Foods from all food groups - The foods from each group contain vital nutrients that the body cannot go without. That is why it is best to eat whole grains, meat, poultry, fish and dairy products and legumes, vegetables and fruits. If your body is deprived of a certain type of nutrient, all kinds of health problems may arise. It is even possible for vital organs such as the kidneys and the liver to be permanently damaged.
Small portions - Experts say that good diets are the ones that involve the intake of fewer calories. The simplest way in which this is achieved is through the reduction of the amounts of foods that you eat. If you have smaller portions, you will still get the nutrients you need and lose weight at the same time. Diets that encourage you to stuff yourself with unlimited amounts of some foods and forbid you to eat others are certainly not good for you.
Four or five meals per day - It has been proven that the more small meals you have the more effective your weight loss will be. The idea is to have three main meals per day plus one, two or possibly more snacks. The main purpose of snacks between meals is to prevent the fall in blood sugar levels which causes hunger pangs. You should certainly be suspicious of programs that require you to eat once or twice a day only.
Tips for dealing with hunger pangs and cravings - There are physical factors that make us feel hungry and crave for certain foods, but there are psychological ones as well. A good program should take care of these problems in an effective and safe manner. Apart from having snacks and eating sugary foods from time to time, there are various psychological tricks which you can use. A good diet should provide advice on these methods.
Tips on drinks - A comprehensive weight loss diet will guide you to the things which you should and should not drink. Water plays an essential role in metabolism and the burning of fat so it is best if it is consumed in sufficiently large amounts. Alcohol, sugary and carbonated drinks will have an adverse effect when it comes to slimming.
Getting through the Diet Plan Maze
There are millions of Americans who are worried about their appearance as they are overweight or obese. These are the people who are always on the lookout for a magic pill or a diet that will make them slim overnight or in a short time period. A lot of companies have started capitalizing on the desire of the people to get back into shape to look slim and sexy like those Hollywood celebrities. The internet is full of diet plans that make tall claims to allure people to buy them. It is indeed a tough job to make sense of a diet plan unless you happen to be a doctor or a nutritionist as most plans use medical jargons. This article attempts to help the average reader who is overweight and interested in dieting to better understand the different diet plans.
Do not fall prey to aggressive advertising of a diet plan
It is one thing discovering the need to lose weight and to get back into shape and an entirely different thing to have a clear knowledge of how to begin and where to turn to. There are myriad plans to confuse a layman and he often goes by the popularity of a diet plan or the recommendation of a friend or a relative who has already made use of a diet plan. There are far too many confusing voices pulling the mind of a person in different directions. There are the advertisements of magic pills and a magic fruit doing it all for you while all you are required to do is to pop them once a day to stay slim and trim.
Do not make the mistake made by thousands before you
There are thousands if not millions, of people who have paid and then felt dejected as they could not find the right path through the maze of calorie counting and all the related advice that has become customary with all the diet plans sold on the internet these days. People feel cheated as they did exactly what they were required to do by their respective diet plans. They counted the calories, restricted the food items, and even exercised in the way and manner in which they were asked in their diet plan. Yet they could not achieve the weight loss goals they had in their minds when they invested in the plan.
No single diet plan can work for all people
One thing that people fail to appreciate is that all of them are unique as they have different genetic makeup and dispositions towards food items. There are a lot of people suffering from various medical conditions. Imagine a person suffering from high blood pressure or diabetes expecting to lose weight in the same way as a normal healthy individual. It is a fact that nearly all diet plans are made by nutritionists keeping in mind the requirements of normal people and it would be foolhardy to expect same results in all individuals.
The promises made by diet plans make us excited initially and we readily do things as we are directed. But soon the initial euphoria is over and the user finds the counting of calories and the restrictive food list bit too much to follow. If the results are visible, it is bearable but it is when the user finds that despite his best efforts, he is not shedding extra fat that he becomes desperate.
Get a mentor
It is a good idea to have someone knowledgeable become your mentor and guide you through the maze of diet plans. This is because your mentor will understand where you stand and where you want to be at the end of the diet plan. He will also know your body and its needs and requirements and will recommend a diet plan that is tailor made to work for you.
Get a plan you are comfortable with
Remember, a good diet plan is designed to be flexible so it should be customized according to the needs of the user. Another feature of a good diet plan is that it is based on scientific principles that are tried and tested and can be followed for a long time.
