does it matter what time of the day you eat certain foods?

I workout every day right before dinner. When I look at what I eat, I usually eat high protein breakfasts , usually protein lunch and high carbs for dinner. I know protein helps rebuild your muscles after a workout so does it matter if I'm not eating protein for dinner? Should I eat a higher carb lunch

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High-Fat Foods That Drop Pounds, What Millennials Ask The Internet And More!

Think that cutting out fat is an easy way to trigger weight loss? Think again! These fatty foods are proven to help you slim down. [Refinery 29]

A few things Millennials are turning to the Web to ask: "How exactly do you use Pinterest?" And, uh, "What's twerking?" Here are the other top questions millennials are scratching their heads about. [Mashable]

The CDC has found E. coli in many pool water samples, because apparently folks have been using pools as toilets. So gross! [CNN]

Happy Friday! Celebrate the coming weekend with this representation of a typical Friday workday, GIF-style. [BuzzFeed]

Image Credit: Gourmet/Romulo Yanes

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Hungry Shoppers Pile High-Calorie Foods in Their Carts

Your body shifts to survival mode at the grocery store, expert says

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) -- People who grocery shop when hungry tend to load up their carts with higher-calorie foods and more of them, a new study suggests.

Not only does that affect the meal they will be eating at home that night, but their meals throughout the week, according to researchers Brian Wansink and Aner Tal, with the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University.

"It's known that hungry people buy more food in the grocery store, but what happens more is that people shift their shopping patterns to contain more high-calorie foods," Tal said. "When you are hungry, you think high-calorie food can provide you with more energy."

Dieting by skipping meals might not be a good idea, Tal added. If you shop while hungry you might wind up compensating for it with the high-calorie foods that will make up meals for the next several days, he said.

Candy, salty snacks and red meat were deemed higher-calorie foods in the study. Meanwhile, fruits, vegetables and chicken breasts counted as lower-calorie choices.

Tal is now investigating whether having a snack before food shopping will tip the scale toward choosing lower-calorie foods.

The report was published as a research letter in the May 6 online edition of JAMA Internal Medicine.

Another expert explained what might be driving the urge to shop for calorie-rich foods.

"Your body does not know the difference between purposely depriving yourself of food, as in fasting or dieting, or a lack of food or a famine," said Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at the NYU Langone Medical Center, in New York City. "Your body does not know there are grocery stores and that you can have pizza delivered 24/7. The human body has not evolved as quickly as our agriculture or technology. It thinks we still have to go out and catch breakfast."

Therefore, she said, when the body is deprived of food it goes into survival mode because it does not know when there will be another meal.

"This complex defensive response affects both psychological and physiological parameters. When you do start choosing and eating foods, the body directs you to go for high-calorie foods to replace calories lost and to store up in case of another famine," Heller said.

To make their point, the researchers did two experiments. The first was a lab experiment in which people were told not to eat five hours before the study.

Before the test began, some of the 68 participants were given crackers to appease their hunger. Then, they all were asked to "shop" in a simulated, online grocery store. Hungry people tended to choose higher-calorie foods such as regular ice cream over low-fat ice cream, the researchers found.

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Foods that help bloating

I know bananas do. But does anybody have any tricks that work for them? I have been eating a lot of food that is not that healthy and now i am bloated!

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Is it unsafe to feed solid foods to my 2-month-old daughter?

Posted June 20, 2013, 2:00 am

I’ve started giving pureed solid foods to my 2-month-old daughter. My sister doesn’t think this is safe. What’s your opinion?

I agree that it’s too soon. Pediatricians advise waiting until a baby is 4 months old to introduce solid foods. You can even wait a bit longer. Breast milk or iron-fortified infant formula provides all the nutrients your baby needs for the first 6 months. There is no proven benefit from introducing solid foods before 4 months, and there are risks.

Babies younger than 4 months are not physically ready for solid foods. They usually cannot sit up by themselves or hold their heads up well. Also, the muscles in the mouth that help guide solid food into the back of the throat and then down into the stomach are not fully developed. This means that when they try to swallow solid foods into the stomach, the food can drop down into the lungs, not the stomach. That’s called aspiration, and it can cause pneumonia.

