How Does Fruits and Vegetables Impact Your Nutrition

When you were growing up, you proberbly thought your parents and teachers was being a pain for insisting that you eat your fruits and vegetables. You may not have realized it then, but they were doing you a great favor. It turned out that fruits and vegetables are an essential part of our diet, providing a wide range of vitamins and minerals that serve numerous important functions in the body.
For years U.S. Department of Health has recommended including at least five portions of fruits and vegetables in our daily diet.

Many people, however, are still not getting the message they remain delinquent in their fruit and vegetable intake. Regretfully only one in seven does achieve this quota. In fact, a full 33% of American adults eats only two servings of fruits and vegetables a day and are more likely to opt for an unhealthy snack instead. On a daily basis, about half the population eats no fruit at all.

A Ton of Reasons: There are a tons of reasons to eat a variety of colors from the produce dept. Fruits and vegetables are basically fat free, low in salt and an excellent source of fiber.

Some fruits and vegetables, such as bananas and spinach, contain potassium, which supports proper nerve and muscle functioning. Other fruits and vegetables, such as carrots and cantaloupe, supply Vitamin A, which maintains eye health and immunity. Green vegetables such as broccoli and asparagus provides Vitamin B, which is necessary for converting food into energy.

All fruits and vegetables are loaded with phytonutrients, the health-promoting components of plants. Studies have shown that phytonutrients can help protect seven key organs, including the heart, liver, eyes and skin.

Antioxidant Properties: Researches that measured the total antioxidant power of various foods, placed fruits and vegetables at the top of the list.

Antioxidants are known to protect our bodies from free radicals that can cause damage to cellular membranes. Antioxidants also help to make our muscles stronger, boost our immunity, and support bone and skin health.

Colorful fruits and vegetables derive their antioxidant properties from the chemical that causes their various colors. It is therefore very beneficial to consume fruit and vegetables from all the different color groups.

The seven food color groups and their properties.

1.Red

Tomato, tomato juices, watermelon, pink grapefruit, red plum: Produces Lycopene which has shown to inhibit cancer cell growth in laboratory test.

2.Red/Purple

Grapes, strawberries, cranberries, raspberries, blueberries, prunes, red apples. Proanthocyanidins protect against urine infections.ellagic acid inhibits cancer cell growth.

3.Green

Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Bok Choy. Produces Isothio-cyanates which increases liver proteins for defending against carcinogens.

4.Green/Yellow

Spinach, corn, collard greens, kale, avocado, mustard greens. Lutein protects vision, the heart, and inhibits cancer cell growth.


5. Orange

Carrots, cantaloupe, pumpkin, mangos, apricots. Beta carotene protects vision and immune function.

6.Orange/Yellow

Oranges, lemons, papaya, peaches, nectarines, pineapple. Flavonoids inhibit tumor growth and repair DNA. Limonoids in the skin of oranges and lemon inhibit tumor growth.

7.Green/White

Garlic, onion, celery, chives, pears, leeks. Allyl sulfides inhibit tumor cell growth.

A study by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's, suggest that: Eating more fruits and vegetables can also help lower cholesterol. In the study, the 4466 subjects consumed on average a shade over 3 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Men and women with the highest daily consumption (more than 4 servings a day) had significantly lower levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol than those with lower consumption

Exactly how fruits and vegetables lower cholesterol is still something of a mystery. It just may be that eating more fruits and vegetables result in eating less meat and dairy products, and thus less cholesterol-boosting saturated fat. Soluble fiber in fruits and vegetables may also block the absorption of cholesterol from food.

The next time you feel the urge for a snack why not try a half a cup of fresh or frozen blueberries. Blueberries are one of the best antioxidant-rich foods, they have been so effective in retarding aging in laboratory animals that they can block brain changes leading to decline and even reverse failing memory.

If you are having difficulty eating the recommended daily servings of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, you may want to add dietary supplements to your diet. Dietary supplements can provide you with the powerful phytonutrients and antioxidant benefits found in seven servings of colorful fruits and vegetables. It also supports your body's vital organs by providing them with key nutrients.

By making the effort to follow your mom's advice by eating plenty of fruits and vegetables each day, you may be doing your body one of the biggest favours ever.




