Anyone who intends to follow a career in nutrition and dietetics needs a Public Health Nutrition degree. Nutrition and diet have actually become an important part in the treatment of chronic disease, which explains why the interest in this profession is on the rise. Public health nutrition also touches on the issues encountered by food scientists, doctors, naturopaths and lots of other professionals that work in health services.

The difference between public health nutrition and individual health nutrition is that one covers a more general spectrum of disease and prevention, while the other uses the same principles but at the micro level. A better education of the consumer is probably one of the main concerns for any public health nutrition organization, because most issues derive from the poor food choices that people make. Processed food has thus become the number one enemy of health.

Public health nutrition involves more than just teaching the consumer to read the labels of the products that he/she purchases. One also needs to understand what the labels say. There is overall confusion when it comes to interpreting the fat or sugar levels in certain foods. People should first and foremost start from the premises that the more processed the food, the higher the risk of imbalances in their nutrition. Processed food contains additives and chemicals meant to enhance the taste and make the food last longer. These ingredients behave like toxins in our bodies, clogging the organs and impairing their functions.

Therefore, public health nutrition should re-educate consumers towards healthy food choices. As long as we keep pumping toxins in the system, we can’t expect our bodies to stay in great shape and function properly. If public health nutrition is successful, there will be a drop in the number of allergies, liver, kidney and stomach disease. Plus, there will be less obesity than ever before. We’ve still got such a long way to get to these results!

Stress makes our body consume more nutrients, and this is why people who work under pressure often feel exhausted and with low energy levels. In such cases, the administration of some health nutrition supplements on doctor’s orders could make you feel revitalized. If you smoke or drink, chances are that your body could be deficient when it comes to the absorption and metabolism of vitamins. Yet, it is important not to use supplements by the ear, because you can cause imbalances. Only the doctor can advise for an adequate course of action.

Vitamins and minerals are not the only health nutrition supplements you can use. There are so many other nutrients that you don’t take from your regular meals and you don’t even know that you have to compensate for them until the body sends very energetic alarm signs. This is the case with hypo-calcemia or with osteoporosis, not to mention magnesium, chromium or some other mineral deficiencies. You can detect imbalances and inadequate nutrients levels by blood tests. They are the most relevant for any doctor when prescribing some form of treatment.

Oily acids are one other problem with diets. Omega 3 for instance is not available in a regular diet even if it is carefully balanced. This useful fat can only be taken from fish oil and flax seeds. If you don’t consume enough fish in your diet, health nutrition supplements are necessary to support the body mechanisms. The Internet now offers plenty of alternatives for health nutrition supplements, but you need to know what choices to make.

Do not rush into buying health nutrition supplements for the entire family. Every age has its specific needs and a youngster will need different supplements to support growth as compared to a senior adult that needs energy to cope with old age and current tasks. Then, middle-aged adults require a different type of approach in terms of nutrition. Do your homework well before staring taking health nutrition supplements.

In general lines, here are the foods that pregnancy nutrition should include daily.

Milk, yogurt and cheese are essential for the amount of calcium they provide: this mineral is a must-have for the baby’s bone system, and it can by no means be absent from diet.

Eggs, meat or fish, leafy vegetables, whole grain bread, fresh fruits and some fat are also high important. Make sure to keep the balance and not consume to much from a certain category.

Pregnancy nutrition requires careful and constant information. It is of paramount importance to eat what you like but also to eat as naturally as possible. Moreover there are foods that can harm you or your baby; consequently, pregnancy nutrition is not only about eating well but also about eating correctly. Here are some of the foods that are considered troublesome and should be avoided.

The main problem comes with food-borne illness as it is the case with:

-unpasteurized juice or milk, because they can cause contaminants that may harm the baby;

-raw eggs may carry the bacterium known as salmonella; avoid eggnog, salad dressings, mayonnaise or sunny-side up eggs;

-sushi which is made with raw fish can induce parasitic illness;

-large fish like shark, swordfish and tile-fish can accumulate lots of mercury and thus put your pregnancy at risk.

Other things you should know about pregnancy nutrition is that you have to keep it as natural as possible. There are foods that contain lots of additives like nitrates that you usually take from diet sodas for instance. Limit the consumption during pregnancy so that no chemicals should pass through the placenta and harm your baby.

