The Diet

The raw food diet is a diet based on natural or unprocessed and uncooked plant foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, grains, beans, nuts, dried fruit, and seaweed. Raw foodists usually believe that the higher the percentage of raw food in the diet, the greater the health benefits. Raw foodism or a raw diet is usually equated with raw veganism in which only raw plant foods are eaten, but other raw foodists emphasize raw meat and other raw animal products.

Heating food above 116 degrees F is believed to destroy enzymes in food that can assist in the digestion and absorption of food. Cooking is also thought to lessen the nutritional value and “life force” of food.

In general, at least 75% of the diet must be living or raw.

Adherents of raw foodism believe that consumption of uncooked foods encourages weight loss (and stability, without the risk of re-gaining), while also preventing and/or healing many forms of sickness and chronic diseases.  Some medical studies have indicated that different forms of raw food diets may lead to various health problems, while other studies have shown positive health outcomes with such diets.

What are the Benefits of the Raw Food Diet?

Proponents of the raw food diet believe it has numerous health benefits, including:

Increased energy

Improved skin appearance

Better digestion

Weight loss

Reduced risk of heart disease

The raw food diet contains fewer trans fats and saturated fat than the typical Western diet. It is also low in sodium and high in potassium, magnesium, folate, fiber and health-promoting plant chemicals called phytochemicals.

These properties are associated with a reduced risk of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. For example, a study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that consumption of a raw food diet lowered plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations.

What can I eat?
A. Unprocessed, preferably organic, whole foods such as:

1. Fresh fruits and vegetables
2. Nuts
3. Seeds
4. Beans
5. Grains
6. Legumes
7. Dried fruit
8. Seaweed

B. Unprocessed organic or natural foods

1. Freshly juiced fruit and vegetables
2. Purified water
3. Young coconut milk

At least 75% of food consumed should not be heated over 116 degrees F.

2. What cooking techniques are used?

Specific cooking techniques make foods more digestible and add variety to the diet, including:

1. Sprouting seeds, grains, and beans
2. Juicing fruit and vegetables
3. Soaking nuts and dried fruit
4. Blending
5. Dehydrating food

The DASH eating plan is not primarily designed for weight loss. The Dash Diet – or the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan – is designed (along with reduced salt intake) to reduce (or prevent the onset of) high blood pressure (hypertension) and boost nutrition and general health.

The DASH diet plan is straightforward, especially if you are familiar with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) newest food pyramid. Luckily, the DASH diet doesn’t involve the same rigorous steps and restrictive demands as some other diets. The DASH Diet Action Plan is specifically designed to help you follow the plan by adding better foods to your refrigerator, providing recipes and helping you choose diet-friendly foods at restaurant.

In order to follow the plan, you’ll need to increase your intake of vegetables, fruits and certain dairy products. You’re able to eat whole grains, poultry, fish and nuts on the DASH diet, but you should reduce your intake of fats, red meats and foods and drinks that might have too much sugar.

If you are on a 2,000-calorie diet, you should be aware of how much of each food group you should consume each day. For whole grain foods, you should eat somewhere between seven and eight servings per day for energy and fiber. For fruits and vegetables, you should eat eight to 10 servings per day. Fruits and vegetables are important because they contain vitamins, minerals and fiber. Dairy is an excellent source of calcium, vitamin D and protein. And you should plan to have two to three servings of low fat or nonfat dairy products each day.

When it comes to meats, legumes, fats and sweets, the DASH diet suggests moderation. For meats, fish and poultry, you should incorporate two servings or less per day, but make sure the meat is lean. And when eating beans, nuts and seeds, the DASH diet plan suggests four to five servings per week. Foods that are rich in fats and oils are still essential, but only in small amounts. The DASH diet recommends that you cut back to two or three servings a day of this food group. And finally, deliciously sinful sweets should be limited to five servings or less per week.

