ONE A DAY OR MULTY DOSAGE VITAMIN?

I am sure you are wondering, but this is a very important question.   Should you take a one a day vitamin or a multi dosage multy vitamin?   Well, do you remember the tv ad that said " you would have to eat this many bowls of that cereal to get the same amount of nutrients in one bowl of our cereal" commercial?   They weren't too far off from reality.   The truth is you would have to eat thousands of calories worth of food to get you daily requirements of the nutrition that you need.   This is due to many factors our foods do not provide us with the adequate amounts of nutrients our bodies need on a daily basis, because it is depleted by toxins from pollution, processing in the commercial industry and days since harvesting.   If, you are lucky enough to grow your own food, you may be getting your daily requirements.   But, most people don't have that luxury and they purchase food that has been harvested 2-3 days prior to reaching our grocery section in the supermarket (which is not so super).   Every day counts, once food has been harvested it begins to lose it's nutrional value.

So, supplementation is neccessary.   Since, most of our vitamins are water soluble, like vitamins a, all b vitamins and vitamin c, this means our bodies use and flush them in just a few hours.   We need to provide our bodies with a steady flow of both vitamins and minerals.   The way to accomplish this is by supplementing with a high quality, 3 times a day supplement ( one at each meal) that contains vitamins and essential minerals our bodies need.   this will not only help in weight loss, but in overal health.

So, bottom line do not use a one a day supplement.   Go with the 3 times a day multi vitamin.


Enjoy!

Jacqui Allen

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WHY CAN'T I LOSE WEIGHT?

Do you dread getting on the scale? Are you tired of being overweight and tired?

Are you trying to lose weight, but it's not coming off? or worse you're putting more on?

This happens to alot of people and one of the biggest reasons is: They are not getting proper nutrition.

If your body is lacking in essential nutrients it will store everything you do eat and save it for when it is needed.   However, if you are consistently not getting enough nutrition, your body will consistently continue to store and turn it into fat.   This can be changed by following a few simple rules:

1:   Do not skip meals ( you can use nutritional meal replacement shakes for breakfast and/or lunch if that helps)

2: Make your calories count, this means don't fill up on empty calories that don't provide nutrition.

3:  Drink plenty of water, the average person needs half their body weight in ounces of water per day (this means if you weigh 200 lbs you need 100 ounces of water)

4:   Snack, yes I said snack.   The best way to boost your metabolism is to keep feeding it, eat something about every 3 to 4 hours.   Now this doesn't mean chowing down on chips and cookies, choose healthy snacks (yogurt, low fat cheeses and some fruits or veggies... you get the pic?)

5:   Choose low fat, low carb and high protein meals.  A trick I learned is to first eat the low fat protein then your veggies and last your carbs (by then you will be full and won't eat too many carbs) 

Well that's all for today! I look forward to sharing more tomorrow.

Enjoy!

Jacqui Allen 

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NUTRITION FACTS 101

If you are trying to lose weight or just remain healthy this is for you.   I will be blogging about nutrition and weightloss over the next few days and I wanted to start with some basic info.

According to the CDC there 5 things our body needs on daily basis:
1: water
2: protein
3: minerals
4: carbohydrates
5: vitamins
This info can be found at  http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/index.html

The top 3 causes of death in the US are
1: Heart disease
2: Cancer
3: Stroke
These are typically diet related.  http://198.246.98.21/nchs/fastats/lcod.htm

The #2 leading cause of death in the US is Obesity and the #1 cause of death in the US is Tobacco, however Obesity is fastly catching up http://www.doctorslounge.com/primary/articles/obesity_death/
and beating out tobacco.   Why? Well let me tell you a story.   When my youngest child was about 9 months old, she was considered underweight, the "healthcare" professional told me to put butter on everything she eats to "fatten her up".   What? I was speachless.   I thought, you want me to feed my child fat and cholestorel to meet your statistical calculations of what a child her age should weigh?  I was appauld and scared.   Speaking with other mothers over the past 5 years, I have found that 9 out of 10 of them have been given the same "advise", it's no wonder that childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/obesity/ and quite frankly, if this is the belief you have grown up with, of course it will continue into adulthood.   We need to take control of our lives and our eating habits.

Find a program or trusted nutritionist to work with and individualize a program that fits your needs.   Please remember that it is your body and you have control of how to take care of it.

May this bring you health and wellness,

Jacqui Allen

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THE LOWDOWN ON LETTUCE

I have always been a lettuce lover, I can't remember too many meals that  haven't ended with salad.   Where I grew up salad was believed to be a helper in digestion (it also cleanses you palet) and so we always had our salad at the end of the meal.  To this day I still believe that.   Now I am not talking about the fat and calorie packed salads that are commonly consumed today, I am talking a simple green salad (maybe throw in some tomato and cucumber, I wouldn't object to that).   But, what kind of lettuce is the best for you?   Well, in cooking school I learned that romaine lettuce has the most nutrients than any other lettuce, so here is the lowdown. Iceberg versus Romaine:

One cup of iceberg lettuce has:

8 calories


0.5 gram protein

0.7 gram fiber

10 mg calcium

78 mg potassium

1.5 mg vitamin C

16 mcg folate

13.3 mcg of vitamin K

164 mcg beta carotene

152 mcg of lutein + zeaxanthin

One cup of romaine lettuce has:

8 calories

0.58 gram protein

1 gram fiber

16 mg calcium

116 mg potassium

11.3 mg vitamin C

64 mcg folate

48.2 mcg vitamin K

1637 mcg beta carotene

1087 mcg of lutein + zeaxanthin.
 
 
and the winner is clear ROMAINE WINS (I knew it would and it tastes better too)
 
Nutrition info obtained from http://www.about.com/
 
So, enjoy a green salad everyday and help you digestive system it will thank you!
 
Jacqui Allen

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COULD SWEET POTATOES BE THE PERFECT FOOD?

SWEET POTATOES and I am not talking about the sticky, way too sweet, mushy kind either. Sweet potatoes are so awesome in a variety of ways. This potato is a terrific substitution for the potato any time of the year.


Providing a great amount of nutrition including fiber (1 med. sweet potatoe will provide more fiber than a bowl of oatmeal) vitamins A, C and E, postasium and beta-caroteen (4 times the recommended daily allowance) low sodium, fat and cholesterol FREE with only 120 calories for 1 med. sweet potato. So are you seeing why this is the perfect food????

Let's not forget the versatility you can bake, boil, broil, roast, grill or mash it. The sky is the limit.

Here's one of our favorite recipes.

ROASTED SWEET POTATOES WITH ROSEMARY AND SHALLOTS

SERVES 6

4 sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 tbsp. minced shallots

2 tsp. rosemary roughly chopped (fresh... if you use dried use 1 tsp. since dried has a more concentrated flavor)

4 tbsp. butter ( yes please use butter, it's not alot and it's much better for you than magarine)

canola oil

salt and pepper to taste

Peel and cut potatoes, toss in oil with the salt and pepper and the chopped rosemary. place on baking sheet and roast in a 375 degree oven for about 30 minute or until soft (not mushy) and place in serving bowl.

Melt butter and saute the shallots briefly (just until soft, it will take about 40 seconds) pour over pototoes and stir to coat and serve.

Enjoy!

Jacqui Allen

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