Healthy lifestyle – part I

I would like to write about healthy style of living because it is a great problem for people round the globe nowadays. They have less time to spend it on proper eating and cooking, so they decide on having some snacks, fast foods or some sweets. They don’t have time for exercising, let alone walking or relaxing. That is why, fast food restaurants have become so popular. It is easier for people to pop round and buy a hamburger or crisps, which are anything but high in calories and lack in nutrition kind of food. What is more, junk food is high in saturated fat, which is conductive to develop cancer or diabetes, people who eat a lot of junk food are also more likely to have memory and sleeping problems.

“Lab rats helped the researchers reach that conclusion. The experiment was simple and the results striking. Half of the participating rats were fed a normal diet, and the other half was given junk food. The rats had to recognize colorful signs over a clear plastic platform that would serve as “dry land” in a water-filled aquarium. The ones that were fed a high-fat, highly-refined diet took twice as long to find the platform than those fed a conventional rodent diet. They took a long time to learn where the platform signs were, and the learning process was very slow.

In the article, Dr. Aviv explains: “We learned that the high fat diet alone causes learning disorders. Rats that were fed funk food and were intermittently deprived of oxygen showed the worst results. In rats that were fed a high fat diet, the amount of certain brain protein connected to memory declines. This supports the theory that eating fatty, processed food hurts memory.”

What is more, people nowadays not only tend to eat more unhealthy food, but also they exercise less. Lack of exercising increases the risk of heart problems and various liver diseases. But the most serious problem of unhealthy lifestyle is obesity. There are more and more people who are overweight, a great number of them are adolescents and the weight gained at an early age is extremely hard to lose in later years. There are a lot of dramatic stories of young people who are extremely obese.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzktJYFkEJ0&NR=1

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Doctors say that such cases of extreme obesity around the world are growing. They claim that a balanced diet and regular exercise can bring significant health improvements, from beautiful complexion and hair to the feeling of good health and energy to cope with a nowadays stressful life.

One of the most popular tips about proper diet are mentioned in a food pyramid, which is formally titled the Improved American Food Guide Pyramid. It was published by the FDB in Denmark in 1978 and later adopted by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) in 1992 to replace the earlier food groups classification system. The food guide pyramid suggested optimal nutrition guidelines for each food category, per day, using a mnemonic graphic of a pyramid with horizontal dividing lines to represent suggested percentages of the daily diet for each food group.

The pyramid shows exactly how often and what should people eat to stay healthy.

The base of the pyramid consists of bread, grain, cereal and pasta, which provide complex carbohydrates. They are a source of energy for a day and one person needs about 6 to 11 servings of this kind of food in a day. It might be a slice of bread or ½ cup of rice. The important thing about this stage is to eat whole-grain products, for example pumpernickel or brown rice – they contain more vitamins, fiber and minerals which are essential for human body and mind.

Next stage consists of fruits and vegetables, which are the best source of vitamins, folate and potassium. Both fruit and vegetables are low in fat and sodium, so it is good to have 3 to 5 servings of this kind a day. It is worth mentioning that an essential source of vitamins are raw leafy vegetables, but it is also good to have some cooked vegetables and fruit or fruit juice – but only 100% ones.

Beans of different kind, eggs, lean poultry and fish is next stage. They are high in iron, zinc and first and foremost proteins which are the most important for human body. It’s good to have 2 to 3 servings of these products, but avoid frying them because they are high in fat, that is why poultry and fish should be lean, without skin and visible fat.

Products full of calcium are on the subsequent level. These are dairy products, like milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurts. 2 to 3 servings are suggested, but it is the best to choose non-fat or low in fat products.

Last go fats and sweets. As it is shown on a pyramid, they should constitute the smallest part of our daily diet. They provide a lot of empty calories and no vitamins or proteins. Here are dressings, creams, margarine, soft drinks, cookies, candies etc. The products contain a lot of saturated fats and sugar which are nothing but a source of putting on weight. What is more, it is worth mentioning that we should avoid sweetened yogurts, soups and juices.

Moreover, the pyramid is only the base, and the amount of calories that a particular person needs for a day depends on a variety of factors, like: age, sex, size and also being pregnant or breastfeeding woman let alone being ill.

The National Academy of Sciences recommends the following calorie categories:

1,600 calories - Many sedentary women and some older adults

2,200 calories - Children, teenage girls, active women and many sedentary men.

Women who are pregnant may need around 500 calories more per day and an additional 300 calories for breast-feeding

2,800 calories - Teenage boys, active men and very active women

In general, the pyramid can be very useful, not only when somebody wants to lose weight but also when he or she wants to gain it. In the first case, you have to cut down on fat and sugar and increase physical activity, but you have to remember eating at least the minimum number of servings from the five groups shown in the pyramid. And in the other case, when you want to put on weight, you have to increase the amount of food from all the food groups.

Questions:

1) What should people do to stay healthy?

2) Do you eat in fast food restaurants like Mc Donald’s?

3) Do you agree with the proverb that “You are what you eat”?