Anti-nutrients The nutrient Busters

blogger

Many people incorrectly assume they get adequate nutrients from the food they eat. Unfortunately, in todays world it is virtually impossible to get the necessary nutrients to sustain a healthy body and mind by just eating modern foods and drinking liquids.
This means that everyone must look at choosing the right food they eat, organic if possible, and supplementing their diets with multivitamins and minerals to assist in the journey to optimum nutrition.

In an ideal world this would be adequate, but very few people realize that modern lifestyles and current eating habits introduce anti-nutrients into our bodies that deplete nutrition. Modern food is devitalized by man made chemicals, pesticides, contaminants and food processing. These nutrient busters prevent nutrients from being absorbed or used by the body and in some cases promote their excretion. Many modern day diseases and deaths are not only caused by a deficiency of nutrients but also because of an excess of nutrient busters.

Most cancers, for example, are associated with an excess of anti-nutrients, like chemicals and free radicals resulting from smoking.

Unfortunately our lifestyles dictate the extent to which we are exposed to these nutrient busters. It is essential for us to reduce the exposure to anti-nutrients by assessing our lifestyles and the environment we live in, so we can fully understand how to manage this gigantic onslaught of nutrient busters and change our lifestyles accordingly.

How big is the problem ?
There are more than 3,000 man made food chemicals and over 20,000 pesticides registered in the US. American agriculture is reported as using 2.2 billion pounds of pesticides annually, that are used on more than 900,000 farms. The UK is reported as using 250,000 tons of food chemicals a year and 400 million litres of pesticides and herbicides sprayed on to food crops, pastures and surrounding areas. In addition billions of cigarettes and alcoholic drinks are consumed in the UK, not to mention the millions of antibiotics, pharmaceutical drugs, recreational and street drugs taken, and the industrial pollution of more than 50,000 chemicals pumped into the air every day.

Its no wonder we have health problems.

In his article The Amazing Human Being, Richard Penfounde starts by saying,

Human beings are the only creatures on earth that:

smoke tobacco
consume processed foods
drink coffee and tea copiously
eat fried foods continuously
drink cow’s milk throughout our lives
add sugar to our foods and liquids
add salt to our foods and liquids
continue to eat when we are not feeling well
consume social and medicinal drugs

We are the results of the products that we put in our mouths and often those that we do not put in our mouths. Our bodies are eventually shaped and our skin conditioned by these processes over a period of time. Every disease takes time to develop, often 20 or more years. Disease in our body varies from mild to moderate to serious and the progression is often so slow that it is not recognised at the time that it is happening.

The major Lifestyle nutrient busters

As optimum nutrition is the key to a healthy body and mind, we must be aware of how each of our lifestyles expose us to anti-nutrients and subsequent diseases and death.
The main problem is that these nutrient busters build up in the body, slowly over time eventually resulting in one or other serious disease. So before its too late, we must prevent this from happening by having regular check ups and appropriate tests. Richard recommends that it is very important to start a regimented optimum nutrition programme as soon as possible to start combating the nutrition busters onslaught.
You may also, depending on your specific circumstances, look at other appropriate tests like the hair-mineral analysis, food-tolerance tests, vitamin blood tests, the functional homocysteine test and a cholesterol test to establish your risk and to see if you have any specific disease symptom or nutrient deficiency.

For each of us to do a proper analysis of our lifestyles, we must however understand what these nutrient busters are, and make the necessary lifestyle changes to minimize or eliminate them.

Nutrient deficiency and depletion
There are many different nutrient busters that have negative affects on our bodies which can contribute to disease and death. Each contribute in a different way to the depletion of the nutrients we require to achieve and maintain optimum health.

Together with these anti-nutrient activities we must also understand that even refined foods that do not have man-made chemical additives or anti-nutrients, often contribute to nutrient deficiency as they do not have sufficient quantities of nutrients to sustain the body and mind. It is estimated that half of most peoples diets consist of these refined foods which means that the other half of their diets have to make up the full nutrient requirement. This isnt always possible or the case, for most people.

