Friday, December 17, 2010
Yoga to Lose Belly Fat
If a person is looking to lose belly fat, they should do a yoga pose that involves stretching towards the feet from a seated position.
metal health, 5 factors that determine healthy mind
Mental health is not just about being in a happy state of mind. Your cognitive state of mind can influence your behavior, outlook on life and even relationships. It can affect how you respond to stress, the way you feel about yourself and even your physical health.
Just as positive mental health can promote a healthy lifestyle, mental impairment can be debilitating and in acute cases cause psychiatric hospitalization or even suicide if no action is taken.
Elements of good mental health
What are the factors that determine your mental health?
1. Your ability to enjoy life
Living in the moment instead of the past or the future makes you truly appreciate your life. You should have the ability to learn from the past mistakes instead of dwelling on things that had happened.
2. Self actualization
How confident and happy you feel with yourself has a lot to do with how much you feel you’ve achieved, using your talents and strengths. Recognizing and developing your strengths can keep away feelings of despair or helplessness.
3. Your resilience
Life is full of surprises and nasty shocks but your ability to cope is important for you to maintain your sanity and health. The ability to pick yourself up and move forward after a letdown or setback, and to do so with a sense or perspective will carry you far in life.
4. Your life balance
Work, family, friends and other pursuits might pull you in different directions, but the trick is to find a healthy balance and devote equal time to each. If work is affecting health or time with family, then it’s important to realize what your priorities are and make the most fitting choice.
5. Flexibility
Being rigid and stubborn can alienate you from others apart from impairing your ability to deal with life changes. For good mental health, you should be able to modify your responses and tweak your expectations to deal with any problems that crop up.
atricle source www.healthyweightlossfacts.com/
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Interview with Chris Voigt of 20 Potatoes a Day
IntroductionChris Voigt is the executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission, which supports and promotes the Washington state potato industry (1). On October 1st, Mr. Voigt began a two month, potato-only diet to raise awareness about the health properties of potatoes. It was partially in response to the recent decision by the federal WIC (Women, Infants and Children) low-income assistance program to remove potatoes from the list of vegetables it will pay for. Mr. Voigt's potato diet has been a media sensation, leading to widespread coverage in several countries. He maintains a website and blog called 20 Potatoes a Day.
Diet Facts
For 60 days, Mr Voigt's diet consisted of nothing but potatoes and a small amount of cooking oil (canola and olive), with no added nutritional supplements. Based on what he has told me, I estimate that 10-15% of his calories came from fat, 10% from protein and 75-80% from high-glycemic carbohydrate. His calorie intake ranged from 1,600 kcal (first 3 weeks) to 2,200 kcal (remaining 5.5 weeks) per day. Prior to the diet, he estimated that his calorie requirement was 2,200 kcal, so he attempted to stay as close to that as possible.
Health Markers
Mr. Voigt has posted the results of physical examinations, including bloodwork, from the beginning, middle and end of the diet. The change he experienced during that time is nothing short of remarkable. He shed 21 pounds, his fasting glucose decreased by 10 mg/dL (104 to 94 mg/dL), his serum triglycerides dropped by nearly 50%, his HDL cholesterol increased slightly, and his calculated LDL cholesterol dropped by a stunning 41% (142 to 84 mg/dL). The changes in his HDL, triglycerides and fasting glucose are consistent with improved insulin sensitivity (2, 3), and are not consistent with a shift of LDL particle size to the dangerous "small, dense" variety (4).
Interview
What was your diet like prior to the potato diet?
My best estimate is that it was probably a little better than the average US citizen only because of a high rate of produce consumption. I generally would eat about 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. But I ate everything else too. I would eat a wide range of food, a little bit of everything, including foods that aren’t considered “healthy”.You essentially ate nothing but potatoes, fat and flavorings for two months. Can you give us an idea of how much fat you were eating? What kind of fat was it?
I averaged about 2 tablespoons of cooking oil a day over the span of the 60 days. Canola oil was used for frying and olive oil was used for roasting.
How was your digestion?
