Don't Lose Sight of Nutrition When You Diet

If you have started a new diet plan it is very important that you don't lose sight of the nutritional supplements your body needs to thrive. Restrictive diets in particular may lack all the necessary vitamins and minerals that you require. Many of these diet plans emphasize one food group in particular, restricting others that may contain much-needed nutrients.

Nutrition by Susan von Struensee, on Flickr

When you think about dieting, you probably have the idea that you have to cut back on calories, forcing your body to burn up some of the fat that it has stored, thus causing weight loss. This is very true, but what you may not realize is that the body won't necessarily get all the fuel it needs for health that way. There are a number of nutrients that can't be stored by the body. If your eating regimen doesn't include those nutrients, your health will suffer as a result.

If you are on a restrictive diet where that is the case, it is very important that you also take a nutritional supplement, such as Phen375 that can fill the gap. At the very least, you should begin taking a good multi-vitamin supplement that will make up for these deficiencies.

Here are some suggestions based on certain kinds of diets for maintaining your body’s nutritional requirements:

1. No matter what diet you are on, begin taking a daily multi-vitamin and mineral supplement.
2. Make sure that you are getting plenty of Vitamin D. Normally, you can get your daily allowance by getting about 20 minutes of sun. But that isn’t practical in the winter, or in climates where you get a lot of cloud cover. So make sure your supplement includes your daily allotment.
3. If you’re on a low carbohydrate, or high protein diet, make sure you still eat plenty of vegetables and fruits. These are rich in antioxidants, which your body needs.
4. If your eating regimen restricts grains, you should definitely be replacing the missing nutrients with a supplement containing Vitamins A, C, B (all of them), E, and K. It should also contain folic acid.
5. If your protein source doesn’t include fish or fish products, make sure you use an Omega 3 Fatty Acids supplement as well.

The best diet plan is a healthy one, not an overly restricted eating schedule. It will give you a balance of all the essential nutrients that your body needs. If you must use a restrictive diet, it is critical to take plenty of supplements.

What To Watch For In Health Food Stores

Image credit: Reykjavík Health Food Store 5

You may think that because you are in a health food store that you can shop without fear of going off of your diet. But you would be surprised at what can be found on some store shelves. Just because you are in a health food store is no reason to let your guard down and stop watching those nutrition labels. Here are a few things to watch for when shopping for foodstuff.

Fancy Water

People used to drinking flavored drinks like soda pop and teas find it difficult to switch to water when going on a low carb diet. For these people, fancy water with flavors or vitamins are very attractive, and are abundant on the shelves of health food stores. But in reality, many of these waters are high in sugars and carbs, making them a no-no for a low carb diet (available here).

Whole Grain Foods

You hear over and over again when on a low carb diet that if you are to eat grains they have to be whole grains. But just because something says it is whole grain does not mean that it has a low carb content. Some health food advertised as whole grain is actually a mixture of whole grains and processed grains. Other whole grain foods are high in fat content as the manufactures attempt to make a heavy whole grain product into bread with a lighter taste.

Fruit and Vegetable Snack Chips

Many snack chips found in health food aisles boast vitamins and nutrition. However, many of these snack chips are not as healthy as they appear. Things like banana chips may be loaded with saturated fat and cholesterol due to the oil they are fried in. Other snack chips like vegetable chips rarely contain that many vegetables, and are often high in carbs.

These are just a few examples of the deceit that occurs in health food stores. There are a few tips that will help you avoid making these mistakes. First, just because the health food has something that may be good for you, doesn't mean that the food follows the rules of your low carb, low fat, or low cholesterol diet. Even when only following a low carb diet, not watching fat and cholesterol intake will eventually lead to bigger health problems like heart attacks and strokes.

The best advice for foodstuff shopping is to watch your nutrition and ingredients labels-no slacking! Remember that just because it is in a health food store or grocery aisle, that does not mean that the food you picked up follows your diet or is actually healthy. By checking all nutrition and ingredients labels, you will catch these unhealthy health foods and make better use of your health food shopping experience.

The Best Foods to Prepare for a Big Workout

When people workout, whatever their goals are, they should also be eating well. Now of course, what your goals are would determine what kind of foods you should eat post workout. For someone looking to pack on a lot of muscle, it will differ entirely from someone who is looking to get lean. A lot of people assume that if they are working out that they can eat what they want, this is not fully true. Of course when working out, it is easier to keep off weight. But a lot of people who fail at their plan to lose weight or gain muscle, fail because of their eating. Here are the four of the best foods to eat after a big workout.

Bananas
This is a great pre or post meal snack, that requires no putting together. The important thing in bananas is the potassium, which helps after a hard workout. This is especially true for people who lift weights. Potassium levels drop quickly during an intense workout, so having a banana before or after can help avoid this problem. This will help aid in muscle recovery, allowing you to workout sooner. A banana only contains about 100 calories, so if you are counting calories this is a great option.

Oatmeal
Oats contain a lot of fiber, this causes the carbohydrates to be released into your bloodstream slowly. When you have energy released into your blood stream slowly and constantly during your workout, you will retain maximum energy. Contained in Oatmeal is also Vitamin B which gives you energy and helps you turn the carbohydrates into energy. Avoid instant or packs of oatmeal, they may have sugar added.

Almonds
They are packed full of monounsaturated fats, which give you energy. Do not be afraid that they contain fat, monounsaturated fats are healthy. A handful of almonds right before entering the gym for a workout should help. You can throw the almonds into yogurt for taste, and yogurt also adds to the healthiness of the snack.

Protein Shake
A protein shake is essential to anyone trying to add muscle. There are of course hundreds of protein shakes out there to choose from. What you want is one that comes from a quality protein source, whey protein is usually a good source. Many protein shakes are ready out of the bottle, but the cheaper source is to buy powder and mix it. People mix it with juice, milk, or sometimes just water. Another way to the benefits of protein is to throw it into a fruit smoothy. When looking at a protein powder, watch out for ones that have high sugar content, or even worse high fructose syrup.

When going to the gym or engaging in any workout regimen, do not neglect your diet. Having the proper nutrition will help with gains of muscle or loss of fat. Not only that, if you do not have a good diet, you will lose energy which makes workouts much more difficult. When you are trying to add bulk, counting calories may not be needed. Ideally if you are trying to lose or gain, you will eat a well balanced and healthy diet with no need to count calories. Once your diet is perfected, your workout gains will improve quickly.

Alex Tyler writes about nutrition, health & quotes for life insurance.