Not deep fried potatoes.
Not potatoes smothered in butter, margarine, or sour cream.
Low fat yogurt can be used as a topping, plain or with herbs and spices.
But try potatoes that are baked, boiled, fried on a non-stick surface with a minimum of oil or non-stick spray, chopped into soups and stews, and on, and on.
It is extremely unfortunate that deep fried and salted potatoes (”french-fries” or pomme de terre frit” or “pomme frit”, and potato chips) are so tasty, and are now the most popular of all fast foods. But severely restrict your intake if you don’t want heart disease, stroke, and other illnesses.
Potatoes are such a complete food that some societies in South America (Andes of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, where potatoes were first cultivated) eat little else.
Prepared with little fat or salt, Potatoes are healthful!
** Diet with FACTS, not MYTHS. **
About the author:
Dr. Miller is author of “Easy Health Diet” ” http://easyhealthdiet.com/diet.htm” “Exercise for Juniors to Seniors” “http://easyhealthdiet.com/JrSr.htm and numerous free articles on health http://articles.easyhealthdiet.com/
Seven of ten deaths are caused by preventable diseases.
If you are a person who has struggled with their weight and has a BMI, or body mass index, above a 27, the idea of a pill helping you lose weight is very appealing. Taking diet pills seem to be the quick fix to helping obese persons lose weight. There are advantages to taking diet pills, but you have to weigh these benefits with the potential dangers of taking diet pills.
Some things you have to be careful about when taking diet pills are:
· Dangerous side effects and drug interactions – Some prescription diet drugs are very strong. Possible side effects occur in almost all prescription medications, and some can be very serious in nature. Each diet pill has its own unique set of side effect warnings, but some of the more commonly listed side effects are dry mouth, sleeplessness, irritability, upset stomach and constipation. You also have to look at the possibility of drug interactions between the diet pills and other medications you are taking. If you have any other health issues, the taking of diet pills may cause serious consequences when combined with other medications.
· The potential for becoming dependant of the diet pills – There are many diet pills that can become habit forming. Some prescription diet pills are stimulant-based and can be abused by users. This abuse can lead to dependence, just as with any other strong medication. Make sure to talk with your doctor if he decides to put you on a diet prescription that has been shown to be habit-forming. Find out what signs you should look for to indicate if you are having a problem.
· The potential of the diet pills disrupting regular metabolism – Since prescription diet drugs main purpose is to suppress appetite, the person taking diet pills may find themselves consuming many less calories than normal. This is good for losing weight on the surface, but ultimately will lead to your natural metabolism to slow down. When your natural metabolism slows, so does the rate in which you lose weight. That is why people who take diet drugs find they only lose a finite amount of weight when they take diet pills alone.
In order for diet pills to work for you, the first thing you should do is talk to your doctor. Find ways to change your lifestyle on top of the taking of the diet drugs to help you lose weight. Regular exercise, changing food choices, and regular check-ups with your doctor are great ways to increase your weight loss success.
About the author:
After having gained experience in the health industry, Sintilia Miecevole has put together a vast source of information on her site, http://www.frigdiet.com complete with everything from recipes, delicious meal plans, desserts and snacks to tools and fitness ideas. Be sure to visit http://www.frigdiet.com for expert diet advice today.
by: Frank Mangano
You can lower cholesterol without drugs by following some basic steps that will not only change your cholesterol readings, but also improve your health today and in the future. So often we use a prescription drug and hope it will magically cure whatever ails us. The truth is prescription drugs for lowering cholesterol do work. The problem is both the short term and long-term side effects.
Even more dangerous than the side effects of prescription drugs to lower cholesterol is not getting cholesterol under control. Over time, high cholesterol can lead to numerous conditions of the heart and arteries, not the least of which are atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), stroke or heart attack.
Here are 5 steps you can take today to lower your cholesterol without prescription drugs.
Eat right. May sound simple, but diet has such a significant impact on lowering cholesterol that it should be the number one factor you look at in determining if your high cholesterol is hereditary or a matter of dietary choices. A low fat and low cholesterol diet is the first step toward lowering cholesterol.
Exercise. Improving cardiovascular health is a step toward reversing the effects of high cholesterol. Exercise itself doesn’t directly lower cholesterol, but will strengthen the heart and entire circulatory system.
Quit smoking. If you smoke, the plaque build up in the arteries due to high cholesterol is accelerated. When plaque blocks the flow of blood to the heart, the muscle has to work harder to get oxygen. This can lead to a heart attack. If the arteries get completely blocked with plaque from high cholesterol then a stroke can occur.
Relax. Chronic stress can affect cholesterol levels. If you are constantly stressed and eating a low cholesterol diet, you may not seen any improvement in cholesterol readings until you learn to relieve stress.
Talk to your doctor. Not all doctors are quick to prescribe medications. In fact, the more enlightened doctors will help you form a diet and exercise plan that is suitable for your current overall health and abilities as a first step toward lowering cholesterol. It is always important to ask your doctor if your decision to follow a specific diet or exercise plan is right for you. In addition, do not stop taking medications before consulting with your doctor. You can lower your cholesterol with diet and exercise, and under the care of your doctor, see about removing drugs from the process.
