Tuesday 31 December 2013

new year

 New Year

A better tomorrow starts today. Eat well Move more Live longer...don't give up the beginning is always the hardest.



Wishing you all a very happy and a healthy new year

Mrs Shilpa Mittal
Nutritionist and Diet Consultant
Founder Shilpsnutrilife - Diet and lifestylemakeover

Monday 30 December 2013

New Year’s resolutions

New Year’s resolutions

Another year, yet another resolution

Does your 2014 New Year’s resolutions sound a bit like this: lose weight, exercise,  quit smoking, eat less crap, enjoy life and so on on and on.

As soon as January hits we see a huge increase in traffic at the gym, and plenty of motivated people who are determined to change their lifestyle after the last few months of awful holiday eating. They write out very broad goals, but no action steps, and usually lose the motivation by mid-March.


If you know you need to change your lifestyle, don’t plan for 30 days down the line, or even tomorrow morning. Start Now. There is no such thing as a ‘last meal’, give up on the dieting mindset – this isn’t a diet, this is a lifestyle that needs to work with your routine and schedule to be sustainable.

You know your schedule and your tastes best, and only you know what is sustainable with your busy life. If they work in your schedule, make it a habit, if it doesn’t work or it isn’t to your taste, then it won’t be sustainable for you to keep forcing yourself to do it, so lose it!

Don't let DIET or EXERCISE grown on you, accept it as a lifestyle enjoy it..... 
 


Mrs Shilpa Mittal
Nutritionist and Diet Consultant
Founder Shilpsnutrilife - Diet and lifestylemakeover

Friday 27 December 2013

What to eat

WHAT TO EAT
Many a times we are confused what to eat...how many times a week..will it help, so many healthy foods...can't fit all in a day so here is a very quick guide for all of you.
EAT DAILY - Whole grains, fruits, nuts,greens leafy veges, protein
3 TIMES A WEEK - potato, sweet potato, oily fish, chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, avocado, tofu, panir
ONCE A WEEK- desserts, white starch, alcohol, red meat
TOTALLY ELIMINATING - processed foods, soda, junk foods, fast foods, canned soup, diet foods.

EAT HEALTHY STAY HEALTHY - HAVE BETTER HEALTH THROUGH BETTER NUTRITION

Mrs Shilpa Mittal
Nutritionist and Diet Consultant
Founder Shilpsnutrilife - Diet and lifestylemakeover

Wednesday 25 December 2013

Choose powerful vegetables

 Choose powerful vegetables

Fresh vegetables, leafy vegetables should be consumed in good amounts.. Not all vegetables are created equal. The darker the color, the higher the concentration of nutrients. For example, spinach has more to offer the mind and body than iceberg lettuce. Other great vegetable choices include bell peppers, broccoli and sweet potatoes. 


Also eating a lot of green leafy vegetable can help us with detoxifying the body


Mrs Shilpa Mittal
Nutritionist and Diet Consultant
Founder Shilpsnutrilife - Diet and lifestylemakeover

Sunday 22 December 2013

AN HEALTHY SWEET DISH FOR WARMING WINTERS


An easy and healthy sweet dish to keep you warm this winter



  
Add one tablespoon of ghee in half kg of dates. Then, stir it continuously till the dates get softer. Once it reaches a thick paste-like consistency, add a handful of grated almonds on top, spread it in a dish and cut it into pieces. A healthy, home-made date halwa is ready. (you can also try adding other dry fruits, anjir to it)
Mrs Shilpa Mittal
Nutritionist and Diet Consultant
Founder Shilpsnutrilife - Diet and lifestylemakeover

Friday 20 December 2013

Foods to keep you warm this winter

 Foods to keep you warm this winter



Mrs Shilpa Mittal Nutritionist and Diet Consultant Founder Shilpsnutrilife - Diet and lifestylemakeover

Friday 13 December 2013

Mint the cool cool herb

 Mint(Pudina) the cool cool herb

Mint (Pudina) is a powerful herb with a sweet flavour, and a cooling after-sensation

Rich in Vitamins- βeta Carotene (Precursor of Vitamin A ), Vitamin C, Folate and also has essential minerals like Iron,manganese, potassium, calcium, zinc,copper,etc .


