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Eating

Woman eating burger but holding her tummy in pain
 by Victoria Santalesa

The Connection Between A High Acid Diet and Kidney Stones

Kidney stones may have been plaguing humans since the beginning of time.  In 1901, archeologist E. Smith found a bladder stone from a 4500-5000-year-old mummy in El Amrah, Egypt.  The Hippocratic Oath, historically taken by newly trained physicians and initiated in the 4th century BC, mentions kidney stones. A painting from 1655 by Carel de Savoyen portrays Jan van Doot, a Dutch blacksmith and amateur kidney stone remover holding a knife and bladder stone after a successful extraction. Luckily, today’s surgeries are a lot less DIY.

Aminerals is a piece of material that forms when substances in the urine, like salt and minerals become highly concentrated.  Small ones can pass with little or no pain.  Larger ones can get stuck along the urinary tract, blocking the flow of urine  and cause severe pain and bleeding. There care four types of kidney stones.  Each requires different dietary plans to follow in order to lessen their occurrence.  Uric acid stones are the product of a high acid content in the urine and require an alkaline diet to balance the high acidity level

Purine
 Red meat and shellfish contain a chemical compound called purines.  Purines are acidic in the body and lead to a lower urine pH, which means urine is more acidic, enabling the formation of uric acid stones.

 To prevent uric acid stones, it is suggested that suffered swap high purine foods for a diet high in fruits and veggies, whole grains, and low-fat dairy.  Sugar-sweetened foods and drinks contain phosphorous and high fructose corn syrup which can increase acidity in urine. Alcohol and crash diets should be avoided as well as rapid weight loss increases uric acid.

Proteins
You’ll want to limit your protein intake, as proteins are high in purine.  You can safely eat 6 oz of poultry, fish, beef, lamb , veal, and eggs,  Limit your intake of beans and peas to two servings per week.  Avoid organ meats like liver, anchovies, mackerel and lobster.  Try incorporating nut and nut butter into your diet as a vegetarian protein alternative.

Dairy
While dairy products tend to be acidic in the body, they provide a great source of calcium and should not be eliminated from your diet. In order to keep the acid level down, choose low-fat or fat-free options when eating milk, yogurt, and cheese.  Saturated fat decreases the elimination of acid and can worsen kidney stones.

Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and veggies are always a really good choice for a low acid diet.  They are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. However, limit your intake of spinach, mushrooms, asparagus and cauliflower to two servings per week.  They are a bit higher in purine.

Grains and Starches
Carbs are great for neutralizing acid.  Indulge in bread, pasta, cereal, rice potatoes and winter starch.  Limit your oats to 2/3 cup per day and wheat bran and wheat germ to 1/4 cups per day and be sure to read the ingredient list on products to check for these.  If they are  near the top of the list, chances are the food is pretty high in concentration of the ingredient. You’re best off skipping that one.

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Happy woman with outstretched arms outside
 by Mayank

Moving, Eating, Being, Thinking

Happiness finally seems to be getting a fair shake.  Didn’t it seem like years ago, we thought that anything that made us happy couldn’t possibly be good for us?  Weren’t we brought up on sayings like, “If it doesn’t hurt, it isn’t working”, or “It’s not love if it doesn’t hurt.”  Isn’t it time that we bring an end to this self punishing philosophy?  Isn’t it time we admitted that some things that we like can be good for us?  Aren’t we tired of being miserable?  (Cue shouts of, “Go, girl” and “Amen!’)

It seems like its getting more and more obvious that we don’t always have to suffer and deprive ourselves to reach our goals.  Happiness may not pay the bills, but it seems like it could take us into a ripe old age.  Here’s to being happy and healthy!

Eating
Eat fewer calories, but more food.  That sounds like happiness to me!) Load on the greens and the beans.  Take a second helping of (fresh fruit.  Skip the burgers and cream sauce and pile on the whole grains.  You’ll end up with less calories, more antioxidants and longer, happier lives. Dr. Bradley Wilcox of the Pacific Health Institute in Honolulu says, “People in Okimawa eat more food by weight than people who eat a Western style diet.” The result?  Their risk for dementia, heart attacks, strokes and cancer are among the lowest in the world.

