Health News: Healthy Eating Importance? Adds 14 Years to Life, but Healthy Eating for Kids Being IgnoredHow much longer would you live if you followed the healthy living basics 1) don’t smoke 2) exercise regularly 3) drink alcohol in moderation and 4) eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day? An average of 14 years, concluded a study conducted at the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council in Britain. (PLoS Medicine) Researchers followed 20,000 men and women ages 45 to 79 from the mid 1990’s to 2006, who were in good health at the start of the study. By the end, there was a substantial difference in mortality rates between those who adopted all four healthy living practices and those who shunned them –- on average, 14 years. Healthy Eating Importance Ignored for Kids Eating HealthyChildren are being let down by parents who are feeding them too much unhealthy hydrogenated oils, sugar and salt and not enough fruits and vegetables, says another British report by the government, "Food: An Analysis of the Issues."Not only could 70,000 deaths be avoided every year if Britons followed the healthy eating guidelines, says the report, but that: • "Children's diets are proportionally worse than adults and the future of children's health is of particular concern." Small Changes in Healthy Living Make a BIG DifferenceThe lead researcher of the British study, Kay Tee Khaw, says that although people have a some notions of healthy eating importance, they think they need to make big changes that are not feasible. But the truth is that even small achievable differences for healthy living can have a big impact on health.• For instance, some experts say that by simply cutting out trans fats, heart disease rates would drop by 50%. • People with hypertension who eat a small daily serving of dark chocolate will lower their blood pressure. • An apple and a few veggies a day still keeps the doctor away! • Eating more “super foods” such as walnuts may give some protection against the effect of a poor diet: Spanish researchers decided to find out how simple nutrition helps heart health. They asked 24 volunteers to eat a salami and cheese sandwich on white bread followed with high fat yogurt. Then they gave half the volunteers five teaspoons of olive oil, and the other half eight shelled walnuts. The healthy eating importance of both olive oil and of walnuts are that they both have beneficial effects on the arteries after a high fat meal, but walnuts are better. How? Just by adding either of these two foods, they reduced the inflammation and oxidation that cause coronary heart disease. • However, only the walnuts maintained flexibility of the arteries, and not the olive oil. (Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2006) Scientists are stressing healthy eating importance for both young and old. Some kids already have heart disease and "adult onset" diabetes before they are 10 years old, so that scientists are predicting a shorter life span than their parents for this younger generation. • GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY: holds true for both young and old, although less exercise may be needed than you think, but we need more sunshine: low levels of the sunshine vitamin D are being implicated in a host of diseases from cancer, seizures, and Multiple Sclerosis to congestive heart failure. • HEALTHY EATING for children and busy adults: * FAST FOOD and restaurant GUIDE for EATING OUT and eating healthy during HOLIDAY * Giving FAT KIDS A Better Chance * SUCCESSFUL Healthy Eating Advice for KIDS * Creating Healthy Eating ACTIVITIES For KIDS * “BAD” Carbs A CAUSE of Child Obesity and Child HEALTH PROBLEMS, say Scientists * HEALTHY EATING for TODDLERS * How NOT Eating Healthy When PREGNANT Is Passed On * Getting Kids Eating Healthy: 10 Healthy Eating TIPS and a RECIPE * Healthy TEEN Eating TIPS and TRICKS * • DON'T DIET or get SICK anymore -- JUST LEARN TO COOK: * Best COOK BOOKS: Anti Cancer and Heart Disease * * Great Healthy BLUEBERRY Recipes * * SELF DEFEATING HABITS of Otherwise Successful People * NO-DIET Strategies For Weight Loss * One Reason Obese People GAIN Weight MORE EASILY * Eat Yourself BEAUTIFUL * Easy Steps To Eating ORGANIC Meals * Research and Surprises for Healthy Eating ImportanceSome of the new research about healthy eating importance is opposite to what we have heard:• SURPRISE: some of the chemicals found in plastic, shampoos and soap called phthalates are linked to BELLY FAT, OBESITY and INSULIN RESISTANCE in men, increasing the need for awareness of chemicals and better information about chemicals in food and cosmetics. See: How Thyroid Suppressing Foods & Chemicals Keep You Fat • LOW-FAT: Getting on the low fat bandwagon got whole nations such as the USA and even Australia side tracked into getting fatter, adding to obesity with questionable information about the role of fats in eating healthy to lose weight. Neither is “low fat” the best for your heart – the Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil and fish is better for heart disease prevention. The research is overwhelming about eliminating “bad” fats such as hydrogenated and trans fats (from your child’s peanut butter, muffins, cookies etc.) while adding instead, essential fats and omegas from nuts, olive oil, fish and avocados. • EGGS ARE NO LONGER A NO-NO FOOD: Eggs are a nutritious whole food, especially with special healthy eating importance for the young and the old. New findings suggest eggs are an inexpensive source of highly bioavailable lutein, preferable to taking lutein supplements, for protection against age-related macular degeneration. Researchers found that lutein from eggs is more readily absorbed into the bloodstream than lutein from supplements. Low lutein intake is implicated in macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss among older people. (E. J. Johnson, Journal of Nutriton.) More About Nutrition for the Eyes • DIETARY CHOLESTEROL is not a worry compared to harmful TRANS FATS, hydrogenated and polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Contrary to popular belief, numerous studies fail to link dietary cholesterol and egg intake to the progression of coronary heart disease. Instead, many clinical studies show that eggs contribute to the prevention of chronic age-related conditions like coronary heart disease, loss of muscle mass, age-related macular degeneration, hearing loss and memory loss. Elderly people need cholesterol for BRAIN FUNCTION and the manufacture of HORMONES. They also need the folate in eggs for protection against congestive heart failure. • LEARN TO COOK stir-fried veggies and make soups and salads, because just eating the recommended amounts of fruits and veggies can cut your chances of having a heart attack in half, and protect you against diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Cancer, say the experts, is at least 80% related to lifestyle factors. • VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS are not what they promised to be because whole foods contain multiple nutrients, and nutrient-dense DIETS PROTECT IN WAYS scientists admit they DON’T UNDERSTAND. Nevertheless, taking a good multiple vitamin with vitamin B and selenium as well as additional calcium and 1000 IU's vitamin D for northern people, is a basic guarantee. New Scientific Bombshell: Vitamin D Prevents Cancer • EATING HEALTHY ON THE GO is possible, but takes planning and substituting unhealthy habits with new information for EATING HEALTHY IDEAS, for instance, trying some dark 70% chocolate with dried cranberries or blue berries instead of a candy bar. • HEALTHY EATING importance? Research is showing that we can make small but important changes -- a few new habits at a time, such as SNACKING on an ounce of WALNUTS before a meal, or grabbing an apple on the run. Healthy Eating Importance: Two Scientists Each Find A New Miracle Food Health News on Healthy Eating Importance: Healthy Living Adds 14 Years but Parents are Short Changing Their Children Eating HealthyGo to Health Discoveries HOME PAGE from Healthy Eating Importance |