Live better, eat better.

To improve your quality of life, you have to eat better. Here are a few examples: Eating food with Trans fats may cause inflammation and inflammation of the joints is not only for the aged.

Remember, eating crap can make you looking older than you really are. Diets with too much sugar and carbohydrates like pasta and bread can damage your skin’s collagen. Collagen helps keeping your skin supple and also fights wrinkles.

Anything that's deep-fried in oil can add to inflammation throughout your body. Especially avoid Trans fats. It can raise your LDL "bad" cholesterol and lower HDL "good" cholesterol, which increases your risk for heart disease.

 What is more, unhealthy foods mentioned above also put your overall health on the line and may even lead to heart disease or diabetes.

Watch out for another scoundrel: alcohol. Moderate drinking may be good for your heart, but heavy drinking can accelerate the aging process. "Moderate" is one drink per day for women (such as a 5-ounce glass of wine or 12-ounce glass of beer) and two drinks for men.

Remember the saying: “you are what you eat or drink”!

Danie

Catering for the Nutritional Needs of the Critical Adolescent Years

Adolescence is the period of psychological and social transition between childhood and adulthood. This transition involves biological (i.e. pubertal) and psychological changes – Yahoo Answers.

Adolescence is a time of extremes and contradictions. It is a period in which enthusiasm and tiredness seem to alternate; in which rebelliousness is often matched by an unquestioning conformity to peer pressure; and in which idealism and harshness peak together.

Biologically, sexually, psychologically and mentally a person is coming of age and part of this process, is undergoing the greatest spurt of physical growth since infancy. However, every adolescent matures according to their own inner clock, some much later than others, but individual body consciousness is at an all-time high throughout this period with great emphasis on height, weight, attractiveness and perceived physical maturity.

With the exception of pregnancy and breast-feeding for women, total energy requirements are at an all-time high during adolescence. Satisfying the appetite of a teenage boy often seems impossible and indeed cannot always be successfully accomplished in the traditional three main meals of the day. Substantial additions may be needed. Given free reign and the money to pay for it, most will assure themselves of the additional kilojoules quite easily; the problem lies in assuring that the food they eat out of sight of parents is of good nutritional and health quality.

Adolescent girls also have high kilojoule needs. But, females store more of their body weight as fat and fat uses fewer kilojoules than muscle. Therefore, their needs are appreciable lower than boys’. The trickiest dietary problem that has to be faced by adolescent girls is maintaining a balanced weight while satisfying nutritional needs. Girls must pack in all essential needs in far fewer kilojoules than boys in order to avoid unwanted kilograms. Because girls are exposed as regularly as boys to high-kilojoule foods of questionable worth, they are particularly vulnerable to becoming overweight and malnourished.

This can also give way to another more serious problem under girls. Due to peer pressure and the inner need for attractiveness, it can lead to Anorexia nervosa, a disorder characterised by an unnatural fear of gaining weight and which affects mainly adolescent girls. The sufferer convinces herself that she is too fat, and that she needs neither food nor treatment. Her weight loss is apparent to everyone except but herself.

Another problem during adolescence is the question of obesity which can hit both sexes. Adolescence is a period during which the body can accelerate its addition of fat cells. And if for no other reason, obesity in adolescence should be fought. An estimated one-third of all adolescents   are overweight with females suffering more than males – Readers Digest. The solution or the counter-act does not only lie in inculcating healthy eating habits but also increasing physical activity.

The main task of any parent during the adolescent period of a child is to provide wholesome food at home, both at regular meal times and for the inevitable snacking between meals. The most serious nutritional deficiencies amongst adolescents are calcium and iron. The calcium shortage is rooted in the availability of soft drinks and their frequent substitution for milk. Not only does milk consumption drop but the phosphorous in soft drinks and processed foods reduces the efficiency of calcium absorption by the body. 

Iron shortages are due to increased demand for the manufacture of blood and tissue in both sexes and the onset of menstruation in girls.

In conclusion, adults should remember they also went through the adolescent period. During this phase of a person’s life there is an increased desire for independence which may cause sporadic rejection of old family nutritional values, but this is likely to be compensated for by fresh suggestions gleaned from the dining tables of friends. Therefore, the adolescent’s adventurous side in trying out alternatives is well worth cultivating.

Daniel de Villiers

Tips for Planning Meals for the Family

Next time you sit down for a lovely family meal; spare a thought or two for the woman behind the meal.

