Vegetarian Diets

What is a vegetarian?
It is a general term to describe people who exclude poultry, fish, meat or other animal derived foods from their diets.

What is a lactovegetarian?
It describe people who include milk products and milk in their diet but exclude poultry, fish, meat, eggs and seafood from their diets.

What is a lacto-ovo-vegetarian?
It describe people who include milk products, milk and eggs to their diet but exclude poultry, fish, meat and seafood from their diets.

Click on the link below to learn more about vegetarian diets, their health benefits, their diet planning and how their Food Guide Pyramid look.

Benefits from fats

We went over the health risks related to fats and in which foods you find fat now we will go over the benefits of fats and why we need it.
You can click on the link below to read more about the benefits of fats.

Health effects and risk of fats

Looking at all the nutrients, fat is most of time linked with heart disease, some types of cancer, and obesity.  One recommendation that help with all the health problems is you have to choose a diet that is low in saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol and moderate in total fat.
Click on the link below to see which risk go with which fat when it comes to health.

All about fats

Now we know we get different types of fat.
Known as saturated fat, trans fat, monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat and Omega fatty acids.
Click on the link below to see in which foods we get these fats to know what you have to decrease or increase in your diet.

An example menu for a Light Diet

Click on the link below to view an example menu

Exercise guidelines during pregnancy

Pregnant women can enjoy the benefits of exercise.

By remaining active throughout pregnancy, a woman can develop the strength she needs to carry the extra weight and maintain habits that will help her lose it after the birth.

Click on the link below to see what you should and shouldn't do for exercise during pregnancy.

Do not eat these foods when you are stressed

Caffeine
Salt
Sugar
Alcohol

Tobacco and drugs or medication should also be avoided.

Click on the link below to find out why.

I also included a section on what foods should be eaten  in times of stress.

This is why you need Vitamins when you are stressed.

The importance of vitamins during stressed periods

These vitamins are required for a number of vital body processes:
Vitamin B complex (several B vitamins)
Vitamin E
and Vitamin C
especially when you fell pressured and stressed.

Click on the link below to see exactly what they do.

The effects of stress on your body

Our whole body respond on stress so too much of it can lead to exhaustion, a variety of health problems and can be fatal.  About 75% of our visits to doctors are directly or indirectly stress related.

Click on the link below to see how stress affects the different parts of our bodies.

All about stress..

What is stress?

 

Stress is any emotional, physical, economical, social or other factor that requires a response or change.  It can be defined as a state we experience when there is a mismatch between perceived demands and perceived ability to cope with it.  It is the link between how we view demands and how we think we can cope with those demands that determines whether we feel no stress, positive stress or negative stress.

 

We need to get a balance

 

Because of the way we live today, we know we are going to feel stress at some time or another so we need to reduce the frequency and extent to which the stress balance is going to tip towards negative stress.  We can do this by decreasing the number and types of demands and by building up our coping resources.  This will help to avoid or to minimise the effects of distressful situations.  We need to learn how to increase our excursions into positive stress by getting the right balance between demands and coping resources.

 

 

Click on the link below to learn more about the differences between negative stress and positive stress, and of course the three sides of stress..

 

 

Find out why your body don't always absorp the minerals you eat!

Everything on Glycogen, starches and fibres.

Both glycogen and starch are storage forms of glucose (glycogen in the body, and starch in plants) and both give energy for human use.  The fibres also contain glucose, but their bonds cannot be broken by human digestive enzymes, so they give little, if any, energy. 

When a person eats carbohydrate-rich foods, the body receives a valuable amount of glucose.

Phytic acid
A non nutrient component of plant seeds, also called phytate.  Phytic acid occurs in the husks of grains, legumes, and seeds and is capable of binding minerals such as zinc, iron, calcium, magnesium, and copper in insoluble complexes in the intestine, which the body excretes unused.