Here’s the recommended DASH Diet by the Mayo Clinic:

12 days on – 2 days off

Breakfast
1/2 Grapefruit or 4 oz. Grapefruit Juice (unsweetened)
2 Eggs (any style)
2 Slices Bacon

Lunch
1/2 Grapefruit or 4 oz. Grapefruit Juice (unsweetened)
Meat (any style, any amount)
Salad (any kind of dressing)

Dinner
1/2 Grapefruit or 4 oz. Grapefruit Juice (unsweetened)
Meat (any style, any amount) (fish may be substituted for meat)
Vegetables (any green, yellow, or red vegetables cooked in butter or any seasoning)

Bed Time Snack

1 glass tomato juice or 1 glass Skim milk

Vegetables Allowed
Red onions, green onions, bell peppers, radishes, cucumbers, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, peas.

Vegetables to Avoid
White onions, potatoes, celery.

The first thing that you want to do when beginning the Gluten-free and Casein-free (GFCF) Diet is to set up a schedule, determining when you are going to eliminate groups of foods. For example, the very first week, eliminate all extra sugar. Two weeks later, slowly remove all dairy from your child’s diet. During the following week, begin removing wheat products. You want a schedule that fits your child best, and always consult with your doctor.

The GFCF Diet involves eliminating gluten and casein from your family’s diet. Gluten and casein are both naturally occurring proteins, gluten is found in wheat, barley and rye and casein is found in dairy products like milk, cheese and yogurt. The diet can be used to help relieve symptoms from a variety of health issues. Many parents of Autistic children have found that the GFCF Diet has greatly improved their symptoms.

There are many great GFCF products and recipes available these days to help you get started on the GFCF Diet. There is also a wealth of information available to keep you informed. Just keep your eyes open to researches.

Removing gluten and casein from a child’s diet is not as simple as saying goodbye to milk and bread. According to Carol Ann Brannon, a nutritionist who specializes in diets for children with autism, gluten is not only ubiquitous, but may also find its way into your child’s system through the skin.

Gluten and gluten-like proteins are found in wheat and other grains, including oats, rye, barley, bulgar, durum, kamut and spelt, and foods made from those grains. They are also found in food starches, semolina, couscous, malt, some vinegars, soy sauce, flavorings, and artificial colors and hydrolyzed vegetable proteins. Casein is a protein found in milk and foods containing milk, such as cheese, butter, yogurt, ice cream, whey and even some brands of margarine. It also may be added to non-milk products such as soy cheese and hot dogs in the form of caseinate.

Before eliminating any foods in order to follow a GFCF diet, it is a good idea to get approval from a doctor. The physician might want to keep a close eye on the child because many important nutritional elements like calcium might be missing from the diet once milk is removed.

There are other foods that can supplement calcium, and a doctor can help with adding foods back to replace what following such a diet can miss. Vitamins and minerals are important to any eating plan, and if they are lacking, a child will suffer in other ways.

If you have children with Autism, consult your doctor today before it’s too late.

Do you succeed on intense work out and have difficulty digesting dairy products? These are some characteristics of people with type O blood. The Blood Type O Diet suggests that your blood type provides the blueprints in your body that determine eating habits, food aversions, allergies, medical conditions, and even the ability to metabolize food and burn calories. If you eat according to what your blood type prefers, you will be able to perform at optimal levels and lose weight in the process.

Most of the people has blood type O. Here the prescribed diet is low-carbohydrate, high in proteins (such as meat and fish), and low in dairy products. There are also specific foods to avoid; such as avocados, Brazil nuts, and oranges. Type O should also engage in lots of exercise.

Lectins are sugar-binding proteins that act as the signal to the brain to introduce substances into the body. Depending on your blood type, certain lectins are welcomed by your immune system, while others aggravate it. The theory here is if you only eat foods that contain compatible lectins, then your body can remain balanced and at a healthy weight. So, here is the balance diet guide for blood type O people.

