Healthy Lifestyle

[scorpio]

Badri, U can't have ur fav peanut chutney while on weight reduction...& no coconuts too... Maybe after U reduce weight,U can eat all those in moderation... Though nuts r good,U can eat only very little of it coz of our sedentary lifestyle... Afterall,Spoiling your health is no fun!!!...


Eat Healthy, Live Better

Badri,

Naan ithaiye sonna pothu low road, high road-nnu ennavo kadhai vitte! Ippa vaa vazhikku!

Dev,

I'll sure run away from Papads from tomorrow like Tenaliraman's cat!

[dev]

That's good Scorpio,U can have microwaved or rosted papad when at home... No harm in it... Infact,I used to eat microwaved papad as a snack when I feel like eating something crisp...

Badri sir,ithai ellam paarthu bayanthu oodi poidathinga... Seekiram ungaluku diet plan potu kudukiren...

[dev]

Fat is a component in food. Some foods, including most fruits and vegetables, have almost no fat. Other foods have plenty of fat. They include nuts, oils, butter, and meats like beef.

The name - fat - may make it sound like something you shouldn't eat. But fat is an important part of a healthy diet.

Types of Fat
You might see ads for foods that say they're "low-fat" or "fat-free." Lower-fat diets have been recommended for health and to help people lose weight. But nutrition experts are finding that fats are more complicated and that some kinds of fat are actually good for your health. But that doesn't mean a high-fat diet will be good for you. And some fats are better than others. Here are the three major types:

Unsaturated fats: These are found in plant foods and fish. These may be good for heart health. The best of the unsaturated fats are found in olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, albacore tuna, and salmon.

Saturated fats: These fats are found in meat and other animal products, such as butter, cheese, and all milk except skim. Saturated fats are also in palm and coconut oils, which are often used in commercial baked goods (the kind you buy at the store). Eating too much saturated fat can raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease.

Trans fats: These fats are found in margarine, especially the sticks. Trans fats are also found in certain foods that you buy at the store or in a restaurant, such as snack foods, baked goods, and fried foods. When you see "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" oils on an ingredient list, the food contains trans fats. Like saturated fats, eating too much can raise cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease.

[dev]

So Which Fats are Good?


Saturated Fats

Saturated fats come from animal foods (meat, cheese, eggs, dairy) and a few oils like palm kernel oil. These fats are not essential to health - in fact, if consumed in excess, they can be difficult to metabolise (causing weight gain) and may lead to narrowing of the arteries (causing heart disease).

Mono-unsaturated Fats

Mono-unsaturated fat is considered to be one of the healthiest types of general fat. It is found mainly in olive oil, rapeseed oil, canola oil, nuts and seeds & in avacado too.

The high consumption of olive oil in Mediterranean countries is considered to be one of the reasons why these countries have lower levels of heart disease. This is because mono-unsaturated fat helps reduce harmful low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) which can cause blocked arteries.

Poly-unsaturated Fats

Although much healthier than saturated fat, poly-unsaturated fat is considered to be less healthy than mono-unsaturated fat. This is because research indicates it may reduce the protective high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) as well as the harmful low-density lipoproteins (LDLs). However, within the polyunsaturated fats group are two very important essential fatty acids (EFAs):

* Omega 6 Fatty Acids (e.g. linoleic acid)
Found in unrefined safflower, corn, sesame and sunflower oils

* Omega 3 Fatty Acids (e.g. alpha-linolenic acid)
Found in oily fish, linseed or flax oil, hemp oil, soybean oil, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, dark green vegetables

Both these essential fatty acids are vital for good health. They regulate mental health, growth and vitality and are believed to assist the transport and uptake of oxygen throughout the body.

[dev]

How much of fat to take?

A healthy adult can take 15 ml= tbsp=3 tsp of oil per day... Reduce total fat consumption to 15 per cent of total daily calorie intake.

[Thattai]

Hi Dev,

I just stumbled on this thread today. It seems to be pretty useful. If you don't mind, I would just like to know from where you are gathering all the information that you are providing.

No offence, just that many things with regard to food and health keep being proved and disproved all the time, so if you could also give some sources, it would help me take a call on using the info.

I am also very, very interested in all things health related, and am constantly collecting info on the same, and am trying my best to make my family's food habits also healthier. I shall keep checking in in future to see whether there are things that I can use and/or contribute to this site.

[Thattai]

Along with fats and oils and stuff, I believe that salt is also something that plays a major role in our good health and good feel. We inadvertantly use too much salt in our cooking, and this could also lead to bloating and puffiness.

There are many invisible ways in which salt creeps into our diet, especially if we rely a lot on processed foods.

Dev, any comments?

Also, with regard to portion size - i try to eat as less as possible of rice and instead focus on larger portions of veggies to fill up. Is this ok?

One tip - you can substitute rice with cracked wheat or bulgar. This is much lower in starch and is a more complex carbohydrate , so the release of energy in our system is also slower. Not only that, it is much higher in fibre as compared to rice, which is also a good thing.

We eat steamed dalia instead of rice at least 3-4 times in a week. It is more chewy than rice, and takes a bit of getting used to. But tastewise, I don't think that there is a perciptible difference at all.

[dev]

Hi Thattai,

All these info were read from various books & websites when my husband wanted to lose weight 3 years back... He has gathered so much of info & I learnt it all from him... To tell you the truth,I just don't have a single all-in-one website to mention here... I'll ask my husband & let you know if he remembers any specific website... Actually,long back I came across a site where u can calculate the energy expenditure for various activities based on ur height & weight...As usual,I didn't bookmark it & now am serching for tht site but never succeeded in it so far... Some of the materials used here are from
http://health.discovery.com
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/lifes...food_nutr.html
http://health.ivillage.com/
http://www.annecollins.com
http://www.care2.com/channels/lifestyle/food

& yes,I do get confused with the info given in different websites coz we can see many contradictory views...That's Y I thought I'll post whatever I'm clear with... Before I post something,I search for it in Google...chk a few websites...analyze it & then post it... I've not come across a single website that can clear all our doubts... Anyways, from now on,I'll also refer to any interesting site I come across...

At present I have many raw info which we've been trying to put into a website... But not able to do it due to lack of time & req skills...

Do contribute whatever U can... & sorry for not being able to help U in this regard...

[dev]

Salt does play a major role in healthy living...Will post as much details as possible about it ,when I find time...

"with regard to portion size - i try to eat as less as possible of rice and instead focus on larger portions of veggies to fill up. Is this ok?"

Healthwise this is very good,coz vegetables contain more minerals,vitamins etc than rice & low in calories too.

& substiituting Dhalia for rice too is a very good idea... But all these needs some lifestyle changes which maybe tough initially but the benefits r sure to be great...

[dev]

1. All vegetable oils contain 100% fat.
2. Each tablespoon of vegetable oil contains 15 grams of fat
3. Each tablespoon of vegetable oil contains 130 calories
4. For better health, choose oils/fats that are low in saturated fat