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‘Healthy food’ Obsession Bad for Health

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So, you don’t eat ‘pani puri’ unless it’s made using mineral water. And you simply refuse to eat products made from anything except whole wheat. Well, we have news for you. The healthy-food obsession could be bad for your health.
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And mind you, such cases are on rise. According to clinical psychologist Seema Hingorrani, “I see it all around me. Such people develop obsessive compulsive personality traits and are known as orthorexics.”

According to doctors, the most dangerous trend is of making dietary changes based on an understanding of what is nutritious, culled mostly from research off the net and the media. People also blindly follow what dieticians say without questioning the logic behind it. Says nutritionist Honey Shah, “People totally forget about dietary balance. They read somewhere that olive oil is the best oil and so they totally dump other oils. Through some other source they find out that sugar/dairy products are bad for a fit body and so shun every sugar or dairy product source, without realising that they are prohibiting their body of essential nutrients. Variety is very important otherwise body gradually loses immunity.”

Food thought to contain pesticides, additives or preservatives is also ditched. Some complement lost minerals with vitamin pills. Warns dietician Natasha Kiplan, “There is no substitute to a natural diet. Don’t stuff yourself with vitamin tablets as it leads to an excess of one vitamin and creates imbalance. The body stops producing enzymes that are required to absorb other vitamins.” Agrees fitness instructor Shankar, “I used to work out a lot and took protein and carb supplements. I was advised to consume a lot of water along with, but I didn’t, and now suffer from a severe kidney disorder.”

Celebrities face similar challenges of alienation to ‘normal’ food. Actor John Abraham reportedly complained about his mom’s food — cooked in ghee and spices — without realising that he was brought up on that! We are all gradually losing our capacity to consume such foods. Senior PR executive Sweta Pujari shares her story. “I’ve never visited a dietician but from what I heard and read on the Web, I started dieting on my own. I got very cautious of what I ate. I stopped taking sugar completely and used to skip dinners after 6 pm and had one fruit for breakfast. I fainted one day and realised I had a low BP problem. I still suffer from severe gastritis. My face started getting pale and I’m highly prone to infections.”

A typical orthorexic at dinner at a social gathering would usually place her order thus: ‘Can this be cooked in olive oil with less spices and no cheese please?’ And that is not it. Despite all the effort gone into placing the order, she can’t eat it peacefully because of anxiety. Agrees writer Rinku Sharma, “Every time my husband or friends plan a dinner; I stress about the food we will eat and the venue. ” She insists her diet pattern is not to lose weight but to ensure that only pure food enters her body. Hence, orthorexics tend to give social gatherings amiss. Delhi-based nutritionist Pallavi Vaishya states, “Such people miss out on companionship. Extreme cases can lead themselves to social exclusion, and higher stress levels.”

Many nutritionists say a pizza can be a healthy eating option, provided it has vegetable toppings. Excluding its maida base, a pizza has vegetables that make it rich in vitamins and minerals. Also, the cheese is high in fat but high in protein as well.

It’s important to expose your body to different kind of foods as it helps adjust immunity. Adds Mumbai-based Dr Hetal Turakhia, “Enjoying your meal gives you a high and keeps you motivated. Stressing over food intake can lead to acidity, low absorption of essential vitamins and minerals. Those who cut down on sugar may have to deal with their blood sugar levels dropping dangerously. It also leads to scaly skin.”

We are living in a time where we are bombarded by conflicting research. The best fix is to have a combination of all foods. “If you find something unhealthy, like refined oil, make your own pack of combination oils (mix refined oil, mustard oil, olive oil). Start knowing your body instead of blindly following diets. Consume sources of Vitamin C to increase immunity and exercise regularly,” suggests Dr Shah.

Eat a bit ‘unhealthy’ and find that it’s not a big deal after all, concludes Dr Hingorrani.

Source: The Times Of India

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News on Health & Science

Vegetables Aren’t as Good for You as They Used to Be

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According to new research, produce in the U.S. not only tastes worse than it did in your grandparents’ days, but also contains fewer nutrients. In fact, the average vegetable found in today’s supermarket is anywhere from 5 percent to 40 percent lower in minerals such as magnesium, iron, calcium and zinc than those harvested just 50 years ago.
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Today’s vegetables are larger, but do not contain more nutrients. Jumbo-sized produce actually contains more “dry matter” than anything else, which dilutes mineral concentrations.

An additional problem is the “genetic dilution effect,” in which selective breeding to increase crop yield has led to declines in protein, amino acids, and minerals. Breeders select for high yield, effectively selecting mostly for high carbohydrate content.

And finally, as a result of the growing rise of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, modern crops are being harvested faster than ever before, meaning that produce has less time to absorb nutrients either from synthesis or the soil.

