What are Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are starches and sugars that help to give energy to our bodies. There are two different types of carbs that are complex (polysaccharides) and simple (monosaccharides)
Complex carbohydrates take a long time for our bodies to digest. They can be found in many types of whole grain breads, Acai Berry Reviews , vegetables, pasta, legumes, and brown rice. Foods that have unrefined grains will retain these complex carbs. The reason our bodies will do this is because the refining process has the ability to fill you up and give you more energy throughout the day.
Simple carbohydrates can be found in dairy products and fruits – which the body has an easier time digesting. You can also find many simple carbs in refined, processed foods like white bread, pastas, and sugar.
The bodies’ live is able to digest carbohydrates by breaking them down into glucose or simple sugars. This will than stimulate the body into producing insulin inside of the pancreas. The insulin works to push the sugar into the cells of the body so that it can be converted into energy. These two types of carbs will affect the way that insulin is produced. When the body is working to digest the simple carbs the levels of insulin will spike much faster and will be used as energy much quicker than complex carbs.
That is why many people will eat a candy bar to supply themselves with energy fast. Of course the negative of this is that these energy levels will leave as quickly as they came after the sugar high is over. Complex carbs will take longer for the body to digest. Because of this the energy levels will last longer.
Now if the body were too produce too much glucose it will store the extra into the muscle cells and the liver as glycogen. Glycogen will be used when the body is looking for an extra boost of energy. Any glycogen that is not able to be stored inside the liver and muscle cells will be stored as fat. During short exercises the body will use the immediate store of glycogen. Exercises that last longer and some of the more harder workouts will use the glycogen that is being stored as fat in order to draw energy from.
In order for your body to function properly and to avoid fatigue, poor mental function, and muscle cramps you need to consumer a certain amount of carbs. According to the Institute of Medicine they recommend that 40-65% of adults need “dietary energy” to come from carbohydrates. The World Health Organization believes that 55-75% should be the normal consumption.
There are some diets that try to teach you to avoid any and all carbs when trying to lose weight. These diets are not always healthy and can create negative effects on the body. Instead of cutting out carbs altogether you can always use a low carb diet. Remember that the body does have the ability to produce energy you need from proteins and fats – but a few carbs are helpful as well.
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The Food Guide Pyramid
Learning to eat healthy is not something that you can understand on your own and do overnight. It is a lifestyle and knowing how to change your lifestyle to one that is healthy takes time and guidance. We are going to start helping you with that goal by teaching you all about a helpful little guide we call the Food Guide Pyramid.
This pyramid is made up of rainbow colored, vertical stripes that represent the five major food groups as well as oils and fats.
Orange color stands for grains
Green color stands for vegetables
Red color starts for fruits
Yellow color stands for fats and oils
Blue color stands for milk and dairy products
Purple color stands for meat, beans, fish, and nuts
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) they felt it was necessary to change the pyramid in 2005 because they wanted to do a better job of telling people exactly what they need to do in order to eat healthy. They also created a special pyramid for children. On that pyramid you can see a young girl climbing stairs in order to promote exercise.
There are other important tips to the food pyramid that is important to notice. One of the most important is to eat a variety of different foods. It is very important to be able to have a healthy and well balanced diet. This means that in some way or another you should combine all of the food groups that you eat every single day.
Before you go crazy on this though you should know not to eat too much of one types of foods. If you notice there are certain food groups that are smaller than others. That is because you need to eat less of these foods. For example; you should eat less of the oils and protein and more of the dairy, fruits, vegetables, and grains.
Look even closer and you can notice some of the colors that are wider and thinner the closer that you get to the top. This was created as an important example to show you that not every type of food group is equal. For example an apple pie would be a small thin part of the fruit color because it is made up of a lot of sugar and fat. However, just an apple would be a wide part of the fruit color because it is healthy and good for you.
Understanding the Food Guide Pyramid will help both you and your family to eat healthy foods. Teaching your children the importance of eating and enjoying their fruits and veggies will help them later in life. It will set a great example for them and it will be something that they will stay true to when they are older. Don’t forget to also teach them the importance of a daily routine of exercise to combine with their healthy new diet. Even if all they are doing is going outside and running around on the playground.
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Health Benefits Of Garlic
Garlic may make our breath smell horrible – but it is something that many of us love to cook with because it adds flavor. Many believe that this natural herb that can treat several types of health problems like the flu and cold. Today it has also been proven to be one of the world’s best herbs that can also treat many diseases.
The healthiest type of garlic is raw garlic. But because it can cause our breath to stink horribly many people will not eat it this way. That is why health experts created garlic tablet supplements for people in order to avoid the bad garlic smell. You can purchase these supplements at your nearest pharmacy and drug store. However, it is still proven that fresh, raw garlic is better because it contains more sulphur than a supplements and it tastes much better.
Cooking the raw garlic will destroy most of its abilities to produce allicin. However, if you were to cut it open and let it sit for a few minutes before you go ahead and cook with it you might still be able to take advantage of the benefits.
Raw garlic has been proven to help to treat the symptoms of acne by reducing the redness and size of the pimple. Other studies have been able to prove that garlic can reduce the levels of cholesterol inside the body. Garlic that is aged has a large amount of antioxidants that can protect the body from free radicals.
It is important to remember that garlic is a very strong herb as well as food. Because of this you do not need to take too much at one time. Any more than a small amount of raw garlic serving every day could cause headaches, stomach aches, irritations, or could damage the digestive system.
Before you take garlic you need to make sure that you are not allergic to it. A good way to know if this is something that you are allergic to is when you start to experience severe headaches on a constant basis, skin rash, high temperature fever, and other allergic type symptoms. If in doubt visit your doctor and tell him what happened when you ate it. He will be able to perform a special test on you and will either confirm or deny this.
Studies show that when you take a small amount of garlic every day your body could help to fight different type of diseases that include; infections, respiratory problems, cancers, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Besides being able to treat stomach cancer it can also help to lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of blood clot formations.
Because garlic can help against the clotting of the blood you should never take it if you are already using certain drugs that thin your blood. Also people who have been diagnosed and are being treated for HIV disease should consult their doctor before using it. It might reduce the effectiveness of the HIV drugs.
