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[D276]Diet And Nutrition Information

by Jeff Patterson, Jef

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Perhaps one of the most frequently used words we hear today is diet and not so much nutrition. With a plethora of diets available, we tend to get carried away by the 'diet' wave and nutrition is lost somewhere in the horizon. You could choose from Atkins Diet, Zone Diet, Weight Watchers diet, Slim Fast diet to the various single-food diets like cabbage soup or grapefruit diet. Perhaps we are focusing more on 'diets' than 'nutrition' and we have completely lost track of what the 'diets' may be in terms of 'nutritional value'. But then, are these diets really working? If it did, America perhaps would not have been the fattest nation in the world with compounding rates of diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic and life threatening ailments embracing the nation. As diets become popular with the society, it is nutrition which is taking a back seat. So what, you may ask, is a diet?

Diet is wrongly understood by most people as a set of rules which guide you to monitor your intake of foods to maintain or gain a slim body or lose weight. In reality a diet is a set of foods which you take to supply the body with the essential nutrients so that it can function optimally. A balanced diet would consist of vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants and enzymes which improves the energy levels and overall quality of life and can have a positive impact on your mood, eyesight, memory, memory and extend your life span in a healthy way. In the absence of a good and balanced diet, your immune system gets weak, blood turns thicker, heart capacity of pumping blood deteriorates and you become the breeding ground of a host of diseases, which can sometimes be life-threatening.

the other area where most people are confused regarding their food intake is when they look for the wrong things at the nutritional levels. They look for calorie count, fat grams and information on serving size. Usually people forget to look at the quantum of nutrients in the labels like A, C, D and E, as well as calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc and folic acid. Though this type of information appears at the bottom of the labels, it does not impact buyer choice. Perhaps the most important thing to look for on a nutritional label is the actual ingredients which it contains. It may contain just 200 calories but check out from where the calories are originating from. Watch out whether you are consuming large quantities of corn syrup and sodium phosphate or preservatives like sorbic acid or sulfur dioxide?

It is important to remember that nutrition comes from primarily vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. And a nutritional diet would consist of these elements definitely. Foods which you get from the earth are rich in nutrients for instant dark leafy vegetables are richer in calcium than milk and whole beans. Whole grains offer you large amounts of iron.

If you shift your focus from diet to nutrition, perhaps you would lead a healthier life.

1. Should you aim for zero fat in your diet?

No you should not aim for zero fat. Fat is essential for maintaining healthy skin and hair. It also acts as a transport for the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. The deal with fat is that is contains 9 calories per gram, and this is why fat foods are considered high calorie. Despite its bad reputation, you do need between 15-20% of your diet to be comprised of fats to maintain health. Most of this will come indirectly through your regular eating and it's a fat chance (pun intended) that you're not getting enough already!

2. Can I eat carbohyrates at night time?

Yes, however you should make sure that the carbohydrates come from complex sources like brown rice, vegetables and salads.

3. What is the best diet to keep blood sugars normal for a Type II Diabetic?

The same diet that is best for everyone. A diet that is well balanced with all the macronutrients, low in simple sugars and full of natural vitamins and fiber. It's all about keeping the sugar levels stable while providing enough calories and nutrition through whole foods. Just like when we were cave women and men!

Everyone may want to take a look at tweaking the diet a bit if for instance you have food allergies or cannot digest red meat. But other than that the standard is always the same. I prefer a 20 percent fat, 50 percent protein and 30 percent carbohydrate myself.

4. If you already eat healthy with no real avail, than how can you trick your body into losing weight?

Check again to make sure that your standard of eating healthy jives with a nutritionists and if that is the case start working out harder.

5. Can a body-builder/weightlifter be a vegetarian?

Yes, there are quite a few people who have done it. It is especially easy to do if you allow eggs, milk and whey protein under the label of vegetarian. If you are going strict vegetarian it gets harder but comes down to some serious planning and using various foods to produce complete proteins.

6. What are some good sources of low fat protein for someone who doesn't really like meat or eggs very much?

Some good choices of low fat protein for someone that does not like or can not eat meat or eggs would be:

Low fat cottage cheese
Skim milk, soy milk
A variety of sea foods
Beans and lentils
Low fat yogurt
Whey protein

7. What are bad carbs vs. good carbs?

Carbs are the preferred source of energy for the body. When you eat carbs your body converts them to blood sugar or glucose. This glucose is stored in your muscle cells and liver for use when needed (like training!). When weight lifting, it is mostly this stored energy that your muscles use for contraction fuel. As with any calories you eat, any excess carbs that can't be utilized are stored as fat.

Some sugars are more conducive to a good-looking physique than others. This is where the good carb verses bad carb comes into play. There are three kinds of carbohydrates:

Monosaccharides (one-sugar molecule)
Disaccharides (two-sugar molecules)
Polysaccharides (three or more sugar molecules)

Monosaccharides and disaccharides are called sugars or bad carbs while polysaccarides are usually called complex carbohydrates, glucose polymers or good carbs. This is where the real good stuff begins. Because the good carbs contain three or more sugar molecules, they take longer to break down. The longer it takes the body to break these carbs down, the more time it has to use them as opposed to storing them as fat. A good way to gauge the quickness of the break down is something called the glycemic index.

8. Can eating 5-8 healthy balanced meals a day cause diabetes in the long run?

I cannot find or have not heard any evidence that would support that idea. In fact during all my research I have found the exact opposite to prove itself over and over. Large infrequent meals put quite a load on the body and create large surges of insulin response. This as you may know over time is one of the factors that can lead to the onset of diabetes. There is actually a study done on older subjects that states A higher meal frequency acutely subdues glucose excursions and reduces insulin and FFA levels during the daytime in older Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus subjects. You can find that study here: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Article Source : Nutrition Diet

About Author

Both Jeff Patterson & Raymond Burton are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Jeff Patterson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Acne Treatment, Dieting and Anger Control. Jeff Patterson is the author of a comprehensive guide to health and nutrition , Jeff Also publishes a site called. Jeff Patterson's top article generates over 1300 views. to your Favourites.

Raymond Burton has sinced written about articles on various topics from Multi Level Marketing, Home Management and Lose Weight. Ray L Burton is the president of and author of the best selling ebook. Raymond Burton's top article generates over 823000 views. to your Favourites.