A compound not classed as fibre but often found with it in foods is phytic acid. Because of this close association, researchers have been unable to determine whether it is the fibre, the phytic acid, or both, that binds with minerals, preventing their absorption.  This binding presents a risk of mineral deficiency, but the risk is minimal when fibre intake is reasonable and mineral intake adequate.

Sugar explained..

Sugar explained under these names: Glucose, galactose and fructose.

A pinch of purified glucose on the tongue gives only a mild sweet flavour, and galactose hardly tastes sweet at all, but fructose is as intensely sweet as honey and, in fact, is the sugar primarily responsible for honey's sweetness.

Sugars are derived primarily from plants, except for lactose, which come from milk and milk products.

Nutrients in bread

Here is a graph that shows exactly how much of what nutrient is in bread.

What is legumes?

Legumes
Plants of the bean and pea family.
They are rich in protein compared with  other plant-derived foods.

Legumes include a variety of beans and peas:

• Black beans
• Black-eyed peas
• Garbanzo beans
• Great northern beans
• Kidney beans
• Lentils
• Navy beans
• Peanuts
• Pinto beans
• soybeans
• and Split peas.

Food Choices

Ethnic cuisines

See the food choices for the following:

• Asian
• Mediterranean
• and Mexican.

Diet-Planning guidelines.

Diet planning guidelines:

• Adequacy
• Balance
• Calorie (energy) control
• Nutrient density
• Moderation
• Variety.

Balance in the diet helps to ensure adequacy.

Nutrient density promotes adequacy and calorie control.

Moderation contributes to adequacy, balance, and calorie control.
























This cola and bunch of grapes illustrate nutrient density.  Each provides about 150 calories, but the grapes offer a trace of protein, some vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and fibre along with the energy; the cola beverage offers only "empty" calories from sugar without any other nutrients.  Grapes, or any fruit for that matter, are more nutrient dense than cola beverages.

Secrets of a few fruit and vegetables...

Letting you in on a few secrets when it comes to cancer

The South-African Glyceamic Index (GI)

List of carbohydrate food according to the GI Index

Low GI foods (0-55)

Dairy:
Low fat or fat free milk (plain and flavoured)
Low fat or fat free yoghurt (plain and sweetened)
Low fat and fat free custard (sweetened and unsweetened)
Low fat ice cream (sweetened and  unsweetened)
Vitari (dairy free fruit ice cream).

Cereals:
Bokomo Pro Nutro wholewheat (Original and Apple Bake)
Kellogg's Hi Fibre Bran
Cold Mealie Meal porridge
Oat Bran
Kelloggs's All Bran Flakes with skim milk
Bokomo ProNutro
Original with low fat milk.

Breads:
Pro-Vita
Seed loaf bread
Any bread with lots of whole kernels, crushed wheat, oats and or oat bran inside (not ordinary whole wheat bread).

Starches:
Legumes: all dried and canned beans, peas, lentils, pea dahl, baked beans and pasta.
Boiled barley
Boild wheat
Pasta (durum wheat)
Sweet patato
Corn (not sweet corn). Corn on the cob
Basmati and Tasmati rice (whilte and brown).

Fruit:
All deciduous fruit such as apricots, cherries, peaches, plums, pears, apples, etc.
All citrus fruit such as oranges, naarthies, grapefruit, lemons.
Kiwi and grapes - watch portions.

Vegetables:
All those that are not intermediate or high GI.

Snacks / Sugars:
Fructose - not more that 20g a day
Sugar free sweets (not chocholates)
Sugar free jam
Home made low-fat or airpopped popcorn.

Drinks:
Sugrar free cold drink
Juice of low GI fruits: only quarter glass at a time as a fruit portion.

Intermediate GI Index food (55-70)

Dairy:
None.

Cereals:
Kellog's Strawberry Pops
Kellogg's Fruitful Bran
Bokomo ProNutro Flakes
Tastee Wheat
Instant Oats
Kellogg's Corn Pops
Kellogg's All-Bran Flakes
Shredded Wheat
Mealie meal - reheated or with added corn
Oatmeal.

