Health Concern: FAT? continue...

How much Fat do you Need?

Very little. Just about any food you can think of contains some fat, and when your diet is made up of at least 75 percent vegetables, fruits, and grains with a few nuts and seeds but without added oils, fats, cheese, or butter, as in the Lifestyle Diet, about 15 percent of your calories will be in the form of fat anyway. This is all you need. The body is capable of making its own fatty acids from the foods you eat with the exception of linoleic acid, and the mere three grams you need per day is more than supplied by eating a couple of tablespoons of sunflower seeds or one small dish of oatmeal. Even leafy green vegetables such as kale or spinach contain about 10 percent of their calories in fat. It is hard to be fat-deficient. Studies of people put on very low-fat diets, even when as little as .7 percent of their calories are taken in the form of fat as linoleic acid, have shown no adverse physical or psychological effects.

Even official bodies have recently begun to recognize the need to reduce dietary fats for the sake of preserving health. The U.S. Senate's Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs recommended in its report "Dietary Goals for the United States" a reduction of fat intake from the present 45 to 30 percent as well as a decrease in sugar consumption to 15 percent of total calories and a corresponding increase in the consumption of complex carbohydrates—the fruits, vegetables, and grains that are the foundation of the Lifestyle Diet. For long-term health and beauty, you should make an even greater reduction so that only about 15 percent of your daily calories are taken in fat.

This is in line with the Pritikin and other low-fat, low-protein diets which have recently caused great interest in both the medical profession and the general public. Pritikin recommends a diet of 80 percent complex carbohydrates, 10 percent protein and 10 percent fat. Although a radical departure from the traditional British, European, and American dietary habits, regimens like the Pritikin diet can not only substantially reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar, but can also lead to an automatic weight loss and leave people feeling and looking years younger. Such a low protein, low fat diet can also literally beautify a woman both physically and psychically.

At first such a change takes a bit of getting used to, but soon it becomes second nature and the increased vitality, slimness, and good looks it brings you in a few weeks help make it an easy way to eat permanently.

When these are broken down slowly throughout the day, they provide the pancreas with a steady flow of glucose at a rate of about two calories a minute. When you eat something sweetened with refined sugar, the glucose poured into the system (say 100 calories or more all at once) suddenly soars. So does the production of pancreatic insulin in reaction to the insult. When this insult occurs repeatedly, as it does in the usual Western diet, with its average of two pounds of sugar per person per week, the blood sugar levels become depressed, then soar, then become depressed over and over again by a pancreas made trigger happy. In many people this leads to hypoglycemia or low blood sugar, with its corresponding fatigue and mental and emotional symptoms. It can also result in diabetes and in the development of allergic reactions to foods and to petrochemicals, which have recently been linked with diverse mental disorders as well as many acute and chronic forms of illness.

Repeated eating of sugar and products containing it can also result in deficiencies in the B-complex vitamins and an imbalance in certain important minerals. And just in case you are reassuring yourself that you, after all, only eat raw sugar, you should know that one sugar is just about as bad as another. Raw sugar does contain some of the natural vitamins, minerals, and fiber that are found in the sugar beets or sugarcane from which the sugar has been taken but raw, brown, and turbinado sugars are all still highly concentrated simple sugars which create the same metabolic problems as white sugar. As such, they are potential disease-makers. The Lifestyle Diet excludes every form of refined sugar—from chocolate to jams to packaged breakfast cereals with their hidden sweetness. It does allow a little honey for sweetening muesli (two tablespoonfuls a day) plus one tablespoonful of blackstrap molasses if you want it for its nutritional value.

Healthy weight management through correct lifestyle and supplementation

Obesity, by medical definition, is a disease - a lifestyle disease that holds the grave potential of leading to an untimely death. We often hear of cancer sufferers who claim that they received a wake-up call that caused them to change their thinking, their lifestyles, their diets and their medication. But the truth is often that by the time the cancer is discovered in a body, a series of warning signals have already been sent.

The first symptom of a serious disease often manifests itself in our weight. Just about every diagnostic procedure regards weight loss or weight gain as a symptom of some disease.

Weight fluctuations are never ruled out.

In a sense, the first 5 kilograms you gain can be regarded as the piercing sound of the wake-up alarm. No, this does not necessarily mean you are already ill, but it does mean that unless you start managing your weight healthily, you will be placing yourself in the first line of fire of just about every serious disease in later life. And no, it does not mean that people who are not overweight are not exposed to lifestyle hazards that could lead to serious disease. But it does say loudly and clearly that obesity is the forerunner of most major health risks.

And just like any other serious disease such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes, obesity should be treated holistically. Because lifestyle plays a large part in the cause, it would follow that the cure has to include lifestyle changes. All these diseases share this common denominator, no matter how you argue the issue. In fact, diets suitable for diabetics, heart sufferers and many cancer patients all share the same guidelines: low fat, high fibre and nutrient rich, especially micronutrients, meaning fruit and vegetables.

No matter from which angle you study our main group of lifestyle diseases, their prevention and cure lie in the four cornerstones of proper health management:

Living positively

Whatever comes your way in life, how you react to it is still your choice. You may regard life as a bottle half full, or a bottle half empty. Either way, you are going to drink from it. The only thing you can do is to exercise your right of choice: how you see it. A positive mental attitude can solve most of the world's problems, heal many ailments and repair much emotional damage, whereas a negative attitude has the exact opposite effect. Living positively is a glorious life discipline with many rewards. The only thing it demands is that it should be actively and purposefully practised, every single day.