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5 Good Mood Foods

it comes to  your mood, there are certain things that can build you up or bring you down hard. Even if you are having a great day, put the wrong thing in your mouth and suddenly you could find yourself inexplicably down in the dumps. Conversely, the worst day ever can often be counterbalanced - if not entirely counteracted - by "good mood foods" which, while they may not provide the culturally-promised satisfaction that a gallon of ice cream will, will actually help you focus on resolving your problems rather than railing against them.

Here are 5 "good mood foods" that you can count on to boost your spirits and keep you more positive in general when the going gets tough:

1. Turkey

Turkey contains serotonin, which your body needs in order to avoid mood swings, unhealthy food cravings and anxiety. A turkey sandwich may  be just the thing to lighten and brighten a gray day.

2. Bananas

Bananas are high in potassium, which gives you energy and also keeps your muscles from feeling fatigued. A banana a day may do just as good a job - if not better - than an apple at keeping the doctor away. If you are stressed out and starting to feel it physically, a banana can help you counteract these effects.

3. Citrus fruits

Need a little boost in the bedroom? Citrus fruits contain vitamins and minerals that boost sperm count and improve your odds of an orgasm. People who are satisfied in the bedroom tend to operate on a more even keel outside it, so drinking a glass of pure orange juice could go a long way toward evening out your mood issues.

4. Whole grains

A moderate amount of carbohydrates in your diet can help keep your blood sugar stable. This is good because it enables you to focus and remain calm under stress. However, refined carbohydrates actually make your blood sugar less stable, so stick to whole grains to insure that you are helping the situation rather than exacerbating it.

5. Salmon

Salmon contains fatty acids called omega 3's. These essential fish oil nutrients have been proven to prevent and alleviate clinical depression among many other psychological issues. However, to get the full effects of omega 3 fatty acids (which include memory sharpness, increased focus and heart health) you would need to eat as much as two pounds of salmon a day. As a result, most people prefer to get their fishy "good mood food" in the form of a dietary supplement. Just make sure that your omega 3 supplements are made from Arctic Circle salmon to insure purity.
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What Are the Best Fitness Workouts?

The term "fitness workouts" is often misleading. While many believe that fitness workouts refer to anything that assists you in keeping yourself fit, the correct meanings are somewhat different. By definition, fitness workouts are those kinds of physical activity or workout that "when combined with well-balanced, recommended diet" will help you lose weight and extra body fat in the optimal time frame.

To better understand the term, consider the following examples of some recommended fitness workouts which, when combined with healthy diet, will help you lose weight fast and significantly:
1- Running (or jogging)
2- Brisk walking (one that makes you sweat profusely)
3- Playing football, soccer or any sport that involves running and intense physical activity

4-Swimming (an excellent fitness workout)
5- Treadmill / elliptical (cardio) exercise
Why they are so important?
Weight loss experts, dietitians and nutritionists are now of the unanimous opinion that any diet plan or fitness program (no matter how strong and famous it is) would not work alone until and unless it is implemented and practised in conjunction with regular fitness workouts such those mentioned-above. So, the million dollar question is; what's so special about these workouts?
Well, the main significance of these workouts is actually hidden in the fact that they greatly enhance the weight reduction process and fat burning effect of the diet consumed on daily basis. In other words the weight, that you would lose in one month by diet alone, can actually be lost in a period as short as two weeks by performing the recommended fitness workouts along with following a specific diet schedule.
How do fitness workouts work?
Almost all of the fitness workouts work by increasing the rate of the burning of dietary and body fat. In other words, such workouts tend to increase and speed up the rate of metabolism which eventually leads to faster calorie burning and greater calorie expenditure. As a result of this increased calorie burning, you lose more weight at a faster speed. On the other hand, at the same time, because of the weight loss diet you're on, you are already eating less. Therefore, this dual mode of action of fewer calorie consumption plus greater calorie expenditure leads to the overall weight loss effect.

How to get the maximum out of these workouts?
One of the best ways to intensify and maximize the effects of fitness workouts is to perform them in conjunction with the use of some recommended diet or herbal supplement. Studies and clinical data have proved that using a proven herbal weight reduction supplement along with regular weight loss workouts can actually help you maintain optimal body weight, figure and shape on permanent basis.

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