17 (More) Tips On How To Drink More Water

1. Keep a jug or bottle of water on your desk – if it is ‘in sight’ you will be more inclined to drink it.
2. Drink water and drive! Keep water in your car. Ideally use a glass bottle rather than the plastic bottles that water is bought in.
3. Automatically drink a glass of water when ever you brush your teeth. That’s already 2 glasses for the day (or should be!).
4. Start your day with a glass of hot water as you get ready for work. Add lemon slices, sliced fresh ginger or mint leaves.
5. Drink from a larger glass. Somehow the thought of drinking 5 glasses instead of 8, may make it easier.
6. Herbal teas, hot or chilled, make a delicious source of water in colder weather.
7. Get a water purification system. Purified water may taste better than your tap water.
8. Alternate every cup of regular tea or coffee with a glass of water. This tip alone helps to reduce coffee intake and increase water intake without feeling deprived or putting in much effort.
9. Make water look and taste appealing by adding some sliced fruit or even cucumber. I added a few maraschino cherries to my jug of water the other day and not only did the water turn a pleasing pink but it tasted better too.
10. Keep water chilled if it tastes better for you although room temperature water is best.
11. Remember to always stay hydrated when drinking alcohol. Have one glass of water with every alcoholic beverage.
12. Cheesy? It works! Having a cool or cute cup or bottle can encourage you to drink out of it.
13. Exercising can help make you want to drink water more. It’s not necessary to drink sports drinks when you exercise, unless you are doing it for more than an hour and a half (90 minutes). Just drink water. If you’re going to exercise, be sure to drink water a couple hours ahead of time, so that it will get through your system in time, and again, drink during and after exercise as well.
14. Keep a large glass or bottle of water next to your bed, you’d be surprised how much more water you consume when not simply drinking from the bathroom tap.
15. Get in the habit of drinking a cup of water when you do other things in your daily routine. Love taking a long bath? Fill your water bottle when filling the tub. Walking the dog? Keep your bottle beside you. Reading a book or watching TV? Always bring a cup of water along. Develop water habits that go with your routines.
16. Sip water through a straw. Not only are straws fun but you may drink more water this way.
17. Track it. Keep a record of the amount of water that you drink. Keeping a record will make you more aware of your consumption and may help you to reach your drinking quota easier!

WORKPLACE WELLNESS TIP: Ensure there are adequate water coolers in the office, especially in coffee pause areas.

 

Benefits of Drinking Water

“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.” -Thomas Fuller

Nutrition is not just about what you eat – what you drink is just as important! I am sure you’ve also heard, many times, about how important water is. What is all the fuss about? Well think about it, your body has very little capacity to store water and it is for this reason that you cannot survive without water for more than a few days, although you can go without food for much longer.

I don’t know about you but when I don’t drink enough water, I pay the price when I have an energy slump, I get a slight throbbing head ache and I think I am hungry because my mouth is dry!

Do you perhaps feel tired, hungry and have a headache most afternoons? The solution could be as simple as a glass of refreshing water rather than another cup of coffee or a sweet treat!

How much water? The general recommendation is about 2 litres of water a day for adults. I use the following simple formula …

Your body weight in kg divided by 10 = the number of glasses of water you should be drinking every day. (1 glass = 250 ml) Thus a man weighing 83kg would need about eight glasses of water daily.

Want to drink more water but don’t like the taste? Try comfort water.

This is a great tactic for coffee and tea drinkers. While you’re waiting for the coffee to brew or kettle to boil, nuke a glass of water (or herbal tea), squeeze in a bit of lemon and sip while you wait. Hot water is also a great treat on a cold afternoon or evening. Invest in a new kind of herbal tea every time you grocery shop until you’ve found a couple that are just right.

Become a connoisseur …

Think of water drinking like wine tasting. Taste the various brands and types of bottled waters available (sparkling, spring, mineral, reverse osmosis, filtered, etc). Be sure to read the labels as some “waters” have significantly added kilojoules.

More water drinking tips to flow in next article …

 

7 Practical Cholesterol Lowering Foods

Millions of people are at risk for disease due to their high cholesterol levels. Are you one of them? You may be interested to know that certain foods can be particularly useful in lowering your cholesterol levels. Keep in mind that there is no one particular food that is best, but rather that your whole diet should be varied and balanced with a focus on keeping fat in check (see other articles on managing your dietary fat intake).