About the author:
Frank Mangano
It does not take long to see significant improvements in your cholesterol. Lower cholesterol can be yours in just a matter of weeks. If you would like to understand more about cholesterol, the prescriptions most often used to treat it, and what you can do to lower cholesterol naturally and without prescription drugs, visit one of the Internet’s leading resources on cholesterol: http://www.60daystolowercholesterol.com
To say that Americans are obsessed with dieting is an understatement! Pick up any magazine, tune-in or turn-on any
source of advertising and you’re bombarded with the latest diet schemes and food fads. More often than not, they are endorsed by some familiar Hollywood celebrity, or promoted using some other clever technique.
It’s no mystery that the weight-loss industry has built a thriving empire. In America, for example, we spend about 35
billion dollars every year on an assortment of weight loss products and plans. In addition, we spend another 79 billion
dollars for medication, hospitalization, and doctors to treat obesity-related problems. Even with this, the obesity epidemic
continues to spread. Sadly, we have become the heaviest generation in our Nation’s history.
The National Center for Health Statistics reports that we have some very good reasons to be concerned about our weight-gain. Americans, for example are packing-on the pounds faster than ever before and weight-related medical problems are taking center stage. Diseases like heart disease, diabetes and yes…even certain forms of cancer have all been linked to obesity.
Here are a few of the surprising statistics about our weight:
- A whopping 64 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese. That’s up approximately 8 percent from overweight
estimates obtained in a 1988 report.
- The percent of children who are overweight is also continuing to increase. Among children and teens ages 6-19, 15 percent or almost 9 million are overweight. That’s triple what the rate was in 1980!
- Nearly one-third of all adults are now classified as obese. At present, 31 percent of adults 20 years of age and over or nearly 59 million people have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater, compared with 23 percent in 1994.
(The BMI is a number that shows body weight adjusted for height. For adults, a BMI of 18.5 - 24.9 is considered normal. A BMI of 25.0 - 29.9 is overweight and 30.0 or above, is considered obese.)
Modern life both at home and at work has come to revolve around moving from one “seated” position to another: whether it’s television, computers, remote controls, or automobiles, we seem to be broadening the scope of our inactive endeavors.
At times, life seems to have gotten almost too easy! For entertainment, we can now just sit-down, dial-up our favorite TV
program or DVD movie and enjoy hours of uninterrupted entertainment…
And all those simple calorie burning activities that were once a normal part of our daily routine not so long ago? Long gone! You know the ones I’m talking about…activities like climbing stairs instead of using escalators and elevators. Or, pushing a lawn mower instead of riding around on a garden tractor. And what about that daily walk to school? Now, our kids complain when the school bus happens to be a few minutes late getting to the bus stop!
Along with the convenience of our affluent lifestyle and reduction in energy expenditure, have come changes in our diet.
We are now consuming more calorie rich and nutrient deficient foods than ever before.
Here are a few examples of what we were eating in the 1970’s compared to our diet today (information is taken from a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture survey):
- We are currently eating more grain products, but almost all of them are refined grains (white bread, etc.). Grain consumption has jumped 45 percent since the 1970s, from 138 pounds of grains per person per year to 200 pounds! Only 2 percent of the wheat flour is consumed as whole wheat.
- Our consumption of fruits and vegetables has increased, but only because the U.S.D.A. includes French fries and potato chips as a vegetable. Potato products account for almost a third of our “produce” choices.
- We’re drinking less milk, but we’ve more than doubled our cheese intake. Cheese now outranks meat as the number one source of saturated fat in our diets.
- We’ve cut back on red meat, but have more than made up for the loss by increasing our intake of chicken (battered and fried), so that overall, we’re eating 13 pounds more meat today than we did
back in the 1970s.
- We’re drinking three times more carbonated soft drinks than milk, compared to the 1970’s, when milk consumption was twice that of pop.
- We use 25 percent less butter, but pour twice as much vegetable oil on our food and salads, so our total added fat intake has increased 32 percent.
- Sugar consumption has been another cause of our expanding waistlines. Sugar intake is simply off the charts. According to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, people are consuming roughly twice the amount of sugar they need each day, about 20 teaspoons on a 2000 calorie/day diet. The added sugar is found mostly in
junk foods, such as pop, cake, and cookies.
- In 1978, the government found that sugars constituted only 11 percent of the average person’s calories. Now, this number has ballooned to 16 percent for the average American adult and as much as 20 percent for American teenagers.
The days of the wholesome family dinners so near and dear to our hearts, where we all sat around the kitchen table to discuss events of the day, are now a part of our sentimental past. They have been replaced by our cravings for take-out and fast-food. We have gradually come to accept that it’s “OK” to sacrifice healthy foods for the sake of convenience and that larger serving portions mean better value.
And, since I have been throwing-out statistics, here’s one more:
Americans are consuming about 300 more calories each day than we did twenty years ago. We should actually be eating less because of our decreased activity level, but instead are doing the opposite!
Decide TODAY that healthy eating and exercise habits will become a permanent part of your life!
Begin to explore your values and thoughts and other areas of your life where change may be required, and then take action. Begin slowly, but deliberately to make improvements in the areas you identify. And remember, it has taken a very long time to develop your habits, and it will take some time to undo them…so be
patient!
The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to medically diagnose, treat or cure any disease. Consult a health care practitioner before beginning any health care program.
About the Author
Emily Clark is editor at Lifestyle Health News and Medical Health News where you can find the most up-to-date advice and information on many medical, health and lifestyle topics.