nutrition

Many people think that when they go on a diet of any kind, they will have to give up food that tastes good. Actually, there are all kinds of delicious foods that can be enjoyed by dieters. This is also true for people who are on high protein diets.

In a study released by the Vegetarian Times, approximately 3.2 percent of the people in the United States, or roughly 7.3 million people, follow a vegetarian diet. Of those people, approximately 1 million follow a vegan diet, where they consume no animal products whatsoever (Source: Vegetarian Times). For persons choosing to follow a vegetarian diet, it is a lifestyle choice where they abstain from all meat, but can still consume animal products such as milk, cheeses, and butter.

Osteoporosis is a general decrease in peak bone mass which may be a part of normal aging in most cases, however, the actual bone loss can lead to fragile and easily broken bones especially in the wrists and hips. It affects women more often than men with about of American women suffering from some level of osteoporosis to some degree. It only affects 1/8 of men.

There is often great debate over whether or not vegetarians and vegans get enough protein. There are different types of vegetarians, just as there are different types of proteins. For instance, a flexi-tarian is a vegetarian who may occasionally eat meat, typically fish. An ovo-lacto vegetarian is one that does not eat meat of any kind, at any time, but does eat dairy foods and eggs because they do not require killing the animal. A vegan is a person that does not eat or use any product made from or by any kind of animal. Many parents are bewildered when their teens come home and announce that they are going to become vegetarians and may worry that they are not getting enough nutrition with their newfound diet. As long as they are getting enough variety in the foods that they eat, their protein, calcium and other nutrient intakes are surprisingly healthy.

The body relies on three macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates and fat, as well as many micronutrients. Unlike carbohydrates and fats, protein is not easily stored in the body, however, it will store protein just like the nutrients if there are too many calories consumed. Fat is the easiest to digest for the body. The body digests carbs based on what kind they are. Simple carbs are fast and easy to digest and lead to sugar spikes that can cause weight gain. Complex carbs, on the other hand, take longer for the body to digest and do not contribute to the sugar spike, insulin surge cycle.

Everyone knows the guy (or gal) that sees an infomercial or a movie or even just see something at a garage sale and suddenly have a new pursuit, a new aspiration. One year, they were going to be a tennis star to rival Pete Sampras or Venus Williams. Two weeks later they showed up at the office with their arm in a sling and tack a notice on the bulletin board selling off their gently used tennis gear. The following year, it was hockey and they bought the skates, stick and pads with visions of being as graceful as former Pittsburgh Penguin, Mario Lemieux on the ice. Instead, it was like watching a penguin try to achieve flight and the bulletin hit the board a few days later. This time it is strength training because of all of the benefits that it will provide to them.