1. Olives, avocado and olive or avocado oil

 Olives and avocados are rich in monounsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E. Research has shown that foods with a high monounsaturated fatty acid content lower “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and increase ‘good’ high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Have one tablespoon of olive oil a day over salads or use in cooking. Add olives to your salads or have a few olives as a snack on the run.

2. Legumes

 Legumes include dry, cooked or canned beans, lentils, peas and all the soya products (cooked or canned soya beans, soya mince, cubes, milk, tofu and tempeh). Legumes have a high fibre and are also naturally low in fat and don’t contain any cholesterol. They are also all slow releasing (low glycaemic index). Try and eat legumes at least three to four times a week. TIPS: Add lentils to mince; add chickpeas to salads; make hummus as a dip for crudites; have beans on toast as breakfast or add split lentils to stews and casseroles.

3. Fat-free dairy

When consumed in large amounts in its whole-fat state, milk and dairy products can contribute to heart disease by raising blood cholesterol levels, obesity and some types of cancer. Choose fat free dairy products as much as possible. Once the fat has been removed from a dairy product, it also removes practically all the cholesterol.

4. Antioxidant-rich fruit and vegetables

All fruits and vegetables can help to lower cholesterol and protect the heart. Two groups are particularly useful, namely those fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamin C, or rich in beta-carotene.

If you have heart disease or raised cholesterol levels, make sure you get at least five portions of fruit and vegetables per day! A portion would be one fistful or 1 cup i.e. 1 piece of fruit, ½ cup cooked veg, 1 full cup salad. Visit www.fiveaday.co.za for more information.

5. Spice of life

Garlic, ginger and turmeric are really dynamite foods in small packages. They not only add big flavour but they add big nutritional value too. Use these dynamite foods as much as possible in your food preparation.

6. Soluble fibre in oats and oatbran

Oats and oat bran have a high soluble fibre content which can actively lower blood cholesterol levels. Add oatbran to smoothies and baking and have a bowl of oats (not instant) every day to keep your cholesterol in check.

7. Fatty Fish

Researchers have discovered that people who eat fish rich in omega 3, three or more times a week are less likely to suffer from heart disease and high blood pressure. The best fish sources of omega-3 fatty acids are fatty fish such as salmon, fresh tuna, trout and sardines, although eating any type of unfried or unbuttered fish will benefit your heart. If you choose not to eat fish then taking a good omega 3 supplement will suffice, as long as it provides about 1000 mg of EPA and DHA.

 

The Cholesterol Low Down For Busy People

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a substance that’s found in the fats (lipids) in your blood. While your body needs cholesterol to continue building healthy cells and to produce certain hormones, having too high cholesterol can increase your risk of heart disease. Low cholesterol foods.

When you have high cholesterol, you may develop fatty deposits in your blood vessels (a process referred to as atherosclerosis). Eventually, these deposits make it difficult for enough blood to flow through your arteries. Your heart may not get as much oxygen-rich blood as it needs, which increases the risk of a heart attack. Decreased blood flow to your brain can cause a stroke.

High cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia) can be inherited, but is often preventable and treatable. A healthy diet, regular exercise and sometimes medication can go a long way toward reducing high cholesterol.

Cholesterol is carried through your blood, attached to proteins. This combination of proteins and cholesterol is called a lipoprotein. You may have heard of different types of cholesterol, based on what type of cholesterol the lipoprotein carries. They are:

• Low-density lipoprotein (LDL). LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol transports cholesterol particles throughout your body. LDL cholesterol builds up in the walls of your arteries, making them hard and narrow.

• Very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL). This type of lipoprotein contains the most triglycerides, a type of fat, attached to the proteins in your blood. VLDL cholesterol makes LDL cholesterol larger in size, causing your blood vessels to narrow. If you’re taking cholesterol-lowering medication but have a high VLDL level, you may need additional medication to lower your triglycerides.

• High-density lipoprotein (HDL). HDL, or “good,” cholesterol picks up excess cholesterol and takes it back to your liver.

Factors within your control — such as inactivity, obesity and an unhealthy diet — contribute to high LDL cholesterol and low HDL cholesterol.

Factors beyond your control may play a role, too. For example, your genetic makeup may keep cells from removing LDL cholesterol from your blood efficiently or cause your liver to produce too much cholesterol.

You’re more likely to have high cholesterol that can lead to heart disease if you have any of these risk factors:

• Smoking. Cigarette smoking damages the walls of your blood vessels, making them likely to accumulate fatty deposits. Smoking may also lower your level of HDL, or “good,” cholesterol.

