Health Program | News, Views and Reviews on Health Issues

In many ways the refrigerator is the cornerstone of any healthy eating plan.  How you stock that fridge can make a huge difference in the success or failure of any healthy eating plan.  From what foods it contains, to where they are stored, the refrigerator can be vitally important to healthy eating.

The first step should be to take stock of just what the refrigerator contains. The bachelors among us may already be familiar with this process, but taking stock of the fridge means more than just throwing away those foods that have begun to turn green or grow hair.

Taking stock of the contents of the fridge should mean a monthly review of everything it contains.  During this review, separate the healthier foods from the others.  It is important to make sure that you have more low fat, high fiber and low sugar foods than high fat low fiber and high sugar ones.  If the ratio is off, try to shop for healthier foods.

Another great trick for keeping a healthy refrigerator is to hide the less healthy foods.  Try hiding the desserts and other such foods in the crisper, where they will be out of sight and not constantly tempting you.  Since fresh fruits and vegetables tend to dry out if they are not used right away, store them in plain sight to increase their likelihood of being eaten.  Hiding cakes in the produce drawers, and prominently displaying the fruits and vegetables, is a smart way to keep a healthy fridge.

Another tip is to organize the refrigerator into different sections, and to segregate those sections into sometimes foods (unhealthy choices) and everyday foods (healthy choices).  Try to place the healthier foods in the front of the refrigerator, while relegating the unhealthier choices to the back.

Substitution is another great strategy for creating a healthy fridge and a healthy lifestyle.  There are low fat and nonfat versions of literally hundreds of different foods.  Try substituting skim or 1% milk for whole milk, soft margarines for fattier butter, and low fat sour cream for the full fat varieties.  Try replacing fattier meats with leaner ones, or with chicken and fish.  Even a simple change, like substituting a soft margarine for butter, can result in significant savings of saturated fat.

For those families with young children, it is important to involve the entire family in healthy eating lifestyles.  The habits children learn in childhood often follow them throughout their adult lives, so it makes a lot of sense to get them off to a great start.  Try decorating healthy foods with fun stickers, stars, or other colorful items.

Stickers and stars are not the only way to make healthy foods more appealing.  Try storing healthy foods with attractive, delicious toppings to make them more interesting and appealing.  Try storing a container of berries next to the low fat yogurt, or a bottle of chocolate syrup with the 1% milk.  Mixing these foods together is a great way to create healthy snacks quickly.

Another key to creating a healthy refrigerator is to use leftovers wisely.  Leftovers can be very useful, and healthy meals make healthy leftovers.  Try using leftovers as lunches, or as healthy snacks for the next day.

Ready to eat meals are a great way to encourage healthy eating.  Try this handy trick – when you return from your weekly grocery shopping, take the time to create some quick single serving meals and stack them in the fridge.  In addition, try making some quick snacks by cutting up fresh fruits and vegetables and storing them in single serving containers.

Using the freezer space in your refrigerator wisely is important as well. Freezing foods that won’t be used right away is a great way to make your food dollar go further and to provide quick meals for your family.  Try freezing foods in portion sizes.  This will make it easier to eat healthier meals, and it will help ensure everyone gets their favorites.  When looking at portion sizes, remember that the recommended serving size of meat is 3 ounces, roughly equivalent to the size of a deck of playing cards.  The standard serving size for pasta is one cup, while a serving of vegetables is ½ cup.

The freezer can also be a great way to create fun fruit snacks for the entire family.  Freezing healthy fruits like grapes, orange slices and bananas make great snacks for children and adults alike.

By: Keith Ckardwell
Posted:

healthy eating

Weekly health safety tips are some points that can be followed in our daily life to avoid various diseases. With the increase in pollution in our daily lives, birth has been given to various life-taking diseases. More pollution means more health problems and the only way to avoid these problems is by following a healthy routine. For the betterment of people, we are bringing you some of the weekly health safety tips that will help you to live a healthy life. The first step of the weekly health safety tips is to drink the maximum amount of water. Water is the major constituent of your body and it helps to keep your skin better and nourished. Almost half of your body parts are dependent on water. Increase your proteins and vegetables intake and avoid junk food because it is not good for health. One of the important thing to be done while you follow weekly health safety tips is that you must do workouts at regular intervals so that this keeps your body in good shape and provides you with a better digestion system. A better digestion system is one way to know that your body is properly utilizing the nutrients you are taking from your diet. Improper digestion system can result in constipation that can cause headache and sometimes, joint and muscles pain. Remember that sufficient sleep is one of the top priority factors that can help your body organs work properly. Too much stress on your body with improper rest can cause headache and restlessness that can cause harm to your body organs therefore, it is necessary to take at least 8 hours of proper rest. By following the mentioned weekly health care tips, you can fight off a number of diseases without medicine and live a healthy life.

By: Khan
Posted:

health safety

Self help as the name suggest means helping the self. Self help also means that the largest contributing factor in ones improvement should be the person himself. Self help can assume different roles according to the different situations. In some cases, doing something can come under self help, while in other cases not doing something can come under self help. Self help or self improvement guides comes in various forms like books, seminars, self help groups and even therapy from a personal trainer.

Self help is very effective in dealing with problems like weight gain and depression. However to fully reap the benefit of self help you must act, merely reading a book or listening to a self help session is not going to work. There is no time constraint in self help. You have to understand that it is not a tablet, self help is a continuous process, the more you will follow it, more it will help you.