Meats

People with type O blood should eat a variety of meats. All types of lean red meats, including mutton and veal, are appropriate, as well as all forms of poultry, except for goose. Pork should be avoided. Most types of fish are also good for type O’s, though they should avoid catfish, caviar, lox, pickled herring and octopus.

Dairy Products

Type O’s should eat limited dairy products. Type O’s who are African American should not eat any milk or egg products at all. Others should eat only organic, free-range eggs. Goat milk and feta cheese are good choices, and mozzarella is allowed occasionally. All other dairy products should be avoided most of the time. Clarified butter is an allowed choice for cooking.

Grains

Because those with type O blood tend to fare better with high-protein diets, corn, oats, and wheat products are to be avoided. Kidney and navy beans, as well as lentils also tend to cause weight gain in type O’s. Grains in the type O diet should include barley, buckwheat, quinoa, rye, spelt and rice.

Fruits and Vegetables

Produce should be either grown in your own garden, or purchased locally. Organic is always best. The best fruits for type O’s include figs, plums and prunes. Avoid coconuts, oranges, tangerines, melons and plantains. The best vegetables include kale, kelp and spinach. Avoid cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, avocados, mushrooms, olives and potatoes.

A healthy diet is one that helps maintain or improve health. It is important for the prevention of many chronic health risks such as: obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Healthy eating is not about strict nutrition philosophies, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love.

A healthy diet involves consuming appropriate amounts of all nutrients, and an adequate amount of water. Nutrients can be obtained from many different foods, so there are a wide variety of diets that may be considered healthy diets.

Choose the types of foods that improve your health and avoid the types of foods that raise your risk for such illnesses as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Expand your range of healthy choices to include a wide variety of delicious foods. Learn to use guidelines and tips for creating and maintaining a satisfying, healthy diet. It is easy to adhere to a balanced diet, by following the food pyramid.

The five food groups in the food pyramid provide all the necessary nutrients. Cereals and millets form the base of the pyramid. Vegetables and fruits form the next step of the pyramid. Vegetables and fruits provide phytonutrients, antioxidants, minerals and vitamins. Animal foods and dairy products lie parallel to each other, on the next step. Fats and oils form the apex of the pyramid, as they are restricted.

Balanced diet, as the name indicates, creates equipoise in the system and prevents any kind of associated problems. It provides relaxation to the physical and psychological state of the individual. It enhances the performance and cognitive thinking of the individual. It helps in the maintenance of body weight. Thus, it avoids a number of complications, such as obesity, atherosclerosis, and hypertension and so on. A balanced diet keeps blood glucose and cholesterol levels in the normal range, thereby proving beneficial to the system.

Ensure a balanced diet by inclusion of all the foods with the major nutrients, in various combinations. Combination of foods helps in the mutual supplementation of certain nutrients. For instance, bread provides carbohydrates, whereas beans provide protein. Butter is a rich source of fat. A glass of milk makes the above said meal, a balanced one. Both the quantity and quality of the meals play a very important role in the nourishment of a balanced diet. Eat a balanced diet to prevent deficiency disorders, such as anemia, rickets and so on. Growth and development is affected by an improper diet. In the case of children, eating a balanced diet, in a single go is difficult. This situation is overcome by spreading the foods of a particular meal, to a few hours, based on the child’s capacity to complete.

Maintenance of a balanced diet ensures variety and breaks the monotony of a meal. It also creates interest and makes the meal, more appetizing. Optimum growth and health are the prerequisite of every individual. Achieve the same with a balanced diet.

he first half of the twentieth century was a period of massive growth in nutrition knowledge not only in the US but all throughout the world. The main goal of nourishment advice at this time was to help people select foods to meet their energy (calorie) needs and avert nutritional deficiencies.

Throughout the Great Depression of the 1930s, food was rationed and people had little money to buy food. They needed to know how to select an ample diet with few resources, and the USDA produced a set of meal plans that were affordable for families of various incomes. To this day, a food guide for low-income families—the Thrifty Food Plan—is issued regularly by the USDA and used to determine food stamp allotments. In addition to meal plans, the USDA developed food guides—tools to help people select healthful diets. Over the years the food guides changed, based on the current information available.

