MedSurfer.com » Diet & Nutrition

Taking a Vitamin Supplement

admin — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:32:07 +0000

There are a number of essential vitamins that the body needs to function properly and it is possible to take these in the form of a vitamin supplement. The majority of people do not have a balanced diet and they may be lacking in certain vitamins which means that they require a vitamin supplement to ensure that they do not have a deficiency of an essential vitamin. A health professional or dietary technician is the best person to give advice on any vitamin supplement that a person should take. It is important to seek professional advice before taking any vitamin supplement. This is because there are some vitamins that can be toxic if too much is consumed and a vitamin supplement may not be appropriate if there is enough of the vitamin already in the food a person eats.

Some categories of people may require more types of vitamin supplement than others. Vegetarians are often deficient in certain vitamins that are only found in animal products, for example, Vitamin B12 and a vitamin supplement is the ideal solution to this problem. Vegetarians do need to be aware that some vitamin supplement manufacturing processes involve animal products and it is important for them to read the labels. A large number of synthetic vitamin supplement products are available which will enable a vegetarian to take them without contravening their dietary beliefs or needs.

Children will often need a vitamin supplement, especially when they are extremely young. This is because a lot of children do not eat a sufficient variety of foods in their early years and a vitamin supplement can help compensate for this natural deficiency. Breast feeding has long been recommended as a source of all the essential nutrients but women who choose not to or are unable to bottle feed may be concerned as to whether their baby needs a vitamin supplement. The large majority of baby milk formulas contain additional vitamins to prevent the need for a vitamin supplement to be given. It is important to discuss any concerns over the need for a baby or child to take a vitamin supplement with a health professional to ensure that the correct solution is found.

Elderly people or those suffering from certain diseases or illnesses are other groups of people that may need to take a vitamin supplement. The body may often need a vitamin supplement to compensate for a person not being able to consume the recommended daily allowance of certain vitamins through their normal diet.

Get Vitamins and Supplements Online.

Pedometer use helps Weight Loss

adarshgupta — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:47:44 +0000

According to literature review published in the Journal of Family Medicine in the February 2008 issue, “Patients who used pedometers walked more, lost weight without dieting, and improved their systolic blood pressure“.

This is based on a meta-analysis published in JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association) 2007 which analyzed over 26 studies of pedometer use in adult outpatients that reported a change in the number of steps walked per day. The 2767 participants in these studies were 85% women, with a mean age of 49. At baseline, most participants were overweight, with normal blood pressure (mean 129/79 mm Hg) and relatively well-controlled cholesterol levels (mean total cholesterol 198 mg/dL, HDL 52 mg/dL, LDL 113 mg/dL). The mean baseline activity level was 7473 steps per day (range 2140–12,371). Duration of interventions ranged from 3 to 104 weeks, with a mean of 18 weeks.

Participants walked 2183 steps per day more than they had at baseline when they were using pedometer. To put things in perspective, 2000 steps is about 1 mile. Overall, pedometer users increased their number of steps by 27% over baseline.

This study is the first large meta-analysis to show that pedometer use is an effective intervention for promoting physical activity. Another recent meta-analysis shows that pedometer use is also effective for short-term weight loss, even in the absence of dietary changes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that adults engage in moderate physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day, at least 5 days per week. Yet 40% of adults do not engage in any leisure-time physical activity. This percentage is higher in women (43%), African-Americans (52%), and Hispanics (54%).

The health benefits of exercise are clear. Regular physical activity has been shown to decrease overweight and obesity. It has also been shown to improve control of type 2 diabetes5 and hypertension. Frequent exercise is associated with a decreased mortality rate. Walking has been shown to decrease the risk of cardiovascular events in women, regardless of BMI.

Walking has similarly been shown to decrease overall mortality among men. Cardiovascular fitness has also been shown to decrease mortality in adults over 60, even in the absence of weight loss.

Pedometers and goal-setting are simple, relatively inexpensive ways to help patients become physically active and lose weight.

Source:

The Journal of Family Medicine, Vol 57, No.2. February 2008.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Health Statistics website. FASTATS: Exercise/physical activity. Available at www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/exercise.htm.

