Food High In Fiber

Foods that are high in fiber are widely believed to be
beneficial to the body. It is now understood that foods
containing fiber, particularily fiber in whole grain foods such
as brown rice or whole grain breads, are helpful in maintaining
a healthy digestive system. A fiber rich diet can prevent and
treat constipation , diverticulosis and hemorrhoids. A high
fiber diet can also reduce the risk of heart disease through
the reduction of blood cholestoreol levels.
 
Less well founded claims include the claim that dietary fiber
may reduce the risk of some cancers , especially colon cancer.
Such claims are made on the supposition that dietary fiber
improves the efficiency of the digestive system if eaten
regularily, and therefore a person with a fiber rich diet is
less likely to be exposed to toxins within the remainder of
their diet for as long a period of time as an individual with
less fiber in their diet.
 
A further health benefit of a fiber rich diet is that foods
high in fiber can help to maintain a healthy body weight. High
fiber foods are often low in calorie whilst providing enough
bulk to leave a diner feeling "full". Fiber rich foods often
require more chewing before swallowing preventing a person from
eating a large calorific intake in a short time.
 
The question is how can you put more fiber in your diet without
making your diet taste too bland?
 
Once you are able to identify high fiber foods you will be
surprised at how you can improve your health with small changes
without sacrificing to much taste from your diet and in many
cases by improving the taste of your diet.
 
The only sources of dietary fiber available are from fruits,
vegetables, nuts and grains so it is quite easy to identify
high fiber foods. Foodstuffs from animals such as eggs, milk
and meat do not contain fiber. Whether food is fresh, frozen or
canned often does not make any difference to the fiber content.
Be careful to avoid dried or crushed fruits or vegetables and
remember that fruits and vegetables without seeds and peels
have less fiber than those with seeds and peels.
 
It may be wise to consider that any additional fiber in your
diet over and above what you currently eat will be beneficial
for you but when you consider that a daily intake of about
25-35 grams is generally recommended you may be surprised to
know that all it takes is a bowl of 100% bran flakes with a
banana for breakfast and a can of baked beans for lunch to
bring you all the benefits of a high fiber diet.


About The Author: Richard Merson writes for
http://www.foodhighinfibre.com visit for more information and
lists of high fiber foods.

Are You Losing Fat or Water Weight?

When you start a weight loss program - almost any weight loss program
- you almost always lose at least 10 pounds fairly quickly. Sometimes
you lose it in mere days, while with others it might take you a couple
of weeks to do.

Why is it that almost any diet or weight loss program seems to give
you this result? Because usually you're not actually losing the ugly
fat you really want to get rid of. Instead you're simply losing water
weight.

Some diets cause you to lose this water weight quicker than others.
Low carb diets for instance, are great at getting you to drop a quick
ten pounds. And believe it or not: Some people can actually lose
weight by simply drinking more water.

It sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it? Drink water and you'll lose
water weight! But it's true. You see, your body tends to hold onto
things it thinks it may not get more of very soon. If you deprive it
of food for instance, it'll work extra hard hanging onto the resources
from that food because it assumes there may be a long time before more
is given to it.

The same thing happens with water. When you don't give your body
enough water, it tends to try holding on to what it has in reserve.
This way it's able to supply you with reduced capacity for a longer
period of time. You may not operate at full efficiency with this
rationed approach - but you'll live. And that's what your body is
trying to do... just keep you alive.

If however, you start giving your body all the water it needs... more
than it needs in fact... it will realize there's plenty of this, and
it'll have no problem shedding the extra. After all, there's more
coming in all the time, right?

And that's a secret to many diets that you don't see mentioned often.
Almost every diet or weight loss plan on the market today starts out
by telling you to drink more water. And yes, it is quite true that
most people need to have more water throughout the day. But since so
many people don't actually drink enough water to start with... when
they do start as part of their new "diet", their body starts releasing
the water it's been holding in reserve all this time.

The result? You see five or ten pounds gone when you step on the scale
to weigh yourself! Often your clothes start to feel more comfortable
too... because when your body retains water it has a bloated-ness to
it. So shedding that extra water helps you to not be bloated anymore.

Now, this is an excellent first step to losing weight... but it's not
one that creates a long lasting effect. Once you've gotten past that
first hurdle of shedding the water weight and losing some of the
bloatedness, then you must move on to actually shedding the real
problem: Body fat. We'll cover that in more depth with future articles.

