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Diet & Nutrition, Health & Fitness | by Novella Lui

Uplift your spirits with these nutrients

Stress is inevitable in our lives. Often, we think stress is related to negative attributes, but positive events such as a job promotion, moving, relocation, wedding planning and expecting a child, can all trigger stress. Stress can affect our mood and emotions. How we choose to deal with stress, on the other hand, can have profound effects on our mental and physical health. If we have issues with managing stress effectively, we may put ourselves at risk for mood disorders, anxiety and depression.

Physiologically, our body responds to stress by producing and releasing stress-related hormones such as cortisol. As mentioned in the previous feature, cortisol is known to lower our immune function, which makes us more susceptible to the common cold. Moreover, it can elevate our blood pressure, increase our risk for heart diseases and interfere with learning and memory.
Read more: These are the Healthiest Travel Snacks, According to a Registered Dietitian
Since chronic stress can have adverse effects to our health, we would want to use different strategies to cope with stress and to quell anxiety. From a physiological standpoint, we want to reduce stress by suppressing the levels of stress-related hormones and to increase the levels of happy hormones, such as serotonin in our body. One of the ways to achieve this is through eating foods that contain nutrients that promote the production of serotonin and other relaxation-related chemicals. There are a few nutrients that can help with uplifting our spirits: protein, B vitamins, vitamin D, Omega-3's, calcium and magnesium.

Protein

Protein plays an important role in growth and development, but it also plays a huge part in keeping us at ease. One of the building blocks of protein, tryptophan, is responsible for making serotonin. Because tryptophan is a type of essential amino acid, which the body cannot produce, it has to be obtained through food. It is present in a variety of foods including meats, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, tofu, legumes, nuts and seeds. Some dark leafy greens such as spinach also contain tryptophan.

Another notable amino acid called tyrosine is used to make dopamine, a chemical messenger in the brain that promotes the feelings of pleasure, motivation and alertness, and affects memory. While our body is capable of making tyrosine, it is also an amino acid found in meats, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, almonds, banana, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds.

How much protein do you need?
Read more: What Nutritionists Are Actually Eating for Gut Health
Including protein as part of meals and snacks is key to satiety and to setting the tone of the amount of food we have in one sitting. The amount of protein required varies from individual to individual. To determine how much protein you need, simply take your weight in pounds and divide by two. For example, if you are 120 pounds, you will need 60 grams of protein per day. To keep your food intake sensible and to feel satiated, space the protein throughout the day by including 15 to 30 grams of protein at each meal and snack.

B Vitamins

In addition to protein, there are three B vitamins that assist with producing serotonin and other brain chemicals that affect mood: vitamin B6, folate and vitamin B12. L ow levels of these B vitamins may be linked to anxiety and depression.

Vitamin B6 is found in vegetables, nuts, avocados, meats, fish, bananas and potatoes.

Folate plays a pivotal role in converting tryptophan to serotonin. It is present in edamame, spinach, broccoli, kale, beans and fortified cereals and breads ( a F symbol will be displayed on the food packaging of fortified cereals and breads).

Vitamin B12 is commonly found in protein-rich foods such as meats, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs and dairy products. Do note that vitamin B12 is present only in animal sources, which means if you are a vegetarian or a vegan, you may consume soy-based meat substitutes that are fortified with vitamin B12 to prevent deficiency. To ensure the meat-substitute product contains vitamin B12, read the Nutrition Facts on the food packaging. Alternatively, you may also take a vitamin B12 supplement to prevent deficiency. However, it is best to check with your doctor to see if supplementation is needed.

Vitamin D
Read more: Give Your Immune System a Boost with These Nutrients
Like vitamin C, vitamin D levels can be affected by the presence of cortisol. While there are varying amounts of vitamin D in foods, such as cold-water and fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines, egg yolks and some fortified rice, soy and almond beverages, the most effective and natural way to get vitamin D is exposing your bare skin to sunlight.