The result of all of this is that it is essential to be aware of these conditions and to eat according to our individual nutrient requirements, but more importantly to change our lifestyles to avoid nutrient busters where possible, and then to supplement the nutrients through our diets and an appropriate optimum nutrition supplement programme containing multivitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, essential fats, phytochemicals and amino acids.

This is the only way to achieve optimum health.

So lets look at the major nutrient busters.
Lifestyle, taking into account the effect of the following:
o Living in a city or near an industrial area
o Eating fast foods regularly
o Smoking cigarettes
o Drinking alcohol
o Taking recreational or street drugs
o Taking birth control pills
o Taking antibiotics regularly
o Limited or no regular exercise
o Limited sleep
o Highly stressful lifestyle
The environment we live in, taking into account the effect of the following:
o Traffic pollution, time spent in heavy traffic
o Industrial air and water pollution
o Drinking water contamination
o Pesticide and herbicide utilization and distribution
o Living or working in a smoking environment
The food we eat, taking into account the effect of the following:
o Man made food chemicals, additives, preservatives and food colouring agents
o Genetically modified foods
o Consumption of fast foods, fried foods and fatty foods
o Food processing using heat
o Food browned or burnt using heat
o Fruit and vegetables contaminated by pesticides and herbicides
o Foods wrapped in PVC plastic film
o The consumption of tea, coffee, sugar, salt and alcohol
o Household drinking water from taps
The drugs we take taking into account the effect of the following:
o Pharmaceutical drugs and antibiotics
o Recreational and street drugs
o Birth control pills
The exposure to nutrient busters depends on your specific lifestyle and therefore defines the activities you need to take to minimize or eliminate the exposure, to assist in achieving optimum nutrition.

Richard Penfounde

Natural Health Advisor

www.naturallyhealthylifestyles.com

The Consequences Of Poor Nutrition

blogger

A person’s weight is not the only way to assess poor nutrition. The more dangerous indications are not those that can be seen physically. There are numerous health-related and social issues resulting from a person with poor nutrition. Well naturally, poor nutrition leads to poor health. But is it the only consequence?

Poor nutrition can be risk factors of many dreaded diseases. Heart Disease is one major health risk resulting from poor nutrition. Eating foods high in fiber but low in saturated fat, coupled with exercise may eventually lessen the risk. High Blood Pressure and Strokes are very much related. Over time, high blood pressure may lead to the building up of clots on the walls of the arteries which lead to stroke. Proper diet and physical activity should be regularly practiced to lower the risks. One out of three cases of Cancer is due to poor nutrition. Diabetes is also a result of an improper eating pattern and sedentary lifestyle.

A good nutrition is composed of the following: carbohydrates, fat, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water. A lack on any of these or too much of one of the components may result to a deteriorating health and other complications as well. Scientific research has gathered that poor nutrition early on in a child’s life brings about social problems. The child develops an antisocial and aggressive behavior which he will have to live with till the end of his adolescent years. An equally shocking result of the research pointed out that poor nutrition influences the brain development. A deficiency in the nutrients associated with brain development has been said to lead to low IQ which later on brings about the antisocial and violent behavior.

Some experts have linked poor nutrition to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). An opposing party has argues that there are no scientific proofs that confirmed the association of poor nutrition to ADHD. However, the social aspect of a person has been known to have been influenced by poor nutrition. An antisocial and aggressive temperament caused by malnutrition may not exactly be ADHD but let’s not wait and become the proofs that ADHD is indeed a result of nutrition deficiencies.

Let’s spare our children all the complications caused by improper nutritional practices. While there are a lot of things that are beyond our control, our eating habits are within our power. Let us not modify our eating patterns simply to look good. What our body tells us is far more important than what people say about our looks. Let us take control. Changing what was once a poor nutrition practice can actually make us look and feel good inside and out.

Baking Soda Solution For A Hot Sitz Bath

blogger

Aside from Epsom salt, you can also use baking soda in order to make a good solution for a hot sitz bath. In this article, we are going to tackle the ways on how to make your baking soda hot sitz bath, and learn about the benefits of using baking soda instead of salt. Hot sitz bath is very beneficial to people who just had a surgery for hemorrhoids, because this can relieve you from the pain caused by the open wound, and the itchy feeling as well. Read this article from top to bottom in order to learn more about it.