Sources:
Time February 17, 2009
The Journal of HortScience February 1, 2009

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Featured

Why Vitamin A May Not Be as Useful or Harmless as You Thought

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A landmark paper from the Vitamin D Council asserts that a form of vitamin A, retinoic acid, can block the activity of vitamin D by weakly activating the vitamin D response element on genes. Since vitamin D levels are crucial for human health, that means it is essential to have the proper ratio of vitamin D to vitamin A in your body.

This means that vitamin A supplementation is potentially dangerous. Vitamin A production is tightly controlled in your body, the source (substrate) being carotenoids from vegetables in your intestine. Your body uses these carotenoid substrates to make exactly the right amount of retinol. But when you take vitamin A as retinol directly, such as in cod liver oil, you intervene in this closed system and bypass the controls.

The goal is to provide all the vitamin A and vitamin D substrate your body would have obtained in a natural state, so your body can regulate both systems naturally. This is best done by eating colorful vegetables and by exposing your skin to sun every day.

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Suppliments our body needs

Why Sunlight is Your Best Source of Vitamin D

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In fact, vitamin D plays a pivotal role in the immune system. The explanation likely comes from the fact that vitamin D in cod liver oil does not exist in isolation — it comes with a high dose of vitamin A.

Vitamin A and vitamin D compete for each other’s function. For example, even the vitamin A in a single serving of liver can impair vitamin D’s rapid intestinal calcium response.

Unfortunately, Americans tend to consume multivitamins or cod liver oil that contain disproportionately small amounts of vitamin D, but detrimental quantities of vitamin A. One manufacturer sells cod liver oil containing only 3 to 60 IU of vitamin D, but between 3,000 and 6,000 IU of vitamin A.

A separate study by Daniel Hayes, Ph.D., of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene also suggests that a form of vitamin D could be one of your body’s main protections against damage from low levels of radiation. Hayes explains that calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D, may protect us from background radiation and could be used as a safe protective agent before or after a low-level nuclear incident.

He points out that calcitriol is involved in cell cycle regulation and control of proliferation, cellular differentiation and communication between cells, as well as programmed cell death (apoptosis and autophagy) and antiangiogenesis.

Calcitriol is the form of vitamin D that activates your body’s Vitamin D Receptor (VDR), which allows gene transcription to take place and the activation of the innate immune response.

It is possible that several of the transcriptions by the VDR will help transcribe proteins that protect the body against radiation.

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Healthy Tips

Fresh vs Frozen Vegetables

Are we giving up nutrition for convenience? The answer may surprise you.:
Americans typically eat only one-third of the recommended daily intake (three servings instead of nine) of fruits and vegetables, so if you are in a bind, a vegetable in any form is better than no vegetable at all.

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And as winter approaches, fresh produce is limited  or expensive  in much of the country, which forces many of us to turn to canned or frozen options. While canned vegetables tend to lose a lot of nutrients during the preservation process (notable exceptions include tomatoes and pumpkin), frozen vegetables may be even more healthful than some of the fresh produce sold in supermarkets, says Gene Lester, Ph.D., a plant physiologist at the USDA Agricultural Research Center in Weslaco, Texas. Why? Fruits and vegetables chosen for freezing tend to be processed at their peak ripeness, a time when  as a general rule  they are most nutrient-packed.

While the first step of freezing vegetables  blanching them in hot water or steam to kill bacteria and arrest the action of food-degrading enzyme   causes some water-soluble nutrients like vitamin C and the B vitamins to break down or leach out, the subsequent flash-freeze locks the vegetables in a relatively nutrient-rich state.

On the other hand, fruits and vegetables destined to be shipped to the fresh-produce aisles around the country typically are picked before they are ripe, which gives them less time to develop a full spectrum of vitamins and minerals. Outward signs of ripening may still occur, but these vegetables will never have the same nutritive value as if they had been allowed to fully ripen on the vine. In addition, during the long haul from farm to fork, fresh fruits and vegetables are exposed to lots of heat and light, which degrade some nutrients, especially delicate vitamins like C and the B vitamin thiamin.

Bottom line:
When vegetables are in-season, buy them fresh and ripe. “Off-season,” frozen vegetables will give you a high concentration of nutrients. Choose packages marked with a USDA “U.S. Fancy” shield, which designates produce of the best size, shape and color; vegetables of this standard also tend to be more nutrient-rich than the lower grades “U.S. No. 1” or “U.S. No. 2.” Eat them soon after purchase: over many months, nutrients in frozen vegetables do inevitably degrade. Finally, steam or microwave rather than boil your produce to minimize the loss of water-soluble vitamins.

Click to learn more:

Will These Foods Make You Smarter?

Do You Know Where Your Food Comes From?

Source:msn. health & fitness

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