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10 Nutrition Mistakes Men Make

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10 Nutrition Mistakes Men Make

Many men are making some serious nutrition mistakes that end up costing them in the long term.

Let’s have a look at what these are so you can be sure to avoid them.

1. Eliminating Fruit Because of the Sugar Content

Has fruit received the boot from your diet? If so, you need to add it back in, because you should know the truth about sugar. While it is true that fruit does contain sugar, it’s natural fruit sugar and it won’t spike blood-sugar levels like table sugar will.

More importantly, the fructose found in fruit will help to resaturate liver glycogen stores, and this is one of the deciding factors as to whether your body releases energy or not.

2. Believing Herbs Are Harmless Because They’re Natural

Our next nutrition mistake is thinking that you can use herbs without caution. You think herbal remedies are natural, so they must not pose any threat of side effects. But make sure you do your research before you start using a particular herb.

3. Thinking Only Calories Matter for Weight Maintenance

While it is true that the amount of calories in your diet will determine whether you gain or lose weight, remember that the type of calories you take in will determine how easy it is to attain your desired calorie level. The more healthy foods you eat, the less you crave junk.

If you’re eating nothing but junk food or processed snack foods, you’ll likely either go way overboard with your calorie intake or have to battle with blood-sugar highs and crashes all day long — with the corresponding hunger that comes with them.

4.Avoiding All Red Meat

If you’re a man on a diet trying to really get lean, chances are good that you’ve eliminated red meat. Don’t be so fast to cut it out. Red meat supplies a number of important muscle-building nutrients that your body needs, including iron, zinc and vitamin B12.

Simply choose leaner cuts such as sirloin steak, venison or other game meat, and watch your portion size.

5. Relying on Your Classic Standbys

There’s no question that having a routine diet does help you maintain consistency with your eating habits, but don’t let the routine get so monotonous that you’re facing serious dietary boredom.

If you very rarely switch up the foods you’re eating, not only are you more likely to crave less-than-nutritious options, but you’re also more likely to suffer from a nutritional deficiency as well.

Rotate a minimum of at least five dishes per meal throughout your monthly diet plan.

6. Neglecting Spices

One serious place where calories like to hide is in the condiments and sauces you’re using. Whether it’s the sauce in which you cook your stir-fry or the marinade you use with your chicken, there’s a high chance it has too much cooking oil, sugar or other added, unhealthy ingredients.

Instead, try and make use of herbs and spices. They offer many health properties and will add flavor without the calories.

7. Downing Sports Drinks During Your Workout

Another mistake you might be making is using sports drinks far too often during your workouts for when you’re dehydrated. Unless you’re exercising for hours at a time, you simply won’t require the calories or electrolytes found in these beverages. Water along with a good pre- and post-workout meal will do the job perfectly.

8. Relying on Multivitamins

Still can’t stand the taste of most vegetables? If you’ve switched over completely to multivitamins and vitamin supplements to cover your bases, you’re not making the right move. Multivitamins are meant to help fill nutritional gaps, not to serve as complete substitutes. While there are benefits to making multivitamins a part of your health regimen, you should get your nutrients directly from the source.

9. Believing Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Are Far Healthier Than Frozen

Many of us believe the only way to reap the health benefits of fruits and vegetables is by eating them fresh. The truth is, frozen vegetables can be just as nutritious and can be a lot more convenient. If including frozen fruits and vegetables in your diet means getting your daily intake, as opposed to not, definitely opt to use them. They’re fast, easy and taste great.

10. Avoiding Pre- and Post-Workout Meals to Enhance “Fat Burn”

Think skipping your pre- and post-workout meal will help you burn fat faster? You might want to reconsider. While it may seem logical, you must remember that it’s your total calorie balance at the end of the day that matters.

Rather than denying your body the critical nutrients it needs at the time it’s least likely to convert them to body fat, cut calories at some other point in the day when you just don’t need the energy. That will be far more effective.