Potatoes are pretty easy on the digestive system. I actually got a lot of emails from people who suffer from severe digestive disorders and literally, potatoes are the only thing they can eat. My 60 days of potatoes was nothing compared to some folks with these digestive disorders. I was getting a lot of fiber so things were pretty regular, but not too regular :)
You lost 21 pounds during your two months of eating only potatoes. Do you have a sense of whether it came out of fat, muscle or both? For example, did your pants become looser?
Pants definitely became looser. I also noticed it in my neck size for shirts. I’m assuming most all of it was due to fat loss.
Do you think you were able to meet your calorie goal of 2,200 calories per day? Were you hungry during the diet?
I was not meeting the goal of 2,200 calories a day during the first 3 weeks of the diet. During the first three weeks of the diet I only ate until I was full. I didn’t realize that potatoes would give me such a high sense of fullness after each meal. So for those first 3 weeks, I was only consuming about 1,600 calories a day. After the third week I had lost 12 pounds and realized that I needed to change strategy. I then began to eat more potatoes despite the sense of fullness I was experiencing. So for the remaining 5 ½ weeks I was very diligent about eating the 2,200 calories. I continued to lose weight but at a slower place. I lost an additional 9 pounds over the course of those remaining 5 1/2 weeks. At the start of my diet I estimated, via a couple different on line calorie calculators, that I burn about 2,200 calories a day. Since I continued to lose weight, I’m assuming I actually burn closer to 2,800 calories a day. Something that may have also played a role in continued weight loss was the amount of resistant starch I was getting from potatoes. I ate a lot of cooked potatoes that had been refrigerated. These are generally higher in resistant starch. If I were to do the diet again, I would like to set up an experiment to gauge the effect of resistant starch.
What foods did you crave the most?
I craved mostly foods that had a “juicy crunch”, like an apple, or cucumbers, or carrots, or celery. I never acquired a taste for raw potatoes so virtually all the potatoes I consumed were cooked. No matter how you cook your potatoes, you always get that same soft cooked texture. I craved foods with a crisper texture.
How was your energy level?
My energy level was very good the entire time of the diet. I really didn’t notice a change in energy at the start of the diet so I assumed that the potato diet didn’t have a positive or negative effect on my energy level. It wasn’t until I finished the diet and started to consume other foods that I noticed my energy level has seemed to drop a bit.
How did you feel overall? Were there any unexpected effects of the diet?
I felt really good on the diet. I had lots of energy, slept good at night, and seemed to avoid the cold viruses that circulated at home and work.The only unusual thing that occurred is what my wife told me. I’m a habitual snorer. The day I started eating only potatoes, my snoring stopped. It restarted the day I started to include other foods in my diet. I’m assuming it was just some weird coincidence but that’s what she tells me.My doctor and I expected my cholesterol to drop but not at the level we saw. I’ve had borderline high cholesterol for the past decade. I started the diet at 214 and saw it drop to 147 at the end of 60 days. We anticipated a drop of maybe 10-25 points. It was a huge surprise to see a 67 point drop.
Your fasting glucose went from 104 mg/dL, which I consider high, to 94 mg/dL, which is on the high side for someone eating a high-carbohydrate diet, but within the clinically normal range. Do you have a family history of diabetes?
No history of diabetes. My parents are in their early eighties and their parents lived to their 70’s and 80’s with no history of type one or two diabetes.
Reading your blog posts, it seemed like you were having a hard time with the diet at first, but after a while you complained less and even seemed to enjoy it at times. Did you get used to it?
I would say that week 2 and 3 were probably the hardest. The first week was easy probably because of the novelty of the diet. Then reality set in for week 2 and 3. After that, I found my groove and it got easier. During the work week was easy but weekends, particularly Sunday’s, were the hardest. During the work week I did most of my eating at my desk so I wasn’t around a lot of other people eating or surrounded by other foods. Weekends were more difficult because I was around other people every meal and always had other foods in front of me at home.
What kinds of potatoes did you eat?
I literally ate every kind of potato I could get my hands on. I ate yellow skin/yellow flesh potatoes, red skin/white flesh, red skin/red flesh, purple skin/white flesh, purple skin/purple flesh, russet potatoes with white flesh, russet potatoes with yellow flesh, white potatoes, yellow potatoes with white flesh, purple fingerlings, yellow fingerlings, red fingerlings and numerous experimental varieties.
