Wellness Lab Health Info: 09/06/15

Sunday 6 September 2015

5 Myths About Healthy Eating

Recently, I was having a discussion with my friend who claimed that eating healthy and dieting are the same thing. Ouch! If that is true, then I must have been on a diet my whole life! How awful!

The fact of the matter is, that healthy eating and dieting are two very different things. But, this conversation made me realize that healthy eating is really misunderstood and there’s a chance most people have acquired some preconceived ideas about healthy eating and what it actually entails. As a result, I was inspired to address some misconceptions and put them to rest.

Misconception 1: If You Eat Healthy, You Must be on a Diet. This one never fails to amaze me! Too often, the word “diet” is confused with the concept of dieting. Most people equate dieting with deprivation, especially as related to foods they love. Whether you are at your ideal weight or trying to lose weight, eating healthy is NOT dieting. It IS eating a healthy diet, however, which is a proactive lifestyle choice. If you want to eat healthy, you are choosing to do so. You choose to optimize the way you eat to look and feel your best.

Misconception 2: Eating Healthy is Boring, Tastes Awful and is Never Satisfying. Truth be told, eating healthy can taste better…can be wonderfully varied…and can fill you up for longer periods of time than food that is unhealthy. Many individuals who make a long-term switch to a healthier diet swear that they don’t miss the unhealthy foods they once ate. Some actually find them distasteful and unsatisfying! As you eat higher quality foods, your cravings for those that are bad for you and lack nutritional value will diminish.

Misconception 3: There is a Secret to Weight Loss. There is absolutely no secret, no magic pill and no trick to losing weight. You are an individual with individual needs. As a result, fad diets and “secret weight-loss programs” may work for some, but not necessarily for others. Even still, those that find that these fad diets work…only do in the short term. Anything that seems too good to be true, often is.

Misconception 4: You need to Count Calories to be Successful. Although food journal is advisable, it isn’t necessary. For the most part, calorie counting is a must for those people who don’t eat REAL food that is REALLY healthy. It’s when we eat unhealthy foods that we need to count and track what we ingest because we’re consuming a lot of empty calories that provide very little, if any, nutrition.

Misconception 5: Eating Healthy is Difficult and Complicated. Eating a healthy diet is not rocket science. It never has been and it never will be. Don’t tell the experts this, but you don’t need a degree in nutrition, a PhD or an MD to eat well. All you need is a basic, easy-to-implement framework that will demystify the realm of healthy eating and provide simple, common sense rules that are easy to remember and easy to put into action.

Next time you are considering going on a diet…think about the more appealing alternative: A lifestyle that incorporates healthy eating. Change your perspective and see the power it has on your overall health and well-being…not to mention, your waistline!

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Discover the 6 Health Benefits of Eating Tomatoes

Your body loves the immense health benefits of tomatoes—even if the only way you’re enjoying them is in a hearty tomato sauce or refreshing juice. Tomatoes help keep your heart healthy and prevent cancer.

6 Tomato Health Benefits

The red color of the tomatoes is what makes them so good for us. Scientists have found that what makes tomatoes beneficial is their high quantity of lycopene, the phytochemical that creates tomatoes’ ruby red complexion. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant that inhibits free radicals, which are a destructive substance in the body. It binds to free radicals, keeping them from creating cell damage that can result in diseases such as heart disease and cancer.

Tomatoes’ strongest health benefit is their ability to reduce the risk of heart disease. You can also find lycopene in other red foods like watermelon, apricots, red grapefruit, guava and papaya.

1. Helps Reduce Risk of Heart Disease

The highest average intake of lycopene were linked to almost a 30 percent reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease.
“We’ve shown quite clearly that lycopene improves the function of blood vessels in cardiovascular disease patients. It reinforces the need for a healthy diet in people at risk from heart disease and stroke,” says Dr Joseph Cheriyan from the University of Cambridge.
Lycopene concentrations in the blood have been found to be protective in the early stages of narrowing of the arteries. When your arteries are narrowed, blood flow to the heart slows down. Research found that people with high levels of lycopene in their blood have lower rates of heart disease.
A diet rich in tomatoes was found to increase “good” HDL cholesterol levels by 15.2 percent.
A diet high in tomato products reduced “bad” LDL cholesterol levels by 13 percent in one Finnish study.
In one study observing people with an average age of 54 years from 10 European countries, lycopene may be at the root of the cardio-protective power of a diet rich in vegetables.
Tomatoes are high in potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure.

2. Lowers Risk of Cancer

Tomatoes are rich in beta-carotene and lycopene, help lower some types of cancer and slow down the rate of other types of cancer.
Tomatoes reduce breast cancer due to high amounts of carotenoids (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene and total carotenoids), according to research from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Tomatoes may help prevent prostate cancer. This study found that men who ate more than 10 portions of tomatoes or tomato products per week have an 18 percent reduced risk of prostate cancer compared to men who ate less than ten.
Consuming tomatoes and tomato-based products have been shown to lower the risk of a variety of cancers. The cancers that lowered the most were lung, stomach and prostate cancer. Research also indicated that tomatoes may help prevent cancers of the breast, cervix, oral cavity, colorectum, esophagus and pancreas.

3. Increase Fat Burning

Tomatoes help produce the amino acid carnitine, which helps speed the body’s fat-burning capacity by more than 30 percent.
Tomato juice has been found to reduce weight, body fat and size of the waist.

4. Supports Healthy Skin and Hair

Tomato components help fight acne and prevent damage to skin cells. “The protective effect of eating tomatoes on our mitochondria is important as they are the energy producers in all our body cells including skin. Therefore being kind to our mitochondria is likely to contribute to improved skin health, which in turn may have an anti-aging effect,” says Professor Mark Birch-Machin, dermatology scientist at Newcastle University.
Drinking tomato juice rich in vitamin K strengthens the hair and promotes hair growth.

5. Increases Bone Health

Tomatoes help keep bones healthy by enhancing the ratio of calcium in the body. “Subjects with higher lycopene intake had lower risk of hip fracture.”

6. Reduces Inflammation

Tomato juice reduces inflammation in overweight women and obese females.