Moderation is probably the best way to describe pregnancy nutrition at its best. Even if you have some of your favorite sweets once in a while or a diet soda, you should not use them as part of your daily diet. The fetus or the baby is very fragile and lots of food toxins can prevent the proper growth in the womb.

The treatment and prevention of disease are the two major sectors of activity that nutritionists cover. The profession as such is more popular and wide spread in the West, while in under-developed countries it remains in the bud. Why this need for nutritionists? The very nature of our society has led to the automatic processing of food, and the more refined the nutrients, the more difficult they are to preserve. You don’t have to be an expert to know that fresh food is the best, but how much fresh food do we eat every day?

Look at your meals and if ready-made food from the supermarket predominates, then, you give the best answer possible here. Nutritionists can teach you the elements that you have forgotten or neglected related to diet and the physical needs of the body. In order to feel good and be efficient in all of your activities, you have to give the body energy to use as fuel. And food is our fuel. If it is poor quality, then your performance will be low, the system will get weaker every day and you will eventually go ill.

Nutritionists may first suggest that you talk to the health care provider and run some medical tests to evaluate your health condition. This is the best way to determine whether there is any vitamin or mineral deficiency in the body. Even if you feel fine, you can still use nutritionists’ advice in order to prevent illness, preserve youth and the overall well-being. Overweight people seek nutritionists’ help more and more often, because when all diets seem to fail, they must really be in the wrong somewhere.

Nutritionists do not diagnose, they only recommend the best diet possible taking into consideration a number of factors such as: age, occupation, health condition, body structure, individual needs and preferences. Sometimes it takes more than just a visit to the nutritionist to finally solve your problem and get on a good dietary path. Once you learn the basic concepts you can continue on your own and with great success.

The food pyramid for kids emphasizes the five groups of food that are necessary for good health: protein, carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables, fat and dairy products. Special mentions warn users that fats and sweets should only be used sparingly for children between 2 and 6. By using a variety of foods only can you meet the nutritional needs of a growing child, and also create the premises for good eating habits to develop later in life. Among the food practices that contradict the specificity of the food pyramid for kids we should mention:

-large desserts,
-plenty of soft drinks and fruit-flavored drinks;
-sugar coated cereals,
-hard candy,
-tough meats,
-chewing gum etc.

If you stick to the food pyramid for kids you will create a diet that is both balanced and rich in nutrients. The amount of food should correspond to the level of intellectual and physical activities. You must provide a diet reach in wholegrain cereals, plenty of calcium and iron and a variety of dishes. Do not exaggerate with sugar or fat because they ruin health from early ages. A great support here is personal example.

You can promote the food pyramid for kids by using its basic guidelines for all the family members. You can’t ask your child to stay away from soft drinks if he/she constantly sees you drinking them. When you have the same dietary guidelines to follow in the house, things are a lot simpler. Making ice-cream the rule of the house is a clear example of what you could do wrong here.

To sum it up: you should implement the basic ideas of the food pyramid for kids into the family’s diet. Cook natural healthy meals and keep fat and sugar levels low. This will teach your children the basics of good eating, and will make you be at peace with your kids’ nutrition. Be creative to make them look forward to your meals together!

Elderly people in particular need nutritional supplements as they may not eat enough or their body may not process food correctly to absorb all the nutrients necessary. Then, over-stressed people consume more vitamins and minerals than people who work and live in calm environments. Other situations in which the absorption of nutrients is impaired are encountered with smokers or heavy drinkers. Both alcohol and nicotine create imbalances, and disturb the functions of the organs.

Although nutritional supplements are widely available and they do not require a prescription, we recommend care in their administration. It is difficult and even dangerous to self-diagnose, therefore, you should not use nutritional supplements whenever you feel stressed or tired. Instead of taking a pill, why not improve your diet or your eating habits? You won’t do yourself any good if you keep swallowing supplements at the expense of food. If you have a diet based on foods from all categories, there is no need for supplementation unless the doctor recommends it.

Weight loss, chronic disease and stress are the main factors that make people use nutritional supplements in the first place. They want something to make them feel better, a solution for the extra pounds or some magic pill to help them relax and cope with the challenges of a busy life. Well, unless you make some lifestyle changes, no supplement is going to help you. Talk to any doctor or naturopath and you will get similar answers.

