A liquid diet includes only juices which supplement all your daily meals. Practically the person will gain no fat, and carbohydrates through this diet. The juices will increase the amount of vitamins, minerals and essentials other cancer fighting chemicals in your body. Nowadays a liquid diet shake is readily available in the market. It is a great help to those going for regular diet fastening programs.

A liquid diet puts you on a diet which includes replacement of two meals and other snacks with a quality milk shake. Now you can make this shake by adding about eight ounces of fine quality skimmed milk and a powdered mixture of the drink which contains about 200 calories.

A diet plan in which you opt for a meal as well in that case you should surely go for a high protein diet because it is the best supplement for the weight loss. And moreover it will not cost and add any fats and calories to your body. Proteins can be found in chicken in a high quantity. So, you should once in a day go for 2 bowls of boiled chicken soup diet with no additives. Liquid diet loss can be easily achieved if you go for a high protein diet with a must inclusion of chicken soup diet in it.

Lemonade can also be a part of your liquid diet. One should prefer juices over milk shakes as it decrease in take of calories. Other liquid diets can be a cabbage soup with the right amount of carrots, a Hollywood diet food including orange and cranberry juice with soya milk.

Liquid diet may be harmful so is advised for quick weight loss for only those who are too much over weight. One must be careful while doing for a liquid diet.

Nutrition in the elderly is something I am growing to be concerned with as I get older, especially as it relates to brain fitness.

Never heard of neurogenesis or neuroplasticity? You want to take care of your brain. I counsel folks about the impact of poor nutritional habits on their behavior.

I have looked for a magic bullet, the miracle supplement that would fight off disease and keep me young and vital, and counteract some of my nutritional excesses, like my difficulty in giving up processed foods. Gotta have that hamburger helper.

However in the last couple of years I have seen my mother-in-law and one of my wife’s aunts, who are not much older than I am face serious health challenges, which is a sobering experience.

I am watching dear friends my age put their lives on hold to take care of aging parents.

Julie and I have talked about what would happen if her parents were ill and needed to move out of their house.

So the issue of staying well is with us all the time, and I am looking to make changes in how I take care of getting my body the building blocks it needs to sustain wellness, which means vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytochemicals, glyconutrients, omega 3 fatty acid, ect., all those things we need to ward of disease and chronic illness.

I have always been good about exercise, and I have been much improved on the vegetable front for the last several years, and this spring we planted a bit of a garden, including four tomato plants which produced many more tomatoes than we could use, so even though I do not really like tomatoes, I juiced some with celery from our garden, and carrots, and I really liked the result, even felt a little better.

So now I am moving towards using my veg-o-matic to make some juices for my immune system and my brain fitness.

I would like to age like Jim Ward who finished the Ironman triathalon when he was 74.

At any rate, about a year ago, I saw a book advertised called The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge,MD, and he interviewed researchers who were making astounding discoveries about our brains, and what they are capable of across the life span.

It turns out that our brains grow new neurons everyday, which is called neurogenesis, and our brains are much more plastic than we ever new, which means my brain will reorganize itself in a healthy way each time I learn something new. It will also pare unused neurons and circuits which may not be so healthy, if it pares too many.

It also turns out that neurogenesis and neuroplasticity can be encouraged by attending to what writers in the brain fitness field are calling the pillars of brain fitness.

The pillars of brain fitness are physical activity/exercise, nutrition including omega 3 fatty acid and antioxidants, which you must get from the food for best results, sleep, stress management, and novel learning experience.

So nutrition is an important part of healthy nutrition in the elderly. If I supply my body the tools it needs, it is designed to successfully manage pathogens.

And the next wonderful thing is that healthy nutrition is very important in keeping my brain making wise decisions about its future.

Your lifestyle does not have to include triathalon style workouts or monkish menu’s to enhance neurogenesis and neuroplasticity either.

According to Simon Evans,Ph.D. and Paul Burghardt,Ph.D., who are the authors of Brainfit for Life the exercise level required for brain fitness can be done at home by increasing the amount of physical activity that you do, like the model that 88 year old Bill and 82 year old Pat use. No expensive club membership nor do you need equipment any more sophisticated than an exercise ball and/or a couple of small dumbbells.

Evans and Burghardt to into some detail about micro and macro nutrients that we need from our food.