To ensure at least three meals a day that will suit all taste buds and preferences and still be of nutritional value for the entire family, is not easy.

This article is therefore dedicated to the women who day in and day out, had to cater for the families’ meals and meal plans with some tips to lessen their burden.

1.       Turn menu planning into a family project. Task family members to assist with providing a list of their favourite dishes, then compile menus using these lists. When given a chance to participate, people enjoy their meals more and maybe will complain less.

2.       Perk up your dinners by serving your family a new dish each week if possible. Exchange recipes with friends and neighbours; check food sections of magazines and newspapers and do not forget the many recipe sites and blogs.

3.       Change your meal pattern. Instead of the same old routine – meat, potatoes, and green vegetables for dinner every day – serve a hearty soup, an unusual casserole, or a main-dish salad.

4.       Notice what your family enjoys at restaurants. Consult your recipes and try to create similar dishes at home.

5.       Vary the shape, colours, and textures of vegetables. For example, mashed potatoes make a nice contrast to Brussels sprouts, or green beans to carrots.

6.       To add interest to a soft-textured meal, serve crunchy vegetables or crusty bread.

7.       Serve something other than rice or potatoes to accompany gravies and sauces. Try barley or pasta.

8.       When serving leftover meat or fish, don’t just reheat it. Instead, prepare it in a different form. For example, mince it and shape it into patties, dice it for casseroles, or slice it thin and add it to stir-fry dishes or to a tasty sauce.

Daniel

Women and their eating habits

There are times in a woman’s life when she needs to take care of her diet. During adolescence, the rate of growth in a girl is second only to that infancy. Her growth spurt usually begins and ends earlier than in boys, but it is not possible to predict when it will happen.

The greatest influence on a teenager’s diet is her peer group. It is more difficult to have control over an adolescent’s choice of foods the way parents can when children are younger. Eating also becomes part of a social activity and family meals assume less importance. Most teenage girls are very concerned about their shape and weight and as many as one girl in ten may try to control her weight by some means. This usually involves excluding nutritious foods such as bread, cereal and protein and filling up on empty calories – junk food in the form of snacks and soft drinks.

In pregnancy, your body is providing nutrition for both you and your baby. There are foodstuffs that you may not be able to tolerate, particularly during the first four months. This is an important time for the baby and you need to eat well when you feel like it. The best idea is to snack often with healthy foods. That way you will not feel uncomfortable and you’ll be well fed. Your medical advisers will suggest supplements with folic acid, iron, and calcium if this is necessary. Do not take supplements unless your doctor advises.

One of the major problems for post-menopausal women is osteoporosis, which is the loss of protein from bones. Research has shown that osteoporosis can be halted (not cured) by having hormone therapy. This does not mean that every woman needs hormone therapy, but if you get aches and pains in your bones and muscles, backache and pins and needles in your hands and feet, go to your doctor to ask for a diagnosis. If your bones are beginning to look thin on X-ray, your doctor should consider hormone therapy. 

How to reduce cholesterol

Lose weight the easy way

Nutrition is the basis for everything related with weight loss. Eat three meals every day, forget about the sausages and French fries, limit the amount of sugar you use every day and start eating a lot of vegetables, poultry and fruits. Also drink at least 2 litters of water every day. And, you are allowed to snack in between – see more about snacking.

Stay away from junk or fast foods. If you eat a lot of junk and processed food, then you can forget about weight loss altogether. These foods are very high in calories and will always cause weight gain. Keep a good stock of fresh fruit and vegetables.  Cooking your own meals will really help you to stick to healthy foods. Limit your saturated fat and sugar intake to an absolute minimum.

Eat more frequently and in smaller portions: Eating large meals infrequently will not serve you well when it comes to weight loss. If you were to eat, let’s say 5 or 6 small meals each day, then your weight loss will proceed more efficiently. Each time you eat, your metabolism rises and this helps your body with fat burning. It is total allowed to snack in between but remember to snack the right way!

Cut back on your calories but don’t deprive yourself. In the long run, if you want to lose weight, your intake of calories must be less than the amount of calories you burn. Start out slow and decrease your calories by a small amount every day.

The importance of exercising cannot be overemphasised.  Weight loss without exercise is extremely difficult. Working out builds your muscle mass and speeds up your metabolism. When your muscle mass and metabolism are increasing, you will burn off much more fat. Try to increase your physical activity all throughout the day.

The key to weight loss is a change in attitude and once accepting it, dietary changes will not be a problem.

How to snack the right way

Dietary changes to help you lose weight