• Obesity. Having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater puts you at risk of high cholesterol. Your BMI can be calculated by diving your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in metres therefore kg/(m)2.

• Poor diet. Foods that are high in cholesterol, such as red meat and full-fat dairy products, will increase your total cholesterol. Eating saturated fat, found in animal products, and trans fats, found in some commercially baked cookies and crackers, also can raise your cholesterol level.

• Lack of exercise. Exercise helps boost your body’s HDL “good” cholesterol while lowering your LDL “bad” cholesterol. Not getting enough exercise puts you at risk of high cholesterol.

• High blood pressure. Increased pressure on your artery walls damages your arteries, which can speed the accumulation of fatty deposits.

• Diabetes. High blood sugar contributes to higher LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol. High blood sugar also damages the lining of your arteries.

• Family history of heart disease. If a parent or sibling developed heart disease before age 55, high cholesterol levels place you at a greater than average risk of developing heart disease.

This adjusted summary comes from the Mayo Clinic.

Look out for other blog entries for more information on cholesterol lowering foods and diet.

Other useful resources:

http://www.heartfoundation.co.za

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu

 

High Blood Pressure Diet

Blood pressure is the force that the heart produces in the arteries as it pumps blood around the body and that of the arteries resisting the flow.

Blood pressure when measured presents two readings: Systolic- that is the pressure when the heart contracts to pump blood to the body. Tester will take the reading when they hear the first sound the heart makes. Diastolic- pressure when the heart relaxes between beats.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is also called ‘The silent killer’ as it usually doesn’t present with many symptoms, besides slight headaches and feeling dizzy.

Did you know? High blood pressure can affect anyone at any age. You can be the calmest and relaxed person but still have high blood pressure diet.

A number of factors put an individual at risk of high blood pressure:

• Inactivity – exercise helps to regulate blood pressure as well as weight.
• Poor diet – having excessive amounts of salts and fats in your diet.
• Excess weight may also rise blood pressure.
• Excessive alcohol intake.
• Smoking – the chemicals in the tobacco can damage the lining of your arteries which will promote their narrowing which in turns increases blood pressure.
• Stress- when stressed you automatically raise your blood pressure.

High blood pressure is managed with medication and a healthy lifestyle. Diet and exercise play a major role in helping to manage blood pressure. For instance, losing just 5 to 10% of excess weight can significantly lower your blood pressure if it is elevated.

Nutritional tips to help you manage hypertension

 1. Decreasing your sodium intake

Sodium, found in salt is something we need in our diets, but most of us eat too much of it. Reducing salt in the diet can lower blood pressure. Try to have less than 2,400 milligrams of sodium a day, the same as 6 grams of salt a day, or about 1 teaspoon. That includes ALL sodium and salt — what’s in the product, and added in cooking and at the table. If reading labels of the food you are eating then aim for less than 500 mg sodium per serving.

Typically high sodium foods include:

• Bakery items – breads, biscuits and pastries
• Canned or tinned foods
• Convenience or ready-made  foods – frozen dinners, pizza, cereals and packaged mixes
• Cheese
• Deli items – bacon, luncheon meats, corned beef, smoked meats or fish, sardines, anchovies and mayonnaise-based salads such as coleslaw
• Savoury snack foods – crackers, crisps, chips and dips
• Condiments – stock, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, salad dressings, pickles, olives and salsa
• Sauces – gravy, barbecue, pasta, teriyaki and soy sauces

Note: You can eat your entire daily requirement of salt, and more, in a single fast food meal!

 2. Increasing potassium and magnesium

Make an effort to eat fresh fruit or vegetables at every meal. Ideally half of every meal you eat should be made up of colour from nature’s colour palette so salad, vegetables and/or fruit.

Take a magnesium supplement that ensures the intake of 500mg elemental magnesium per day. This may be a simple inexpensive way of supporting a healthy blood pressure and boosting your health.

3. Omega 3 fatty acids – eat more fish!

Omega-3 fish oils are a must for anyone with cardiovascular risk. Omega-3s also lower blood pressure. A daily intake of 1,500 mg of EPA and DHA is suggested. In this case it’s the EPA that seems most important.

