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Informative Articles

Childhood Obesity
Along with the increase of obesity in adult, childhood obesity is on the rise. Around 15.5 percent of adolescents in the United States, aged 12 to 19 are obese. Even more alarming, about 15.3 percent of children ages 6 to 11 are obese. These...

Diabetes - Living in health
Many people are already starting to catch up with the knowledge that your energy is directly proportional to what you put into your body (A.K.A. food). Studies have shown that if you eat a high "raw" vegetable diet, your energy will increase...

Fast Diet Fraud
Under the theory that "seeing is believing", people continue to buy books and pills for dramatic weight loss in 7 days, or 4 weeks, or some other rather short interval. What should be checked is how much weight loss remains effective in one year. ...

Overweight? What is Your Heathy Weight?
Everywhere we look in the western world we are inundated with pictures, images, icons and inferences of the 'perfect' female shape! The truth is that many of these images are altered or enhanced in some way and do not depict the typical female...

Weight Loss - The Atkins Diet
The Atkins diet, without a doubt, has been the most controversial diet of all time. Seldom does a week go by that the news media does not mention the Atkins diet. The Atkins diet, first introduced in 1972 by cardiologist Dr. Robert Atkins,...

 
NUTRITION FOR A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

Proper nutrition is an area of confusion for most people. With all of the conflicting information in the media and all of the fad diets out there, it is hard to know how to eat right. Eating right comes down to eating the proper balance of the three main compounds that make up our food: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Knowing the balance is the first step, knowing the right foods to eat within these groups is the next.

Carbohydrates: 40% of your calorie intake should come from carbs. A good portion of the carbs you take in should be low glycemic and dietary fiber rich. Low glycemic carbs take longer to digest and fill you up quicker. Good sources of these types of carbs are fruits such as mangos, grapefruits and pears. Whole grains breads, rice and pasta, veggies and popcorn (without butter) are all excellent sources of dietary fiber as well. Eating carbs rich in dietary fiber help prevent many cancers, decrease cholesterol in the bloodstream and decrease the chance of diabetes, which is increasing within the population.

Protein: 30% of your calorie intake should come from protein. You should take in no more than 2 grams per 2.2lbs of body weight to avoid kidney damage although this takes a long time to develop (15 years of high protein intake). Animal proteins are the most complete form of protein. Good animal sources are chicken, turkey and lean cuts of beef. Plant proteins are incomplete sources and a variety of them must be consumed to get a complete protein. Vegetarians run into this problem and depending on the type of vegetarian, a protein or amino acid supplement may be needed.

Fats: 30% of your calorie intake should come from fats and less than


Nir Felder: Introducing The Next Big Jazz Guitarist
The Brooklyn youngster has already played with John Scofield, Joe Lovano and Jason Moran. With a debut album slated for early 2011, Felder recently stopped by WBGO's <em>The Checkout</em> to give host Josh Jackson a taste of what's to come.

Photo: Anthony Braxton
A Blog Supreme is on vacation. Until we return, we are periodically leaving you with some shots from The NPR Jazz Photography Pool on Flickr. Here, Tom Wiebe writes about capturing the great composer on film last winter.


10% should come from saturated and trans fats (the bad and evil fats). The rest should come from essential fats. I know, this sounds like a lot of fat in a diet but hear me out. The big thing is to decrease saturated and trans fats and eat the essential ones. But what are sources of essential fats? Good sources are cold-water fish, peanuts, walnuts, avocados and sunflower seeds. Also, using olive or canola oils for cooking will increase essential fats in the diet. The most important thing to do is to stay away from foods cooked in shortening, processed foods, deep-fried foods and fatty cuts of meat.

Now the next question, how many calories should I eat a day to have a healthy lifestyle? Well that depends, is your weight ideal right now? To maintain your current weight, there is a certain amount of calories you must take in. To figure out your maintenance level, multiply your weight in kg’s (lbs/2.2) by 24 + 200 for males and 23 + 200 for females. Dieting is very simple. To lose weight, take in fewer calories. About 500 less than your maintenance level is a safe start. To gain weight, eat more than your maintenance level. It’s as simple as that!
Article was written by Dr. Jeff Hand. To learn more about nutrition to to our website at www.gearforhealth.com.




About the author:

Dr. Jeff Hand was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario,Canada, where he attended
Lakehead University for his Bachelor of Science degree. He then attended
Northwestern College of Chiropractic in Minneapolis, MN for his doctor of
Chiropractic degree. Dr. Hand now practices in Baxter, MN at Family
Chiropractic Clinic.