Do not disregard your doctor’s advice on nutritional supplements. Sometimes such products could interfere with some kind of treatment you follow for a chronic disease. Be informed and be open with your doctor about whatever supplements you want to use. There are no wonder results and magic pills, just some balanced formulas of vitamins, minerals and herbal extracts that can make your body function well. The idea is not to find the perfect supplement but the perfect lifestyle to enjoy great health all the time.

The food pyramid also shows the number of servings you should have from each food category per day. Normally, the age and the level of activity also have a word to say in the portion size, but the body weight matters a lot here too. Fats for instance make 30% of your diet, and they should primarily come from dairy products, meat and eggs. There are also unsaturated fats that are a lot healthier, and this is the case with olive oil, nuts and peanuts.

Another group of foods in the food pyramids are sugars that come with the highest level of calories and the lowest nutritional value. You should consume honey more than sugar and avoid jellies, jams and soft drinks in excess. Balance is what matters most here.

By far the best source of minerals, vitamins and protein are dairy products, and children depend most on this category in the food pyramid. Yogurt, milk and cheese should be part of your children’s daily diet. Fat cheese and ice-cream should be carefully avoided.

Protein coming from lean meat are also important, but we need to emphasize the fact that you should not eat the skin or replace a natural chicken breast with a hamburger. Junk food is not exactly ideal, and not all hamburgers are made of quality beef. Moderation is once again the best way to stay on the safe side and provide no nutrients in excess.

Let us also refer to vegetables and fruit as the main sources of minerals and vitamins. Vitamin C and A, as well as iron, fibers and magnesium can be taken from leafy greens more than from other sources. It is important to eat a variety of vegetables in order to get all the nutrients necessary for the optimal body functioning. This being said, it only remains for you to put into practice the tips available with the food pyramid.

Besides malnutrition that is not at all a new issue, we can identify other elements of deficient health nutrition. This actually covers the implications or the long-term consequences of unbalanced diets, obesity and chronic disease such as cancer, diabetes or cardio-vascular disease. Under-nutrition and over-nutrition thus become the two sides of the same coin, and they are very far apart from the principles of normal health nutrition standards.

And it all seems to start with the absence of food or with poor food choices. In the West, more and more people have come to suffer from the irritable bowel syndrome, a disease caused by improper food choices. We have gone so far from natural food that we now show more digestive response to highly processed meals than to organic items. Unfortunately, the processed food that tastes so great often clogs your organs with toxins making it difficult for the body to work in optimal conditions.

A balanced diet based on natural food is vital in the treatment of various health conditions, and any medical treatment should start from that. Fruits, vegetables, dairy, cereals, poultry, meat and fish make the major healthy food groups, and they include everything your body needs to function well and without any threats for the overall health. The moment your diet fails to provide enough essential vitamins, minerals or dietary fibers, your body will send you signs that something is going wrong.

If you don’t listen to what your body tells you, and you don’t seek professional help, you may have difficulties balancing the diet. Health nutrition does not mean that you have to eat a lot to compensate for the deficiencies, but that you need to create a balance in the nutrients intake. Hence, it is possible to reach fitness and a state of well-being without starving yourself by following crash diets. The same thing stays valid when you are concerned about recovering from a certain illness: the food you have could be your best friend or your worst enemy.

Some general health nutrition guides deal with the major food groups or the food pyramid, with all the details you need to know about each category and its preponderance in our daily diet. If you knew how much meat, vegetables, fruit, carbohydrates and fat to have, the incidence of chronic diseases would be much lower. Everybody should pay attention to healthy eating, because this is the main way to prevent disease and delay old age.

Other health nutrition guides deal with certain diseases in particular. They are more specialized and they provide not only instructions but recipes too. The highest popularity can be recognized for those e-books that aim at weight loss. Obesity is a major problem of our times and solutions seem to be abundant if we care to look for them. Health nutrition guides will teach you about the foods that accelerate metabolism and provide easy to burn energy, and about those foods that tend to turn into more fat deposits.

In other words, health nutrition guides deal with the dos and don’ts of diet. Most of them are written by dietitians and used as support for counseling. The price of such materials is somewhere around $30, with slight variations, which is quite a lot if we consider that a regular book costs up to $20 in the most expensive of cases. People can create their own health nutrition guides without having to purchase anything ready made, but this means that you have to devote some time to research and practice.

