Health Topics

Archive for the ‘Nutrition’ Category

As you age, your body’s ability to properly process the vitamins that you eat decreases. For that reason, it is important to increase the amounts of vitamins that you intake. Since osteoporosis occurs in those of an older age, it is of the utmost importance to ensure that your body gets enough Vitamin D. While those in their twenties only need to take in 200 IUs of Vitamin D per day, those aged 60 and above are recommended to take in about 600 IUs. The B-Vitamin Complex is also an important vitamin that our body loses the ability to process over time. A lack of B vitamins can lead to a risk for heart disease and possible memory loss, and for that reason, those of an older age need to make sure that they get all the B vitamins that they can get. Calcium is also a particularly important nutrient when it comes to aging; along with Vitamin D, it helps the bones to mineralize properly, warding off the effects of osteoporosis.

When it comes to actual foods that you should eat to avoid aging significantly, a diet that is high in both fruits and vegetables is recommended. Those who indulge in these types of foods often are found to have lower rates of disease as well as higher levels of energy and a healthier appearance. There are many reasons that these types of foods are recommended; most fruits and vegetables have no cholesterol, fat, or sodium, which are three harmful compounds that have a negative effect on health. In addition to the lack of bad substances found in fruits and vegetables, they are also rich in the vitamins and minerals that your body needs. Practically every essential vitamin and mineral can be found throughout the fruit and vegetable world, and a minimum of five fruits and vegetables per day are recommended by the National Cancer Institute.

Anti-oxidants are also important when it comes to aging; this type of compound is useful in the way that it helps the body to protect itself against the harmful effects of free radicals, which are rogue cells that attack the cell membranes of your body, causing premature cell death. Many fruits and vegetables include anti-oxidants, including carrots and tomatoes.

Poor nutrition can be risk factors of many dreaded diseases. Heart Disease is one major health risk resulting from poor nutrition. Eating foods high in fiber but low in saturated fat, coupled with exercise may eventually lessen the risk. High Blood Pressure and Strokes are very much related. Over time, high blood pressure may lead to the building up of clots on the walls of the arteries which lead to stroke. Proper diet and physical activity should be regularly practiced to lower the risks. One out of three cases of Cancer is due to poor nutrition. Diabetes is also a result of an improper eating pattern and sedentary lifestyle.

A good nutrition is composed of the following: carbohydrates, fat, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water. A lack on any of these or too much of one of the components may result to a deteriorating health and other complications as well. Scientific research has gathered that poor nutrition early on in a child’s life brings about social problems. The child develops an antisocial and aggressive behavior which he will have to live with till the end of his adolescent years. An equally shocking result of the research pointed out that poor nutrition influences the brain development. A deficiency in the nutrients associated with brain development has been said to lead to low IQ which later on brings about the antisocial and violent behavior.

Some experts have linked poor nutrition to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). An opposing party has argues that there are no scientific proofs that confirmed the association of poor nutrition to ADHD. However, the social aspect of a person has been known to have been influenced by poor nutrition. An antisocial and aggressive temperament caused by malnutrition may not exactly be ADHD but let’s not wait and become the proofs that ADHD is indeed a result of nutrition deficiencies.

Let’s spare our children all the complications caused by improper nutritional practices. While there are a lot of things that are beyond our control, our eating habits are within our power. Let us not modify our eating patterns simply to look good. What our body tells us is far more important than what people say about our looks. Let us take control. Changing what was once a poor nutrition practice can actually make us look and feel good inside and out.

What’s worse, if you are already deficient in certain nutrients and you attempt to diet by decreasing the amount of food you eat, you can end up with even more deficiencies leaving your body no choice but to demand you to eat more food by giving you a powerful appetite that is unstoppable.

You need to understand that you don’t just eat to get calories for energy. The modern American diet is filled with processed and nutritionally void foods which means you have to eat much more to get the nutrients that you body needs.

One reason why you feel the need for a second and third serving of food is that your body is trying desperately to get those little amounts of vitamins and minerals scattered throughout your food and it won’t give up until it gets what it wants and needs.

If you start adding more nutrient-dense foods to your diet and maybe add some form of supplementation, you will start to meet the nutritional requirements of your body and it will feel less hungry and you will more likely eat only what your body needs in terms of calorie requirements so that your body weight can return to a “normal” level.

Eating better quality foods will help you to avoid “stress hunger” that give us those cravings to overeat and overindulge.

So just how nutrient deficient are Americans? Researchers for the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion stated that only a dismal 10% of the entire US population had an adequate diet while 16% were rated as having a poor diet which increased the risk for major health problems. Also, unfortunately, 74% were found to have an inadequate nutrient intake.

Want to know what the top 10 nutrient deficiencies are? They are Fiber, Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s), Vitamin D, Magnesium, Calcium, B-group Vitamins, Selenium, Zinc and Chromium.

We should also point out that many people are deficient in certain amino acids (proteins). Although most people eat enough protein, it is usually cooked or processed which means certain amino acids have been damaged or destroyed leaving only “partial” protein.

It would be a good idea to look up and research the nutrient content of the foods that you eat during the week and see if there is a potential for any deficiency. If there is, you can then start to add foods to your diet that are high in a particular nutrient or look for a form of supplement from your local health food store.

With fruit and vegetables themselves lower in nutrients than they were several decades ago from over-harvesting, it is always wise to take a vitamin and mineral supplement as a precaution.