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Healthy Eating Is Fun

Today is Healthy Eating Reflection Day!

smily-sun.jpg      Please send an encouraging message to a friend whom you think is stressed, busy making money outside, doesn’t eat home cooked home often, skip meals, love fried foods, love fast foods, drink alcohol often, don’t eat fruits or vegetables… just as I’ve done.

It doesn’t matter who you are… if you make thousands or peanuts, you are special… your body will work well for you if you take care of it enough…

Every hour someone is diagnosed with metabolic X syndrome conditions (diabetes, heart disease, stroke condition, cancer…)  Every minute someone is angry, upset or mad.. is a full minute of happiness you’ll never get back and it adds to our everyday demands… which will lead to chronic stress and chronic stress is linked to many diseases as mentioned.

So Today’s message is:

Life is short. To live long and well, 

1. Learn to love and forgive unconditionally.  Look into your spiritual needs.

2. Learn to laugh and learn to be merry - take things easy.

3. Practise effective time management - plan your work and work your plan.

4. Take time to enjoy life - all work and no play certainly makes Jack a dull boy.

5. Observe your eating habits - diverse your food selection with good principles and eat in moderation. You need GOOD NUTRITION!

6. Too busy? Take quality supplements to help you through the day.  Busy and stressful individuals need even more nutrients to fight oxidative stress and free radicals.

Stay healthy, productive and be thankful in everything!

Why is it so important to balance Omega-3 and Omega-6 in our diet?

Every time we eat a meal that is high in fat, we induce a chemical reaction in our body which produces free radicals. We may not even notice it. This is called inflammation.

But are all fats bad and should they be avoided totally? No, dietary fats are vital and essential to our body functions. Diseases associated with fats like obesity and heart diseases come about not as a result of fats in general but as a result of inappropriate proportions of different types of dietary fats in our diet. Example: the inappropriate balance between Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.

Omega-3 fatty acids comes primarily from fish and plant sources (although it has to be converted). It has beneficiary properties used by our body to make EPA and DHA, vital for brain development and cellular communication. Omega-6 fatty acids comes from vegetables and meats and has shown to lower blood cholesterol and reduces the risk of developing heart diseases. Both are equally important and should be provided in our diets.

The problem arises is when the consumption balance between these two is disrupted. The ideal ratio of consuming Omega-3 and Omega-6 should be 1: 1. When Omega-6 is significantly more, it contributes to inflammatory response in the body. When inflammatory response is chronic, it induces unnecessary health conditions that will accelerate chronic diseases. Unfortunatly in today’s context, a significantly higher level of saturated fats and vegetable oils for deep fried foods are continually consumed and inflammation remains a big silent killer.

In the March 2004 issue of Time Magazine, scientific research spoke about this silent killer and showed that chronic inflammation is associated with a number of chronic diseases, such as heart diseases, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and even cancer. The American Journal Clinical Nutrition [2004 Apr:79(4):682-90] has also expressed that if we consume meals high in fats and low in fruits and vegetables, our body will experience a surge in inflammation and produce free radicals.

The American Heart Association recommended that if we wish to avoid health problems associated with too much Omega-6 fatty acids, we have to reduce the use of Omega-6 dominant vegetable oils and in place, increase Omega-3 fatty acids intake to avoid chronic diseases associated with inflammation problems.

We must increase our Omega-3 diet by taking adequate fish intake, at least 2-3 times a week or take good quality Omega-3 supplements and take plenty of fruits and vegetables, to combat any undesirable or unwarranted inflammatory attacks in the body.

Has it been a fun week for you?

I was with a group of 12 year olds today teaching them about nutrition amongst other things.  They were forthcoming to confess that they don’t consciously eat fruits and vegetables.  I was told their schools teach them practical guides under healthy eating but evidence is showing that even as the education system is proactive in this aspect, it will be an uphill task influencing children to make conscious effort to eat right. 

As food eating habits are forged from young to adulthood, the influence from early to middle childhood environments are very important and must be harnassed.  Parents and caregivers who are the most influential people to develop children’s food preferences, patterns of food intake, eating styles and physical activity patterns, must be taught how to change children’s health status. 

Well, if you are a parent reading this blog now, please take heed this message.  You are your children’s eating role models.  If good eating habits are inculcated early in their lives, then your children will be conscious about how food choices are directly related to nutrition and health problems.  Do visit my blog again to learn abut how we can overcome this challenge.  If you have any success stories to share, I’d be most glad to hear from you.  Cheerio!

Top 4 Secrets Behind A Nutritious Diet

What are the basic healthy eating principles of a nutritionally sound diet?  First there must be variety, wholesome food and able to cater to an individual’s diet needs that may vary depending on the individual’s situation. 

We must choose food from a variety of sources everyday because through variety, there is less opportunity to exclude some essential food groups.  Many are not aware of this important diet principle.  Therefore eating many different types of nutritious foods is essential. 

Different types are likely to result in a diet that receives adequate amounts of nutrients for good health.  Even foods in the same food group may have different nutrients and it is important to consume a variety within each food group.  For example, bananas are rich in vitamins B and strawberries are rich in vitamin C.  Eating food coming from different sources can be beneficial.  For instance, insoluble fiber like wheat helps to prevent constipation whereas soluble fiber like oats has been associated with lower risk in blood cholesterol.  Other dietary fiber like vegetables such as broccoli, brussels, cabbage and cauliflower are believed to assist in the prevention of a number of cancers.  

Wholesome food is food made from whole ingredients.  We should take wholegrain bread as it contains more goodness of the entire grain.  As a general rule, the less processed a food is, the better.  We should try to avoid processed foods as much as possible because of the preservatives, colors, flavors and additives it contains.  

Besides these principles to a nutritionally sound diet, we need to consider other factors affected by an individual’s lifestyle choices, genetics and environment.  Simply eating all food groups may not guarantee a balanced diet.  The nutritional requirements of an individual may be impacted by age, health and lifestyle choices, medication, quality of food consumed and most importantly of all, the degree of an individual’s digestion and absorption.

Whilst it is imperative to eat wisely, JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association 2002; 287: 3127-3129 by Robert H. Fletcher, MD, MSc; Kathleen M. Fairfiled, MD, Dr PH, Harvard University, highlighted that that most people do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins by diet alone. Thus it may appear prudent for everyone to take a good multivitamin daily to promote optimum nutritional status. Although there have been arguments for and against the use of supplements, there are enough substantial circumstances to warrant the use of good quality multivitamins to supplement an individual’s diet. These may additionally help to assist an individual’s nutritional requirement to its optimal level. 

Welcome to Fun Healthy Eating Blog

Hi!  Welcome to my health blog.  I’m Lai Fun. For the past six years, I have been helping individuals to improve their health through proper nutrition and healthy eating habits. 

I conduct workshops and talks for companies to stimulate the awareness of healthy eating principles.  We don’t need medication if we have been eating right!

In the next few weeks, you will see my special Healthy Eating Report and it will be available for download.  Thanks for visiting my blog.  I will be sharing with you more about my secret eating tips.

Healthy eating!

   

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