We can thus say that the best health nutrition guides come with experience, research and dedication to nutrition and diet. Teaching others how to maintain good health is a huge responsibility and it ought to be treated as such. Therefore, before paying for one e-book or another, think carefully whether you really need it or not. If you already have knowledge of how and what to eat for a healthy life, then, no further advice is needed.

We feed our children on highly processed food, and we still wonder why we self-intoxicate. In very brief lines, these are the main problems related to nutrition. Health suffers most and the only alarm signs that the body can send are disease symptoms. Constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, gastric ulcer, gastritis, GERD disease, diabetes, acne and so many others are directly related to diet. Nutrition health programs therefore insist on the education of the consumer.

I won’t say: ‘stop buying salad dressings from the supermarket and make them at home’, because that would not leave you the freedom to choose. And nobody can be cohered into an action like food choice unless he/she willingly increases awareness. Read labels and avoid those products with too much fat, sugar or chemicals. I’ll give you a simple example here. Think how great ice cream tastes. Have you ever thought that that great taste is given by chemicals, not by natural flavors?

What about junk food then? If you just take a look at your shopping basket in the supermarket, you’ll identify those foods that I specifically refer too. Chips, creams, toppings, lots of sweets, pudding, jelly and so many more, contain substances that accumulate in the organs, and intoxicate the system after a while. Nutrition health does not equal fasting, but a better care with the food we consume. It’s such a joy in cooking a nice dinner from fresh natural products rather than serve your family canned soup. Think about it!

If any of these lines has rung a bell for you, take a look on other web sites and check other ways to improve diet. There are hundreds of healthy recipes you can cook in just a few minutes. Plus, you’ll see that health nutrition principles will help you make savings, because it’s cheaper to cook meals at home than to buy everything from the hypermarket.

Breakfast

Nutrition for kids equals good energy levels. Breakfast is supposed to provide your child with enough nutrients to get him/her through the intense activities of the morning. A donut will never be enough. Instead, make some breakfast drinks with milk, vanilla and some teaspoonfuls of honey. Or you can try combinations of apple juice, orange juice and some wheat germs. Other suggestions here include whole-grain muffins, hard-boiled eggs and finger food vegetables.

Lunch

This is where you have to be creative. Nutrition for kids is problematic because they can throw away, trade or give food away. This usually happens when the child is too bored with what you put in the lunch box. Parents need to be inventive in order to make the kid actually look forward to lunch. Tuna fish and salmon with some vegetables are a good combination. Or if the kid prefers sandwiches and peanut butter is a favorite, you can cut them into nice shapes and stuff them with other nutritive foods such as bacon bits, chopped dates, nuts or raisins.

Snacks

When children come back from school, they are certainly in need of an energy boost. And although sweets seem the closest at hand, you should avoid sugar as much as possible. Dried fruit are great for the occasion combined with sunflower seeds, dates, coconut shavings and pretzel sticks. Popcorn can also make a great snack. And the same can be said about whole wheat crackers with cheese.

Dinner

Dinner is the best time to make nutrition for kids complete, because it allows you to create a balanced diet. Let your children taste everything that is on the table because that’s the best way to make them actually eat what they like. If the food looks attractive and interesting, you will have better chances of making children eat.

There are many ways to manage nutrition for kids adequately. You just need to be well informed and ready to cook decent meals for the family. Home food has all the premises of providing all the nutrients necessary for body growth, unlike highly processed or junk food.

Most nutrition articles focus on what you should eat in order to stay healthy or what foods enable fat loss or fat gain. You’ll also come across a plethora of materials related to foods meant to treat diseases. Yet, besides the incorrect food choices, people make one other mistake when it comes to buying food: they follow their taste, old habits and preferences, putting health concerns on the last place. As long as they are healthy, few people actually care about the quality of food. We only start researching when trouble is around the corner.

Few nutrition articles tell you about how to eat. Here are a few questions that will reveal what you are actually doing wrong.

Do you watch TV while eating?
Do you work while eating?
Do you keep thinking about your work or family problems while eating?

If you answer yes to these basic questions, it’s definitely clear that eating is just a mechanic process to you. Why not try eating with a lighter heart? I suggest a simple exercise to you.

Have a look at the food you are about to eat. Smell it. How tasty is that?