Did you peel them or eat the skin?
I ate the skin at least 90% of the time if not more. There is a myth that all the nutrition in a potato is in the skin or right under the skin. That’s not true, there are nutrients spread throughout the potato but most of the fiber is located in the skin.
What variety of potato is your favorite?
It really depended on the cooking method. For frying, I preferred russet potatoes. For baking, I preferred red potatoes. For mashed, I preferred yellow potatoes. For roasting, a toss-up between russets and reds.
How long did it take you after the diet ended to eat another potato?
As strange as it sounds, potatoes were my first two meals after my diet ended. I was saving my first non-potato meal for a special event that was planned at the local Head Start facility. The beef, dairy, apple, and potato producers put together a nice dinner event and nutrition workshop for all the kids and their parents at the Head Start center in Moses Lake. I still eat potatoes pretty regularly, but most of the time now I’m eating them with more than just seasonings.
Are there any other facts about potatoes you think Whole Health Source readers might find interesting?
Just a reminder that I’m not encouraging anyone to follow in my footsteps and eat just potatoes. This diet is not intended to be the next “fad” diet but was simply a bold statement to remind people that there is a tremendous amount of nutrition in a potato. There is no one food product that can meet all of your nutritional needs. I fully support a well balanced healthy diet, which potatoes can be a part of.In 2008, the United Nations declared it to be the “Year of the Potato”. This was done to bring attention to the fact that the potato is one of the most efficient crops for developing nations to grow, as a way of delivery a high level of nutrition to growing populations, with fewer needed resources than other traditional crops. In the summer of 2010, China approved new government policies that positioned the potato as the key crop to feed its growing population. The Chinese government formed a partnership with the International Potato Center in Peru to help them facilitate this new emphasis on the potato.
Thanks Chris, for doing your experiment and taking the time to share these details with us!
In the next post, I'll give my interpretation of all this.
Color Me Healthy
From orange through to violet, Karen Fittall finds out just how healthy a ‘rainbow diet’ is
Don’t worry. We haven’t gone all ‘fad diet’ on you. When we say ‘rain bow’, we’re not suggesting you chow down on nothing but red fruit, yellow vegetables and green everything else. But, there is something to be said for squeezing as many naturally occurring food colors into your diet each and every day. Why? Experts agree that foods with similar colors, say eggplants and purple grapes, contain the same types of protective compounds, so it’s important to eat a variety of different colored foods. Here are a few of our suggestions.
Pronounced ah-cha-cha, this egg-shaped fruit is native to the Amazon, but is now grown commercially in tropical areas of Australia. Achacha contains folate and vitamin C – four achacha provide around 25 percent of your daily vitamin C requirements – and has a sweet but tart or tangy taste. To eat, score the fruit’s skin around the centre with a knife and then squeeze each ‘half’ apart to reveal the flesh inside. Be sure to discard the seed.
Technically a vegetable, rhubarb’s flavor and high-acidity content means it usually gets treated and eaten more like a fruit. Cooked is best to ensure the biggest health kick. That’s according to recent UK research, which found slow-cooked and baked rhubarb contained the highest levels of antioxidants. A low-salt, high-fiber vegetable, it’s also a valuable source of vitamin C – one cup of stewed rhubarb contains 45 percent of the recommended daily intake.
Well know as an antioxidant powerhouse, the latest body part to get a boost from this berry is the brain. US researchers have shown drinking blueberry juice daily improves memory, even in older adults with age-related memory problems and those thought to be at high risk of dementia. The effect is thanks to the berry’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action. Blueberries should be covered and stored in the fridge for the longest shelf life.
Often celebrated for its high vitamin-C content, the kiwifruit’s health benefits are much more extensive, with researchers proving their worth for everything from warding off heart disease to protecting against cancer. Not only has kiwifruit been shown to reduce clotting risk and lower the fat content of the blood, but eating them regularly may also increase the availability of leukocytes – cells that help repair the damage done to DNA by free radicals.
Related to the garden-variety green or sweet basil, purple basil has a similarly shaped leaf, but it’s often serrated rather than smooth around the edges. And just like the majority of other purple-colored foods at the greengrocers, that distinctive hue is courtesy of the high level of anthocyanins, a potent type of antioxidant that this variety of basil contains. To store, wrap basil in a damp paper towel, put it in an airtight container or bag and place in the fridge.
