To help encourage healthier ways of eating, the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest is working with food and health advocates of all stripes to create Food Day, Oct. 24. Its goals are nothing less than to reshape the nation’s diet and orient food and farm policies toward healthier people and a healthier environment. Thousands of classrooms, colleges, churches, city halls, health departments and families all over the country are organizing events, including family meals, to inspire Americans to change their individual diets for the better.

Food should be delicious, a source of joy and nourishing. But all too many foods in the typical American diet are anything but nourishing. Rather, they slowly but surely undermine the body’s delicate balances and put people on the path to disease. And Food Day will be a time to begin to improve diets and transform America’s food system. [Read more...]

There are three ways women deal with the annoying fact that they wake up every morning to find themselves a little heavier than they would like.

Some women vocalise this fact at every opportunity and hate-talk themselves into submission.

“If I have that piece of cake I’ll be an even uglier, fatter, more disgusting person than I am already,” they say at a birthday party. “Pass it over.” [Read more...]

If you were planning on baking a big pan of lasagna for dinner, you might want to think twice. According to a new study by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, eating a diet high in carbohydrates can wreak havoc on gene expression, increasing your risk of inflammation, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and dementia. The study indicated that the ideal diet was something like the Zone diet, with a relatively equal balance of carbohydrate, protein and fat.

To conduct their study, researchers fed a group of slightly overweight men and women two different diets. One was composed of 65 percent carbs, 15 percent protein and 20 percent fat, and the other was made up of equal parts of each. Eating the high-carb diet quickly led to problems in gene expression and inflammation; researchers said that they saw changes for the worse within six days. [Read more...]

All of us want to look beautiful, but beauty starts from within. So to look good, one should have a healthy and nutritious diet and do regular exercise.

Experts say ‘You are what you eat’ – from the countless hair on your head to the nails on your toes. Your outer appearance, without the make-up, of course, reflects your inner state of health, which in turn reflects your lifestyle.

Obesity surgeon Dr Manish Motwani says, “Our body normally maintains a balance between caloric intake and caloric expenditure. However, when this balance is upset, it results in weight loss. Therefore, weight loss and weight gain are largely dependent on your dietary intake and physical activity. People who are overweight are full of fats and carbohydrates. They need to utilise the huge store of body fats and carbohydrates. Hence, their diet should be very low in carbohydrates and fats. They should have more of fibre and proteins to satisfy their hunger pangs.” [Read more...]

Dear Dr. Gott: I just started using your No Flour, No Sugar diet. I have a few questions. I am a Type 2 diabetic and have already noticed changes in my blood sugar.

The book says that jelly is not allowed, but makes no mention of sugar-free jelly. Is this OK?

I have corn tortillas that use only ingredients that are allowed, but I have also found low-carb wraps that have half the carbs, more fiber and more protein than the corn tortillas. They also have zero sugars, and the calories and fat are similar. The ingredients do list stone-ground whole-wheat flour, soy flour and sesame flour, so does that mean they are automatically disqualified from the diet? [Read more...]

Diet in Cardiac Diseases

The best diet for a healthy heart is a diet low in fatty and sugary foods and rich in fruits and vegetables which are quick foods that require little or no preparation time. They are loaded with important nutrients like vitamins, minerals, fiber and disease fighting antioxidants.

Unsaturated oils (refined oils) help maintain blood cholesterol levels if consumed in recommended quantities. Thus it is advisable to use only 4-5 teaspoons of cooking oil per day and a variety of refined oils should be taken. Select one from each group for your daily cooking purpose. Ratio of both oils should be 1:1. It is advised to use oil from Group A for 15 days and oil from Group B for 15 days or lunch with oil from Group A and dinner with oil from Group B. [Read more...]