Leading a Healthy Lifestyle

Friday, 23 May 2008

All around us media, the internet, and even our health freak friends are just really hammering down the idea of leading a healthy lifestyle. Though I'll put it in a nutshell of all the different information people keep throwing at us.

I'd like to start off with fruits and vegetables. Professionals like to drill down the idea of massive consumption of fruits and vegetables. The food pyramid has amped up the amount of F&V you should be eating daily. Now while I just do NOT want to be eating 9 servings of vegetables a day like any other sane person, if your reaching for 3-4 (depending on certain factors like age) then you probably should be okay.Plus, servings are smaller then you think. On Kidshealth.org (http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/food/pyramid.html) you can how many cups of F&V you should eat. Though those are for children and teens 13 and under. Though for basic serving sizes, here is a chart. (Credit webmd.com)

SERVING SIZES
Food/amount	Serving/exchange	The size of
1 cup cooked rice or pasta	2 starch	tennis ball
1 slice bread	1 starch	compact disc case
1 cup raw vegetables or fruit	1 fruit or vegetable	baseball
1/2 cup cooked vegetables or fruit	1 fruit or vegetable	fist
1 ounce cheese	1 high-fat protein	pair of dice
1 teaspoon olive oil	1 fat**	half dollar
3 ounces cooked meat	3 protein	deck of cards or cassette tape
3 ounces tofu	1 protein	deck of cards or cassette tape
** Remember to count fat servings that may be added to food while cooking, such as oil, butter or shortening.

16 ounces= 1 pound           1 cup=8 ounces
See? not as horrible as you thought, right?

Now, heres the extra fun nutrient: Fat! There are a lot of myths that need to be dispelled right now.
For cholesterol:
Total blood cholesterol should be <200mg/dl
LDL (low density Lipoproteins) should be <135 mg/dl
HDL (high density Lipoproteins) should be >35 mg/dl
PLEASE know that saturated fats increase your total blood cholesterol levels more than consuming cholesterol directly. To decrease high amounts of cholesterol, decrease your intake of saturated fats and follow up with a healthy diet and exercise regimen.

Heres also something that I bet you did not know and that I did not until I recently discovered through my Professor.
Proteins: Enter the bloodstream as amino acids
Carbohydrates: enter the blood as monosaccharides
Fats: enter the lymphatic vessels as chylomicrons and later into the bloodstream.

amino acids are the simpliest form of a protein. Protein doesnt enter the bloodstrema as Protein, it enters as amino acids and are assembled inside the cells to be used. Monosaccharides are the simpliest forms of Carbs (mono=one, I wont get into the chemistry of it) Fats are broken down into (mostly triclycerides) chylomicrons and enter the lymph vessels (AKA the lacteals) and then later into the blood stream.

HDL's, LDL's are produced by the liver, Chylomicrons come from our diets (mostly triclycerides).

Now When people are trying to lose weight or just live a healthy life, you cant get TOO crazy about fats. Yes, they are bad and elevated levels of cholesterol and/or fats will result in health problems, but you shouldnt try to completely eliminate it from your diet hoping for a dramatic weight loss or instantly better health. Cholesterol is needed to stabalize cell walls, needed to make estrogen, testosterone, and other hormones, the adrenal glands use it alot, etc. Thats why you hear of people losing their periods or becoming sterile when they are not eating right or annorexics/bulimic.

As for Protein, there are other ways to get it just from Da Steak, okay?
Of course Lean chicken, lean pork, low percentage fat beef, and fish are good "meaty" protein choices there are dairy products like Eggs and milk, Tofu, Soy protein, and beans/lentils have good sources of protein choices. (but if you are pregnant or breast feeding DO NOT eat any sort of fish or seafood)

"Protein has a critical physiological function. Protein is primarily used in the body to build, maintain, and repair body tissues. In the event that protein intake is greater than that required by the body for this primary function, excessive protein is converted to energy for immediate use or stored in the body as fat. Protein energy will be used only after other energy sources (carbohydrate and fat) are exhausted or unavailable."
                        (credit: http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/FN_191.pdf
                                          review this PDF for more information on protein)

Carbohydrates // Sugars
Carbohydrates are necessary to keep blood sugar up. (A tip for all those mommy's to be or already mothers out there, little kids need frequent snacks to keep their blood sugar up) I'd like to review the two hormones that regulate glucose (sugar) levels:

Insulin: pancreatic hormone that lowers the level of glucose in blood by causing cells to take up glucose (sugar); also promotes the synthesis of fat and protein to glucose.

Glucagon: hormone that stimulates conversion of glycogen and amino acids to glucose; secreted by alpha cells of the pancreas when the flow of glucose decreases

When something goes wrong with one of these two hormones or something else related to it, you get diabetes. Eating too much sugar can really mess these up and cause diabetes. You've heard it, but lay off the candies and:
instead of regular fruit juice, buy 100% fruit juice juice
instead of white bread, buy whole grain
instead of white rice, use brown rice
instead of flour tortillas, use whole wheat tortillas
the list goes on.

Lastly, make sure you add variety to your diet! Do not eat the same type of food over and over again, watch yourself to make sure your not doing that. Exercise is a vital component to being healthy. Its good for your heart, your brain, and even for your beauty. (gets the blood flowing) make sure you drink a lot of water too (especially since summer is coming up) but not too much as this will cause minerals and vitamins to be washed out, and if you drink too too too much your cells will burst (lyse, in fancy terms) and you will die. Too much or too little of anything is bad for you in a diet.

For further reading, I have some recommended links.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/default.htm---Webmd.com is a great website that has resources for everything and anything health related.
http://kraftfoods.com/kf---Kraft foods recipe site has great ideas and recipes for healthy eating/lifestyle
http://www.mypyramid.gov/---you might of heard of this one, but its a government owned site where you can track your meals, and customize the food pyramid to your age, gender, etc.