Alessia's Healthkicker

Recipe for disaster..

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:38:30 GMT

Have you even noticed that when you watch television, read the newspaper or a magazine, you’re inundated with ads about food? There are numerous marketing campaigns out there telling us what to eat.

The bad news is, they are telling us the wrong things to eat! It's a fact: the most aggressively marketed foods are the same foods that lead to weight gain, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Let’s face it: Americans are confused of what to eat. Constantly marketed, campaigned and commercialed (is this a word?), more and more people don’t know the difference between real (whole foods) and fake (processed) foods.

In fact, during the „Mediterranean Diet Workshop“ Roberto and I held this weekend, after the classes, one lady approached me and said that she had hard time understanding what exactly is considered to be "processed food."

Processed, packaged foods have almost completely taken over the diet of Americans. In fact, nearly 90 percent of our household food budget is spent on processed foods, according to industry estimates. The majority of which are filled with additives and stripped of nutrients.

Isn’t it sad, that looking at this salad recipe, I’m thinking “should I use 3 big ones or 5 small carrots?” and the average American would probably be thinking “where is my can opener”?

Mediterranean Diet and Snacks That Don't Make You Fat

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:58:37 GMT

Snacks and snack food have always played an important part in American food culture. Frozen treats like ice creams, candy and chocolate, sweet snacks, chips and salted snack, nuts, crackers, cookies and even small cakes – you name it, typical American will it for snack. Americans really enjoy their snacks which are produced to be inexpensive, accessible, easy to eat and durable. But not healthy. And fattening.

If you snack all the time and have an overweight problem, the easiest answer would be: try cutting out of the snacks to see what helps. But that’s easier said than done, isn’t it? So, what to do if you can’t go about your day without snacks?

Luckily, there is another solution. HEALTHY snacks. It's not about avoiding snacks; it's about choosing the right ones! If you consume chips, salted snacks, cookies and small cakes of course this snacks will make you fat! It is much better if you opt for fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, whole grains or some low fat dairy products (yogurt), because these snacks can contribute to a healthy diet.

Here are some of the best picks:

Low fat dairy products. Yogurt, cheese and other dairy products are full of calcium and protein, minerals and vitamins. Just be sure to choose the low fat versions of dairy products.

Nuts and seeds. Nuts and seeds provide your body with proteins; they are high in monounsaturated fat – a healthy kind of fat! Seeds and nuts are high in calories so don’t eat large quantities.

Whole grains. Rich in fiber and will give you a lot of energy. Choose whole grain pretzels, crisp breads or low fat crackers.

Fruits and vegetables. Great source of vitamins, fibers and minerals, fruits and vegetables have no fat and only a small amount of calories, which makes them excellent snack food.

Although consuming these snacks instead of your regular snacks can contribute to a healthy diet, even these snacks can also be a source of excess calories if not eaten in moderation!

Changing just your snacks will have a positive effect on your health, but will not be enough if your goal is to lose some extra weight. Keys to longer, healthier life are regular exercise and improvements in your diet, which can be easily achieved following Mediterranean Diet Weight Loss Plan.

Mediterranean Diet Health Benefits

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:16:57 GMT

Mediterranean food first attracted scientific attention 50 years ago, when researchers noticed that people throughout Crete and southern Italy often lived well into their 80s and 90s without any sign of heart disease, cancer or other chronic ailments.

Since then, hundreds of studies have confirmed that a traditional Mediterranean menu — lots of dense, whole grain peasant bread and pasta, seasonal vegetables and some cheese and fruit, all spiked with olive oil and washed down with red wine — can indeed substantially lower your risk of heart attack and stroke.

What seems to make the Mediterranean menu so healthful isn't any one food, but the whole eating-low-on-the-food-chain package. All ethnic eating is plant-based and unprocessed. It's a wonderful, fresh way of looking at things that goes beyond the usual fast-paced, put-it-in-boiling-water, nuke-it way of eating.

The Mediterranean diet is basically a balanced and nutritious diet that gives more importance to fresh and healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grain, seafood, nuts and seeds, pulses, olive oil, and yogurt. This is a diet followed typically by the people of countries like France, Spain, Italy and other Mediterranean countries. This kind of diet emphasizes seasonal and locally grown food and restricts the consumption of processed food.

The Mediterranean diet can be a weight watcher’s solution to weight loss as it works effectively in all aspects - shedding pounds, providing nutrition, as well as keeping your taste buds satisfied. This diet focuses on consuming small portions of high-quality food and includes healthy fats like olive oil and nuts, along with whole grain foods that are great sources of nutrients. Such a diet also makes you feel full for a longer period of time, so you don’t tend to overeat or crave unhealthy food.

If you want to get started on the Mediterranean Diet quickly, I highly recommend you visit Best Mediterranean Diet Blog where you'll find many information about Mediterranean Diet Weight Loss Plan, Mediterranean Diet recipes and other useful tips!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:46:40 GMT

Hi everyone! I'm just getting started on Healthkicker... Drop me a comment if you've got some ideas on what to do first - or just to say, "Hi!"