But this does not mean that turning vegetarian overnight will make you slimmer. There are a number of vegetarian food items which include higher amount of calories like nuts, peanut butter, salad dressings, sweets etc. which can make you fatter. Not only that, vegetarians must make sure that their diet provides all the necessary nutrients, especially proteins.

Advantages of vegetarian diet

Experts say that calories from plant based foods are being used more as fuel for the body than stored as fat. One reason for this is the fact that vegetarian food increases insulin sensitivity. As a result, nutrients enter the cells more rapidly to be converted as heat, rather than to be stored as fat. Vegetarian food is also low in saturated fat.

The number of obese among vegetarians is comparatively lesser. Vegetarianism also keeps obesity-related health problems like heart diseases, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes at bay.

Nutrients-rich vegetarian food

It is not fair to compromise health for weight loss. So plan your vegetarian diet in such a way that you are not deprived of any essential nutrients. You can get enough proteins from nuts, seeds, legumes and soy products like tofu and tempeh. Whole grains and rice can keep you satisfied for longer duration. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables that can provide you enough vitamins and minerals. If you are not using dairy products, you can have soy-based alternatives for milk, yoghurt and cheese fortified with calcium, vitamin D and riboflavin. You can also take daily multi-vitamin and mineral supplements to fill nutritional gaps, if there is any.

Things to avoid

While sticking on to vegetarian diet, it is important to avoid items which contain high calories like cheese, butter, salad dressing and fried food. Snacks, crackers and candy are also in the ‘to avoid’ list. Not only do they add unwanted calories but also has zero nutritional value.

Can everybody follow a vegetarian diet?

Some experts do not agree with the argument that anybody can follow a vegetarian diet. It is advisable for children, teenagers, pregnant and breast-feeding mothers to consult the doctor to make sure that they do not miss the much needed nutrients like proteins and minerals while following vegetarian diet.

For better results

You must plan what you are going to eat and must avoid last minute choices, which will not always be the right choice. You can add variety to your daily menu by including different fruits and vegetables, instead of following a monotonous diet every day.

As bones are in a constant state of rebuilding, when it become porous they would lose its strength in supporting our body structures. And hence the danger here is facing bones fracture incident.

A young person with strong resilient bones, who experiences a simple broken or fractured bone will heal fairly quickly. However, an older person who experiences a Hip fracture ( which is a common occurrence among seniors with osteoporosis ), could find that he has crossed the threshold into disability and worse.

More often than not, many people have the wrong idea thinking that osteoporosis is a woman’s disease. While it could be true that women can be at higher risk of bone loss during ( and after ) menopause, men also are commonly afflicted.

While genetics could plays a role in the development of osteoporosis, there’s a lot that you can actually do now to improve your chances of having a strong, flexible bones when moving into old age. More commonly, these are :-

1. Boost your calcium and vitamin D intake.

Calcium is a mineral used in a wide variety in our body functions. If you’re not getting sufficient calcium from your diet, your body will begin to break down the calcium in your bones to use it elsewhere.

Vitamin D helps your body both absorb calcium and deposit it into the bones. Many medical studies have demonstrated that adequate amounts of both calcium mineral and vitamin D will improve bone mineral density. Adequate vitamin D in daily dietary intake is important to preserve bone strength.

Our skin actually makes vitamin D when exposed to ultraviolet rays of the sun. Unfortunately, many of us do not get sufficient vitamin D from either sunlight or dietary sources, so it may be important to consider adding a supplement to your diet.

Some of the best sources of calcium are low-fat and non fat dairy products like yogurt, sardines, broccoli, fortified soymilk and soy foods, cereals and much more.

2. Resistance exercise to preserve bone strength.

Resistance training and weight-bearing exercise like walking would certainly helps to stimulate new bone formation. It also helps preserves lean body mass , which also helps to keep your weight scale in-check. Exercise in general and soft type, example “Tai Chi” , could helps to enhances flexibility.

3. Don’t forget your Vitamin K

Vitamin K, is being recognized as an important player in the promotion of bone strength. There has been research showing that when a person who took vitamin K supplements, along with vitamin D, zinc, calcium, and magnesium, had significantly less bone loss after three years compared with others who took either a placebo or the same supplements minus the vitamin K.

Currently, common recommended dose for vitamin K is 9o mcg (micrograms) a day for women, and 120 mcg a day for men. Vitamin K is particularly abundant in spinach, other sources include cabbage too.

4. Potassium – Bone Booster.

Research has shown that people who get a good supply of potassium experience less bone loss than others who do not. As potassium is readily available in many fruits and vegetables, we should have no problem to reach daily healthy intake of potassium of 8,000 mg . For knowledge, a single potato has 940 mg of potassium, and a banana contains 490 mg !

5. Watch Your Caffeine Consumption.

It is well known that excessive amounts of caffeine can affect bone strength, as it increases the amount of calcium excreted in the urine. Limit your daily coffee consumption ! Don’t forget that soda contain caffeine as well as phosphates, which tend to pull calcium from the bones.

While many people love coffee, and some consider it a must for daily intake, you should consider adding some non fat milk, or low-fat milk, or calcium-fortified soymilk to your coffee. This could helps to counteract adverse effects of the caffeine.

