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Color Your Way to Daily Health

It’s important that we eat plenty of different fruits and vegetables every day. Diets rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. Fruits and vegetables provide essential vitamins and minerals, fiber, and other substances that are important for good health. Most fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories and are filling.
You’ve probably heard about the 5 A Day for Better Health program. It provides easy ways to add more fruits and vegetables into your daily eating patterns. It’s vital that we eat a wide variety of colorful orange/yellow, red, green, white, and blue/purple vegetables and fruit every day. By eating vegetables and fruit from each color group, you will benefit from the essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber that each color group has to offer alone and in combination.
There’s several different yet simple ways to start incorporating vegetables and fruit into your familiar and favorite meals. You can begin your day with 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice, slice bananas or strawberries on top of your cereal, or have a salad with lunch and an apple for an afternoon snack. Include a vegetable with dinner and you already have about 5 cups of fruits and vegetables. You may even try adding a piece of fruit for a snack or an extra vegetable at dinner.
Don’t be afraid to try something new to increase your vegetable and fruit intake. There are so many choices when selecting fruits and vegetables. Kiwifruit, asparagus, and mango may become your new favorite. Keep things fresh and interesting by combining fruits and vegetables of different flavors and colors, like red grapes with pineapple chunks, or cucumbers and red peppers.
Get in the habit of keeping fruits and vegetables visible and easily accessible – you’ll tend to eat them more. Store cut and cleaned produce at eye-level in the refrigerator, or keep a big colorful bowl of fruit on the table.
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Getting Your Nutrition from Real Food is a Good Habit for Life

Many people think popping a multi-vitamin supplement to get their nutrients is just as good as what comes from real foods. They don’t realize that it is far better to get vitamins and minerals from natural foods and juices. Our bodies utilize the vitamins and minerals from real foods more efficiently. And most people find it much easier to select a variety of whole foods they enjoy eating instead of trying to make heads or tails of the entire selection of vitamin and mineral supplements that are available. And any of us who’ve swallowed a multi-vitamin or a mineral supplement can say without a doubt that the taste leaves a lot to be desired
Supplements are also difficult for our bodies to break down and use, making it difficult to get the full punch from the vitamins and minerals they contain. Conversely, by consuming plenty of nutrient-dense food to get the equivalent means the nutrients are going to be easier for the body to process and utilize, and less likely to be wasted. We are also processing nutrients throughout the course of the day when we obtain them from food, instead of just getting them from the ‘one a day’ approach.
Many of the supplements available today use fillers and binders to hold them together, plus coatings on the tablets themselves. These are products the body does not need and will not use. Some people find they are allergic to the dyes and fillers used in vitamin pills. However, the body uses the fiber that binds fruits and vegetables. Often the “skin” of a vegetable, like the potato, is the most nutritious part. In addition, sometimes the vitamin and mineral supplements can upset our stomachs, making taking them even more difficult the next day. In many cases, combining supplements can counteract their effectiveness and can produce stomach upset when dealing with the taste and smell of some supplements. On the other hand, a variety of fruits and vegetables enhance the flavor of a nutritious meal and their fiber aids digestion.
If you’re looking to lose weight, eating fresh food is vital to a weight loss plan. Also, eating fresh fruits and vegetables help hair, skin and teeth stay attractive and healthy. And when you think about it, fruits and vegetables are the original ‘to go’ food. It’s simple to grab for an orange, apple, banana, grapes, or quickly toss a few vegetables together for a salad to take to work.
So when you’re looking for well-balanced, healthy, reliable nutrition, don’t reach for the bottle. Reach for the food!
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Super Foods for Super Weight Loss

Experts say there are two basic categories of foods that can be considered "keeping it off superfoods" because they fill your tummy without piling on the calories: fruits and vegetables. And the nutrient that gives fruits and vegetables that ‘staying power?’ Fiber. So, if fruits and vegetables are the "keeping-it-off superfood groups," fiber may well be the "keeping-it-off super-nutrient." Protein is another super-nutrient. It's becoming more scientifically accepted that protein may help to curb appetite. Protein also offers staying power, and can slightly boost your metabolism in the process. But it’s imperative that you choose your proteins wisely, because like all other foods, if you’re eating more than your body needs, it’ll show up on the scale as a gain, instead of a loss.
The following superfoods are smart, low-calorie choices that will benefit your weight loss efforts:
Green Tea - Researchers suspect that the catechins (helpful phytochemicals) in green tea may trigger weight loss by stimulating the body to burn calories and mildly decrease body fat. So indulge in either a hot cup or a nice tall iced glass of green tea.
Broth- or tomato-based soup – Soups can help reduce hunger before meals and increase your feeling of fullness.
Low-calorie green salads - Having a low-calorie salad – which is not defined as one that’s loaded with croutons, high fat dressings, and cheese - as a first course can help you feel full, thereby reducing how much you eat with your main course. Wisely choose your ingredients, and its high fiber content can be the key to helping you fight cravings later in the day.
Yogurt – Including dairy products as part of your healthy diet may promote your weight loss efforts. Choosing a light yogurt may help you fight off hunger pangs due to its combination of protein and carbohydrate.
Beans – A great combination of fiber and protein, beans help you feel full longer, which means they may work to curb your between-meal appetite.
Water – Water is your body’s lifeblood, and you should be drinking it through your day. It’s a great no-calorie beverage, and you can get it by drinking unsweetened tea, flavored unsweetened mineral water, regular water with lime or lemon, or even in your cucumber. In addition to helping flush toxins from the body, it can also help you feel full. So when those hunger pangs strike, try drinking a glass of water before grabbing that snack.
High-Fiber, Whole-Grain Cereal - Whole grains in general help boost fiber and the nutritional value of your meal. One of the easiest ways to give your daily diet a whole-grain boost is to have a bowl of higher-fiber whole-grain cereal as breakfast or a snack.
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Flush the Fat With Smart Food Choices

