Diet

Healthy Eating – Five Food Items that Help Lower Bad Cholesterol

by BlondieWrites on August 23, 2010

Healthy Eating – Five Food Items that Help Lower Bad Cholesterol

Most of us are aware that eating less burgers, fries, pizzas and fried foods helps to improve our heart, and our overall health. However, eating more healthy food options can do more than just reduce cholesterol levels, or keep the heart healthy. Eating healthy foods also helps to improve skin tone, strengthen the immune system, sharpen the eyesight, and lower the risks of getting a heart attack or stroke. The consumption of fruits and vegetables, especially vitamin-C rich fruits and green leafy veggies, has also been found to offer a protective effect against stroke and other coronary heart diseases.

Kiwi Fruit and Avocado

Avocados are delicious and creamy, and they are also good at reducing LDL, or bad cholesterol, as well as regulate blood pressure. Avocados are also rich in plant sterols, soluble fiber, monounsaturated fats and minerals. The kiwi fruit is also a low-key but hardworking fruit that’s good for the heart. Kiwi has a high potassium content, which helps in regulating blood pressure.

Leafy Greens are Heart-Healthy Items

Leafy greens are good at enhancing your body’s immune system. They’re also good at keeping your heart in good shape. Leafy greens like kale, Swiss chard, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, mustard greens other dark green veggies are good sources of calcium, vitamins and other antioxidants. They help reduce plaque build-up in the arteries, and also aid in reducing blood pressure levels. These greens are also good sources of Omega-3 fatty acids. Add fresh greens to your sandwich, taco or pizza, or sprinkle them in your soup and salads.

Citrus Fruits

Citrus fruits like orange lemons, grape fruit, lime and tangerine, are excellent sources of vitamin C, folic acid, soluble fiber, minerals and antioxidants. Many doctors believe that eating at least one orange per day can help reduce the risks of stroke by as much as 25 percent. Citrus fruits are also help reduce blood pressure levels, bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

Tea Helps Protect the Arteries from Damage

Whether green, black, white or any type, tea can help protect your arteries from high blood pressure and other harmful elements. By drinking at least two cups of tea per day, you actually help reduce the risks of having a stroke or heart attack by 40%. drinking tea also helps you lose weight, and strengthen the teeth too. Choose unsweetened tea instead of the usual commercial ice tea brands.

A colorful diet rich in fruits and vegetables, helps to keep the doctor away, and also allows you to live a longer and more active life. Make sure that you serve between three to five servings of fruits and veggies each day, and slowly increase your consumption as you get comfortable with your healthy eating meal plan.

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How to Stick to Your Healthy Eating Plan

by BlondieWrites on August 23, 2010

How to Stick to Your Healthy Eating Plan

Starting a healthy eating plan of sorts may look easy at the start, but wait till you drop by the grocery or pass through the local fast food joint. Once the temptation to binge sets in, you could be in for a tough mental battle. However, once you get in the swing of things, and conveniently settle in your healthy meal plan, things will certainly get much easier. Here’s how to faithfully adhere to your healthy eating plan.

Write Your Plan on Paper

Start by writing your healthy eating plan on a piece of paper. However, writing it down on paper is so different from having lots of tasty but fattening food in front of you. To formalize your eating plan, grab a meal planning guide from your dietitian, or get a free meal planning guide from health and wellness sites online.

A Healthy Eating Plan Isn’t Hard, Provided You Don’t Fall into a Trap

Finding healthy foods, and crafting a healthy eating plan with the help of your dietitian or doctor can be done, as long as you steer clear of the many traps that most people get into. The key to sticking to your healthy eating routine lies in ensuring that you eat foods that are good for you, until it becomes a habit, and is ingrained into your system. To ensure your success, let your friends and family or your co-workers know about your plan, and ask them to check in with you once in a while. It helps if you constantly get positive encouragement from your loved ones, as well a sin knowing that they will truly hold you accountable if you fail.

Try New Recipes

To make your healthy eating experience an enjoyable and interesting one, try a new vegetable recipe, salad or fruit juice mix, that you’ve never had before. However, don’t just discard the old favorites yet, because if you can’t live without having your fill of bacon and French fries, then don’t ease them out of your menu yet. Enjoy the usual stuff for like once a week or once every two weeks, and make a constant effort to eat healthy food for the rest of the day. The main idea here is that you don’t have to live without your favorite food items, but you need not eat them all the time.

Healthy eating can be summed up to say that you eat only the foods that contribute to good health. Eliminate the foods that contain empty calories, as well as the food items that contain lots of chemicals, food additives, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and preservatives. Remember to only eat foods that have natural and wholesome ingredients, which include fresh fruits and vegetables.

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How to Have a Budget-Friendly Healthy Eating Plan

by BlondieWrites on August 23, 2010

How to Have a Budget-Friendly Healthy Eating Plan

With food prices soaring these days, is there way for you to eat healthy, without poring more holes in your pocket? There’s a actually a way for you to eat healthy and within your budget. Before you head off to the supermarket, sit down and write out a list first, and remember to stick to it. Shop just once a week, cut out the sale coupons from the newspaper, but disregard the coupons for processed foods. Here are other helpful tips for eating healthy on a budget.

Money-Saving Basics For The Healthy Eater

Before you make the dash for the grocery, make sure you don’t go shopping on an empty stomach. Eat a light snack or meal, so that you’ll be able to resist the temptation. Once you’re in the grocery, look for sales or discount promos on fruits and vegetables, as most groceries get a bargain on these items, which they pass-on as savings to their customers. Buy a large bag of fruit instead of single, large fruit items which are priced per pound. Also go for generic brand, which are labeled as the store brands, but are relatively priced less.

Get More Healthy Food Items From The Money You Spend

To make the most out of your budget, remember to get more healthy food items, as well as make significant changes in your food options. Here are some helpful tips for buying healthy food on a budget.

1. Buy in bulk an din season. Seasonal produce will offer more nutritional value, and are priced less too. Also make a food list that’s based on sale or discounted items.

2. Eat more beans. Beans are relatively affordable sources of fiber and protein, particularly the dry beans.

3. Cut down on your purchase of alcohol and other carbonated beverages, because these offer no nutritional benefits, and also cost a lot too.

4. Use meat alternative such as beans and tofu for your stir-fry, spaghetti and chili recipes, as well as use ground turkey meat in place of ground beef.

With the recession hurting our pockets, more and more people are constantly looking for ways to get more out of their money when they go to the grocery. However, health professionals worry that as the economy gets tighter, more people will be making poor food choices, and will also turn to eating unhealthy fast food fare. But eating unhealthy food should not be the case, since there’s a way for you to eat healthy without busting your budgets. All you need to do is buy smart, make more budget-friendly decisions, and change some of your shopping and food-preparation habits.

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