Showing posts with label balanced diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label balanced diet. Show all posts
Some Carbohydrates Are Better Than Others When Trying To Lose Weight
If you are trying to lose weight, maintaining a steady blood sugar level is a very important component of your dieting effort. While your body breaks down all digestible carbohydrates into blood sugar, some are converted into blood sugar faster than others. Thus, some carbohydrates cause a spike in your blood sugar level which causes you to feel hungry faster and to crave more sugary foods. While other carbohydrates are converted into blood sugar more slowly leveling out you blood sugar resulting in less hunger and less food cravings.
For this reason, the Glycemic Index (GI) was developed to classify how quickly your body converts carbohydrates into blood sugar as compared to pure glucose. Glucose has a GI of 100 and all other carbohydrate based foods are ranked against it. Foods with a score of 70 or more are defined as having a high GI while those with a score of 55 or less are considered as low.
Eating lots of food with a high GI causes spikes in your blood sugar level which can lead to many health issues such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. While eating low GI foods causes your blood sugar level to stay even thus, keeping your energy level balanced and causing you to fill fuller longer between meals. The following are some additional benefits of eating low GI carbohydrates.
· Helps you to lose and manage your weight.
· Increases your body's sensitivity to insulin.
· Decreases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
· Reduces your risk of heart disease.
· Improves your blood cholesterol levels
· Reduces hunger and keep you fuller for longer.
· Helps you prolong physical activity.
· Helps you to re-fuel your carbohydrate stores after exercise.
You can get the GI rating of hundreds of carbohydrate based foods from the Glycemic Index Foundation, sponsored by the University of Sydney in Australia. They maintain a searchable database of over 1600 entries at http://www.glycemicindex.com.
Balancing The Carbohydrates In Your Diet Is Very Important
Image by Emily Barney via FlickrMaintaining a steady blood sugar level is very important component of your dieting effort. While you’ve just seen in my previous post that your body breaks down all digestible carbohydrates into blood sugar, some are converted into blood sugar faster than others. Thus, some carbohydrates cause a spike in your blood sugar level which causes you to feel hungry faster and to crave more sugary foods. While other carbohydrates are converted into blood sugar more slowly leveling out you blood sugar resulting in less hunger and less food cravings.
For this reason, the Glycemic Index (GI) was developed to classify how quickly your body converts carbohydrates into blood sugar as compared to pure glucose. Glucose has a GI of 100 and all other carbohydrate based foods are ranked against it. Foods with a score of 70 or more are defined as having a high GI while those with a score of 55 or less are considered as low.
Eating lots of food with a high GI causes spikes in your blood sugar level which can lead to many health issues such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. While eating low GI foods causes your blood sugar level to stay even thus, keeping your energy level balanced and causing you to fill fuller longer between meals. The following are some additional benefits of eating low GI carbohydrates.
· Helps you to lose and manage weight your weight.
· Increases your body's sensitivity to insulin.
· Decreases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
· Reduces your risk of heart disease.
· Improves your blood cholesterol levels
· Reduces hunger and keep you fuller for longer.
· Helps you prolong physical activity.
· Helps you to re-fuel your carbohydrate stores after exercise.
You can get the GI rating of hundreds of carbohydrate based foods from the Glycemic Index Foundation, sponsored by the University of Sydney in Australia. They maintain a searchable database of over 1600 entries at http://www.glycemicindex.com.
The GI is very interesting because some foods that you intuitively think would have a high rating do not. For instance, fructose which is fruit sugar has a minimal effect on blood sugar while white bread and French-fried potatoes are nearly converted to blood sugar as fast as pure glucose. In other words, you can’t classify foods as having a high or low GI according to the sweetness of taste. Many factors affect a foods GI such as:
· Processing: Grains that have been milled and refined have a higher GI
· Type of starch: Starches come in many different configurations. Some are easier to break into sugar molecules than others. For example, starch in potatoes is digested and absorbed into the bloodstream relatively quickly.
· Fiber content: The sugars in fiber are linked in a way that is hard for your body to break down. Thus, the more fiber a food has, the less digestible carbohydrate, and consequently the less sugar it can deliver into your blood stream.
· Fat and acid content: The more fat or acid a food contains, the slower its carbohydrates are converted to sugar and absorbed into your bloodstream.
· Physical form: Finely ground grain is more rapidly digested, and so has a higher GI than more coarsely ground grain.
