Why to Eat some foods high in potassium and calcium every day?

Eat some foods high in potassium and calcium every day.

The chemical reactions inside all our cells are very sensitive to the balance of acid and alkali. This balance is maintained by ions of calcium, potassium, sodium, chloride, phosphate and hydrogen carbonate.

If we eat excess protein or acid foods, calcium and potassium ions get used .up in order to neutralise the acid. Dr Hay and modern science advocate the same two approaches. Don’t eat too much protein and do eat high potassium foods every day. Dr Hay also advocates restricting the intake of acid foods such as rhubarb and vinegar, but modern food chemistry demonstrates that a touch of vinegar in cooking a protein meal will help preserve many of the vitamins such as thiamin, riboflavin, folate and vitamin C.

Women – require only one starch meal each day unless you are active and need the extra energy.

Men – need extra energy and may require two starch meals a day.

On average women have a more efficient metabolism than men? If you have a very low fat diet, you will need to eat more starch than you can comfortably eat in one sitting. If you have a physically active life, two starch meals a day may give you all the energy that you need.

Non-starchy vegetables may not provide you with vast amounts of energy, but they do provide important essential vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Eat a wide variety and use them to fill up your plate at any meal. Use fresh or frozen vegetables and cook by steaming or microwaving for the best nutritional value.

There is no one food that has all the ingredients we need. If we eat a wide variety, we ensure that we get sufficient of all the vitamins and minerals that our bodies require. There is some evidence that eating a little of a lot of different foods greatly reduces the chances of developing food allergies. This applies particularly to the main starch foods so don’t eat wheat and potatoes all the time.

“Which Way to Health” recommends that you eat as much as you like of fruit and vegetables. Your target should be five portions a day. They’re full of vitamins and fibre, but low in calories. Don’t worry too much about pesticides in or

On fruit: for most of us, heart disease is a much bigger risk. If you are worried, buy organic, or grow your own.

In the UK the highest incidence of heart disease occurs in the people who eat the least fruit and vegetables. The more fruit and vegetables you eat, the less likely you are to develop cancer of the lung, stomach, mouth, cervix, colon or rectum.

Fresh fruit contain far more vitamins than cooked fruit. They make ideal snacks between meals and are superb for that ‘feel good’ factor.

Some fruits, like bananas, dates and plantains are starchy. Others, like citrus fruit, are acid. Most can be eaten with any protein meal.

Use olive oil if you need extra oil for cooking or dressings

Olive oil is an easily digested, mono-unsaturated oil and is a good source of vitamin E. Extra virgin cold pressed oil is best. It is the basic oil of the healthy Mediterranean lifestyle. Cretans in particular have the second lowest rate of heart disease in the world.

Butter or margarine? Should you eat saturated fats or polyunsaturated fats? Margarines are highly processed and refined foods. If you keep your fat intake low, you can allow yourself butter and cream ( loz / 25g of each per day ) Both these are pure, natural foods.

You can eat butter and cream in moderation

Butter is an excellent source of vitamin E and is pure dairy fat. Single cream is 20% fat and is a good source of vitamins A, E and D.

A certain amount of fat is essential in our diet. Provided that your overall intake of fat is kept low, butter and cream will enhance your lifestyle and help you maintain your health.

Don’t smother starch meals in fat.

A healthy starch meal can easily be overloaded with an unhealthy fatty sauce. A baked potato with a small lump of butter or potato chips dipped in olive oil and drained before roasting in the oven make excellent meals, but if the potato is soaked in fat, you will suffer all the risks of a high fat diet.

Sugar is absorbed too quickly into the blood stream. It results in swings in blood sugar level that put a strain on all the regulation systems in the body. High blood sugar levels can increase damage in all the tissues that the blood bathes.

Sugar adds nothing useful to the diet. You get a much more useful supply of energy from eating starchy foods.

Black treacle, molasses and honey contain useful minerals and vitamins. Use these in moderation.

Salt, or sodium chloride, is essential in very small amounts in our diet, but it is easy to eat far too much. The surplus salt has to be excreted by the kidneys. This makes the kidneys work harder and increases the risk of kidney failure.

Salt can also prevent uptake of calcium and lead to poor bone development in children.

