you eat anything in excess, even the most healthy foods, you will gain weight. If you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight.

So what’s the problem with Thanksgiving? We overeat. Not only do we overeat on healthy real food, but we gorge ourselves on desserts. I’m not even going to go there, we all know what we should and shouldn’t be eating when it comes to dessert.

So get off of Thanksgiving’s case, its not guilty, we are. This year, instead of getting so stuffed we have to be rolled away from the table, how about we take responsibility for ourselves and know when to call it quits, and actually do it. This year, instead of complaining how miserable we are from overeating, let’s give thanks to the lord that we actually have more than enough to eat and have our needs provided for.

Happy Thanksgiving

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Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/what-makes-thanksgiving-so-unhealthy-1709590.html

Apples And Its Benefits

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Apples are an exceptionally beneficial food for people to eat. They are sweet which makes them not hard to eat and there are enough varieties available that people can find one that fits the size of apple they’re looking for. In addition, they contain a variety of vitamins and nutrients that people need to be healthy.

Apples are good for you. You’ve heard it from the time you were a tiny kid… “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. But how do apples actually benefit your health?They knew about the health benefits of apples centuries ago (where do you think the saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” came from) and while many things have changed since then, the benefits of apples have not.

Apples help our bodies fight cancer; studies have shown that there are several components in juicy fruit, such as apples, which help to prevent the growth of cancer cells. Healthy apples are most potent when the fruit is eaten whole, including the skin, and by choosing the darker apples, such as deep Red Delicious, Fuji, Jonathan, Rome Beauty and Red Spartan. Apples are a good source of vitamin C and fiber. Italian researchers found people who ate more than one apple a day lowered their risk for oral, esophageal, colon, breast, ovarian, prostate and other cancers by 9 to 42%.

You know the saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. It may well be true that it is time to rethink this, and start eating your apples as a receipe for healthy living.

Here are some of the major benefits of apple cider vinegar:

1. apple cider vinegar and weight loss

2. apple cider vinegar and acid reflux

3. apple cider vinegar and acne

4. apple cider vinegar and wart

5. apple cider vinegar and heartburn

6. apple cider vinegar and yeast infection

7. apple cider vinegar and arthritis

8. apple cider vinegar for skin

9. apple cider vinegar and cholesterol

10. apple cider vinegar for hair

11. apple cider vinegar and blood pressure

12. apple cider vinegar for sinus infection

Benefits of apple eating

Apple is also said to be airy fruit as 25 percent of an apple’s volume is air (this is the reason why they float when put in water) but remaining is filled with different vitamins and nutrients. Apples contain both insoluble and soluble fibre which can lower cholesterol, relieve constipation, and protect against cancer (especially breast and colon cancer), heart attack, macular degeneration, menopausal bone loss, asthma, type II diabetes, strokes, increased lung function and weight loss.

* Provide antioxidant protection

* Aid iron absorption

* Help to keep bad LDL cholesterol level in check and can even lower it.

* Help prevent heart disease, heart attacks and stroke.

* Reduce the risk of lung cancer, improve lung function and reduce the severity of asthma. It seems that children who drink apple juice daily have less severe asthma compared to those who drink the juice one a month.

* Reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

* Help regulate blood pressure

Read About Gastritis And Gastritis Causes And also

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/apples-and-its-benefits-1705176.html

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