What Women Should Know About Special Diets

Following a special diet demands a certain amount of self-discipline and the co-operation of those around you. However, if you are determined to get and keep well it is worth any inconvenience.

With the increased awareness of the relation between diet and health, and recent scientific discoveries about the connection between certain foods and illnesses, more and more people are being advised to follow special diets.

These are usually prescribed because some part of the body is not working properly. For example if there is some problem with your digestive system a change in your eating habits will give it a chance to rest and heal. Dietary restrictions may also be imposed after serious illnesses when appetite is impaired or certain foods cannot be tolerated. And sometimes people develop allergies to specific foods which should be excluded from their diets. 

Special diets can vary from only slight modification to the normal eating pattern to a complete change in the type of food consumed. But whatever the diet, it is essential that it is followed carefully for maximum benefit.  

Preparing special diet foods 

When the restrictions imposed by the special diet try to make sure that the food you prepare is tempting enough to help restore the appetite - whether yours or someone else’s. 

One way to do this is to vary the menu as much as possible. On a low-fat diet, for example, it may be easy to serve grilled white fish every day but the dish will very quickly lose its appeal. A little advanced planning is really worth the extra effort to provide a changing menu, which makes the person on the diet look forward to mealtimes. 

You can also enliven special diet meals by experimenting with different flavorings and seasonings. Although some diets specifically exclude sodium products such as salt, most permit at least a small amount of herbs. But do use heavy species with discretion - special diets do not usually permit spicy foods such as curries and some also exclude highly flavored vegetables such as onions and garlic.

Because most special diets permit only a limited variety of foods, it is important to get the maximum goodness out of those that are allowed. You should therefore use the freshest possible foods and if you buy, packaged products read the list of ingredients on the label carefully to make certain they do not contain any of the foods excluded by the particular dietary restrictions. 

The correct cooking process is also important as cooking can reduce food’s nutritional value and make it hard to digest. Cheese, if permitted, should be cooked only lightly; meat should be lean and well-cooked without being overdone. Vegetables should be lightly cooked in as little water as possible so that their vitamins and minerals are conserved. They should also be served immediately and never reheated. 

Being on a special diet should not prevent you from eating out as long as you take steps to overcome any possible problems. For instance, if you are invited to a dinner party warn your host in advance and tell them which foods you cannot eat. When eating out, it may also help to suggest a dish that they could easily provide in restaurants, it is not always possible to trust the menu descriptions so you may have to ask the waiter exactly what the various dishes contain and to specify anything you may want left out.

What is Pilates Exercise?

Pilates is an exercise designed to tone, stretch, and balance and strengthen the body. This is achieved through a series of body movements combined with a focus of breathing patterns. Although equipment can be used, the technique is similar to yoga in the sense that your body is the only tool you need.

There are many benefits of Pilates:

-Increased agility and flexibility

- Improved body strength without developing significant muscle mass

- Improved balance and co-ordination

- Noticeable toning of the body particularly in the thighs, buttocks and stomach

- An overall feeling of mind and body harmony 

Pilates incorporates many of the techniques used by its much older sister Yoga. They are both low impact forms of exercise with a focus on posture, flexibility and concentration. However there are differences. Pilates uses a series of machines and tools where yoga only uses the occasional strap or weight. In Yoga you move from one static position to another, whereas in Pilates you maintain your posture and perform movements from there.

How to Make Organic Beauty Creams at Home

Most day to day beauty products contain dozens of ingredients, including many chemicals that once researched begin to worry some of us that we put them anywhere near our precious skin. If you're concerned about the chemicals added to cosmetics and beauty products, but don’t have the money for the expensive designer organic labels, why not make your own?

Many organic beauty product recipes contain fewer than ten ingredients, and you can make them without needing a degree and without having to go out and buy lots of special equipment. As long as the ingredients you use are organic, the product you make will be organic.

Essentially a cream is a softened mixture of water and oil. You'll need a few basics to make your own cream at home, these are as follows:

• 4 ounces base oil

• 1 ounce of beeswax

• 2 ounces of distilled water

• 1 teaspoon of essential oils

• 1 vitamin E capsule (optional)

The beeswax acts as an emulsifying agent, and helps to blend the cream together to form a cream. When selecting an essential oil to use, popular base oils include jojoba oil, olive oil, and even sunflower oil. If you are feeling confident or want to experiment you can substitute the distilled water for a herbal tea of your choice or even rosewater. The Vitamin E oil is included to help preserve the cream and to extend its shelf life. If you didn’t want to use Vitamin E oil you could use grapefruit seed in its place.

If you are feeling brave and wanted to change the cream slightly there are additional ingredients you could include, such as Shea butter or coconut butter, and essential oils. Adding butter to your cream can give your homemade product a richer consistency and will also add to the nutritious and moisturizing properties.