Giving solids before 4 months may increase the risk of obesity, Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease, although these disease links are not solidly established. It may also increase the risk of eczema and of food allergies. Breast-fed babies who start solids early tend to stop breast-feeding sooner. Given all we know about the health benefits of breast-feeding, that’s not a good thing.

Most babies develop the ability to eat solid foods at 4 to 6 months. But even when your baby is ready, learning to eat solids takes time and practice.

Before you begin, talk with your pediatrician. Most recommend one of the iron-fortified infant cereals, such as rice, oatmeal or barley, for the first food. These types of cereals are least likely to cause allergies. Foods rich in vitamin C, such as orange juice, can help the absorption of iron.

There is no value, and there is potential harm, from adding either salt or table sugar to the food. You will still be giving the baby milk or formula as you gradually introduce solid foods. Be careful not to feed the baby too many calories. Your pediatrician or a nutritionist can help you plan.

Watch for symptoms of allergy, such as rash, wheezing, stomachache, diarrhea, gas, fussiness or vomiting. If you notice any of these things, stop giving the food in question and consult your pediatrician.

Also keep the following in mind as you start your baby on solids:

Add only one new food at a time. Wait five to seven days between new foods so that you have time to watch for a possible allergy.Do not give honey to your infant before 1 year. Honey can cause life-threatening food poisoning (botulism).Wait until your child is at least 3 years old to give small, round or hard foods that can cause choking. Examples include grapes, raw carrots, popcorn, hot dogs, raisins, nuts, seeds, jelly beans and other hard candies. window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({appId: "199616670120169", status: true, cookie: true, xfbml: true});}; (function() { var e = document.createElement("script"); e.async = true; e.src = document.location.protocol + "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js"; document.getElementById("fb-root").appendChild(e);}());

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need low sodium diet foods

Hello! My ENT has recommended a low sodium diet.. :/ and great food suggestions? Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

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The Morning Scoop: Surprisingly Sugary Foods, Dancer Speaks Out After Boston Attacks and More!

Sugar can hide in the most interesting places -- like spaghetti sauce. See other foods where the super-sweet culprit lurks. [POPSUGAR Fitness]

A dance instructor who lost her left foot in the Boston attacks last week not only vows to dance again but to run the marathon as well. We're so inspired! [Boston Herald]

Ready for an LOL? Check out this "dramatic reading" of the now-infamous sorority girl's letter to her chapter. [Funny or Die]

New York City wants to ban cigarette sales to individuals under 21 in a bill first introduced yesterday by the City Council. We're curious to see how this unfolds. [Reuters]

Are you always honest with your doctor? You should be! Here, some explanation as to why we fib to our MDs. [NY Times]

In totally over-the-top news, Zac Posen has created a dress made of 24-karat gold leaf. It's worth $1.5 million. [Refinery 29]

Image Credit: Gourmet/Romulo Yanes

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Healthy foods with lots of calories?!

What healthier foods can I eat that are high in calories?

Struggling to make my calorie targets

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

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16 diet foods to be aware of...and avoid!

What bothers me so much about products like these is that you  can get all the nutritional benefits (and so much more) that these items  claim to offer - with none of the scary, synthetic, Frankenfood  ingredients - from a normal balanced clean-food diet of vegetables,  fruits, healthy fats, lean proteins, and whole grains. There is absolutely no reason  for these disgusting creations to even exist, yet the world spends  literally billions of dollars a year on putting artificial,  chemical-laden fluff into our systems.

Watch what you eat. Diet products are not the miracle you think they are.

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Low Carb Foods Good for Bile Reflux

I suffer from bile reflux and am under the care of a gastroenterologist  It has been getting better, but recently I'm feeling symptoms again.  I am still taking a prescription for it, but was wondering if anyone had food suggestions that would be good to eat and possibly help reduce the bile.  My doctor recommended that I eat carbs to sop up the bile.  She suggested bagels.  I am on a low carb diet so it's hard to do.  I do eat things such as quinoa, flaxseed wraps, and brown rice.  I also eat an apple a day.  Any other suggestions would be great.