Cholesterol is an essential compound, most of which is manufactured in our livers, and circulated throughout our bodies. High-cholesterol foods such as shell-fish and eggs are now thought to have little effect on blood cholesterol levels. Low cholesterol levels can result in severe depression.

You can slash your risk of heart disease still further by eating two portions of oily fish, such as herring or mackerel each week. Blood pressure and inflammation can be reduced and controlled by eating fish oils that contain omega-3 fatty acids. The best sources of these are mackerel, sardines, salmon, pilchards and herring. But note; you can overdose on fish oil supplements – vitamins A & D are toxic in high amounts.

Eating excessive amounts of bran can prevent your body absorbing essential calcium, iron, zinc and copper. Wheat fibre can be rough and irritating to the human digestive system. If you eat whole grain cereals and plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, you don’t need to add extra fibre to your diet.

Another New Scientist report states that “New research from Britain and the US, as well as Japan, provides strong evidence that women can substantially reduce the risk of breast cancer by consuming soya bean products, such as soya milk, or tofu.”

A diet high in soya protein can alter women’s hormones in a way that mimics the anti cancer drug tamoxifen. Eating soya products can lower the risk of both prostate and colon cancers.” “Most natural high fibre foods, such as whole wheat, oats, barley, rye, sesame and flax seeds may have a similar effect.

1. Borage seed oil (starflower oil) is high in Gamma Linolenic Acid. Its anti inflammatory properties help reduce swelling and tenderness of joints in rheumatoid arthritis. It has higher levels of this acid than evening primrose oil.

2. Cranberry juice can help protect against all types of urinary infections according to researchers at Boston USA. *

3. Garlic has strong antibiotic properties.

4. Don’t go on a calorie reduced diet to slim without taking plenty of exercise. Without the exercise you lose muscle, not fat. You’ll end up weak and fat!

5. Red wine in moderation is good for older people only! A lot still damages your liver. For younger people the risks of developing liver cancer outweigh the health benefits of a glass of wine.

6. Suffer from mouth ulcers? You may be short of B vitamins, particularly thiamine, riboflavin and B6.

7. Women who suffer prolonged or heavy periods are likely to develop an iron deficiency.

8. Women who have premenstrual syndrome may lack vitamins B and C.

9. Vegetarians may develop iron deficiency.

10. Convenience foods are often low in vitamin B and magnesium.

11. If you don’t eat fresh fruit and vegetables every day you may lack vitamin C, magnesium and potassium.

12. Heavy smokers need a much higher intake of vitamin C for good health.

13. Older people need to increase their intake of vitamin B, calcium, potassium and iron.

14. Are you tired all the time? Researchers at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge think low levels of folic acid might be part of the cause.

Exercise

It does not matter what age you are. You need exercise to stay fit and healthy.

You are aiming at a minimum of three sessions of thirty minutes vigorous exercise each week. A better target is a thirty minute session every day. If you try to do too much too quickly you risk damage to joints and muscles and will end up stiff and sore.

If you are not fit now, you must start slowly and build yourself up. Time yourself with an alarm clock. Start with just one minute of exercise on the first day, two minutes on the second day, and three minutes on the third. Continue adding just one minute to the exercise period each day, until at the end of 30 days you will have painlessly achieved your target – which you must now maintain every day!

It is best to select several different types of exercise that you really enjoy, and can keep going. The exercise should leave you feeling good, looking forward to the next session. The exercise should also develop stamina, strength and suppleness. Swimming hard is one of the few exercises that develop all three at the same time.

Vigorous exercise should leave you puffed, hot and sweaty! But if you feel muscle pain, stop. If you feel dizzy, or break out in a cold sweat, or suffer pains in the chest, neck or upper left arm, stop, and if this happens again consult your doctor.

If you are very unfit it may be wise to check with a doctor before you start a new exercise programme, particularly if you are over 60. You should also check with your doctor if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, joint pains or diabetes.

It is not wise to exercise strongly within two hours of a meal, within one hour of drinking alcohol, or in very hot or very cold conditions. But gentle exercise helps digestion. During gentle exercise, the muscles of the abdomen gently massage the digestive system, encouraging it to mix and move the digesting food. Tight belts or corsets can restrict the digestive system and produce symptoms of indigestion.