Food guides are sensible tools that people can use to choose a healthful diet. Food guide recommendations, such as how many servings of grains to eat, are based on dietary guidelines that are overall suggestions for healthful diets. For example, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans include the recommendation that Americans “choose a variety of grains daily, especially whole grains.” To help people reach this goal, the USDA”s Food Guide Pyramid is built on a base of grain foods and recommends six to eleven servings daily with several servings from whole grains. Thus, the Food Guide Pyramid supports the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines.

Nutritional and Low Fat Meal Guidelines

1. Commit to consuming 4 – 6 small meals and snacks every day.
2. To succeed, you must plan ahead by packing your foods the night before. Thus, you should always have fresh and low-fat foods around.
3. Keep it simple. Don’t get too caught up on the specifics or your diet. Start by simply just counting calories.
4. Eat your foods slower.
5. Make healthier food selections like fruits, vegetables, whole grain cereals, and beans, low-fat or nonfat dairy products, low fat meats, fish and skinless poultry.
6. Avoid foods that are high in fat and calories.
7. Avoid foods that are high in sugars such as pastries, candy bars, pies and candy.
8. Use a variety of fruits and vegetables in your nutrition plan. Start by trying to eat 5 total vegetable and fruit servings every single day.

Are you one of the million Americans, who are trying to lose weight? You may want to consider Nutrisystem diet programs. Does Nutrisystem work?

Nutrisystem was founded way back in 1972 but eventually filed for bankruptcy in 1993. In 1999 the company was publicly traded to Nasdaq and headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania. Originally, the company focused on a retail store presence offering weight loss counseling as well as a food-based weight loss program. In 1999, the Company moved to a direct-to-consumer business model, selling its products over the Internet, through a company 800 number, through retail outlets and through the “QVC” television home shopping network. Once the product is ordered, it is delivered directly to the customer’s home.

By 2001 Nutrisystem was removed by the Nasdaq market. Investors came in to shore up the company and from 2004 to 2006 the stock price soared almost 2500%. What’s the reason for the sudden success of Nutrisystem? Mass marketing efforts and huge ad spending put the Nutrisystem diet program back in the spotlight and sales have skyrocketed. Almost 60% of their sales are done online through their Internet website which allows them to really focus on direct marketing efforts on the QVC Shopping Network.

In 2008 NutriSystem Inc. publicized that it had begun marketing its weight-loss programs in Canada. The company set up a Canadian subsidiary, NutriSystem Canada, which sells products and services through its own Web site, toll-free number and Canada’s home shopping network channel, “Today’s Shopping Channel”. Its meals are largely the same as NutriSystem’s meals, but packaged differently.

In September 2009, Nutrisystem expanded its’ market reach into Japan through a licensing agreement with House Foods International. The new program began sales on October 1 and is managed through the House Foods Web site and by phone. Previously, Nutrisystem programs were only available in the U.S.

In October 2009, the company further expanded its domestic reach by aligning with Wal-mart Stores Inc. for a retail store presence. Rolling out nationwide at more than 3,200 Wal-Mart locations and on the Walmart.com website, customers shopping at Wal-mart may now purchase a Nutrisystem 14-Day Starter Program for the first time in the retail channel. The Nutrisystem weight loss starter program will be available in the pharmacy area of the local stores. A card system will be activated to begin home delivery thereafter. This offer will sell for $148.00.

There are many versions of three-day diets circulating, all with the promise of bringing dieters significant weight loss in just three days. There are many variations in what dieters may and may not eat during these three days.

The most common three-day diet is a three-day diet with a meal plan that instructs dieters what to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The specifics of the plan vary, as do what dieters are allowed to drink while on the plan. A common version of the three-day diet meal plan is:

Day 1

Breakfast: black tea or coffee, 1/2 a grapefruit, 1 piece of toast with 1 Tablespoon of peanut butter. Some version specifies 1/3 of a grapefruit, some call for artificial sweetener to be added to the coffee, some allow grapefruit juice to be substituted for the grapefruit.