The basic technique for eating the low GI way is simply a "this for that" approach - i.e., swapping high GI carbohydrates for low GI carbohydrates. You don't need to count numbers or do any sort of mental arithmetic to make sure you are eating a healthy, low GI diet. Follow these easy to implement suggestions.
· Use breakfast cereals based on oats, barley and bran
· Use breads with whole-grains, stone-ground flour, sour dough
· Reduce the amount of potatoes you eat
· Enjoy all other types of fruit and vegetables
· Use brown rice
· Enjoy whole-wheat pasta and noodles
· Eat plenty of salad vegetables with a vinaigrette dressing
As you can see it’s important to include the right kind of carbohydrates as part of your daily intake. I generally get about 50 percent of my daily calorie intake from low to medium glycemic index carbohydrates. I find that this amount gives me plenty of energy for all my daily activities. You’ll find that eating low to medium GI carbohydrates levels out your energy and keeps you from those highs and low points throughout the day.
So now you ask, how many grams of carbohydrates can I eat daily? Let me show you in the following example. Let’s assume you eat 1800 calories each day and 50 percent of those calories come from carbohydrates. So that’s 900 calories you consume in carbohydrates each day. There are 4 calories in each gram of carbohydrates. Now, divide 900 by 4 and that equates to 225 grams of carbohydrates each day. Next use the USDA’s National Nutritional Database as I mentioned above to calculate your serving sizes and it’s easy to start balancing the amount of carbohydrates in your diet.
How To Practice Balance And Moderation In Your Diet
I have to be honest and tell you that more than 50 percent of the exercise required to stay fit and firm as you age involves a fork and knife. No amount of exercise can compensate for poor dietary habits. I believe in finding a healthy eating plan that works for you, that you can live with for the long-term.
One of the easiest ways to incorporate a healthy eat plan into your life is through balance and moderation in the foods you eat everyday.You can eat any food you desire as long as it is in moderation and balanced it with the rest of the foods you consume. For example, I love brownies, so when I have a brownie for dessert I only have one. I also balance the carbohydrates and sugar in the brownie by not having bread with my meal.
The first step to learning balance and moderation in your diet is knowing how to classify foods into their basic source of protein, carbohydrates, and fats as well as how they are used in your body. The second step is mastering portion. Knowing how many calories you consume from each food source and what your serving sizes are will enable you to balance your meals. Eating this way can be easily incorporated into your lifestyle - it’s a plan you can stick with over time.
So let’s begin by seeing how foods are broken down into their basic components of protein, carbohydrates, and fats and how your body uses them. In this post we'll talk about Protein.
Protein
Protein is a necessary part of every living cell in your body. Next to water, protein comprises up the greatest portion of your body weight. Protein substances make up your muscles, ligaments, tendons, organs, glands, nails, hair, and many vital body fluids. It is essential for the growth, repair, and healing of your bones, tissues, and cells. In addition, the enzymes and hormones that catalyze and regulate your body processes are comprised of protein. So, you see the proper amount of protein in your diet is vital for your health and wellbeing.
Protein is composed of building-block chemicals called amino acids. There are approximately 28 commonly known amino acids that your body uses to create all the various combinations of proteins needed for survival. These 28 commonly known amino acids are further classified as essential and nonessential amino acids. Nonessential amino acids can be produced in your body, while essential amino acids cannot be produced in your body and must be obtained from the foods you eat.
The sources of protein in your diet are classified as complete or incomplete. Complete proteins contain all the essential amino acids and are mostly from animal sources such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy products. Incomplete proteins lack one or more essential amino acids that your body cannot make itself. Incomplete proteins usually come from plant- based sources such as fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts. You must eat incomplete sources of protein in a combination that contains all the essential amino acids in order for your body to use them.
As mentioned, you must get your essential amino acids from your diet because your body cannot make them itself. Some of the best animal sources of protein are fish, poultry, lean cuts of meat, and low-fat dairy products. Some of the best vegetable sources are beans, nuts, and whole grains.
So, now you must be thinking how much protein should be in your daily diet? According to research on this topic, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Recommendations range from a minimum of 10 percent of your daily caloric intake to 30 percent. However, results from scientific research are now revealing that people who consume higher amounts of protein (20 to 30 percent of their daily caloric intake), while cutting back on their carbohydrate intake, tend to lose weight faster and stay leaner than those people on low-fat diets.