The big thing to remember is that brain, heart, and immune system food must be natural, preferably grown nearby.

No more processed food, which is engineered for long shelf life, not nutrition.

I have always been a smoothie maker, and I am going to become much more of a juicer, having created some great tomato and carrot and celery recipes from our garden this year.

And since I have read Evans and Burghardt I have been taking my omega 3 fatty acid. What I have noticed from that is an improvement in my attention, and a balancing of my mood.

I take a supplement because getting the fish which are best for omega 3 fatty acid is expensive, and perhaps full of mercury, so a supplement, if it is refined to get the mercury out, is cheaper and more efficient. Cooking fish takes a bit more time than I want to put in.

The next pillars of brain fitness that Burghardt and Evans talk about are sleep and stress management. I have used a stress management and relaxation tool personally and taught it to my clients called HeartMath, which teaches me to change the chemistry in my body from adrenalin and cortisol to DHEA (the antiaging hormone) in a heart beat. Remember that my thought about an event brings my stress chemistry, and too frequent stress responses, or stress responses that last too long kill those new brain cells. Use HeartMath to keep the stress response available for its intended use. Otherwise, keep cool for brain fitness.

According to Evans and Burghardt important activities happen in our brains during sleep. That is when the brain makes decisions about keeping or paring newly created neuroplastic connections. If that paring or consolidation is not done efficiently, we will pay an attentional price.

The novel learning experiences most frequently touted by the brain fitness writers is learning a new language or learning a new instrument because those activities provide increasing levels of challenge and complexity for encouraging neuroplasticity.

However recently published research, to be exact, the IMPACT study has demonstrated the validity and reliability of one of the commercially available brain fitness programs, the Posit Science Brain Fitness Program. Call it brain nutrition in the elderly.

Both the participants, all older than 65, and over 500 of them, and the researchers reported surprise at what they discovered.

Since I do not have time to learn a new language, or practice a new instrument, I am using the Posit Science program, and it has made a very nice improvement in my word recall process.

And now I am off to the grocery store to get carrots and celery for a refreshing tonic.

Michael S. Logan is a brain fitness expert, a counselor, a student of Chi Gong, and licensed one on one HeartMath provider. I enjoy the spiritual, the mythological, and psychological, and I am a late life father to Shane, 10, and Hannah Marie, 4, whose brains are so amazing. http://www.askmikethecounselor2.com

Hey there! If you’re reading this, you’re probably already aware of the importance of a healthy diet for your children. This is essential if you want them to have a good life.

When your kids eat, nutrients are extracted from food. This is how their bodies turn food into energy, and energy is what they need in order to live, to do exercise, to think, and to laugh. Their organisms will let them know when they need food by sending them messages (hunger is one of those messages), and it will send them different messages when they’ve had enough food as well. That’s why it is important that they don’t go on eating when they’re not hungry.

Children and teenagers need the same nutrients that adults do, but in different amounts and proportions. Because they’re growing up, it is so important that they eat a variety of foods from each food group to ensure optimal intake of all vitamins and minerals.

You may want to keep an eye on what your children eat when they’re not at home. You should become familiar with the school menu if your child participates in the school lunch program, for example, but wouldn’t it be much better if your kids themselves cared about nutrition facts?

An old Chinese saying goes: Give a person a fish, and you feed them for a day. Teach a person how to fish, and you feed them for a lifetime. Education is stronger than vigilance. If your child becomes interested in food, he or she will never forget this basic knowledge. For this purpose, you can send them to cooking classes for kids. Then, they can help you pack lunches for school, including food that’s pleasing and fun to eat, as well as healthy, safe, and nutritious.

A well-balanced packed lunch might include a sandwich with whole wheat-bread and a lean, protein-rich filling, such as turkey chicken, tuna, egg, cheese, or peanut butter; fresh fruit and/or vegetables; low-fat or fat-free milk; and graham crackers, Jell-0, or another simple low-fat dessert. Be aware of food safety measures when packing your child’s lunch, such as keeping perishable foods well-chilled.

If you enjoyed this article, please feel free to post it to your site or blog and forward this link to your friends. Have a great day!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/nutrition-101-for-kids-and-teens-1070411.html

About the Author:

We teach your kids to eat healthy and have fun, all at the same time! Nutritional
Gourmet Menus with an International Flavor prepared with your kids using only
the finest and freshest organic ingredients. We ant your kids in our
kitchen to stimulate their creativity and challenge their taste buds.

