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How to Eat for Your Age
Tweet Share on Facebook November 26, 2012 CommentWhen juggling work, friends, relatives, exercise, and perhaps a little leisure time, food shopping is rarely No. 1 on our to-do lists. Like it or not, even with today's food-delivery services, we still have to make decisions about the best foods to buy for ourselves and our families. Although we all could benefit from making choices based upon the federal government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans and its MyPlate icon, we often choose foods for personal reasons—as a result of our desires, our companions, our environments, and our emotions.
Depending on age and activity level, we need different nutrients for the different cycles of life. Whether your body is young and quickly changing, or you're getting on in years and want to feel young, it's important that your food can meet your needs. And no matter how old you are, your supermarket has something to offer you.
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Healthy Multitasking: Get Your Exercise While Gardening
Tweet Share on Facebook November 26, 2012 CommentDo you laugh out loud when people say they get their exercise by gardening? If so, you may be thinking that gardeners simply putter about, planting pansies. Sounds like you've never tended to a community garden, where you may haul 500 pounds of cow manure or plant 30 trees!
Simply putting a few wheelbarrows full of fresh wood chips around a raised garden bed may have you feeling sore the next day. In short, gardening can be a major workout. Here's how to make it safe and effective:
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Pumpkin, 3 Ways
Tweet Share on Facebook November 22, 2012 CommentEven though Halloween is over, pumpkins are everywhere this month, and you can do just about anything with them. Pick them, paint them, carve them, and yes, eat them. You may normally eat them in pie form, so you know that they can taste pretty delicious. But, let’s take them out of the crust, and give them a more substantial—and healthy—role in your diet.
Pumpkins are pretty unique in that they have two nutrient-dense parts: the pulp (also known as the meat) and the seeds. The meat is saturated with all sorts of nutrients, including vitamins A and C. You probably know vitamin A for its role in protecting your peepers, but it also boosts your immune system, supports cell growth, and even plays a role in reproduction. With a similar consistency to butternut squash, the culinary possibilities for pumpkin meat are endless. It’s hearty enough to bake on its own, “heavy” enough to stand in as a starchy side, and creamy enough to blend into a soup.
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How Often Should You Eat?
Tweet Share on Facebook November 21, 2012 CommentI'm amazed at the emotions that charge the answer to the question of how many times a day we should be eating. Some people swear by six small meals, while others stress three square ones. Others argue that two daily meals, or even one, will suffice. I've also met folks who passionately believe that snacking ensures a successful diet, while others firmly believe that diets can fail on snacks alone.
The medical literature isn't much help in these matters. There are studies clearly demonstrating that frequent eating benefits weight management. Other studies, however, show that frequent eating leads to caloric excess.
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Daily Diet and Fitness by Mitzi Dulan
Tweet Share on Facebook November 21, 2012 CommentHere is my diet and exercise diary on a recent, crazy day of life as a working mom.
8:30 a.m. Breakfast: Greek yogurt, banana, and water. (Greek yogurt is not only delicious, but higher in protein and lower in sugar than regular yogurt.)
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5 Common Causes of Belly Bloat
Tweet Share on Facebook November 21, 2012 CommentAmong the many matters of dietary and digestive distress, my patients most commonly complain of gas and bloating. Given how often I encounter this problem, one would think I'd have developed a magical dietary prescription to fix it, fast. But alas, I have not.
Here's why: Bloating is in the eye of the beholder. To some, it means excessive belching. To others, it means passing gas excessively. Some people define bloating as feeling like their stomach is distended; this type of bloating may or may not be accompanied by constipation. And then there are those to whom bloating is an appearance thing—the tummy that wakes up flat but looks "pregnant" later in the day, or the belly protrusion that persists despite weight loss.
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How to Have a Winning Winter Workout
Tweet Share on Facebook November 21, 2012 CommentWorking out in cold weather may seem less strenuous than exercising on summer days. But winter poses its own challenges.
Although you may not feel as sweaty and heated during your outdoor workout, you are still losing a lot of water and must stay hydrated. If you're going to run outside for at least an hour, you should bring water, and possibly food, with you. Plus, drink two glasses (16 ounces) of water before starting your run. You can use your urine as a good indicator for your hydration—it should be pale yellow throughout the entire day.
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Tips for Giving This Thanksgiving
Tweet Share on Facebook November 20, 2012 CommentWhat better harvest celebration is there but Thanksgiving? If you garden or will spend the holiday with someone who does, you may get to enjoy home-grown versions of traditional favorites like mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, green beans with slivered nuts, fresh salads, and, perhaps, even the star of the table himself.
Sharing what we've grown, however, is only one way to share the "garden of your life" this Thanksgiving. Here are some others:
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The Alpha and the Omegas
Tweet Share on Facebook November 16, 2012 CommentThere is a class of essential dietary fat that has long been referred to as "fish oil" that is now increasingly referred to as "the omegas."Both names are misleading and wrong.
For starters, the essential class of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs; we will call them that) is (1) by no means limited to fish; is (2) not found in all fish; and is (3) not all found in fish. It's true that fish, and seafood, are a premier source of n-3 PUFAs. It's also true that for now at least the majority of n-3 PUFA supplements sold worldwide are made from "fish oil," so it's understandable that the name stuck.
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10 Small Diet Changes to Start Making Now
Tweet Share on Facebook November 16, 2012 CommentWhy is it that most people who want to lose weight think they need to make immediate, drastic changes in order to be successful? They go into a "diet mode," they try this or that fad, and they start depriving themselves of all the foods they enjoy. Eventually they feel frustrated and give up—again.
My approach has always been to focus on small changes. I believe that if you feel good about one small change, you can easily make another, then another. Success breeds success. Bottom line: You should never feel like you are on a diet—healthy eating should be part of your lifestyle, not something that you simply try out for size. Here are 10 easy adjustments to start making today:
