The Average Diet
by Edida Piatra
http://www.fizzdiet.com
The word diet has two connotations. One is roughly what you
eat. The other one is more limited in scope: what one eats
in order to lose weight.
Let's work on the first definition. The word diet is rather
neutral about what you eat. You can eat 12 Dunkin Donuts a
day and that will still be your diet. On the other hand,
you can switch to healthy eating.
Every North American man or woman, on an average, derives
60-70% of calories from refined carbohydrates, like white
flours and sugars that he or she takes as a diet;
Research clearly shows that eating in this ratio leads to
weight gain which can result in diseases such as heart
disease and high cholesterol.
It is quite apparent through research that such a diet is
rich in carbohydrates and fats, hence, results in increased
weight, heart ailments and raised cholesterol levels.
For Breakfast
2 slices of Whole Wheat bread; 1 ounce of Kashi cereal; 1
medium banana or orange; 1 cup of skim milk or yogurt
Lunch
1 cup of your favorite fruit juice; 1 cup of raw leafy
vegetables; 1 cup of other cooked vegetables, and
1 cup of brown rice; 2-3 ounces of lean meat or chicken
Dinner
1 cup vegetable juice;
1 cup brown rice;
1 medium apple;
2-3 ounces of your favorite fish
What's the difference? A lot! The first one is unhealthy,
while the other one is healthy. The healthy diet is what
you would follow if you knew Harvard University's Healthy
Eating Pyramid. For the uninitiated, the pyramid has been
the shape of choice when it comes to presenting healthy and
nutritious food recommendations (Mediterranean Food
Pyramid, the USDA Food Guide, etc.).
Just some features of the Harvard diet are:
The Healthy Eating Pyramid breaks carbs and fats into good
and bad, rather than lumping them together. The new pyramid
suggests other major changes as well, which includes:
Sharply restricting red meat, potatoes and refined grains,
such as white bread Limiting dairy products to one or two
servings a day Replacing unhealthy saturated fat with
healthier unsaturated vegetable oils Consuming large
amounts of whole grains, fruits and vegetables Taking a
daily multivitamin Drinking limited amounts of alcohol.
(http://www.diet-reviews-zone.com/) visit to know more.
The Atkins promotes a diet that has,40-45% low
carbohydrates; Protein, twice or thrice more comparatively,
Chunks of fats are absorbed from healthy fats
(omega-3 and monounsaturated).
The Atkins diet looks like this:
40-45% less carbohydrates
Two to three times more protein Majority of fats are
derived from healthy fats (omega-3 and monounsaturated)
Fad diets are not healthy, they are skewed towards helping
the individual lose weight.
The familiar criticism of the Atkins diet is that its users
get stressed out. Dr. Natasha Turner, M.D. at
TrueStarHealth.com offers two extensions, which can keep
you going and burn your fat. She recommends taking Tyrosine
and green tea, which is excellent to curb stress, caused
by carbohydrate deprivation and in burning fat.
Stick to a healthy eating regime. The major flaw with the
Atkins diet is the Yo-yo weight loss syndrome: you can tend
to lose 30 pounds and then gain right back if your quit
it. Thus this process would carry on.
If you follow the healthy eating regimen, instead, it might
take longer to lose weight, but you not only lose weight in
the future. You also become healthier!
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