AB-DIET

Diet refers to the food and drink a person consumes daily and the mental & physical circumstances connected to eating.
Nutrition is “the sum of the processes by which an animal or plant takes in & utilizes food.”

Nutrition involves more than simply eating a good diet- it is about nourishment on every level. It involves relationships with family, friends, nature, our bodies, our communities and the world.

How Does Diet Impact Health?

• A healthy diet gives your body the nutrients it needs to perform physically, maintain wellness, and fight disease.
• A sedentary life style, large food portion sizes & high stress, is blamed for the increase in obesity & associated disease.
• In short, what we eat is central to our health. Food acts as medicine to maintain health, as well as prevent and treat disease.

Consider food as medicines

• In many medical systems, such as Traditional Chinese Medicines, Ayurveda Medicines food has been an important way to treat illness and maintain health.
• Little by little more ‘traditional’ medical institutions and environments are recognizing the legitimacy and importance of these approaches.
• For examples: Garlic is often used for its ability to lower cholesterol and serum triglycerides in many countries.
• Green tea is a good source of antioxidants, which can protects cells, tissues and cellular components from damage by so – called Reactive Oxygen Species.
• Some studies suggest that ginger may be an effective treatment for nausea.
• Turmeric is also good for healthy skin, effective in wound healing, diabetes and cholesterol.

What are some of the issues with our diet?

• As a nation, we are increasingly eating more processed foods. In addition, we are eating less variety of foods. Ironically, while 17,000 new products are introduced
• Each year, two third of our calories come from just four foods: Corn, Soy, Wheat and Rice.
• It is easy to fall into the pattern of eating fast, convenient, prepared food, but we are not nurturing ourselves by doing so.
• Our fast foods also remove us from the pleasures of creating and savoring a wonderful meal, and our fast pace often prevents us from connecting over a good, slow meal. We tend to eat for convenience and speed, not healthy and pleasure.
• So there are many reasons why we might to pay attention to what we eat.

How should I start?

• We focus on foods to avoid instead of foods we should eat.
• We are all aware of the simple mantra…. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains. We are intelligent and well informed. However there is often a gap between our knowledge of what to do and our actually doing it.

What are the top 10 things I should do?

Eat a variety of foods:

• Studies show that people who eat a variety of foods are healthier, live longer, and have a reduced risk of disease, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
• Food variety means including foods such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, meat, fish, sea foods, nuts and seeds and dairy products.
• Variety also means including an array of foods within each of these categories. For instance whole grains can be whole wheat, wild rice, oats, rye or barley.
• Because certain nutrients are present in particular foods.

Increase fruits and vegetables

• Scientific data on the benefits of fruits and vegetables in preventing a variety of disease has been mounting.
• For example, several studies show that the higher the consumption of fruits and vegetables lower the incidence of cardiovascular disease.

Choose whole grains

• Study shows whole grains reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease and improve the health of the gastrointestinal tract.
• Whole grains contain multiple nutrients, but when whole grain processed, the following amounts of content is lost.
• 60% of calcium
• 85% of magnesium
• 77% of potassium
• 78% of zinc
• 75% of vitamins
• 95% of fatty acids
• 95% of fibre
• Because nutrient content is essentially stripped during processing, manufactures then fortify the food with nutrient such as B vitamins.

Include beneficial fats

• Our body needs 2 types of fatty acids: omega 3 and omega 6, but we tend to get too much omega 6
• Omega 6: Corn oil, animal fat, butter fat contains a predominance of omega 6 fatty acids and tend to produce inflammation in the body.
• Omega 3: Plant oils such as avocado, olive oils, canola oil, flaxseed oil, oils from nuts and seeds and fat from fish. Whose diet is made up of algae contain a predominance of omega 3 fatty acids and have an anti – inflammatory on the body.

Drink water

• When concocting a recipe for health, one of the most important ingredients is water.
• Our body is made up of up to 65 % water, and the brain is composed of 70% water & lungs are 90% water, a whopping 83% of the blood is water.
• Water is needed for digestion and absorption and transportation of nutrients.
• Water keeps skin soft and smooth.
• Include green tea
• The healthful properties of green tea are antioxidant and Polyphenols. The most active of these Polyphenols in green tea is called EGCG.
• Study has shown that association between the consumption of green tea and protection against cancer, including breast cancer, colon cancer and esophageal cancer.
• Green tea used for improving mental alertness, helping in weight loss, protecting skin from sun damage and lowering cholesterol.

Control portions

• Pay attention to what, why, when you eat.
• Discern between hunger and thirst.
• Try to avoid eating standing up, watching T.V., or driving.
• Eat slowly and chew.
• Eat smaller meals
• Avoid processed foods like biscuits, pizza etc.

Avoid Tran’s fatty acids

• Tran’s fatty acids are man-made fats, created by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil called hydrogenation.
• When Tran’s fat is eaten, the body recognizes it as a fat and uses the Trans-fat for function just like any other fatty acid.
• Tran’s fat can affect function and responses of many cell types.
• Avoid corn syrup and artificial sweetener; avoid processed foods which are not good for heart and all over health.
• It Raises LDL, lower HDL, increase triglyceride and promote inflammation.
• Lastly, eating a mindful eating is the full experience of our meal. “When you take time to experience food through all your senses; taste, smell, sight, sound and touch” they suggest.