I’d like to start a little discussion today about carbohydrates… and in particular, "white foods" as well as potatoes. One reason I wanted to mention this is because so many health and fitness professionals trash talk potatoes about being a bad carbohydrate choice because of the high glycemic index. Some even say such ridiculous things as "avoid any and all white carbohydrates".

Ok, now while I certainly agree that white bread and refined white sugar are two of the worst things we can be feeding our bodies, I definately don’t agree with avoiding any and all "white carbohydrates". Now I know all of the buzz lately has been about colorful foods and the protective antioxidants that they contain. They tell you to focus on colors and stay away from white.

It’s true that colorful foods are great, but it is a big mistake to specifically avoid white foods! There are plenty of white foods that have specific nutrients that are hard to find elsewhere. Let’s look at a few examples… Now lets explore some answers to the question, do fruit and vegetables provide adequate nutrition.

Onions & Garlic

What about onions and garlic? They are both white and they are chock full of protective phytonutrients, vitamins, and trace minerals that aren’t easy to find elsewhere in a normal diet… such nutrients as allicin, quercetin (an important flavonoid), chromium, and other unique anti-inflammatory nutrients.

Cauliflower

Another example of something white that is great for you is cauliflower. Cauliflower is loaded with vitamin C, fiber, minerals, and special compounds such as glucosinolates and thiocyanates, which are specifically abundant in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. And a little-known fact is that some of the compounds in cruciferous vegetables help to combat other estrogenic compounds in our food supply and environment and can help prevent excess belly fat. So eat up on that cauliflower!

Mushrooms

Not many people realize this, but surprisingly, even white mushrooms have high levels of unique nutrients and antioxidants. White mushrooms are high in a couple types of antioxidants called polyphenols and ergothioneine.

Potatoes

Now that also leads us to another example – white potatoes (which by the way, can also be found in red, yellow, purple varieties, etc). Many health professionals claim that potatoes are a bad carbohydrate because they are thought to have a high glycemic index. First of all, understand that glycemic index is not necessarily the most important factor in choosing your carbohydrates.

While a generalization can be made that most low glycemic index carbohydrate choices will help you lose body fat easier than high glycemic index choices, it is not all that it’s cracked up to be. There are many other factors that determine how your body will react-to and process the carbohydrates you ingest, such as glycemic load and also how you combine the high GI food with other foods.

For example, using glycemic load as an example… it is known that watermelon has a high glycemic index. However, the glycemic load of a normal serving of watermelon is just way too low for your body to start packing on body fat just because you ate a high glycemic index fruit. You would have to eat such an enormous quantity of watermelon just to get enough grams of carbohydrates to have any negative glycemic effect, that it is just non-sensical.

Not to mention that watermelon is also a great source of vitamins, minerals, and lycopene. There’s just no reason to avoid it simply because it has a high GI. My point is… candy bars, cupcakes, and donuts make you fat… NOT watermelons, carrots or potatoes.

Also, as i mentioned, food combinations are important in how your body processes the carbohydrates and the associated blood sugar and insulin response you receive. For example, if you mix a high glycemic index carbohydrate with an extra source of fiber, healthy fats, or even certain proteins, many times the blood sugar and glycemic response will be slowed down considerably by the way you combined the food. Again, I talk in detail about this entire topic in my Truth about Six Pack Abs book.

Alright, so back to my point that white potatoes are actually a healthy carbohydrate as long as you eat them in the right form… with the entire skin, and please don’t ruin them by deep frying them into french fries either! French fries are one of the most evil things ever invented for your health, but only because we ruin them by soaking them in a scorching bath of trans fats in the deep fryer from the hydrogenated oils that are typically used.

Keep in mind that potatoes contain so many vitamins and minerals that the list is way too long to even try. Also, as long as you eat the skins, you get a decent shot of fiber too.

