Living Young Forever

When was the last time you paused to “read” the ingredients of your favorite snack bar? Not only read it but understood what the ingredients are. I know most people would reply of course I have and of course I know what “oats” are.   OK how about “Sucanat®”? Sure you may know it is a sweetener but where does it come from and is it really something that is good or better for me than “sugar”.

No worries because Sucanat® (which stands for Sugar Cane Natural), is a whole cane sugar. It’s made by simply crushing freshly cut sugar cane, extracting the juice and heating it in a large vat. Once the juice is reduced to rich, dark syrup, it is hand-paddled. Hand paddling cools and dries the syrup, creating the dry porous granules known as Sucanat. Nothing is added and nothing is taken out!

So there you go one less ingredient to have to pause and ponder about. Now you can reach with confidence for your favorite Oat Bar or whole grain snack bar that contains Sucanat®. But don’t forget to read the rest of the label for those ingredients that you are trying to avoid such as hydrogenated oils, Trans fats and “artificial” sweeteners.

So you don’t need a daily Vitamin? So that means you always have 6 to 8 servings of grains, 4 to 5 servings of vegetables, 4 to 5 servings of fruit, 2 to 3 servings of low fat dairy, and 6oz of meat, poultry or fish PER DAY? Really? And that just meets the very minimum standards for nutrition.

So you may want to rethink your option to take a multivitamin at the very minimum to supplement those missing servings. When shopping for a multivitamin look for whole food vitamins preferable organic for the best value and quality.

In the next blog we will look at those serving size and do some nutritional math that may surprise you.

No I am not referring to your car, I am speaking to the vehicle you call your body. Most of us are aware that we need to drink plenty of water to replenish our body’s ever present need to stay hydrated to maintain a healthy body. What most people are not aware of is our need to also consume healthy oils daily.

It is great that people are far more aware of the need to change to healthier cooking oils such as olive or grapseed oils, but did you know that consuming unheated oils on salads and vegetables along with oil from healthy fats is just as important?

Yes I used the word “fats”. The oils derived from fat sources such as fish, grass feed beef and vegetarian sources are a vital necessity for our health. These sources provide us with much needed omega 3 fatty acids, that are know to help with aiding in the treatment of heart diseases, high cholesterol, depression, anxiety, AHDH, low immunity, cancer, diabetes, inflammation, arthritis, IBD, AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, eye disorders, macular degeneration and ulcers. It is helps in weight loss, pregnancy, fertility and skin care (particular for disorders such as psoriasis, acne). Adding an Omega 3 supplement can be an easy way to make sure you are maintaining a healthy dietary balance.

Well winter has arrived and it may be a great time to rethink the protein shake mode. As snow has fallen across many parts of the country somehow a nice cold smoothie protein shake has lost its appeal from that summertime refreshing blast in the morning. Not to worry we have a delicious option for you.

Since it is time to break out the hot cereal to get a warm start on the day just drop a scoop or two of your favorite protein shake powder in the bowl along with your favorite fresh or dried fruit and “bam” you have a protein packed power house breakfast to start your day. We like to add a scoop of fresh yogurt in but the choice is yours just don’t be afraid to get creative like adding some cinnamon or vanilla flavoring, Yumm!!!

After graduating college, my wife and I found jobs in back in our hometown. Many of our old friends were still around the area, and we got into our old habits of hanging out late into the night. Eventually that lifestyle started to catch up with me. I was still eating the unhealthy foods that had been a staple of my collegiate diet, and I hadn’t curtailed my drinking much either.

Everything changed when we started planning to have a family. I had never found adequate reasons to eat healthy before, always reasoning that I was in control of my own life and could do what I wanted. Suddenly, with kids to think about, I understood a new responsibility to live better. These days I’ve really cleaned up my act in every way imaginable and I’m looking forward to meeting my grandchildren some day.

Growing up, I couldn’t help but internalize the importance of a “balanced breakfast.” Cold cereal commercials were always advertising the fact that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Still, I went to school on an empty stomach because I just couldn’t muster up an appetite before noon. My studies suffered considerably, and the trend continued until I finally took action.

I read about the importance of getting one’s metabolism going early in the day, and that the best way to do it was to eat a small breakfast. Protein bars were simple and convenient enough to eat on the go, and I suddenly found myself more energized and alert in the mornings. I know you can’t believe everything you see on TV, but I wish I would have paid more attention to those commercials as a kid.

Health Insurance-

Real Insurance for good health is to stay healthy. As we have consistently seen in the top four reasons to take vitamins the one common thread is that vitamins contribute to good health and prevention of health problems. Medical insurance is not health assurance. Medical insurance only helps if you get sick with minimal focus on prevention or regaining optimal health. The American health system is a medical system not a health system.  Hence the old saying an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The best way to insure your health is to stay as healthy as possible and avoid the costly and statistically dangerous encounter with the medical system whenever possible.  Scientific Study after scientific study over decades and in some cultures over thousands of years have proven that prevention is a far better option and always less expensive.

Real Health Insurance is simply choosing healthy life style habits, eating a well balance diet, giving your daily nutritional needs a boost with proper vitamin and mineral supplementation, getting proper rest, drinking clean pure water throughout the day, and getting regular exercise, staying both physically and mentally active.

Balance-

Nutritional synergy is one of the most important reasons to supplement your diet with vitamins and one that is often over looked. There are volumes of note worth studies on how through a delicate balance vitamins, minerals enzymes, proteins and other vital nutrient components work together and rely on each other for proper absorption and utilization.

One example of this is Vitamin D and its relation to calcium absorption a major concern for, proper bone growth, prevention of osteoporosis and many other roles in human health.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is naturally present in very few foods and is essential for promoting calcium absorption in the gut and maintaining adequate serum calcium and phosphate concentrations to enable normal mineralization of bone. Without sufficient vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle, or misshapen.

Finding the proper balance and adequate amounts of vital nutrients in our daily diet can be nearly impossible at times. That is why a full spectrum multivitamin supplement can help fill in the gaps for missing nutrients optimizing our normal food intake during the day.

Always remember taking any supplement should not take the place of good eating habits and a well balanced meals.

As most of us go through the day it is not always practical let alone easy to eat right. Getting all the daily recommended intake of vital nutrients to keep us on top of our game can certainly be a challenge in today’s fast paced nearly nonstop world. But without vibrant health it is nearly impossible to keep up with the modern day demands and the break neck pace of life. Plagued by the temptation of easily available fast food, the option for Americans is usually to opt-out for high calorie low nutritional foods.

That is why it is so important to take a daily multivitamin supplement to insure getting optimal daily nutrient intake. Whole Food nutrient dense vitamins are always the best choice whenever possible as they supply not only a full spectrum of daily nutrients it is also “real food”. Taking an organic formulated daily vitamin is even better when available.

Part II of the protein puzzle-

Whats a gram of protein? So using our model from the last blog  if we need 62 grams of protein per day and we buy our meat lets say in ounces and pounds we need to do a little math again. So now its time to cut to the chase or in this case the Steak.

3 oz of Top Sirloin has ruffly 26 grams of protein a lean beef burger 22 grams so this means that if you ate 3 -1/4  lb lean burger patties in a day you would “meat” your minimum daily protein requirements. So you can fire up the Barbecue or you can ditch some of the saturated fat by using a protein supplement such as a protein smoothie for breakfast or a protein bar for a healthy snack. Either way it is easy to get your daily protein intake.