Eating Clean Can Help You Excel in Your Career

by | Apr 27, 2018 | Sensible Eating | 0 comments

Taking educational classes, obtaining certifications, finding a mentor: Those are all common, popular ways that people try to advance their careers. But how many of you have thought about what you eat having an impact on how you do on the career ladder?

Turns out that eating bad translates into poor performance on the job. That’s because a diet that’s high in stuff that’s not good for your waistline or your overall health is also bad for your productivity. If you feel sluggish at the office, it will translate into a sluggish performance at whatever task you’re working on.

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4 Ways to Instill Healthy Eating Habits in Kids

by | Apr 9, 2014 | Sensible Eating | 0 comments

Mediterranean Kids are notoriously finicky, but it’s not entirely their fault. We humans are naturally inclined to dislike unfamiliar flavors. Imagine for a moment that you have to forage for food in the wild rather than at the Safeway. If you’ve eaten it before and lived to tell the tale, chances are good that it’s not poisonous. Eating some berry or mushroom you’ve never had before is considerably riskier. So, if your kids wrinkle their noses at new foods, it may just be a hold-over from the old poisonous berry days.

#1. Don’t Wait to Train Your Kids to Eat Healthy Foods

One tip is to have a house rule that kids have to try a new food on three different occasions before they decide they don’t like it. Often, as a food becomes more familiar, kids are less resistant to it. It also helps to introduce them to a wide variety of foods and flavors from an early age.

There’s no reason that small children need to eat a bland diet. Try adding a little curry powder to the tuna salad; toss some arugula in the macaroni-and-cheese; or try almond or cashew butter once in a while instead of peanut butter. Kids who learn to appreciate — or at least tolerate — a wider palette of flavors will be less put-off by a vegetable or herb with a strong or unfamiliar taste.

Now, if your kids are already older, that particular ship may have sailed. But all is not lost. There are still ways to get your kids to expand their repertoire to include, yes, even vegetables.

#2. Get Their Buy-in

Teaching kids about nutrition can make them more enthusiastic about eating healthy foods. As you’ve probably already figured out, just telling kids that sugar is bad for them doesn’t seem to hold much sway. But you can get them fired up about the fact that antioxidants neutralize “bad guy” free radicals, for example. Then, you can make a game out of guessing which vegetables have the most antioxidants.

You can find suggestions for how to teach your kids basic nutrition concepts with games and other fun activities, and find materials for improving nutrition programs in your school and community at TeamNutrition.usda.gov.

Kids are also much more likely to eat foods that they had a hand in bringing to the table. If your child is with you when you do the grocery shopping, let him or her pick out some fresh vegetables. Kids love farmer’s markets by the way — which also eliminates those arguments in the cereal and candy aisles. You know the ones I mean.

Most kids also enjoy cooking and are a lot more interested in eating things they made themselves. Teach your kids how to make a salad dressing from scratch and they’ll be more willing to eat their salad. (Here’s a quick video demonstration on how to make the perfect vinaigrette.) Or, let them thread vegetables onto a skewer for the grill and paint them with a marinade or some olive oil.

Perhaps the most effective way to get kids invested in a vegetable is to turn them into gardeners if possible. You want to see a kid excited about squash? Give them a corner of the vegetable garden and a packet of seeds. Beans, peas, and lettuce are particularly child-friendly because the time to harvest is relatively short. Kidsgardening.org has some great resources to help you introduce your kids to the pleasures and rewards of gardening.

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The Paleo diet – 7 reasons why you should eat like a caveman

by | Mar 13, 2014 | Low carb, Natural food, Sensible Eating | 0 comments

Healthy Humans have come a long way in terms of most things – be it medical science, language, space exploration or even food options. However, believers of the Paleo diet think that all the progress made in terms of food isn’t desirable, and we should go back to eating like our ancestors did thousands of years ago. Commonly referred to as the ‘caveman diet’ – paleo diet consists of food products that were available back in the days when cavemen used to live. Followers give up all forms of processed food that is usually unhealthy along with all forms of legumes and grains. Though the diet has come under some criticism from dieticians and fitness experts, one cannot deny that it has several health benefits.

1.  It is healthy for your heart

Most cases of heart disease is caused due to unhealthy lifestyle and bad eating habits. Followers of the paleo diet stay away from most unhealthy foods and consume fruits and vegetables that cut risk of heart disease.

2. Good for gluten-intolerant people

Nowadays, more and more people are gluten intolerant including Novak Djokovic who was the No. 1 tennis player in the world until some time ago. In simple words, gluten is a protein composite found in wheat, barley and rye products. People following the Paleo diet keep away from such grains, which is why it is good for gluten-intolerant people.

3. Helps in weight loss

People following the Paleo diet do not keep a count of their calories. However, some experts say that it can help people lose weight without trying. The fruits which are high in fibre combined with lean meats high in protein makes it good for those looking to lose weight. If you are following this diet for losing weight, make sure you don’t ignore your carbohydrate intake as it can leave you feeling low and lacking energy  through the day. People looking to lose weight can also follow this sample weight loss diet plan.

4.  Healthy for diabetics

Since the paleo diet contains foods with a low glycemic index, and eliminates foods like refined sugar and grains, it is great for diabetics. Diabetics really need to keep their blood-sugar levels in check since their body cannot process or produce insulin which helps in the absorption of glucose. Find out more about glycaemic index and how it is helping people.

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Sprouts… Living Food at its Best by Isabell Shipard

by | Feb 17, 2014 | Natural food, Sensible Eating | 0 comments

Image 4 Sprouts are very special. Sprouts are live food, comprising essential and balanced nutrients for alive people, as life proceeds from life. Life and health go together. Good health is precious. A lass I was speaking with, summed it up so well, saying, “Our body is such an exquisite gift”. What a wonderful and thought provoking statement. Every person needs to work at maintaining health, therefore, we need to learn all we can about nutrients and how the body functions.

