Tag: food groups

What Is The Correct Diet For Body Building

There is a common myth going around that you can go on a see all, eat all diet for body building. The theory is that as you are lifting weights, you will burn off anything you eat. This is pure nonsense. If you continue to eat unhealthy foods you will never get the body you desire.

When bodybuilding or following any other form of exercise, you should also look at your eating habits. Instead of eating three large meals a day, you need to start eating five to six smaller ones every 3 hours or so. This will help to burn calories by speeding up your metabolism but it will also stop you feeling deprived which is a common feature of some diets. Also if you are working out and your body is not getting enough fuel you can enter something called the catabolic state. This is where your body thinks you are actually starving and starts to store calories as fat and feeds on lean muscle instead. The exact opposite of the effect you are trying to achieve which is to build lean muscle and burn calories!

Eating quality food more regularly, you should also find your blood sugars are more regulated and you are less likely to reach for a sugary snack. Every meal in your diet for bodybuilding should include a mixture of food groups. If you only eat carbohydrates at one meal sitting, your energy levels will spike and crash. You will also produce too much insulin tempting your body into becoming a fat storing device.

Your body needs a combination of protein and complex carbohydrates to work at its optimum levels. Good examples of proteins that you should be consuming are eggs, chicken and turkey breast, tuna and good quality red meats. You also need some good fats in your diet although less than 30% of your calorie intake should come from unsaturated fats.

Diet supplements are big business in the world of bodybuilding. Some work, others don’t and some actually harm your health. Approach all supplements with a degree of caution. If they are being recommended as part of your routine, ask why? What is it that you are specifically lacking that taking these powders or pills will accomplish?

If you are a vegetarian or a vegan and want to start weight training you need to be extra careful. Unless you have a great well balanced diet, you may find that you lack energy and focus. This doesn’t mean that you have to start eating meat but a lot of bodybuilders do eat eggs, tuna and other fish. In other words they cease to be strictly vegetarian but do still avoid meat. They ensure that they eat a wide variety of vegetables, complex carbohydrates and good sources of vegetable protein such as Kidney beans and tofu. Vegans can be successful bodybuilders without compromising their beliefs but they need specialist help and advice on their diet for bodybuilding.

All about Irritable Bowel Syndrome Diet

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is common among Americans so do not feel so sorry for yourself if you are suffering with this syndrome. This disorder has a lot to do with food intake and that really makes sense since bowel is all about getting rid of what we put inside our bodies.

Although incurable, Irritable Bowel Syndrome can somehow be controlled through an Irritable Bowel Syndrome Diet. The word diet might scare people away especially people who are afflicted with the syndrome. Most people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome are those who do not care about their diet. They are those who prefer to eat what they want and they might feel there is nothing wrong about that because it doesnt follow that they eat excessively.

Let us now look into the different food groups that people should avoid or that should not be part of the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Diet. First we discuss two. Any food that is high on fat should definitely be avoided. Fat makes food delicious but to do away with fatty foods can do wonders to your bowel movement. Aside from that, decreased fat intake or better yet eliminating fat intake will improve not just the gastro but also the over all health condition of the body. Any food with insoluble fiber should also be shunned. This should be carefully noted since most people are only aware that food with any fiber should be taken in for good bowel movement but they do not know that only food with soluble fiber are helpful. If you see any food that says high in fiber, double check if the fiber is soluble or insoluble before making the purchase.

Water therapy is part of the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Diet because there are so many drinks that have ingredients that one should do away with. Caffeine, coffee, carbonation and alcohol should be eliminated. This means goodbye to Starbucks, Coke, Carlsberg and all your other favorite drinks. If it is any consolation, water is actually the ultimate thirst quencher so why go for those second rate products when here is water which can provide with you everything that you need and at a cheaper cost.

The Irritable Bowel Syndrome Diet is easy to follow. It is all about learning how to eat less or not to eat all the bad food that contribute to bad bowel movement. Looking closely, it is all about going back to the basics eat plenty of vegetables high in soluble fiber and drinking plenty of water.

A Family Approach To Celiac Disease

For protein lovers, Celiac disease is one thing they wouldnt want to inherit from the family genes. Fortunately, its treatment can also be ensured within the family and in the home.

Celiac disease is a digestive order that can run from one generation to another. The disease causes severe damage to the small intestines as a reaction to gliadin or a gluten protein, and results to inflammation and flattening of the lining of the small intestines.

The person with Celiac disease is unable to absorb gluten, which is a group of protein common in wheat, rye, oats and barley. Hence, the disease imposes a gluten-free diet for those who are affected. This proves to be a difficult task since gluten is the second most consumed ingredient next to sugar, and hence difficult to avoid. Also, it is difficult to monitor since some may not experience any symptoms. But already knowing that the person and his or her family are prone to the disease can provide a head start on how to mitigate the damages.

