Diet and Nutrition

Eat Your Way to Better Eye Sight

By Janis Jibrin, M.S., RD, Best Life lead nutritionist

Which of your five senses is most important to you? If you said “sight,” you’d be in the majority—four out of five baby boomers chose sight in a survey by the Ocular Nutrition Society.

So be proactive about protecting your sight: Eating to ensure your eyes stay healthy is as easy as following these three steps:

Choose antioxidant-rich foods. Antioxidants like beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E protect your eyes from free radicals, damaging compounds that can cause cataracts and macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the U.S. A recent study of Swedish women found that those who consumed a diet with the most antioxidant power (one that featured antioxidants that worked best together to protect health) were 13 percent less likely to develop cataracts. Fruits and vegetables topped the list of main sources of antioxidants with 44 percent, followed by whole grains (17 percent) and coffee (15 percent).

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Posted on March 11, 2024 by BestLifeDiet

7 Healthy Eating Tips from the R.D. Behind “The Pescetarian Plan” (It’s Not Just About Fish!)

By Shae Blevins, contributor for DietsInReview.com

The diet and nutrition in The Pescetarian Plan is built on The Seven Pescetarian Principles the author, Janis Jibrin, RD, created.

Principle #1: Do not eat meat and poultry; eat recommended amounts of protein.

Proteins allowed with The Pescetarian Plan include fish and seafood, of course, as well as cheese, eggs, edamame and tofu, among other plant-based proteins found in grains, legumes and nuts.

Principle #2: Eat fruits and vegetables!

Fruits and vegetables of the traditional American diet might be apples and potatoes, but The Pescetarian Plan encourages you to explore the produce section at your local grocer to find kiwi, mangoes and figs. The fruits and vegetables allowed in The Pescetarian Plan are not always Mediterranean-based, such as sweet potatoes, but always provide the nutrition the author promised.

Principle #3: Keep treats and alcohol at a minimum.

The Pescetarian Plan allows for you to indulge in your favorite treats, such as salty chips and sweet cookies, but it recommends eating those treats in moderation. The same goes for consuming alcohol – and it should be wine.

Principle #4: Get a handle on starches.

The Pescetarian Plan recommends that half your grain servings should be whole grains, since people who eat whole grains tend to be at a healthier weight. Other starches, such as legumes, should be eaten at least four times a week.

Principles #5: Switch to low-fat or non-fat dairy.

Switching from whole fat milk to low-fat milk will save calories and saturated fat allowances in The Pescetarian Plan. Dairy is also one of the food groups you are allowed to cut completely if you have allergies or don’t like it.

Principle #6: Enjoy healthy fats!

The Pescetarian Plan is not a low-fat diet. Approximately 35 percent of the calories in this plan come from fat – the healthy fats founds in nuts, seeds, olive oil and avocados.

Principle #7: Drink more water!

Water is the beverage of choice for The Pescetarian Plan, and Jibrin recommends drinking six cups of water a day or enough so that your urine looks like lemonade. Fruit juices, sodas and sweet teas are, in Jibrin’s opinion, a waste of calories.

The Pescetarian Plan provides calories plans instead of meal plans, which allow you to be more creative with what you eat when but do not give you strict guidelines on what you should eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The calories plans outline how many servings of each pescetarian food group you should eat at different calories levels, such as 1,500 calories a day or 2,500 calories a day. However, the diet does show you how to plan your own meals through templates.

Read Also:

Seafood Recipes for Lent

Grilled Tuna with Herb Tapenade and Succotash

Fancy Fish Sticks

Posted on March 11, 2024 by Health Buzz

Emilia Clarke’s Terminator Diet Sounds Awful

We expect that taking on a role in an action movie can be grueling, but “Game of Thrones” star Emilia Clarke’s diet for “Terminator: Genesis” sounds just plain awful.

The actress, who will be playing Sarah Conner in the upcoming film, revealed just how harsh her diet was in an interview with InStyle.

“I have not been allowed to eat anything that might taste good at all.” She then listed all the foods she’s been told to avoid, including wheat, sugar, caffeine, and dairy products. She did say she could enjoy a cup of tea, but only one, and without cream and sugar.

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Posted on March 10, 2024 by Elizabeth

This Green Tea Power Smoothie is the Ultimate Power Breakfast

Smoothies are the ultimate power breakfast, in my opinion. In one easy and portable drink, you get multiple servings of fruit and vegetables plus protein so it always lasts you till lunch. And no matter what the ingredients are it always ends up tasting delicious, which makes me think my blender has magical powers.

Once I discovered you could add spinach to smoothies without altering the taste, my morning breakfast was forever changed. In this smoothie, we add spinach and green tea powder, or “matcha,” which contains more antioxidants than brewed green tea, raspberries and blueberries combined!

In other words, this is one of the healthiest smoothies on the block! (more…)

Posted on March 10, 2024 by Dana

Work it Off: 3 Ways to Burn of the 230 Calories in 1/4 Cup of Chocolate-Covered Almonds

I’m not usually a big chocolate fan. Except for when I am. And then… look out! But let’s put this in context: I usually get a sugar craving in early afternoon. (I’m more of a lunch dessert person than a dinner dessert person.) Lately I’ve been buying dark chocolate covered almonds as my sweet treat. When the craving strikes I get up, grab a few, then get back to work. However, the other day I accidentally brought the whole container back to my desk. And, before I knew what had happened, I’d gone ahead and eaten about 3 times as many as usual.