On the topic of potatoes not being so bad after all, I don’t remember where I saw this referenced, but I recently saw a particular study that had participants eat something like 7-9 whole potatoes per day for several weeks. At the conclusion of the study, the potato eaters had actually consistently lost weight! I’d venture a guess that the reason the people lost weight is that they were probably so full from eating all of those damn potatoes, that they actually consumed less calories than normal! An average sized potato only has about 100-120 calories, and I can surely imagine you’d be full constantly from eating 7-9 potatoes each day.

Now I would never recommend going to those extremes, but my point is that an occasional potato is not going to hurt your efforts to get lean, especially if you combine it with some other fibrous vegetables and maybe a healthy fat and some protein. On that note, I have one of my favorite recipes for you, using potatoes.

Lean-Body Potato Side Dish

Desired quantity of baby potatoes (I like to use this mixture I found recently at a health food store… it is a mixture of white, red, yellow, and purple baby potatoes)

• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 or 2 onions
• a couple cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 or 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• a little salt and pepper to taste (I like using a sea salt instead of normal commercial salt)

Cut the baby potatoes into slightly smaller pieces and place in a steamer until soft all the way through. Slice up the peppers and onions into strips and add with the chopped garlic into a pan with the olive oil. Cook the peppers, onions, and garlic until tender, and then add the steamed baby potatoes. Stir it all together and serve.

This is a delicious and healthy side dish that goes great with chicken or red meat.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little topic today about potatoes, healthy carbohydrates, glycemic index, and my killer potato recipe idea! If you enjoyed this article today, feel free to copy/paste this link and email to your friends and family that would be interested.

For you to find more nutrition information go to http://www.yourfatbelly.com

There really is a lot of confusion out there when it comes to eggs. Mainly the difference between egg whites and the yolk. Most people believe, and have been told time and time again that egg yolks are bad for you. They’re loaded with cholesterol, and increase your risk for heart disease, stroke, and other bad things.

Well, I’m here to tell you differently. Eggs are one of my favorite foods. They are probably the world’s most perfect food. As a natural food item they pack the best protein source in the world. And without a shadow of a doubt are extremely healthy for you. And the yolk is actually the healthiest part of the egg.

If you throw out the yolk, you’re pretty much throwing out the nutrition. The egg white is almost completely devoid of any vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. You get calcium, iron, riboflavin, B12, selenium (huge cancer fighter), phosphorous, zinc, thiamin, B6, folate, all the fat soluble vitamins, and a whole lot more super powerful nutrients.

But what about the cholesterol? Before I get into that, let’s talk about an essential nutrient that eggs are a superstar provider of—Choline. It’s an essential nutrient because you must obtain it from the diet, much like essential fatty acids. It is essential for brain, cell membranes, and cardiovascular function. It’s part of a phospholipid that I can’t pronounce and you need not worry about knowing the name of. But without adequate amounts of it, both cholesterol and fat will accumulate in the liver. So the choline in eggs actually stops the accumulation of fat and cholesterol in the liver!

Many studies have come out saying that dietary cholesterol doesn’t raise cholesterol levels significantly. It is much more affected by saturated and trans fats. You should be getting less than 10% of your total calories from saturated fats, and 0% from trans fats—Yes, they are that evil!

Many people don’t know this but the body actually makes cholesterol in the body. If you don’t eat enough cholesterol in your diet, the body produces more. If you do eat foods high in cholesterol, like whole eggs, then the body lessens the amount it will produce. Cholesterol plays a hand in many important functions in the body. You actually can’t live without it.

So don’t be afraid of the yolk. It’s good for you. Each large egg contains 70 calories and 6.3 grams of protein. So add some vegetables, or fruit, and it makes a great snack. You should be getting protein with each of your meals throughout the day anyway, and there is no natural food item protein better than whole eggs.

Another great thing about eggs is the variety you can use them with. There are so many different ways to prepare eggs. I must confess I do eat my eggs raw some time. Rocky! Rocky! The question of salmonella comes up then. Actually a study done by the USDA found that of 69 billion eggs produced annually only .3 percent are contaminated at all. Salmonella appears only when the eggs come from sick birds. If you’re buying your eggs from a reputable company the chances are super slim of getting bad eggs.

Back to egg whites. These are fine if you are trying to watch your fat intake or calorie intake. But unless you’re a professional body builder preparing for a show, you don’t need 100% egg whites. You’re missing out on super important brain, eye, and overall health food nutrition. Plus it tastes a whole lot better.