Lifestyle

Being involved in a healthy, balanced lifestyle every single day, is the most effective way in which to promote excellent health and wellbeing. Enjoying a holistic lifestyle based on balance and variety is perhaps the best way to achieve quality of life. This includes a good social life, enjoying relaxing and stimulating hobbies and interests, regularly practising stress-relief techniques and paying attention to your dreams. The subconscious uses dreams as its communication tool and many health-promoting messages are sent to us through our dreams.

Diet

The food pyramid -the prudent diet- is hailed by the most respected scientific organisations in the world as the eating plan most beneficial for the promotion of great health. By following the right eating plan you can control and regulate many physical functions such as lowering your cholesterol, blood pressure, weight and blood sugar level and controlling your stress levels and mood swings. A good, sensible diet also contributes most effectively to the prevention of serious diseases such as arteriosclerosis, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Complementary health practices

Taking care of the body means taking care of the soul as well. Practising yoga, tai chi, meditation and/or regular, physical exercise offers immeasurable emotional and physical advantages. Regular massages, manicures, pedicures, facials, acupuncture, lymph drainage, colonic irrigation, hydrotherapy and a host of other health facilities contribute greatly to an increased zest for life. Herbal remedies and food supplements are extremely powerful means of attaining a better quality of health.

What kind of carbohydrate? continue...

Protein

The amount of protein needed by athletes is a controversial subject which has been debated for many years. Traditionally, weightlifters and athletes in other 'power' sports have believed that consuming vast quantities of protein will enhance muscle development. On the other hand, scientists have generally maintained that the protein needs of all athletes can be met by the same recommended daily allowances (RDA) as those for sedentary individuals.

Many research studies over the past decade have not resolved the controversy. However, as a very small amount of protein is used for energy during endurance sports, certain researchers now believe that the RDA of 0,8 grams per kilogram body mass per day might be insufficient for those who are involved in endurance-type exercise. Some (but not all) studies also seem to indicate that exercise which needs a good deal of strength (such as weight-lifting) may increase protein requirements. At the same time, there is no evidence that excessive amounts of protein (such as the 2-2,5 grams per kilogram body mass, per day commonly consumed by power trainers) will have any added benefit.

How much protein does an athlete in fact require? While there are no definite recommendations, studies have suggested this may be between 1 and 1,5 grams per kilogram body mass per day or 12 to 15%of the total energy intake. But before you reach for that protein _supplement, it must be emphasised that protein deficiencies among athletes are extremely rare. For example, a diet consisting of 14 300 kilojoules (3 400 calories), 14 % of which is derived from protein, provides about 119 grams of protein. An athlete who weighs 80 kg will therefore consume about 1,5^-grams of protein per kilogram per day. This diet is thus quite capable of supplying the increased protein requirements of strenuous physical activity.

Vitamins

Vitamins play an important role in regulating and assisting the breaking down of macronutrients for energy production and muscular contraction, as well as the formation of red blood cells. All of these functions are essential in exercise performance. Two questions are usually asked when looking at the vitamin-exercise connection:

• Does exercise affect vitamin requirements?
• Does vitamin supplementation improve exercise performance?

Vitamin requirements depend on the energy source of the working muscle. Exercise has been shown to increase the need for vitamin C and riboflavin (vitamin B2). However, it has also been proved that supplementation fails to increase the ability of athletes to train. Low thiamine (vitamin B1) intakes show no measurable effect on performance. Vitamin deficiencies in sportsmen and women are very uncommon and any increased demand for vitamins is usually met simply by the increased overall energy intake of the athlete. Studies of the effects of vitamin supplementation on performance have consistently found that there is no improvement in performance in athletes who have a balanced diet with an adequate vitamin intake. However, special care must be taken by those athletes who consume less than 5 000 kJ (1 200 cal) per day to ensure that their diets contain enough in the way of vitamins. This low energy intake is more common among female endurance athletes and ballet dancers.

Minerals

Like vitamins, minerals play an essential role in various exercise- related functions. The most important macrominerals and trace elements in an athlete's diet are sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron.

Sodium and potassium, which are usually referred to as 'electrolytes', play a major role in the amount of fluid in the body. Trivial amounts of both are lost in sweat, but even those athletes who sweat excessively rarely need to supplement their diets with either salt (sodium chloride) or potassium. The average diet contains 3 to 4 times more salt than necessary and simply by eating sufficient fresh fruit and vegetables, our potassium requirements are easily met. Magnesium deficiency is rare in athletes, partly due to the fact that it occurs in many foods and partly because sweat losses are very small. Magnesium does play an important role in the formation of glycogen, the storage form of carbohydrate in muscles and the liver.

Iron plays a major role in relation to exercise. The lack of it is the most common nutritional deficiency in the world and the most important in relation to runners, especially female runners. Energy intakes of less than 5 000 kJ (1 200 cal) are not enough to supply the amount of iron which a female sportswoman needs. Iron supplementation may then be necessary.

Water

Water can also be referred to as a nutrient as it is so essential to life. One of its many functions in exercise is that of heat regulation. The amount of water needed during an exercise event depends mainly on the duration and intensity of the exercise and the body weight of the athlete. As a general guide, 500 ml per hour is thought to cover most athletes' requirements.