A healthier choice can make fast food healthy too

Cheap, convenient, filling and mouth watering taste! Yes, these are the facts which often drive us closer to a fast food restaurant isn’t it? But unfortunately it’s not a healthy option. Eating just one fast food meal can pack enough calories, sodium and fat for an entire day or more.

Well not to lose hope, as an informed customer, you can still make healthier choices and still enjoy the price and convenience of fast food restaurants. Making healthier choices at fast food restaurants is easier if you prepare ahead by checking guides that show you the nutritional content of meal choices at your favourite restaurants. You can also choose to patronize restaurants that focus on natural, high quality food. If you don’t prepare ahead of time, common sense guidelines help to make your meal healthier. For example, a seemingly healthy salad can be a diet minefield when smothered in high-fat dressing and fried toppings, so choose a salad with fresh veggies, grilled toppings and a lighter dressing. Portion control is also important, as many fast food restaurants serve enough food for several meals in the guise of a single serving. Last but not the least, try to develop habits like drinking water with your meal instead of soda. Try adding a little lemon to your water or ordering unsweetened iced tea. Also eat mindfully that is pay attention to what you eat and savour each bite. Mindful eating relaxes you, so you digest better, and makes you feel more satisfied.

So, next time you eat out in a fast food corner don’t forget this golden tips :-)

Refined sunflower oil = A healthy living

As much as you would want to stick to your strict diet, it is often that one hears of the phrase, 'falling off the wagon'. Staying away from snacks may seem quite difficult but depending on the oils used, snacks can in fact turn to be a healthy food item.

It isn't that difficult to stay healthy if you stick to the basics. And one of the important factors to keep in mind is to learn about the different oils that are used in the preparation of food items and which of these is in fact useful for your body. Usually, your
snack or dish may contain fully hydrogenated oils that are basically saturated fats. Now, if you replace this with refined sunflower oil such as Arjuna's Sunactiv, then much of your tension shall vanish away. The use of Sunactiv in the daily preparation of foodstuffs would mean a healthier snack and thus consequently a healthier lifestyle as it is low in saturated fats and refined sunflower oil means the food remains fresh for a longer period of time.

There are very few things one needs to tweak in their day-to-day living in order to lead a healthy life and knowing your 'oils' is a must.

How to Drink More Water?

Incredible as it may seem, water is quite possibly the single most important catalyst in losing weight and keeping it off. But drinking eight glasses of water may be a big task especially for one who hardly drinks three glasses of water daily. Well, not to worry here are some easy tricks to increase your daily water intake.

Firstly, take baby steps i.e, don't expect to go from zero glasses of water to the full 8 glasses overnight. Start with one glass of water in the morning and one glass of water at night, and build your way up from there. Make it a morning ritual, have it in the form of fresh lime water, even coconut water can add to your daily water intake. Drink when you have a munchie attack like sometimes our hunger is thirst masquerading as fake hunger. Drinking a cup or two of water will make you feel "full." Always have a full glass of water near you when you are working. It will give you something to mindlessly sip on when you are brainstorming or need something to do with your hands. Do it like it's hot. If you're in the mood for a hot drink, drink heated water. Sometimes we just want the psychological pleasure that comes with having a hot mug cupped in our hands than the actual drink itself. Last but not the least is think of how pretty you'll look as having healthy, glowing skin is often correlated to drinking a lot of water... So what say ready to increase your daily water intake:-)

Some Essential Fatty Acids for Your Healthy Diet Plan

Must have heard of Omega fatty acids? Each time we talk about the compositions of healthy cooking oil we cannot stop talking about Omega acids. Now the question is what Omega fatty acids is and how does it affect our health?

