Healthy dining out

With our busy lives these days we are more apt to dine out, pick up take out food, or have food delivered to us. The problem is we are not aware of the calories and fat we are consuming when we continually eat food other than what we, ourselves have prepared. The average dinner meal at a restaurant is 1200 calories, and 60 grams of fat. Men should not have more than 70 grams of fat a day, and women 40 grams of fat a day. One meal alone can make up one whole days worth of fat, or two, in the case of women’s diets. If you do find a meal that is low in fat, make sure you do not consume such a large serving that you eat more calories than you should. There are restaurants out there that do have meals considered lower in fat and calories. If you do not see it on the menu ask your server for the information. Remember low carb is not low-fat. When you are eating a low – carb meal out at a restaurant you are usually eating high-fat. Make sure you do not take in more than 20 grams of fat in a meal. Below is a list of restaurants that offer low-fat meals. RESTAURANTS APPLEBEE’S CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN CLAIM JUMPER CHILI’S MACARONI GRILL TGIF FRIDAY’S MIMI’S CAFЙ OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE TONY ROMA’S FAST FOOD ARBY’S BURGER KING CARLS JR. CHICK-FIL-A JACK IN THE BOX MC DONALDS SUBWAY WENDY’S KFC We use food as an important part of our cultural and social lives to connect with one another. We also use it as a comfort when we have had a bad day, a bad week, a bad month, or a bad year. Reducing the foods we do not need helps us stay healthy in mind and body. Remember, even though we are overwhelmed, stressed out and tired, we must make healthy decisions when it comes to what we eat. Trans fat, found in most cooking oils in restaurants - is the worst kind of fat you can put in your body. It increases the level of blood fat called triglycerides, and has even been found to contribute to insulin resistance, which raises the risk of Type 2 diabetes. Children as young as 10 years old are developing heart disease and diabetes. Set an example for your children and ensure you both will live long, healthy lives.

Vitamin wars natural vs synthetic

In the beginning, God created all-natural whole vitamins, which were available directly from vegetables and fruits. Then man depleted earth's soil, robbing our foods of their natural nutrients. Apples, peaches, and pumpkin pie became less delicious and not as nutritious as Eden intended. No problem. Just add sugar, and artificial flavoring, and... voilа! To supplement our foodless foods, men invented vitamins. Then scientists said, "Let's create synthetic vitamins!" That way, they'll be really cheap to manufacture and hopefully just as good as those expensive all-natural vitamins. WRONG! We now know that synthetics vitamins are not as good as all-natural vitamins. Not even close. To demonstrate the point, experiments have shown that when polarized light is placed through synthetic vitamins, the light acts much differently than when it is placed through whole vitamins. When polarized light is placed through whole vitamins, the light beam bends to the right. When this same light passes through a synthetic vitamin, the beam splits in half. Science has not created a vitamin equivalent to nature's whole vitamins. Synthetic vitamins only give you half the biological activity as whole vitamins. In fact, research shows that synthetic vitamins can actually be dangerous to your health! Nevertheless, most vitamins on the market today use stripped down synthetic vitamins rather than whole vitamins coming straight from vegetables and fruits! The reason is simple; synthetic vitamins are much cheaper to manufacture. Health-conscious individuals need to appreciate the importance of giving their bodies whole vitamins, along with other critical nutrients. DANGER: ASCORBIC ACID A perfect example is Ascorbic Acid, the synthetic form of Vitamin C. Ascorbic Acid can actually harm the body by thickening the arterial walls of the heart by as much as two and a half times! Beware of Ascorbic Acid! DANGER: SYNTHETIC VITAMIN E SUCKS Another example is synthetic Vitamin E. Taking the synthetic form of Vitamin E has been proven to actually suck vitamins and minerals right out of your bones. Synthetic Vitamin E can do more harm than good! Face facts: there's just no substitute for All-Natural Whole-Food Vitamins and Minerals. The human body needs everything from A to Zinc, all in the right proportion. Taber's Medical Dictionary says vitamins are essential for normal metabolism, growth and life of the body. They are indispensable for the maintenance of health. Until recently, there has been some debate regarding the need for vitamin supplements. However, studies from The Journal of American Medical Association concluded that every individual should take a multi-vitamin every single day, thus ending the controversy. Your body begins to pay the price as it tries to compensate for nutrient deficiencies. Eventually, poor nutrition can lead to devastating consequences. Some people treat their body as if it were invincible. Don't be deluded. Your health is priceless. Give your body what it needs and deserves. Bottom line, getting the proper nutrients and micronutrients each day is critical to maintaining good health. NOTES: Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, Edition 16. F. A. Davis Company: Philadelphia,1989, p. 2000. JAMA 2002; 287:3116. Vinson, J. A., Bose Pparative Bioavailability to Humans of Ascorbic Acid Alone or in a Citrus Extract. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1998, Vol 38, No 3, p. 601-604. Vinson, J. A., and Hsu. Effect of Vitamin A, E, and a citrus extract on in vitro and in vivo Lipid Peroxidation." Medical Science Research, 1992, 20, 145-146. Duke, James. Handbook of Chemical Constituents of Grasses, Herbs, and other Economical Plants. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1992.