Health benefits

•Relieves symptoms of indigestion, heartburn and irritable bowel syndrome as it relaxes the muscles in and around the intestine.
•Combats bad breath.
Crushed mint leaves helps in whitening teeth
•Cleanses the blood and detoxifies.
•Helps in dealing with skin irritations, has anti-acne properties esp due to its cooling nature


 Culinary uses

•Mint Chutney
•Fresh leaves /dried powder can be added to

onRaitas,Chaats,Salads,Soups, Curries,Vegetables
•As Mint coolers
Herbal Mint Tea
•In Lassi,Chaach,Jaljeera,Aam Panna,Juicesother beverages


Mint adds a touch of sweetness without the sugar, and it also helps settle your stomach and aids in digestion. Mint leaves are a nice refreshing flavor to add to your drink. On top of that, it can help you digest more effectively, improving the flow of bile from the liver, to the gallbladder, to the small intestine, where it breaks down dietary fats. Mint also helps relax cramped up stomach muscles

WATCH OUT FOR REFERESHING MINT TEA RECIPE COMING SOON






Even Health-Conscious Consumers Find It Hard to Maintain a Healthy Diet


Shopping for Healthy FoodIt’s a proven fact that most people change their eating habits and lifestyle choices only after a serious health scare such as a heart attack or a diabetes diagnosis. Still, in many cases that may not be enough. Old habits tend to die hard, but often there are also not many alternatives to what they’ve been doing in terms of eating right and taking care of themselves.

Making Better Diet and Lifestyle Choices
Continues to Be an Uphill Battle


A recent study found that most consumers after being confronted with a major health crisis were still influenced in their choices by factors other than what’s good for their health. For example, people can find it difficult to change their long established eating habits, says Dr. Yu Ma, an economics professor at Alberta School of Business and author of the study. Another highly influential factor is price, he says. If they get a good deal on a particular item, they will go for it, and if it’s too expensive, they will stay away, no matter how much they would benefit healthwise.
Another issue is what he calls the “health halo effect.” Most people divide foods simply into two categories: healthy and unhealthy, he says. If something is considered healthful, e.g. a salad or a breakfast cereal, as opposed to a cheeseburger or a sugar-laden donut, people tend to overindulge in the “healthy” stuff without much further thought. We have seen that phenomenon when, for example, fat-free cookies came on the market and many believed they could consume those in almost unlimited quantities because of the absence of fat. Of course, eliminating the fat did not make those cookies less caloric, and the results became apparent soon thereafter.
Another study, this one on heart attack and stroke patients, showed that nearly 15 percent did not alter their eating and lifestyle habits after the incident, including poor diet choices, lack of exercise and smoking. Less than half of all participants in the study reported having made at least one change, and less than a third said they made several improvements. Only 4 percent claimed they did everything that was recommended to them to prevent further deterioration of their health.
Much of the unwillingness or inability to make healthier diet and lifestyle choices can be blamed on the widespread confusion among the public due to the ceaseless onslaught of sometimes contradictory messages in the media about health matters. In addition, many of the warnings issued by experts are hard to heed by consumers who are oftentimes ignorant, if not intentionally kept in the dark, about the nutritional quality of their food supply. For instance, recommendations to avoid high fat, salt and sugar content may be well-meaning, but they are by and large useless when ingredients lists are hard to decipher or when restaurants aren’t required to follow any dietary guidelines or to post nutritional information on their menus.
“I think people are interested in making changes and they are heeding the warnings,” said Dr. Sara Bleich, an associate professor of health policy at the John Hopkins School of Public Health to NBCNews. “But when it comes to food, it’s much more complicated. Cereal, for example, has a tremendous amount of added sugar. And not everyone understands that breakfast foods like muffins and pastry, things that people don’t consider to be a dessert or an indulgence, pack a lot of sugar.” Similar concerns apply to salt in countless processed foods, many of which don’t even taste salty, and certain types of fats, some of which are obscured by arbitrary serving descriptions on food labels.
Undoubtedly, more and more people want to be better informed about nutritional health and be empowered to make the right choices. With growing consumer demand for further regulation and protection, that may be feasible over time. But for now, it’s an ongoing uphill battle, and most of us have to fend for ourselves as well as we can.
- See more at: http://www.timigustafson.com/2013/even-health-conscious-consumers-find-it-hard-to-maintain-a-healthy-diet/#sthash.Wwt9xIzu.dpuf