Omega-3's

Omega-3 fatty acids are well-known for reducing our risk for heart diseases, but more emerging evidence shows that a diet rich in omega-3's, particularly docosahexaenoic acid ( DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acids ( EPA), may also h elp with managing stress and maintaining a healthy mood. Both DHA and EPA can be found in fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring, halibut, and sardines. Therefore, having fish twice a week as part of our meals is not only beneficial for our heart but also for our mood.

Calcium
Read more: 5 Dietitian-Approved Snacks to Help You Get Through the Work Day
Calcium is notorious for being a major player in bone health, but it is also an essential component part of our nervous system. Lacking in calcium may increase the symptoms of anxiety and the risk of depression. While calcium is predominantly found in dairy products like milk, cheese and yogurt, it is also present in non-dairy sources such as canned salmon and sardines and in vegetables such as kale and spinach.

Magnesium

Magnesium also helps with reducing anxiety. Food sources with magnesium include brazil nuts, legumes, dark green leafy vegetables, dairy products, and whole grains such as oatmeal, quinoa and brown rice.

Bottom Line

We cannot avoid stress but we can find healthy ways to manage stress. Adopting a nutritious diet and including foods with nutrients that have stress-fighting capabilities is one of them. Be proactive in making positive changes to your diet can uplift your spirits and lead you to a healthier life.

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Nutritionists Have Found that These Foods Can Help Reduce Anxiety

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Diet & Nutrition, Health & Fitness | by Novella Lui Stress is inevitable in our lives. Often, we think stress is related to negative attributes, but positive events such as a job promotion, moving, relocation, wedding planning and expecting a child, can all trigger stress. Stress can affect our mood and emotions.

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Eat This Nutritionist's Go-To Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner to Start 2018 Right

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Eat This Nutritionist's Go-To Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner to Start 2018 Right

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Eat This Nutritionist's Go-To Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner to Start 2018 Right

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These easy and delicious meals take the guesswork out of eating healthy and won't derail your weight loss goals.

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Be it SpongeBob SquarePants or Tony the Tiger, food companies have long used cartoon characters to market their products to children. But that tactic can also sway younger kids to eat fresh vegetables, according to a new study.

Sammy Spinach, Oliver Onion, Colby Carrot, Suzy Sweet Pea and a slew of cartoon vegetable characters with superpowers were developed as puppets by a nonprofit organization called Super Sprowtz. Using live puppet performances across the country and short videos featuring the veggie characters with stars like basketball legend Shaquille O' Neal, the organization has been trying to make vegetables more appealing to children.

One video has all the characters singing and dancing to the tune of Beyoncé's "Put a Ring On It." The revamped chorus? "If you'd like to eat healthy, put a veggie on it." (Perhaps the creators were acquainted with little kids' love of this song.)

David Just, a behavioral economist at Cornell University, and his colleagues wanted to know if Beyoncé-belting veggie superheroes could actually change children's eating habits. So they joined forces with Super Sprowtz and borrowed their characters to test them in elementary school cafeterias.

In three participating schools, the researchers showed the Super Sprowtz videos on TVs in the cafeterias near the salad bar. In two schools, they festooned the salad bar with a large vinyl banner showing the brightly colored veggie heroes. In three additional schools, the cafeteria featured both the videos and the salad bar banner, while two other schools had neither the videos nor the banner and served as a controls for the experiment.

Students in schools with the banner alone grabbed nearly twice as many servings of vegetables as those in control schools. But in the schools with both the banner and the video messages, the effect was even more pronounced: Students put three times as many vegetables on their lunch trays. The schools where only videos were shown didn't see a significant increase in how much veggies kids served themselves.

"The [banners] are visible from a long ways away,"Just notes. He thinks that drew more children to the salad bar. "And if they had the TV once they got there, then they were [even] more likely to try" the vegetables.

The study included students from kindergarten through fifth grade. It makes sense that kids in this age range would be swayed by cartoon characters, says Andrew Hanks, a scientist at Ohio State University's Food Innovation Center and the main author of the study. "These are animated characters, and kids at that age like these kinds of things," he says.

Food and beverage companies know this, too, says Margo Wootan, a nutrition policy expert at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "Kids are exposed to $2 billion worth of food marketing to kids each year," she says. Most of this marketing, she says, is "using characters to promote unhealthy food to kids" - highly processed foods like cereals or sugar-filled fruit snacks.

