Eating well is a matter of making the right choices. Good food are what we are looking for. Or are we? Depending on our health condition, we have to make a conscious effort to understand what our body needs and match it with the good food available and see if that’s the best for us. Let’s examine some of the common food and where our concerns should be.

1. Energy Bars:

With 150-200 calories and some grams of protein, you can get an energy bar to give you a healthy energy boost. These bars are delicious and contain raw, natural ingredients that taste so real. But there aren’t substitutes for real food, so they can’t replace your normal meals They may be called snack bars or even calorie bars based on the calorie boost your body gets. Most of the bars contain fat, sugar and salt, colorings, flavoring and preservatives. Avoid those that contain trans fat or fructose corn syrup. The best choices are those energy bars that contain whole nuts and grains with at least 3 grams of fiber, zero hydrogenated oils or trans fat, moderate sugar of not more than 18 gm, and a low saturated fat of less than 3 gm.

2. Fruit Juice:

Fruits juices are considered good because fruits are good. But are they? Fruit juice comes naturally with fructose or fruit sugar so it is not the best though better than the carbonated drinks. However, know the difference with those that are fruit flavored or fruit concentrate which are sugar loaded and also artificially fortified with vitamins – therefore less nutritious than the natural juice. If the label reads something like “100 Percent Natural,” it may contain some form of preservatives too. Eating fresh fruits are a better choice as the fiber contents are often intact besides the vitamins and antioxidants are best obtained direct.

3. Red Meat:

Eating meat is often justified for the protein it gave us. Protein is one of the basic building blocks of the human body as can be seen in the muscles, hair, skin, and tissues in our body. Meat contains saturated fats which are bad for health. The best choice of red meat comes from cows that are fed on grass and not grains and soy. Studies shown that grass cows contain quality meat, high in omega-3s and lower in omega-6 fatty acids. In addition, grass-fed beef also contains much higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a boost for weight loss people. Therefore if you can’t go without them, a small portion of lean sirloin will fit well into any healthy diets. There are serious concerns based on many reports of higher risks of colon cancer linking to meat eating.

4. Sports Drinks:

Sport drinks or sometimes called performance drinks are designed to help athletes rehydrate, as well as replenish electrolytes, sugar, sodium and other nutrients, lost after some vigorous exercise or endurance training. These liquids carry attractive array of colors with strong-looking athletes. The drinks come with carbohydrates such as sugar and other minerals such as potassium, calcium and sodium as well as additives, artificial flavors and even preservatives. Drinking alkaline clean water is better without all the fillers and you should drink enough every 20 minutes of exercise to stay hydrated.

5. Sugar or Sweeteners:

Think of sugar one can come out with hundreds of reasons why it is bad for you. Whatever you may think, sugar is still a component in our diet. White sugar or processed sugars are often link to chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, cancer and many more. Natural sugars like honey, fructose or maple syrup are quite the contrary. These are often used as sweeteners to make food taste better, more flavorful and they contain some amounts of nutrients. Calorie-wise, both are about about 16 to 20 calories per teaspoon. Watch out for high fructose corn syrup, which is blamed for many health problems. Natural sugar substitutes like maltitol and stevia are derived from natural ingredients therefore less harmful compared to aspartame and saccharin.

The good food myths are many. Milk is an example. It is considered good food for most people but not for some people. How your body responds or reacts to the good food in terms of digestion and assimilation to achieve optimal health is another matter - something to ponder about.

The process of aging is inevitable for all. When we age, the skin starts to sag as the muscle tone gradually decreases. This can be especially apparent in the face and neck area. Aging skin appears thinner and becomes more prone to pigmentation followed by age spots appearing. The skin also becomes drier as fine lines and wrinkles become more noticeable.

It is recognized that the genes you’ve inherited do have a role to play in how your body responds to the process of aging. A process that we have no control but to accept it gracefully!

What’s the secret to stay youthful?

Most of us are aware that the key to staying young includes eating the right food (that includes lots of clean water), getting at least 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep and good regular exercise. Foods can heals, repair and rejuvenates thus make you feel good after eating. Avoid all bad foods such as trans fat and processed food. Sure you are constantly bombarded with super formulated foods that can do wonders for your health and how you look. When you are on the right track, your skin will glow to become a reflection of your own health .

So it is clear that there is a strong connection between good food and health. That includes anti-aging foods. Some people may age faster than others but what causes aging? First we need to understand how the aging process starts and what are the foods or nutrients necessary to promote a healthy body so as to reflect the goodness through your skin.