Even Health-Conscious Consumers Find It Hard to Maintain a Healthy Diet


Shopping for Healthy FoodIt’s a proven fact that most people change their eating habits and lifestyle choices only after a serious health scare such as a heart attack or a diabetes diagnosis. Still, in many cases that may not be enough. Old habits tend to die hard, but often there are also not many alternatives to what they’ve been doing in terms of eating right and taking care of themselves.

Making Better Diet and Lifestyle Choices
Continues to Be an Uphill Battle


A recent study found that most consumers after being confronted with a major health crisis were still influenced in their choices by factors other than what’s good for their health. For example, people can find it difficult to change their long established eating habits, says Dr. Yu Ma, an economics professor at Alberta School of Business and author of the study. Another highly influential factor is price, he says. If they get a good deal on a particular item, they will go for it, and if it’s too expensive, they will stay away, no matter how much they would benefit healthwise.
Another issue is what he calls the “health halo effect.” Most people divide foods simply into two categories: healthy and unhealthy, he says. If something is considered healthful, e.g. a salad or a breakfast cereal, as opposed to a cheeseburger or a sugar-laden donut, people tend to overindulge in the “healthy” stuff without much further thought. We have seen that phenomenon when, for example, fat-free cookies came on the market and many believed they could consume those in almost unlimited quantities because of the absence of fat. Of course, eliminating the fat did not make those cookies less caloric, and the results became apparent soon thereafter.
Another study, this one on heart attack and stroke patients, showed that nearly 15 percent did not alter their eating and lifestyle habits after the incident, including poor diet choices, lack of exercise and smoking. Less than half of all participants in the study reported having made at least one change, and less than a third said they made several improvements. Only 4 percent claimed they did everything that was recommended to them to prevent further deterioration of their health.
Much of the unwillingness or inability to make healthier diet and lifestyle choices can be blamed on the widespread confusion among the public due to the ceaseless onslaught of sometimes contradictory messages in the media about health matters. In addition, many of the warnings issued by experts are hard to heed by consumers who are oftentimes ignorant, if not intentionally kept in the dark, about the nutritional quality of their food supply. For instance, recommendations to avoid high fat, salt and sugar content may be well-meaning, but they are by and large useless when ingredients lists are hard to decipher or when restaurants aren’t required to follow any dietary guidelines or to post nutritional information on their menus.
“I think people are interested in making changes and they are heeding the warnings,” said Dr. Sara Bleich, an associate professor of health policy at the John Hopkins School of Public Health to NBCNews. “But when it comes to food, it’s much more complicated. Cereal, for example, has a tremendous amount of added sugar. And not everyone understands that breakfast foods like muffins and pastry, things that people don’t consider to be a dessert or an indulgence, pack a lot of sugar.” Similar concerns apply to salt in countless processed foods, many of which don’t even taste salty, and certain types of fats, some of which are obscured by arbitrary serving descriptions on food labels.
Undoubtedly, more and more people want to be better informed about nutritional health and be empowered to make the right choices. With growing consumer demand for further regulation and protection, that may be feasible over time. But for now, it’s an ongoing uphill battle, and most of us have to fend for ourselves as well as we can.
- See more at: http://www.timigustafson.com/2013/even-health-conscious-consumers-find-it-hard-to-maintain-a-healthy-diet/#sthash.Wwt9xIzu.dpuf
Mrs Shilpa Mittal
Nutritionist and Diet Consultant
Founder Shilpsnutrilife - Diet and lifestylemakeover



Tuesday 10 December 2013

Portion Distortion

 Portion Distortion 

Which came first, the larger waistline or the bigger portion size? This is like one of those philosophical questions about art imitating life or the chicken/egg paradox.

