Health and Fitness

The chances of getting cancer are increasing among people from all walks of life, thanks to modern lifestyle, overall genetic and environmental metamorphosis.

Is there any natural way to fight against cancer? A healthy lifestyle, regular physical exercise and a balanced nutritious diet can definitely beat cancer.

According to the recommendations from American Institute For Cancer Research, at least 2/3^rd of your total diet should be vegetables, fresh fruits, whole grains and beans. Certain antioxidants can definitely prevent the genetic changes that occur in the pathology of cancer.

Following is a list of foods that can help to fight against cancer –

Avocado: this is particularly rich in glutathione, beta-carotene and potassium. Avocados can destroy free radicals in our body which are responsible for cancer formation.

Carrots: Carrots are also good source of beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant. Optimum use of carrots can prevent cancer of the liver, lungs, mouth, stomach, breast and prostate cancer.

Broccoli: Rich in a typical chemical compound indole 3-carbinol. This is especially helpful in preventing breast cancer.

Garlic: Has been used for ages in Indian traditional medicine (Ayurveda) for treating any kind of growth in the body.

Mushrooms: A good source of beta-glucan which hit the cancer cells and prevents them from multiplying.

Oranges, lemons, grapes, grapefruits: all these fruits are good source of antioxidants which fight against cancer cells.

Green tea: The Chinese have used green tea to treat cancer for a long time.

The list is not exhaustive. There are hundreds other foods that can help to fight against cancer.

Fats have always been associated with calories. Dietary fats play a vital role in your health and they should be included in your diet but within the recommended limit. Fats are high energy foods that provide 9 kcal of energy per gram of fat  in contrast to carbohydrates or proteins that provide only 4 kcal of energy. Proteins are largely spared from being used by the body to supply energy, as long as fat is present. Besides supplying energy, fats serve as mode of transport for the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Fats support vital organs of the body like the heart, kidneys and the intestine. Fat is present underneath the skin which acts as an insulator against cold. But above all, the food becomes more palatable with the use of fat.

Fats are linked with weight gain and obesity. The US dietary guidelines restricted the intake of fats in diet as not more than 30 % of the total calorie intake for both adults and children. The reason was to prevent them from becoming obese, possible heart and other diseases. But it was seen that children having a low fat and low cholesterol diet failed to grow properly and on the contrary they became more prone to heart diseases. Children need a high amount of fat in their diet throughout for their proper growth and development of muscles, bones and brain.

Diets rich in EFAs reduce the chance of heart disease. Animal fats help to provide vitamin D and A and omega fatty acids that are required for the assimilation of protein, development of immunity to fight against infections, development of brain and vision, also the development of sexual functions and fertility is influenced by fat.

Eat Fiber block Fat

Fiber is the indigestible portion of all plants, its found in their cell walls and fiber provides the structural support to the plant. Dietary fiber comes from plant foods like grains, beans, fruits and vegetables. Animal products do not contain this dietary fiber. Most of the fiber rich foods are found to contain soluble and insoluble forms of fiber. Fibers, mainly the soluble fibers are medically potent as cholesterol reducers and help regulate blood sugar. While the insoluble forms of fiber are potent laxatives.

According to health experts diets consisting of more fiber help weight loss. The reasons fiberous foods fight against fat are,

• Fiber controls the intake of sugar and fat
• Fiber helps to regulate the level of blood sugar
• Fiber has a fat binding property

Most dietary fibers have zero calories in them. They have low sugar and fat content. So when you fill your stomach with fiber rich foods, there will be less space for fatty foods. As a  high fiber diet requires longer for food breakdown you do not feel hungry. The fibers bind to the fat you eat and help to remove them from your body before they are stored on your body as fat. Less Nutrients are absorbed from the food into your bloodstream as fiber slows down the production of insulin after a meal. Cholesterol is produced in our body by the liver. Food also provides a smaller portion of it. But as fat is blocked in the intestine by the fiber, most of the cholesterol does not get absorbed. Even the fat soluble vitamins are blocked by the fiber along with the fat.