Well, Omega fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids. They are necessary for human health but the body can’t make them -- you have to get them through food. There are three types of omega acids- Omega-3, Omega-6 and Omega-9 Fats. Omega-6 is your standard polyunsaturated fats found in vegetable oils. Omega-3 fats (Linolenic Acid), particularly from fish, are considered to promote health, while Omega-6 (Linoleic Acid) fats are considered by some to promote heart disease and cancer. Omega-9 (Oleic Acid) is your monounsaturated fat as in olive oil. There is debate over the validity of relating Omega-3 in vegetable oils (Canola and Flaxseed) to the health benefits of fish oils, as the Omega-3 oils in fish are quite different from the one in vegetable oils, and the vegetable ones come with many times the percentage of Omega-6 compared to fish. Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and may help lower risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and arthritis. It is important to have a balance of omega-3 and omega-6 in the diet. Omega-3 fatty acids help reduce inflammation, and most omega-6 fatty acids tend to promote inflammation.

Are you eating emotionally?

Is your first reaction at feeling anxiety to reach for the fridge? Does sadness make you want to eat just a bit of that cake? If this is the case then you are eating emotionally which can ruin your diet chart. Whether it is sadness, grief, happiness, joy, anger, frustration… each and every emotion has its starting point, peak and then end. We associate emotional eating with inability to control our emotions. But, you can! Let the emotion run its course and you will soon notice relief.

To start overcoming emotional eating, focus on making small and gradual changes. Setting a goal that is small enough to achieve yet big enough to keep you motivated can make a whole lot of difference. If your objective is to start breaking free from emotional eating, you might set yourself up for a failure. If you rephrase the goal and state it so that "Today, I will eat all 3 meals at the table," you will notice that the goal is realistic as well as measurable, the latter giving you a sense of accomplishment. Also stop mindless eating. Mindless eating is the menace of modern day society. There is not enough time in the day to sit down and eat. Or are we fooling ourselves? The most important question you can ask yourself is: "Am I hungry?" If the answer is yes, take time to sit down at the table and eat the meal making sure you slow down and take time with each bite. If the answer is "no," there is no much of a dilemma there.  

 So what say ready to break free from emotional eating?

Your eyes are beautiful take care of them

Your eyes are one of the most important organs in your body and vision is one of the most wonderful gifts. But often many people neglect the importance of eye care and do not pay proper attention towards eye care. As we age, all the wear and tear on the eyes will start to weaken the muscles. Also, in today’s age of video games, computers, and other electronics; we work our eyes a little too much. In such cases, the most common way people improve their vision is by wearing prescriptive lenses. But better eyesight without glasses is no longer a dream today. 

Most people are not aware that you can improve eyesight naturally. Take a look at ways to improve eyesight naturally - have plenty of fish. Fish is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids which helps to reduce the risk of dry-eye syndrome. Eat raw vegetables like carrots, broccoli and cucumber as they have Vitamin A which is essential for eye care. Blink regularly as blinking is a natural preserver of your better vision. Avoid stress and when you go outside, always use sunglasses to protect your eyes from the harmful rays of the sun as well as from the drying effects of wind. Last but not the least comes eye relaxation. Consciously rest your eye muscles every now and then in order to give sufficient rest to the eye muscles.

Boosting your metabolism rate...

What’s your metabolism rate? Well, this is a question we often ask each other specially those concerned about their weight issue. But what is a metabolism rate? Hmm, metabolism is the process by which, what we eat, is converted into life-giving energy. There are various steps before food turns into energy and many organs play a vital role in this process, including the mouth, the liver and associated systems like the endocrinal system and the kidneys.

Keeping our different organs active and efficient is the key to reviving up our metabolism. Now the question is how to keep the organs active or boost the metabolism rate? Well, to ensure a healthy digestive system, one can do a light detox once a fortnight. For this you can avoid non-vegetarian food, eggs, paneer, dals, pickles, colas etc once a fortnight. Instead, drink lukewarm water, vegetable juices, herb infusions and soups, eat a lot of fruit and have a light vegetable for lunch. Increase fibre intake as it helps the body to control weight, sugar and insulin levels. Fibre is present in the peel of fruits, in oats, brown rice etc. Also eat frequent small meals this also helps in keeping the digestive organs active. Last but not the least never forget to exercise...