 

Over the past few years portions have grown significantly in fast food and sit-down restaurants, as has the frequency of  eating out. Subsequently, waistlines have also grown right along with this trend. 

Do food companies simply cater to the desires of the overweight by serving them more food? Or are people overweight because food companies keep on ramping up their plate sizes in an effort to outdo their competition? Or maybe it is both.

At the end of the day, the fact remains that 20 years ago portion size was a fraction of what we see today. Average portion sizes have grown so much over the past 20 years that sometimes the plate arrives and there's enough food for two or even three people on it. Growing portion sizes are changing what people think of as a "normal" portion at home too. We call it portion distortion.
Big portion sizes can mean you’re getting more food than your body i.e stomach can handle to maintain a healthy weight.
Although we are getting bigger portion sizes in restaurants, god is giving us only one stomach and that too with limited stuffing capacity right...please think over this.

Mrs Shilpa Mittal
Nutritionist and Diet Consultant
Founder Shilpsnutrilife - Diet and lifestylemakeover

Friday 6 December 2013

Vitamin D Food sources


Vitamin D Food sources

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. This means that your body can store extra amounts of vitamin D. It aids in the absorption of calcium and phosphate by the intestine

Sources of Vitamin D: 


There are 3 ways to get Vitamin D: food, sunlight and supplements. If you are not getting enough sunlight or you don’t spend enough time outdoors, you need to take supplements in order to cover your Vitamin D shortage. Foods which contain Vitamin D3 include fish (catfish, salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna, eel), eggs, fortified milk, and cod liver oil with lesser amounts in beef liver, cheese,shiitake mushrooms and egg yolks.  

What can high-vitamin D foods do for you?

  • Help optimize calcium metabolism
  • Help optimize phosphorus metabolism
  • Help prevent type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, heart attack, congestive heart failure, and stroke
  • Help prevent falls and muscle weakness
  • Help prevent osteoporosis while maintaining bone integrity
  • Help regulate insulin activity and blood sugar balance
  • Help regulate immune system responses
  • Help regulate muscle composition and muscle function
  • Help regulate blood pressure
  • Lower risk of excessive inflammation
  • Lower risk of some bacterial infections
  • Support cognitive function, especially in older persons
  • Support mood stability, especially in older persons
  • Help prevent chronic fatigue
  • Help prevent the following types of cancer: bladder, breast, colon, ovarian, prostate and rectal



Mrs Shilpa Mittal Nutritionist and Diet Consultant Founder Shilpsnutrilife - Diet and lifestylemakeover

Thursday 5 December 2013

Vitamin D Facts

 Vitamin D Facts

November 2nd is Vitamin D Day!

Vitamin D Day is a day to recognize vitamin D deficiency as a world problem.

Researchers agree that at least one third of the world is deficient in vitamin D, and some scientists even think a greater percent of people are deficient in vitamin D.

Why are so many people deficient, you might ask? It’s simple really. We get vitamin D from sun exposure. And now, more than ever, the world’s population lives an indoor lifestyle, avoiding the sun daily. Doctors are beginning to discover that vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for many diseases, including heart disease and cancer.
Learn, educate and participate; let’s get the word out!

“Vitamin D deficiency is a global pandemic that has serious health consequences for children and adults. Improvement in the world’s vitamin D status could significantly reduce risk of many chronic illnesses including cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes and many deadly cancers as well as infectious diseases including upper respiratory tract infections, influenza and tuberculosis.”

If you expect sunshine to provide you with vitamin D, then you’d better make sure that the sun is high enough in the sky, because when the sun is low on the horizon it cannot help skin make vitamin D.