Hot sitz bath with baking soda can also make recovery quick. Aside from that, it can also cure vaginal infection caused by yeast. There are actually so many benefits that you can get, if you go on a hot sitz bath.

Itching, burning sensation, and irritation, are just some of the things that you will be experiencing if you have vaginal infection or if you just went a hemorrhoid surgery. Although warm water and salt can ease the irritation, adding baking soda will increase the effectiveness of hot sitz bath.

To make your baking soda solution, please follow the simple steps I have for you below:

1.In a shallow basin or bathtub, collect an ample amount of water that can cover your buttocks. It would be better if the water will reach your hip area, to make sure that you will be able to soak the affected part entirely. The water should but hot, but not to the extent of burning yourself. Make sure that the water is tolerable enough for you to sit it on, for at least 20 minutes.

2.With a spoon, scoop in at least 5 baking soda in to the bathtub or basin. Stir it with your spoon and make sure that the baking soda is fully dissolved in the water.

3.Once the baking soda is fully dissolved, sit on it, and stay there for at least 20 minutes, or until the water is already cold. The more you are able to soak, the better, because baking soda has a lot of properties that can kill bacteria causing infection and irritation as well.

4.After soaking for 20 minutes or so, dry your body with a soft cloth. Avoid using towel because cotton towels can easily scratch the affected area.

5.The hot sitz bath with baking soda can be done three times a day, or depending on your doctors advice.

These are the steps on how to make and do a baking soda hot sitz bath. Keep in mind that you have to ask your doctor about this procedure first, before doing it. He will be able to give you proper directions in order to promote faster recovery. Do not try to mix anything in your hot sitz bath, especially if not prescribed by your doctor. It might cause more irritation and discomfort in the end.

Roger Federers Tennis Workouts

blogger

Many people are asking how Roger Federer keeps himself in shape enough to win every tennis title that comes his way. The effort must entail a lot of sacrifices and hard work. Actually practicing the game itself would not be enough. Just hitting balls with his racket all day long would not help in his over-all and balanced fitness even if it does improves his skill. A perfect fitness routine combined with the right nutrition would be advantageous.

His 61 frame could be at the peak of its health at his young age of twenty-seven. It is less likely to store fat with his lifestyle. Federer is not taking risks though as he undergoes the needed exercise and diet. He observes his own rule in taking enough rest to regenerate his energy. He usually sleeps for 10 hours at night, quite extended for others but just enough for the Wimbledon kings body.

Federer spends long hours of workouts with his trainer Pierre Paganini especially during off-season when there no big games to play. They usually expend more or less 10 hours every week for workouts alone. For an entire season, the pair could reach 100 hours of plain non-tennis sweat outs. This is not an exploit to brag about but just simply an essential to his rule over the tennis kingdom. That may not even be enough as he once admitted he wants to be 200 percent fit and ready for any game.

Strengthening his muscles is an important aspect of Federers fitness training. This requires the tennis star to lift weights and dumb bells regularly. This also makes any racket he holds light, intensifying his world famous power backhands. To keep increase his endurance and leg strength, he does the skipping ropes almost as boxers do. Always concerned about stretching his ability to the limits, he also does lateral lunges with twist. While doing, he develops his upper body muscles by using barbell with manageable weights.

Federer uses often the medicine ball in his workout routines. The tennis ace considers this as an important device that helps him improve his agility and upper body strength. To hone his hand and body coordination, he runs and sprints across the court while passing the medicine ball back and forth with Paganini, his constant companion and fitness instructor. He even shuffles his feet while lobbing and receiving the medicine ball so he can develop his footwork.

It is not all work and no food for Federer though. His exhaustive regimen would naturally demand him some nutrition. Dietary supplements are not his main sources for nutrition. He eats the proper food that is required and is complementing his fitness training. When he is on the road either for a tournament or for some endorsements, he tries to control his food intake. When he is at home with his wife and twins, he loosens a bit his appetites valve and treats his tired body with delights.

