A Wealth Of Health: Eating Foods High In Fiber

By choosing high fiber foods, you can become part of the legend of those who have the nutritional wisdom which ensures better health, counteracts disease, and produces greater vitality. Ask not what your high fiber diet can do for you, but what you can do for your high fiber diet. Camelot? Spamalot? Fiber--alot.
Fiberlady is the new Guinevere. She's come to share the wealth about your health. One of the main reasons for the emerging trend of high fiber foods is the ongoing quest for weight loss. Even the Knights of the Round Table have discovered that their armor fits better than ever.
The average American consumes about 5-13 grams of fiber daily, but nutrition experts recommend a daily intake of 20-35 grams. Here's what you can do in the quest for your high fiber diet. Start by replacing white bread with whole grain bread, white rice with brown rice. Add more beans and legumes, veggies, fruits, seeds and nuts. Any foods with more than 4 grams per serving are categorized as high in fiber.
People are moving away from the low-carb diet fad towards eating foods that are high in fiber. New products making high-fiber claims has nearly doubled in the past few years. For example, Sara Lee (bless her heart) has developed a white bread with all the fiber and many of the nutrients of whole wheat bread. And wonder of wonders, Wonder has made a bread with a special 100% whole wheat flour milled from white wheat. These products make the new USDA Food Pyramid much easier to scale.
A diet rich in high fiber foods is essential for your ultimate health. Dietary fiber is vital for prevention or treatment of diverticulitis, diabetes, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn's disease. Studies have shown that certain conditions such as constipation, hemorrhoids, diverticulosis and high blood pressure respond favorably to a high fiber diet. Those who need a gluten free diet can still benefit from a variety of high fiber foods. Certain types of fiber can even lower blood cholesterol levels.
One of Fiberlady's greatest concerns is the alarming trend for today's children to be overweight. The new Food Guide Pyramid recommends that children consume 1 to 3 servings of whole grains daily. It's probable that most children don't even eat 1 serving a day of whole grains. Dietary fiber has a powerful impact on children's overall health. After eating fiber-rich foods, there is a feeling of fullness which helps to control overeating. Fiber also helps regulate blood sugar which is vital to childrens' energy and digestive health. High fiber foods are as important to their health as it is to yours.
Fiberlady knows how easy it is to raise your high fiber IQ. Educate yourself and those you love about high cholesterol, diabetes, types of cancer, high blood pressure, and other ailments that can be drastically improved or controlled by including high fiber recipes and high fiber menus on a regular daily basis.
Camelot was the beginning of the Quest for the Holy Grail. It could be considered a state of mind, but the quest for high fiber health is most assuredly the starting point to a state of good health!

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By Stephanie Shank
Stephanie Shank aka Fiberlady has studied nutrition for many healthy years which prompted her commitment to high fiber foods and the development of her informative website High Fiber Health.

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Getting a Healthy Breakfast

Breakfast, like any other meal of the day, needs proper planning. No longer is it planned independently of the other meals. The three meals should be planned as a unit and balanced against the daily body requirement with enough allowance for good health.
A light breakfast must necessarily be followed be a substantial meal, while a heavy breakfast must be followed by a light lunch. If both breakfast and lunch are light, then a heavy dinner is needed.
Like all meals, breakfast must be planned to include food nutrients not provided for or inadequately found in the two other meals to complete the essential body requirements for the day.
Too often, skimpy breakfasts are blamed in lack of time. Considering that one-fourth to one-third of the day’s requirements is served at breakfast, the need for planning ahead is doubly justified.
Breakfast mean to break the fast of several hours.
The factors affecting the nature of the breakfast menu will depend upon age, sex, weight, health, and kind of activities of the individual family members. Other factors to consider are the amount of time allotted for its preparation by one or several family members, or by a hired helper and how light, moderate, or heavy other meals are intended to be. Family custom may have to contend with all of these, although strictly speaking, this must not prevail upon the more important factors.
Breakfast should always include a raw fruit because this contains more vitamins and minerals than cooked ones. Fresh ripe fruits have a rich mellow aroma that can stimulate even the most delicate appetite. It should be taken as the first course of the meal for the same reason.
Fresh eggs are good breakfast food because they are rich in complete protein, fat, iron, calcium, phosphorus, vitamins A & B, and niacin. They are also easy to prepare and digest. They can be fried, poached, soft-cooked, hard-cooked, scrambled, or prepared as an omelet.
Rice and other cereals are the main fuel contributors in breakfast. Rice is cooked plain or sautéed in small amount of fat and garlic. Corn broiled and buttered is a practical American way that can be adopted anywhere where corn is available.
Milk is the almost complete food and is welcome at any meal. At breakfast, milk is popular as a beverage or taken with coffee, chocolate, oatmeal, and other cereals. Milk should be bought from sanitary and reliable sources. Fresh milk is safer if pasteurized before serving.
Breakfast breads may be in the form of rolls, buns, loafbread, biscuits, waffles, or hot cakes. Breads can be toasted and served with butter or fruit jam like strawberry. Waffles, hotcakes, and French toast are good for heavy and substantial breakfast. Rolls with butter and jam, jelly, or marmalade are suitable for heavy breakfast, too, especially if taken with a heavy protein dish and chocolate.