My interest in sprouts began over 30 years ago, when I read a riddle that fascinated me. It caught my attention and started my
interest in wanting to learn all I could about sprouts. The riddle went…

What will:
• grow in any climate at any time of the year
• that requires neither soil or sunshine, but is still rich in
vitamins and minerals
• has not been subject to chemical sprays while growing
• is extremely economical and in preparation has no waste
• rivals meat in nutritive value
• can be grown indoors within a minimum amount of
space
• multiplies 400% or more in 5 days
• matures in 3-5 days…

the answer… sprouts!

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Slash sugar in your diet without going into shock

by | Jan 22, 2014 | Diet, Sensible Eating, Sugars | 0 comments

Sugar From the sweetener you stir into your morning coffee to the after-dinner dessert you can’t resist, the amount of sugar you consume between breakfast and bedtime adds up quickly.

Americans down more than 22 teaspoons a day, according to the USDA, which is more than double what experts recommend. At the same time, research links diets high in added sugar to increased risk for diabetes, heart attack and stroke.

So what’s the best way to slash sugar without sending your relentless sweet tooth into shock?

“Save your sweet budget for things that taste great, like dessert,” suggested Jacob Teitelbaum, a physician and author of “Beat Sugar Addiction Now.”

Use the following strategies to cut sugar where it won’t be missed and ward off cravings without feeling deprived.

Commit to a sugar quota.

The first step to reducing your sugar intake: Figure out exactly how much of the sweet stuff you’re shoveling in. Find the grams of sugar on a nutrition label and divide that number by four. That’s how many teaspoons of sugar a food or drink contains. The American Heart Association recommends that women limit themselves to no more than six teaspoons or 24 grams of sugar per day and men no more than nine teaspoons or 36 grams. The good news: How you spend those spoonfuls is entirely up to you, said Teitelbaum.

Know what counts as sugar.

Natural sweeteners like evaporated cane juice, agave nectar, honey and fruit juice concentrates might have healthy advantages over refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup, but that doesn’t mean they should be excluded from your sugar budget. Also, don’t be fooled by words like “organic” or “raw” in front of a sweetener’s name – it’s still sugar.

Don’t fear all artificial sweeteners.

Sugar substitutes shouldn’t be feared, but some are healthier than others, said Teitelbaum. He recommends naturally derived, filtered zero-calorie sweeteners such as stevia and erythritol. “Keep in mind that brand matters in terms of taste,” he said. Unless stevia is properly filtered, it can leave a bitter, licorice-like aftertaste. Sweet Leaf is a good option, as are Truvia and PureVia, which are blends of stevia and erythritol. If there’s no stevia in sight and all you have to choose from are the traditional pink (saccharin), yellow (sucralose) and blue (aspertame) packets of chemical-based sweeteners, pick pink. “There’s a very long safety record with Sweet’n Low,” said Teitelbaum.

Don’t drink your fruit.

Sweetened fruit juices are one of the biggest sources of added sugar in our diets. Some varieties contain more than a teaspoon of sugar per ounce along with little real fruit. For example, a 15.2-ounce bottle of Tropicana grape juice drink packs 72 grams – 18 teaspoons’ worth – of sugar and contains only 30 percent juice.

Find good-tasting soda alternatives.

Like fruit juice, soft drinks do serious damage in the sugar department. A 20-ounce bottle of Cherry Coca-Cola is loaded with 70 grams of sugar, for example. Teitelbaum suggests switching to coconut water, which contains a fraction of the sweet stuff (a 14-ounce bottle of Zico Natural has 60 calories and 12 grams of sugar) plus at least 500 mg of potassium per serving. Or look for beverages sweetened with stevia or erythritol, like SoBe Lifewater, Vitamin Water Zero or Zevia zero-calorie soda.

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10 Tips for January Weight Loss

by | Jan 10, 2014 | General Health, Sensible Eating, Weight Loss | 0 comments

Fit It’s that time of year where it seems like everyone is talking about being healthier and losing weight.

But if you’re like most people, the good intentions never seem to translate into success and each January you’re back wondering which diet to go on next.

So here are 10 tips for losing weight in the New Year.

1. Ask: What do I want to achieve?

Most people think purely in terms of losing weight.

But what’s the point losing weight and then gaining it all back a few weeks later?

In other words, think about what the real goal is. It’s not just to reach a certain weight. It’s to reach it and stay there!

2. Accept that it will take longer to lose weight than you expected.

Everyone is in a hurry but the fact is most people have unrealistic expectations about how fast they will lose weight.

If you’re expecting to lose weight faster than you actually can (and who isn’t influenced by fad diet claims of losing massive amounts of weight in a short time?) you are likely to be disappointed and more likely to give up.

Instead, the best thing you can do for yourself is accept that it will take a little longer and that’s ok.

3. Don’t overhaul your diet.

Completely overhauling what you normally eat might seem healthy and virtuous but these sort of changes are too drastic to maintain. If you’re replacing your regular diet with something that resembles rabbit food, ask yourself if you’re really going to be sticking with it for more than a few weeks.

Instead make small changes that are easier to integrate into your life.

4. Don’t do anything unpleasant.

Have you ever tried a diet that was so unpleasant that you couldn’t last on it for more than a week and then you blamed yourself for lack of willpower?

When it comes to cutting back the calories, there is no place for “no pain, no gain”. If it’s unpleasant, you won’t keep doing it.

5. Keep a food diary.

Everyone talks about writing down what you eat and with good reason. It works! If you have to choose one action to take, take this one. It’s that powerful.

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