Digestion, Diet & Weight

Everyone needs to eat, but let’s face it, we don’t always make the best choices. We can all use some guideposts to help improve digestive health, eat a more balanced diet, and keep our weight under control.So, where does someone begin on the road to a healthier lifestyle? It’s all connected to food.

Obviously, improperly digested food and irregularity can cause physical discomfort and a sense of being run-down. Achieving digestive health is all about feeling great and getting all the nutrients your body needs from the food you eat. And speaking of food, if you kept a food diary for a week, would it show that you are eating a balanced diet? Sometimes it’s just not possible, for many reasons, to eat properly from all the necessary food groups. This is especially true if you’re trying to control your weight through dieting.

But there are remedies, and we’re here to fill you in on them. You’ll discover some very important do’s and don’ts about food and your health that will help you use common sense, and make sure you feed your body all the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals it needs to stay active and healthy. Supplements can fill nutrient gaps in your diet, but pay attention to what you’re adding. Before you begin taking a dietary supplement, check with your healthcare provider – especially if you’re taking prescription medications, if you’re pregnant or nursing, or if you’re planning to have an operation.

Here’s why...

The right dosage of an active ingredient may be helpful, but too much may do more harm than good. For example, if you’re taking a multivitamin, you probably don’t need an additional Vitamin A supplement. Remember that herbal supplements can affect your body just like pharmaceutical drugs and must be used as directed to avoid potentially harmful side effects. And most importantly, inform your healthcare provider if you have any unexpected reactions from your dietary supplements. Although dietary supplements are regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, these regulations aren’t the same as those covering prescription and over-the-counter medicines. The dietary supplement manufacturer, NOT the FDA, is responsible for ensuring a product is safe for consumers.

Read on and we’ll serve up more important facts, helpful suggestions, and product solutions that will help you get the most from what you eat, make healthful food choices, manage your weight with common sense, and find products that give you the best solutions.

Digestive Health

There's an old saying, “you are what you eat.” However, two people can eat the same healthful diet, but one may receive more nutritional benefit than the other. Here’s why. The nutrients you absorb from food depend largely on how well your body processes the meals you eat. Digestive health is important for two reasons: well-digested food gives your body the nutrients it needs to thrive, and proper elimination of food waste removes toxins from your body.

The chemical breakdown and absorption of food relies on acids and enzymes in the stomach. Another key element is the presence of intestinal flora, the so-called “beneficial bacteria.” If this process isn’t working properly, your body’s cells won’t receive the essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients the food has to offer. The result can be a lack of energy and poor overall health, as well as stomach and intestinal discomfort such as cramps, nausea, bloating, gas, constipation, and diarrhea.

Keeping your body’s food processor in top working order is one of the keys to overall health. This is true whether you’re working to overcome a non-medical problem that interferes with good digestion or just maintaining your current state of wellness. Begin with a well-balanced diet that includes fruits and vegetables, whole grains, dairy, nuts, seeds, and lean protein.

You might also try probiotics – a supplement form of live bacteria – that helps restore balance in digestive tract flora. This can be important if you’ve been taking antibiotics, which can deplete both the good and bad intestinal bacteria. Many people suffering from general digestive problems such as diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome, also called IBS, have found probiotics useful. Probiotics are also considered helpful in boosting the immune system. Good food sources for intestinal flora include yogurt and kefir with live cultures, and soy yogurt.

Enzymes are useful for breaking down foods so they can be properly absorbed by your body. Raw plant foods are a good source of digestive enzymes, but the supplement form can be especially helpful if you are deficient in certain types of enzymes. For example, if you are lactose intolerant – that is, unable to digest dairy products – you might consider an enzyme supplement that includes lactase.

Eating enough foods that are high in fiber can be a problem for those who are on limited or restricted diets. Fiber supplements can help promote regularity, especially for men and women who experience constipation or who limit their intake of carbohydrates such as fruits and vegetables or whole grains.

