Who wears the smallest belt – meat eaters, fish eaters, vegetarians or vegans?
According to a new study, vegans do – those who forgo all foods derived from animals. And the reason has something to do with what vegans do eat: fibre, and lots of it.
Fibre makes you feel full longer and seems to inhibit saturated-fat absorption. High-fibre foods also offer health-giving phytochemicals, along with flavour, crunch and few fats.
At the other end of the eating spectrum – a diet that's one beef barbecue after another, or where the person at the drive-thru window knows your name – can cause an increase in body fat. In one study, fish eaters and vegetarians had lower body mass indexes – the height-weight ratio that separates healthy weights from weights that are too high or too low – than people who regularly ate meat, and vegans tended to have the lowest BMIs of all.
Go green: Putting greens on your plate is like a chill pill for your arteries.
Just about anything leafy and green helps you get your fill of vitamin K, an important ally in squelching inflammation. We don't mean the kind that happens when you bump your shin on the hope chest. We mean the dangerous inflammation that happens when problems like high blood pressure and high blood sugar nick the smooth inner layer of your arteries.
Your body tries to repair the nick with cholesterol. When it tries to use lousy LDL cholesterol, inflammation is triggered.
In your arteries, irritation causes plaque to rupture, clots to form...and you to have a heart attack or stroke. Not worried? It also can cause impotence and memory loss (got your attention now?).
But more research is linking high vitamin K intake to a lower body-wide inflammation index. So try all kinds of greens. Slip collards into your red sauces. Sauté kale with red-wine vinegar and garlic. Go to your farmer's market today, and get creative. Your taste buds will thank you, too.
Reach for a peach: While bananas get all the credit for being a super source of such blood-pressure-friendly minerals as potassium, other fruits deliver them, too.
Fresh peaches are in season and they deliver 330 milligrams of potassium per fruit. Dried peaches and dried apricots, ounce for ounce, deliver nearly three times the potassium in bananas. And sun-dried tomatoes take the prize, with a motherlode of 960 milligrams per ounce – and a paltry 72 calories.
Researchers found the potassium found in food is as effective as the potassium chloride in some blood pressure medications, and the more you get the better. At least 3,000 milligrams of potassium every day can keep blood vessels relaxed and can make your RealAge as much as 0.6 years younger. Potassium-rich seasonal treats include cantaloupe, honeydew melon and watermelon. No matter what, know your BP and aim for 115/75, one way or the peachy way.
Where are those keys? Want to cut your risk of obesity in half – and drop your risk of cardiovascular disease, keep your blood pressure and insulin levels healthy and make your memory more vibrant in the process? Forget where you put your car keys. Or lose them altogether.
In a new study, men saw these big benefits just by walking or bicycling to work...even if they lived close by. The median distance of their commutes was just eight kilometres and the median time was 20 minutes.
What about women? Female active commuters (those who walked or biked) did have higher fitness levels than people who didn't get to work under their own power but the effect on heart disease was less clear.
Renew Life Webmasters Note: It is recommended to consume 30-40 grams of fibre per day. A quick, easy and tasty way to do this is with our FitSMART Shakes and Bars that provide 10 grams of fibre per serving. You can read more about these products by clicking on the products tab at the top of the page.
Source http://www.healthzone.ca/health/articlePrint/674332 - 10 Aug 09