Jason Yun, a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Sports Nutritionist, is a Columbus fitness bootcamp and weight management teacher. To book him to speak at your local Columbus organization please contact him by email at jyun@yunbootcamps.com or by phone at 614-432-9703. For a free 2-week trial to his Bootcamps go to: http://www.yunbootcamps.com/specialoffer.html or http://www.yunnutrition.com

Over 88% of people today take vitamins. The reason being that we are not getting the nutrition that we need in our food today. When you go into almost any store today you will see nutritional supplements on shelves not to mention the vitamin stores that are opening. It can be over whelming trying to choose what you should take. There are many factors to choose from. like what brand, what vitamin, what dosage, what about the different formulations, and what about the cost.

A person can easily spend $100 a month and end up taking over 10 different pills a day and you might not be getting what you think you are. Did you read the label carefully was the serving size 1,2,or even 3 capsules? Most nutritional supplements call for more then 1 capsules for a serving size, so if you get a bottle with 120 capsules then most likely you need to take 4 capsules of that supplement. Why do you need to take more then 1 pill? In pills and capsules there is very little room for the actual active ingredient since up to 80% are fillers, binders, chelating agents and film coating.

High quality liquid multivitamins take care of that problem. You do not have to read the fine print on those bottles to figure out how many capsules you need or have to swallow all those pills. You can get all the vitamins, minerals, fruit, vegetable and plant extracts you need in one serving of a high quality liquid multivitamin.

Liquid vitamins have advantages over pills and capsules. Liquid minerals can get assimilated in as quick as 3 minutes while capsules can take 3 to 5 hours. Another problem with capsules is that there are some vitamins that your body can not absorb in this form so you are just wasting your money as they get flushed out of your system. You are also paying for all those fillers and binders which raise the cost of vitamins.

There are some that say you do not need to take any supplements that we get all that we need in our food. This is not true for several reasons. Years ago fruits and vegetables used to be picked and eaten with a day or two but not in todays society. Today they get picked and then travel across country and then gets stored on shelves in stores, each day that passes most fruits and vegetables start losing nutritional content. Then when we bring home that food we cook it and again more nutritional value gets lost. Plus how many of us today get the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Nutritional supplements are a must in todays society.

The next time you are going to buy nutritional supplements look for a high quality liquid multivitamin. You can get all you need in one bottle, saving you time and money. No longer will you have to worry about how many of each vitamin you need to take or if you can get all the pills down. Not to mention having to open all those different bottles. Plus you will not have to spend hours trying to figure out what to take. Trying to decipher between brands and types of vitamin on store shelves can be a nightmare. Not to mention the savings on the environment by using only 1 bottle instead of 3 or 4.

Theresa Stauffer is an internet marketer that is looking to help people avoid getting scammed by opportunities out there. http://mlm.getgbgvitamins.com

As you probably know, nutrition is of the utmost importance for achieving results in your fitness program and living a healthy life in general. Like exercise, nutrition must be goal specific. If you want to lose weight you cannot eat a high Calorie diet. If you want to gain weight you cannot eat a low Calorie Diet. No matter what your goals are, here are the most important tips for active people to consider about their diet.

You cannot take a once size fits all approach when it comes to nutrition.

It does not matter if you read a diet in a magazine or have an expensive nutritionist for your nutrition program. What works for other people may not work for you. To find what works for you, experimentation is a must. I stress eating for variety. The more variety of food and fluids you consume, the more satisfied you will be with your meals. Consuming a variety of foods, the more vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals you will get in your diet. Far less negatives such as saturated fats, simple sugars and excess calories will be consumed.

Having proper nutrition will allow you to achieve optimum and more rapid results in any training program. Nutrition cannot be overlooked when optimum athletic performance is considered as well.

Eating Healthy Food and Fluids is More Important than Calorie Counting.

Many diets and nutrition programs focus strictly on calories in their program.This is definitely NOT the best way to approach your diet. Consuming the optimal foods will more than likely take care of the calories for you.

Most commonly referred to "clean" foods are better for satisfying your hunger and giving you the nutrients for energy for exercise. "Clean" foods are generally natural, nutrient dense foods without added fats and sugars. The healthier the food is blatantly obvious some times. If you had the choice between macaroni & cheese or plain sweet potato you can plainly see which would be better for your health. Steamed vegetables or fries? This is never really difficult.

