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In This Issue...

 Eat This, Not That – Healthy Food Options

 Iron for Better Metabolism
 More Recent Articles

Eat This, Not That – Healthy Food Options

Most of us have a decent idea on what is healthy and what is not. We eat healthy to the best of
knowledge and experience but sometimes get confused while choosing between two similar looking
healthy options. There are numerous combination or options that are available.

To help you ease your dilemma we have put together a list of 5 regular options you come across
everyday and supporting it scientific reason to help you make healthiest decisions.

Wheat Flakes vs Oatmeal : Wheat flakes and oatmeals are made from whole cereal grain and
provide good nutrition. Both are rich in fiber but the soluble fiber in oatmeal is higher than wheat
flakes making it a healthier option. The soluble fiber makes you feel fuller for a longer duration and
lowers the glycemic index of the food. Mix wheat flakes in your oatmeal for variation.

Chicken Sandwich vs Tuna Sandwich: This is a tough choice as both are white meat and healthy
too. Tuna is a fish which contains a lot of omega 3 fatty acids and very little fat. Chicken contains
more cholesterol than tuna making fish a healthier option for heart health.

Single fruit Juice vs Mixed Fruit Juice: Fresh fruit juices are a better option than packaged juices.
While choosing a fruit juice go for mixed as opposed to a single fruit juice as it would give a combined
nutrition of the fruits. The flavor of mixed fruit  juice can also be changed by choosing different fruits
ensuring variety of flavors.

Milk vs Buttermilk: Milk has traditionally been a great source of protein, calcium and minerals. But
as per the latest studies butter milk, also belonging to the dairy food group, has been touted has a
healthier option between the two. Buttermilk has an added advantage of containing good bacteria
which is great for digestion and has lesser fat than milk.

White Sauce vs Red sauce: Most of the pastas & spaghetti is cooked either in the red sauce or the
white sauce. Red sauce is tomato based while the white sauce is made of white flour and milk.  The
red sauce contains  Dietary Fiber, vitamins and some important minerals. While white sauce has
processed flour and sometimes to give it extra flavor milk is substituted with cream. Therefore the red
sauce is any day a healthier option to choose from.

The basic logic in ensuring the nutrition content of the food is to pay attention to the main ingredients
of the food available. Besides that practise portion control (link to the article on potion control) as too
much of anything is bad for health and lastly try to get moderate exercise for healthier metabolism.

Post from: Fitho.in. If you'd like to read more health and fitness information, check out Fitho.in

 
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Iron for Better Metabolism

We know how iron is important and its presence in the blood helps carry oxygen to the cells for energy
production and good health of tissues. For a good metabolism oxygen is required in the cells. The iron
helps carry the oxygen through blood to every cell. Do you remember how a good metabolism helps
lose weight?

28-30  mg is the daily requirement of iron and is vital for a good immune system, build resistance and
vital for brain development and concentration. Fainting, fatigue, rapid heartbeat are some of the
common symptoms involved with iron deficiency. Iron has a low absorption rate in your body and can
be increased with vitamin C.

There are two forms of iron, Heme iron and non heam iron. The meats fall in the heam category which
have a higher absorption in the body and non heme are plant food which have a low absorption rate.
The oxylates and tannins present in plant food reduce the absorption of iron in the body. Especially
caffeine, due to presence of tannins, when consumed with iron rich food can slow the rate of iron
absorption?

Traditionally the food was cooked in iron utensils which made the food rich in iron when prepared in
them. The food absorbed iron from the iron handi and kadhai and other similar utensils. But with
changing times the cooking utensils have changed too.Convenience and appearance  of non-stick
utensils and plastic wares for micro waving,have soon replaced the iron utensils from the shelves.
People consumed a decent amount of daily iron intake by just cooking the food in the utensil itself, but
now with the paradigm shift one has to reach out to richer sources of iron to substitute for this
change.

Green leafy vegetables like spinach are good sources of iron. Dates, sprouts and green mint leaves
provides a high amount of iron for the body. Nuts and seeds with fortified cereals and fish along with
meat provide iron for metabolism. Add vitamin c for higher absorption of it.

Here are some easy tips to increase your iron absorption in your body.
Have sprouts with a squeeze of lime in it for higher iron absorption. Add citrus fruits which contain lots
of vitamin C with iron rich foods to accelerate the absorption rate. Vegetables like tomato and broccoli
are a good source of both vitamin C and iron.