Arrange the food on a nice plate, and sit on your favorite place at the table. It doesn’t matter whether you eat alone or with your family. Meals are a time when you have to smile and feel joyful.

If you constantly worry, talk or bicker, you won’t even know what you’re eating. Plus, negative thoughts turn food into poison, because of the substances that the body secrets. When thinking, you constantly condition your mind to act on the body in a certain way. When your mind is angry and upset, so will be your body.

You certainly need to read a lot more nutrition articles on this topic in order to fully grasp the meaning of my words. Yet, try to increase your self-awareness at least during the meals. Let worries aside, and make silence and peace in your mind and heart for a few minutes, while you eat. Do this every day and you’ll see what a boost of energy you’ll experience. Good luck!

Thus, you can shop for Herbalife health nutrition products according to gender and age; there are categories for children, men and women. Some supplements are designed to support a particular health problem, and Herbalife health nutrition can alleviate heart conditions, improve digestion, help you deal with stress or provide solutions for a poor immune function. Another important part in the product line launched by Herbalife includes the products designed for weight management.

With Herbalife health nutrition you can get control over your weight, join shapework programs, develop appetite control or enhance your muscles. The producer also offers protein snacks and shakes as well as herbal teas. There is even a category of supplements especially designed for energy and fitness. Let’s not forget that food and nutrients reflect in the look of your hair and the health of nails and skin. A dull looking skin can be improved with some vitamins intake for instance.

Before you try any kind of Herbalife health nutrition product, it is important to seek advice and see what corresponds to your condition. Maybe you come to use these supplements following a naturopath’s advice or after talking to your doctor. Do not administer on your own, by suspecting and self-diagnosing a certain health condition. This is the best recommendation if you want to take a really good care of yourself. The same rule applies when it comes to giving Herbalife health nutrition supplements to your kids.

Product reviews usually describe Herbalife health nutrition as balanced, body friendly and cheap. Nevertheless, self-treatment can lead to an over-loading or over-stimulation of the system and that could also be detrimental. If you can’t improve your health by following a natural diet, then, Herbalife health nutrition supplements could be the right help. Do not fool yourself into believing that supplements compensate for daily meals, because they don’t. They are merely necessary to compensate for some deficiencies. And this is why they should be supplementary to the nutritional pattern. First comes food and then supplements!

Another issue of major concern here is the consumer impossibility to tell or understand serving sizes by simply reading the product label. For example, some boxes are designed for one, two, three or more servings. When reading about calories, you have to calculate everything per serving to know how much you consume. This kind of food nutrition facts are extremely relevant for anyone who follows a diet.

Calories come next on any list of food nutrition facts because they are one of the most interesting points. What you should pay attention to is the amount of calories that come from fat. Some product lables do not say how much is saturated or unsaturated fat, and this is a problem in many ways. In order to make good food choices, you should know which fat is healthy for your body and which isn’t. You can either read online about that or go see a nutritionist.

Sugar, sodium and carbohydrates, these should also be of concern for anybody reading food products labels. People who suffer from chronic ailments such as diabetes, high blood pressure or kidney problems have to constantly look into these food nutrition facts in order to monitor their daily intake of substances. You should also keep an eye open on the amount of protein, vitamins and minerals in a certain food.

The truth is that so many food nutrition facts seem confusing, and people make mistakes when they don’t understand labels. This usually happens because everything is expressed in percentages, grams or ounces and you keep trying to calculate everything so as to choose the right kind of food for your diet. Yet, if you keep reading and going through food nutrition facts, you’ll develop an eye for spotting the good and bad foods.

Common sense rules are usually more efficient and practical than all the food nutrition facts. Highly processed food is not good for your health. Consume products in the most natural state that you can. Why buy canned pork when you can use fresh meat to cook? It’s not that time consuming and the health advantages are worth every effort.

Well if you just want to get fit or eat well to cope with pregnancy, we recommend that you look through a general nutrition guide that can show you the main food groups and how much of each you need to consume to stay healthy. In case you plan to lose weight, the nutrition guide won’t be enough, as you may also have to commit to regular physical activities.

Then, if you suffer from a specific health condition, you need a more specialized nutrition guide. Unless you find one ready made for the illness, you can talk to a nutritionist or dietitian to help you put up the dietary plan specific to your situation. The nutritional needs of a diabetes patient will certainly differ from those of a hypertension sufferer. There are usually dietary restrictions that you need to follow whenever you try to deal with a disease.

