11 June, 2013

‘Calories are good for you’, say experts

New Delhi, June 9 (IANS) Hot and crispy fried snacks, sweets, carbohydrates-rich food and much more should be avoided if you want to keep a check on your weight, but do provide calories to your body, say experts. Though most of us avoid having food items with lots of calories, our body requires some amount of calories.

‘Each and every individual has his own calorie requirement, which is based on their basal metabolic rate. If a person eats more calories than what he needs, he will definitely gain weight or if he eats less calories than what he needs, he will lose weight,’ said Annapurna Agrawal, nutritionist at Snap Fitness India. She explained: ‘Your body requires 2,000 calories and if you eat 2,500 calories, the extra 500 will be converted into fat.’

If you are gearing to adapt healthy eating habits, then shun junk food as it lacks essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals and proteins and is high in fat and calories.‘You need to shun all your favourite fried snacks and those curries that have a lot of fat and are cooked in fair amount of oil,’ Manik Pande and Meghana Surve, nutritionists at Talwalkars National Nutrition Centre, told IANS.

They even warn against intake of carbohydrates.  ‘Carbohydrates actually convert into fats after they are consumed. The body stores this fat and this adds to your body weight,’ explained the nutritionists. Grains and sugar, which are common feature of our diet, contain large amount of carbohydrates so you need to be careful as far as consumption is concerned. Hot summer season calls for chilled sodas and juices that instantly refresh us, but Pande and Surve advised to stick to something healthier.

According to them, stick to water, lime juice and fresh fruit juices. Alcohol also is an evil beverage – 12 ounce of beer equals to 146 calories. Medicines usually help to eliminate diseases, but they can also make you heavier than before.  ‘Anti-depressant medicines, birth control pills, allergy medications, and blood pressure medications are some that may cause weight gain,’ said Agrawal.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

11.06.2013

Living a healthy lifestyle could help reduce the risk of stroke

A recent study has shown that making small changes in lifestyle could reduce risk of strokes. The finding of the study was based on an assessment using the American Heart Association’s health factors: Be active, control cholesterol, eat a healthy diet, manage blood pressure, maintain a healthy weight, control blood sugar and don’t smoke, reports Science Daily.

‘We used the assessment tool to look at stroke risk and found that small differences in health status were associated with large reductions in stroke risk,’ said Mary Cushman, senior author and professor of medicine at the University of Vermont in Burlington. ‘Compared to those with poor blood pressure status, those who were ideal had a 60 percent lower risk of future stroke,’ Cushman added. Researchers also found that those who didn’t smoke or quit smoking more than one year prior to the beginning of the study had a 40 percent lower stroke risk.

What is a stroke?

Also known as a cerebrovascular accident, stroke is a medical emergency in which a part of the brain doesn’t receive blood supply. Brain cells of the affected region begin to die within a few minutes and often result in long-term dysfunction of the body part controlled by the affected brain area. There are two main types of strokes – Ischemic and Haemorrhagic stroke. An ischemic stroke is caused by a block (blood clot) in the blood vessel and a haemorrhagic stroke is caused by bleeding through a tear in the blood vessel.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

11.06.2013

Watching ads on TV can increase your craving for junk food

Los Angeles, June 8 (IANS): Watching food advertisements by parents leads to greater consumption of junk food by their children, as the kids often have distorted views on what constitutes a healthy meal, researchers have found. Kristen Harrison and Mericarmen Peralta, both from the University of Michigan, will present their findings at the 63rd Annual International Communication Association Conference in London, Science Daily reported.

Harrison and Peralta interviewed over 100 parents about a wide variety of home and family characteristics, including child and parent media exposure and child dietary intake. They conducted separate interviews with children in pre-schools to get a sense of what children thought made up a healthy meal.

The goal was to see how family characteristics were associated with children’s dietary intake and perceptions of healthy meals. Using food security as a marker, Harrison found that the media-junk food link was very strong among food-secure people, and almost zero among food-insecure people. Since food insecurity is associated with limited income, it sets limits on how much people can spend on junk food.

Food-secure people, on the other hand, can afford to give in to cravings when watching food advertising. People in this category were more likely to consume junk food, and their children had distorted views on what constitutes a healthy meal.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

11.06.2013

You must do the thing you think you cannot do

Eleanor Roosevelt