Thanks!

Gina 

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10 Foods for Children's Brain Development

By Anne Krueger
WebMD FeatureReviewed by Patricia Quinn, MD

As fast as children whiz from classroom to activity to home and back again, their brains are just as actively and dramatically growing and changing.

"These years are critical for brain development, and what they eat affects focus and cognitive skills," psychiatrist Drew Ramsey, MD, coauthor of The Happiness Diet, says. 

Food is one of many factors that affect a child's brain development.

The following 10 foods can help kids stay sharp all day long, and affect brain development well into the future.

Eating a high-nutrient protein like eggs (which have nutrients including choline, omega-3s, zinc, and lutein) will help kids concentrate, Beth Saltz, RD, says. 

How to Serve It:  Fold scrambled eggs into a whole-grain tortilla for a filling breakfast or late-afternoon snack. "The protein-carb combo tides kids over until the next meal with no sugar-induced energy crash," Saltz says.

Fat is important to brain health, says Laura Lagano, RD. A full-fat Greek yogurt (which has more protein that other yogurts) can help keep brain cell membranes flexible, helping them to send and receive information.

How to Serve It: Pack Greek yogurt in lunch with some fun mix-ins: cereal with at least 3 grams of fiber and blueberries for a dose of nutrients called polyphenols. 

Or add a few dark chocolate chips. Polyphenols in cocoa are thought to keep the mind sharp by hiking brain blood flow.

Full of folate and vitamins, spinach and kale are part of a healthy diet linked to lower odds of getting dementia later in life. "Kale contains sulforaphane, a molecule that has detoxifying abilities, and diindolylmethane, which helps new brain cells grow," says Ramsey, coauthor of 50 Shades of Kale.

How to Serve It:

Whip spinach into smoothies for snack time.Add it to omelets.Saute it at dinner drizzled with olive oil (the dash of fat helps your body absorb vitamins).

Make chips out of kale: Cut kale from stems/ribs, drizzle with olive oil and a bit of salt, and bake.

Low in sugar, high in fiber, and full of folate and B6 that help regulate mood, memory, and attention, purple cauliflower also delivers inflammation-fighting nutrients called anthocyanins. 

How to Serve It: Roast and puree cauliflower to make a nutritious dipping sauce for carrots and other veggies such as peppers, celery, and radishes.

Naturally fatty fish are a good source of vitamin D and omega-3s, which protect the brain against cognitive decline and memory loss. Salmon, tuna, and sardines are all rich in omega-3s.  

"The more omega-3s we can get to the brain, the better it will function and the better kids will be able to focus," says Bonnie Taub-Dix, RD, author of Read It Before You Eat It.

How to Serve It: Grill it, roast it, or add it to a salad or sandwich.  

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Four in 10 Babies Given Solid Foods Too Early, Study Finds

Title: Four in 10 Babies Given Solid Foods Too Early, Study Finds
Category: Health News
Created: 3/25/2013 10:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 3/25/2013 12:00:00 AM

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Ready-to-Eat Foods for Toddlers Often Too Salty: Study

Parents urged to balance convenience with healthier meals, snacks

By Kathleen Doheny

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 21 (HealthDay News) -- Those convenient, prepackaged meals and snacks for toddlers may contain worrisome levels of salt, U.S. researchers report.

More than three quarters of 90 toddler meals evaluated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were high in sodium, according to a new study.

Ready-to-eat foods for babies were less alarming, found the experts, who reported on the sodium content of 1,115 products for babies and toddlers using per-serving data from major and private-label brands.

"The products we assessed for babies and infants were relatively low in sodium," said Joyce Maalouf, a fellow at the CDC division for heart disease and stroke prevention.

"Unfortunately, the toddler food products -- meals and snacks -- have higher amounts of sodium," she said. Those products are aimed for kids 1 to 3 years old.

