There is an utmost need to understand what a ‘healthy diet’ means primarily. As long as we do not know what it is, all the food recipes we see and try to include in our diet would be more ritualistic and such a diet fails to become a routine. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends certain guidelines regarding healthy diet; what it should and should not contain.

As per WHO guidelines, one should achieve an ‘energy balance’ to lead a healthy life. Considering our body as a machine, the total energy intake (food) should be balanced with the energy we spend in doing regular activities like walking, bathing, working and also bodily activities like cell production, blood circulation, respiration, excretion and so on.

1. Majorly for this reason, the quality and quantity of food we consume matters a lot. We should as far as possible avoid fat or shift from saturated fats to unsaturated; because consumption of fat rich food implies more energy intake and inability to spend such vast energy will result in energy imbalance and accumulation of unwanted fat in the body. Same is the case with direct/ normal sugar and sugar based food items.

• Avoid animal fat sources like meat and skin as they contain maximum saturated fat which can’t be digested by the body. Instead go for fish and egg based food recipes.

1. On the other hand consume more of essential amino acids and proteins sources. Amino acids are the basic building blocks of all human beings. Amino acids link up to form peptides and polypeptides. These in turn form the proteins which help in coping for the lost cells in the body.

• Leguminous plants and their products like soya beans, peanuts, clover, peas, beans with corn tortillas can be taken as a part of healthy diet.
• Cereals like wheat, millets and maize are rich in proteins and vitamins. They contain nutrients in optimum desired levels when consumed in whole grain form. When refined, they lack most nutrients and are left with carbohydrates, and to compensate for this they can combined with legumes.

1. Micronutrients are also equally important for humans and regular intake of them can not only avert disorders but can even cure them. Minerals like potassium, calcium, sodium, iron and many more should be taken in the form of food rather than supplementary pills.
2. All vitamins like A, B, C, D, E, K are all required in good amounts for proper functioning of the body parts. Deficiency and overdose cause disorders like scurvy (Vit C), eye disorders like night blindness (Vit A), rickets (Vit D), beri beri (Vit B) and so on. Roughages are also needed for proper functioning of digestive and excretory systems.

• There is no substitute for fruits and vegetables consumed in natural form, because in this way human body has the ability to absorb only the required quantities and reject the excess. Berries too can be included along with them as they too are rich in antioxidants.
• Citrus fruits like orange, lemon and grapes are rich in Vit C. Others like banana, mango, papaya, apple are best sources of all nutrients and roughages. Roots like Carrots, beet, raddish, yams, sweet potato are all best substitutes for healthy diet and ones which can add taste to your food too.

1. Water is considered the best regulatory mechanism for human body. Most illnesses, malfunctioning of body systems like stomach ache, loose motions etc. can be avoided. It also keeps metabolism rates intact and your body more energetic, healthy and cool.

Not all people want to lose weight, some women want to gain weight, yes it is true there are lots of skinny women do not know how to gain weight, and if somebody asked about information how to gain weight she will be met by a blank look!!

So follow these tips to gain weight in a healthy way,

Identify if you have a poor appetite

A friend of mine asked me last week how to gain weight she is skinny so she made me come up with the idea to write about this. If you are really thin the first thing you have to is to identify that if you have a poor appetite, if you don’t feel like eating most of the time , if you have  a poor appetite then you should see your doctor regarding that to see why actually do you have a poor appetite, sometimes there are some underlined conditions maybe a deficiency in several vitamins and minerals or maybe you’re anemic and that makes you not to have a good appetite for eating, so you have to treat that in the first place to have a normal appetite so you can eat in a normal level and gain weight.

Follow a high calorie diet

If you have high metabolism and you don’t have a problem with your appetite, you feel that you are eating on regular basis so you have to concentrate on eating high calorie foods or follow a high calorie diet, well that doesn’t necessarily means to go out and eat lots of junk foods but you do need to eat more healthy fats for example, seeds, nuts or avocados, you need to prepare your food with healthy oils like canola oil or olive oil so those fats are truly healthy fats very heart healthy fats, they are not going to raise your cholesterol levels or triglycerides, you still can get a lot of vitamins and minerals and they are high in calories so you can include them into your diet to gain weight.

Another high calorie food to add are dairy products, choose whole milk or yogurt and full fat cheese, now even those food have more saturated fat in them than the other fats I’ve mentioned previously but they are not going to make a significant increase in your cholesterol or triglyceride levels if you use them for a short period of time just to gain your desired pounds, once you reach the weight you want to be so you can start cutting back those saturated fats in dairy foods and depend on taking the plant sources of fats, the healthy fats, which I talked about previously like avocados, seeds, nuts, or olive oil or even olives themselves.

But make sure that you stay eating other foods like fruits and vegetables, lean sources of protein like fish, meat and poultry but again make sure that you are eating those healthy fats on daily basis.

Start your weight training, get over you fears

Another thing you can do to gain weight is to go to the gym do not be afraid of training go to the weigh section because muscles weighs more than fat so incrasing muscle mass should be a part of your plan to gain weight, don’t worry you are not going to look like bodybuilder women who have lots of muscles they mostly use unnatural steroidal drugs. A normal amount of regular weight training will just show your natural feminine curves nothing more besides it is good for your health.

Lessen your stress levels

Some people may gain weight if they became stressed, others may lose weight. Stress and poor rest are the main factors these days, not only for obesity but also in making thin girls lose more weight. That is because when you are stressed a hormone is released by your adrenal glands called Cortisol. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone which takes nurtients and sugar away from muscles and enters it into the bloodstream which makes you lose muscles and weight.

So decreasing your stress levels and improving your sleeping patterns are very important to be considered to gain weight in any woman. Make sure you are getting 8 hours of undisturbed sleep at night. Try some yoga or relaxing bath or massage, creat some time to be alone by yourself , try meditation.

