Optimum Nutrition

For diet and optimum nutrition some of the most frequently asked questions are:

1. "What do you recommend?

2. "What should people eat?"

3. “What exactly it is the proper diet?”

The simple answer to the above questions is “exercise more” or "eat less fat" and “base your diet on low fat food like…”. This "do’s and don'ts" will direct you towards a plant-based diet.

Although optimum nutrition is a more complicated matter and it cannot be solved in a few phrases, this an be a start.

Ground beef and other fatty meats are dangerous for both your weight and health.

It is known that red meat is the largest source of fat and saturated fat and that saturated fat is the most important factor in heart disease.

Bacon, ribs and sausage are other fats that we should not eat to maintain optimum nutrition.

For a healthy diet and optimum nutrition don’t eat lean meat more than three times a week although it has less saturated fat.

Studies show that lean red meats may increase the risk of colon and possibly prostate cancer but not seafood, or poultry which is healthier.

Don’t eat cheese based meals like pizza as it is well known that almost any pizza, especially a cheese pizza will use up 40 percent of your saturated fat limit for the day hence defeating your effort to maintain a healthy diet.

The food industry causes our salt problem. More than 70 percent of the sodium we eat comes from processed foods.

For an optimum nutrition and healthier life we should try changing a frozen dinner with our own steam broccoli or broiled fresh flounder in low-fat mayo, dill and lemon juice.

Don’t use the commercial salad dressing and try your own fresh garlic vinegar olive oil and mustard.

Optimum nutrition also means consuming less sweets as it can drag down a good diet and nutrition and may cause other important health problems.

Soft drinks give 160 calories at 12-ounce and no vitamins, fiber, minerals or phytochemicals. Other sweets like brownies or some cheesecake, cookies pecan or cinnamon rolls, give you an entire meal's worth of calories and fat.

Low-fat or fat-free versions of sweets are healthier, but cannot take the place of grain crackers, fruit or other nutrient-packed foods.

Don’t overdo consuming alcoholic beverages. For women that drink often than three times a week the risk of breast cancer is greater and the death rate is higher.

For optimum nutrition and diet, do eat:

Eating more vegetables and other plant foods, may reduce the risk of cancers, including lung, colon stomach, mouth, esophagus, throat, bladder and pancreas. And it can help lower your risk of heart disease and stroke by decreasing the cholesterol level.

For optimum nutrition eat at least five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables is recommended by the National Cancer Institute.

The risk of heart disease and stroke may be reduced mainly because fruits and vegetables contain photochemical folic acid, fiber and potassium.

Make your everyday fruits and vegetables handy for you. Keep a bag of peeled baby carrots on your desk. Peel an orange grapefruit or tangerine.

Keep a bowl of fruit salad in the fridge. Make sure that you eat as much vegetables and fruits as possible.

Switch to yogurt, ice cream, fat-free milk and cheese. Women especially don't get enough calcium to diminish the risk of osteoporosis. You can eat frozen yogurt or ice cream only if it's low-fat or fat-free.

A daily cup of regular ice cream can jeopardize a healthy diet. Most dairy foods have calcium. But they can also be field with artery-clogging saturated fat.

Eat whole grains because they are more nutritious than refined grains, and their risk of colon cancer is lower.

Buy only light tubs or sprays margarine or butter because they are healthier. Butter is filled with saturated fat. The spray butter and the light margarine have no more than six grams of fat or three grams of saturated fat per tablespoon.

When it comes to cooking these varieties of butter and margarine may not serve it purpose and you should try the ordinary forms but not in normal quantities or change the regular canola oil, or butter white olive.

Finally, for optimum nutrition, make sure your body has enough minerals and vitamins for a proper development and a less painful ageing.

Vitamins can't repair a broken diet, but they may make a good diet better, especially if your body lacks in vitamins and minerals. The folic acid and vitamin D are especially important.