My childhood friend is a very experienced doctor in UK and he once advised me that the secret of living a long life is to remember :"Good Healthy Eating for a Happy Heart" and to skip lunch ( instead eat fruits and/or salads, drink juice, etc. ). Drink water regularly - at least 8 cups a day!
A lifestyle that provides you with sufficient energy, health and wellbeing to enjoy life, is vital at all ages. It is important to take good care of yourself, ensure you eat a healthy balanced diet.
Healthy and good eating is very important for good health. What you eat can either protect you or increase your chances of getting diseases like heart-disease.
The key to healthy and good eating is to eat a wide variety of foods. Use the following "Food-Pyramid" which will help make sure you get all the vitamins, minerals and goodness you need from your food.
Imagine a pyramid having five shelves - the top shelf is smallest and the bottom shelf is largest ( and in between 3 shelves increase proportionately from top to bottom ):-
1. Top-shelf is smallest and contains: Fat, High Fat/Sugar, Snacks, Foods and Drinks. ( Choose very small amounts, limit fried foods 1-2 times a week. Only have small amount of high fat/sugar snacks and drinks and not too often.)
2. Second-shelf from top contains: Meat, Poultry, Fish, Eggs & Alternatives. 2 servings a day, 3 during pregnancy. ( Choose any two, lean cuts of meats. Eat only fish.)
3. Third-shelf from top contains: Milk, Cheese & Yogurt. 3 servings a day for children and adults.5 serving a day for teenagers or for pregnant or breast-feeding mothers. ( Choose any three, but low fat varieties )
4. Fourth-shelf from top contains: Fruit & Vegetables. 5 servings a day. ( Choose green leafy vegetables and citrus fruit frequently, fruit juice only counts for one serving, each day.)
5. Bottom-shelf contains: Bread, Cereals, Potatoes, Pasta & Rice. 6 or more servings a day. ( Eat these foods at each meal - high fiber is best )
NOTE: Each plate is one serving - except for the top-shelf. The number of servings you need each day ( for adults and children ) is given for each of the four main shelves. Choose whatever food plates you like to make up your total number from each shelf. Eat only small amounts from the top-shelf.
In short, choose most foods from the bottom two shelves, smaller amounts from the next two shelves and a very small amount from the top-shelf.
LOW-FAT COOKING FOR A HEALTHY HEART:-
Oven-bake, grill, poach, stir-fry or dry-fry food with a low-fat spray instead of frying.
If you are using oil, measure out the oil with a spoon, rather than pouring the oil. Use no more then 1-2 table spoons for a family.
Buy the leanest mince that you can and drain off the fat, while cooking.
For your main meal, a portion of chicken and lean meat should be no more than 4 ounces (100 grams) and about 6 ounces (150 grams) for fish.
Add plenty of vegetables to stews, casseroles, curries, sweet and sour, stir-fry and other dishes.
Use tomato based sauces instead of creamy sauces.
Use low fat-milk and low-fat cheese.
Use light mayonnaise in coleslaw and salad dressings.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Healthy Eating & Secret of Long Life - Believe it !!
Believe it, or not - but please read interesting findings what nature has provided us:-
MUSHROOM – EAR:
Slice a mushroom in half and it resembles the shape of the human ear.
And guess what? Adding it to your cooking could actually improve your hearing.
That’s because mushrooms are one of the few foods in our diet that contain vitamin D.
This particular vitamin is important for healthy bones, even the tiny ones in the ear that transmit sound to the brain.
BANANA (SMILE) – DEPRESSION:
Cheer yourself up and put a smile on your face by eating a banana.
The popular fruit contains a protein called tryptophan.
Once it has been digested, tryptophan then gets converted in a chemical neurotransmitter called serotonin.
This is one of the most important mood-regulating chemicals in the brain and most anti-depressant drugs work by adjusting levels of serotonin production.
Higher levels are associated with better moods.
BROCCOLI – CANCER:
Close-up, the tiny green tips on a broccoli head look like hundreds of cancer cells.
Now scientists know this disease-busting veg can play a crucial role in preventing the disease.
Last year, a team of researchers at the US National Cancer Institute found just a weekly serving of broccoli was enough to reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 45 per cent.
In Britain , prostate cancer kills one man every hour.
GINGER – STOMACH:
Root ginger, commonly sold in supermarkets, often looks just like the stomach.
So it’s interesting that one of its biggest benefits is aiding digestion.
The Chinese have been using it for over 2,000 years to calm the stomach and cure nausea, while it is also a popular remedy for motion sickness.
But the benefits could go much further.
Tests on mice at the University of Minnesota found injecting the chemical that gives ginger its flavour slowed down the growth rate of bowel tumours.
CHEESE – BONES:
A nice ‘holey’ cheese, like Emmenthal, is not just good for your bones, it even resembles their internal structure.And like most cheeses, it is a rich source of calcium, a vital ingredient for strong bones and reducing the risk of osteoporosis later in life.
Together with another mineral called phosphate, it provides the main strength in bones but also helps to ‘power’ muscles.Getting enough calcium in the diet during childhood is crucial for strong bones.
A study at Columbia University in New York showed teens who increased calcium intake from 800mg a day to 1200mg – equal to an extra two slices of cheddar - boosted their bone density by six per cent.