So what should you do? You want to get the body you want without sacrificing your favorite foods or doing hard exercises. Believe it or not, you could do that. However, the results probably take a bit longer. Let’s say, it would take 30 days so you could see the results with your own eyes, than any weight loss program that promises you the fast weight loss in 7 days.

Would you do it? Would you trade the dream of fast weight loss with the conscious one? The one which you can still eat your favorite food while you’re having a fun diet plan? If you do, keep reading.

In the recent studies, it’s concluded that your body absorbs more nutrition from the food that you like. It means, even if you stuff yourself with healthy salads or broccolis that you don’t like, your body have a lower chance to absorb the nutrition. Why is that happen? Well, because if the smell or sight of salads can’t make you droll, why do you think your stomach not feeling the same way?

When you see some foods that you like, for example, a roasted chicken with a special sauce, the smell or sight of it will trigger our stomach to release more digestive enzymes. This is the big differences between the consummation of salads and roasted chicken. These digestive enzymes will digest and absorbs more nutrition from your roasted chicken, than the one with salads. So, if you’re not sure you could barely alive by eating salads everyday, it’s suggested that you get back to your favorite food. But please, do discipline yourself not to overeat it. If you could only eat HALF of your usual portion, it would be better that way.

So, how to fit your favorite foods into your diet plan?

First, make sure the food you like contain nutritious substances. It means vegetables, proteins, fruits and whole grains are much preferable than any packed-specially-for-your-diet-plan type of food. Do anything you like with the food that you choose. Steam, bake, fry, or grill them as you like. Of course, it is as long as you’re more than willing to eat the foods when you’re done.

Second, find out the reasons why you need to eat. Is it because you like the foods? Is it because you’re totally hungry? Is it because you’re in the social party? Or is it because your stress triggers the needs to eat more foods? Find out the reasons of your desire to eat. That’s why it’s always suggested that you make 6 small portions of meals instead of 3 big meals so that you could eat something constantly every 3-4 hours and avoid the hunger that force you to overeat.

Third, chew slowly. Enjoy your meals by chewing it slowly. Savor every taste and texture. It’s important to eat slowly and enjoy it because you’ll feel full faster than just stuffed the foods into your mouth.

So, what about the result ? Easy diet plan and weight loss with appropriate nutritional intake and achieving optimum health.

Commonly, asthma is treated with drug that open-up airways for smoother breathing, and reduce inflammation as well as avoiding substances that would trigger attacks. However, some researches might sugges that certain nutrients could well play a role in easin asthma, by reducing the lung’s airway sensitivity, and as well dampening inflammation.

For instance, people who intakes of at least 100milligrams daily of dietary magnesium could lead to reduce in airway hyperactivity, which potentially reduce asthma. Magnesium, an essential mineral for every organ in our body, helps relax muscles around our blood vessel and airways. For some with life threatening asthma attack which doesn’t respond to usual drugs, Intravenous Magnesium could be of help.

Although there as yet solid clinical result that prove magnesium supplement to be of positive and significant result, it is still a good idea to have daily intake of about 400milligrams of Magnesium, which most people fall short of this level. Some of the magnesium rich foods are beans, nuts, whole grains..etc . But be sure to consult your healthcare professional before hand.

Sometimes, people with asthma takes Vitamin C too, as they believe in the healing power of Vitamin C . Indeed, vitamin C does help, especially in fighting cold and flu. Unknowingly, Vitamin C may help to reduce asthma attack by 10% ~ 20% . Although these could suggest that Vitamin C helps, it doesn’t however, prevent asthma. It works on improving lung capacity which help in reducing the risk.

Vitamin C helps in protecting our lungs in several ways. It’s antioxidant actions protect our lungs from those damaging effects in smokes, by neutralizing those harmful chemical and prevent them from damaging our cells. Apart from Vitamin C , other nutrients with similar antioxidant action coul also be helpful, which include Vitamin E , laboratory studies shows it does help in reducing inflammation.

In addition, apart from those nutrients above, calcium, copper, Vitamin D , zinc, may also play supporting roles in easing the asthma symptoms. It is a good idea to consult your local health care professionals before you decided to take on these supplements.

For instance, the bladder cancer, regular use of Vitamin E shows a reduced risk level of bladder cancer deaths. Another cancer, the prostate cancer which is common in male smokers. Smokers with regular intake of Vitamin E supplement do shows reduced risk of prostate cancer. For women with highest blood level of Vitamin E have much lower risk of breast cancer comparing to those who has lower level of Vitamin E in their blood.

Another interesting discover is that Vitamin E could act as the first line of defense against lung cancer. The vitamin try to neutralize those harmful free radical that harm lung cells and tissues.  Vitamin E may also stimulate and enhance our body immune system. Based on these positives protection that Vitamin E could have, it may prove to be a key factor in cancer prevention actions.

Nevertheless, from our daily food intakes, Vitamin E is often not sufficient enough to be that of effective level. It is difficult to get large amount of Vitamin E thru daily dietary source. Only thru supplements intakes, we can then possibly obtain sufficient level of Vitamin E for it to be effective cancer fighter. Look for those supplements that are ‘mixed natural tocopherols’ which offer more varieties.