She is scheduled to present the findings Thursday at a American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans.

Eating too much sodium, the main component of salt, can lead to high blood pressure, which is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

Moreover, studies have suggested that children's taste for salt may be reduced if they consume less sodium at a young age, Maalouf said. "Children are not born with a taste for salt," she noted.

The researchers defined a product as high in sodium if it exceeded 210 milligrams (mg) per serving. The American Heart Association recommends limiting sodium intake to less than 1,500 mg a day, but some toddler meals contained as much as 630 mg per serving -- 40 percent of the recommended daily total.

"The toddler meals ranged from 100 milligrams per serving up to 630 milligrams per serving," Maalouf said. The average was 369 mg, with 71 percent of the meals high in sodium.

The researchers evaluated four toddler savory snacks, such as cheese and crackers, and found they ranged from 70 mg to 310 mg per serving.

Cereal bars for toddlers ranged from zero to 85 mg of sodium per serving. Fruit snacks for toddlers ranged from zero to 60 mg per serving.

Maalouf declined to name products by brand. "The main purpose of the study was to look at food categories, not compare brands," she said. "Even within the same brand, we had a wide variation of sodium."

Still, prepackaged macaroni and cheese, cheese and crackers, pasta and chicken, pepperoni pizza and chicken noodle soup typically have high sodium levels, Maalouf added.

The message for parents, Maalouf said, is to read nutrition labels and choose lower-sodium items.

The findings are no surprise to Julia Zumpano, a registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic's department of preventive cardiology. Foods prepackaged for infants tend to be lower in sodium, as they contain just one or two ingredients, often vegetable- or fruit-based, and servings are smaller than those for toddlers.

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Are These "Healthy" Foods?

When your family bites into a fresh fruit or a steamed vegetable, you know you're serving up something that’s good for them. But beyond that, it's hard to be sure.

Even if the package says that a food is healthy or loaded with all kinds of vitamins and minerals, check the label. It may be full of other things your family doesn't need.

Some foods, like these seven, may not be as healthy as you think.

Even though some kinds can be high in fiber, this whole-grain cereal can be loaded with sugar in part because the raisins often are coated with sugar.

Angela Lemond, RD, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, suggests making your own because raisins are naturally sweet and store-bought versions often add more raisins that you need.

"It's better to buy plain bran flakes and sprinkle a tablespoon of raisins into your serving," she says.

Many cereals, including raisin bran, are also surprisingly high in salt. "People don't realize it because of the sweet flavor," says Lilian Cheung, DSc, RD, director of health promotion and communication in the Nutrition Department at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Look for cereals that have less than 300 milligrams of sodium and 8 grams (about 2 teaspoons) of sugar per serving.

Better yet, make oatmeal using steel-cut oats. They are a whole grain and have no sodium or sugar that you may find in instant varieties. Add fruit or a teaspoon or two of honey if you like.

"Low fat," "reduced fat," and "fat free" processed foods like salad dressings, peanut butter, and snacks like crackers can have added sugar or salt. Why? To make up for a lack of flavor because fats are missing.

You may even gain unhealthy weight eating them. "Sometimes they're actually higher in calories than full-fat versions," Lemond says. Carbohydrates from sugar often take the place of fat in these foods. Your body digests these faster than fats, making you feel hungrier sooner.

Cheung suggests mixing your own salad dressing. Use oils that have healthy fats.

"Don't be afraid of healthy fats," Cheung says. "Olive, canola, safflower, corn, soya bean, and peanut oils are rich in heart-healthy unsaturated fats."

To make your own dressing, mix olive oil and balsamic vinegar or lemon juice. Use it to dress up a salad or roasted vegetables.

Ground turkey can be healthy, but some is ground whole turkey, which has more fat than the breast. When shopping, check the label to see that it is ground from either turkey breast or 97% to 99% lean turkey meat.

A surprising alternative? Extra lean ground beef can be healthier even than lean ground turkey. It’s lower in cholesterol.