So there you have some of the biggest mistakes that you might be making with your diet. If you’re guilty of committing any of these nutrition mistakes, make sure you implement appropriate changes immediately.

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Top Tips For Good Nutrition This Thanksgiving

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Top Tips For Good Nutrition This Thanksgiving

To many, good nutrition and thanksgiving dinner seem to cancel each other out. However it should be possible and even easy to make a nutritious meal that is a pleasure to share with friends and family. Here are a few tips to help you make your holiday meals healthy ones too.

Prepare a wide variety of foods. Traditional thanksgiving stories tell us of meals that contained wide varieties of dishes reflecting the backgrounds of the many people who came together for these meals and to give thanks. The nutritional benefit of eating from a wide variety of foods is you gain a wider variety of nutrients. Also, you are less likely to overload on a single type of food. If you don’t have time to prepare a large number of dishes, many grocery stores sell prepared dishes that you can add to the variety of dishes you’re cooking yourself. Gourmet grocery stores often prepare these dishes on site.

Try some simple recipes this Thanksgiving. Instead of making the obligatory green bean casserole with mushroom soup and fried onions, how about a simple green bean dish with a dash of sea salt? Substitute yams, cooked in butter with marshmallows and brown sugar, with a more simple preparation of yams. You may be surprised at how much people enjoy the taste of the original ingredients.

Be careful of portion sizes. An ideal meal is derived from all of the food groups and should include a wide variety of individual foods. Instead of loading up your plate with mashed potatoes, start with smaller portions of everything that has been prepared. If you would like a second helping, follow the same procedure. By eating from a wider variety of foods you will be providing your body with a more complex array of nutrients and you’ll be able to enjoy the many flavours as well.
Pace yourself. Unless you’re on call for surgery, you probably have a little time. Instead of jumping right into your second helping, consider a short intermission and burn some calories by helping out with the dishes. By eating more slowly, your body will give you signals when you are full. If there are leftovers you can always eat them later.

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for all of the things that we have. It is a time for us to remember and reflect on the things that are important in our lives that we so often take for granted. The sharing of a meal with friends and family is a wonderful event and is cherished by nearly all cultures. So take pleasure in the eating and the sharing of food but also consider the nourishment that food gives you and be thankful and give honour to the abundance which you have to share.

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Quick And Easy Way To Figure Out If It Is Junk Food

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Quick And Easy Way To Figure Out If It Is Junk Food

This article was written to answer many of the most frequently asked questions on this topic. I hope you find information helpful. Unless we really love cooking or plan and prepare ahead with our meals, we can fall victim to the easy way out – fast food or junk food.

Here is a story; could it be you? The weekend is here and you think you now have a couple of days to relax. Saturday morning – you make the coffee to start the day and then you’re off shopping. You get back just before lunch and discover that you have to get the kids to their hockey practise. Too late for a healthy lunch, by the time they are organized it will be time to go. So you pick up a hamburger on the way. Traffic is a nightmare. By the time you put your feet up, you find it is time to get the kids. It’s almost supper time and you’re really tired now and you’re in no mood to prepare a meal so you pick up pizzas from a well-known fast food outlet. Sunday and time to prepare brunch and you go downhill from there so you pick up some chicken with chips and some salad…

So what is a good diet? One which contains the nutrients your body needs in the correct amounts. That is the key to a healthy lifestyle. The main things your body needs from food are proteins (for growth and repair), carbohydrates (for energy), fats (gives a store of energy and the fatty layer protects and insulates your body from impacts and temperature loss), vitamins (for good health), minerals (for the correct functioning of your body systems) fibre (aids digestion and production of faeces) and water (70% or so of the body is water).

Does the hamburger provide all the things your body needs? Does it supply the nutrients you need? The answer is yes. The burger itself contains some meat, so there is the protein, some minerals and fat, the burger also contains fillers and those, plus the burger bun provides carbohydrate. The salad that comes with the burger meal provides fibre, water, vitamins and minerals. The fries provide more fat and carbohydrate and the main bulk of the water comes from the drink. To our surprise, the burger meals do provide all you need!