Raw Food Diet

Low GI Carbs - What is the Glycemic index

Glycemic index (GI) tells us the effects of carbohydrates on the level of blood sugar.  Low glycemic index carbohydrates (carbs) means those foods will break down slowly inside our Gastrointestinal System and gradually the glucose will be released into the blood.

These foods are also broken down in the liver and converted to some other molecules rather than changing into glucose. As the rise in the blood sugar is gradual, these foods will warrant less insulin to be secreted from pancreas and the result will be better control of blood sugar for diabetic patients. Increase in the blood lipid level will also be less.

Effect of foods over blood sugar is tested by a method called ‘Glucose tolerance test’. A loading dose of the carbs (usually 50 grams) is given and the blood sugar is checked after 2 hours. Various foods are given and the blood sugar level is checked. The foods, which make the curve less steep are considered as a Low GI value.

Low GI carbs are in discussion quite a lot these days. This is a healthy way to control your blood sugar not only for the diabetics, but for the persons who have a diabetic family member also. In fact, we all should consider taking low GI carbs to remain on the safe side.

Low GI carbohydrate foods include – oats, barley, wholegrain, fruits, Basmati rice, pasta made from Semolina wheat, green leafy vegetables, this list is not exhaustive there are many foods in which low GI carbs can be found.

Losing Fat fast

The summer is here and you’ve probably only just become concious of your wobbly bits, your going on holiday in August and you want to look good on the beach.

Theres no good way to lose pounds of fat fast, crash dieting is not healthy and you’ll probably also lose a lot of muscle, muscle is the best thing to burn fat. Losing lots of it means when you stop dieting you get even fatter.

 Heres some stuff to help you slim up in a healthy and sustainably manner first of all you could start by reading these fat loss tips, cut down your alcohol consumption theres a lot of Calories in Lager, Circuit training will help you tone up Heres some basic circuits for you to try and if your considering pills to lose your fat heres a little guide to how Fat metabolisers work.

Your holiday will be much more enjoyable if your more confident about the way you look,

The healthy approach to weight loss involves daily workouts, adequate diet and proper sleep. There is no role of over enthusiastic dieting and crash exercise. Mother Nature has so created our body that it can not withstand fast transformations.

Suppose, you are living a really sedentary lifestyle and someday you are requested to run 100 meters sprint. You will injure yourself, if you do not break any leg bones. You will be demoralized and it will put your level of fitness further back.

Dieting also demands slow and steady reduction in the amount you eat. The diet you consume calories will supply the required energy when you are doing any exercise schedule. If you starve, your performance in the work out program will also suffer.

Lifestyle modification

Simple modifications in your lifestyle will make a huge difference. Just follow these simple steps –

If you have a pet, take him outside for regular walking.

Add 30 minutes extra to your domestic work like gardening, dusting, cleaning etc.

Engage in any hobby that demands outdoor activity like hiking.

If travelling for a short distance like to the shop for a paper, use your feet.

If you can park your car at a distance from your destination. Take a quick walk from there.

Avoid sending e-mails to office colleagues. Go and personally meet him with a smile. Your PR (Personal Relations) will go up.

What happens when you exercise too much? 

Doing adequate exercise is healthy, but when a person gets obsessed with exercise, it becomes a disease. It is has multiple names – exercise addiction, exercise dependence, compulsive athleticism and exercise abuse.

This addiction will affect your career, family and other social engagements. Addiction to exercise is both physically and psychosocially damaging.

Those who are obsessed to exercising may have their own motivations. They feel a ‘high’ from doing exercise. It makes them feel they can adequately control their body weight and keep it in shape. They will do exercise even if they are injured or sick. They usually exercise alone to avoid any silly comments from others. They miss important arrangements, workplace, school, college and other social gatherings.

Recent studies have shown that, exercise addiction is also associated with other psychological disorders like bulimia nervosa. They become a serious patient of chronic fatigue syndrome. Long standing patients of exercise addiction suffer from stress fracture of long bones.

They are also a strong contender of nutritional disorders like protein deficiency, avitaminosis and others.

