healthy living tips by Dr.Vina

You go to work every day and tend to take for granted how much energy that your body has consumed. For every type of physical activity, our body requires energy. The amount depends on the duration and type of activity. This energy amount is measured in kcal and is obtained from the body stores or the food we eat. So it is important to be fair to ourself regarding the nutrition intake to balance our level of activity. But how much is enough?

First of all, there are two considerations: variety and amount. You have to carefully planned your nutrition to provide a good nutrients balance and energy balance. The variety of nutrients that you need to consume in balance are:

• Proteins - important to growth and repair of muscle and other body tissues
• Fats - one source of energy and important in relation to fat soluble vitamins
• Carbohydrates - the main source of energy
• Minerals - those inorganic elements occurring in the body and which are critical to its normal functions
• Vitamins - water and fat soluble vitamins play important roles in many chemical processes in the body
• Water - essential to normal body function - as a vehicle for carrying other nutrients and because 60% of the human body is water
• Roughage - the fibrous indigestible portion of our diet essential to health of the digestive system

Now, how much energy that we need to provide from those nutrients. Here is the simple calculation for basic energy requirement: for every Kg of body weight 1.3 kcal is required every hour. (If you weigh 55Kg, you would require 1.3 × 24hrs × 55Kg = 1716 kcal/day)

If you work out, you will need an extra energy. For each hours workout you require an additional 8.5 kcal for each Kg of body weight.

Every day our life is literally surrounded by potential stressors: being late for work, traffic jam, meeting the dateline, and countless of other factors. A combination of these causes can send your stress levels soaring high.

You can sense the tension instantly. Now, what is the relation between stress and nutrition? The good news is: we can effectively combat the stress with well-balanced nutrition.

When you get busy fighting your stressors, you tend to lose your meal discipline. You easily end up having less energy at the time when you need it most. Consider also that stress weaken your immune system, while good nutrition defend it. On the other hand some types of foods or beverages can also cause stress. So it is important to manage your daily nutrition wisely to use it as your line of defence against stress.

Here are a couple of practical tips to survive stressful days with good nutrition:

• Do not consume too much alcohol, caffeine or simple sugar on your diet. So do not drink to much coffee to jumpstart your day. Instead opt to orange juice or sparkling water.
• Eat good breakfast. You will need a stable blood sugar for your busy morning. Skipping breakfast for any reason will weaken your defence.
• Drink green tea. The antioxidant is your best friend.
• Bring healthy snack and eat only while you are sitting down. If you eat while doing something else, it is easy to eat more that you needed.
• Eat regular and complete healthy meal. Avoid sugary, fatty and other unhealthy foods. Stressed people tend to crave foods high in fat, sugar and salt. How often have you easily turned to Baskin-Robbins after a long day?
• Snack on healthy munchies. Forget your cheese puffs and potato chips for a moment. You have better options for your munchies: carrot stick, sunflower seeds or even popcorn (minus the butter and salt).

Is there any specific recommended diet during pregnancy?
Good nutrition are identical for those who are pregnant and who are not. The basic food groups are the same, which are:

1. meat, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts and legumes
2. milk, yogurt, and cheese
3. bread, rice, pasta and cereal
4. fruits
5. vegetables

You should eat them all in balance.
The only difference is that pregnant women should take in about 10 more grams of protein per day. For them, protein is required for their increase in blood volume, the health of their breasts and
uterus, building their baby's body. The protein recommendation during pregnancy is 60 grams per day.

Here are sources of protein:

Do you know that over half of the deaths that occur every year in the US are caused by clogged arteries leading to heart attacks and strokes?

Food has a lot to do with the health of your heart and its arteries.
Eating the right foods can stop and heal the heart disease.
American Heart Association (AHA) has formulated dietary guidelines to help you reduce blood cholesterol and control your blood pressure.

Here they are:

1. Eat a wide variety of foods to get a balance of nutrients
2. Prevent obesity by doing exercise to balance food intake
3. Choose a diet low in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol
4. Choose a diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains
5. Choose a diet moderate in salt, sodium and sugar
6. Drink alcohol in moderation, if you drink at all