Another situation in which a nutrition guide can prove useful is when you are concerned about your child’s harmonious development. When you become a parent you hardly know what a kid needs to grow well. There are dos and don’ts in a kids’ diet that you have to get informed on, but you have to look into the matter yourself and do some more extensive reading. A general nutrition guide will not help you if your child is not two years old yet.

Be careful with the selection of the nutrition guide. The information should be checked and double-checked from other sources too particularly if something you read contradicts your knowledge. It is best to use a guide created by a professional and recognized dietitian rather than by a ‘nobody’. Don’t make the mistake of treating nutrition lightly, because you will just ruin your health.

To sum it up: everybody needs a good nutrition guide, but while some people are aware of this, others simply ignore their body’s signs that eating habits are not exactly correct. Dull-looking skin, water retention, overweight, acne, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, gastritis, hair loss and lots of other problems are the clear signs that nutrition is not at its best with you.

“Given the history of Western medicine to date, many people seek empowerment in the health care of themselves and their families; nutrition is really basic component of preventive medicine and also an area that can be effective in corrective medicine for many common health problems.” *

Nutrition is a basic element of health and should not be overlooked during disease. Some well renowned practitioners state that every disease is a result of improper dietary habits.

Because of the rapid increase in cost of medical care and desire to live longer and healthier, higher and higher percentage of the population is becoming concerned about nutrition and maintaining their health. Without a doubt, nutrition plays a big role here.

Proper nutrition and regular physical activity can help us avoid taking drugs or even have surgeries to correct the results of fast-paced, fast-food consuming, multitasking life with no exercising.

Healthy dietary habits (the way we eat) are the foundation of healthy nutrition. Choosing nourishing (whole, unprocessed, without chemical additives) foods alone is not enough.

Simpler meals (with specific combination of foods for better digestion and absorption) are becoming the top-choice of many, who are oriented toward optimum health.

However, the factors that are often overlooked, but just as important in healthy nutrition are:

• the way our food is prepared and served,
• the time of the day when we eat,
• the setting in which we eat and
• how we feel when we eat.

The way of the Western world is that poor nutrition is readily available everywhere, any time and cheap. Farmers’ markets and health-food stores, on the other hand, are harder to find in some areas. In the end, all comes down to common sense. Our body is sending us messages all the time and if we would only learn to listen to these messages again, there would be no need whatsoever for trying out all the countless diets which don’t work. So, even though our biofeedback is a perfect messenger, we tend to override the signals and follow heavily advertised addictions. This kind of behavior affects the way we feel now, as well as over the long term. Being overweight is mostly the result of poor nutrition and low activity level. The only way to lose extra pounds permanently is to change the lifestyle. Choosing less fattening foods is a good choice, but not sufficient. Because certain emotions and fear of creativity and change also promote unhealthy (over)eating habits, we need to choose personal growth (over addictions), decide what we want and stay focused on our goals.

Dietary habits and eating patterns from our family’s traditions affect us all in our young age. As adults, however, we are making our own choices and decisions and we should keep asking ourselves why we’re doing the things we do – and keep the answers in our sight.

When body is in a detoxification stage (like during cold or flu when bowels, secreting cells and mucous membranes become more active), it is simply trying to eliminate the buildup of toxins we consumed throughout the longer period of time. Eating lightly (especially fruits and vegetables) and drinking more liquids (clean, fresh water and herbal teas), supports the cleansing process.

Our dietary needs are changing with the seasons of the year as well as with our age. Growing children need richer diet to construct and expand tissues. When we stop growing physically, we only need to maintain our body, which calls for lighter, fiber and nutrient rich natural foods. As we age even more and our metabolism slows down, our food requirements decrease further.

Just like fitness activity is equally important at any age, so is the low level of stress. While under stress, our body may not digest and absorb the necessary nutrients so well and sometimes the additional supplements are needed.

When we lose our appetite in response to the stressful situation, that is a very helpful reaction. As mentioned before, in stressful times our body does not process foods so well. Not eating will allow us to “hear” better what the only body we have for this life, is signaling us, and explore our feelings.

