Food to maintain healthy weight
Understanding the Energy Equation
If you want to maintain a healthy weight, it is very important to understand
the connection between the calories intake and the calories your body uses.
You should work out roughly the number of calories you eat and drink each
day. The number of calories you require depends on your age, activity level,
and whether you are trying to gain, maintain, or lose weight. You should
choose the most nutritionally rich food you can from each food group every
day. These food are rich with with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other
nutrients, and they are lower in calories.
1. Increase Nutrient Rich & Low Energy Density
Foods
Eating nutrient rich foods with low energy density is most effective way
in maintaining good weight and health. By filling up with a substantial
amount of food such as fruits and vegetables, an individual consumes fewer
calories while feeling satisfied and gets a big hit of nutrients per serving.
Avocados - are delicious, satisfying and offer a healthy alternative
to traditional sandwich spreads and salad dressing that are laden with
cholesterol and saturated fat. They contain only 48 calories per ounce.
Kiwi fruits - are nutrition powerhouses of vitamins, minerals, dietary
fiber and health-promoting phytochemicals. Two kiwifruit provide dietary
fiber 16% of daily value (DV), vitamin C 240% DV, potassium 14% DV, vitamin
E 10% DV and folate 9% DV, along with a wide array of phytochemicals and
antioxidants.
Sweet potatoes - is an excellent source of vitamin A and a good source
of potassium and vitamin C, B6, riboflavin, copper, pantothetic acid and
folic acid.
Onions - contain fiber, calcium, iron, several B vitamins and more vitamin
C than apples. They are rich in flavonoids, particularly Quercetin, an
antioxidant compound that have strong supporting evidence indicating reduction
of cholesterol, decrease in tumor formation, heal stomach ulcers and inhibit
proliferation of cultured ovarian, breast and colon cancer cells. The
organosulfur compounds in onions are also believed to have anti-cancer
effects, to reduce symptoms associated with diabetes, have anti-inflammatory
and anti-microbial properties, and seem to inhibit platelet aggregation
to protect the patient from coronary heart disease.
Raisins - now rank among the top antioxidant foods because they contain
important phytochemicals and minerals such as iron and potassium. The
combination of dietary fiber and tartaric acid found in raisins also plays
an important role in colon function and good health.
Mangos - an excellent source of vitamin A and a good source of vitamin
C, two important antioxidants. An entire mango contains about 140 calories.
Watermelon - high in lycopene, which has been shown in studies to help
fight prostate cancer, protect the lungs, skin, and eyes and even help
fight heart disease. A big 17-ounce wedge has just 154 calories.
Honeydew - 1/10 of a honeydew has 45% of the vitamin C needed in a day
with just 50 calories.
2. Reduce Nutrient Poor & High Calories Foods
Foods such as Soft Drinks, Sweet Desserts and Pastries,
Hamburgers, Pizza, Potato chips, Salty Snacks and Alcohol are contributing
calories without providing vitamins and minerals, which cause overweight
and undernourished problems.
3. Include Whole Grains (Complex Carbohydrate) in Diet
Two large scale studies, involving over 100,000 people over a period of
over 12 years have confirmed that people ingesting the most whole grain
foods have over 25% lower risk of type 2 diabetes and they are less likely
to become obese.
Whole grains foods such as whole grain bread, pasta, brown rice and wild
rice are high in fiber and have lots of important phytochemicals and antioxidants.
4. Reduce Harmful Fats
Limit intake of saturated fats and trans-fatty acids, which are most dangerous
for the heart and may pose a risk for strokes and certain types of cancers.
The popular low-carbohydrate, high-fat and high-protein diets can starve
the brain of carbohydrates, produce constipation and other gastrointestinal
problems, reduce energy levels, stress the kidneys, and increase the risk
of liver disorders, gout, coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke and
cancer.
5. Include Foods that Cut Water Retention
Foods that promote urination such as:
Small red beans
Job's tears
Corn and corn silk
Soybean and garlic
Foods that absorb water internally such as: broad beans & hyacinth
beans
Foods that cool the body for hot-damp type:
* bitter gourd
* mung beans
* Foods that warm the body for cold-damp type - cinnamon twig, fresh ginger
Some information is from http://www.nourishu.ca/
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