Vegan Nutrition Guide: How to Be a Healthy Vegan

If you follow a vegan diet or are considering giving it a try, make sure not to miss these 6 key nutrients

Taking the vegan plunge can be an admirable decision for activist, health, or weight loss reasons. But since meat and dairy are literally off the table now, it’s very important to nourish your body and get the nutrients you need. Vegan diets consist entirely of plant foods. That means no meat, fish, poultry, eggs, or dairy. While many people adopt this way of eating out of animal rights and environmental concerns, others are choosing it for its health benefits such as reduced risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, lower cholesterol and, of course, weight loss.

That’s not to say veganism doesn’t have its drawbacks. It can be difficult to stick with and makes eating out a challenge. Because it excludes entire food groups, it can also come up short in the nutrition department – unless you plan it carefully. If you’re considering going vegan, make sure you don’t miss out on these six key nutrients:

• Protein: While both plant and animal foods supply protein, animal foods provide complete protein, which packs all the amino acids our bodies needed to build muscle and synthesize antibodies, enzymes, and hormones. Because plant protein often lacks several of these amino acids, getting enough of this nutrient can be tricky, but not impossible. There is one exception: Soy. Soy foods such as edamame, soymilk, and tofu deliver the complete protein that vegan diets lack. Rounding out your plate with other plant-based proteins like tempeh, quinoa, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, and nut butters can also help you get your fill.

• Calcium: Because vegans don’t do dairy, their risk of bone fractures is nearly 30% greater than non-vegans. Certain, but not all, leafy greens can help. Broccoli, Chinese cabbage, bok choy, and collards are all rich in a form of calcium that’s easy to absorb. You can also get your calcium fix from tempeh, tahini, almonds, and almond butter as well as from fortified foods like orange juice, cereal, soy, rice, and almond milk. For maximum absorption, look for brands fortified with calcium carbonate.

• Omega-3 fats: Vegans have lower blood levels of DHA and EPA, long chain omega-3 fats (mainly found in fish) that help boost brain, eye, and heart health. Foods like ground flaxseed, chia seed, mung beans, walnuts, and canola oil provide ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), an omega-3 cousin of DHA and EPA. While it’s not quite as efficient as the long chain varieties, our bodies can convert about 10% of the ALA from food into EPA. Since that may not be enough, consider a DHA and EPA supplement made from cultured microalgae.

Read full article:   http://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/nutrition-101/vegan-nutrition 

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Simple Rules for Healthy Eating

Over the past few months, I’ve written a number of times on how nutrition recommendations are seldom supported by science. I’ve argued that what many people are telling you may be inaccurate. In response, many of you have asked me what nutrition recommendations should say.

It’s much easier, unfortunately, to tell you what not to do. But here at The Upshot, we don’t avoid the hard questions. So I’m going to put myself on the line. Below are the general rules I live by. They’re the ones I share with patients, with friends and with family. They’re the ones I support as a pediatrician and a health services researcher. But I acknowledge up front that they may apply only to healthy people without metabolic disorders (me, for instance, as far as I know).

 

These suggestions are also not supported by the scientific weight of rigorous randomized controlled trials, because little in nutrition is. I’ve inserted links to back them up with the available evidence. They are not “laws” and should not be treated as such. No specific nutrients will be demonized, and none will be held up as miracles. But these recommendations make sense to me, and they’ve helped me immensely.

Full disclosure: I did not invent most of these. I’ve developed them from reading the work of others, including what may be the most impressive “official” nutritional guidelines, those of Brazil, as well as from earlier suggestions from readers, as in this great NYT interactive graphic. It captures readers’ responses to food rules by Michael Pollan. He is, of course, the promulgator of the well-known advice: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

Read Full Article:   http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/21/upshot/simple-rules-for-healthy-eating.html 

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Cashew Nutrition: Absolute the Best Treatment for Depression without Medication

 Cashew nuts are one of the healthiest foods in the world. Unfortunately, not many of you know the numerous benefits they offer, and only a very small percentage of the natural medicines comprehensive database is dedicated to them.