If I usually eat 4 chocolate-almonds, this time I ate 12. It was definitely a case of distracted eating—I was working at my computer paying a lot more attention to typing than to what and how much I was eating. I checked the back of the package and 1/4 cup weighs in at 230 calories. Oops.

How can a person burn off the 230 calories from around 12 chocolate covered almonds? (more…)

Posted on March 9, 2024 by Jessica Cassity

Ray Allen Lost 50 Pounds (Again) When He Stared Down His Own Mortality and Made a Big Lifestyle Change

Ray Allen knows how important it is to have the right mindset when you want to lose serious weight. After dropping almost 60 pounds during a company sponsored weight loss contest, he slowly gained almost all of it back. Now, 50 pounds lighter, Ray says his biggest obstacle was getting out of his own way.

5 Foods Guaranteed to Give You an Energy Boost and Help You Through the Time Change

I’ve definitely got a bone to pick with whoever decided to trade off more daylight hours for one less hour of sleep. Though spring and summer are my favorite seasons, and that lost hour means they’re on the way, I still find myself dragging when Daylight Saving Time rolls around.

The annual spring forward officially happens at 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning, which means most of us will be changing our clocks Saturday night before we go to bed, knowing we’ll be getting one less hour of sleep.

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Posted on March 7, 2024 by Elizabeth

Looking to Shed Post-Baby Pounds on a Juice Cleanse? Think Again.

New moms everywhere are following the recent trend of celebs like Fergie and Jessica Simpson who have shed post-baby weight by juice cleansing. Women inside and outside of Hollywood to lose weight are under pressure every day but are under special scrutiny to rush back to their pre-baby body. But is this dramatic weight loss safe for mamas and their new babies?

Today Shape Magazine posted about the popularity and potential harms of postpartum juice cleanses. Juice companies now market this new fad and have created specialized cleanse programs for these women. The verdict?

“No!” says Registered Dietitian Mary Hartley. “Don’t even attempt to diet until the baby is at least 8 weeks old.” New moms who breastfeed need at least 1600-1800 calories per day to get the nutrients both baby and mom need. Juice cleanses typically only provide about 1200 calories, and nursing moms need at least an extra 500 calories for breastfeeding alone according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. “After 8 weeks, to make sure the baby is growing well and mom is not excessively hungry, mom shouldn’t attempt to lose more than one pound a week,” cautions Hartley. Juice cleanses would shed pounds much too rapidly for any adult to sustain, let alone a nursing mother and her newborn. (more…)

Posted on March 7, 2024 by Katie McGrath

Do Baked Beans Count as a Veggie? Sorta, Says R.D.

It seems like Jay Bush and Duke the Dog are always on TV hocking cans of Bush’s Best Beans. We love beans as much as the next person—especially with some barbecue!—but a recent commercial gave us pause. At the end of it one mother, who’s watching her kids eat baked beans, says something along the lines of, “Isn’t it great to see them eating vegetables?”

Now, there’s no denying that beans are plants–after all, the navy beans used for most varieties come from a plant that looks a lot like a green bean. But, when you add bacon, salt, and sugar to beans, do they still really qualify as a vegetable?

Here’s what Mary Hartley, RD, our in-house nutrition expert had to say:

“As a plant food, beans are technically in the vegetable group. Like all vegetables, they are loaded with fiber, potassium and folate. Dried beans can also fill in for meat because they have more protein, iron, and zinc than other vegetables. (more…)

Posted on March 7, 2024 by Jessica Cassity

One Big Problem with High-Protein Diets: Eating Mostly Meat Shortens Life Span

Almost all of today’s most popular diets are low-carb, high-protein. Atkins has been big for decades; Paleo is an ever-expanding movement, thanks in part to its following of cross-fit fans; and other plans like Dukan, Medifast, and Southbeach aren’t got anywhere anytime soon. But, while this eating formula may result in noticeable weight loss for most folks, a new study, profiled in a Huffington Post article, suggests high-protein diets may also shorten your life. That’s a pretty big deal.

Here’s what we know:

Diets that are high in protein and low in carbohydrates help the body shed fat. There are two main reasons for this: Protein is harder for the body to digest than other nutrients so you automatically burn extra calories as you digest and metabolize it. Also, proteins are more filling than many other types of food. Eat a bowl of pasta and you may be hungry again within the hour. Eat a chicken breast and you may forget to eat your snack. (more…)

Posted on March 6, 2024 by Jessica Cassity

Graduating from Jenny Craig: You Hit Your Goal Weight. Now What?

Imagine it’s the day you’ve been dreaming of—where you glance down at the scale and have finally reached your goal weight! Celebration is in order. But, if you’re on Jenny Craig, which supplies pretty much all of the food its dieters eat, the thought of learning to maintain your weight while making your own meals may make you anxious.

Don’t worry. Jenny Craig’s chief nutritionist, Lisa Talamini, is here to help you feel more confident about the transition.

According to Talamini, you already have the tools you need for success. Here’s why:

On the plan, members learn to make healthy choices by adding grocery foods to their weekly planned menus. So, even though you’ve been eating packaged meals you’ve also been planning your eating schedule and supplementing with veggies and other purchased foods. You’ll keep doing the same thing, only with more cooking and less zapping!

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Posted on March 6, 2024 by Jessica Cassity

Diet and Nutrition

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