How to make the cream:

The first step in the cream-making process is to blend and melt down the oils and emulsifiers. Using the ingredients above, mix together, the base oil of your choice with the beeswax and melt it over a low heat on the stove or in the microwave. Wait for the beeswax to melt and then slowly add in the distilled water whilst whisking with an electrical whisk or hand blender. Once mixed, finally, add the essential oils of your choice and vitamin E oil (extract this by puncturing the capsule and squeezing out the contents). Make sure you stir the cream thoroughly and ensure the oils and vitamin E is mixed in well.

If you did decide to add butter to this cream recipe, you will need to reduce the amount of base oil you use to keep the oil-to-water ratio the same. If you do not keep this ratio the same, the cream will be either thicker or thinner depending on what exactly was added. The butter is added when you add the oils and beeswax and should be heated so it can melt down.

The recipe above not only saves you money but also leaves you with a fully organic (providing you used organic ingredients) face cream.

It also opens up a whole world of cream-making possibilities. You could use any base oils, emulsifiers, and butter along with any floral waters or hydrosols of your choice. You can tailor make any organic, homemade creams to any part of your body or to help address any specific skin problems you might have.

Women and Calcium

Calcium is a mineral that strengthens your bones and teeth, and ensures everything runs smoothly with your muscles and nerves. It's especially important for growth. Calcium can continue to add to the strength of your bones until you reach the age of 30 to 35, when peak bone mass is reached.

After this point, as a natural part of the ageing process, your bones lose their density and grow weaker. If you haven't had enough calcium in your diet prior to this, there's an increased risk that your bones won't be strong enough to cope with any weakening, which can result in the brittle bone disease, osteoporosis.

Health professionals estimate that one in three women and one in 12 men over the age of 50 suffer from osteoporosis. There's also concern that the diets of teenage girls and young women, in particular, aren't high enough in calcium. Some experts predict the future could bring an osteoporosis epidemic in women.

Of course, if your diet excludes milk and dairy products or if you can't tolerate the milk sugar lactose, then you need to look for calcium alternatives. It is recommended that both men and women get 700mg of calcium every day to ensure good health.

The good news is, if you're concerned about your weight, getting the calcium you need doesn't have to mean eating or drinking full-fat foods. There's exactly the same amount of calcium in skimmed milk as there is in whole milk. The same goes for low-fat yoghurt and reduced-fat cheese. You don't have to buy their full-fat counterparts to look after your bones.

The Benefits of Yoghurt

Not only is yoghurt delicious, but it also contains vitamins and minerals, is high in protein and can be a healthy substitute or addition to other foods. 

Benefits

Yoghurt is milk fermented by bacterial action. If has a slightly lower sugar content than the milk from which it is made, and is an excellent source of protein. This is because the protein in yoghurt is more finely divided than in milk, and therefore more easily digestible. In addition, yoghurt contains high concentrations of vitamins A and D, essential for healthy teeth, skin and bones. 

It is also a good source of the B vitamin riboflavin, a nerve strengthener, and of the bone-enriching mineral calcium. 

The often-exaggerated claims made for yoghurt stem from the action of the bacteria it contains. In the human intestinal tract, yoghurt bacteria produce lactic acid, which controls, and in some cases can destroy, putrefying bacteria

If not eliminated, these bacteria can cause discomfort, indigestion, and sometimes illness. Therefore, yoghurt is often recommended as an antidote for digestive problems. It can also be useful in combatting the effects of antibiotics, which kills off the healthy bacteria in the intestines. 

However, the main value of yoghurt is as a cheap source of protein and as a healthier alternative to other foods. It contains all the goodness of dairy produce without the drawbacks. For medical opinion has now generally concluded that excessive consumption of dairy foods is probably a major factor in heart disease. The saturated fats they contain clog up the arteries carrying blood to the heart. Yoghurt, especially the varieties made with low-fat milk, provides a good low-fat alternative to cream, butter and milk. 

Yoghurt can be substituted directly for cream of soured cream in many recipes. Try it, for example, in beef stroganoff, or instead of butter on baked potatoes and other vegetables. It also makes an excellent salad dressing, ideal for dieters because it is much lower in calories than oil. It can be added to sauces and used instead of milk on cereals or muesli. Mixed with wheat germ and /or fresh or dried fruit, it makes a good energy-giving snack or dessert, nutritionally richer than cakes and biscuits. A number of health food cookery books contain recipes for cakes and biscuits that substitute yoghurt for butter. 

Many commercial types of yoghurt contain rennet or other thickeners, and the fruit varieties very often have preservatives and added sweeteners, so if you want to be sure of getting full food value from yoghurt, the best way is to make it yourself. It is cheap and easy to make, and home preparation ensures that you always have a fresh, adequate supply. If you want to use yoghurt as an aid to a calorie-controlled diet, you should make it with low-fat dried milk instead of ordinary milk. Again, many cookery books contain a basic yoghurt recipe. 

Once you have mastered the technique, you can then go onto making yoghurt cheese - a light, creamy white cheese, using yoghurt and salt, or a low-fat cheese, using low-fat dried milk.