"My take on this is that these kids are going to experience marketing in some form," says Hanks. "Why don't we expose them to marketing to make healthy choices? As we show in this study, it can have a powerful impact."

Wootan agrees. She's part of a group of organizations that has pushed the food industry to cut down on the use of cartoon characters to sell foods high in calories, fat, sodium and sugar to children.

Schools trying to sell kids on healthier lunches are at a comparative disadvantage, she says, because "they are not marketing school lunch as cool." Using Zach Zucchini and Miki Mushroom is a great way to make healthier lunch seem hipper to students, she adds. And while familiar media characters may be more persuasive, she says that most schools don't have the money to license SpongeBob to market healthful lunches.

"I think doing something like this, certainly you can target entire schools," says Christina Economos, a childhood nutrition researcher at Tufts University. She says the findings also suggest that researchers need to better explore the role of branded media in getting kids to eat healthier foods. Child health activists have already tried similar experiments. For example, three years ago, Sesame Workshop partnered with the Produce Marketing Association and Partnership for a Healthier America to use Big Bird, Elmo and Abby Cadabby in messaging that aimed to make vegetables and fruits more appealing to kids.

However, marketing campaigns alone can't ensure that kids continue to choose healthful foods, cautions Economos. These efforts will need to be complemented with the good old (but less cool) tool called nutrition education, which has been shown to be effective in changing children's food habits. "There has to be education that supplements this," Economos says.

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Want Kids To Eat More Veggies? Market Them With Cartoons

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Be it SpongeBob SquarePants or Tony the Tiger, food companies have long used cartoon characters to market their products to children. But that tactic can also sway younger kids to eat fresh vegetables, according to a new study.

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Eating healthy food helps you grow up great. Find out more about how food fuels your body.

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Paloma helps coach people through nutrition issues, creates health plant based recipes

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Healthy Living with Paloma Gerber Learn More

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The Benefits of Eating Healthy Foods as a Child

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The Benefits of Eating Healthy Foods as a Child

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Kathryn Hatter

Kathryn Hatter is a veteran home-school educator, as well as an accomplished gardener, quilter, crocheter, cook, decorator and digital graphics creator. As a regular contributor to Natural News, many of Hatter's Internet publications focus on natural health and parenting. Hatter has also had publication on home improvement websites such as Redbeacon.

Eating a healthful diet has benefits throughout life. Starting a healthy lifestyle during childhood can have long-term advantages, according to the American Psychological Association. Following healthy habits during the formative years of childhood makes it more likely that your youngster will hold onto these habits throughout life.

Video of the Day

Healthful eating involves consuming a variety of whole and nutritious foods. By incorporating foods from the different food groups into every meal, kids should have a well-rounded and healthy diet. The "MyPlate" initiative by First Lady Michelle Obama seeks to simplify healthy eating by presenting a dinner plate divided into four different pieces with fruits and vegetables comprising half of the plate and grains and proteins comprising the other half, according to the KidsHealth website. A small circle to the right of the plate represents dairy in the diet. Foods that contain excess fats and sugars should become occasional foods, only added to the diet once in a while.

Children have important daily dietary needs to support continued growth and physical development. Foods that contain vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates and protein will provide the nutrients necessary for growth and development. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children eat at least five fruits and vegetables each day.

Children who eat a healthy diet also receive direct brain development benefits, according to research associate Marc Goodman-Bryan with The Urban Child Institute. For example, if a child does not receive adequate intake of iodine and iron, she may experience both cognitive delays and motor development delays. A child whose diet is deficient in the essential fatty acid DHA might experience delays in learning and development.

Eating healthy foods can also reduce the health problems faced by children. Children served healthy foods regularly may experience fewer cavities. Many chronic health problems, such as obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer, have roots that trace back to an unhealthy childhood diet. When children start life with whole and healthy foods, they may avoid many heath issues that can affect them both during childhood and into adulthood.

