Healthy Diet - what consitutes a healthy diet?

Wikipedia defines "A healthy diet is one that is arrived at with the intent of improving or maintaining optimal health". "This usually involves consuming nutrients by eating the appropriate amounts from all of the food groups, including an adequate amount of water."



The main benifits of a healthy diet are:

1. Improves your immune system

2. Increases energy levels, vitality and alertness

3. Decreases your risk of heart disease and diabetes

4. Helps you cope with stress



A healthy diet is essential to live a healthy lifestyle. Having the correct nutrients can have a significant effect on your energy levels and vitality while decreasing the risks of disease. A healthy diet consists of meeting your daily calorie intake of the five major food groups with portion control of each food group totalling your necessary calorie intake.



The five major food groups are:

1. Fruit

2. Vegetables

3. Lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, legumes

4. Bread, cereals, rice, pasta

5. Milk, yogurt, cheese



A healthy diet is also made up of portion control. The portion control of these five food groups are as follows:

Carbohydrates: 6 - 8

Protein: 1 - 2

Fats: 1

Dairy: 2 - 3

Fruit: 2

Vegetables: 5

Water: 6

What constitutes a serving size for these food groups to achieve a healthy diet?

1. Carbohydrates (6-8 serves daily)

One serving should contain about 0.5oz (15g) of carbohydrates. Examples of this include:

Bread 1 slice

Tortilla, roll, or muffin 1

Bagel, English muffin or hamburger bun 1/2

Rice, pasta, cooked cereal, grits 1/2 cup

Ready-to-eat cereal 3/4 cup (flakes or round)

Pancake, waffle 1 (4.5in diameter)



2. Protein (4-6 serves daily)

One serving of protein should contain about 0.5oz (15g) of protein. Examples of this include:

Cooked lean meat, fish or poultry 2oz- 3oz (60g - 90g)

Egg 1

Peanut Butter 2 tablespoons, 1oz (30g)

Cooked dried peas or beans 1/2 cup

Cooked dried beans 1/2cup

Nuts, seeds 1/3 cup



3. Fat (1 serve daily)

One serving of fat should contain about 0.2oz (5g) of fat. Examples of this include:

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 tsp butter

1 tsp peanut butter

8 ripe olives

1 tbsp salad dressing



4. Dairy (2-3 serves daily)

One serving of dairy should contain about 0.01oz (300mg) of calcium. Examples of this include:

Milk 1 cup

Yogurt 1 cup

Cheese 1 slice, 1oz (30g) (1.5oz cheese is about equal to 1 cup milk)

Cottage cheese 1/2 cup

Pudding 1/2 cup

Ice cream 1/2 cup



5. Fruit (2 serves daily)

One serving of fruit should contain about 0.5oz (15g) of carbohydrates. Examples of this include:

Chopped, fresh fruit 1/2 cup

Grapefruit 1/2

Cantaloupe 1/4

Canned fruit 1/2 cup

100% fruit juice 3/4 cup

Raisins or dried fruit 1/4 cup



6. Vegetables (5 serves daily)

One serving of vegetables should contain about 0.2oz (5g) of carbohydrates. Examples of this include:

Cooked vegetables 1/2 cup

Chopped, raw vegetables 1/2 cup

Raw, leafy vegetables 1 cup

Vegetable juice 3/4 cup



7. Water (6 serves daily)

Glass of water (10fl oz)



Vitamins and minerals

Many people believe that they can eat what ever they like and can make it up by having vitamin and mineral supplements to make up for this, however this is not the case. Your body absorbes the nutrients in foods are more effectively than in supplements. Furthermore, a majority of supplements on the market are mainly made with fillers you urinate very quickly.

A few things to remember:

1. Try and keep your BMI (Body Mass Index) in a healthy range

2. Try and eat plenty if fibre.

3. Have 8 glasses o water a day. A lack of water is the most common cause of tiredness

4. Limit alcohol and caffeine consumption

5. Reduce sugar intake

Maintain these tips to maintaining a healthy diet and healthy lifestyle and you will be amazed at how good you will feel.



Australian Lifestyle & Fitness, http://www.alfitness.com.au provides a complete range of weight loss articles focussing on weight loss tips, nutrition, exercise and recipes. Our Weight Loss Program helps take the guess work out of weight loss.

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Cold Sore Cures - The Latest News About Curing Cold Sores

Who can you believe these days?



Some medical authorities claim there is no such thing as a cold sore cure. Other, just as credible experts, claim cold sore cures are very real today. Who is telling the truth?



THEY ARE BOTH RIGHT.



The confusion starts to clear up when you realize that they are not talking about the same thing.



When you hear health experts state there is no cold sore cure, they can be talking about only one thing. Right now we have no know way to remove the cold sore virus permanently from the body. It is the herpes simplex virus that causes cold sores. Once infected with the cold sore causing herpes simplex virus, you own the virus for life.



The herpes virus is an expert at hiding. When this tiny virus is not creating a cold sore, it hides deep in the nerve cells where it is not detectible by our immune system. When in hibernation, scientists have recently found, it gives off no sign it is even there.



But even if there were a way to eliminate this cold sores virus, you would just get it back again. The World Health Organization estimates that 90% of the world population currently carry this extremely contagious virus.



BUT THOSE WHO SAY THERE EXISTS A COLD SORE CURE ARE RIGHT TOO!



You see - doctors have always claimed a cure when they eliminate the symptoms of a disease. For example, in many cases, a type 2 diabetic, by eating right and taking the right herbs and vitamins, can eliminate the outward symptoms of diabetes (like I did). As long as no symptoms exist, the diabetic is considered cured.



All diseases are diagnosed based on identifiable symptoms. Although you may carry the root cause of the disease, you are not diagnosed as having the disease unless you display the symptoms. With cold sores, this is true also. The main symptom of cold sores is the actual outbreak on the nostril or lip.



When you no longer get cold sores, by medical definition, you are cured. Whatever treatment you used to accomplish this can be called a cold sore cure. Who cares about the virus, as long as it never becomes active again?



In trying to find a cold sore cure, we should not be looking to remove the virus from the body. This is a futile task. We should, instead, be focusing on eliminating the cold sore symptoms and preventing future cold sores.



But there is great hope for cold sore victims like you and I. Although most people carry the herpes virus, over 42% do not get cold sores. They seem to have a built in cold sore cure. For the rest of us, it takes a little more work to cure our cold sores.



There are a variety of excellent cold sore treatment remedies you can use today. Some work as comfort treatments, and a few actually heal and prevent cold sores. (Most drug store treatments are basically for comfort.) Since each of us is different, what works for another person may not work for you - so do not be disappointed too quickly.



A cold sore cure is here for you. It could be as easy as taking a nutritional supplement and lysine on a daily basis, or it may be more complicated. Experiment with different cold sore treatment options, maybe even combining them. Others have developed their own cold sore cure - and you will too.



Don't spend another penny on cold sore products until you check out Denny Bodoh's popular web site. It is positively brimming with excellent information about cold sores and some amazing cold sore tricks and options. http://www.3daycoldsorecure.com

You can find additional info at the following links:

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