Sugar Blossom
Blossoming Your Life with Insights
Eat Adequate Protein to Maintain Your Strength
Posted by fiona in Sugar Blossom Tips
The major building blocks of protein are amino acids. As you get older, your body may need a greater protein intake compared to when you were younger to form, maintain, and repair the body’s protein structures such as muscles. For example, adults over ? fty years of age may need at least 1.1 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (1 kg equals 2.2 pounds), while younger adults minimally require 0.8 grams per kilogram. Adults who exercise regularly, regardless of the type of exercise done or their age, need more protein than this minimal amount (usually 1.1 to 1.6 g/kg).
read comments (0)Eat Your Veggies (and More) for Optimal Nutrition Part 2
Posted by fiona in Sugar Blossom Tips
Eat More Dark Chocolate. Of note, ?avonols in chocolate and cocoa have been shown to prevent fatlike substances in the blood stream from oxidizing and clogging the arteries, acting similarly to low-dose aspirin in promoting healthy blood ? ow and a lesser risk of strokes and heart attacks. A typical cup of hot cocoa (with two tablespoons of pure cocoa powder) contains twice the ? avonols as red wine, two to three times more than green tea, and ?ve times as much as black tea. Given that Dr. Sheri is a “chocoholic” herself, she would much rather eat dark chocolate (in moderation, of course) or drink hot cocoa for her heart health than take an aspirin.
Eat Your Veggies (and More) for Optimal Nutrition
Posted by fiona in Sugar Blossom Tips
You can usually get all the essential vitamins and minerals (i.e., micronutrients) that your body needs to function optimally through a healthy and varied diet (see Tables 1.2 and 1.3 later in this chapter). For example, the B vitamins are necessary for the body to effectively process carbohydrates in your diet as well as proteins, and some of them even assist in the production of red blood cells to carry oxygen. In general, consuming a wide variety of vegetables and fruits in suf? cient quantities (i.e., a bare minimum of ?ve a day, but likely much more) is a smart practice. Focus on dark green, leafy vegetables (e.g., lettuces, kale, broccoli, spinach), orange-yellow varieties (such as sweet potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, squashes), and tomatoes for optimal nutrition. Eat them raw, lightly steamed, baked, or microwaved to preserve their nutrient content, because boiling them leeches out important micronutrients into the water. The other sure? re plant-based foods to include regularly are legumes (e.g., black, navy, kidney, and garbanzo beans and lentils), whole grains, fruits of all colors, and a wide variety of nuts.
Will Alcohol Intake Make You Gain Weight?
Posted by fiona in Sugar Blossom Tips
Drinking excess calories in the form of alcohol can certainly lead you to gain fat weight, but contrary to common belief, drink ing alcohol does not necessarily lead to weight gain, despite its high-calorie content of 7 calories per gram. In fact, a Mayo clinic study of 8,236 men and women found that compared to teetotalers, people who had one or two alcoholic drinks a day were about half as likely to be obese. Nevertheless, it is prudent to keep the higher calorie content of alcohol in mind. Furthermore, alcohol calories should not replace those normally coming from foods that supply your body with necessary vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients.
Beer, Wine, Whiskey, and More: Which Is Best for Your Health?
Posted by fiona in Sugar Blossom Tips
The push during the last decade was to drink wine, particularly the red variety, to obtain the greatest health bene? ts. Recent studies on lower risk of heart disease, however, provide strong evidence that all alcoholic drinks are equivalently bene?cial to cardiovascular health. Thus, it appears that a substantial portion of the bene?t is from alcohol rather than other components of each type of drink. But you can’t rule them out completely. For instance, red wine, especially when made from grapes grown in colder climates, offers even greater cardiovascular protection, likely due to its content of polyphenols contained in grape skin.