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The Benefits of Eating Healthy Foods as a Child

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Eating a healthful diet has benefits throughout life. Starting a healthy lifestyle during childhood can have long-term advantages, according to the American Psychological Association. Following healthy habits during the formative years of childhood makes it more likely that your youngster will hold onto these habits throughout life.

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Interview - Sandra (Nutrition)

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1. Get in balance.

Eat a diet that's 45 percent carbs, 30 percent protein, and 35 percent good-for-you fats-olive oil, fish, or nuts. "Eating too little fat makes you feel deprived," Forberg says. "Sprinkle almonds on your salad, put Parmesan cheese on your whole-wheat pasta, or slice avocado on your sandwich. Fat is a flavor carrier that helps other foods taste more robust."

2. Avoid anything artificial.

Stick with real foods, such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, lean meats, low-fat dairy, and whole-grain pasta, rice, and bread. "The idea is to get the biggest nutrient bang for the calorie buck. Processed foods contain a lot of junk. Real foods are antioxidant-rich and fiber-filled."

3. Pile on the green stuff.

"The bulk of your diet should be vegetables, such as tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, and other greens," says Forberg. Vegetables are high in fiber and water, which fill you up. "You'll be surprised by how much you can eat when you follow this plan."

4. Keep a food journal.

"People who write down what they eat after every meal lose twice the weight of those who don't."

5. Set healthy limits.

"On the show, we recommend women consume 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day and men 1,600 to 2,400, depending on their size," says Forberg. "If you're super-tired, eat a little more. This is about making a lifestyle change and doing something that's sustainable."

6. Never let yourself get famished-or too full.

"When you're super-hungry, you choose the wrong foods and eat too much. Stop when you're comfortably full. You should never have to unbutton your pants!"

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Eat a diet that's 45 percent carbs, 30 percent protein, and 35 percent good-for-you fats-olive oil, fish, or nuts. "Eating too little fat makes you feel deprived," Forberg says. "Sprinkle almonds on your salad, put Parmesan cheese on your whole-wheat pasta, or slice avocado on your sandwich.

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Innovative way to make children eat healthily

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Photo Credit: Vegedeco Salad

Residents of Nagoya, Japan will no longer have to subject themselves to eating wilted lettuce and soggy tomatoes to be healthy. They can instead fulfill the daily recommended requirement of fruits and vegetables with a slice or two of one of the delicious cakes crafted by Japanese food artist, Mitsuki Moriyasu.

Photo Credit: Vegedeco Salad

That's because though the beautiful Vegedeco "cakes" may look like the real deal, they are salads in disguise! Instead of serving the vegetables in a bowl, the artist hides them within the layers of the 'sponge cake' that is made from soybean. As for the thick frosting? That is just a mixture of cream cheese and tofu with vegetables blended in to provide the vibrant colors.

Photo C"redit: Vegedeco Salad

Moriyasu, who came up with the idea as a way to make greens more palatable to those that do not enjoy them, began selling her amazing creations at the Bistro La Porte Marseille restaurant in Nagoya in June 2015. They were an instant hit and became so popular that she recently decided to open an entire cafe dedicated to healthy eating.

Photo Credit: Vegedeco Salad

At her Vegedeco Salad Cafe that opened its doors on April 5, customers can select from a variety of "cakes" depending on their vegetable preference. Each slice is accompanied by a fermented dressing made with koji (Japanese sake starter) and costs 735 yen ($7 USD). For an additional 100 yen, patrons can get a slice of gluten-free bread made from an ancient strain of rice, and a hot cup of tea that gets its gorgeous color from - you guessed it - Vegetables!

Photo Credit: Vegedeco Salad

Though the menu features numerous other healthy offerings that have been carefully selected by Moriyasu, the one thing you will not find at the Vegedeco Salad Cafe is dessert! So be sure to leave your sweet tooth behind!

Resources: vegedecosalad.com,foxnews.com

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Salads Disguised As Cakes Are A Hit In Japan

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Residents of Nagoya, Japan will no longer have to subject themselves to eating wilted lettuce and soggy tomatoes to be healthy. They can instead fulfill the daily recommended requirement of fruits and vegetables with a slice or two of one of the delicious cakes crafted by Japanese food artist, Mitsuki Moriyasu.