Eating Healthy: Small Steps for Big Results

Image by faith goble via Flickr

Healthy eating doesn’t sound like the right topic for a holiday-season blog, but healthy eating is a gift to yourself: it can protect you from disease and give you the gifts of better health and longevity.  Just a few simple changes can help a woman dodge some significant health threats.

Choose whole grains instead of refined ones.  Studies indicated that 3 servings of whole grains per day can lower the risk of heart disease by up to 36%.  Whole grains provide fiber and antioxidants like selenium and vitamin E.  These work to reduce inflammation, and lower both cholesterol and blood pressure.  Use brown rice instead of white.  It has twice the fiber and will make you feel fuller, longer thus helping your diet.  Grab an oatmeal raisin cookie instead of a chocolate chip, and eat wheat crackers instead of normal saltines.

Include protein with every meal.  Doubling your protein intake will help you shed those unwanted pounds, as well as lessen your risk of Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and more.  Amino acids in protein send signals to the brain that reduce the appetite.  Protein also has the highest thermogenic effect…it requires more calories to digest protein than other foods.  You could lose an additional 70 calories a day (equivalent to 8 pounds a year) with no effort.  Studies indicate that if you are serious about losing and maintaining weight loss, 5-6 small meals per day focusing around quality protein intake can substantially decrease your weight, increase your energy while energizing you as well.

Drinking 3 glasses of fruit or vegetable juice in the morning can slash your risk of Alzheimer’s by 76%.  Polyphenols in fruit and vegetable skins and pulp buffer brain cells from oxidative damage.  Just be careful of juices loaded with sugar, or juices that really offer very little actual juice.

Peppers, oranges, peaches, and papaya are loaded with beta cryptoxanthin; a carotenoid that reduces the risk of lung cancer by up to 30% says the American Cancer Research Institute.  It neutralizes free radicals so they can’t damage the DNA, and it keeps the growth of any cancer cells that do develop, under control.

Stop sipping on sodas…Tufts University says that soda is the biggest source of calories in the American diet.  Drinking just one soda a day can put on 14 pounds in a year and can up your risk of having type-2 diabetes by 83%.  Jazz up your water with fresh squeezed lemons or limes, sliced apples or cucumbers.  Adequate hydration can also lessen your can of suffering a heart attack by 50%.

Eat dark chocolate.  It hardens tooth enamel and prevent tooth decay.  In fact an extract in chocolate rights cavities better than fluoride according to Tulane University.

Be safe, be healthy, find a quality protein supplement, take your WomenVitamins, and be blessed, Kersten

Related articles

• Why Protein? (bestofmotherearth.com)
• High-protein, low-glycemic diet the best, study finds (news.nationalpost.com)
• Fiber Helps Keep the Doctor Away (aolhealth.com)
• “Alpha Carotene Beneficial In Vegetables?” and related posts (futurepundit.com)
• Humble fruits that pack a powerful punch (psychologytoday.com)

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