But extra lean beef can be dry, so it's best for browning and crumbling into foods like tacos and spaghetti sauce. When shopping, look for labels that say 96% lean and less than 2 grams of saturated fat per serving.

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Consumers View Foods With Green Labeling as Healthier: Study

Title: Consumers View Foods With Green Labeling as Healthier: Study
Category: Health News
Created: 3/18/2013 12:56:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 3/18/2013 12:00:00 AM

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Should I worry about the glycemic load of foods I eat?

Posted May 11, 2013, 2:00 am

Can you explain the importance of glycemic load, as opposed to glycemic index, when judging carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates, along with proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, water and oxygen, are nutrients: We need them to live and grow. But even though we need carbohydrates, there still are carbohydrate-rich foods that are “good carbs” and “bad carbs.”

Carbohydrates are the main nutrient in bread, pasta, cereals, beans, vegetables and dairy foods. All sugars are carbohydrates. When you eat, your body breaks carbohydrates down into sugar molecules. The smallest sugar molecule, glucose, is absorbed from your gut into your blood. It travels through the blood to every cell, providing an important source of energy to each cell.

Some foods are easily and rapidly digested into glucose. Such foods have a high glycemic index. With other foods, the process of digestion goes slower. These foods have a low glycemic index.

To give a cell energy, glucose has to get from the blood to the inside of the cell. That’s the job of insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas (a small gland in your abdomen). Insulin also travels in the blood, and when insulin attaches to a cell, it allows glucose to get inside it.

OK, those are the basics. When you digest carbohydrates, a certain amount of glucose will enter your blood. How much, and how rapidly, depends on two things: how much carbohydrate there is in the food, and the glycemic index of the food. Together, these two measures determine the glycemic load. If there are a lot of carbs in a food and the glycemic index of that food is high, then there will be a rapid, high spike of sugar in your blood: The glycemic load will be high.

When your blood levels of glucose rise, your pancreas senses this and promptly releases insulin. Foods with a high glycemic load cause your pancreas to suddenly work very hard to make and release insulin. In general, a lower and slower conversion from carbohydrate to blood sugar is better for your health. In other words, foods with a low glycemic load are better.

Here are some examples of foods with different glycemic loads:

Low glycemic load (10 or lower): lentils and beans, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, whole grains.Medium glycemic load (11 to 19): steel-cut oatmeal, whole-wheat pasta, some breads, fruit juices without extra sugar, brown rice, sweet potatoes.High glycemic load (20 or higher): Soda, energy drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages, candy, white rice, French fries and baked potatoes, sugary breakfast cereals.

(I’ve put a table showing the glycemic index and glycemic load values of many commonly eaten foods below.)

Don’t misunderstand: I’m not saying it’s dangerous to eat foods with a high glycemic load. But your diet, on average, should favor carbohydrate-containing foods that have low glycemic loads.

The glycemic index and glycemic load offer information about how a food affects blood sugar and insulin. The lower the glycemic index or glycemic load, the less the food affects blood sugar and insulin levels. Scientists have calculated glycemic index and glycemic load for more than 2,500 foods. A sample is provided in the table below. The University of Sydney in Australia maintains a free searchable database of glycemic index and glycemic load values at www.glycemicindex.com. The healthiest choices are those with a glycemic index below 55 and a glycemic load below 10.*Glycemic load is calculated by multiplying grams of carbohydrate by glycemic index and dividing by 100.Source: Atkinson FS, Foster-Powell K, Brand-Miller JC. “International tables of glycemic index and glycemic load values: 2008,” Diabetes Care (2008), Vol. 31, No. 12, pp. 2281–83. window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({appId: "199616670120169", status: true, cookie: true, xfbml: true});}; (function() { var e = document.createElement("script"); e.async = true; e.src = document.location.protocol + "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js"; document.getElementById("fb-root").appendChild(e);}());

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Sodium still high in fast food and processed foods

Posted May 16, 2013, 11:22 am

Fast-food restaurants deliver filling, inexpensive meals and snacks. But there’s usually a hidden added cost: a wallop of salt (sodium) that isn’t good for cardiovascular health. Even with the current clamor for reducing sodium in the American diet, and industry promising to do just that, the amount of sodium in prepared foods hasn’t changed much since 2005, according to a report published in the latest issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.