Gluten Free Diet Explained
Gluten is a protein found in some grains like wheat, rye, barley and malts. Gluten is also used as a thickening and stabilizing agent in many recipes for breads and ice-creams. There are a lot of people around the world who are born with intolerance towards gluten and they suffer from many ailments when gluten comes in contact with their small intestine. This is a medical condition known as celiac disease. It afflicts nearly 0.5% of the world's population. This disease affects more Caucasians than people from other races. There are nearly 3 million victims of celiac disease in the US alone.
What is a gluten free diet?
There is currently no permanent cure for celiac disease and the only treatment for a person diagnosed with it is a gluten free diet. It is hard for a person to be diagnosed early as the symptoms of the damage to the lining of small intestine come to light only when a person complains of cramps or suffers from vitamin and mineral deficiency. There are also other symptoms like gas, diarrhea, and bloating. These symptoms remain as long as person continues to eat foods containing gluten. It is when a patient with celiac disease gives up gluten completely that he gets cured as his small intestine heals up in the absence of gluten. This is the significance and importance of a gluten free diet.
All patients suffering from celiac disease may have different symptoms but they all respond to a gluten free diet. Being a parent of a child suffering from gluten intolerance is not an easy task as it is hard to find a gluten free food for the kid all the time and at all the places where your family goes. One cannot remove gluten from a food item once it has been prepared. Grain is commonly used in the preparation of food items and it is often hard to know by the list of ingredients whether the food item contains gluten or not. That is why many a times celiac patients eat gluten unknowingly.
One has to learn to live with celiac disease
Once a celiac, always a celiac means that once a person is diagnosed with gluten intolerance, he has to remain on a gluten free diet for the rest of his life. What this implies is that knowing about different foods and deciding on a gluten free diet after consulting a dietician is a good idea for a person. Of course it is very frustrating for a kid to remain stuck with gluten free food items but soon he learns the importance of a gluten free diet for himself. There are also many substitutes for a food item containing gluten. Today, there is a greater awareness about the disease and far more gluten free food items are available in the market than a decade ago.
Oats is one food item that has been a topic of debate among experts as to whether it contains gluten or is safe for celiac patients to consume. There are nutritionists who say that it is safe for adults to consume oats while there are also studies which show that eating oats may be detrimental for kids having gluten intolerance. The problem with oats lies not with the grains but the manufacturing process that contaminates the product with gluten. With no final verdict, it is better for gluten patients to stay away from oats.
One has to learn to live with the knowledge that staying away from foods containing gluten is the best way to remain disease free and live a happy and healthy life. There are many foods that do not contain gluten and the patient is free to eat them. The list includes many beans and nuts, eggs and meats that are fresh, all fruits and vegetables, a lot of dairy products, and so on. There are many grains and starches that can be eaten by a patient such as rice, millet, arrowroot, amaranth, soy, sorghum, etc.
However, a celiac patient has to avoid wheat, barley, and rye at all costs. Unless they are especially labeled gluten free, the patient has to avoid beers, cakes and cookies, breads and cereals, French fries, and so on.
High Protein Diet
A high protein diet is mostly undertaken by athletes and bodybuilders when they are trying to increase their muscle mass. However, an increasing number of people interested in fat loss are also seen consuming a high amount of protein these days. While it is possible to get extra protein from food items, most people tend to take health supplements available in the market in the form of protein bars and shakes. However, there are controversies surrounding high protein diets as some nutritionists believe that consuming too much protein may lead to high stress levels in the body. High protein consumption may also lead to failure of the kidneys in some cases. There is a risk of dehydration associated with the consumption of too much protein as the metabolizing of protein requires large amounts of water.
High protein diet for a short time period can produce quick weight loss results
If undertaken for weight loss, a high protein diet is not very harmful if it is continued for a short time period of 3-4 months and not more than that. Another reason for the popularity of high protein diets among people who want to lose weight is that proteins seem to have a better capacity to satiate hunger than fats and carbohydrates. Coupled with a suitable exercise regimen, a high protein diet has been shown to produce better weight loss results. High levels of protein have been shown to help people fight their hunger in a better manner. This is perhaps a result of the brain receiving much lower signals from appetite stimulating hormones.
But how to decide on protein levels for a high protein diet? It is well known that our body needs protein at all stages of life for a variety of reasons and body functions. Protein makes up a large proportion of cells, muscles, and bones. If protein is required in high amounts during childhood for better growth and development, it is required to maintain immunity levels and to prevent degeneration of muscles and bones at all times. Protein helps significantly in warding off infections and ailments.