Woman exercising

Moving
Exercise can help to give you better quality of life and slow down the aging process.  In fact, you don’t even have to work that hard! (Happy now?)  A University of Florida study showed that healthy people aged 65 to 85 who did low intensity exercises had a drop in free radical damage while high intensity exercisers had a slight increase! For protecting the heart and arteries, just walking at a brisk pace for 30 minutes a day, along with resistance training and aerobic exercise can do the trick.

Being
Find something interesting to do.  So, admit it.  We all love to relax.  We love to sit back and watch the tube and put our feet up. Well, that may sound appetizing, but if you’re better off doing something slightly more meaningful. People who pursue their interests develop better coping mechanisms and tend to be more optimistic and live longer.

Also, connect with friends and family.  Science journal prove that having friends changes the biochemistry of the brain and strengthen immunity.  Being alone, causes the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol to rise which can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, depression and sleep problems.  BTW:  Marriage can add seven years to a man’s life and three to a woman’s.  Can’t live with ’em?  Pets can reduce stress and lower blood pressure.

Woman solving a crossword

Thinking
Just like our bodies, our brain needs exercise to stay healthy.  Reading, doing crossword puzzles and writing are all ways of lowering risk of mental decline.  Also, it has been proven that using your brain can actually up your “cognitive reserve.”  That means that you get a kind of bonus of extra neurons and pathways in your brain that make them function longer.  Our brain muscles are just like all the other muscles in our bodies; the more we use them, the healthier and more flexible they’ll be! So be happy, live healthy and be your best, most beautiful self!  Cheers!

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Woman eating healthy food
 by Mayank

Eating Healthy on 2,500 Calories

Two thousand and five-hundred calories every day might seem like a lot of food (or it might not, it really depends on your mental concepts of such things), but for a respectable portion of the population, it’s actually an appropriate target. Specifically, sedentary men ages 19 to 30, moderately active men ages 31 to 50, active men over 50, and very active women of various ages all may need approximately 2,500 calories in their diet.

But of course, it’s not as simple as calorie-counting, regardless of the target number. Not all calories are created equal, and to eat healthily, you need to balance things properly. Let’s talk about how to do that.

Lean Proteins
Protein is essential for everyone, and lean protein is the best you can get in this regard. On 2,500 calories a day, you need approximately 6.5 ounces of protein a day. An ounce of protein can be found in an ounce of seafood, poultry, lean red meats, an egg, ¼ cup of tofu, ½ an ounce of seeds and/or nuts, and a tablespoon of peanut butter, roughly speaking.

Woman having food rich in fiber.

Lots of Fiber
Also incredibly important is fiber. Following a 2,500 calorie plan, you should get 3 ¼ cups of veggies and 2 cups of fruits a day. Variety is key here, and generally, dark, leafy greens and vibrant red and purple fruits are best. For conversion purposes, half a cup of dried fruit is equal to one cup fresh fruit or fruit juice (no added sugar!), and 2 cups of leafy greens roughly equals one cup of other vegetables

Opt for Healthy Fats
For every source of trans fat and saturated fat, there’s plenty of alternatives. That said, healthy fats are still fats, and shouldn’t be over-consumed regardless. You want about 7 teaspoons of oil a day on a 2,500 plan; any extra is going to interfere with your heart health. Olive oils, coconut oil (in moderation; it is still a saturated fat), and avocado oil are just a few examples of healthier fats.

You Don’t Actually Need Dairy
It’s a common misconception that dairy is a basic food group and essential for good nutrition. This is actually quite false, and humans are not really designed to consume any kind of milk once they stop breastfeeding. That said, we’ve evolved to tolerate dairy, and in moderation, it’s not necessarily harmful (unless you’re lactose-intolerant, of course), so there’s nothing wrong with having a little as a treat now and then, but don’t get tricked into thinking it’s essential.

Soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, cashew milk, and coconut milk are a few examples of tasty non-dairy milk alternatives, and can help you avoid the saturated fats of many dairy products or if you can’t tolerate lactose. Skim milk also features less lactose, which might be okay if your lactose intolerance is mild or moderate (as opposed to severe), and it also, of course, contains less fat.