Countries like Nigeria, Tanzania, Mozambique and Brazil are the biggest producers of cashew nuts, mostly due to the fact that they need hot and humid climate in order to grow.

Health Benefits of Cashew Nuts

• Cashew nuts are rich in vitamins, soluble dietary fiber, minerals and many phytochemicals that prevent diseases, including cancers. Cashews are also rich in calories, about 50 grams of these favorable foods contain 275 calories.

• These beneficial nuts provide numerous essential vitamins, including pantothenic acid or vitamin B5, pyridoxine or vitamin B6, thiamin or vitamin B11 and riboflavinThe aforementioned vitamins are crucial for metabolism of fat, protein and carbs at a cellular level. On the other hand, niacin improves the protection against pellagra or dermatitis. Furthermore, B6 is extremely beneficial for our health for it significantly lowers the chances of developing sideroblastic anemia and homocystinuria. Only 3.5 Oz (100 gr) of these nuts provide about 30% of daily recommended levels of B6 (that’s about 0.147 mg).

• Moreover, cashews are also rich in essential minerals. Some of the most useful minerals found in cashew nuts are potassium, manganese, copper, selenium, magnesium, zinc and iron. Only a handful of these nuts on a daily basis can provide the necessary amount of these extremely needed minerals and protect you from deficiency- related diseases. For instance, copper acts as a co-factor for many important enzymes, like superoxide dismutase and cytochrome c- oxidase. Zinc, on the other hand, plays the same role together with enzymes that are responsible for the regulation of the growth and progress of digestion, gonadal function and DNA synthesis. Selenium is a very important micronutrient and it works as a co-factor for antioxidant enzymes like Glutathione peroxides, known as one of the strongest antioxidants in human body.

• Monounsaturated fatty acids which are in high quantities in these nuts are extremely good for the heart health, as palmitoleic and oleic acids. They belong to the group of essential fatty acids that can increase the level of good HDL cholesterol and decrease the level of harmful LDLcholesterol in our blood. In addition, as shown by many scientific studies, the so-called Mediterranean diet which is mostly based on monounsaturated fatty acids supports the blood lipid profile, and protect our system from strokes and coronary artery diseases.

• Furthermore, cashews also contain a small quantity of one very important pigment of flavonoid antioxidants, called zeaxanthin, which is selectively absorbed inside the retinal macula in our eyes. This pigment provides protective and antioxidant UV ray filtering features, and it also protects from ARMD or age-related macular degeneration in old people.

Read More:   http://www.healthyfoodhouse.com/cashew-nutrition-absolute-the-best-treatment-for-depression-without-medication/

Related Article:    Cashew Nutrition Facts And Health Benefits

Cashews Nutrition Facts & Health Benefits

Cashews Nutrition Facts & Health Benefits

Cashews Nutrition Facts & Health Benefits

Cashews Nutrition Facts & Health Benefits

Your Starbucks drink may have 25 spoons of sugar in it

The research focused on drinks sold in the U.K., but nutritional information published on the companies' website show that sugar levels are similar in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Action on Sugar describes itself as "a group of specialists concerned with sugar and its effects on health." Its advisers and staff include doctors, nutritionists and public health specialists. It analyzed 131 hot drinks, including flavored lattes, chai teas, mocha coffees and mulled fruit drinks. The survey touched on nine big coffee shops and food chains in Britain including Starbucks, Costa and Pret a Manger.

The group also campaigns against hidden sugars in everyday food, organizes "Sugar awareness week," and advises people on how to eat less sugar.


The report said Starbucks' hot mulled fruit grape with chai, orange and cinnamon was the "worst offender," with 25 teaspoons of sugar.
Two other popular Starbucks choices -- vanilla latte and caramel macchiato -- contain more than eight teaspoons of sugar each, according to the company's U.S. website.

Read Full Article:     http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/17/news/companies/sugar-coffee-drinks/index.html

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