So go grab the sunshine vitamin and up your vitamin D levels


Mrs Shilpa Mittal Nutritionist and Diet Consultant Founder Shilpsnutrilife - Diet and lifestylemakeover

Wednesday 4 December 2013

Pick Immune-Boosting Foods

Pick Immune-Boosting Foods

Are you surrounded by coughs and sneezes? From October through march, flu season is in full swing. The best way to prevent the seasonal flu is to make sure you and your loved ones, especially children and the elderly, eat a immunity boosting diet.

Good nutrition is essential to keeping your immune system strong. Nutrients important to supporting your body's ability to fight infections include:

•Protein (lean meats, dairy, nuts and tofu)
•Vitamin A (sweet potatoes, carrots, dark leafy greens, eggs, fortified milk)
•Vitamin C (citrus fruits, such as oranges and grapefruit)
•Vitamin E (wheat germ, whole-grain products, seeds and nuts)
•Zinc (lean red meat, poultry, beans, nuts and fortified cereal)
•Onion and garlic due to it antifungal,anti-bacterial and antiseptic properties.

Stay healthy by following a balanced eating plan with plenty of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meat and low-fat and fat-free dairy.

Mrs Shilpa Mittal
Nutritionist and Diet Consultant
Founder Shilpsnutrilife - Diet and lifestylemakeover

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Orange vs orange juice

Orange vs orange juice

So did you you always wonder why eating oranges are better and not drinking the juice so here it is...

Think about this, it takes 3-4 oranges to make a one-cup serving of orange juice. You can drink a cup of orange juice in 25 seconds and instantly ask for another glass. How long does it take to eat 3 oranges, even if they have been peeled and sectioned for you? After eating 3 oranges, will you eat 3 more?While whole pieces of fruit keep you busy and satiated, fruit juice makes you want to drink more.



Eat This
Not That
Orange
Orange Juice

With about 48 calories and 2.4 grams of fiber (source USDA), a whole orange is more than orange juice. You could have 2 oranges for the same calories in a cup of juice, plus the bonus of 5g of fiber. Also the carotene (vit A) content is drastically reduced in orange juice as compared to a whole orange. Adding a piece of fruit to your breakfast is an easy way to pump up your nutrients. Switch it up with a variety of colors and flavors, like berries, pineapple, kiwi, melon, and bananas.

Here are a few more  problems with Whole fruit Vs Fruit juice
1.Fruit juice, even 100% freshly squeezed, is a concentrated dose of sugar that is quickly ingested by our body, spiking blood glucose levels and straining our pancreas.

2.Juice loses one of the most important nutrients that whole fruit provides – fiber. The cell structure of the fruit keeps the sugars “under control”, and as a result there is no spike in blood glucose levels.

3.Juicing an entire fruit and consuming the juice without filtration may theoretically keep the fiber in your drink, but actually tears down these fiber linings and results in blood glucose spikes as well.

 4.You're going to feel hungrier faster than you would if you ate the whole fruit.


In summary: drink water, eat fruit. Save juice for occasional treats. Skip the fruit juices, and make it a habit to enjoy real fruit.



Mrs Shilpa Mittal
Nutritionist and Diet Consultant
Founder Shilpsnutrilife - Diet and lifestylemakeover

Monday 2 December 2013

Energy Giving Nutrients

 Energy Giving Nutrients

Of all the nutrients present in food, only 3 provide energy:

Fat
Carbohydrates
Protein

Lets check out if  these energy providing nutrients all contain the same amount of energy?

Fats contain about twice as much energy as proteins and carbohydrates.The metabolisation of 1 gram fat gives approx. 9 kcal, while 1 gram carbohydrates or 1 gram protein only
gives 4 kcal. For this reason, foods with high fat content have normally the highest energy content.


Although carbs and protein provide the same calories the basic function of protein is to repair the regular wear and tear happening in the body. Similarly choose from complex high fibre carbs like whole grains to get a sustained energy benefit and not from simple carbs like sugar, biscuits, cakes etc 

So go ahead and eat high fat foods with caution.


Mrs Shilpa Mittal
Nutritionist and Diet Consultant
Founder Shilpsnutrilife - Diet and lifestylemakeover