GRAPES – LUNGS:
OUR lungs are made up of branches of ever-smaller airways that finish up with tiny bunches of tissue called alveoli.These structures, which resemble bunches of grapes, allow oxygen to pass from the lungs to the blood stream.One reason that very premature babies struggle to survive is that these alveoli do not begin to form until week 23 or 24 of pregnancy.
A diet high in fresh fruit, such as grapes, has been shown to reduce the risk of lung cancer and emphysema.Grape seeds also contain a chemical called proanthocyanidin, which appears to reduce the severity of asthma triggered by allergy.
TOMATO – HEART:
A TOMATO is red and usually has four chambers, just like our heart.
Tomatoes are also a great source of lycopene, a plant chemical that reduces the risk of heart disease and several cancers.
The Women’s Health Study — an American research programme which tracks the health of 40,000 women — found women with the highest blood levels of lycopene had 30 per cent less heart disease than women who had very little lycopene.
Lab experiments have also shown that lycopene helps counter the effect of unhealthy LDL cholesterol.
One Canadian study, published in the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine, said there was “convincing evidence’ that lycopene prevented coronary heart disease.
WALNUT – BRAIN:
THE gnarled folds of a walnut mimic the appearance of a human brain - and provide a clue to the benefits.
Walnuts are the only nuts which contain significant amounts of omega-3 fatty acids.
They may also help head off dementia. An American study found that walnut extract broke down the protein-based plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers at Tufts University in Boston found walnuts reversed some signs of brain ageing in rats.
Eat Well and Have a Good Long Life
MUSHROOM – EAR:
Slice a mushroom in half and it resembles the shape of the human ear.
And guess what? Adding it to your cooking could actually improve your hearing.
That’s because mushrooms are one of the few foods in our diet that contain vitamin D.
This particular vitamin is important for healthy bones, even the tiny ones in the ear that transmit sound to the brain.
BANANA (SMILE) – DEPRESSION:
Cheer yourself up and put a smile on your face by eating a banana.
The popular fruit contains a protein called tryptophan.
Once it has been digested, tryptophan then gets converted in a chemical neurotransmitter called serotonin.
This is one of the most important mood-regulating chemicals in the brain and most anti-depressant drugs work by adjusting levels of serotonin production.
Higher levels are associated with better moods.
BROCCOLI – CANCER:
Close-up, the tiny green tips on a broccoli head look like hundreds of cancer cells.
Now scientists know this disease-busting veg can play a crucial role in preventing the disease.
Last year, a team of researchers at the US National Cancer Institute found just a weekly serving of broccoli was enough to reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 45 per cent.
In Britain , prostate cancer kills one man every hour.
GINGER – STOMACH:
Root ginger, commonly sold in supermarkets, often looks just like the stomach.
So it’s interesting that one of its biggest benefits is aiding digestion.
The Chinese have been using it for over 2,000 years to calm the stomach and cure nausea, while it is also a popular remedy for motion sickness.
But the benefits could go much further.
Tests on mice at the University of Minnesota found injecting the chemical that gives ginger its flavour slowed down the growth rate of bowel tumours.
CHEESE – BONES:
A nice ‘holey’ cheese, like Emmenthal, is not just good for your bones, it even resembles their internal structure.And like most cheeses, it is a rich source of calcium, a vital ingredient for strong bones and reducing the risk of osteoporosis later in life.
Together with another mineral called phosphate, it provides the main strength in bones but also helps to ‘power’ muscles.Getting enough calcium in the diet during childhood is crucial for strong bones.
A study at Columbia University in New York showed teens who increased calcium intake from 800mg a day to 1200mg – equal to an extra two slices of cheddar - boosted their bone density by six per cent.
GRAPES – LUNGS:
OUR lungs are made up of branches of ever-smaller airways that finish up with tiny bunches of tissue called alveoli.These structures, which resemble bunches of grapes, allow oxygen to pass from the lungs to the blood stream.One reason that very premature babies struggle to survive is that these alveoli do not begin to form until week 23 or 24 of pregnancy.
A diet high in fresh fruit, such as grapes, has been shown to reduce the risk of lung cancer and emphysema.Grape seeds also contain a chemical called proanthocyanidin, which appears to reduce the severity of asthma triggered by allergy.
TOMATO – HEART:
A TOMATO is red and usually has four chambers, just like our heart.
Tomatoes are also a great source of lycopene, a plant chemical that reduces the risk of heart disease and several cancers.
The Women’s Health Study — an American research programme which tracks the health of 40,000 women — found women with the highest blood levels of lycopene had 30 per cent less heart disease than women who had very little lycopene.
Lab experiments have also shown that lycopene helps counter the effect of unhealthy LDL cholesterol.
One Canadian study, published in the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine, said there was “convincing evidence’ that lycopene prevented coronary heart disease.
WALNUT – BRAIN:
THE gnarled folds of a walnut mimic the appearance of a human brain - and provide a clue to the benefits.
Walnuts are the only nuts which contain significant amounts of omega-3 fatty acids.
They may also help head off dementia. An American study found that walnut extract broke down the protein-based plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers at Tufts University in Boston found walnuts reversed some signs of brain ageing in rats.
Eat Well and Have a Good Long Life
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