On a daily basis, during your life span, there are millions of biochemical processes happening inside our body. During these processes, oxygen is being used. Unfortunately, these processes also cause harmful side effects, or free radicals, to be created that cause can damage to our cells and leads to chronic diseases ultimately. Free radicals are also produced when we are under stress, exposed to environmental pollutants such as smoke and the ultra-violet rays as well as eating junk and refined foods. Scientists have discovered that the longer these free radicals stay inside our bodies, the more degeneration it does to our body cells.

How do we get rid of these oxidant substances?

Whilst we can’t stop the natural aging process from happening within us, most researchers believe that we can have a control over the food intake as well as to take control of the external factors that have a major contributory role in aging. The other reason for the natural aging process is when we grow older, our body metabolism also slows down and that leads to poor digestion. Even our body hormones are less efficient in performing their functions.

The super anti-aging food

The foods that contain antioxidants to fight the free radicals come mainly from the fruits and vegetables group. Fresh organic multi-colored fruits & vegetables, and whole grains in their natural wholesome content contain essential antioxidants, necessary to heal and keep off free radicals from having a chance to cause cells damage and accelerate aging. Beans, nuts, and fish are good sources of protein. Fish is also rich in essential fatty acids necessary to maintain good cell lining. The berries such as blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are rich in antioxidants called proanthocyanidins, ellagic acid that combats carcinogens. Resveratrol and quercetin found in red grapes contain potent antioxidants to prevent age related diseases.

The next subject reflects back to my previous post on ‘Do you need health supplements’? Taking supplements undoubtedly have beneficial anti-aging effects for your body. Vitamin A, B6, C, E, selenium, zinc, glutathione, beta carotene, co-enzyme Q10, alpha lipoic acid, and quercetin are well-known antioxidants and it is best to go for the organic natural food based ingredients that can combine well with your food.

We know that the ideal way to obtain vitamins and minerals is from the food we eat. In today fast paced society, very often we find it difficult to get a proper meal what’s more the contents of the food or the choices we make are much left to be desired or sadly lacking in essential nutrients. What are we doing to compensate for the lack of nutrients to meet the requirements of the body.

Nutritional supplements have come to fill the gap and before one rushes to make a purchase over the counter, it pays to understand the reasons for food supplementation and the difference between synthetic and natural vitamins.

Sometimes it remains a challenge for you to find good supply of high quality nutritious food. Not everyone can have easy access to organic pesticides-free food depending on the area they live or the country they stay. The soil where our foods are derived from are often depleted of its soil nutrients and what do we expect from the fruits that are harvested before they have ripened. Thus it is not surprising that the food supplementation industry is huge as most of us may have to resort to taking some form of supplementation as additional insurance to the diet we are taking.

The rationale for the use of food supplements is also due to nutrients depletion from the way we cook our food, for instance the use of modern day cooking methods such as microwave cooking has resulted in nutrients lost and unhealthy foods. Using frying instead of eating raw or steaming, the adding of artificial flavors to our cooking to enhance the taste, are also examples why supplementation may be very necessary. In fact, our busy schedule has causes us to eat out more often - in fast food chains for the speed and convenience aspect.

When purchasing any food supplement, you will probably have to choose between the natural and synthetic supplements. The best choices are of course the natural vitamins as the ingredients are derived from natural food sources that are closes to nature and assimilation is thus made easier.

In terms of chemical content, the two vitamin sources are about similar except that synthetics are cheaper to make because the ingredients sources are easily available Synthetic vitamins as the name implies, are manufactured in isolation from certain chemicals and they are more specific unlike natural vitamins that usually contain other essential micro- nutrients – therefore you receive more than one benefit each time you consume. Synthetic vitamins contain letters “dl” on the label. To identify synthetic vitamins, look for label with words like hydrochloride, chloride, nitrate or acetate, which are added to the product to improve stability.

Besides, it is important to look out for harmful ingredients that may cause an allergic body reaction such as artificial flavoring and coloring, coal tars, preservatives, nicotine, sweeteners and starch. It is not surprising to note that not all that claims of natural are indeed 100% natural and safe as far as the human body is concerned.

Though vitamins come in many forms, pills, capsules, gel capsules or powder, the choices are a plenty these days based on personal preferences. The natural whole food vitamins that are accompanied with some essential minerals are considered the best option. These minerals such as calcium, magnesium and potassium have each a significant role to contribute to your total well being complementing with your diets.