Why does sodium matter? Too much of it can increase blood pressure and make the kidneys work harder. High blood pressure is a leading cause of stroke, heart attack, heart failure, kidney disease, and more. Current recommendations urge us to consume less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium a day, equivalent to about a teaspoon of table salt. The bar is set lower—1,500 mg a day—for those with cardiovascular disease or high blood pressure. Yet the average American takes in about 3,400 mg a day.

Harvard researchers recently conducted a study that assessed the cumulative health effects of excess sodium. They estimated that excess sodium accounts for the 2.3 million deaths each year around the world. The U.S. ranked 19th out of the 30 largest countries, with 429 deaths per million adults due to taking in too much sodium. That represents one in 10 U.S. deaths due to heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases.

Counting the milligrams

For the JAMA Internal Medicine study, researchers with the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) in Washington, DC, evaluated the sodium in 78 foods served at fast food and chain restaurants between 2005 and 2011, collecting nutritional information from the company websites. They did the same for foods plucked from shelves at stores in Washington, DC, and at one Walmart in Elverston, Pennsylvania.

The average sodium in chain restaurant items increased 2.6% between 2005 and 2011. In packaged foods, it fell on average 3.5%. The sodium in some products fell as much as 30%, although a greater number increased by more than 30%.

Food manufacturers have developed lower-sodium foods—none of which were included in the JAMA Internal Medicine study—and have reduced sodium in other products. So far these efforts, plus continuing public education campaigns, have failed to change this sobering fact: the average American still takes in far more sodium that their bodies need.

CSPI, which sponsored the study, has called for tighter government regulation on the sodium content in processed and restaurant foods, including phasing in ever-stricter limits on how much sodium foods may contain.

“Stronger action…is needed to lower sodium levels and reduce the prevalence of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases,” wrote Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., and colleagues, the authors of the JAMA Internal Medicine study.

When applied to millions of people, even small changes in sodium consumption can save lives. “The evidence is convincing that substantially reducing sodium intakes from current levels will have significant population benefits,” says Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, associate professor of medicine at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “The data justify government intervention to reduce sodium levels in all processed, pre-prepared, restaurant, and other commercial foods.”

How to reduce your sodium

You don’t need to wait for more government regulations to keep the sodium in your diet in check. There is the obvious solution, says Dr. Helen Delichatsios, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Eat out less and cook at home more. There is much less sodium in home cooking than in prepared or restaurant foods.” Here are some other options:

When shopping, check nutrition labels and limit foods that deliver a lot of sodium. The five top processed food sources of sodium are bread and rolls, cold cuts and cured meats, pizza, poultry, and soups. “Better yet, avoid foods with labels, and instead eat real food like fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains,” says Dr. Delichatsios.When dining out, ask for information on calories, fat, and sodium. Chain restaurants commonly post the nutritional profile of their products online.Cook more. Base your meals on fresh and whole foods that you cook yourself, not processed warm-and-serve products, since they tend to be loaded with sodium.

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Foods Might Serve Up High Levels of Chemicals Found in Plastics

By Carina Storrs

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates, two types of chemicals in plastics that have been linked to a number of health effects, could still find their way into your body even if you avoid foods that are shipped, stored or cooked using plastic materials, new research suggests.

The findings are based on a small study that followed 10 families for five days. Half of the families got catered meals made with fresh, local ingredients that were not stored or prepared with plastics.

The other half got a handout on how to avoid BPA and phthalates in their diet, such as not microwaving foods and drinks in plastic containers and avoiding food in cans, which are often lined in BPA-containing material.