Balanced Diet

You have demands from work, from family, and from your social life. So little time, so much to do ... and you probably eat on the run. Often, those quick-fix meals and high-calorie snacks don’t give your body everything it needs for healthy daily functioning. Part of the problem is that it’s easy to ignore eating a balanced diet that includes all the USDA recommended food groups – that means fruits, vegetables, whole grains, meat or a meat substitute such as soy, low-fat dairy, healthful oils, nuts, seeds, and legumes, which are beans and peas.

An unbalanced diet with few fruits and vegetables and more emphasis on protein and starch as diet staples can have both short- and long-term consequences. At the daily level, you may experience low energy and poor digestion, but over time, a deficient diet can lead to such life-threatening conditions as diabetes and heart disease.

According to the National Institutes of Health – the NIH – eating a diet that regularly includes a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, low-fat dairy products, and lean protein without exceeding your calorie needs can have important health benefits. Foods such as fish, dairy products, bell peppers and citrus fruits, fortified cereal, seeds, and nuts are great sources for antioxidants that protect against cellular damage. These foods also provide the fiber to keep your digestion working smoothly.

If you are following a diet that limits some of the food groups, supplements help ensure that you get adequate amounts of nutrients essential for good health. A comprehensive multivitamin will supply you with the USDA recommended daily minimum of most vitamins and minerals. Here are common dietary deficiencies you can prevent through use of supplements:

• Energy & Muscle Function For improved energy and muscle function, supplement your diet with B-complex vitamins and potassium, especially if you are cutting out carb-rich foods such as bananas.
• Bone Health To maintain strong bones and teeth, and help prevent the onset of osteoporosis, supplement your diet with calcium and Vitamin D, as well as potassium. Potassium deficiency can be caused by cutting out certain carb-rich foods such as baked potatoes and bananas.
• Heart Health Heart health gets a boost from antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E, which can protect your body’s cells against damage from free radicals. High levels of plaque-producing homocysteine may be reduced by taking B-complex vitamins. Potassium, which is not available in most processed foods, contributes to healthy heart functioning.
• Immune System & Cell Repair Strengthening your immune system and ability to prevent diseases can be boosted by supplementing with antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E. Antioxidants fight free radicals, which cause cellular damage. B-complex vitamins play a key role repairing damaged cells.
• Digestion & Kidney Function Surveys show that most Americans do not eat enough potassium-rich foods or take in enough fiber. Both potassium and fiber are essential for healthy kidney functioning and digestion, so supplements may be the answer, especially if you suffer from irregularity. Good supplements can make a world of difference in your state of wellness.

Vegetarian Diet

Today, there’s an increased interest in going vegetarian, because a balanced vegetarian diet can be exceptionally healthy. However, an unbalanced vegetarian diet is no healthier, or even less so, than a non-vegetarian diet. The key is balanced eating. You may find that following a vegetarian diet leaves you with less than the recommended level of protein, B-vitamins, and omega-three fatty acids in your diet. These nutrients are obtained primarily from animal foods such as meat, dairy products, eggs, and coldwater fish, which are typically missing from a vegetarian diet. But don’t worry – supplements and meat substitutes can fill in the gaps to help you become a well-balanced vegetarian!

An unbalanced diet can have both short- and long-term consequences. At the daily level, you may experience low energy and poor digestion, but over time, a deficient diet can lead to such life-threatening conditions as diabetes and heart disease. As a vegetarian, you’ll want to strive to eat meals and fresh snacks that provide all the vitamins and minerals your body needs, and that provide adequate energy to keep your body running.

Can you eat a balanced diet that’s vegetarian? You certainly can. Here’s how … A diet high in fiber and fruits, vegetables, and other complex carbohydrates is important in following a vegetarian diet, but your body needs protein, too. That’s where soy comes to your rescue. Soy protein is equal in value to proteins of animal origin, and can be your sole protein source.