Human body needs food as a source of energy and as a fuel to maintain life. It is quite obvious that nutrition plays a major role in health as well as sickness. Fortunately, there are more and more practitioners available who are nutritionists. There are also more and more choices of wholesome, nutritious foods offered online and in the brick-and-mortar stores. Information is plentiful. But it’s up to us to decide to do and choose what’s best.

*Haas, M.D., Elson M.. Staying Healthy with Nutrition. 1. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts Publishing, 1992.

D. Perse is a student of Herbology, passionate about growing herbs and collecting interesting facts about them, including history and legends, medicinal uses, recipes and more. Website http://www.dariasworld.info/more_info.htm is devoted to herbs and offers tons of free information.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=D._Perse
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Protein must be a part of a healthy diet for a simple reason: it is essential for life. Every single cell in the human body — including bones, blood, skin, chemicals, and enzymes — depend on protein for effective operation.[i]

Yet while Americans are more health-conscious than ever before, the national health dialogue continues to be dominated by a cynical theme: malnutrition. Many Americans are suffering the ill-health effects of a diet that is too high in saturated fat[ii], carbohydrates[iii], and calories[iv], while severely lacking in protein.

This wave of malnutrition is not merely disconcerting to medical professionals. It is alarming. The situation has become so desperate that obesity will soon become the nation’s leading cause of preventable death.[v]

America’s nutritional dilemma is not, however, limited to obesity concerns. Malnutrition in non-overweight individuals is nearing epidemic levels. Millions of “fit looking” individuals subsist on a diet that is far too rich in carbohydrates a problem that has been enhanced for generations by the US FDA’s encouragement of refined carbohydrates as part of a balanced diet. We now know, however, that many of these refined carbohydrates are metabolically similar to candies and sweets. Added to this problem is that saturated fats continue to dominate many meals, particular those served in fast food restaurants.

Essentially then, the problem in America can be summed up as this: eat right or prepare to suffer shape up, or die a preventable death.

The first step in balancing America’s eating practices is to reintroduce the importance of protein. This neglect is all the more stunning given that, of the three major macronutrients – carbohydrates, fats, and proteins – proteins are the only essential component that human beings cannot live without.

Reintroducing protein as part of a healthy diet is made more difficult because many consumers do not know where to find a healthy source of protein. Unfortunately, most nutritional supplement sources bring with them a range unwanted carbohydrates, facts, and calories. Powerbar™, the “granddaddy” of nutritional supplements launched in 1987, has been rejected as an option by some consumers and health professionals because of high carbohydrate levels (45 grams), and low protein levels (10 grams) in each serving. Furthermore, dieters in particular have criticized Powerbar’s™ high 230 calories per bar –-more than 1/10th of the recommended caloric intake.

Other attempts to meet consumer demand for a high protein, low carbohydrate, low fat, and low calorie nutritional supplement have been supplied by products such as the York Bar™, the Blast Bar™, and the Ironman Bar™, respectively. However, each product has been judged by some consumers and medical professionals as having have similar Powerbar™-like drawbacks: high calorie levels (210, 180, 230 grams respectively), high carbohydrate levels (30, 36, and 51 grams, respectively), and most notably of all, low protein content (7, 10, and 4 grams, respectively).

While these products have certainly helped more people “think” about eating healthier, they have not, respectively, met the rigorous consumer expectation for a low carbohydrate, low calorie, low fat, and high protein nutritional supplement.

However, there is a product in the market today called Profect® that is receiving significant credible attention from both the consumer and medical communities.

Profect, a product of Pennsylvania-based Protica, Inc. (www.protica.com), provides 25 grams of protein in each fat-free, carbohydrate-free 100-calorie serving. Profect also offers a range of essential nutrients in each serving, including 100% of vitamin C and 50% of B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, Biotin and Folic Acid. All of this is delivered to consumers in a 2.7-ounce container designed to be virtually indestructible. The container also serves to increase storage life and heat resistance.

The debate for America’s protein and diet IQ will not begin with what is placed on a dinner table, or what is offered at a fast food restaurant. This is where the debate will end. Where it begins will be in the minds of consumers and medical professionals everywhere. High quality, accurate, and scientifically validated information is required to carefully choose a protein-rich balanced approach. For a growing number of investigative consumers, that solution centers around products like Profect.