Sometimes we should not be overly concern if the dosage you are taking are slightly above the Recommended Daily Allowance guidelines that very often are the lower limits of daily nutrient intake. If you are unsure it is best to refer to your nutritional medicine expert for helpful advice.

A person appearance is more often than not judge by the skin we are having. A healthy skin is the dream of everyone young and old, men and women alike. The skin that you have can tell a lot about you too – your lifestyle and habits. Unfortunately there are areas that we can and cannot control as far as the skin is concerned. Which is why skin care remains an important topic for most people. The availability of a wide range of skin care products for all types of skin may make our choices difficult at times.

Just look around your community you are staying. The beauty salons and the spas are in business with one intention – to make you look good and beautiful. There are many benefits if you have good skin. You’ll feel good, refreshed and confident all round. You are more outgoing as boosted through good skin and this will improve your interaction with other people. Skins that are nurtured and nourished always appear better and younger than one that is neglected and dull. Bad looking skin cause you to be withdrawn in your daily activities and may even cause a drop in grades for some college students. A good skin helps to do wonder to your self-esteem to gain respect from other people. Thus keeping a proper skin care routine is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, besides the nutrition aspect, that you can easily adopt.

Skin care products comes in many well-known brands each with their own purpose, types and usage.

Different skin types require different treatment whether you have oily, dry or normal skin. When choosing skin care, it is important to know that our skin condition is most probably due to factors beyond our control such as the climate, genes, hormonal imbalances, age, or even your health condition. Choosing the right skin care for your skin type is the first step to basic skin care routine.

Depending on your purpose, the skin care products should help to solve the problem you are facing. For example, if you are a young college student with acne breakouts, you should choose a product containing natural pure ingredients that can help remove excess oils yet it help to keep your skin supple and moisturized. For older women, a good anti-aging product that contain retinoic acid, a form of Vitamin A to be delivered slowly to the skin will do well to achieve some youthful effects to the skin without the irritation.

This brings us to an important aspect of understanding natural skin care ingredients. As in all skin care products, the ingredients used should be free from comedogenic ingredients, allergens and synthetic ingredients for maximum results. Learn to read the labels before you buy. Not all natural skin care products are natural in the real sense. Those that are organic should have a certified organic labeling on it. It is worth noting that products that are primarily natural are not necessarily organic. The amount of chemicals used in the skin care products is beyond the ability of any country’s government to control them. Yet one way you can help yourself is to reduce your exposure to chemicals by using only natural organic products.

The simple rule to remember is to keep your skin clean and moisturized. Try to stay away from the harmful ultra-violet rays of the sun. Wear a sunscreen of at least 15 SPF to protect your skin at all times. Keep your body system well hydrated by drinking plenty of clean pure water. Last but not least, get sufficient beauty sleep and along with a healthy balanced diet, the results should reflect on your skin in due time.

Modern day living has put our body under much stress especially our eyes. Besides eye vision problems, the common complaints about our eyes are dark eye circles, puffy eye bags and crow’s feet.

What are the causes for dark eye circles?

Quite often we find that dark eye circles are something that we inherited from our family genes. If this is so, there is nothing very much you can do about it except to improve on certain aspects of the diet or lifestyle for overall health. However, they are specific physiological explanations for the appearance of dark circles below the eyes. For example an allergy condition can cause the area under the eyes to appear darker. A lack of certain nutrients such as iron and vitamin K can contribute to the dark circles as well. Another common reason we can identify with is poor blood circulation, so a simple eye massage if done properly may help to a certain extent. Hormonal imbalance is also a possible reason.

The other common reasons are stress, lack of sleep or sleep deprivation and medications.

As we age, dark rings tend to be more noticeable as the skin surrounding the eye area becomes thinner. Thus the blood that passes through the veins close to the surface of the skin, give the eyes a bluish and darker appearance.

What are the natural home remedies for dark eye circles?

There are many but here are a few of the following homemade remedies in the comfort of your home:

• Apply slices of raw potato over the eyelids and leave it for about 20-25 minutes. Do this 3-4 times a week.
• Another is to apply crushed mint leaves around the eye area for about 10-15 minutes.
• Do light massage around the eye area using almond oil.

Besides the home remedies, there are many vitamin enriched eye creams available for dark eye circles and other puffy eyes. One final self treatment is to ensure that you get at least 8 hours of beauty sleep at night.

For more home remedies on other ailments, you should check out Homemade Medicine Remedies.