Health Node - Your Health, Nutrition, and Weight Loss Portal

These are some of the nutritional non-truths that might be hurting people.

• Fiction - Skipping meals helps you lose weight, and does it faster.
  • Fact - When you skip a meal, your body slows down your metabolism in order to conserve energy. Also, you are more likely to eat more at your next meal, which your body uses more slowly, causing weight gain.
• Fiction - Processed food is not healthy at all
  • Fact - In some cases, canning, freezing, drying of fruits and vegetables actually enhances the nutritional value. For example, the beta-carotene in processed carrots is more easily absorbed by the body.
• Fiction - All fats are bad for you
  • Fact -Essential fatty acids are needed by our cells and organs. Dietary fats are used to carry fat-soluble vitamins such as E, D, K, and X, and other nutrients.
• Fiction -Eating any carbohydrates causes weight gain
  • Fact - The body uses carbohydrates to produce energy, if you cut them completely from your diet, the body will have no nutritional fuel with which to burn the calories you consume from other sources. Not having enough carbohydrates in your diet will cause weight gain, and fatigue.

Tagged with: • healty food truths • nutritional fictions • Nutriton facts

For this week in the ‘Health Foods’ section of this blog, we will talk about the different nutrients that the body needs, why we need them and which foods are considered to be the best sources of these essential nutrients.

First up, we have Beta Carotene. Orange-hued fruits and vegetables like papaya, carrots, apricots, melons and red bell peppers are some of the best sources of Beta Carotene. Carotene is the substance which gives these fruits and veggies their rich color – which is why yellow fruits like mangoes, and dark green, leafy vegetables are also great sources of Beta Carotene.

Once you include these Beta Carotene-rich health foods in your diet, your body will convert it to vitamin A, which is an essential nutrient that you need. Vitamin A helps you maintain good vision, a healthy immune function and it also promotes cell growth. Vitamin A can fight free radicals, thereby acting as an antioxidant in the body. Beta Carotene also helps promote strong bones, teeth and gums. In addition, it helps with the treatment of skin diseases such as age spots, acne and psoriasis.

Tagged with: beta carotene foods • beta carotene supplement • beta carotene vitamin • natural beta carotene • vitamin A beta carotene

If you find shopping or buying your groceries in open-air markets a little too tiring for your weak knees and legs then you will definitely have a use for Drive Medical’s Daytona 4 Scooter.  This home medical equipment has flat free tires and can be used both indoor and outdoor. 

Parks are a good place for breathing fresh air and it will also give you the opportunity to meet new and old friends.  But if your knees and legs would not allow you to walk along the local park, you can use your car (or have someone bring you to the Park) and bring your Daytona 4 Scooter as your transportation means within and inside the park.  No problem in packing this equipment because it is easy to assemble and disassemble. The same goes if you have to do some shopping or marketing in open-air stores.

The scooter has a throttle that can be pulled using the fingers and has headlights to allow easy-cruising even when the sun has gone down.  And since you will also be using this equipment for shopping, you can revel in its carry basket feature which is large enough to hold your purchases.

Do not let knee and leg problems to keep you from enjoying the outdoors.  Look for a home medical equipment that will allow you to explore your environment.  Luckily,  you can rely on this scooter for that purpose.  It is quite good looking too!

Tagged with: • Drive Medical Daytona 4 Scooter • Home Medical Equipment • weak back • weak knees

After reading this article, decide for yourself if you think the lemonade diet is a fad diet.

The lemonade diet doesn’t have any complicated menus because you don’t get to have anything to eat. No…not even a little bit. This is definitely a liquid diet, and not the party kind.

As well you will be drinking salt water and laxative tea.

The Lemonade diet recipe goes like this:

2 oz. of fresh squeezed lemon juice.
2 oz. of maple syrup
1/4 of a teaspoon (or more) of hot cayenne pepper
2 Cups of Water.

Mix it up and savor it because this is all that is allowed to fill your stomach. You will drink 160 ounces per day.

On the Lemonade diet you can also drink a “salt water flush” and at night you can have some laxative tea.

Some use the Lemonade diet for 10 days (which I can’t imagine). During that time period you will have diarrhea and dizziness and you may shed only about 8 pounds.

During the Lemonade diet you will feel tired, but it will provide a great clean out for your system.

To me it seems as if the weight loss comes from mostly water weight and losing the build up of impurities in the bowels…but you decide. Is it a fad diet?

Never go on this diet without asking your doctor.

Tagged with: lemon detox diet • lemonade diet • liquid diet • popular fad diets

The Zone diet is a regimen of eating meals with low carbohydrates with balanced proteins. This way the dieter uses more energy from carbohydrates instead of proteins or fats.

Eating lots of carbohydrates produces too much insulin in the body. Too much insulin tells the body to make those carbohydrates into fat and store them in different areas of your body.

However, protein has the opposite effect by telling the body to get rid of carbohydrates that are stored in the liver. When those carbohydrates are released the body gets fuel and you don’t feel like you need to eat.

People on the Zone diet will closely monitor their calorie consumption per meal. Meals should not exceeding 500 calories and snacks should not exceed 100 calories.