Yesterday you ate something that could be killing you

YESTERDAY YOU ATE SOMETHING THAT COULD BE KILLING YOU CHRISTOPHER GUERRIERO YES MY FRIENDS, YESTERDAY YOU ATE SOMETHING THAT COULD BE KILLING YOU. WORSE YET, YOU’RE FEEDING IT TO YOUR FAMILY. YOU SEE PEOPLE EVERY DAY EATING MORE AND MORE OF IT. IT’S KILLING OUR NATION AND MAKING YOU FAT IN THE PROCESS - STOP EATING IT TODAY, AND START LOOKING AND FEELING BETTER WITHIN 24 HOURS! For the first time ever, the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) dietary guidelines has identified sugar as a part of our diet we should limit, prompted by an overwhelmingly amount of evidence that proves high-sugar foods, such as cookies and soft drinks, not only lead to weight gain, but they often replace the foods that really need to be eaten each day to survive and thrive. If you eat a healthy diet and meet your nutritional needs on most days, you can still enjoy guilty pleasures like a sweet dessert or an occasional sugary soda. But, keep in mind, that no matter what form of sugar you eat - from Gummi Bears to Wheaties - carbohydrates (sugars) contain 4 calories per gram, they break down to simple sugars during digestion (except for fiber which is indigestible) and are either used for immediate energy, or stored as fat! While you need sugars in your body to keep it running, you should pick sugars that come in the form of nutrient-rich starches like whole grains. You should also eat plenty of vegetables - which do contain sugars, but do contain an abundance of valuable vitamins, minerals, and disease-fighting chemicals. The kind of sugar that you should stay away from is added sugar (the sweeteners that are dumped into foods by manufacturers). Added sugar is causing increasing concern because consumption of this diet-buster has risen more than 30 percent in the last two decades, with Americans now gobbling up a whopping 64 pounds of this fattening substance each year! According to the USDA, 20 percent or more of the daily calories for nearly one-quarter of adult women come from sugar, making it the culprit of weight - gain and diet disasters nationwide, not to mention that fact that it’s part of the cause of diseases like breast cancer. With this in mind, let’s look at some ways we can shave calories from sneaky sugar sources. These include: • Eliminate all soft drinks and fruit-flavored beverages, which are considered one of the biggest sources of added sugar in the diet. Instead, regularly opt for water, seltzer flavored with lemon or lime, flavored waters, etc. • Check food labels of packaged food with claims of “low fat” or “fat free,” as they have as much, and oftentimes even more sugar, than the full-fat version. Additional sugar is often used to replace the taste of fat, so when fat is decreased or eliminated, sugar is often substituted. Learn to spot this on food packages, and to avoid the contents! • Avoid all white flours, substituting whole grains that pack nutritional value. This means staying away from white pastas, breads, biscuits, cakes, cookies, etc. • Learn to spot sugar’s aliases. If dextrose, fructose, maltose, or malt syrup. If sucrose or corn syrup appears first or second in the ingredient list, the food is very high in sugar. • When eating out, order fresh fruit for dessert rather than that cake your friends are eating. • Pass up sweetened yogurts (they can contain as much as 7 teaspoons of added sugar). Instead, choose a no-sugar variety. • Buy breakfast cereals with no more than 8 grams of sugar per serving. Pair these practices with drinking 8-10 glasses of water a day, eating 3 small meals and 2 snacks each day, eating a diet high in vegetables, medium in protein and with the right fats added to that … then you’re on your way to a new you! And, don’t forget to be active every day. These are all key to enhancing your metabolism, changing your lifestyle, and your improving body. And, perhaps more importantly, a healthy, balanced diet with daily exercise will help keep you feeling good, will help you live longer, and will turn back your body’s aging clock! Christopher Guerriero, is the founder of the National Metabolic & Longevity Research Center and a best-selling author, speaker, and coach to millions. He is creator of the award-winning ‘Maximize Your Metabolism’ system. To learn more about this step-by-step program, and to sign up for FR*EE how-to articles and FREE teleseminars, visit: MaximizeYourMetabolism