"We fully expected to see reductions in the catered-diet group, and hoped the other group would also have reductions" in their levels of these chemicals, said study author Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Instead, the researchers found that all but one person in the catered-diet group had a spike in phthalate levels in their urine during the five-day diet intervention, and a more modest increase in their BPA levels. In contrast, the group that got handouts had steady levels of these chemicals over the study period.

The researchers then tested the ingredients in the catered diet to track down the source of phthalate exposure and detected high levels in milk, butter and cream, and also in some of the spices, such as cinnamon and ground coriander.

"Several studies have found that high-fat dairy tends to contain high concentration of phthalates, maybe because of phthalates in the plastic tubing that milk goes through to get to the final containers, and it may be in animal products, such as feed," Sathyanarayana said.

Overall, the more processed the food, the more likely it could come into contact with materials that contain phthalates, and phthalates can easily leach from these materials into food, Sathyanarayana explained. Spices could be one type of highly processed food, she added.

Unfortunately, consumers have no way of knowing which products or brands contain phthalates because manufacturers themselves don't know whether their processing materials contain phthalates, Sathyanarayana added.

Brent Collett and his wife and kids were one of the families that received the catered diet for Sathyanarayana's study. At the end of the study, Collett and the other families received a letter telling them their phthalate and BPA levels and the foods that contained phthalates.

"To have ingredients [such as coriander] that is not a major part of diet lead to this increase was a bit of an eye-opener," said Collett, a psychologist at Seattle Children's Hospital. "There would be no way we as consumers could do any better" than the catered diet in this study at avoiding plastics, he added.

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Foods To Keep Your Cholesterol In Control

Guest Post by Kelly Jones….

Are you suffering from cholesterol and before eating anything you first thing of its effect on your cholesterol rate? How about eating a salmon fish for dinner tonight, or grabbing a handful of nuts or even better to lick that dark chocolate. Yes, a person having cholesterol can enjoy all this guilt-free! All these foods and many more help in keeping your cholesterol level in control. All you need to do is whatever you eat just eat healthy food.

So here is a list of 9 Foods which help you in fighting with cholesterol:

Fats are always not bad; our body needs some healthy fats for proper functioning. Fats like Mono-unsaturated fats, poly-saturated fats and saturated fats are good for your health. So Nuts provide you good amount of all these healthy fats to your body.

If you don’t like that doctors prescribed boiled food on your breakfast than try having Oats, which also helps a lot in keeping your cholesterol in control. Take two servings of oats in a day to lower LCL cholesterol by 5.3% in 6 weeks.

Yes raise a toast to your health with the best of the red wine. The red grapes used in the manufacturing of the red wine helps to lower the cholesterol level. Just two glasses of red wine in a week can do the magic.

Green vegetables are like a lifeline of healthy life. So just add beans to your diet add get those cholesterol levels down by 8%.

Chocolates have those cholesterol reducing antioxidants in them. Studies done have proved that dark chocolates prevent blood vessels in lever from rupturing.

Not only Popeye you can also build that muscle power with spinach. It is proven that spinach contains around 13 falconoid elements which keep you away from harmful diseases like cancer, heart diseases and many more.

If you are non vegetarian than, salmon is like a health wonder for you. It keeps your heart safe from conditions like heart attack, stroke, and keep cholesterol levels at bay. Fishes like salmon, sardines help in increasing good cholesterol levels.

One should prefer tea than coffee, as tea has antioxidants in it and less amount of caffeine content is present in it. Your bones become strong due to presence of phytochemicals in tea. It also helps in increasing your defense mechanism of the body against LDL cholesterol levels.

This is the most common which everyone knew that cholesterol patients should use olive oil instead of normal cooking oil in eating. It has many health benefits, also helps in lowering bad cholesterol level in body.

So add these foods in your daily diet and enjoy a healthy life and those cholesterol levels low.

Kelly Jones writes for Tustin Auto Center. She is a freelance blogger and likes to write about various topics like social media, latest technology trends.

Related posts:

Keep your heart healthy with low cholesterol diet planSmall but effective ways to slim downTagged as: Foods to lower Cholesterol level

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