Pregnancy Nutrition and Diet – Key to a Healthy Future

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The onset of pregnancy signifies someone new coming into your life. The thought is rather exhilarating, as you start to contemplate how he or she will be like – personality, quirks, likes and dislikes. You feel excited over the bond the two of you will share, and the strong connection that the two of you will have. You start counting down the days until you can finally get to meet the being that is growing inside of you. Although you may not have complete control over how his or her personality and preferences would be like, you do have control over the baby's health conditions at birth, and general state of wellness even after that – and this is through having the proper pregnancy nutrition and diet.

In the same way that a 5-year old child's nutritional requirements are different from a 60-year old woman's nutritional requirements, a baby's nutritional needs also vary throughout the different stages of pregnancy. It is essential to have regular check-ups and consultations with your doctor so you can work out the proper pregnancy nutrition and diet plan for you. There are, however, general guidelines for pregnancy nutrition and diet, which, when followed, would result to having a healthy baby:
o Taking multivitamins daily to supplement the vitamins and minerals obtained from the healthy food items you eat
o Obtaining 30 mg of iron daily
o Consuming 400 mg of folic acid daily
o Having a proper and well-balanced diet that consists of a variety of nutritious foods

But pregnant or not, it would always be beneficial to follow a healthy nutrition and diet plan. By doing so, a woman would get used to having a healthy lifestyle while reaping the maximum benefits of proper nutrition as well. Moreover, she would not have to go through such drastic changes when undergoing a pregnancy nutrition and diet plan, and which will allow the following for the baby:
o Ensured brain development
o Ensured nervous system formation and development
o The likelihood of any defects or complications during birth is lessened
o The immune system is strengthened in order to combat any possible illnesses

Providing the best possible care and nutrition for your baby while it is still in your womb through the observance of a pregnancy nutrition and diet plan would provide positive long-term effects for your baby's health and wellness, and as for yours as well.

The moment when your baby would finally be born into the world, when you would be able to hear his or her first cry, and would be able to see his or her features, would be nothing but magical. It would be devastatingly heartbreaking, then, if you would suddenly learn that your baby is doing poorly in terms of health just because he or she was not supplied with the proper nutrition during the pregnancy. As such, it is essential to eat right for both you and your baby during your pregnancy. At this point, food quality should be given more focus than food quantity. You must make sure not to eat too much, and to eat the types of food that would best provide the nutritional needs for your baby. A good pregnancy nutrition and diet plan suggests the following:
o Eat up to 7 daily servings of fruits and vegetables
o Limit consumption of fatty foods
o Consume whole grain food products such as whole wheat bread
o Eat lean beef and other protein sources, but do so moderately

The outcome of following a sensible and healthy pregnancy nutrition and diet plan is a healthy and strong child not just at birth, but for years to come.

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Source by Brent P

Low Glycemic Food Answers – Can I Live Well With It?

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For years, millions of diabetics have taken steps to watch what they eat in order to maintain regular blood sugar levels, either through diet, medication or insulin. Of course, the easiest way to control blood sugar levels is with a proper diet, with the right amount of high and low glycemic food eaten at the proper times.

This information is not just for diabetics. Everyone can benefit from eating a diet consisting of low glycemic food. This type of diet can help reduce fat and increase performance in athletics.

What is the glycemic food index?

The easiest way to define the glycemic index is to say that it is how different foods rank in the way they effect blood sugar levels. Eating low GI food helps to promote weight loss, and is necessary for controlling diabetes. Foods higher on the glycemic index actually raise insulin levels.

Do I need to go on a strict diet?

No. Diet plans that are low glycemic food-based are loaded with great tasting foods, so you will never feel hungry or unsatisfied. What you're really doing is switching some of your high glycemic intake for low glycemic meals. For example, instead of eating a sandwich made with white bread, try using cracked whole wheat instead.

This does not mean that you can eat as much low GI food as you want. Just like with any sensible diet plan, you must do everything in moderation.

You don't have to sacrifice great taste at all to have a diet that is loaded with food lower on the glycemic scale. You can easily find sources that will give you many more substitutions and menu ideas.

Eat right, lose weight … clear up your acne?

When you make the move to a diet that is rich in low glycemic food, you are making the move to losing weight and getting in shape. But did you also know that by eating the right low GI food, you can enjoy other heath benefits, such as clear skin?