Mma Fight Nutrition And Hydration

blogger

Sports Nutrition for MMA

Fluid Needs for Fighting

Your mom may have told you: drink 8, 8oz. glasses of water per day. Although this advice is considered conventional wisdom, it surely isnt based on any science. If that advice does apply to anyone, it certainly isnt mixed martial artists who spend a good amount of their day jumping, punching, and wrestling in a hot, stuffy gym. Your fluid needs are unique, and as such, need a unique approach. As you likely know, dehydration results in a tremendous reduction in performance capacity. If youre dehydrated, your body and mind will suffer. In the ring, this is a formula for disaster. There are two major reasons why an MMA practitioner has different fluid needs than both your average Joe and other athletes: one is that your activity level is much higher than most other athletes. Because MMA training is unusually intense and usually has a long duration, there is significantly more fluid loss than a steady-state activity like jogging. Secondly, because of the level of conditioning required to be competitive, mixed martial artists tend to have significantly more muscle mass than most. Glycogen, the storage form of carbohydrate, needs a lot of water. The vast majority of glycogen is stored in muscle, so you need to drink more fluid just to keep the glycogen in your muscle hydrated.

How Much Fluid Do I Need?
Simple, everyone is different. Alright, so figuring out exactly how much fluid you need isnt quite so simple. But, with a little bit of work up-front and a commitment to monitoring your progress; you can ensure youre getting the right amount of fluid. Here are some general guidelines that you can use as a baseline:

Hydration Before Training
Drink at least15-20 fl oz. 2 hours before training/competition
Drink 8-10 fl oz. 15-30 minutes before training/competition

Hydration During Training
Drink 8-10 fl oz every 10 minutes
If youre training more than an hour and a half, drink 8-10 fl oz. of electrolyte replacement drink every 30 minutes.

Its possible that what youre already doing closely resembles these guidelines. However, because the variability of ones training varies so much, there is a more accurate way of going about staying hydrated.

Easy Ways for Mixed Martial Artists Assess Hydration
Although following the guidelines above gives you an excellent baseline, there are many variables like altitude, humidity, and clothing that can make generic guidelines inaccurate. One of the most accurate ways to assess hydration is to check out your urine color. If its cloudy and yellow, then you know that youre dehydrated. This is because the toxins that your kidneys filter out arent diluted in a large enough urine volume to be invisible. On the other hand, if its clear, youre likely getting enough fluid. Its normal to have a slight color in your urine, especially first thing in the morning or after taking a multivitamin.

Another fantastic way to monitor your hydration is to weigh yourself before and after your training session. Although you do burn a bit of fat during training, the vast majority of your weight loss is fluid. For example, if you weighted 155lbs. before your training session and weigh in at 153lbs. after your training, which means that, you lost 32oz. of fluid. (1 pound=16 ounces of fluid). A 2-3% loss of bodyweight during training can impair your performance and put added stress on vital organs. You should try to maintain adequate levels of hydration during training and replenish any losses within 1 hour of training. If you weigh more after training than you did before, thats a sign you overdid it and drank too much.

The Hydration Plan Recap:
1.Mom may know best in most cases, but not when it comes to your hydration!
2.Everyones fluid needs are different from yours-so learn what your body needs.
3.Use the hydration guidelines as a starting point. Adjust to your training and body needs.
4.Check the color of your urine. Dark Yellow/Brown=severe dehydration, Yellow=moderate dehydration, Slight Yellow/Clear=Hydrated!
5.Weight yourself. Before and after training to get an idea of how much fluid you have lost and drink according. Sipping works better than chugging.

Train hard, eat smart and stay hydrated!
Daniel M. Solomon, Registered Dietitian (RD)

Reference: (1)Benardot, Dan. Advanced Sports Nutrition. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2006. Print.
(2)Clark, Nancy. Nancy Clarks Sports Nutrition Guidebook . 4th. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2008. Print.
(3)Judelson, Daniel. Hydration and Muscular Performance: Does Fluid Balance Affect Strength, Power and High-Intensity Endurance?. Sports Medicine 37(2007): 907-921. Print