Nutrional Dos and Dont's

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Author: Paul Duxbury

Questions like "What do you recommend? What should people eat?" or "What exactly it is the proper diet?" can not be answered only with "eat less fat" or "exercise more" and "base your diet on low fat food like…". This "do's and don'ts" will direct you towards a plant-based diet. Although nutrition is a more complicated mater and it can not be solved in a few phrases, this can be a start.

Don't eat:

Ground beef and other fatty meats are dangerous for both your health and weight. It is known that red meat is the largest source of fat and saturated fat and that saturated fat is the most important factor in heart disease. Ribs, bacon, and sausages are other fats that we should not eat.
Also don't eat lean meat more than three times a week although it has less saturated fat.

Studies show that lean red meats may increase the risk of colon and possibly prostate cancer but not poultry or seafood which is healthier.

Don't eat pizza or other cheese based meals because it is well known that almost any pizza, especially a cheese pizza will use up 40 percent of your saturated fat limit for the day.

The food industry causes our salt problem. More than 70 percent of the sodium we eat comes from processed foods. For a healthier life we should try changing a frozen dinner with our own steam broccoli or broiled fresh flounder in low-fat mayo, lemon juice, and dill. Don't use the commercial salad dressing and try your own vinegar, fresh garlic, mustard, and olive oil.

Do not consume so many sweets. It can drag down a good diet and may cause other important health problems. Soft drinks give 160 calories at 12-ounce and no vitamins, minerals, fiber, or phytochemical. Other sweets like brownies or some cookies, cheesecake, pecan or cinnamon rolls, give you an entire meal's worth of calories and fat. Fat-free or low-fat versions of sweets are healthier, but can not take the place of fruit, grain crackers, or other nutrient-packed foods.

Don't overdo consuming alcoholic beverages. For women that drink often than three times a week the risk of breast cancer is greater and the death rate is higher.

Do eat:

Eating more plant foods and especially vegetables, may reduce the risk of cancers, including colon, lung, stomach, mouth, throat, esophagus, pancreas, and bladder. And it can help lower your risk of heart disease and stroke by decreasing the cholesterol level.

Also eating at least five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables is recommended by the National Cancer Institute. The risk of heart disease and stroke may be reduced mainly because fruits and vegetables contain photochemical, fiber, folic acid, and potassium.
Make your everyday fruits and vegetables handy for you. Keep a bag of peeled baby carrots on your desk. Peel a grapefruit, orange, or tangerine. Keep a bowl of fruit salad in the fridge. Make sure that you eat as much fruits and vegetables as possible.

Switch to fat-free milk, yogurt, ice cream, and cheese. Women especially don't get enough calcium to diminish the risk of osteoporosis. You can eat ice cream or frozen yogurt only if it's low-fat or fat-free. A daily cup of regular ice cream can jeopardize a healthy diet. Most dairy foods have calcium. But they can also be field with artery-clogging saturated fat.

Eat whole grains because they are more nutritious than refined grains, and they're risk of colon cancer is lower.
Buy only light tubs or sprays margarine or butter because they are healthier. Butter's field with saturated fat.
The spray butter and the light margarine have no more than six grams of fat or three grams of saturated fat per tablespoon. When it comes to cooking these varieties of butter and margarine may not serve it purpose and you should try the ordinary forms but not in normal quantities or change the regular butter whit olive or canola oil.
Make sure your body has enough vitamins and minerals for a proper development and a les painful ageing. Vitamins can't repair a broken diet, but they may make a good diet better, especially if your body lacks in vitamins and minerals. The folic acid and vitamin D are especially important.