Jan 06

If you’ve been looking for a way towards a high octane diet, you’ll find fiber to be exactly what you need.  Even though research has shown fiber to be powerful, many people aren’t taking this nutrient seriously.

To help you fuel your health with fiber, here are  9 facts to help.

1.  Fiber fights diseases.  A diet high in fiber can  help to prevent colon cancer and heart disease.  High  fiber helps the body to eliminate cholesterol by  binding it in the digestive tract.  For thousands of years, fiber has been used to stop constipation.

2.  Fiber can actually help with overeating.  All high fiber foods will take longer to chew and digest,  making you feel satisfied longer

3.  Most popular foods don’t have enough fiber.  If you like the more popular foods, you probably need to increase your intake of fiber.

4.  Grains offer the most fiber.  Dietary fiber is actually plant matter that we cannot digest.  The best sources are whole grains and concentrated grain products.

5.  Kids need fiber as well.  Children that are older than 2 years of age should consume a daily intake of fiber.  Kids are most receptive to fiber found in fruits, vegetables, and even fortified breakfast  cereals.

6.  More fiber needs more water.  In order to keep fiber moving through your digestive tract, you’ll  need to consume a lot of water.  With your diet of fiber, you’ll need eight or more glasses of water  every day.

7.  Fiber cannot be cooked out.  When you cook your fruits and vegetables, don’t worry about cooking the fiber out, as it stays.  The fiber found in fruits and vegetables aren’t just in the skin or in the peel.

8.  You can get enough fiber.  If you eat more than 50 grams of fiber in a day, you can get diarrhea  and bloating, which can interfere with your body’s absorption of other key minerals.

9.  Getting the right amount of fiber in your diet doesn’t have to be hard.  Even though you may think so, getting the amount of fiber you need isn’t very hard to do.  All you have to do is eat the right  foods and you’ll be well on your way to a fiber rich lifestyle.

As one of the key ingredients to healthy eating,  fiber is something you don’t want to skip.  Fiber can serve many different purposes, which were covered above.  If you aren’t getting enough fiber in your  diet - you should do something about now instead

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Jan 06

Fast food is a big part of modern life these days, making it very hard to teach a child how he or she should eat healthy.  The cheapest and easiest foods are those that are normally the least healthy.  If  you give your child the choice between healthy food and junk food, you normally won’t like the results.

Even though it isn’t possible to get a child to like all healthy foods, there are some ways to get your child to try and hopefully like at least a few of them.  You can be as creative as you like, as getting  kids to eat healthy foods can be a little harder than you may think.

-  Sneak the healthy food in.  Even though it would  be great if your kid understood the importance of  fruits and vegetables, this isn’t always possible. If you can’t get them to eat good food willingly,  there are ways to sneak them in, such as making  muffins out of bananas or apples, or pizza with spinach on it.

-  Call fruits and vegetables by funny names.  You can refer to broccoli as “trees”, making them  more fun to eat.  There are many different namesyou can call fruits and vegetables, even making up your own if you prefer.  Most kids prefer to eat foods that sound fun.

-  Make the foods taste better. Ranch dressing is great for broccoli, while peanut butter is a great topping for celery.  There are several combinations for vegetables that can make them taste much better.  You can let your child pick a topping for a vegetable, even if it’s something you wouldn’t normally like yourself.

-  Dress the vegetables up.  Just as much as calling them names help kids eat healthy foods, making them look funny also helps.  You can do this by making  funny designs on the plate, or setting them up to  look like people.  Although some parents don’t like their kids playing with their food, sometimes it helps to get them to eat healthier.

There are several ways to make your kids eat  healthier, but to make them enjoy it also has to be fun as well.  This isn’t always an easy task,  because kids normally don’t like foods that are good for them.  It can however, be done with a bit of creativity.  Hopefully, doing this will help your child develop a love of healthy foods for the rest of their lives.

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Jan 06

The nutrition label located on each and every food item,  will tell you all the information about that food.  For some however, this information isn’t exactly that reader friendly.  Fear not, as it’s actually easier than you  think.

Serving Size
This size is based on the amount people eat. Similar food items will have similar serving sizes, thus making it easier to compare 2 foods of the same category.

% Daily Value
This indicates how food will fit in a 2,000 calorie diet.  This will help you to understand if the food has a lot, or just a little of the important nutrients.

The middle section
The nutrients you’ll find listed in the middle section are the ones that are most important to your health.   This information can help you to calculate your daily limit of fat, fiber, sodium, and other nutrients.

Vitamins & minerals
The percent daily value found here is the exact same as the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance for vitamins  and minerals.

Now that you know what the nutrition label actually  means, it’ll be a lot easy to eat healthy.  Eating  healthy is a great thing - especially when you use the nutrition label to assist you with your food choices.

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