Diversify and Expand Your Diet

I’m sure that you’ve heard eating a variety of foods with different shades is good for your health, but exactly why is eating a rainbow of natural colors important? Many necessary nutrients are associated with different colors and if your diet doesn’t contain a healthy mix of all of them, then you’re almost certainly lacking vital nutrients.

For example, if you often get stomach aches, you’re probably deficient in green vegetables which are necessary for healthy digestion. If you seem to always be sick, you are most likely not getting enough orange and yellow fruits and vegetables. Let me go through the rainbow of colors and let you know why they are all important for your health.

I’m going to start with the most important color when it comes to eating healthy, green. Green fruits and vegetables are highly nutritious, with dark leafy green vegetables topping the list. Spinach, kale, and kiwi are some examples of green fruits and vegetables. These green fruits and vegetables are extremely important for digestion, fighting cancer, and improving the immune system.

Red fruits and vegetables are excellence sources of phytochemicals, which are essential for fighting cancer. Great sources include cherries, apples, and tomatoes. Red fruits and vegetables also decrease blood pressure and cancer risk.

Orange and yellow fruits and vegetables are usually lumped into one category. These fruits and vegetables are associated with beta carotene (Vitamin A), which is necessary for vision, skin health, and immune function. Sources include carrots, sweet potatoes, and mangos.

One common blue fruit is blueberries, which are extremely important for improving your memory and decreasing your risk of heart disease. Some other important blue fruits and vegetables include grapes, eggplant, and prunes.

Lastly, I am going to talk about white vegetables. Although white isn’t a color of the rainbow, eating white vegetables are also important. Some examples include onions, cauliflower, and dates. These white fruits and vegetables balance hormone levels and they provide a powerful boost to your immune system.

Although you probably aren’t consuming all of these colors on a daily basis, it is a good idea to consume them as often as possible. Those who don’t eat fruits and vegetables regularly might feel fine, but the truth is that their body is not as healthy as it should be. It can take years for a vitamin deficiency to outwardly show. Once the deficiency is visible, there has already been an incredible amount of damage within the human body. Instead of being at a high risk of cancer and heart disease, take care of your body and taste the rainbow.

Becky <3

A Change You Can Stick To

*Published in The UWM Post

Did you make a weight loss goal for 2009? Setting a weight loss goal of five, 10, or 15 pounds as your new year’s resolution is fairly common, but these good intentions may have already been lost.

The key to lasting weight loss, however, is not a crash or fad diet. Instead of trying to lose weight quickly for spring break or some other special occasion coming up in your life, you should make a lifestyle change that will stick.

Often when someone loses weight too quickly the result is mainly water and muscle loss. With the lost muscle, the body’s metabolism slows down significantly, thus restricting one to consume fewer calories to maintain this new weight. Once the dieter has reached the desired weight, he or she will usually go back to their old lifestyle and go off the diet. Since the body’s metabolism has been slowed down from the reduction in muscle and improper weight loss, the individual will almost certainly gain back every pound lost and maybe even then some.

In order to avoid slowing down your metabolism during weight loss, you should follow a proper exercise program. This could include 30 minutes of cardio exercise paired with 20 minutes of strength training, three days per week. The cardio exercise will help burn body fat, and the strength training will help maintain muscle strength, hence maintaining your metabolism.
Talking with a personal trainer can really help you get on the right track. They can design an exercise program for you to follow and help you achieve your weight loss goals. A good rule to follow is to lose no more than two pounds per week.

Yes, exercise needs to be considered when making a lifestyle choice, but you also need to examine food choices. Instead of saying “I can’t eat that; I’m on a diet,” you need to tell yourself, “I’m only going to eat one cookie, instead of four.” Small changes really make a difference when it comes to cutting a few calories per day. Also, if you incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your diet you will naturally feel fuller and won’t crave high-calorie, high-fat foods.

Good luck with your lifestyle changes!

Becky <3

Health for the Holidays

*Published in The UWM Post

Cold and flu season is officially here. To help you stave off sickness this winter, I’ve come up with some simple preventative tips.

One of the easiest ways to avoid getting sick this winter is by getting a flu shot. While supplies last, students are eligible for a $10 flu shot through Norris Health Center. This is for the reparatory flu, not the stomach flu. In order to avoid the stomach flu and other colds, additional steps need to be taken.

Eating foods that contain phytochemicals (plant chemicals) is a great way to help prevent illness. Phytochemicals are a naturally occurring compound found in all plants. The plant actually produces these phytochemicals to protect themselves against bacteria and viruses.
Phytochemicals are essentially anti-oxidants, which not only protect you from colds and flues, but they also help protect you from cancer. Unfortunately phytochemicals are not found in supplements so the actual plant needs to be eaten to receive the benefits; foods that are high in phytochemicals include blueberries, sweet potatoes, broccoli, tomatoes, and soy.