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By Peter Garant
Mr. Peter Garant is writing health, diet and exercise articles for the 1200 calories diet site and herbal health related articles for his herbal health site.

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1,200 Calorie Diabetic Diets

Obesity is the bane of diabetes. These two conditions occurring in conjunction result in a complicated medical condition, which in turn can have serious repercussions. So when you are diabetic and also obese, counting your calories is a must. And if you are a woman, with either an active or sedentary lifestyle, or a man leading a more or less inactive lifestyle, then a 1,200 calorie diet is ideal for you. The diet is intended to restrict the intake of calories without compromising on the nutritional value of the food partaken.
Breakfast can consist of a cup of cereals, skimmed milk, a cup of any fruit and a muffin. This need not be an everyday affair. A 1,200-calorie diet requires that you stick to the calorie count while eating the right kind of food; how exactly you follow the regime is up to you. For instance, you can substitute the cereals with bread, have a little bit of cheese instead of muffin, and have a different kind of fruit everyday, say blueberries one day and an orange another day. These variations will ensure that you do not run out of steam as you follow the diet.
For lunch, you have the choice of baked chicken, a piece of ham, or a fish of some kind (for example, tuna or salmon), any kind of vegetable (i.e., tomato, lettuce or cucumber). If you want to go light on the midday meal, you can have yogurt, a fruit of some sort, salad tossed with lightweight dressing and some unsweetened coffee. About half a cup of white rice with few servings of vegetables and diet soda would be another choice.
For the afternoon snack you can munch on nuts, cashew nuts or almonds and have a cup of tea. But do not gorge on hamburgers, fries and Coke. This will undo all the good work that you have done during the breakfast and lunch.
If you had a light lunch, you can compensate for it at dinnertime with turkey, two to three kinds of vegetables like broccoli, tomatoes, or beans, and maybe one wheat roll. If it was a heavy lunch, the dinner should be easy on the stomach with a few slices of bacon, cornbread and a piece of orange or an apple.
The idea of a 1,200-calorie diabetic meal is not that every time you sit down to eat, you need to have weighing scales or a calorie meter on hand. A 1,200-calorie diabetic diet plan just entails eating right, eating frequently and stopping short of overstuffing oneself.

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By Eddie Tobey
Diabetic Diets provides detailed information about diabetic diets, diabetic diet tips, diabetic weight loss diets, 1200 calorie diabetic diets and more. Diabetic Diets is the sister site of Turkey Recipes.

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Weight Loss Myths and Lies

Companies providing sports equipment or diet supplements make millions every year with promises based on wrong theories and information which by the way actually does not mean they don't know better.
Below some of the most common myths and lies about diets are listed and busted.
- Myth: weight loss workouts start to get effective after 20 minutes
What they tell you: When starting your cardio,etc. program the energy needed is mainly taken from glucose. The longer your workout the less glucose will be used, which means the more fat will be used and burnt. You need to go through the first twenty minutes before starting burning fat.
Truth is: The only factor that decides if you drop weight (or put on extra weight) is your energy balance, ie. the difference between calorie intake and calories consumed by physical activities (ALL activities of your body, not only sports). If you eat less than your body needs due to physical activities, your energy balance is negative. Because you didn't give your body enough calories to burn, it needs some other source of energy to compensate. This is what body fat is used for and why you will drop weight (fat). It does not matter how energy is provided (glucose or fat). Since you'll burn calories right from the beginning of your workout, you'll do a weight loss workout from the start.
- Myth: Do cardio a a low level heart frequency
What they tell you: If you keep your heart frequency between 120 to 130 beats a minute, your workout is not too intensive and therefore more fat will be used as energy source (instead of glucose which is used for more intensive activities). As a result, more fat is burnt.
Truth is: The source of energy is irrelevant for reducing fat. Again, if you burn more calories than you get (food), you will reduce your body fat. The source of energy used during workouts does not influence your weight. Result:- The more intensive, the more calories are burnt.- The longer you work out, the more calories will be burnt.This means:Find a trade-off which suits best to your needs and capabilities. Some of you might prefer a slow, extensive cardio program while others like short but exhaustive program. Regarding weight loss only, one program will be as effective as the other one.
- Myth: Certain exercises can reduce fat in specifically regions of your body
What they tell you: Buy their new machines/equipment to cut down fat in your belly region, etc.
Truth is: This so called "spot reducing" is not possible. Doing 1000 crunches each day might tighten your abs, but will not burn fat around your hips. Only your genetics decide where you will drop fat first.

