Healthy Living Tips

Healthy recipe: Stuffed avocado with shrimps

Healthy recipe: Stuffed avocado with shrimps

Mix a tablespoon of yoghurt and mayonnaise together. Add the shrimps and some pepper and salt. Enjoy! Tip: For extra flavour you could ...

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Measuring body fat

Healthy Tips 0 09:07

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Many people who are watching their weight — or trying to lose some pounds — turn to their bathroom <a href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/scales-and-diets.aspx" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #005cb7;">scale</a>. But that old familiar standby is not the only way to measure one’s size. Another possibility to consider is your body fat percentage.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Body Fat: What Are the Dangers?</span></div>
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When most of us hear the words "body fat" they have immediate negative connotations. However, in the right proportion, fat is actually critical to our <a href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/101.aspx" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #005cb7;">diet</a> and health. In the not-so-distant past, the ability to store extra body fat allowed our ancestors to survive in times of famine, when food was hard to come by. Even today it’s essential to keep the body functioning, to preserve body heat, and to protect organs from trauma.</div>
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Problems arise when our bodies store too much fat. This can lead to a variety of health issues, including <a href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/cholesterol/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #005cb7;">high cholesterol</a>, hypertension, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance. Especially dangerous is fat stored at the waist, creating what is often called an “apple-shaped” body, as opposed to fat on the hips and thighs, a “pear-shaped” body.</div>
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“Normal body fat for men is around 8 to 15 percent of their total body weight and for women approximately 20 to 30 percent,” says Caroline Apovian, MD, associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine and director of the Center for Nutrition and Weight Management at Boston Medical Center.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Body Fat: How Can It Be Measured?</span></div>
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There are a variety of ways to measure the amount of body fat a person is carrying. “The most accurate way is ‘underwater weighing,’ which weighs the person on land and then underwater,” says Mary M. Flynn, PhD, RD, chief research dietitian and assistant professor of medicine at the Miriam Hospital and Brown University in Providence, R.I. “But equipment for this is very expensive and not readily available.”</div>
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Another fairly accurate option is Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (BIA). BIA consists of electrodes being placed on a person’s hand and foot while a current (which is not felt) is passed through the body. Fat has less water and is more resistant to the current, whereas muscle, which contains more water, is less resistant. The resulting numbers are entered into an equation which figures the percentage of fat and lean tissue.</div>
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The easiest method is measuring waist circumference and determining the <a href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/toolkit/weightcalculator/index.aspx" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #005cb7;">Body Mass Index</a> (BMI). A waist circumference over 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men is cause for concern.</div>
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Figuring BMI involves a little more calculation. BMI is done by multiplying your weight in pounds by 703, then dividing that number by your height in inches two times. If the end result is less than 18.5, the individual is underweight;18.5 to 24.9 is normal; 25.0 to 29.9 is overweight; and over 30 is obese.</div>
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“However, you must be aware of this disclaimer. BMI alone is not an indication of body fat, especially in athletes and bodybuilders. Growing children under 18 years old should also avoid using BMI,” says Elizabeth Downs, RD, clinical dietitian at the Montefiore Medical Center at the University Hospital for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, N.Y.</div>
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One final way of determining body fat is using skin calipers to measure fat at specific places in the body. However, not only is it easy to make errors, but this method also doesn’t measure any interior fat or fat contained in thighs and women’s breasts.</div>
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Ultimately the percentage of body fat is just another number in the health equation. And if you are not happy with the result, all it takes is adding <a href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/weight-management/physical-activity/exercise-how-much-is-enough.aspx" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #005cb7;">exercise</a> and cutting calories to get it moving in the right direction.<br />
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<i>Source: http://www.everydayhealth.com/</i></div>

Measuring body fat

Many people who are watching their weight — or trying to lose some pounds — turn to their bathroom scale . But that old familiar standby i...