Research has shown that when corn is heated it’s better for you. Scientists from the US’s Cornell University say the cooking or heat-treatment process involved in canning corn increase the vegetable’s antioxidant activity by up to 900 percent for ferulic acid, which is an anti-cancer compound. Choose corn that has a vibrant, green husk and store the cobs in an airtight bag in the fridge, with the husks on to prevent dehydration.
A type of chicory, radicchio has a distinctive bitter, peppery flavor, due to the fact that it contains intybin, a substance said to stimulate the digestive system. Just how bitter it tastes can depend on the season, with some chefs preferring the crops that occur during the cooler months when the flavor also takes on a sweet quality. A number of different varieties of radicchio are available, but the most common, Chioggia, looks almost cabbage-like.
Don’t worry. We haven’t gone all ‘fad diet’ on you. When we say ‘rain bow’, we’re not suggesting you chow down on nothing but red fruit, yellow vegetables and green everything else. But, there is something to be said for squeezing as many naturally occurring food colors into your diet each and every day. Why? Experts agree that foods with similar colors, say eggplants and purple grapes, contain the same types of protective compounds, so it’s important to eat a variety of different colored foods. Here are a few of our suggestions.
Orange = achacha:
Pronounced ah-cha-cha, this egg-shaped fruit is native to the Amazon, but is now grown commercially in tropical areas of Australia. Achacha contains folate and vitamin C – four achacha provide around 25 percent of your daily vitamin C requirements – and has a sweet but tart or tangy taste. To eat, score the fruit’s skin around the centre with a knife and then squeeze each ‘half’ apart to reveal the flesh inside. Be sure to discard the seed.
Red = rhubarb:
Technically a vegetable, rhubarb’s flavor and high-acidity content means it usually gets treated and eaten more like a fruit. Cooked is best to ensure the biggest health kick. That’s according to recent UK research, which found slow-cooked and baked rhubarb contained the highest levels of antioxidants. A low-salt, high-fiber vegetable, it’s also a valuable source of vitamin C – one cup of stewed rhubarb contains 45 percent of the recommended daily intake.
Blue = blueberries:
Well know as an antioxidant powerhouse, the latest body part to get a boost from this berry is the brain. US researchers have shown drinking blueberry juice daily improves memory, even in older adults with age-related memory problems and those thought to be at high risk of dementia. The effect is thanks to the berry’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action. Blueberries should be covered and stored in the fridge for the longest shelf life.
Green = kiwifruit:
Often celebrated for its high vitamin-C content, the kiwifruit’s health benefits are much more extensive, with researchers proving their worth for everything from warding off heart disease to protecting against cancer. Not only has kiwifruit been shown to reduce clotting risk and lower the fat content of the blood, but eating them regularly may also increase the availability of leukocytes – cells that help repair the damage done to DNA by free radicals.
Indigo = purple basil:
Related to the garden-variety green or sweet basil, purple basil has a similarly shaped leaf, but it’s often serrated rather than smooth around the edges. And just like the majority of other purple-colored foods at the greengrocers, that distinctive hue is courtesy of the high level of anthocyanins, a potent type of antioxidant that this variety of basil contains. To store, wrap basil in a damp paper towel, put it in an airtight container or bag and place in the fridge.Yellow = sweet corn:
Research has shown that when corn is heated it’s better for you. Scientists from the US’s Cornell University say the cooking or heat-treatment process involved in canning corn increase the vegetable’s antioxidant activity by up to 900 percent for ferulic acid, which is an anti-cancer compound. Choose corn that has a vibrant, green husk and store the cobs in an airtight bag in the fridge, with the husks on to prevent dehydration.Violet = radicchio:
A type of chicory, radicchio has a distinctive bitter, peppery flavor, due to the fact that it contains intybin, a substance said to stimulate the digestive system. Just how bitter it tastes can depend on the season, with some chefs preferring the crops that occur during the cooler months when the flavor also takes on a sweet quality. A number of different varieties of radicchio are available, but the most common, Chioggia, looks almost cabbage-like.
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