A balanced vegetarian diet typically provides your daily requirement of vitamins C and E, B-complex vitamins, and fiber. However, other vitamins and minerals that are found mainly in animal products and should be supplemented. Zinc, which is plentiful in animal products, is an important antioxidant that allows the body to heal quickly from wounds. As a vegetarian, you can find it in fortified cereals, peanuts, whole grains, and wheat germ. Vegetarian diets can be low in iron, which is also plentiful in meat. Iron is important in combating fatigue and improving the immune system. Good sources include dark leafy vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, wheat bran, and dried fruits. If you’re not consuming dairy products, be sure to get enough calcium fortified with Vitamin D, to keep bones and teeth healthy and strong. As a vegetarian, you should include a high-quality source of omega-three fatty acids, needed for metabolism and healthy heart function. A great all-natural vegetable source is flaxseed oil.

Weight Management

Here’s a weighty fact – nearly one third of adults are obese by USDA standards.

Even though grocery aisles are filled with low-fat and fat-free products, increasing numbers of people are still overweight or obese. The reason’s not hard to find. Low-fat foods might not be lower in calories and may actually be higher in carbohydrates. The simple fact is that proper weight management relies on balancing calories consumed against calories burned. But that’s still not the total answer to the weight-management problem. Too many people expect instant results, regardless of what that quick weight loss may do to their overall health. As many studies have shown, quick weight loss that does not involve long-term lifestyle changes almost always results in gaining the weight back, and sometimes even a few pounds more. Practically starving yourself for three weeks, for example, can have the unwanted rebound effect of making your body hang on to its fat stores even more strongly!

To achieve safe weight loss, weight that stays off, it’s better to aim for a slow, steady loss by gradually decreasing calorie intake while increasing physical activity and maintaining an adequate nutrient intake. Balancing all three parts of the weight-control equation is where most people have difficulty … but don’t worry. We’re going to give you some good advice and helpful resources for pulling your weight management plan together.

So what works? Recent studies show that if you consistently starve your body of complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and enough calories to fuel your daily activities, your metabolism goes into hibernation, burning fewer calories and making you feel tired and hungry. Fat cells respond to starvation by holding on to the fat they already have and taking in new fat at an even higher rate.

Your body needs food to survive, so the healthiest way to lose weight is not through starvation dieting, but by balanced eating throughout the day that keeps your metabolism running and burning calories. The result is steady but safe weight loss. A healthy way to reduce your calorie intake is to avoid or limit alcohol and highly processed food with added sugars and high fat content – those empty calories that contain no essential nutrients. The U.S. National Institutes of Health suggests that eating smaller amounts of food six times a day will keep your stomach busy using energy digesting food all day. And remember, those snacks or smaller meals should be healthy food like fresh fruits and vegetables, not highly processed snacks such as chips and cookies.

Your body cells need fat for proper metabolism. The right fats also help lower blood pressure and lessen the effects of conditions such as asthma, arthritis, and even heart disorders. The American Heart Association advises avoiding saturated and trans-fats, but getting the right amount of unsaturated fat. You can make sure you get some of these “good” fats by taking flaxseed and fish oil supplements.

If you choose a low-carb diet for weight management, you may be compromising your immune system and leaving yourself with low energy. By avoiding foods with high carbohydrate content, you may also be missing out on other essential vitamins and nutrients. For example, if you are not eating fruits, you should consider taking potassium, and vitamin A and C supplements – you'll feel better and your immune system will thank you!

Let’s talk calories. If you reduce your daily calories too much, not only will your immune system suffer, you may also feel fatigued and sluggish, with low-level muscle ache. If that happens, increase your calorie level and add B-complex vitamin supplements as well as potassium for an energy and immune system boost.

And finally, get up out of your chair or off your couch for at least thirty minutes every day. Exercise, both aerobic and strength-training, builds muscle mass, which makes your body burn calories. These are all lifestyle changes you can make gradually – you’ll enjoy their benefits for a lifetime.