Protein for muscle growth

Nutrition has been linked to various physical and psychological ailments such as asthma, allergies and depression. Omega-3 essential fatty acids are used to treat depression, according to the Mayo Clinic. Eating a balanced diet makes you feel better, gives you more energy and can help prevent some types of cancer, reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke. Knowing what constitutes a balanced diet will help you make better choices for nutritional balance.

Protein

Protein is important for muscle growth. Lack of protein can cause growth failure, muscle loss, decreased immunity, weakening of the heart and respiratory system and death, notes the Harvard School of Public Health. The recommended daily minimum is 0.8g of protein for every kilogram of body weight per day, according to the Institute of Medicine.

Sources of protein include beef, poultry, fish, pork and other meats. Meat has lots of protein, but can also have a high fat content. Choose fish or lean meats and smaller portions to keep the amount of saturated fat in your diet low. Saturated fats are not good fats. Eggs are an excellent source of protein. A good mix of proteins includes low fat dairy, soy products and protein containing vegetables.

Anastasia Weight Loss : Solution to weight loss

Anastasia Weight Loss : Solution to weight loss: Your Weight "Set Point" Just as your body temperature is programmed to stay around 98.6 degrees, your body weight is naturally r...

Solution to weight loss

Your Weight "Set Point"

Just as your body temperature is programmed to stay around 98.6 degrees, your body weight is naturally regulated to stay within a range of 10%-20%, says Thomas Wadden, PhD, director of the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders at University of Pennsylvania Medical School. This weight range is known as the "set point."
A complex set of hormones, chemicals, and hunger signals help your body naturally maintain your weight within this range, says American Dietetic Association spokeswoman Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD.
It is not just a matter of genetics, though. Your eating and exercise habits can also help to determine your set point.
"Overeating swamps the internal regulatory system, and, as a result, the set point increases -- which is much easier to do than it is to lower it," says Wadden. The body adjusts to the higher weight and "resets" the set point to defend the new weight.
It is difficult, but not impossible, to set your range lower. "With changes in healthy eating and exercise behavior, you can lower your set point," says Blatner.

The 10% Solution to Weight Loss

A recent book, Break Through Your Set Point: How to Finally Lose the Weight You Want and Keep It Off, by George Blackburn, MD, suggests that maintaining a 10% loss for six months to a year helps your body adjust to the lower weight and thus reset the set point.
Wadden explains that when you lose large amounts of weight at once, you set up an internal struggle and hormones like ghrelin spike to make you hungrier as your body tries to defend its comfortable range.
Instead, experts recommend that you try losing 10% the old-fashioned way -- by slowly changing eating and exercise behaviors -- then maintain this new weight for a few months before trying to lose more.  Not only will your body get the signal to lower its "set point," but you'll give yourself a chance to get used to new food choices, smaller portions, and regular exercise.
“When patients lose 10% it may not be the pant size they want, but they start to realize how a little weight loss impacts their health in very positive ways," says Blatner. "They feel better, sleep better, have more energy or less joint pain, and some people are able to reduce medications."

Anastasia Weight Loss : Essential fatty acids

Anastasia Weight Loss : Essential fatty acids: Fats Essential fatty acids improve cholesterol levels, help lower blood pressure and protect the heart, according to the Mayo...

Essential fatty acids

Fats

Essential fatty acids improve cholesterol levels, help lower blood pressure and protect the heart, according to the Mayo Clinic. Healthy fats include monounsaturated fats such as olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, avocados, nuts and seeds. Polyunsaturated fats include vegetable oils, sunflower, safflower, soy and cottonseed oils along with nuts and seeds. Omega-3 fatty acids are comprised of fatty cold-water fish such as salmon, herring and mackerel, flaxseeds, flax oil and walnuts.

Carbohydrates

The body uses carbohydrates for energy. There are two types of carbohydrates simple and complex. Complex carbohydrates, also called starches, include whole grains, pasta, rice, bread and crackers. Whole grain carbohydrates such as whole wheat bread, wheat bran or germ, oatmeal and other grains provide fiber in the diet. Dietary fiber is essential for a balanced healthy diet. A high-fiber diet may help reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease. The daily recommendation for fiber is 21 to 25g for women and 30 to 38g for men.

Vegetables are both simple and complex carbohydrates. The starchy vegetables are complex the rest fall into the simple carbohydrate category. Vegetables are an important part of a balanced diet. They provide vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. You should aim for nine servings per day, 4 ½ cups of fruits and vegetables, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Simple carbohydrates are simple sugars that include refined sugars, fruits and milk. The best choice for simple carbohydrates is eating fruit. Fruits such as raspberries, strawberries and blueberries are high in fiber and rich in antioxidants. Oranges, limes and grapefruit are rich in vitamin C.

Water

The human body is two-thirds water. All the cells in the body need water to function. Water also moves all the nutrients through the body and lubricates joints. Water is the healthiest choice. It is calorie free and is easy to find.

Anastasia Weight Loss : Healthy weight loss tips

Anastasia Weight Loss : Healthy weight loss tips: THE WEIGHT CONNECTION Magnesium and the B-complex vitamins are energy nutrients: they activate enzymes that control digestion, ab...

Healthy weight loss tips

THE WEIGHT CONNECTION
Magnesium and the B-complex vitamins are energy nutrients: they activate enzymes that control digestion, absorption, and the utilization of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Lack of these necessary energy nutrients causes improper utilization of food, leading to such far-ranging symptoms as hypoglycemia, anxiety, and obesity.

Food craving and overeating can be simply a desire to continue eating past fullness because the body is, in fact, craving nutrients that are missing from processed food. You continue to eat empty calories that pack on the pounds but get you no further ahead in your nutrient requirements.

Magnesium is also necessary in the chemical reaction that allows insulin to usher glucose into cells, where glucose is involved in making energy for the body. If there is not enough magnesium to do this job, both insulin and glucose become elevated. The excess glucose gets stored as fat and contributes to obesity. Having excess insulin puts you on the road toward diabetes.

The connection between stress and obesity cannot be overlooked. The stress chemical cortisol signals a metabolic shutdown that makes losing weight almost impossible. It's as if the body feels it is under an attack such that it must hoard all its resources, including fat stores, and won't let go of them under any inducement. Magnesium can effectively neutralize the effects of stress.

OBESITY, MORE THAN BAD GENES
The public has been told that obesity is inherited, which makes people think they don't have a hand in creating this problem and can continue their bad habits and blame their genes. Animal experiments show, however, that if a mouse with an obesity gene is deprived of B vitamins, the obesity will be expressed. But if it is fed plenty of B vitamins, it will remain thin. The process of metabolizing B vitamins is called methylation, and magnesium is necessary for one of the most important steps in this process.

Every metabolic function in the body requires vitamins and minerals - without them, symptoms develop. Therefore, the first step in treating nonspecific symptoms is diet and dietary supplements, not drugs. It is also important to note that many of the weight loss diets that people subject themselves to are often deficient in magnesium.

ABDOMINAL OBESITY
Gaining weight around your middle is related to magnesium deficiency and an inability to properly utilize insulin. It also sets the stage for Syndrome X. You only need a tape measure to diagnose a predisposition to Syndrome X - a waist size above 40 inches in men and above 35 in women puts you at risk. In their book The Magnesium Factor, authors Mildred Seelig, M.D., and Andrea Rosanoff, Ph.D., take note of research showing that over half the insulin in the bloodstream is directed at abdominal tissue. They theorize that as more and more insulin is produced to deal with a high-sugar diet, abdominal girth increases to process the extra insulin.