The reason higher protein, lower carbohydrates diets are more conducive to weight loss and maintenance is interesting. First, high-protein foods slow the movement of food from the stomach to the intestines, meaning you feel full longer and don’t get hungry as often. Second, protein has a leveling effect on your blood sugar which means you are less likely to get spikes in your blood sugar that lead to cravings for carbohydrates. Third, your body uses more energy to digest protein than it does to digest fat or carbohydrates. (3)
Over the years, I found that eating about 30 percent of my calories from protein works great for me to maintain my weight and muscle mass. Here’s how to calculate how many grams of protein that equates to 30 percent of your daily caloric intake. First, you must have an idea of how many calories you consume daily. I suggest you keep a food journal for at least a week in which you write down everything you eat and drink and the corresponding quantities. Next, you have to calculate the total calories you eat each day from your journal. You can do this by finding the nutritional data for foods from different sources. For example, the USDA’s National Nutritional Database can be found at www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/.
Once you know how many daily calories you are eating it’s easy to calculate how much protein you should be consuming. Let’s say the result from above calculations show that you are eating approximately 1800 calories per day. So, 30 percent of 1800 calories equates to 540 calories that should be consumed from protein. Next, you convert the calories from protein to grams by dividing the 540 calories by 4 which equals 134 grams of protein.
Now that you know how much protein you need in your diet here are some good sources of protein listed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help you with you serving sizes.
1 ounce meat, fish, poultry equals 7 grams of protein
1 large egg equals 6 grams of protein
4 ounces milk equal 4 grams of protein
4 ounces low-fat yogurt equals 6 grams of protein
4 ounces soy milk equals 5 grams of protein
3 ounces tofu, firm equals 13 grams of protein
1 ounce cheese equals 7 grams of protein
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese equals 14 grams of protein
1/2 cup cooked kidney beans equals 7 grams of protein
1/2 cup lentils equals 9 grams of protein
1 ounce nuts equals 7 grams of protein
2 tablespoons peanut butter equals 8 grams of protein
1/2 cup vegetables equals 2 grams of protein
1 slice bread equals 2 grams of protein
1/2 cup of most grains/pastas equals 2 grams of protein
I hope this helps you start to understand how to balance your meals. In my next post I'll talk about carbohydrates.
One of the easiest ways to incorporate a healthy eat plan into your life is through balance and moderation in the foods you eat everyday.You can eat any food you desire as long as it is in moderation and balanced it with the rest of the foods you consume. For example, I love brownies, so when I have a brownie for dessert I only have one. I also balance the carbohydrates and sugar in the brownie by not having bread with my meal.
The first step to learning balance and moderation in your diet is knowing how to classify foods into their basic source of protein, carbohydrates, and fats as well as how they are used in your body. The second step is mastering portion. Knowing how many calories you consume from each food source and what your serving sizes are will enable you to balance your meals. Eating this way can be easily incorporated into your lifestyle - it’s a plan you can stick with over time.
So let’s begin by seeing how foods are broken down into their basic components of protein, carbohydrates, and fats and how your body uses them. In this post we'll talk about Protein.
Protein
Protein is a necessary part of every living cell in your body. Next to water, protein comprises up the greatest portion of your body weight. Protein substances make up your muscles, ligaments, tendons, organs, glands, nails, hair, and many vital body fluids. It is essential for the growth, repair, and healing of your bones, tissues, and cells. In addition, the enzymes and hormones that catalyze and regulate your body processes are comprised of protein. So, you see the proper amount of protein in your diet is vital for your health and wellbeing.
Protein is composed of building-block chemicals called amino acids. There are approximately 28 commonly known amino acids that your body uses to create all the various combinations of proteins needed for survival. These 28 commonly known amino acids are further classified as essential and nonessential amino acids. Nonessential amino acids can be produced in your body, while essential amino acids cannot be produced in your body and must be obtained from the foods you eat.
The sources of protein in your diet are classified as complete or incomplete. Complete proteins contain all the essential amino acids and are mostly from animal sources such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy products. Incomplete proteins lack one or more essential amino acids that your body cannot make itself. Incomplete proteins usually come from plant- based sources such as fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts. You must eat incomplete sources of protein in a combination that contains all the essential amino acids in order for your body to use them.
As mentioned, you must get your essential amino acids from your diet because your body cannot make them itself. Some of the best animal sources of protein are fish, poultry, lean cuts of meat, and low-fat dairy products. Some of the best vegetable sources are beans, nuts, and whole grains.