The problem is with the quantities of these nutrients. There is usually way too much fat and carbohydrate compared with the other nutrients. There is very little fibre. The vitamin and mineral proportions are low, unless you have a shake with the meal, which will increase the proportion of dairy product based minerals such as calcium. Now you need to make sure your next meal makes up for this out of balance meal. For your evening meal you should eat a low fat, high fibre meal, plenty of vegetables cooked lightly or eaten raw so as not to destroy the vitamins. If you must eat between meals, snack on fruit or vegetables.

Another issue is the use of additives. For example, the addition of salt improves the flavour of food so naturally manufacturers put it in so eating processed food increases your salt levels – increases blood pressure and leads to heart problems. A little salt is necessary; it provides your body with the mineral sodium which is needed in small quantities. Preservatives are another issue here. In small quantities, these are not supposed to be harmful. Do you eat processed food all of the time? This is something for you to think about because you are really causing great harm to your body.

Antioxidants are so important. They help to prevent damage to the cells of your body, damage that can lead to cells becoming cancerous. Teas are a very good source of antioxidants. Ordinary (black) tea provides some but a lot of the beneficial constituents are lost during the fermentation process.

Unprocessed, pure organic teas like Green Tea or Oolong (the latter is only partly fermented) are the best. So instead of coffee in the morning, try tea, because it is more beneficial. Tea also contains the caffeine, but not as much as in coffee. You might have to drink more but think of the extra benefits to your health. Also, Green tea is thought to inhibit the absorption of cholesterol. The high levels of animal fats in burgers inevitably mean more cholesterol so there is another good reason for switching from coffee.

Simple changes to your diet can make your hectic lifestyle more healthy. Enjoy the odd burger or other fast food; just compensate healthier foods for the rest of the day.

I must say, a system that works very well for me is when I am making meals, cook extra and freeze them. When I come home tired, I just get the individual meals out of the freezer, heat them up and in minutes I’m eating a super meal. It’s even faster than fast food and tastes better too!

Thank you for joining us. We hope you have a look around while you’re here.

author:Sintilia Miecevole

Bill & Sheila’s Barbecue

Nutritional Value Of These 7 Key Fruit

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Nutritional Value Of These 7 Key Fruits

Fruit is a great way to start eating more nutrition and eating at least five to nine servings can make a big difference in the way you feel. Some fruits are more nutritionally valuable than others. We will discuss some of the most nutritious fruits and why they are so good for you.

A is for Apple

We have all heard the expression, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”. This might not be entirely true, but eating apples is a great way for you to get the fibre you need in your diet. They are delicious and readily available all year around. Apples also contain pectin and that aids in lowering the bad cholesterol. They are also known to contain flavenoids that are beneficial to fighting cancer. It is better to eat a fresh apple rather than drink apple juice. The reason behind this is that some of the nutrients and important minerals may be lost during the processing.

A is also for Apricots

Apricots are chock full of zinc, folic acid, vitamins A and K, calcium and protein. these fruit are also very high in beta carotene, fibre and potassium. Apricots are often found on the top ten lists for fruit and you can purchase them fresh, canned or dried. Eating dried apricots will give you an excellent source of essential nutrients. If you are going to purchase dried apricots, it is good to read the label. You will want to avoid those dried apricots that are laden with chemicals and preservatives. The best place to purchase dried apricots or any other dried fruit is from a health food store or a natural market. You will find a large selection of tasty treats that contain no additives; just the valuable nutrients you need in order for your body to perform in peak condition.