© 2006, Kathy Burns-Millyard. Are you ready to finally start
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Natural skin care with EPA

Incredible though it sounds, fish oil containing
eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA, appears to slow down the
ageing process and help us to look younger by protecting
the skin and inhibiting the chemical processes that take
place when our skin is exposed to damage-inducing stimuli,
like the sun for example. Evidence suggests that aside
from all the other documented health benefits of EPA, it
can make our skin more resistant to sunburn, improve skin
elasticity and tone and helps to prevent saggy skin and
wrinkles from forming.

Most of us know that UV radiation from the sun is public
enemy number one as far as the skin is concerned.
Overexposure results in premature ageing and wrinkles as
well as reduced immunity to disease, and possibly even skin
cancer. When our skin is exposed to a lot of sunlight we
produce abnormal elastin that causes the skin to stretch
and collagen fibres begin to break down. In response to
this we produce a large number of enzymes called
metalloproteinases or MMPS. This would normally be a good
thing as these enzymes try to repair the damage, but it is
inefficient and over time, MMPS produced as a result of UV
radiation actually results in a break down of collagen and
finally wrinkles appear.

A study published in 2005 in the Journal for Lipid Research
investigated the effect that EPA had on MMPS arising as a
result of ultra violet radiation from the sun in human skin
and found that EPA inhibited overproduction of MMPS and
reduced the amount of damage to the skin. The researchers
Kim et al concluded that EPA could possibly prevent as well
as treat skin ageing. Then more recently in 2006, Drs Black
and Rhodes found that EPA offers protection against
sun-induced damage to skin cells by making the skin more
resistant to the sun's rays in the first place.
Participants taking fish oil showed a higher "minimal
erythemal dose". This basically means that the lowest
amount of radiation needed to produce erythema (an
inflammatory effect on the skin or sunburn) was higher for
those taking fish oil. These studies show that EPA not only
protects the skin, it limits the damage too, but these are
not the only benefits of EPA.

The properties of EPA

EPA is known to have powerful anti-inflammatory and
anti-thrombotic properties, both of which help to slow down
and minimise the effects of ageing and wear and tear on the
body. From the moment we are born, we are subjected to a
number of environmental pollutants that put pressure on our
skin. Oxygen-free radicals from pollution, for example, are
everywhere and result in a process known as oxidation.
Oxidation leads to an increase in inflammatory responses
and too much can cause premature ageing and wrinkles as
well as contribute to the development of many skin
conditions. The anti-inflammatory properties of EPA can
inhibit the production of pro-inflammatory chemical
messengers responsible for these inflammatory responses.

Increasingly as we grow older, our skin starts to thin out
and stretch as collagen fibres lose their elasticity, the
skin starts to lose its ability to repair itself and can no
longer retain moisture as well as it did. Consequently,
many people begin to rely on external lotions and potions
to keep the skin moist and supple. EPA can help the blood
to flow more efficiently throughout the body and contribute
to healthy and radiant looking skin. It is interesting that
a lack of Omega 3 fatty acids in the diet manifests itself
most noticeably as skin problems.

Signs of Omega 3 fatty acid deficiency

. Dry and flaky skin
. Dandruff
. Hard and cracked skin
. Eczema
. Psoriasis
. Acne
. Poor wound healing
. Dull and lifeless looking skin

Most of us are also well aware that stress and anxiety can
speed up the ageing process resulting in 'worry lines' as
well as more serious conditions and threats to our health.
The amazing thing is that EPA has demonstrated considerable
success in alleviating depression, anxiety and stress so
not only does it help us to remain healthy and look younger
with better skin and fewer wrinkles, but it has a
'feel-good' factor too which helps keep those worry lines
at bay.

Conclusion

All this is very exciting, particularly when we consider
the amount of time, money and effort spent on the
ever-increasing number of products available to help keep
us healthy, young and beautiful. The implications are that
we can do the same job naturally through diet by taking
fish oil supplements containing EPA and benefit not only
from healthy more youthful looking skin and all the other
documented health-giving properties of EPA but possibly
gain a new lease of life too.

----------------------------------------------------
Dave McEvoy is an expert in EPA with over 20 years
experience; for more information about fish oil and how it
can help come and visit. http://www.mind1st.co.uk
http://www.mind1st.com