Eating 5-6 small Meals and Snacks Takes Care of Food Timing

Have you ever been told not to eat, or not to eat or not to eat carbs after 6pm? This is something that is not good. Eating 5-6 small meals and snacks evenly spread out through the day is optimal. This will not only take care of your pre- and post- exercise meals but will also keep your energy levels stable throughout the day. When your body is constantly breaking down smaller portions, your energy, metabolism and fat burning will speed up.

Be a Cheater!

Sometimes sticking to a diet is very difficult. This is why cheating on your diet once in a while will keep you on track. If you are accustomed to cheating on your diet once a week you will be less likely to binge the next time you see a pizza, cookies or chips sitting in front of you. Cheating simply means eating an "un-clean" high calorie food that is not a normal part of your diet. Save this meal for a social occasion and don’t overdo it.

I hope you find my advice useful. I have much more but it would take hundreds of pages. The advice I want you to remember is if it does not work for you, move on to something that may. Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Good luck and I hope you are in the best shape of your life soon.

Michael Behnken, MS, NASM-CPT-PES, CSCS –
http://FitSF.com – http://AskTheTrainer.com

I am a career fitness trainer with 2 kinesiology degrees and 3 prestigious certifications.
My passion is communicating with and helping people.

In today’s society health is a major concern, and the nutrition that we get from our food today is not like it used to be. Our food today is deficient in vitamins and minerals due to mineral-deficient soils that are common throughout the world today. Further depletion of necessary nutrients results from processing and cooking foods. Our bodies need the right amounts of vitamins and minerals to function at its peak, otherwise illness can occur. Since the nutrients that our body needs is not coming from our food we need to look at nutritional supplements.

Let’s first take a look at why we need vitamins and minerals. They both have different but vital functions within our body. Vitamins control the chemical reactions within the body to convert food into energy and living tissue. Minerals are needed for several body functions including building strong bones, transmitting nerve signals, maintaining a normal heart beat, and are used to produce necessary hormones.

Recent studies show conclusively that vitamins and minerals work together in synergy. The lack of one of them can sometimes interfere with another vitamin or mineral’s function. If this deficiency continues it can have profound effects on persons health.

Knowing that we do not get the nutrition from our food more and more people are taking supplements. Liquid supplements are becoming increasingly popular today. One obvious advantage to liquid is that you do not have to swallow pills that can get stuck in your throat or leave an after taste. Other benefits of liquid supplements are that they have a high absorption rate and are bio-available. The reason for this is because they are in liquid form, therefore the body does not have to break them down. Capsules and tablets need to be broken down first for the body to use them and most never get broken down completely before being passed out of the system. Studies have shown that the body only absorbs between 10% to 20% of the nutrients available in capsule form, while over 90% are absorbed in liquid form.

Liquid formulation also means that you need smaller amount of ingredients then are found in capsules and tablets. You can also combine many different vitamins and minerals in one supplement to give you an all in one product. This can be done because unlike tablets and capsules there are no filler and binders needed to keep the product together.

The availability of liquid supplements does not mean that one can live without eating the proper food and remain healthy. We must understand that Liquid Multi Vitamins are not a food substitute, but only food supplements. They will only supplement the intake of natural vitamins from our daily diet. The proper nutritional diet is essential and along with the use multivitamins help ensure that you are healthy and immune to common infections.

Theresa Stauffer is a successful internet marketer who is concerned about the environment and the nutrition in the food we eat today. http://www.getgbgvitamins.com

1. Eat At Least ONE Green Salad Each Day

North Americans are only consuming on average 2-3 servings of fruits and vegetables per day! When you consider that the recommendation is for 5-10 servings per day and that most of our produce is nowhere near as mineral-rich as it was just 50 years ago, consuming greater amounts of vegetables and fruit has never been as necessary as now for nourishing your body with vital nutrients, alkalinity, and the life-prolonging food enzymes that it needs.

2. Drink At Least ONE Fresh-Pressed Juice or Green Smoothie Each Day

We live in busy lives. No one has time for anything anymore – not even healthy eating. Therefore, one of the greatest ways of supplying tremendous amounts of vitamins, minerals, food enzymes, and alkalinity to your body is through juices and smoothies. And remember, the greener the better!

