Educate Your Health

No one food plan is magical and there is no such thing as healthiest diet. Our diet may consist of foods that we like and indulge in once in a while.   However for long term purpose, we should adopt certain strategies like :

• to include eating foods from all the food groups (grains, vegetables & fruits, meats preferably white and reduced sugar and fats) although not necessarily at every meal,
• learn to purchase ingredients from different sources as far as possible,
• avoid processed foods as much as possible even when preparing your meals,
• to reduce intake of sugars like soft drinks (including those marketed as “low sugar”),
• and reduce caffeine in your choice of beverages and its frequency. Try taking tea or your coffee without sugar or milk!  It’s healthier.

 We should also stress more on the DOs than DON’Ts in our diet and our way of living.   Never skip meals!  If you eat on a regular basis, 3 times or preferably more frequent smaller meals as well as exercise regularly, you will be alright. For individuals who are elderly or experiencing some health conditions, please avoid refined sugar and processed foods in your diet.  They are your enemies!  I will explain why this is so important in my next article.

Thank you so much for your support and trust in us as we strive to improve our information content and interface.

Because of your kindness, we are giving away free gifts worth $297 if you  can leave behind some suggestions on how to improve this site, up to end August 2008 only! 

The gifts comprise:

• Body immunity screenings monitoring for 3 months! 
• Body fat assessments (overall body and visiral fats, biological age, skeletonal muscular % and total energy intake) and a diet analysis!

(Our sincere apologies that this applies to Singapore readers for now.  May be extended to other countries as we expand.)

Calories are standard measurement of heat energy produced in our body.  When we say 1 calorie we often mean 1 kilocalorie.  1 kilocalorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1kg of water by 1?celsius. Every person has a unique amount of body mass or tissues and thus everyone has a unique measurement of energy needs.  Assuming we exclude the energy demands of our activities, we can use a formula to estimate our total daily energy needs. 

Step (1): Convert your weight from pounds to kilograms by dividing it by 2.2. 

Step (2):If you are female, multiply your weight in kilograms by 25kcal/kg.  If you are a male, multiply your weight in kilograms by 30kcal/kg.   

The result becomes the amount of calories (in kcal) you would need to maintain your weight.  

But this is not complete.  Food consumption add calories to our body and we also expend it through the energy demands of the day.  Let’s say a female is 50kg (110 lbs) and from food she consumes about 1800 kcal.  She swims daily for about 60mins over 10 laps (50m each lap).  What is the outcome? Let’s look at a hypothetical case. 

Step (a):

Daily Energy (Calorie) Needs = 50*25 = 1250 kcal 

Step (b):

Food consumption = 1800 kcal 

Swimming burns about 3.5 calories per minute per 18 metres (for body weight of 50 kg. higher body weight will be more).  Over 60mins of swim will burn about 580 kcal  

Step (c ):

Energy expense = 1250 + 580 kcal = 1830 kcal

Energy consumption = 1800 kcal 

From this calculation, we may infer that the person is likely to be managing body weight well as what the person expend equals to what the person consumes.  Conversely, if the person does not exercise much, then the excess calories will be stored as fats. 

If you wish to know more, please contact us at 81133884.

Depending on the severity of the deficiency and the time factor, an individual may experience iron deficiency anaemia.  Symptoms may involve reduced energy, lethargy, breathlessness, impaired cognitive function especially for children, learning ability, poor resistance to cold temperature, impaired wound healing and reduced immunity. 

If you are and are planning to consume iron supplements, please consider the following:-

1. Iron is less absorbable from supplements than foods
2. If iron supplements are taken, choose forms of iron supplements such as ferrous sulphate and iron chelate
3. Iron absorption can be improved if taken between meals
4. Constipation is a common side effect of iron supplements
5. Vegetarians who eat little red meat or meat products should note that calcium and iron compete for absorption in small intestine and thus may reduce the iron absorption
6. Vitamin C can significantly enhance the absorption of iron from non-animal iron sources
7. Excessive intake of caffeine beverages (like coffee, tea, coke) can affect iron absorption