Indeed, the home is the best place to start addressing Celiac disease. A family approach to knowing the disease and understanding how it affects everyday life will provide the battle gears for coping. This is especially helpful for the children, who would need all the support and guidance they could get.

A family that eats together heals together. This can be a reasonable motto for families afflicted with the history of Celiac disease. Several measures can already be taken if these families consider carefully their eating habits. One step is taking into heart what food to buy, grow, store, prepare or eat at any time of the day. By this, it is not just about ensuring that food is gluten-free but also ensuring that the needed nutrients are sourced from other food groups.

The family can also seek help from dieticians for the information on gluten-free foods. This includes help on how to read labels that may not specify gluten but contains it nonetheless. An example is the hydrolyzed vegetable protein that may be sourced from wheat. Familiarization with these gluten-free foods may be hard at first, but with the aid of a food diary and the collective memory of the family members, it will soon be easy.

Remember also that it is not just about knowing what to avoid, but rather knowing what to eat. For example, fruits are very much encouraged since these reduce other stressors to the digestive system, such as constipation. Further, in planning what meals to prepare and what other food to stock in the kitchen, the family can treat this as an opportunity to monitor and ensure balanced nutrition and sufficient calorie intake.

But what happens when family members, especially the children, need to eat outside of the home?

Again, it is important for the family to plan ahead. Children and teens should be part of the whole process of learning about gluten-free food. To engage their interest and to ensure that they like what they eat, children and teens may be entrusted with the responsibility of choosing what gluten-free meals to prepare. In this way, they would be able to prepare for food they can either eat at home or have as packed lunch or snacks. But in cases when they have to buy food outside the home, their knowledge about gluten-free food would enable them to discriminate which meals to buy. For young children with Celiac disease, their parents can also talk to teachers about the food requirements of their children. Or talk to the parents of their childrens friends, in case they visit or sleep over at houses of their friends.

In the end, a realistic talk among family members is the best approach. Each member, especially the children and teens, needs to know the consequences of eating meals with gluten.

Achieving Healthy Pregnancy Despite Diabetes

Among diabetic pregnant women, the most common problem when it comes to their babys health is the condition called macrosomia or having a baby with large body. This is because the blood of the mother with diabetes is interchanged with that of the baby inside the womb. As a result, the baby will produce insulin to be able to glucose and this will lead to fat deposits, which causes the baby to grown larger compared to the regular ones.

What you can do

For a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy, it is ideal to maintain an appropriate weight gain, average consumption of various foods from different food groups, timely and prescribed vitamin and mineral supplementation, and lots of fluid intake. Sweets and fats should also be kept to a minimum level of consumption. The following are just some of the guidelines that pregnant women with diabetes can use to achieve healthy pregnancy despite the chronic disease:

1. Follow the appropriate meal plan religiously. More than ever, pregnant women should pay attention to what they eat and their eating patterns in general. This is very important because this stagepregnancy itselfrequires strict control of blood glucose levels in order to ensure that both the mother and baby are getting the right amount of key nutrients needed. In coming up with the right diet plan, it is best to seek the help of diabetes educator or a licensed dietitian to create the necessary adjustments needed to accommodate the needs not only of the fetus inside the womb but of the mother as well. In your meal plan, take note of calorie, carbohydrates and protein requirements every day because these will help you maintain normal blood glucose levels.

2. Regular Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose or SMBG. Experts say that the only way to tell if the woman is successful in controlling her blood glucose is by monitor their levels by themselves regularly. Since being pregnant is a sensitive condition, soon to be mothers should monitor their blood glucose levels more frequently. Ideally, SMBG should be monitored four to 10 times a day.

3. Knowledge in administering insulin injections and adjusting the doses based on the results of SMBG. Sufficient supply of insulin is very crucial for pregnant women so they must know how to administer insulin injections by themselves in case no one is around when they need it. They should also ask from their physician how to adjust the doses of insulin after they are through with the SBMG. Knowing how to adjust the doses of insulin needed is very important to ensure that the bodys supply of insulin is stable.

4. Treating or controlling hypoglycemia. Pregnant women who are diabetics are more prone to hypoglycemia because of the hormonal changes in their body. Although studies show that there are no know effects of hypoglycemia in the baby, it is best to control or treat it as soon as possible so the soon to be mom wont be having troubles during the course of conception.

5. Maintaining regular set of exercise or physical activities. This is also very important for pregnant women with diabetes because through this they can reduce the risk of hypoglycemia as well as being overweight. Since it is hard for pregnant women to do strenuous workouts, it is best to maintain the hobby of having light exercises that will keep the body moving.