Weight loss is only one of the benefits of the Zone diet. One can also experience better health, more energy and better mental clarity.

The Zone diet consists of fresh vegetables, fruits and nuts, leafy green vegetables, protein, and eight glasses of water everyday. Mono-unsaturated fats should be used instead of saturated fats and fast food and meals that contain a lot of much salt need to be avoided.

The Zone diet limits carbohydrate and balances them with 3-4 ounces of protein at each meal. This will keep insulin levels down which will help control hunger with fewer calories.

Even though the Zone diet appears to be a healthy way to eat, make sure to check with your doctor before beginning any diet especially if you have health issues.

Tagged with: healthy diets • low carbohydrate diet • zone diet • zone diet plan

It sure seems that with all of the interest that Americans are showing these days in being healthy, there are a great many contradictions in the information out there.

There are some “experts” that state as fact, what is actually only their personal opinion. Every person is entitled to have their own belief, but when they use it as a way to misguide and deceive other people, that is just wrong. It could also be detrimental to someone’s health.

The only way you can actually know what is true, and what is fiction concerning nutrition, is to read the labels that are required on the packages, and to do a bit of research on the subject. If you learn something about nutrition, dieting, health, etc. that sounds a little off to you, ask your doctor about it.

Only you know what is best for your body, listen to what you believe, and what your body tells you.

Tagged with: facts • nutrition

Essentially, white meat is healthier than red meat but both are equally important in your diet. Fish, in particular, should be the main ingredient in your daily home menus since it is a good source of protein. Salmon, herring and mackerel all come from the same group of fish that thrive in cold water, and they are a great source of essential fatty acids.

Whether you are buying canned, farmed or wild salmon, you will still get a good dose of omega-3 fatty acids. Do not be confused with the word ‘fat’ because this is something that our body actually needs. Omega-3 fatty acids help prevent heart disease, age-related diseases, certain cancers, arthritis and inflammatory diseases. Aside from keeping your heart healthy, you will also have great skin and hair. Salmon also contains vitamins B6, B12 and D, as well as niacin, selenium, magnesium and calcium.

With all these health benefits and more, salmon is a certified member of the elite ‘health foods’ group that you should not miss out on.

Tagged with: salmon • salmon health benefits • salmon oil health benefits • salmon recipes • smoked salmon

A few tidbits of trivia that may take you by surprise, and have you looking at your vegetables with a new eye.

1. Do the leaves and roots of beets have any nutritional value? If so, what are they?

· Yes, calcium, iron, magnesium and phosphorus, also vitamins A, B-complex and C.

2. Which has more vitamin C, oranges, or broccoli?

· Broccoli, it also contains as much calcium as a glass of whole milk and the body absorbs it more easily.

3. What nutrients are provided by celery?

· Potassium, and sodium

4. What vegetable family claims cilantro as one of its own?

· Carrot

5. Which vitamins are found in green beans?

· A, B-complex vitamins, potassium, and calcium

6. Which vegetables could be used to treat the effects and symptoms of diabetes?

· Kohlrabi, green beans, chicory, and dandelion greens

7. What health benefits can an onion offer?

· Onions are an antioxidant, they contain antihistamine, anti-allergy, and antiviral properties, also sulfuric compounds that detoxify the body, and onions even aid in the repair of cellular damage.

Tagged with: Nutrition Facts • vegetables

Diabetes is a serious illness but it is manageable.  How you live your life now that you know you have Diabetes will determine not only your lifespan but also the quality of life you will have.  Using a home medical equipment like the Advance Micro-Draw Blood Glucose Monitoring System will help you manage your Diabetes efficiently.

This home medical equipment boasts of a memory that can store 250 Glucose test results so you can easily monitor your glucose results over a period of time.  You can even download the results in your laptop or PC which means better health management. It also requires a small sample only which means less pain and discomfort for you. 

This equipment is very easy to use and you can get the results in 15 seconds.  Compare that with going to your doctor or clinic  you need to check your glucose level which is definitely time consuming.  With a home glucose monitoring system, you can monitor your glucose level anytime, anywhere.  

Tagged with: Advance Micro-Draw Blood Glucose Monitoring System • diabetes • glucose testing • Home Medical Equipment • Hypoguard • managing your diabetes

Wellness - and staying fit and healthy is all the craze these days. If you want to join in, one way for you to do so is by welcoming members of the ‘legume family’ into your kitchen. Legumes are basically plants which have seed pods that split in two. Examples of the legumes that we eat include peas, beans, soybeans, peanuts and lentils.

This type of plant food is an excellent source of carbohydrates and protein. Legumes are also rich in fiber, which helps lower your blood cholesterol and prevent cardiovascular disease. Dry beans, lentils are peas are especially helpful in the prevention of diabetes, as well as some forms of cancer. Legumes also contain essential fatty acids, folate, magnesium, potassium and soy isoflavones.

As a final note, legumes are big winners in the taste department – who doesn’t love a bowl of Texas Ranch Beans, or a sip of some hot Black Bean Soup? So the next time that you try to go vegetarian, have your fill of these scrumptious legumes and take full advantage of its benefits to your health.

Tagged with: beans legumes • health benefits of legumes • legume family • legume recipes • what are legumes