Amazon:

3 Pack of Digital Pedometer with Calorie

Omron Digital Premium Pedometer

Pedometer with Calorie Counter

Shopping for Food - Strategies to reduce weight

adarshgupta — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 13:09:56 +0000

Shopping for right food is also a key element when you are trying to lose weight. These guidelines below will help you select the right food when you are shopping:

Tip Sheet: Healthy Eating Starts with Healthy Shopping
This 1-page tip sheet provides suggestions for lower fat and lower calorie foods to fill the kitchen with when one goes shopping.
Low Calorie Shopping List
This one pager describes how to use the Nutrition Facts Label when shopping for low calorie foods.
Fat-Free Versus Regular Calorie Comparison
This one pager describes common fat-free or reduced fat foods that don’t necessarily mean low calorie foods when compared to the regular versions.
Lower Fat, Lower Calorie Alternative Foods
This is 2-pager is a great resource for offering suggestions for lower-fat versions of higher-fat foods.
Fruit and Vegetables of the Month (CDC 5 A Day)
This link takes you to CDC’s Fruit and Vegetables of the Month yearly calendar. Each month has a fruit and vegetable that is featured and information about the fruit and vegetable is provided, including its origin, nutrient information, how to shop for them, storage, and recipes

Count Calories for Effective Weight Loss

adarshgupta — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 21:34:03 +0000

You should count calories to effectivelyly lose weight. You need to cut down on calories intake daily. To take off one pound per week, you’ll need to reduce calories by 500 per day. (One pound of body fat equals about 3,500 calories.) Try eating 250 calories less per day and exercising enough to burn 250 calories— like walking about 2.5 miles each day. That means you need to know how many calories were in that piece of lasagna or pizza or juice or beer, etc? (You can choose from thousands of foods!) How many calories did you burn walking this afternoon? And, how many calories do you need to maintain or lose weight?

For your rescue, there are many programs available online that help you with this (counting calories):

Calorie Calculator - How many calories and fat grams are in a serving of your favorite foods? This online calculator provides quick and easy answers to help you in meal planning and managing your diet. (Calorie Control Council)
Calculate your Daily Calorie Needs - Find the number of calories you should eat each day to maintain your current weight. (American Cancer Society)
Calories burned During Exrcise - Find the calories burned in a workout or daily activity. (American Cancer Society)
Nutrition Facts and Calorie Counter - NutritionData (ND) provides a complete nutrient analysis for any food or recipe, and helps you select foods that best match your dietary needs.

Software

Develop Diet Plan for Weight Loss

adarshgupta — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 16:48:57 +0000

We hear about many recommendations for diet from all sources, for example, “Eat 2000 calorie diet”, “Eat more fruits and Vegetables”, etc. The Dietary Guidelines recommend that at least half of all grains eaten (at least 3 one ounce-equivalents) per day should be whole grains because they can reduce the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes and may help with weight control.

Hwo do you actually meet this recommendations? What food should I eat? What kind of Diet should I have?

To solve this, here are some of the diet planners:

Create A Diet using Heart Healthy Diet. This interactive activity helps you create a diet based on Heart Healthy Diet.
Create A Diet using TLC Diet. This interactive activity helps you create a diet absed on Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC).
Interactive Menu Planner.The interactive menu planner is designed to guide daily food and meal choices based on one day’s calorie allowance. It may be used in advance to plan a meal, or at the end of a day to add up total calories, as well as fat, and carbohydrates consumed.

Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator

adarshgupta — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 16:09:49 +0000

Body mass index (BMI) is measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to both adult men and women.. BMI does not differentiate between body fat and muscle mass. Therefore, body builders and people who have a lot of muscle bulk will have a high BMI but are not overweight.

Fat predominantly distributed around the waist is also a risk factor for health complications such as cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes. Fat predominantly deposited around the hips and buttocks doesn’t have this same risk.

Use the following BMI Calculators:

Adult BMI Calculator (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)
Child and Teen BMI Calculator (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)
Adult Energy Needs and BMI Calculator (Agricultural Research Service, USDA) - It not only tells you BMI but also Daily Calories needs for an individual based on his sex, age and activity level. If one can eat less then that, he will lose weight.

Reference:
Calle EE. New England Journal of Medicine 1999; 341: 1097-1105

Lowering Cholesterol

adarshgupta — Wed, 03 May 2006 13:56:13 +0000

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a soft, fat-like, waxy substance found in the bloodstream and in all your body’s cells. It’s normal to have cholesterol. It’s an important part of a healthy body because it’s used for producing cell membranes and some hormones, and serves other needed bodily functions. But too high a level of cholesterol (called Hyperlipidemia) in the blood is a major risk for coronary heart disease, which leads to atherosclerosis (hardening and narrowing of the arteries) in which fatty deposits (plaque) build up in the arteries, restricting and disrupting bloodflow leading to heart attack and stroke.

