Health in every bite - Color it up!

Many people today consume way too few fruits and vegetables and their health will probably take a hit for it somewhere down the road. However, it's never too late to increase your intake to fortify your health and lose weight!

AT LEAST five servings of fruits and vegetables a day is recommended to reap the health benefits from nature's bounty. Feel free to aim even higher though, there's practically no limit of how much you can eat of delicious, colorful veggies and fruits. If you're watching your carbs you should however note that sweet fruits like bananas and grapes do contain a fair ammount of sugars.

If you want to optimalize what veggies and fruits you're buying and keeping in your fridge, think COLOR.

A strong and bright color on your veggies is a general indicator of a high content of antioxidants, flavanoids and vitamins. These nutrients all contribute to giving you better overall health and reducing risk of all sorts of diseases. And you'll feel and look great too! What's to lose?

Red treats like strawberries, peppers, tomatoes and pomegrenate, for example, are especially high in vitamin C and a substance called lycopene. Vitamin C is vital for many processes in your body, the production of collagen (essential for young looking skin) and acting as a powerful antioxidant to name a couple.

Lycopene is thought to reduce risk of certain cancers, especially prostate cancer. However lycopene is better absorbed in the intestine if the vegetable has been heated before consumption. Treating tomatoes with heat is therefore essential if you want to increase your intake of this wonderful nutrient.

A very useful and iformative site about nutrition value is http://nutritiondata.self.com/. This website covers pretty much everything when it comes to nutritional value of food. Everything from fresh produce to "add water soups". Check it out if you're curious about what your food really contains!

So next time you're walking around in the grocery store, why not aim to get as many different colors as you possibly can on the produce you buy? Your body will be forever grateful and you will feel good about yourself! =)




*Pictures are credit of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net (thanks to Paul and Nuttakit)

January is over - still battling the pounds?

January is coming to an end and millions of people around the world have joined the gym and been cutting down the carbs and calories since 2011 began. How will the rest of the year look though?

Will the healthy way of eating and exersise continue through the year, or will most simply fall off the wagon and slowly return to the habits that cause overweight, increase risk of numerous diseases and feeling bad about oneself?

This blog will be all about promoting a healthy lifestyle without extreme and often short lived diets. The long lasting results and health benefits does not come from eating cucumber and lettuce for 60 days, then back on the burger and fries track.

Think about it; if it takes you 20 years to gain 50 lbs., is it logical to shed this weight in months or even weeks? It is possible, but it's extremely rare to see this kind of weightloss last.

The large majority of people gain ALL the weight back again within a couple of years, often even faster.
They even gain more than they lost in the first place!

Your body "remembers" your previous weight, and will do everything in its power to get you back up there ASAP!

Therefore, a slow reduction in weight will give the body time to adjust to the new weight, thus controlling your appetite better than if you lose a drastic ammount of flab in a short time.

Stay tuned for tips, advice and mythbusting in this blog about Nutrition - Health - Lifestyle.

Wishing you a healthy and prosperous 2011!