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Diets, Diets, Diets…Do They Work?
Almost everyone has attempted to follow diets and weight loss programs at some time in their lives. The trouble with so many diets and low fat diets is that they are hard to follow. Some diets leave you hungry and craving food all the time. A...
Living and eating for maximum nutrition and energy
The past few years have seen a bit of a resurgence of interest in healthy living and healthy eating, and that is a good thing. We all know that most people do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, and that many people eat too much of the wrong...
Want to grow taller? Pay attention to your nutrition for height increase.
Humans grow fastest during the first two to three years of life. Then the height growth slows down through childhood until about age 10 or 11. At this point, girls accelerate in height to reach their maximum by age 17 while boys shoot up a little...
What's In Your Dog Food?
According to holistic veternarian Dr. Jane Bicks, the maximum life span of dogs is estimated to be around 25 to 30 years, yet the average dog generally lives no longer than about 13 to 14 years.
She says that this deficit is due largely to...
Why have healthy nutrition?
While many people know that there are benefits to having a good nutritional plan, few regard it as being very important. Many people wonder, why have healthy nutrition?
In a world where fast food is quicker, simpler, and sometimes better tasting,...
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The Delicious Path Of Antiaging Nutrition
Plant nutrients play a key role in anti aging. Fruit,
vegetables, and plant extracts have an array of chemical
constituents, called phytochemicals or phytonutrients, that are
hugely beneficial to skin health and beauty.
In plants, phytochemicals confer characteristics like color,
which can help the plant by providing an attractive beacon to
passing bees to help in pollination. Or they offer a protective
effect to the plant to prevent insects from harming it, or repel
grazing animals. But they have often been found to have benefits
for human health when analyzed in laboratories. It is these
chemicals in plants that make fruit and vegetables so much more
valuable than simply the macro nutrients like vitamin C.
Antioxidants are one class of phytonutrients, though there are
many. Antioxidants work by supplying an extra oxygen molecule to
those molecules that are missing one, called free radicals. If
antioxidants don't supply the missing oxygen molecule to free
radicals, the free radicals will take an oxygen molecule from
another compound in the body, making one that was previously
healthy and intact itself a free radical. Free radicals are not
'baddies', simply unstable chemical molecules, but the effect
they have on the body is negative, as they can damage cells.
Free radicals are produced as a normal by product of the
metabolic processes of our cells, as well as by our immune
system as it counteracts the effects of pathogens and the
environment.
The trick is to keep the balance in the body where there is
enough of a supply of antioxidants to cope with the body's
production of free radicals.
Free radicals affect the skin in three main ways. They can alter
the fatty layers in your cellular membranes. These fatty layers
provide structure to the cell, and control which nutrients and
other agents can pass in and out. They can alter the DNA within
cells, which aside from the potential to develop into serious
illnesses, can make your skin inclined
to wrinkles and sagging
before its natural biological time. Altered DNA creates a
blueprint for collagen and elastin fibers that don't function as
healthy, normal ones would. And to compound matters, the skin's
pores need healthy collagen and elastin fibers to stay tight and
small. So another undesired result is open, large pores.
Free radicals also lead to a process called the cross-linking of
collagen fibers. This occurs in the skin's dermis, as a result
of collagen and elastin fibers becoming hard, thick, and then
binding together. Cross-linked fibers create wrinkles, skin sag,
and cause your regular expression lines to become etched in your
face as a permanent fixture. With healthy collagen and elastin
fibers these expression lines would simply disappear once you
moved your facial muscles in a different way. And enzymes that
metabolize collagen are encouraged by free radicals, which,
given the importance of collagen in youthful looking skin, is
best minimized.
Other phytonutrients in plants that are of importance to skin
beauty are carotenoids and flavanoids. Flavanoids are great for
the health of blood vessels. They strengthen the capillaries
that supply important nutrients to the skin's cells, as well as
supporting cellular membranes. Healthy cell membranes regenerate
quickly, and slow the aging process. Carotenoids also strengthen
cell membranes. It seems carrots are not just good for eyesight!
And flavanoids help reduce inflammation, as well as increasing
levels of glutathione, which is an antioxidant.