Good and Bad Cholesterol

Cholesterol has many components but the three most important are:

LDL-L Low-Density Lipoprotein. LDL is referred to as “bad” cholesterol; high levels may form fatty deposits in the arteries
HDL-J High-Density Lipoprotein. HDL is referred to as “good” cholesterol; it helps to remove excess LDL from the bloodstream.
Trliglycerides - Triglycerides–another form of fat in your blood

How to Diagnose High Cholesterol?

A laboratory blood test is necessary to give an accurate check of cholesterol levels. Generally, a blood sample is taken from the arm after the patient has fasted (gone without food) for at least 8-12 hours.

What is considered High Cholesterol?

Total Cholesterol Level

Less than 200 is best.
Between 200 to 239 is borderline high.
240 or more means you’re at increased risk for heart disease

LDL Cholesterol Level

Less than 130 is best.
Between 130 to 159 is borderline high.
160 or more means you’re at increased risk for heart disease

HDL Cholesterol Level

Less than 40 means you’re at increased risk for heart disease
60 or higher reduces your risk of heart disease

Lower LDL and higher HDL are recommended if patient also other risk factor of heart diseases, like, diabetes, hypertension, smoking history, excessive alcohol, family history of heart disease, increased age, obesity and lack of exercise

What Affects Cholesterol Level?

A variety of things can affect cholesterol levels. These are things you can do something about:

DIET
Saturated fat and cholesterol in the food you eat make your blood cholesterol level go up. When you think of “bad” fats, think saturated. Most saturated fats can increase your blood cholesterol levels and risk of coronary artery disease. Usually solid or waxy at room temperature, saturated fat is most often found in animal products — such as red meat, poultry, butter, egg yolks and whole milk. Other foods high in saturated fat include coconut, palm and other tropical oils.
Trans fat Along with saturated fat, trans fat may raise your blood cholesterol levels and increase your risk of heart disease. Trans fat — also referred to as trans-fatty acids — comes from adding hydrogen to vegetable oil through a process called hydrogenation. This makes the fat more solid and less likely to turn rancid. Hydrogenated fat is a common ingredient in commercial baked goods — such as crackers, cookies and cakes — and in fried foods such as doughnuts and french fries. Shortenings and some margarines are high in trans fat. Look for the words hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated in the list of ingredients to see if trans fat is included. Some margarine labels state if the product has no trans-fatty acids.
Polyunsaturated fat. Usually liquid at room temperature and in the refrigerator, polyunsaturated fats — when used instead of saturated fats — help lower blood cholesterol levels. In addition, they may help reduce the amount of cholesterol deposits on your arteries. Foods high in polyunsaturated fats include vegetable oils such as safflower, corn, sunflower, soy and cottonseed oils.

One type of polyunsaturated fat — omega-3 fatty acids — may be especially beneficial to your health. Omega-3 fat appears to decrease your risk of heart attack, protect against irregular heartbeats and lower blood pressure levels. It may even protect against some cancers. You’ll find omega-3s mainly in fish — particularly in fatty, cold-water fish, such as salmon, mackerel and herring. Lesser amounts are in flaxseeds, soybeans and canola oil.You can get sufficient omega-3 fatty acids by consuming two to three servings of fish per week. Pregnant women and women who plan to become pregnant during the next few years should limit their weekly intake of cold-water fish because of possible mercury contamination.
OBESITY
Being overweight is a risk factor for heart disease. Excess body weight can contribute to high cholesterol and most importantly to high triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol. Losing weight can help lower your LDL and total cholesterol levels, as well as raise your HDL and lower your triglyceride levels.

Being overweight can create a more serious risk factor for health problems depending on how you carry the extra weight. If you carry most of your fat around your waist or upper body, you may be referred to as apple-shaped. If you carry most of your fat around your hips and thighs or lower body, you may be referred to as pear-shaped. Generally, when it comes to your health, it’s better to have the shape of a pear than the shape of an apple. If you have an apple shape — a potbelly or spare tire — you carry more fat in and around your abdominal organs. Fat in your abdomen increases your risk of many of the serious conditions associated with obesity. A woman’s waist should measure less than 35 inches. A man’s waist should be less than 40 inches.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Not being physically active is a risk factor for heart disease. Regular physical activity can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels. It also helps you lose weight. You should try to be physically active for 30 minutes on most, if not all, days.
AGE AND GENDER
As women and men get older, their cholesterol levels rise. Before the age of menopause, women have lower total cholesterol levels than men of the same age. After the age of menopause, women’s LDL levels tend to rise.
HEREDITY
Your genes partly determine how much cholesterol your body makes. High blood cholesterol can run in families. If a close family member (parent or sibling) has developed atherosclerosis before age 45, high cholesterol levels place you at a greater-than-average risk of developing atherosclerosis.
SMOKING
Cigarette smoking damages the walls of your blood vessels, making them likely to have cholesterol rich plaques rupture and have heart attacks. Smoking may also lower your level of HDL cholesterol by as much as 15 percent.