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Baked eggplant with tomato and garlic
 by Mayank

Clean Eating Tips

One interesting approach to nutrition that’s rising in popularity recently is called simply “clean eating.” And certainly, if it could help keep you healthy both before and after your wedding day, it’s worth a try, right? Well, we’re here to examine and evaluate this trend to give you the information you need to make healthy choices, and to decide if clean eating is worth pursuing.

But What Is it, Exactly?
Of course, before we can go any further, we need to define what clean eating actually is. In essence, the basic tenets of clean eating are eating five to six times a day (three meals and two to three small snacks), choose organic, clean foods whenever possible, and drink at least two liters of water a day. There are other details, like including lean protein, plenty of fruit and vegetables, and a complex carbohydrate in every meal, but the three pillars of eating five-six times a day, choosing organic food, and drinking two liters of water each day are the basis of this idea. This sounds great in theory, but let’s examine it piece by piece to be sure.

Woman drinking water

Two Liters of Water
This is one realm in which clean eating is a little closer to being on-point, although of course, the truth is more complicated. How much water you should drink actually depends on your weight, location, and activity level. The rule of thumb is that you need between half an ounce and a whole ounce of water per pound you weight, every day. For example, a 150-pound person should drink between 75-150 ounces of water per day. The hotter and more arid your climate, the closer to the upper end of the range you’ll be. Likewise, the more exercise you get, the closer to the top you’ll be.

Eating Five to Six Times a Day
The idea here is that eating more often and in smaller portions is both better for weight loss and healthier in general because you’re spreading out calorie intake throughout the day and keeping your metabolism running smoothly. Sadly, the science does not agree here. Studies actually indicate there is no significant impact whatsoever to the frequency of eating, and that, in fact, eating more often makes you want to eat more.

Avocado sandwich

Organic Foods
Similarly, the need for the foods to be organic (and, by extension, GMO-free) in clean eating is not borne out by actual scientific knowledge. GMOs, or genetically modified organisms, are largely a positive development, and allow crops to be fortified with necessary nutrients, more reliably protected from diseases, and be produced more cheaply. On the other hand, organic growing is volatile and has a huge chance of failure or of infested crops, because of the restrictions on pesticide use that organic growing entails. In short, while there are some legitimate concerns with the agricultural industry, organic food is not the answer and generally has no benefit to your health.

All that said, this one is pretty close to the mark. The majority of the other tenets of clean eating are highly questionable, though. Just eat a healthy, varied diet, with proteins, simple and complex carbohydrates, fruits, and lots of leafy greens and other vegetables, and you should be fine.

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Woman making a quick dinner
 by Mayank

Get Dinner Out in a Flash

Your life is busy and your time is precious. It can be so tempting to go and pick up a pizza or head to a drive-thru for a fast meal, but you could spend the time it takes to do those things making a super fast and healthy meal at home. Healthy cooking can be incredibly time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be. Our four tips to get dinner on the table in a flash help you minimize the amount of time required to cook dinner while maximizing the health benefits of your meals.

Salad bar.

Visit the Salad Bar
Your local grocery store’s salad bar is a great place to visit, but perhaps not for the reason you’re thinking. Sure, you can grab a quick meal to go, but we have another idea in mind. Chopping, peeling and dicing vegetables can be super time consuming and you may not need the equivalent of an entire bell pepper or head of broccoli. To save time, and money on wasted produce, head to the salad bar. Select what you need, diced onions, radish slices, shredded carrots and take that home so your fruit or veggies are completely ready to cook when you arrive home.

Stock Up on Frozen Fruits and Vegetables
It’s always a good idea to have some frozen vegetables on hand for quick, healthy meals. Perhaps the greatest benefit of frozen vegetables, besides the fact that you don’t have to spend time peeling, chopping or dicing, is the variety they offer. Rather than just having steamed broccoli, you can buy a bag of frozen broccoli and cauliflower, or peas with carrots as opposed to one or the other. There are also great blends of vegetables that can help you throw together a meal that is super healthy and tastes like it took hours. Look for frozen vegetables labeled like “stir fry blend” or “soup blend” to get all kinds of vegetables without having to take up tons of freezer space. Frozen berries and other fruits are perfect for an after dinner (or breakfast) smoothie and eliminate the need to add ice to the other ingredients.