About Protica

Founded in 2001, Protica, Inc. is a nutritional research firm with offices in Lafayette Hill and Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Protica manufactures capsulized foods, including Profect, a compact, hypoallergenic, ready-to-drink protein beverage containing zero carbohydrates and zero fat. Information on Protica is available at www.protica.com. You can also learn about Profect at www.profect.com.

References

[i] Source: “The Benefits of Protein”. WebMD.

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/85/98824.htm

[ii] Source: The Center for Disease Control.

[iii] Source: “Building a Better American Diet: School of Harvard Gazette Archives Public Health Conference Looks at Science Behind Diet Recommendations”.

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2003/09.18/15-foodpyramid.html

[iv] Source: “CDC: Americans Eating More than Ever”. CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/02/05/more.calories.ap/

[v] Source: “Why Is America So Fat?”. CBS News.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/12/60II/main628877.shtml

Copyright 2004 – Protica Research – http://www.protica.com

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Why do we need nutritional supplements? Many of us, in today’s hurried lifestyle, do not eat a well balanced diet. Because of this we need nutritional supplements to boost our daily diet. We have seen numerous commercials for overweight bodies. When was the last time you saw a commercial about getting nutritional supplements, not just broad spectrum vitamins? We have become a nation of over fed and under nourished citizens.

Eating the right foods is great…BUT. The nutritional value of our food has diminished considerably in the last 50 or so years and this makes it necessary to take nutritional supplements. Our diet contains too much refined food and not enough pre-processed food. Unless you grow your own fruits and vegetables you will need to get your nutrients from another source, like nutritional supplements.

Nutritional supplements fill the holes that processed foods leave in our diet. Not having enough vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants,

• Speeds the aging process
• Contributes to poor cardiovascular health
• Helps cause poor eyesight
• Produces a weakened immune system.

Many factors cause degeneration of your body’s cells. Some factors are

• Radiation exposure
• Cigarette smoke
• Overexposure to the sun’s rays.

Some nutritional supplements work at cell level, some do not. Make sure your nutritional supplements work at cell level. The nutritional supplements must contain enough vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to supplement our daily diet. Combining a good diet with nutritional supplements and regular exercise will provide us with the basics to fuel our bodies. Adding nutritional supplements and exercise to our busy lives will give us more energy. The use of nutritional supplements can also slow the aging process.

For the past 5 years or so we have heard much about antioxidants and free radicals, and for a good reason. If the free radicals in our systems are not neutralized they will run rampant in our bodies. The free radicals will damage our bodies at the cellular level. Here is where nutritional supplements can help. This damage over time will escalate and eventually lead to the acceleration of the aging process. The aging process usually manifests itself as heart disease, cancer, or osteoporosis. Diets alone do not supply enough antioxidants to combat this process. That is why your nutritional supplement must contain these antioxidants.

Health and nutrition experts say that the basis for good cardiovascular health is a nutrient rich diet, exercise, watching your cholesterol level, and monitoring your blood pressure. The cholesterol and blood pressure levels should be periodically checked by your health provider. Nutritional supplements added to your diet can help improve these factors. Your nutritional supplements should contain a garlic extract (unless you are a garlic lover like me and eat it every day!). Garlic has been shown to be of great benefit in decreasing cardiovascular disease.

Nearly all eye damage and loss of vision can be linked to poor nutrition! Poor nutrition can be directly linked to blood shot eyes, blurred vision, and nearly EVERY eye irritation we suffer. Nutritional supplements can help here too. To help reduce vision problems the nutritional supplements needs to contain Vitamins A, B, C, and E, in large enough quantities. Natural food sources for these are in dark green leafy vegetables (Kale and mustard greens, etc) orange fruits and vegetables (like carrots and oranges).

I have only listed just a few factors here to show how important nutritional supplements are. Nutritional supplements are normally a combination of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Taking one of the nutrients (like Vitamin C for example) and or one antioxidant and ignoring the rest isn’t good. The vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants all work together to promote a healthy body.

Get a list of the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants from your health care provider. Armed with this information read the labels of the nutritional supplements that you are considering (check several). Your health is too important to not check these. Get high quality nutritional supplements and you are on your way to a healthier life!

Find a game plan and if it works, stick with it. I did!

Keith Standifer is a business owner and an advocate for healthy diets for all. Read more about some of the high quality nutritional supplements he uses visit his site at http://www.healthisyours.usana.com

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