It might be tough for some people to physically eat 5-10 fruits or vegetables during a day but with just 1 juice or smoothie you can easily meet that quota!

3. Eat 80% Whole Living Foods (raw)

Ever wonder why animals in their natural habitats do not suffer from the diseases that plague mankind? Isn’t also interesting that humans are the only species on earth that apparently "needs" to cook their food! There is no greater gift you can give your body then eating foods in their natural state – that is living or raw.

Cooking foods dramatically reduces their vitamin, mineral, and phytonutrient content and destroys their vital food enzymes that are so beneficial to our health. Simply incorporating more raw fruits and vegetables into your diet can make a profound difference in how you look and feel…and in no time at all!

4. Eat Every 2-3 Hours (but only if you’re hungry)

It’s a fact – most people eat too much food! It’s no wonder that more than 60% of the North American population is overweight. One of the reasons for this is eating copious amounts of "empty foods". These are foods that have no nutritional value. Eating empty foods only prompts you to eat more food since your body is not receiving the nutrients it requires.

By eating smaller "nutrient-dense" foods more frequently throughout the day you will avoid cravings caused by blood sugar irregularities and you will also tend to eat less since your body will now be receiving all the nutrients it needs.

5. Eat Meat No More Than 2 Times Per Week

Let’s face it – meat is detrimental to your body. You can turn a blind eye if you want but the truth is that meat is acid-forming and causes inflammation in the body. Both of these conditions are common to every single disease known to mankind!

Oh, and don’t forget about the hormones, antibiotics, and inhumane conditions in which animals (for human consumption) are raised or the higher levels of cholesterol and saturated fats found in heavier meats.

Meat (especially red meat) also deprives your body of energy because it requires a tremendous amount of digestive energy and water to be broken down and assimilated into your body.

Yuri Elkaim is a Certified Kinesiologist, Registered Holistic Nutritionist, former Professional Soccer Player, the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach for the University of Toronto men’s soccer program, and regarded by many as Canada’s leading Fitness expert.

For more information on nutrition and Yuri, please visit us at http://www.eatingforenergy.ca

Yuri Elkaim is the author of Eating for Energy,a guide to healthy eating that has awaken the world to the power of natural living foods. It includes 120 recipes, a 12-week meal plan, and more great nutritional tools for living the best life ever! For more information, visit http://www.eatingforenergy.ca

The human body needs sufficient energy to perform various activities. To meet the energy requirements of the body, one has to consume the right kind of diet, so that the body is provided with the required Nutrition to enable physical and mental activity.

Thus, a nutritious diet is vital for sustainable existence. However, no single food or group of foods can fulfill all the nutrition requirements of the body. There are five main food groups which are as follows:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Cereals and Pulses
• Dairy
• Poultry, Fish and Meat products

A balanced diet of these five varieties of food groups helps meet the nutrition requirements of the body. One must also eat a variety of foods from within and across the food groups in order to compensate for varying the nutrition content of foods within each group. Besides, variety in food also appeals to the palate. The food group serving size, however, will depend upon various factors like age, activity level, body size and gender.

Fruits are rich in fiber and contain minerals like potassium, calcium, phosphorous etc. Fiber completes nutrition in the sense that it facilitates bowel movement and thus elimination of toxins from the body. A majority of the fruits also contain Vitamin A and C.

Vegetables too, are high in vitamins and minerals. Some vegetables not only have the obvious nutritional value but those like bitter gourds also have medicinal value.

Cereals and pulses fulfill the protein requirement of the body and provide nutrition for the muscles and bones.

Dairy products are especially rich in calcium which is quintessential for healthy bones.

Poultry, fish and meat products are rich in protein, fat and minerals. These are foods packed with heavy nutrition as the major nutrient is fat.

One must be careful about relative amount of consumption of each food group. Fruits, vegetables, cereals and pulses must be consumed in considerable amounts whereas dairy must not dominate the diet. Meat and other foods rich in fat must be consumed as per the requirement of the body. Excessive consumption of this food group leads to many heart related diseases. Consumption of all the nutrients proportionately is the key to suffice the Nutrition requirements of the body.

Provides articles about Nutrition. Consumption of all the nutrients proportionately is the key to suffice the Nutrition requirements of the body.