Consume plenty of vitamin C and vitamin A. Citrus fruit, kiwis, berries, tomatoes, and red peppers contain high amounts of Vitamin C. Vitamin A, found in carrots, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes, helps boost our immune systems. To stay healthy, consume approximately 5 fruits and/or vegetables per day.

Drink plenty of fluids, preferably water. Water helps flush toxins out your body. If your urine is clear or pale yellow you’re consuming enough water.

Lastly, wash your hands often, cut alcohol consumption (it suppresses your immune system), try avoiding touching your face, and get adequate rest.

If you do happen to find yourself with an illness this winter, make sure you see your doctor if your symptoms persist or if you have an ongoing cough that causes chest pain. If you have a slight fever, try to avoid taking a fever reducer, your body has purposely increased its core temperature to try and kill the virus that’s infecting you.

I wish you all good health this winter season!

Becky <3

Happy Thanksgiving!

*Published in The UWM Post

How to lose weight effectively
By Becky Kolar

There are tons of diets out there today, but do any of them really work? I don’t believe in diets, I believe in a healthy lifestyle that involves healthy eating and exercise. That’s not to say you have to give up your favorite food, I’m just saying that you probably can’t eat your favorite food every day, unless you have an undying love for broccoli.

Weight loss starts with shedding one pound at a time. In order to lose one pound of fat you need to either decrease your food intake by 3,500 calories or burn an extra 3,500 calories through exercise. Decreasing your intake or increasing your output by 3,500 calories in one day is almost impossible. That being said, the 3,500 calorie deficit needs to be spread over 1 week, equaling 500 calories per day. Now that doesn’t seem so difficult!

Ways to burn an extra 500 calories:

• Run for 45 minutes
• Skip 2 slices of cheese pizza from Pizza Hut
• Walk for 1 hour and 40 minutes
• Skip ½ a Burrito from Qdoba (that’s right! A full burrito is 750 calories)
• Bike for 55 minutes
• Skip a Big Mac from McDonalds
• Skip ½ cup m&m’s
  

Since most of us have limited time to exercise and can’t spend over an hour at the gym each day, it seems much easier to cut your food intake by 500 calories. The key is actually a combination of exercising and decreased calorie intake. Exercising will not only help you burn calories, but once you reach your ideal weight, cardiovascular exercise will help your body from gaining extra pounds.

Let me leave you with a few weight loss warnings. Never eat less than 1200 calories a day. If you go below this number you may not be getting enough carbohydrates to feed your brain and heart; if this is kept up for too long you will have brain damage and develop a weak heart. An obtainable goal when it comes to weight loss is one pound per week. If more than this is lost, the body might go into shock and once the diet is over you’ll gain all the weight back; hence people who complain about yo-yo dieting. When weighing yourself, be sure to stick to a schedule. Do it at the same time daily or weekly and on the same scale, for your weight can fluctuate up to five pounds in one day. Lastly, don’t deprive yourself of your favorite foods; instead, limit yourself to having that foods only once per week, think moderation.

All About the Heart

Welcome Back!

Are you heart healthy? This term gets thrown around a lot, but most people aren’t even sure what being heart healthy is all about. Well, today’s your lucky day. You’re going to learn all about heart disease and how to prevent it!

Heart disease is the number one killer of people worldwide. If you’re young, you may think you have nothing to worry about. But that’s just not true! The fatty deposits, called plaque, in the arteries of the heart, start to form at age 2. I don’t mean to scare you, but plaque build-up is a very serious thing. Most people will have no symptoms of the plaque build-up until they are diagnosed with heart disease. But I do have some good news, the build-up can be reversed through good nutrition and exercise.

The easiest way to decrease your risk of heart disease is by controlling your blood cholesterol levels. It is recommended that every person get their cholesterol level checked at age 20 and then once every 5 years, if your levels are normal. Normal blood cholesterol levels are:

• Total blood cholesterol below 200 mg/dL
• HDL cholesterol: >40 mg/dL for men and >50mg/dL for women
• LDL cholesterol: <100>

In order to lessen plaque build-up in the heart, a low saturated fat diet is required. There is a common misconception that eating high levels of cholesterol causes someone to have high blood cholesterol. But the real dietary cause of high blood cholesterol is a diet high in saturated fat. Saturated fat intake should not exceed 7% of your total calorie intake, which is approximately 20 grams per day. Foods with a high amount of saturated fat include:

• Fatty cuts of meat
• Dairy products, such as, cheese, ice cream, butter, and whole and 2% milk
• Sweets, such as, cookies, cakes, and chocolate
• Processed meats, such as, hot dogs, bacon, and sausages

Other ways to decrease your risk of heart disease include: exercising for 30 minutes each day, control your blood pressure, moderate alcohol intake (1-2 drinks/day), maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, and getting regular check-ups at the doctor.

I hope this information helps all of you live a longer and healthier life! Please keep the questions coming, I love to help.

Fact of the day: 2 ounces of cheese has 9 grams of saturated fat.

Becky <3