Fish oils contain both EPA and DHA. A serving of oily fish, such as a 150g piece of wild salmon, can provide around 3,000 mg of omega-3 fats. Of this, perhaps a quarter (800 mg) is EPA. You should aim for a minimum of 400 mg EPA per day. That’s either two high-potency omega-3 fish oil capsules a day, or half a serving of an omega-3 rich fish such as sardines, herring, or mackerel. Having three servings of fish a week and an omega-3 fish oil supplement providing around 200 mg of EPA a day is a good way to start.

Flax seed oil is also a good source of Omega-3 fatty acids but take note: You have to eat a balanced diet with enough fruits and vegetables and take a multivitamin supplement to ensure that your body metabolises the flaxseed oil effectively

4. Fluid intake

If your blood level goes down, so does your blood pressure. By making your kidneys work harder, certain medications lower blood pressure. But you also lose valuable minerals such as magnesium and potassium. You’d do better by drinking more water. When there’s a lack of water, your body does everything it can to reserve what water it has. That means the sodium level inside your body goes up, because sodium can hold water inside cells. Therefore, your blood pressure goes up. Drinking about 2 liters (8 glasses) of water a day can ensure proper kidney functioning and assist with blood pressure control.

5. Supplementation

• A good all-round multivitamin formula
• Vitamin C
• Magnesium, 500 mg elemental per day
• Calcium, 1000 mg elemental per day
• Omega 3 (see section above)

REMEMBER, high blood pressure is not a life sentence. Through exercise, medication and correct eating plan it can be managed.

Foods That Give You Energy

There are many factors to consider if you want to optimize your energy levels. Not only what you eat, but how much and when you eat is just as important.

Choosing slower release, higher fibre foods as such as possible is probably a great place to start!

The glycemic index (GI) is nutritional tool that can help you to easily differentiate between fast release, and slow release carbohydrates, which will enable you to optimise your ‘fuel’ levels in your body.

Not only can the GI help you to sustain your energy levels but by using the GI concept in combination with low fat eating, both cholesterol and blood pressure can be lowered. For those wanting to lose weight, the increased sense of fullness given by the lower GI foods, and the fact that less insulin (a hormone that also encourages the body to store fat) is secreted by a low GI diet, results in better weight loss.

All foods that have a GI of 55 or less are slow release carbohydrates and classed as LOW GLYCAEMIC INDEX FOODS. Foods with a lower GI, if eaten in the correct portions, release glucose slowly and steadily into the bloodstream.

They are the best choices in preventing a large rise in blood glucose levels. The low GI foods are more satisfying and do not cause the release of as much insulin as high GI foods do.

Fluctuating blood glucose levels and high insulin levels are implicated in all the diseases of our modern lifestyles such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, diabetes, obesity and heart disease.

Here are some lower GI foods that give you energy:

Legumes: baked beans, butter beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, sugar beans, lentils, etc.
Oat bran
Barley
Dense & heavy breads: seed loaf, rye bread, low GI bread
Pasta (Durum wheat)
Tastic rice, Brown rice
Sweet potato and Sweet corn

Cereals: Hi-Fibre Bran, Fibre Plus, Bran Flakes
Deciduous fruits: apples, pears, grapes, etc
Citrus fruits: oranges, grapefruit, naartjies, etc
Vegetables (with a few exceptions)
Yoghurts: low fat, fruit and plain

Note: Product formulations differ from country to country even though they may have the same name therefore it is best to stick to those for the country you live in.

Excellent low GI recipe books called EATING FOR SUSTAINED ENERGY can be ordered from www.gabisteenkamp.co.za.

Dash The Weight While Dining Out

From business lunches to braais and coffee shop visits to Friday night take aways. Eating out seems to be more popular than eating in as part of our modern lifestyles! Eating out is a nice treat, a great way to socialise or a convenient option when you don’t have time to cook a meal … But the kilojoules, fat, sugar and sodium can add up quickly! It certainly is possible to dine out and still dash the kilos, as long as you make some smarter choices most of the time.

BEFORE eating out:

• When possible, go to places that make it easier for you to order healthier options.
• It helps to decide what you would like to eat before getting to a restaurant to help with ‘wont power’ as you peruse the menu.
• Don’t go out ravenous as it may encourage overeating – eat a smart snack such as a fresh fruit, yoghurt or handful of nuts before hand.
• Watch out for drinking alcohol on an empty stomach; wait for the meal to arrive before enjoying your glass of wine.

