Why Are Fruit and Vegetables Needed In A Healthy Diet?

Author: Reid Schirmer

Fruits, vegetables, and legumes (dry beans and peas) can reduce the risk of several chronic diseases. Compared to people who eat few fruits, vegetables, and legumes,people who eat higher amounts as part of a healthy diet are likely to have reduced risk of chronic diseases, including stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and cancers in certain parts of the body.

When shopping for fruits and vegetables, choose an assortment of different types and colors to provide you with a variety of nutrients. Make sure you balance calorie intake with caloric needs When increasing the amount of fruits, vegetables, and legumes you eat and be sure to eat them in place of less nutritious foods, not in addition to them.

The fiber in fruits, vegetables, and legumes is important. Diets rich in fiber-containing foods may reduce the risk of heart disease. Many fruits, vegetables, and legumes are also rich in nutrients, such as vitamins A and C, folate, and potassium.

Eating fruits and vegetables provides other benefits, too. One is calorie control: many fruits, vegetables, and legumes are low in calories and high in volume and nutrients. So, if you're trying to lose weight, fruits, vegetables, and legumes can help you feel full without eating too many calories. Fruits, vegetables, and legumes are packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other nutrients. They can help you get the most nutrition out of the daily number of calories you're supposed to eat. Different vegetables are rich in different nutrients, so you should aim for a variety of vegetables throughout the week, including those that are dark green and leafy, orange, and starchy.

One caution that should be noted about buying packaged (canned, dried, or frozen) fruits and vegetables is they may contain added sugars, saturated fats, or sodium-ingredients you many need to limit. There are three places to look on a package that give you clues about what is in the food: the ingredient list, the Nutrition Facts label, and the front label of the package.

Added sugars can appear on the ingredient list as brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrates, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert corn syrup, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, malt syrup, molasses, maple syrup, raw sugar, sucrose, and syrup.

Article Source: http://www.sooperarticles.com/health-fitness-articles/nutrition-articles/why-fruit-vegetables-needed-healthy-diet-374256.html

About Author:

Reid is a successful freelance writer who enjoys writing about the casio ctk 4000 portable keyboard and other popular topics.

Beginning Bodybuilding Over 40

Author: Steven B

When you mention the term bodybuilding it often promotes the image of huge bulging muscles on a man or woman and then it is often associated with steroids or some other enhancement drug. Truth is very few bodybuilders use drugs and instead rely on hard work and excellent diet and nutrition to achieve their results.

So if you are beginning bodybuilding and over the age of 40 the first idea you need to get out of your head is huge monster muscles and other ideas associated with hardcore competitive bodybuilders. Using bodybuilding as your fitness tool is an excellent idea and there are countless studies that show your decision is the right one.

The first order of business is to take stock of your physical shape and it would be wise not to kid yourself. A visit to your family doctor would be a good start and he or she would know what kind of shape you are in and would advise you as to your approach. However the bottom line is you still have to do the work.

It is good practice to start slow when approaching the weights and always begin with stretching exercises before lifting any weights. As for the weights start real light and work your way up to heavier weights when you feel more comfortable and have spent some time in the gym.

It might be tempting to just start blasting the weights but it will only be counterproductive because your muscles are going to be so sore you won't be able to work out the next day or several not to mention it will not be good for your motivation.

If you can afford a personal trainer by all means that is the ideal way to approach your fitness goals. Do not look at the guys or gals in the gym and try to follow what they are doing because they might have been on a program for a long time and you will only end up hurting yourself and sabotaging your efforts.

Beginning bodybuilding over 40 is really no different than if you were 20, the difference is the recovery time and the rate of muscle growth. You can build muscle mass over 40 however you are not going to get the gains like you would if you were 20 years old, so it is wise to set realistic goals and never give up!

Article Source: http://www.sooperarticles.com/sports-articles/bodybuilding-articles/beginning-bodybuilding-over-40-200490.html

About Author:

Achieve fitness over 40 50 and beyond with the right tools and equipment!

Breakfast Protein

Once I decided that I was doing this (getting in shape), I realized that I needed to pay close attention to when, what, and how much I ate. I think the biggest problem I had with my diet.

The 'when' and 'how much' were easy. I would split my meals up such that I was eating 6 times a day. This, by itself, dictated that the portions would be smaller. I'll be honest, 6 times a day isn't always practical, and I wish I could be more religious about it...but I live in the real world!

'What' was a bit more challenging. You are probably aware of the generally accepted fact that if you want to build muscle, your body needs protein. No problem, I eat lots of protein for snacks, meals, and supplements. Breakfast presents a challenge, however.

If you eat eggs every day, then there's no problem. For me, however, a little variety is always nice. Plus, I don't always have time to prepare a cooked breakfast. Check the breakfast aisle in your grocery store, and look for high protein options. There aren't many.

Enter Kashi! Their 'GOLEAN' line of cold cereals offers a ton of protein, while keeping it healthy with whole grains, low fat, and relatively low sugar content. Add milk, and you have a VERY high protein breakfast.

My personal opinion...'GOLEAN' is the healthiest option, 'GOLEAN Crisp' is the best tasting, and I never much cared for 'GOLEAN Crunch'. Try them, I think you'll discover a tasty, healthy breakfast alternative!

SS

Government Specs...

Ya gotta love our government...

You may know that I'm a software engineer by trade. I love my job. Usually.

Recently, I've been working with a technology that is subject to a government specification. That's where it gets fun.

For starters, there are 2 specs...one for a card, one for a reader that reads said card. There are card manufacturers and reader manufacturers, each of whom make products that conform to the spec. The government actually has a list of products that conform to the spec.

It should be simple, right? Nope, this is the same government that brought you the Post Office...and the IRS.

Buy approved reader. Check. Buy approved cards. Check. Read card with reader. LMAO. According to the manufacturers, the specs don't line up. Therefore, readers and cards may not interact properly. I love it...

It doesn't end there. The reader needs to transmit a number from a card. The number stored on the card, for arguments sake, is "123456789". This gets a little geeky, so I'll understand if you fall asleep.

The reader outputs (in hex) 0x313233343536373839....hmmm, doesn't make sense. Until I stare for a while. It's BCD(Binary Coded Decimal)! OK, but it still doesn't....wait a minute...31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39...these are hex representations of 1 - 9.

Are they kidding me? Why the obfuscation? It makes no sense. Oh wait, it's the government....it makes perfect sense.

Biceps + Cardio

One of my standard biceps routines. Nothing extraordinary here. I'll be trying a more extreme workout in the near future...

4 sets of 8 seated barbell curls

3 sets of 6 standing barbell curls

3 sets of 6 alternating dumbbell curls

3 sets of 8 rope hammer curls

1 set of biceps ladders (look it up, it's amazing)

SS