Eating away from home

In most of the countries like US, UK, India, Australia the number of meals eaten away from home continues to rise. This is most likely due to increase in the number of two-career families, who have a very little time to food shopping, preparing and cooking meals at home during the week.

Being aware of the hazards will enable you to make healthy choices. For example; one could choose a small sized grilled chicken sandwich instead of a cheese-topped burger. Insted of having chips, you can opt for a side salad, which is nutritious and much lower in fat. Stop eating as soon as you feel satistied, don't feel compelled to eat everything in your plate.

Wherever possible, choose food that is grilled, poached, or baked, rather than fried, as the fried foods are high in calories and fat content. Check out this video regarding the problems that arise due to frequent intake of fast foods [video chosen from youtube]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GXbm-iV9EA

Drinking Water

Water is essential for good health. Humans are able to survive for several weeks without food, but for only a few days without water. Since the body has no means of storing water, we need a constant supply to replenish the fluids that we lose through sweating and urination. So, we need to drink atleast 6-8 glasses of water everday, and more when it is hot or when playing sport or taking exercise. We shouldn't wait until we feel thirsty, since thirst may indicate that you are already lacking the water you need.

If you are thirsty what do you prefer to drink? 80% of the people answer "Soft Drinks". Most of these drinks are sweetened with sugar. There is an evidence that drinking soft drinks may be a risk factor in developing Obesity (http://www.health.gov.au/). If you prefer to drink them check the labels and choose 'no added sugar' varieties.

Try to adopt healthy drinking habits to keep yourself active. Prefer to drink plain water/ coconut water/ fruit juices/ skim milk/ lassi/ buttermilk whenever you feel thirsty. They supply good nutrients to your body in additional apart from satisfying your thirst.(http://www.australiansportsnutrition.com.au/water_or_cola.php)

Using Fats and Oils

Fats are not only found naturally in foods, but also added during preparation, cooking and serving. They are essential to our health, but not all the fats have same effect on your health.

Saturated fats such as butter, lard and dripping, have been identified as having the potential to increase the risk of Cardiovascular Disease. This is beacause they raise the levels of cholesterol in the blood stream. However, other fats such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, found in plant based oils and fish, are healthier and protect against diseases.

Monounsaturated fats, which are found in abudance in olive and canon oils, have been shown to reduce the risk of Cardiovascular Disease when they are part of healthy food intake. So, to help modify the fats we eat, cook with olive or canola oils instead of animal fats.

Whichever oil we use, it will provide 3700KJ (880 cal) per 100g. So, we should use all fats, including oils, sparingly.

How many meals per day

Every person have their meals according to their biological demands. To function well, our body and mind need a steady supply of energy and nutrients. So, eating 3 nutritious meals per day is a good way to obtain the nutrients that we need for good health.

Some prefer to have only 2 meals per day. But one of those should defenitly be breakfast. Breakfast is an important meal as it breaks the long overnight fast and make you more alert all the day. For a healthy break fast we can have

• traditional Indian foods like - idli, chapathi, dosa, wheat upma
• make a smoothie by blending a banana or berries with plain yoghurt and skim/ soy milk
• fresh fruits like apple, guava, pears, some nuts/ seeds
• sprouts/ boiled/ raw vegetables with a multigrain bread toast
• dry fruits with skim milk
• rice cakes

For most of us snacking is a regular and enjoyable part of our daily routine. If you are really hungry, then eat a healthy snack rather than wait for the next meal. This will prevent you from becoming over hungry and in turn will reduce the temptation to eat a nutrient poor food. Many popular snacks such as chips, chocolates, biscuits contain lots of sugar, fat and salt but have little nutritional value. So, it's best to eat them once in a while rather eating them daily.

One should avoid eating big meals in the nights. Children and teenagers in particular should have regular meals and snacks throughout the day. Offer children fruits or vegetables as snacks to develop good habits right from the start.

Is your Life-style Healthy?

There are 3 aspects to examine if we are maintaining a healthy life-style or not :

1. Examining every aspect of our eating habits, including

• how many times a day we eat
• what we eat
• how much we eat

2. Then we should look over other aspects of our lifestyle; for example,

• how active we are
• do we take part in any sport/ exercise

3. Finally, we should consider other factors that could effect our nutritional health, such as

• tobacco
• alcohol

Good Nutrition for Good Health

The connection between food and health is clear - to grow properly and function properly. Everything we eat & drink affects our body functions. Our body needs different nutrients at different stages of our life. A normal person requires a complete range of nutrients, including carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fibre, water as well as a variety of vitamins and minerals.

Most of the nutrients are not just essential for normal body functioning, but they can actually improve our state of health and protect us against various diseases. If the food we eat lacks any nutrients or provides too many of certain nutrients, we will not fuction at the optimum level. For example, eating too much of animal fat can lead to Cardiovascular Disease. On the other hand skipping calcium rich foods in your teenage may lead to Osteoporosis in later years.

Accordingly, adopting healthier eating habits will result in maintaining a healthier life-style.

Nutrition

Nutrition is an ongoing science that requires our body to keep up to date. A balance of good nutrition and adequate physical activity is essential for general good health and well-being for prevention of many life-style diseases.

Now that our chidren's health and our long-term health are being threatened because we are overweight and inactive, there is an increased need for accurate,reliable information. The cause of Obesity is not a mystery. Excess weight is a mathematical certainity if the energy we consume consistently exceeds the energy we spend.

Eating well makes you feel well, which improves your mood and enables to cope better with stress.

What is Health?

This is the question most of people arise. There are many avenues available to achieve a healthy state and they all work interdependently. Most of the people become ignorant to their health needs. Surely, there is nothing more important in life than health. Time and Health are the two precious assets that we don't recognise and appreciate until they have been depleted.

Learning more about your personal health, or the needs of the people you love, means raising awareness of your own condition and living a balanced life will help you to make the right decisions to do something positive about your health.

This is the key to sustaining good health throughout life.