WHEN ordering:

• Downsize it. Most marketplace food and drink portions are distorted and now exceed standard serving sizes. Pick nutrition over value. Order from the starter selections or split a meal with your friend or colleague.
• Avoid the bread and rolls that are offered as you arrive unless you would prefer to eat this in place of your starch at your meal.
• Preparation is key. Order foods that have been steamed, baked, broiled, grilled, stir-fried or roasted. The hidden fat and calories add up quickly when food is fried, crumbed or served with sauces. Read the menu carefully to ascertain the preparation methods used.
• Ask for the nutrition information of menu choices or check out the restaurant’s website ahead of time to look for healthier options.
• Compensate by skipping parts of the meal you like less.  Have an “I can eat that food any time” approach.

DURING eating:

• No matter where you are eating, remember to fill half of your plate with colourful foods from nature’s colour palette – salad and/or vegetables. The meat, fish or chicken portion should be about the size of the palm of your hand and the starch (including the bread and pudding) should be the size of your fist.
• Chew your food slowly, savoring every bite. We tend to rush though our meals, forgetting to actually taste the flavors and feel the textures of what is in our mouths.
• Engage in conversation and stop eating while doing so, this will help you to pace your meal.
• Salads are generally a good choice. A salad should not be drowned in dressing – only drizzle on enough to enhance the flavours of the salad and use ones that are fat or oil free such as flavoured vinegars or lemon juice with seasoning.
• Sauces are usually high in fat or sugar. Order them on the side and only drizzle the sauce over the food.
• Omit the starch with your main meal (bread, potato, chips, pasta) if you choose to have a starter or a pudding.
• Fruit juices, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages are very energy dense. Rather have water as the beverage of choice with meals.

AFTER dining:

• Listen to your body. During a meal, stop eating before you feel full. It actually takes a few minutes for your brain to tell your body that it has had enough food, so eat slowly.
• Make sure you send your plate away so that you are not tempted to eat more just because the food is still in front of you.
• Be careful of dessert denial as it can be counter productive. Most people feel a dessert rounds off a good meal. However, desserts are high in fat and kilojoules. Rather share a dessert between two to four people to satisfy the need for a sweet ending.
• Remember that healthy eating and weight loss is about enjoying your food and balancing food choices over time. So if you overindulge at one meal, try to make healthier choices at your next meals.

Hungry For A Hamburger Or A Hug?

You know the scene: You’re just about to log off from your computer when you spot an email from your colleague asking you to urgently complete a report before you leave the office. The report will take you at least half an hour and that means you will be stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic all the way home. Immediately, you feel the need for a snack: the day has been long and is about to become even longer! And that’s how you find yourself in front of the vending machine picking a chocolate you might have otherwise not have had instead of healthy fast food.

We eat for various reasons and there are different forms of “hunger”:

• Head hunger

It’s 12h00 so I must be hungry for lunch now. Although your instincts tell you that you should be hungry at this time of the day, it is not necessarily the case. You could have had a late breakfast, for instance, or a large snack an hour before.

• Mouth hunger

You feel the need to eat something. This could simply be dehydration. Drink a glass or two of water and wait a few minutes to see if the feeling passes.

-        Heart hunger

Emotional triggers can make you feel like eating. Boredom, loneliness, stress and sadness can make you crave a treat to make you feel better. Just bear in mind that it is not only negative feelings that have this effect! Positive feelings such as love and happiness can also trigger emotional eating: just think about how newlyweds pack on the kilos!

• Stomach hunger

Your stomach starts growling. This is real hunger and happens when you haven’t eaten for a while and your blood sugar is starting to drop.

The trick is being able to identify what triggers your hunger or appetite. When you feel hungry, ask yourself if it can wait for a while. Emotional hunger needs to be satisfied instantly whereas physical hunger can wait. Likewise, cravings are like a guest knocking on a door when they know someone is home. They are persistent and keep knocking louder and louder until someone answers and lets them in. For this reason dont let a crave become so persistent that you end up over indulging completely. Feel like some ice cream? Have a small cone rather than ignoring it and ending up having the whole 2 litre tub!

A suggestion to help you think twice before eating when you are not really HUNGRY … Put a giant question mark on your fridge (or the office vending machine if it is appropriate!). The question mark is there to remind you to stop before grabbing a snack or nibbling on something and to ask yourself this question:

Am I really hungry, or do I just want to change the way I feel?

If you just want to change the way you feel then no amount of healthy fast food will satisfy you. You may never get the signal to stop eating because you were never hungry for food in the first place. You will soon recognise a pattern in your eating habits and become able to change them into a healthy diet plan improve your mood, health and overall wellness.