Bread:
Rye bread
Ryvita.

Starches:
Sweetcorn
Brown rice with lentils
Baby potatoes with skins
Couscous
Mealie-meal porridge with added corn.

Fruit:
Tropical fruit such as banana, mango, sultanas, pawpaw, pineapple and litchis.
Dried fruit: Sultanas, dates, raisins.
Melons.

Vegetables
Beetroot
Spinach.

Snacks / Sugars:
Bakers Homewheat - digestive biscuits.
Low fat biscuits containing oats / oat bran / oatmeal
Low fat bran / fruit muffins and pancakes
Low fat oatmeal crumpets
Low fat rusks containing oatbran / oats / oatmeal
Raw honey
Jam - whole fruit apricot, plum and marmalade
Sugar.

Drinks:
Intermediate GI fruits in a juice form - only a quarter cup instead of one fruit.

List of high GI food (70-100)

Diary:
None.

Cereals:
Mealie meal -  refined and coars.
Puffed wheat
Tiger oats and Jungle oats
Maltabella
Wheat Bix
Corn Flakes
Rice Crispies
Pronutro (strawberry, banana, whole-wheat honey melt chocolate).

Bread:
All white, brown and regulat whole wheat bread and bread rolls and anything made with cake flour, bread flour and Nutty wheat flour
Rice cakes
Snack bread, white and whole-wheat.

Starches:
Potatoes: boiled, mashed, baked and fried
Two Minute noodles
Rice, especially sticky rice
Samp
Mealie rice.

Fruit:
Watermelon
Dried fruit rolls.

Vegetables:
Carrots and carrot juice
Pumplkin, butternut,squash
Parsnips
Turnips.

Snacks / Sugars:
Bakers Marie Biscuits
Ice suckers
Nutrigrain bars
Wafer biscuits
Tofu ( frozen dairy free desert)
Glucose
Maltose
Sweets - boiled and jelly type
Honey (commercial).

Drinks:
Game
Energade
Powerade
Lucozade.

Please note: Brand names indicate the brands tested.  Similar types of food but of other brand name cannot be guaranteed to heave the same index.  By eating oats nad mealiepap cold as well as adding skim milk, the GI can be lowered.

Regular plum and apricot jam and marmalade have intermediate GI index values and can be eaten in small quantities e.g. one teaspoon on bread.  One teaspoon will then be one portion of carbohydrates (e.g. 1 slice of toast with 1 teaspoon of marmalade instead of two slices of toast).  The more chunky the fruit, the lower the GI.

How to prevent or alleviate common GI problems

Strategies to prevent or alleviate common GI problems

Choking:

• Take small bites from food.
• Chew thoroughly before swallowing.
• Don't talk or laugh with food in your mouth.
• Don't eat when breathing hard.

Diarrhoea:

• Rest.
• Drink fluids to replace losses.
• Call for medical help if diarrhoea persists.

Constipation:

• Eat a high-fibre diet.
• Drink plenty of fluids.
• Exercise regularly.
• Respond promptly to the urge to defecate.

Belching:

• Eat slowly.
• Chew thoroughly.
• Relax while eating.

Intestinal gas:

• Eat bothersome foods in moderation.

Heartburn:

• Eat small meals.
• Drink liquids between meals.
• Sit up while eating, elevate your head when lying down.
• Wait 1 hour after eating before lying down.
• Wait 2 hours after eating before exercising.
• Refrain from wearing tight-fitting clothing.
• Avoid foods, beverages, and medications that aggravate your heartburn.
• Refrain form smoking cigarettes or using tobacco products.
• Lose weight if overweight.

Ulcer:

• Take medicine as prescribed by your physician.
• Avoid coffee and caffeine- and alcohol containing beverages.
• Avoid foods that aggravate your ulcer.
• Minimize aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen use.
• Refrain from smoking cigarettes.