References: Erica Angyal, Gorgeous Skin In 30 Days (Lothian
Books, 2005)
About the author:
If acne is a problem for you, check out these acne nutrition tips and natural acne treatments for information on how to
manage acne whilst supporting your health as a whole.
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| Nutrition.gov Homepage |
| US federal guide offering access to all government web sites with reliable and accurate information on nutrition and dietary guidance. |
| www.nutrition.gov |
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| American Society for Nutrition |
| Publication from the American Academy of Nutritional Sciences. Includes past and current issues online with subscription information. |
| www.nutrition.org |
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| Food and Nutrition Information Center Home Page: |
| Has dietary supplements, guidelines, food guide pyramid, child care nutrition, food safety, and topics from AZ. |
| fnic.nal.usda.gov |
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| British Nutrition Foundation |
| Promotes the nutritional wellbeing of society through the impartial interpretation and effective dissemination of scientifically based nutritional knowledge ... |
| www.nutrition.org.uk |
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| NutritionData's Nutrition Facts Calorie Counter |
| Nutrition facts calorie counter and calculator promotes healthy eating by telling you, in simple terms, what is good and bad about the foods you eat. |
| www.nutritiondata.com |
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| Nutrition Explorations: The Fun and Easy Way to Teach and Learn ... |
| Nutrition Explorations provides nutrition education information and resources for teachers, school foodservice professionals, parents, families and kids. |
| www.nutritionexplorations.org |
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| About Nutrition - Nutrition, Diets, and Vitamin Supplements Help |
| Guide to nutrition information with vitamin and mineral index, news updates, free e-mail newsletter, chat room, discussion forums, and recipe boards. |
| nutrition.about.com |
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| MyPyramid.gov - United States Department of Agriculture - Home |
| The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion created the food pyramid guidance system. Find updated information about daily food recommendations, ... |
| www.mypyramid.gov |
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| American Dietetic Association |
| Nutrition information, resources, and access to Registered Dietitians provided by ADA and the National Center for Nutrition and Dietetics. |
| www.eatright.org |
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| MedlinePlus: Nutrition |
| (Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion) - Links to PDF; Whole Grains: High in Nutrition and Fiber, yet Low in Fat (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education ... |
| www.nlm.nih.gov |
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| Dole 5 A Day - We make 5 A Day fun! |
| Learn the importance of eating five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Includes recipes for kids to try. |
| www.dole5aday.com |
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| Nutrition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| An encyclopedia article on nutrition, including sections on history, health, food processing, longevity, lifetstyle, policy, holistic approaches, ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Nutrition Cafe |
| Be a Nutrition Sleuth, play the Grab-a-Grape game or build a meal in the Have-a-Bite Cafe. [Optional Flash version] |
| exhibits.pacsci.org |
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| ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine -- Nutrition News |
| Answers to questions about nutrition, body weight, herbal and nutritional supplements, and the role of diet in improving and maintaining your health. |
| www.sciencedaily.com |
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| Nutrition Source, Harvard School of Public Health |
| Harvard School of Public Health and Nutrition Research covers latest information on fiber, fats, calcium, carbohydrates, eggs, nutritional pyramids, ... |
| www.hsph.harvard.edu |
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| Welcome to Nutrition Australia |
| Non-profit, independent body promoting the health and well-being of all Australians. Includes nutrition news and health facts. |
| www.nutritionaustralia.org |
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| WHO | Nutrition |
| Nutrition is an input to and foundation for health and development. ... Better nutrition means stronger immune systems, less illness and better health. ... |
| www.who.int |
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| Center for Science in the Public Interest |
| Since 1971, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has been a strong advocate for nutrition and health, food safety, alcohol policy, ... |
| www.cspinet.org |
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| American Journal of Clinical Nutrition |
| Publication with nutrition topics, health news, FDA regulations, and legislative events. |
| www.ajcn.org |
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| BBC - Health - Healthy living - Nutrition |
| Offers a wealth of health and nutrition information including recipes, weight calculators, diet tips and nutrition advice. |
| www.bbc.co.uk |
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