An Avocado is a Fruit Too

Many people mistakenly think of avocados as a vegetable when in reality they are a fruit. An avocado is considered a “super fruit” and is loaded with zinc, riboflavin, thiamin and niacin to name just a few of the important nutrients that an avocado has. Avocados are great for growing kids. Those who are conscious of their weight may want to forgo avocados because of their high calorie content. They also have a high fat count, but it is the heart healthy monounsaturated fats such as the Omega 3 fatty acid, an important brain food. Avocados can be eaten fresh after they have been peeled, or can be made into guacamole by adding garlic, onions and tomatoes.

Start Monkeying Around

Bananas are high in potassium and can aid in those people who take such medications as diuretics which are known to deplete the potassium from your body. They are easily mashed for easy consumption for babies and toddlers and because you have to peel one before you eat it, they will not contain pesticides that many other fruits are vulnerable to. A banana is a handy snack for eating on the go and keeping a supply of them in your home will make snack time a snap.

Blueberries

For many years, blueberries have been thought of as a tasty summertime fruit treat. We now know that blueberries can pack a lot of punch because of the anthocyanin, a cancer fighting antioxidant that can be found in the skin. They are a tasty addition to any health conscious person’s diet and can make many other foods even tastier with their addition. You can add blueberries to a salad, cereal or ice cream or use them to make your fruit smoothie even more delicious. Adding blueberries to your diet whether fresh or frozen is a great nutritional step for you to take.

Cantaloupe Tonight, My Father is using the Ladder

Cantaloupes are not only juicy and delicious; they are high in potassium, vitamin C and beta carotene. Melon that is fresh can be enjoyed in a variety of ways and is nutrition that is tasty as well as good for you. There are other varieties of melon, but cantaloupe is a melon that you can trust to give you the healthy nutrients you need.

Grapefruit

Eating grapefruit has long been a staple of dieters. It is a fruit that is high in fibre yet low in calories. The best grapefruit for you are the red or pink type. So if you have a choice, opt for these instead of the white variety. There is a lot of fibre packed into the strings that attach the grapefruit segments, so do yourself a favour and don’t use a spoon to scoop out the tasty flesh.

Nutrition Facts

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Nutrition Facts

Facts about nutrition are becoming important to a greater number of people and that is terrific news for your health. There is an old saying that states: “You are what you eat.” – This holds true today just as it did centuries ago; even if it was originally coined when the majority of people received insufficient food. Today it refers more to the worldwide trend of over-eating.

Fortunately packaging now gives more advice on calories and servings. The major fault is that we ignore serving sizes; many people are quite happy to eat double size servings and then wonder why the pounds keep going on and the inward curves turn outward.

The new US label regulations force manufacturers to be more open with Nutrition facts and here are few tips concerning what you should check on the label.
Check serving size and use it. This figure is nutritional fact.

Check calories. A healthy adult requires at least 2,000 each day in total. Try to keep it below 2,750. The average American adult currently eats around 3,500 calories each day.

Avoid sugars. Sugar is calorie high and each one of us should check whether we need the amount of sugar that we use. I avoid sugar in beverages so that I can eat sweet things from time to time.

Know your fats. Foods that are low in saturated fats, trans-fats and cholesterol are good foods and will help reduce the risk of heart disease. (5% DV or less is low, 20%DV or more is high). Most of the fats you eat should be polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats. Keep total fat intake between 20% and 35% of total calories.

Reduce salt intake. Research indicates that our total sodium (salt) intake should never exceed 2,300 milligrams (about 1 teaspoon) each day to reduce the risk of high blood pressure. You should also know that the majority of salt is taken in from processed foods rather than from the saltshaker. – Watch those processed foods. Also look for foods that are high in potassium because they counteract the effects of salt on blood pressure.

Finally we come to exercise. The whole world seems to have forgotten how important it is to exercise and exercise burns calories which reduces weight. We should slowly work our way up to one hour of exercise each day. This can be done in 12 five-minute periods or 6 ten-minute periods until you are able to exercise for longer periods.

If you are looking to lose weight you will find more articles in our News Blogs articles section.

This article is copyright (c) David McCarthy and may be reproduced in its entirety with no additions.

author:David McCarthy