fitness

Information about diet, nutrition and the various nutrients can be very confusing. There are myths that people cling to, facts that get garbled in the translation. There are diets that suggest that you can eat only one nutrient and be perfectly healthy. Other diets suggest that eating extreme amounts of protein, even in the form of unhealthy, fatty foods like bacon and red meats, will help you to lose weight and remain perfectly healthy as well. To make the best of your health, you have to be more proactive and get the facts. Remember, fad diets come and go, but your good health is meant to last a lifetime.

Getting the right amount of protein in the diet is important, however, it is not always all that simple. The average person is busy running errands, working long hours away from home and not taking the time to take proper care of themselves. There is little doubt that there are millions of people who need to get better control of their diets. There are 34 million people who qualify as obese in the United States. (Source: www.med.Stanford.edu) There are a number of conditions that are caused or worsened by being overweight, including:

Blood pressure as the name suggests is the force of blood against arterial walls. A normal adult blood pressure is below 120/80. High blood pressure has been defined as exceeding 140/90. Hypertension or high blood pressure is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases, which are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in western society. It is estimated that 20% of the world’s adult population suffers from hypertension. Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a primary risk factor for heart disease, which affects 25% of the U.S. population and is a major contributor to stroke and heart failure.

Colon cancer is often called the silent killer because it grows for years in the lower intestine before it is large enough to create symptoms. Colorectal cancer is also one of the most preventable of the hundreds of types of cancer but is said to affect around 96,000 people in the United States ever year. (Source: Feinstein, ed. 1996) While prevention is the key, once the cancer is detected, early treatment can be effective and typically involves surgery to remove the cancer itself as well as chemotherapy, radiation, or a treatment. A healthy diet will also be key to recovery and to remaining cancer free as well. In fact, a healthy diet is crucial to prevention of colon cancer in the first place.

Many people believe that instead of eating healthy foods, they can simply use supplements and get everything that they need. They believe that the supplements give them all of the nutrition that they are not getting from foods; however, whole, varied foods are the best way to get all of the nutrition that you need. That is not to say that supplements are bad; in fact, they can be a healthy part of a good diet as long as they are only part of it. When supplements become the majority of the diet, however, they may be displacing other nutrient sources.