Lunch: 1/2 cup tuna, 1 piece dry toast, black coffee or tea. Some versions call for tuna in water, some call for artificial sweetener with the coffee or tea.

Dinner: 3 ounces lean meat, 1 cup green beans, 1 cup carrots, 1 apple, 1 cup vanilla ice cream. Some versions specify a low fat ice cream, other do not. Some versions call for 1 cup of beets instead of carrots.

Day 2

Breakfast: 1 egg, 1 slice dry toast, 1/2 banana, black coffee or tea. Some versions require artificial sweetened in the coffee or tea. It is not generally specified how the dieter should prepare the egg. Some versions call for a whole banana.

Lunch: 1 cup cottage cheese and six crackers. Some versions allow dieters to choose between 1 cup of cottage cheese and 1 cup of tuna. Some require six crackers, some allow eight. Most versions call for Saltine brand crackers.

Dinner: two hot dogs, 1 cup broccoli, 1/2 cup carrots, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream. Some versions specify beef franks. Some call for 1 cup of cabbage instead of 1 cup of broccoli. Some versions require low fat ice cream.

Day 3

Breakfast: one apple, 1 ounce cheddar cheese, five Saltine brand crackers, black tea or coffee. Some versions allow or require artificial sweetener.

Lunch: one hard-boiled egg, one slice dry toast. Some versions allow black coffee or tea (with or without artificial sweetener) with this meal, others do not.

Dinner: 1 cup tuna, 1 cup carrots, 1 cup cauliflower, 1 cup melon, and 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream. Some versions call for 1/2 a cantaloupe instead of 1 cup of melon. Some versions require low fat ice cream.

According to popular diet reviews, eating the raw food diet is a radical way to eat. Many believe that it keeps them smart and healthy. The focal point of this diet is on eating uncooked, highly nutritious foods like fruits and vegetables to lose weight rapidly and efficiently. Certainly, these foods are low in calories and might seem extremely good, but eating them raw or uncooked is favored as it is believed that they lose nutritional value when cooked.

A raw foods diet consists of unprocessed raw vegan foods that have not been heated above 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius). Dieters or or the so-called raw foodists believe that foods cooked above this temperature have lost their enzymes and thus a significant amount of their nutritional value and are harmful to the body, whereas uncooked foods provide living enzymes and proper nutrition. Proponents of a raw food diet claim that there are many benefits to eating raw foods, including weight loss, more energy, clear skin, improved digestion and improved overall health.

Unprocessed Foods

Completely unprocessed foods consist of those that basically go straight from the plant to the dinner plate. Some foods that fit into this category are the following:

Fresh fruit

Fresh vegetables

Beans and legumes

Nuts and seeds

Seaweed and marine plants

Edible flowers, sprouts and roots

Spices and natural herbs

Minimally Processed Foods

When people with traditional diets think of processed foods, they often imagine Twinkies or boxed dinner kits that are packed with sodium. However, no self-respecting raw foodist would go anywhere near these items. They have a different definition of what constitutes processed. For them it means foods that are altered somewhat from their natural state but are still in their purest form. Foods that fit this description are:

Syrup made from pure tree sap

Dried produce

Foods fermented in vinegar (pickles, kimchee, soy sauce)

Vinegar

Drinks

There are actually a large variety of beverages that fit into the raw food diet. Most fruit or vegetable juices qualify, as long as the juice is either fresh squeezed or made with the help of a juicer. Commercially available juices usually have additives, such as sugar, and may be pasteurized. Pasteurization heats foods to a temperature unacceptable to raw food diet followers. Soy and nut milks are also acceptable, as long as the ingredients are not heated. Of course, there is always pure, unadulterated water, which is about as raw as it’s possible to get.