Proteins have been shown to suppress appetite
RDA suggests taking 56 grams of protein daily for adult men and 46 grams of protein per day for adult women. This amount of protein is not considered high and is easily managed by men and women. For building muscles and for weight loss, you need to consume much larger amounts of protein. You need more than a hundred grams of protein per day. Unless you have a renal problem, there is no danger in increasing the intake of protein but it is better to slowly raise the consumption. In a high protein diet meant for weight loss, more than 30% of the daily calories come from proteins. If losing weight is your only goal, you can have large amounts of protein to cut down on carbohydrates as proteins are known to suppress hunger also.
There is not a single high protein diet but a range of different high protein diets all emphasizing the increased intake of meats, egg whites, and poultry. Due to their low biological value, plant proteins are not included in any high protein diet plan. In addition, it is a known fact that plant proteins lack essential amino acids.
There are many benefits that a person can get from a high protein diet and anyone can go for a high protein diet irrespective of what his goals and objectives are. Some of the important benefits include:
* Increased lifespan
* Slowed down signs of aging
* Improved immunity
* Lower risk of cardiovascular diseases
* Building of muscle mass
* Improved performance levels
* More effective weight loss
Protein is one component that is vital for growth, repair, and maintenance of all our body organs, tissues and cells. And this includes our muscles and bones as well. Muscles are mostly made up of proteins. So if you want to have a muscular build, it is imperative to go on a high protein diet. Those who want to lose weight have found that going on a high protein diet has been the best way to lose body fat without losing muscle. You can readily consider such a diet.
How Diets can be Dangerous
With the kind of lifestyle being led by modern day people in addition to their poor nutrient intake, it is no surprise that nearly half of the population is overweight. The number of obese individuals is increasing day by day despite the growing awareness of the benefits of staying in shape. People have become conscious of their appearance and they have started making concerted efforts to lose weight to look young and smart. But in their endeavor to look slim, millions undertake dieting in an unscientific and haphazard manner that can be dangerous for their health and well being.
People expect miracles from a diet
Though there are better methods for losing weight and toning the body such as doing workouts at the gym, most people find it tiresome and exhausting in addition to being inconvenient as they cannot take time out every day to hit the gym at the right time. This has given birth to a number of popular diets that have been designed to help people who dream of losing weight quickly. Knowing the fact that different people have different body makeup and different reactions to various food items, there can be no single diet or diet plan that can be labeled as perfect or ideal for all. That is why it becomes prudent to consult one’s health care provider or doctor before starting a particular diet, irrespective of how popular and effective it might be claimed to be.
If there are genuine, result producing diet plans devised by nutritionists and doctors, there are also fad diets that promise to make a person slim and sexy in a very short time period. In addition to quick weight loss, these fad diets also promise health benefits. Yes, talking in general terms, making a person lose weight does provide him with health benefits but the fact of the matter is that these diets do more harm than good to an individual. Some diets require people to go on a very restrictive food regimen that provides calories sufficient to survive only. This kind of diet lacks vital nutrients and can severely harm the individual in the long run.
Dieting is a short term solution only
If dieting were so effective in providing permanent loss of weight, there would not be so many obese people in the world today. You have to take into account the fact that millions of people that are on a diet get no permanent results. The truth hurts but with most of the so-called wonder diets, the weight lost by an individual is quickly regained once the person is off the diet. This is the reason why nutritionists refer to such diets as yo-yo diets.
It is quite easy to identify fake/fad diets. Do not fall prey to the false claims made by a particular diet if it proposes focusing on one food group while avoiding all other groups. Also, there is no reason to believe tall claims and promises unless there is scientific evidence to support the claim. There are thousands of people suffering from eating disorders like bulimia, binge eating, anorexia etc who say that they were all right until they went on a fad diet suggested by their friend.
Our society and the standards it has set for beautiful and sexy are also responsible for millions of teenagers and adults going into starvation mode every now and then with a desire to become size zero. Experts are of the opinion that this is a dangerous way to measure the health of an individual. There are all sorts of misconceptions like the ones that fat is bad and that a fit person is someone who is thin.
If we think of a balanced diet at one extreme and eating disorders with obsession for some foods while ignoring others is at the other extreme, fad diets must occupy a place close to eating disorders. Dieting is better controlled in nature although there is nothing natural about the diet or the lifestyle that goes with it.
The reason why fad diets have become so popular is because of our craving for instant results when it comes to our obesity. We do not have the time and inclination to do hard workouts at the gym or even exercises at home which sets the conditions right for fad diets.