Dieting: Eating for long and healthy life

Dieting is well past being a Fad. Diet plans, from being formally prescribed by doctors and in counselling sessions by nutritionists, are now informally available through selfhelp books and are very freely available on the internet. It is no longer the need of the medically ill or the fashion conscious; dieting has found its way into the lives of everyone, young and old, who wants to maintain a healthy life by eating less and eating right.
Being overweight is not just about looks, but also encompasses a wide array of medical and emotional problems. It is certainly a chronic condition that can lead to medical risks. Excess weight lowers glucose tolerance and increases sugar in the blood, leading to diabetes. There can be increased pressure on arteries that can damage the heart and kidneys leading to hypertension. The extra weight of the body wears down the cartilage and bones, thus giving rise to arthritis. 
The dieting trend has given rise to many new business ideas, from book-writing to wellness stores. The popular Atkins Diet, which recommends a meal plan of eating only proteins, found in foods such as cheese, soya and meat, to the exclusion of carbohydrates such as rice, potatoes and anything that was refined or white, sold millions of copies and soon Atkins food packs and snack bars became available in all wellness stores. 
There are many theories for the diet conscious. The South Beach Diet talks about controlling the glycaemic index (sugar level) in food. The General Motors Diet suggests a seven-day plan of fruits one day, veggies on the second, milk and banana on the third and so on.
Detoxication plans that prescribe specific quantities and food types to remove toxins from the body. Ayurveda offers some options for detoxing too. The 'Panch karma' routine is about doing five kriyas to create balance in the body. This ancient Indian science believes that the human body is made up of three substances — Pita, Vata and Kappha — and balancing the three is the key to leading a healthy and risk-free life. Ayurveda spas sprawling in hundreds of acres in Kerala and Bangalore attract hundreds of foreign tourists every year.
Calorie-counting theories recommend the ideal calorie requirements for men as being between 1,800 and 2,200 calories a day and for women at 1,500 to 1,800. All food consumed in excess of this gets stored in body as fat. In contrast to starving to maintain that ideal weight, there are books such as Dine Out And Lose Weight and Eat Yourself Slim, which advise eating frequent, small meals to maintain a high metabolism that can help weight loss.
With life expectancy going up by more than 20 years and a prediction of human beings living till their 80s, geriatrics, which is a field of medicine dealing with promoting health and preventing disease, is assuming new proportions. Research is now talking about slowing down ageing for human beings to live even longer and healthier.
Dieting as a concept of staying off food and starving to achieve that mean, lean look is being replaced by eating right to live longer and healthier.
The dieting trend has given rise to many new business ideas from book writing to wellness stores. The popular Atkins Diet that recommends a meal plan of eating only proteins such as cheese, soya and meat to exclusion of carbohydrates such as rice, potatoes and anything that was refined or white, sold millions of copies and soon Atkins food packs and snack bars became available in all Wellness stores

4 Ways to Deal With Stress and Insomnia

It is not difficult to understand why stress and insomnia go hand in hand. When one is under a lot of stress, and is not taking successful steps to control that stress, sleep is just one of the secondary conditions that may arise.

There are many factors that can cause stress such as a new job, a death of a loved one or feeling like you have more responsibility than you can handle. It is possible to be under a lot of stress and not even realize it. Below are some of the most common symptoms of stress.

* Sudden inability to sleep

* Waking frequently during the night

* Finding it difficult to concentrate, even on simple tasks

* Rapid heart rate

* Headaches and muscle aches

* Stomach pain

* Mood swings

Of course, many of those symptoms can be caused by something other than stress, but if you have had a major life change or are feeling overwhelmed, you should consider the possibility that stress is the cause.

When stress and insomnia are both present, it can make the stress even worse. If you look again at the list of symptoms you will see that many of them sound similar to symptoms of insomnia.

Just the stress alone can bring on mood swings and fatigue. Add insomnia and it will only serve to make those symptoms even worse. When that happens, the stress level is likely to increase and a vicious cycle is in place.

While, in an ideal world, the advice may be to eliminate the factor that is causing the stress, the fact is that usually that is not possible. Instead, you must learn to deal with your stress and insomnia in ways that will minimize their impact on your emotional and physical health. Below are some stress management tips.

* Avoid negative people. This is not always possible, but when you do have control choose to be around people that make you happy.

* Learn your limitations. You cannot do everything that is asked of you and you will never be able to please everyone. Stop trying. Instead, do those things that you need to do and then add extras, such as volunteering, in areas that are important and meaningful to you.

* Learn time management. Why can some people hold a job, raise a family, keep the house spotless and still have time for a night out? It's because they learned about time management.

* Forget trying to be perfect. Everything does not have to be in its place. You do not have to raise the most money, get the most new clients and never burn dinner. Just learn to laugh at some of your faux paux.

If your own attempts to deal with stress do not work, you should see a doctor or therapist for help. If left untreated, stress and insomnia can cause serious health problems.

Stress and insomnia can each be made worse by the other. Learn to deal with them both so that you can be your best for yourself and your family.
by: Paul Stevens

Thursday, July 29, 2010 Next Liquid Vitamins For Children

You want your children to eat a healthy diet full of nutrition, but for many parents this is an ongoing battle. Yes, your kids can be taught to eat a healthy diet, but sometimes when they are very young it is hard to get them to eat their fruits and vegetables. You don't want to spend all day trying to get them to eat the foods they need to eat. Sometimes picky eaters won't eat the foods that they need to eat to help them stay healthy. We all were kids once, and we know that we too, didn't like to eat our fruits and vegetables. Yet we know that kids still need the proper nutrition to help keep their immune systems strong so that they can stay healthy and ward off nourishment deficiencies. You may also find this article to be helpful,"Teaching Your Kids To Eat A Healthy Diet".

Tip: Mix the vegetable in with the food. I was feeding my 1 year-old niece and when I tried to give her some green beans she wouldn't eat them. I was also feeding her some meatless spaghetti too. I just mixed the green beans in with the spaghetti. She didn't even notice the difference.

The above tip is a great way to get kids to eat some of their vegetables. It may or may not work, but it's worth a try.:)

So, what do you do if your child is such a picky eater? Do you just stop trying to get him or her to eat healthy? The answer is,"No". You may want to start giving them a children's liquid vitamin and mineral supplement. To help fill in the gaps. Even if they are not picky eaters it is a good idea to give them a supplement.


A liquid vitamin is easy for a child to digest and also absorb. Our bodies are like sponges. Pills do not break down in the body thus, you do not absorb them. Plus, you don't have to worry about your child having to swallow pills. It's definitely, more convenient.


You also want a liquid vitamin that doesn't contain:

Artificial Sweeteners
Artificial Colors
Artificial Flavors
Preservatives
Gluten
GMO
BPA Packaging


Your child's vitamin and mineral supplement should compliment your child's diet. That means you don't want your children to eat a bunch of junk food so your child's liquid vitamin and mineral supplement shouldn't be a junk food. There are so many so called vitamins which or nothing but junk food. Flintstones vitamins and centrum are just some to name a few.

Teaching your child to eat a healthy diet is the best thing that you can do for them, but giving your child a vitamin and liquid supplement is the next best thing you can do for them too.