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By Michael Schran
Michael Schran is Webmaster of the site http://www.washboard-abs.com dedicated to washboard abs, where you can get further information on weight loss, diet and workouts.

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How I Lowered My Cholesterol Level By 56 Points

About a year ago, my wife encouraged me to get my cholesterol level checked. She had recently had her cholesterol checked and the results were normal. I went ahead and scheduled a test and fasted for twelve hours prior to the blood work being done.
The test itself was uneventful. The nurse checked my blood pressure, asked a few questions, and withdrew some blood. I was told to expect results within a few days. If I didn't hear from the doctor's office with a few days, I was to call back.
Turns out the results came back within a couple of days. I didn't need to call the office as they decided to call me. Instead of telling me what the results were, I was told to come in as soon as possible to review the results with the doctor.
By the time I hung up the phone I am assuming the worst. How bad could the results be if they are not willing to discuss the results over the phone? Needless to say, I returned to the doctor's office that same day.
The results were not good. My total cholesterol was 244, the LDL level was 161, and my HDL was 38. For reference, the recommended results at the time of my test were less than 200 for total cholesterol, less than 100 for LDL and greater than 40 for HDL. It was explained to me that the LDL level, the "bad" cholesterol, needed to drop. On the other hand, the "good" cholesterol, HDL, needed to increase. One of the ways that HDL increases is through exercise. LDL can decrease by a change in diet.
To be honest, I was shocked with the results. I thought my results would be in line with my wife's since we have the same diet. No, that was definitely not the case.
I also found out that your genes, your family, has a lot to do with your cholesterol levels. It didn't take me long to figure out what side of my family was to blame for my higher than expected cholesterol results. I found out from my father that when he first had his cholesterol checked just a few short years ago that his total cholesterol was well over 300! He immediately started taking medicine to reduce his total cholesterol.
So what did I do to drop my total cholesterol by 56 points in 8 months?
Three things I did to help reduce my cholesterol level are:
1) Exercise more - I added about 20 minutes of walking each day to my work schedule. I have a desk job and don't get a lot of physical activity during the working hours. I make an effort every day to walk at least 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the afternoon at work. This is in addition to the moderate running I do a few times a week.
2) Oatmeal - Do you know how easy it is at work to trot down to the vending machine and buy a candy bar when you are hungry? As a matter of fact, it is too easy. I now have a container of oatmeal, along with a box of raisins for flavoring, at work. When hunger pangs hit, I go to the area kitchen, microwave a half cup of water, add some oatmeal and raisins, and enjoy.
3) No more cheese - I personally think this has had the biggest impact on my cholesterol reduction, a low cholesterol diet. Since I am not a doctor, I can't be certain. I immediately stopped eating slices of cheese. For whatever reason, I love cheese. Regularly, I would eat a slice of cheese or a couple slices of cheese. I knew that couldn't be too good for me. This doesn't mean I don't have any cheese in my diet. I'll eat a burrito with cheese or a pizza with cheese, but I no longer eat slices of cheese.
That's about all I did, I didn't go on a restrictive diet or start taking medicine to reduce my cholesterol. I made a few lifestyle changes that I have faithfully implemented. It's been more than 365 days since I have been "cheese" free.
Like I said, my total cholesterol dropped by 56 points, from 244 to 188 in eight months. Also, my LDL cholesterol dropped from 161 to 124, still high but better than it was. The only disappointment was that my HDL remained the same at 38.
I hope that my story has inspired you to be aware of your cholesterol level and if needed, take action. While specific recommendations related to reducing cholesterol are best left to professional health care personal, I'm hoping that you will take care of yourself.

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By Don Williams
Don Williams shares information about a low cholesterol diet and what it can do for your health.

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