Tips on Lowering Your Cholesterol

Lifestyle changes - Diet

Reduce the intake of saturated fat (e.g., hamburgers, hot dogs, and other animal fats) and the total amount of fat in your diet to 25%-35% of total calories - with no more than 7% of fat calories coming from saturated fats.
Eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day.
Eat fish, poultry without skin and leaner cuts of meat instead of fatty ones.
Eat fat-free or 1% milk dairy products rather than whole-milk dairy products.
Eat food with soluble fiber which include oat bran, oatmeal, beans, peas, rice bran, barley, citrus fruits, strawberries and apple pulp
Bake, steam, roast, broil, stew, or boil instead of frying. This helps remove fat.
Use a nonstick pan with vegetable cooking oil spray or a small amount of liquid vegetable oil instead of lard, butter, shortening, or other fats that are solid at room temperature

Lifestyle changes - Exercise

Get involved in activities such as brisk walking, jogging, bicycling or cross-country skiing.
Gradually work up to exercising for 30 minutes to 45 minutes at least 3-4 times a week
Stick with your exercise program.

Medical Therapy

Depending on your risk factors, if healthy eating and exercise don’t work after about 6 months to 1 year, your doctor may suggest medicine to lower your cholesterol level.

Several types of medications are used to lower your cholesterol: Bile Acid Sequestrants, Fibrates, HMG-CoA Reductase inhibitors (Statins), Nicotinic Acid derivatives and Cholesterol absorption inhibitors. Your doctor will decide which type of medicine is right for you.

Common Misconceptions

Vegetables have cholesterol in them. False. Cholesterol is produced in liver and is only found in animal. Plants do not have cholesterol because they do not have liver.
People should eat as much unsaturated fat as possible. False. There should not be no more than 30% of calories in an adult diet from fats.
Using margarine instead of butter will help lower my cholesterol. Most soft or liquid margarines have less saturated fat and so are preferable to the stick forms for a heart-healthy diet. However, both margarine and butter are high in fat, so use both in moderation.
Since I started taking medication for my high cholesterol, I don’t have to worry about what I eat. Unless your cholesterol is dangerously high, it’s best to try to reduce it by changing your diet. Modern medications have come a long way in helping to control blood cholesterol levels, but making lifestyle changes along with taking medication is the best way to help prevent heart disease. Reducing the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet and getting 30–60 minutes of exercise on most or all days of the week is recommended, even if you’re taking cholesterol-lowering medication.
You don’t need to have your cholesterol checked until you reach middle age. It’s a good idea to start having your cholesterol checked at an early age. Even children, especially those in families with a history of heart disease, can have high cholesterol levels. And evidence exists that these children are at greater risk for developing heart disease as adults. Lack of exercise, poor dietary habits and genetics can all affect a child’s cholesterol levels. You’re never too young to develop a heart-healthy lifestyle by eating foods low in fats, getting 30–60 minutes of physical activity on most or all days, and avoiding tobacco products

References:

Cholesterol Counts for Everyone (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
Cholesterol (American Heart Association)
Managing Cholesterol (Patient Education Institute) An interactive cholesterol learning tutorial - requires Flash plug-in
Also available in: Spanish - *** excellent source
What Are Healthy Levels of Cholesterol? (American Heart Association)
Nutrition.gov. An excellent resource, provides easy access to all online federal government information on nutrition, healthy eating, physical activity, and food safety, easily accessible in one place. *** excellent source
10 Year Risk Calculator - online calculator
Interactive Menu Planner - NIH - online calculator
Body Mass Index Calculator - online calculator
Tipsheet–Reading Food Labels
Create a Diet - Interactive tool to create online diet for health.

Recommended Books

American Heart Association Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Cookbook, Second Edition : Heart-Healthy, Easy-to-Make Recipes That Taste Great
American Heart Association; Spiral-bound; Buy New: $18.17
The Cholesterol Myths : Exposing the Fallacy that Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease
Uffe Ravnskov; Paperback; Buy New: $14.00
50 Ways to Lower Cholesterol
Mary P. McGowan; Paperback; Buy New: $10.47