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Despite 'Healthier' Options, Fast Food Is Still High in Calories

Healthy Tips 0 03:24

A trip to your local drive-through may present you with more options than you would have had a decade ago. Salads, oatmeal, fruit smoothies – at a glance it’s easy to think that fast food restaurants have upgraded their typical fries and burger fare. However, a closer examination reveals that despite the explosion of ‘healthy’ options,<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO7vtY7uvBo7IJt6QMOFuCuYNJkniaEbcf_-cKld68zgX8FejWRW8i_9QieLhsqXwKfSHI-BWYoatsZOX1Ds90GH_fvKF3DwQrBouKm405jU264LABP8lrDAXTyIo6TnPNyEan8f6BX8BP/s1600/20161027_173930.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO7vtY7uvBo7IJt6QMOFuCuYNJkniaEbcf_-cKld68zgX8FejWRW8i_9QieLhsqXwKfSHI-BWYoatsZOX1Ds90GH_fvKF3DwQrBouKm405jU264LABP8lrDAXTyIo6TnPNyEan8f6BX8BP/s320/20161027_173930.jpg" width="320" /></a>Fast food still will not do your waistline any favors.
Katherine W. Bauer of the Temple University Department of Public Health and Center for Obesity Research and Education led a study examining the calorie counts of offerings at eight popular fast food chains. The menu selections and average calorie counts of the last 14 years were tabulated and compared.

This study confirmed the ballooning of fast food menu choices. In 1997, the eight restaurants studied had a combined total of 679 menu items. By 2010 that number had leaped to 1036 items. Much of this increase is accounted for by ‘healthy’ options that include entree salads and sweetened teas.<br />
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With the number of healthy options increasing, one would expect that the average calorie count would decrease. However, this is not the case. Bauer’s study found that there was very little noticeable change in the median number of calories in entrees and drinks. The average calorie count in side dishes did decrease from 264 to 219, likely because of limits on size and the addition of more side salads.<br />
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<b>Why No Change?</b><br />
Although an increase in the number of salads and smoothies sounds like an improvement, choosing a salad over a Big Mac will not necessarily reduce your calorie count. The study cites two reasons for this. First, many fast food salads include rich dressings and calorie-dense toppings like cheese and bacon bits. Second, people may not stop at a salad. "You might order a lower-calorie entree, but then you get a drink, fries and a dessert," said Bauer. "Calories can add up very quickly."
Another issue with fast food calorie counts lies not in the menu offerings but in the consumer’s desire to eat. A calorie-dense fast food meal may not be a problem every once in a while, but as a regular part of a person’s diet they can quickly lead to unwanted pounds. A recent study showed that 80% of adults had purchased fast food in the past month and 28% had reported fast food consumption in the past week.
Bauer explains that her study is not meant to discourage people from ever eating fast food. However, diners should take preparation method, portion size and condiments into consideration when making food choices.<br />
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<b>Access to Information</b><br />
Recent changes in US law will require all restaurants with more than 20 locations to display calorie counts on their menus. This leads to an interesting question: will greater access to nutritional information change consumer’s dining habits?
Bauer speculates that being forced to display caloric information may prompt restaurants to change their offerings even more. "Fast food restaurants may modify the calorie content of the foods they sell so consumers can see a smaller number on the menu board," she explains. "The key is for consumers to try to educate themselves about calories and be aware that just because a restaurant promotes healthful options, does not mean that overall the foods sold are lower calorie."<br />
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<b>Steps to Take Now</b><br />
Just because fast food menus are not getting much healthier yet does not mean you have to avoid the drive through completely. Instead, go in with as much knowledge as possible. If calorie counts are not plainly available on the menu board, ask for copies of the restaurant’s nutritional information. You can also find this information online.
Another common trap to avoid when eating fast food is consuming unnecessary calories. The average 20 ounce soda can have over 200 calories – calories that could be eliminated by switching to water. A slice of cheese can add 50 calories to a burger. A packet of salad dressing can have as many calories as the soda you just said no to, as well as a large portion of your daily fat allowance.
While fast food restaurants may not be reducing their calorie counts, being an educated consumer will allow you to make choices that will improve your health.

Despite 'Healthier' Options, Fast Food Is Still High in Calories

A trip to your local drive-through may present you with more options than you would have had a decade ago. Salads, oatmeal, fruit smoothies ...

Meer lezen »

Healthy Living Tips

Healthy recipe: Stuffed avocado with shrimps

Measuring body fat

Despite 'Healthier' Options, Fast Food Is Still High in Calories

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