Flushing the fat? As crazy as the concept might sound, the Fat Flush Plan can help you reshape your body while detoxifying your system. This low-carbohydrate, three-phase diet regimen was created by nutritionist Ann Louise Gittleman, Ph.D., C.N.S.

Phase 1 of the plan, called The Two-Week Fat Flush, lasts 14 days and is designed to jump-start weight loss. Phase 2, The Ongoing Fat Flush, helps you continue to lose weight, and Phase 3, The Lifestyle Eating Plan, focuses on maintenance.
The Fat Flush Plan was designed to increase metabolism, flush out bloat and to boost the fat burning process. At the core of the plan is the commitment to promote a balanced lifestyle and encourage simple healthy habits that seem to have gone by the wayside in our modern and hectic everyday life. Every aspect of each phase of the plan is focused on accomplishing this goal: helpful essential fats, amounts of protein, antioxidant-rich vegetables, moderate amounts of fruits, calorie-burning herbs and spices, cleansing diuretic beverages, exercise, journaling and even sleep are addressed.
The Two-Week Fat Flush is based on an average of 1,100 to 1,200 calories daily, and is designed to jumpstart weight loss for dramatic results. It will transform your shape by accelerating fat loss from your body's favorite fat storage areas - your hips, thighs and buttocks.
The Ongoing Fat Flush is the next step for those individuals who have additional weight to lose but who also want to pursue a more moderate cleansing program and enjoy a bit more variety in food choices while still losing weight. This part of the program is designed for ongoing weight loss, with approximately 1,200 to 1,500 calories each day. This is the phase that will be followed until you reach your desired weight or size.
The Lifestyle Eating Plan is your maintenance program for lifetime weight control. This phase offers over 1,500 calories daily, providing a basic lifelong eating program designed to increase your vitality and well-being for life. You’ll add up to two dairy products and up to two additional friendly carbs. Phase 3 friendly carbs include more choices from a variety of starchier veggies and nongluten hypoallergenic grains. Foods are always introduced one at a time to make sure there are no allergic reactions and you’re your body tolerates the food well.
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Calorie and Carbohydrate Counters

by: Dr. Donald A. Miller
I recently received an email offer for a hand held computer that contains food fact tables, non volatile memory to hold the user's input data (food types and amounts, height, frame type) and calculates the total calories or carbohydrates that the dieter might want to track or limit.

Rather clever, and it will probably sell well.

However, if the dieter chooses safe food types, he/she can eat huge amounts without ever counting either calories or carbohydrates, and still lose weight. Of course, limiting consumption to moderate amounts will speed weight loss, and allow stabilizing at one's ideal weight.

Rather than reduce or bypass parts of the digestive system, the most effective weight loss surgery is to staple ... the mouth.

Here's a useful secret. A small amount of fat can satisfy hunger better and longer than a large amount of low fat protein concentrate. Restrict that fat to low- or un- saturated types, such as available in nuts, eggs, legumes, perhaps an avocado (if you are near the low cost sources), and you won't put your cardiovascular system at risk. Some use of truly lean meats can be healthful, but don't overlook soy bean tempeh and similar high protein plant foods which have no saturated fat. Eat as much as you can hold of vegetables, fruits, and grain foods, prepared without added sauces, sugars, dressings, oils, butter, margarine, cheeses, and so forth.

Restrict your consumption on any high energy foods, such as alcohols, refined sugars, fats and oils -- especially the saturated fats. Eat the calories you need for the amount of your physical activity, but not more.

Such diets need not be boring. Fantastic recipes from around the world are now available on the internet. Just learn how to be selective, and/or to modify the ingredients to safe choices.

** Diet with FACTS, not MYTHS. **

About the author:
Dr. Miller is author of ""Easy Health Diet"" http://easyhealthdiet.com/diet.htm""Exercise for
Juniors to Seniors"" http://easyhealthdiet.com/JrSr.htmand numerous free articles on health http://articles.easyhealthdiet.com/ Seven of ten deaths are caused by preventable diseases.
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