So, now you must be thinking how much protein should be in your daily diet? According to research on this topic, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Recommendations range from a minimum of 10 percent of your daily caloric intake to 30 percent. However, results from scientific research are now revealing that people who consume higher amounts of protein (20 to 30 percent of their daily caloric intake), while cutting back on their carbohydrate intake, tend to lose weight faster and stay leaner than those people on low-fat diets.
The reason higher protein, lower carbohydrates diets are more conducive to weight loss and maintenance is interesting. First, high-protein foods slow the movement of food from the stomach to the intestines, meaning you feel full longer and don’t get hungry as often. Second, protein has a leveling effect on your blood sugar which means you are less likely to get spikes in your blood sugar that lead to cravings for carbohydrates. Third, your body uses more energy to digest protein than it does to digest fat or carbohydrates. (3)
Over the years, I found that eating about 30 percent of my calories from protein works great for me to maintain my weight and muscle mass. Here’s how to calculate how many grams of protein that equates to 30 percent of your daily caloric intake. First, you must have an idea of how many calories you consume daily. I suggest you keep a food journal for at least a week in which you write down everything you eat and drink and the corresponding quantities. Next, you have to calculate the total calories you eat each day from your journal. You can do this by finding the nutritional data for foods from different sources. For example, the USDA’s National Nutritional Database can be found at www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/.
Once you know how many daily calories you are eating it’s easy to calculate how much protein you should be consuming. Let’s say the result from above calculations show that you are eating approximately 1800 calories per day. So, 30 percent of 1800 calories equates to 540 calories that should be consumed from protein. Next, you convert the calories from protein to grams by dividing the 540 calories by 4 which equals 134 grams of protein.
Now that you know how much protein you need in your diet here are some good sources of protein listed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help you with you serving sizes.
1 ounce meat, fish, poultry equals 7 grams of protein
1 large egg equals 6 grams of protein
4 ounces milk equal 4 grams of protein
4 ounces low-fat yogurt equals 6 grams of protein
4 ounces soy milk equals 5 grams of protein
3 ounces tofu, firm equals 13 grams of protein
1 ounce cheese equals 7 grams of protein
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese equals 14 grams of protein
1/2 cup cooked kidney beans equals 7 grams of protein
1/2 cup lentils equals 9 grams of protein
1 ounce nuts equals 7 grams of protein
2 tablespoons peanut butter equals 8 grams of protein
1/2 cup vegetables equals 2 grams of protein
1 slice bread equals 2 grams of protein
1/2 cup of most grains/pastas equals 2 grams of protein
I hope this helps you start to understand how to balance your meals. In my next post I'll talk about carbohydrates.
Your Choice, Your Health, It's That Simple
Image by Vook tv via Flickr Getting healthier, losing weight, feeling better, and getting fit is not complicated. It’s about the daily choices you make. Choice is a powerful thing. You can choose daily habits that promote a healthy lifestyle or not. That choice is completely yours.
Many of the aliments that we associate with aging are the results of many years of making poor lifestyle choices. I’m 51 years old and I hear people my age complaining of the aliments of "getting older." I don’t know what they are talking about, because I feel as good as I did when I was 25.
The only difference is I choose to live a healthy lifestyle. I eat a healthy diet, I exercise on a regular basis, and I fill my mind with positive thoughts.
Here’s an example of the power of choice. I was sitting in a coffee shop a few weeks ago, and across the room I noticed 2 women sitting together. One woman was extremely over-weight and the other woman looked very fit. The over weight woman was eating a big cookie and drinking a latte, while the fit looking woman was eating a health breakfast wrap.
Now, I’m pretty sure that over-weight woman did gain those extra pounds by eating a cookie and drinking a latte just one time. Most likely, her extra weight is from years of choosing to eat cookies and drink lattes, or something similar for breakfast. No one forces her to make that decision. And on the other hand, no one forces the fit looking woman to eat the way she eats. It’s all about personal choice. While an occasional mocha latte and a big cookie for breakfast won’t make you over-weight, choosing to have them everyday probably will.
It’s your choice, it’s your health. You and only you are responsible for your health and well-being. Choose healthy eating habits and healthy lifestyle activities and you become a healthy person. It's that simple.
Fad Diets Don't Work
Image by TheFemGeek via Flickr
Fad diets don't because they are not a way of eating that you can stick with for the long-term. The only way for permanent weight loss and maintenance is developing an eating style and healthy habits that you can incorporate into your daily life.
Balance and moderation in the foods you eat is the best way to achieve a healthy weight and a healthy lifestyle. I'll take talk more about this in my next post.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