Self help works best on those problems which are psychological in nature. It does not mean that it can only cure mental problems. It actually means that most health problems originate in our mind like excess weight gain and other problems. So for losing weight fast, using self help techniques becomes almost necessary. In a way, self help can reduce our dependence on medicines by directly working on mind and we all know that mind is the most important weapon against any disease. Another thing is that medicines just suppress the disease, if the natural defense of the body becomes weak again, disease will return. On the other hand self help can strengthens the body naturally by gaining good habits, so that diseases can’t strike in the first place. We can say that the state of our mind is reflected in our health and actions. So, don’t wastes time and try self help to achieve complete psychological and physical health.

By: Peter Jones
Posted:

physical health

Nothing has changed since I last took shots of it.

When is building going to resume?

At least it means I can still get shots of the insides before they get hidden within the building, should it go up.

These shots are from St Chads Circus Queensway.

A construction health & safety sign.

Date Taken: 2010-02-27 11:22:22
Owner: ell brown

health safety

Healthy eating is a term that is often mixed with medical terminology and thrown about like it was the elixir of good health. In reality, healthy eating simply means eating the right quantities of foods from various food sources each of which is divided into groups called “food groups”. These food groups are Grains, Vegetables, Fruits, Milk and Meats. Each of these groups in turn, contains a list of healthy eating food items that are deemed healthy and good for you.

The terms “healthy eating” and “diet” are inter-linked. Diet simply means the food we consume in the course of a day and does not refer to some stringent exotic food plan. Therefore, the terms “healthy eating” and “good healthy diet” essentially mean the same thing i.e. they promote good health.

A good Healthy Eating Ideas must include certain quantities of food from all the five food groups and for this reason it is known as the “balanced diet”. Nutrition experts have worked out the balanced diet by taking into consideration all the requirements of your body including hair, skin, tissues and internal organs.

Let us examine each of these food groups that form part of your healthy eating diets:

Grains: A healthy eating for men should ideally consume no less than 3 ounces of whole grains per day. Unlike polished grains (e.g. white rice), whole grains are rich in minerals, vitamins and fiber.

Tip: When buying whole grain you need to be careful because it is usually not possible to visually identify whole grain. You need to look at the product label.

Food items made from whole grain includes cereals, breads and pastas. Again, please read the labels to ensure these are made from 100% whole grain. Some whole grain foods and flours are corn, brown rice, wild rice, bugler, wheat, buckwheat, oatmeal (oats), spelt.

Vegetables and Fruits for Daily diet meal plan: Fruits must be consumed fresh either whole or in the form of bite sized chunks. Fruits contain oxidants and so must be consumed immediately after cutting because the oxidants in the fruit begin to deteriorate the moment it comes in contact with air. For this reason, fruits must never be consumed in the form of juices because the moment the fruit is turned into pulp, the oxidation that occurs reduces the nutritional value of the fruit rendering it near useless.

Vegetables too must be consumed fresh. The more dense the color of the vegetable the better it is. Thus fresh, dark green or purple or yellow is better than pale colors. Leafy vegetables or healthy salad dressing must form part of your healthy eating meals.

Meats: Your body needs protein for tissue repair. Foods rich in protein also usually contain essential minerals, such as zinc, iron, magnesium, and also B vitamins. If your source of proteins is meats then care should be taken to trim away any visible skin and fat before cooking. Fish too is an excellent source of healthy eating out and protein as well as omega oils. Ideally, you should grill or roast your meats and fish. Never fry.

Milk: Milk and milk products are a good source of calcium which is required for your bones and teeth. As far as possible avoid full cream milk. Low fat or skimmed milk is ideal. People, who cannot consume milk and milk products, should include broccoli, cabbage and Soya milk in their diet.

By: Ed Stephens
Posted:

healthy eating

Physical health being equated with health, for some reason, is the way people look at it, in this society. Being perfectly healthy, only means getting the right amount of exercise, along with eating the right foods, according to most people. It is too bad, that people are more concerned with how they look from an exterior point of view. We have a complicated body that is more than just a body, and all the rest is needed for good health, also. Maybe not in every instance can you change how you feel, you can at least control your feelings. Both your mental health, and you emotional health can be made better by doing various things. There are many things to do, and these are a few of them.

Each sense has a variety of uses. Each sense can be used many ways. Your mind and emotions are dependent on the senses a lot, so use them when you are feeling down. A book can stimulate you. There are clothes that feel good on your skin when you wear them. Your house should have fresh air and lots of green plants. Good tasting food that you like is what you should eat. When you are doing things to make you happy, your emotional and mental health is much easier to improve. They make you feel energized and help you stay calm.

Help others by doing something nice for them. When we feel down or depressed it can be difficult to find the energy to help ourselves. The best way to make yourself feel good is to do something nice for a stranger, and it will raise your energy, also. The easiest way to improve your emotional health doesn’t cost any money, for all you need is to be kind. Try doing good things for others, and just being kind, and you will find that it makes you feel better.

Make sure you get at least a little bit of direct sunlight every day. For the benefit of your mental health, you need direct sunlight every day, which should be as important to you as preventing cancer by not going out into direct sunlight.

Your mood is raised up by the sunshine, which makes you a more happy person. So, lather on some sunscreen and spend some time out in the sun. Fifteen minutes can be helpful, but more time can be better. Instead of having to make time to be out in the sun, find things to do outside, such as walking, or other exercises, being with friends, gardening, where you get the sun just by being outside. During the winter or rainy season, you might need a tanning booth, or a UV sunlight lamp.

When someone wants to become healthy, if exercise isn’t thought of first, then diet is. Mental health and emotional health are needed as much as physical health in order to enjoy life. What good is there in working hard to be physically fit, if you can’t enjoy it, because your emotions are out of whack, or your mind is messed up. You can take these tips and use them to begin a new life with proper health in your emotions and your mind. Obviously you should be working with a mental health professional if your issues are severe, so if these tips don’t help you, it’s time to seek the help of a professional.

By: Melissa B. Hernandez
Posted:

physical health