As they continue doing exercise even when injured, it calls for an immediate medical attention. They don’t feel like going to the doctors as they fear they will be banned doing exercise.

So you want to start your fitness regime. Most enthusiastic readers know that a fitness program consists of two things – regular exercises and proper diet. Let us discuss the things to consider when starting a fitness program.

Exercise: first of all, consult your doctor. He will tell you that whether you are fit for every type of exercises or you need to restrict some vigorous workouts. Exercise regimes depend upon the fitness level and health of each individual.

Never be hasty doing any sort of exercise. Slow but steady start is the key for optimum result. Mother Nature has created our body in such a way that it can not withstand any drastic changes in our homeostasis. Get some physical exercise equipment if you don’t want to join a gym.

Get some help from a personal trainer, this site heres some resources for you building muscle, Fat Loss, Dieting, subscribe to the Feed and read some fitness magazines. There are lots of videos for people who are new to exercise.

There is no reason for crash dieting. Experts say that skipping meals does harm rather than offering any beneficial effect to your body. When you are doing exercises, your body needs calories/energy. Otherwise, it will badly affect your work performance. You need to take fresh vegetables, complex carbohydrates, fiber and protein.

Take plenty of water. Avoid fat, junk foods, alcohol and tobacco as much as possible.

Antioxidants you need them! 

By definition, an anti oxidant is a molecule that can either prevent or slow down the process of oxidation. Oxidative processes can generate free radicals that are notorious to health.

An accumulation of these free radicals inside any cell can slow down its growth markedly and eventually make the cell die. By antagonizing the oxidative process, an antioxidant prevents the natural aging process of our body. It also helps to treat some disease processes.

The Human brain is extremely susceptible to the free radicals generated by oxidative procedures owing to its high level of metabolic reactions and increased level of polyunsaturated fatty acids. This is why; doctors prescribe various forms of antioxidants to treat different forms of brain injury.

Any type of exercise produces an amount of free radicals. So athletes and other sportspersons require supplementation of antioxidants.

Different types of antioxidants include – Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Glutathione, Melatonin, Selenium, Molybdenum etc.

There are some naturally occurring antioxidants found in our body – ALC (Acetyl L Carnitine) and ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid).  Both of them are part of Omega-3 fatty acid group. Omega-3 fatty acids are well recognized as a potent antioxidant.

Foods that contain enough amounts of antioxidants are – broccoli, cabbage, spinach, yeast, beef besides the heart and kidney or dairy products.

Don’t want to be a fatty? Bored with everyday weight of your body? Now there is a solution that will help you to get slim without any side effects.

With experience from the American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP) SmartForLife created an ultimate cookie diet that will help you to lose all unnecessary fat. You will eat as much as your body needs, because every cookie is thought as a complete meal that contains all components that the human body requires. All of that you can get without moving from the house, because special delivery will bring the cookies to you!

All those years that you wondered how to lose weight are gone. Now you just have to order the right diet and start losing weight. The Diet plan is cheap and effective, you can lose even fifteen pounds a month. You can also do all of that with a soup diet. Every product was prepared by specialists in medical research centers.

With over forty such centers all over the country you can easily get access to required medical consultation and get your own BMI (Body Mass Index).

For the first time you can change your life with cookie diet and you can do it at home. Just order one of the offered product sets and wait for delivery. Your order will be transported right to your doorstep. With this great offer comes an ultimate opportunity to become slim. And all of that is possible without harmful starving or tough gym exercises.

How to lose weight? Just eat these special cookies. All are made of natural components (without any GMO’s and trans fats) to make you not only slimmer but also healthier. To make it all happen go to your nearest SmartForLife clinic and use the free BMI (Body Mass Index) to determine the individually best diet for your body.

Remember that each cookie is a complete balanced meal that gives you everything that you need for active living. Isn’t it tempting?

You can also try a soup diet which is well-balanced and tasty. With two flavours (beef and chicken) you are not going to get bored.

Eat cookies and soups – lose weight and fat without leaving home.