Sources:

Medical Hypotheses 72: 2009; 434-443

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

At this point, you’re probably wondering how exposure to sunshine could possibly decrease your vitamin D levels… If you’re a regular reader of this newsletter, you know I’ve made it a point to educate you on the incredible value of safe sun exposure to increase your vitamin D levels

I have regularly stated that the ideal way to obtain your vitamin D is from safe exposure to sunshine As it turns out, there is a major caveat, which affects nearly anyone living in a modern day civilization.

But first, I want to review something that’s even more surprising – the connection between exposure to sunshine, vitamin D3, and showering!

What Does Showering Have to Do With Your Vitamin D Levels?

First, it’s important to understand that vitamin D3 is an oil soluble steroid hormone. It’s formed when your skin is exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation from the sun (or a safe tanning bed). When UVB strikes the surface of your skin, your skin converts a cholesterol derivative in your skin into vitamin D3.

However, the vitamin D3 that is formed is on the surface of your skin does not immediately penetrate into your bloodstream. It actually needs to be absorbed from the surface of your skin into your bloodstream.

The critical question then is: how long does it take the vitamin D3 to penetrate your skin and reach your bloodstream?

If you’re thinking about an hour or two, like I did until recently, you’re wrong. Because new evidence shows it takes up to 48 hours before you absorb the majority of the vitamin D that was generated by exposing your skin to the sun!

Therefore, if you shower with soap, you will simply wash away much of the vitamin D3 your skin generated, and decrease the benefits of your sun exposure. So to optimize your vitamin D level, you need to delay washing your body with soap for about two full days after sun exposure.

Now not many people are not going to bathe for two full days.

However you really only need to use soap underneath your arms and your groin area. , so this is not a major hygiene issue. You’ll just want to avoid soaping up the larger areas of your body that were exposed to the sun.

So, How Exactly Does Sunshine Lower Your Vitamin D Levels?

First, there’s an important distinction that must be made. There are two primary forms of ultraviolet radiation from the sun: UVA, and UVB, and they have different wave lengths and impact your body in different ways.

UVA has a wavelength of about 320 to 400 nanometers, and UVB has a wave length of about 280 to 320 nanometers.( A wavelength is simply the distance a wave has to travel before it starts repeating itself, and a nanometer is a millionth of a meter.)

Because the UVA has a longer wavelength, it penetrates materials more easily, such as the earth’s atmosphere and window glass.

Most of us living in contemporary culture are modern day cavemen. We work inside and don’t spend much time outdoors. It really wasn’t until the industrial revolution that we had the development of mass produced windows. Prior to that time, windows were very costly and only the very wealthy could afford them. So people working indoors were not exposed to sunlight filtered through window glass.

The key point here is that window glass will effectively filter out the majority of UVB radiation, but it minimally filters out UVAs.

What’s the significance of that, you ask?

It’s important to realize that vitamin D3 is formed from exposure to UVB rays, whereas UVA radiation actually destroys vitamin D.

This helps keep your body in balance; it’s one of the protective mechanisms your body has to avoid overdosing on vitamin D when you’re outside. However, when you’re exposed to sunlight through windows — in your office, your home or your car — you get the UVA but virtually none of the beneficial UVB.

This can lead to significant health problems, because in addition to destroying vitamin D3, UVA’s also increase oxidative stress.

UVA is one of the primary culprits behind skin cancer, and it increases photo aging of your skin. It’s also what causes you to tan. You can actually get vitamin D without significantly darkening your skin, because the UVB wavelength does not stimulate the melanin pigment to produce a tan.

Normally, of course, when you get tanned from outdoor sun exposure you’re getting both UVA and UVB at the same time, so it’s not a problem. But when you are indoors and expose yourself to sunlight filtered through window glass, you are increasing your risk of a variety of conditions, primarily skin cancer, because the UVA’s are effectively destroying your vitamin D3 levels while you’re getting none of the benefits from UVB.

The Connection Between Cholesterol and Healthy Vitamin D Levels

As I said earlier, one of the precursors for vitamin D is cholesterol. So if you’re taking drugs statin drugs, or proton pump inhibitors like Prilosec or Prevocid, which are typically used to treat ulcer conditions, you’ll naturally lower your cholesterol levels.

This in turn will decrease your body’s ability to manufacture vitamin D.

This is yet another potential reason your vitamin D levels may be low, or why you may have trouble optimizing your vitamin D levels.

Key Messages

It may seem confusing, and admittedly there are a lot of pieces to this puzzle, which is why I seek to share as much of this information as possible.

But the key take-home points here are:

• To optimize your vitamin D levels, get safe outdoor sun exposure or use a safe tanning bed, being careful not to get sunburned.

If for whatever reason you’re unable to do that, then clearly you’re going to want to use an oral or sublingual vitamin D3, which can also eliminate the whole issue of absorbing the vitamin D3 from your skin. However, beware that anytime you use oral vitamin D you’ll want to get your vitamin D levels checked regularly, using a qualified lab such as LabCorp, to make sure you’re within the optimal range and to avoid overdosing.

• If you’re going to shower after spending time outdoors in the sun, don’t use soap for at least two days, to maximize the absorption of vitamin D in your skin.

The benefits of vitamin D are staggering, and the optimal way to get your vitamin D is through safe exposure to the sun. I’ve written extensively on this topic over the past year, but if you need to refresh your memory, please review the related articles listed below. It is worth the extra effort to apply this information so you and your family can get all the vitamin D benefits they deserve.

So remember, making sure you’re spending plenty of time outdoors this summer can help you reap the incredible health benefits of this essential nutrient.

source: Mercola.com