Added benefits to eating low glycemic food include:

  • Feeling fuller with fewer cravings
  • Fewer mood swings
  • Reduced risk of heart disease

I don't always have to cook healthy meals. Is "fast food" okay sometimes?

As long as you are making healthy choices, you can enjoy fast food on those days when there just doesn't seem to be enough time for anything. Just make sure you are not eating a lot of high glycemic food. If you are unsure about what restaurant foods are alright for your diet, keep a list of your food options with you.

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Source by Lindsey Desner

Best Diet Food Plans

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The most important aspect of the perfect diet plan is this: WE MUST CHANGE OUR THINKING WITH REGARDS TO FOOD! Without we do this, we are doomed to failure, no matter how much fat we burn, how many calories we take off, etc. It is within our own minds that our weight loss begins. Understand, I am NOT a psychologist, but a couple of things have occurred to me regarding overweight people:

1) People eat too much in this country. I know, this is obvious, right? We are bombarded with advertising messages all day & night from junk food companies, outlets, etc. Sometimes, I believe, some of this "bad programming" makes it's way into our subconscious minds, and we eat

2) Our eating is oftentimes triggered by our emotions. People eat when they're lonely, when they're depressed, when they're angry. We must gain a measure of self control, over our thoughts and feelings about food, if we are to have success in weight loss.

It takes a fair amount of mental and emotional discipline to overcome these urges, these feelings, these subliminal assaults on our good sense. For example the word "diet" generally brings up negative connotations: "Oh, you're on a diet." In fact, the word "diet" simply means what we eat. So, we could be on a fried chicken diet, or a donut diet and probably be assured of NOT losing weight.

Wallace Wattles, the visionary Law of Attraction theorist, wrote, in his "The Science of Being Well" about what, when, and, more importantly, HOW to eat. He also makes a very important distinction between hunger & appetite: if we ate only when we were hungry, we would generally have no worries. However, it is our appetites that get the better of us, and we tend to eat at other times, when hunger is not the driving force, but emotions. "I feel like a snack." And, at these "other times," is when we go for the junk food: that piece of chocolate cake at midnight, for example.

Consider this: Wattles speculates, and I tend to agree, that we eat too fast, and that many of our ills result from that fact. If we just slowed down and chewed our food well, our bodies would "assimilate" the food & its nutrients more efficiently. Sounds like a perfectly good argument to me. Here's what Wattles recommends: "Do not fix your attention on the act of chewing; fix it on the TASTE of the food; and taste and enjoy it until it is reduced to a liquid state and passes down your throat by involuntaryalling … keep your mind centered on the taste of what you have in your mouth … "(1) This was written almost a century ago – What substantial advice!

Of course, our food choices are the most important thing in determining our weight. We must choose the healthy stuff, and get rid of the bad stuff. An understatement if ever there was one. Put down the donuts, fried foods, cakes, candy etc. These are loaded with fat and sugar. We must make healthier choices! The three ingredients of calories are: protein, fat & carbs. The foods we choose to eat should have a healthy dose of each of these ingredients. Examples of good protein foods are:

  • Meat
  • Chicken
  • Turkey
  • Fish
  • Eggs (egg whites)
  • Nuts

Fats are also "good" and "bad" – we want to avoid "trans" (bad) fats at all costs! You guessed it, the good tasting stuff that we love to eat are loaded with trans fats. Cheeseburgers, chips, donuts, cake, ice cream, etc. They have to go! Examples of "good" fats include:

  • Fish
  • Fish oil supplements
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Olive oil
  • Flax seed oil

Carbs (carbohydrates) is the most confusing of the three categories; again, there are "good" -vs- "bad" carbs. The general rule of thumb is to avoid things like potatoes, white bread, white rice, most commercial cereals, etc., and stick with the following:

  • Oatmeal
  • 100% whole wheat bread
  • Whole wheat pasta
  • Brown rice
  • Yams
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Beans

This is just a basic outline of the perfect "diet," if there is such a thing. Any doctor worth his / her salt (pun intended) will tell you a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is a healthy one. That is a no-brainer. What about that sweet tooth? I have one. Well, how about some fresh fruit? Love chocolate? Who doesn? T? Why not take some strawberries and dip them in the chocolate? At least you'll get the benefits of the berries. Again, these are just recommendations. //bestdietfoodplans.com/articles/6-2/ .

1 From Wallace D. Wattles, "The Science of Being Well" Chapter 11, p. 2

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Source by James D Conway