1. You should have a wide variety of healthy food to choose from. Don’t narrow down your choices to just a few, the more the merrier. The more options that you have, the more likely you will be to enjoy what you’re eating.
2. You should eat more fiber to feel fuller. Many diet plans include food portions that are not filling enough. It’s essential that you eat enough food throughout the day to make sure you have ample energy. Eating fiber is a great food source to incorporate into your healthy eating habits to make you feel fuller and fitter.
3. The third step is the step in which I believe most dieters go awry. It’s human nature to want to eat unhealthy snacks every once in a while, and that’s okay. However, with the implementation of your knew healthy eating habits you need to start snacking healthier. Try to trade out that chocolate bar for some fresh fruit or vegetables (or fiber bars).
4. Last but not least, you need to make sure you are getting a full serving of fruits and vegetables daily. The typical doctor-recommended amount of fruits and veggies is nine servings per day.
5. There are lifestyle choices that can substantially reduce your risk (and your children’s’ risk) of getting cancer. However, there is no way to guarantee that you’ll never get cancer, no matter how carefully you control your diet and lifestyle. Nevertheless it’s an excellent idea to do what we can to reduce our risks. Cancer is actually a complicated collection of different diseases, and so specific behavior changes may reduce the risk of certain cancers but not others. For example, a high fiber diet may reduce the risk of colon cancer, but not skin cancer.
Also note that it’s very hard to prove that any one dietary change (such as consuming a larger amount of one particular vitamin or herb) has a direct impact on cancer risk. What works is sometimes more general (such as avoiding becoming obese). Here are some behavior changes that have been scientifically proven to reduce cancer risks or prevent certain cancers:
- Smoking cessation
- Regular use of sunscreen
- A diet rich in fiber (i.e. lots of fruits and veggies and whole grains)
- Maintaining a healthy weight
- Regular exercise
- HPV vaccines (especially for young girls – can prevent cervical cancer) and hepatitis vaccines (can prevent liver cancer)
- Drinking very little alcohol (no more than 1 drink/day)
Screening for cancer is also important – because catching a cancer early is often the best way to cure it. The most effective screening tests are:
1. Colonoscopies (for adults over age 50)
2. PAP smears (for sexually active women and women who haven’t had hysterectomies)
3. Physical exams to check for skin cancer, oral cancer, and testicular cancers
Mammograms and prostate blood tests are less effective at catching cancers early, but they are recommended by most medical professional associations.
I recommend reading this page at the National Cancer Institute for more information about avoiding cancer risk factors:
Multivitamins are not recommended for cancer prevention. Although it would seem that vitamins could help reduce the risk of cancer, large studies have shown that they do not reduce the risk of cancer, and may even increase one’s risk (especially vitamin E.) The best source of vitamins is healthy food – and their fiber benefits are excellent as well.
6. Too little salt, as well as too much salt, have both been shown to be unhealthy. If you’re eating a lot of fast food, you’re probably getting too much salt. If you cook for yourself and focus on fruits and veggies, whole grains, and lean protein you may not need to cut back. Unless you have a kidney problem or very high blood pressure, salt is generally not dangerous for you. About 2.5g of salt/day (roughly a teaspoon full) is optimal, but for most people up to 4g/day probably won’t hurt (and at least one study suggests that heart disease risk doesn’t increase until the daily intake of salt exceeds 7g/day).
7. As far as water is concerned, the amount you need really depends on how much liquid you’re getting from other sources (food, beverages) as well as how much you’re sweating (exercise), how hot/dry the environment is and how much you weigh. Eight cups/day is a very rough rule of thumb. Some people need more or less depending on the day. Unless you are doing extreme exercise (in the heat) that requires fluid replacement before you notice that you’re thirsty, thirst is a good indicator of whether or not you need to drink. Also, I’ll tell you a doctor secret – all you need to know about hydration is in your urine color. Urine becomes very concentrated (dark yellow) when you are dehydrated. If you drink enough water to keep your urine a nice light yellow, then that’s all you need.
8. Dietary and lifestyle recommendation for individuals with high serum cholesterol and triglycerides:
- Avoid Food High In Cholesterol And Saturated Fat.
Saturated fats include all fats of animal origins as well as coconut and palm kernel oils. Eliminate from the diet hydrogenated fats and hardened fats and oils such as margarine, lard and butter. Consume no heated fats or processed oils and avoid animal products and fried or fatty foods.
- Increase Intake Of Dietary Fibre
Make sure to include plenty of fibre in the form of fruits, vegetables and whole grain. Water soluble fibre is very important in reducing serum cholesterol. It is found in barley, beans, brown rice, fruits, glucomannan, guar gum and oats. Oat bran and brown rice bran are best foods for lowering cholesterol.
- Cut Down Alcohol And Sugar
Do not consume alcohol, cakes, candy, carbonated drinks, coffee, gravy, non dairy creamers, pies, processed or refined foods, refined carbohydrates, tobacco or white bread. Sugar raises the level of natural cholesterol produced by the body.
- Cut Down Coffee
In large amounts, coffee can elevate blood cholesterol levels, more than doubling the risk of heart disease. According to a report published in The New England Journal of Medicine, observation of 15,000 coffee drinkers revealed that as intake of coffee rises, the amount of cholesterol in the blood goes up.
- Get Regular Exercise
Aerobic exercises such as walking, jogging, swimming, etc have been shown to have lowering effect on total cholesterol and elevation of "GOOD" HDL Cholesterol. Aerobic exercises also enhance the circulation in the cardiopulmonary system. If you are overweight, reduce weight.
- Learn To Relax And Reduce Stress
Stress also results in overproduction of natural cholesterol.
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