Woman using a microwave.

Use Your Microwave
Nearly every home has a microwave that is used to reheat last night’s leftovers or to make a fast bowl of soup. However, you can use the microwave to your advantage and help get dinner out quickly. One of the greatest ways to use the microwave is as a speedier way to prepare veggies for a side dish. Food companies now make plenty of “steam in a bag” veggie options that let you fresh vegetables in a flash. Grab a bag of green beans or cauliflower and put them in the microwave for anywhere from two to three minutes. The rawer a vegetable is, the more nutrients there are so be sure not to microwave vegetables until they’re mushy. You can also make fast baked regular or sweet potatoes. While using a traditional oven can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, using your microwave cuts the time in half with the average time being about 20 minutes for baked potatoes.

Buy a Whole Chicken
No, seriously. Many grocery stores offer either fried chicken pieces of an entire rotisserie chicken and the latter can be a super time saver for meals. Remove the skin before using the chicken to keep things healthier and dice/cut up what you need for your meal. Shred a few strips of chicken off, grab a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables and you’ve got a homemade, healthy stir fry in a fraction of the time that it would take to cook the diced vegetables and raw chicken, then cook the chicken and finally to add the veggies and let them cook.

Another way to get a healthy dinner done in a flash is to spend time on the weekends preparing everything you’ll need for a meal and then sticking it in the fridge or freezer. For instance, cut and cook your chicken strips and slice up some peppers, onions, carrots and broccoli while the chicken cools. Place all of your ingredients into a plastic bag and pop in the freezer. Take out when you’re ready to make dinner sometime later in the week. Cooking healthy may seem overwhelming, but there are some easy shortcuts that make it less daunting and still delicious.

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Woman eating a snack at night.
 by Mayank

The Science Behind Midnight Snacking

You, and probably everyone you know, have enjoyed a treat at night. It’s a totally normal, though not super healthy, habit among many. However, midnight snacking can become a big problem and lead to excessive weight gain. The tendency to graze is a contributing factor to evening snacks, and often the amount of food you consume at night is far greater than the snacks you chow down on during the day. Why do you eat more at night?  Resveralife came across a recent study offers scientific research that help explain why you seem to inhale your nighttime snack.

The Study
A study conducted by researchers at Brigham Young University delves into why you are more prone to consuming more food at night than when you snack during the day. Researchers at BYU monitored participants’ brain activity in the morning and again at night. Each participant was shown the same 360 images of food and they used MRI scans to visualize the results. The pictures of food were split into two categories:  healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains and junk foods like ice cream, potato chips and brownies. During the course of the day researchers noted that the brain activity of participants did spike when pictures of food were shown. It isn’t surprising that seeing food stimulates a response in your brain, but what is interesting is that when viewed at night, the brain was less stimulated. At both times of day, there was a higher neural response when participants viewed pictures of foods with a higher  calorie count.

When you eat a great meal or one of your favorite foods you get a high from that food. At night, the drop in brain activity can leave you scarfing down way more chocolate or potato chips than you meant to. During the evening, our brain does not get the level of reward or “high” that it does when snacking during the day. Because you don’t get the high, you continue to eat well past what you intended to. According to Travis Masteson, the researcher and lead study author, people may over-consume food at night because it is not as rewarding, at least visually, at that time of day. As a result, one needs to eat more to try to get satisfied.”

Girl sneaking into the kitchen to eat a midnight snack.

How to Control Midnight Snacking
The researchers at Brigham Young University are not sure why food is less rewarding at night but believe that the body’s circadian rhythyms may be involved. Your circadian rhythyms dictate your natural patterns during rest and activity.

Even if the reason is not completely known at this point, you can rest assured that you are not the only having difficulty curbing your snacks at night. What do the experts suggest? Masterson says that “[b]eing aware that you are being more influenced visually in the morning and perhaps are being less satisfied by food at night may help you make small but meaningful changes in your eating habits.”

When snacking at night, take a moment to truly taste the food that you’re eating. Ask yourself if you are actually receiving satisfaction or pleasure from the snack you are consuming. If not, put the food down and drink a tall glass of water instead.

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