Health health health

With everyone more and more health conscious it is hard to know where to start.  Everyone knows the basics; eat fruit and veg, avoid fried foods, drink lots of water throughout the day etc.  Keeping healthy is more than just that, although, that is a good start. 

The key thing to bear in mind when you want to lose weight is that it is more to do with your nutrition than it is to do with your exercise regime (for the right exercise see earlier blog from 2010).  One must keep a healthy balanced diet to achieve healthy weight loss which will stay off.  This means YOU NEED FATS IN YOUR DIET!  One must look out for the quality of fats to eat though.  Poly unsaturated fats, such as olive oil, sun flower oil and cottage cheese are the best fats you can have in your diet.  They are extremely important for cholesterol control.  That is not to say you eat shit loads of it as it is still in the fat category and calorific but, you should by no means avoid a whole macronutrient. 

Metabolism is something which you hear a lot about.  There are certain things you can do and foods you can eat to accelerate your metabolism.  Eating 6 small balanced meals in a day is actually better for you as your metabolism is employed more often throughout the day.  The perfect six meals to eat in a day, believe it or not, is

1. Salmon and steamed broccoli (salmon is high in protein and omega 3 fatty acids which is very good for the heart.)
2. Around 3 hours later - a healthy dollop of peanut butter on thick wholemeal bread.  A common misconception about peanut butter is that it is bad for you.  It is not.  VERY high in protein which will keep you fuller for longer allowing you to have a later lunch.   It is suggested you eat 25% less calories in your next meal thanks to research done at the University of Illinois.  Also, you get the fibre in your diet from the wholemeal bread. 
3. Lunch: Any meat – I prefer white meat like chicken or turkey or tuna – in a wholemeal baguette.  I used to season avocado VERY well as it is, in my humble opinion, quite flavourless. 
4. Cottage cheese with pesto.  What a way for your body to excrete fat.  Cottage cheese is great for that. 
5. Dinner: Turkey chilli: Minced turkey breast with onion, tomatoes and jalapenos, chickpeas, kidney beans and a dash of cumin.  Chillies boost your metabolism; the rest is so high in protein that you will probably not want to eat a thing after. 
6. An evening snack of a banana, apple and orange usually did it for me. 

Throughout the day you should also keep well hydrated.  Water, fresh orange juice, teas (especially green tea) are all very good for you. Drinking 16oz (around a pint) of chilled water first thing in the morning boosts metabolism by 24% for up to 90 minutes!  Get a good start to the day.  Oat granola is a very good snack as well with raisins and yoghurt or milk. 

One of the most important things to bear in mind when you consider eating well is the old ticker.  The heart is not so sensitive when you are young but take care of it in your youth and it will remain healthy throughout life.  For a mighty heart, it was foun that those who eat Marmite, or any other yeast based spread on toast is great for cardiovascular function.  It is due to the very high levels of benfotiamine (an amino acid) which is very beneficial for the heart. 

There are also another 15 things which I have learned during the year so far….

1. Sweetcorn – Packed with chromium which lowers the incidence of ticker problems.
2. Kiwi fruit – This reduces platelet clumping by 18%! It means that there is less chance of heart attack and stroke thanks to those delicious little fruit. 
3. Drinking at least 60ml of Pomegranate juice every day lowers blood pressure by around 21%. 
4. Healthy bones, healthy heart.  You are 60% more likely to have a heart attack if you are diagnosed with arthritis so keep the calcium levels up!
5. During winter your blood pressure rises due to the cold as does the risk of clots.  1^ﻩC drop in temperature was associated with a cumulative 2% increase of heart attack so, although obvious, wrap up warm!
6. A glass of red wine a day.  Red wine is rich in anti-oxidants which have a positive effect on cholesterol.
7. It was found people who eat 6 small meals a day have 5% lower cholesterol. 
8. High vitamins in the diet helps.  Even if you take vitamin supplements – it prolongs their effect if your refrigerate them. 
9. Believe it or not, chocolate milkshakes reduces heart attack risks thanks to the cocoa’s anti-inflammatory benefits which reduce the onset of atherosclerosis (build up of cholesterol in the arteries)
10. Bacon rashers contain nitrates.  These nitrates help reduce cardiovascular disease altogether….in moderation of course!
11. Spending 5 bouts of 20 minutes in the sunshine a day.  The vitamin D benefits and generally is you are doing light to moderate work it helps reduce heart disease by 26%.
12. Brushing your teeth!! Fighting the bacteria in your mouth that causes inflammation reduces heart disease by 70%
13. Vanilla yoghurt helps you avoid heart disease as vanilla has essential anti-oxidants which help reduce inflammation.
14. 3 half hour naps a day? Too good to be true?  Well according to research in the archives of internal medicine, napping for half an hour 3 times a day can decrease the risk of heart disease by 30%.
15. A glass of milk a day keeps hypertension at bay.  Hypertension (high blood pressure) is the main cause of stroke and heart attack. 

I hope this has been helpful!

Much love,

Jackson L.