Let's Talk About Malnutrition

When we hear the word malnutrition, we immediately think about not getting enough food. However, that issue has another name: it’s called undernutrition.
Undernutrition happens when the human body doesn’t get enough calories in order to function properly.
For millennia mankind has struggled with undernutrition. Only during the last century or so, in the most affluent societies, this issue has been almost eradicated. Unfortunately, it still afflicts the poorest parts of the earth where, people still struggles to get food on their plates daily.
Malnutrition, is broader category, that includes undernutrition but is not limited to it.
In fact, malnutrition has been defined as the condition resulting from an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, are in excess or are in wrong proportion.
In other words, malnutrition includes undernutrition, overeating and nutrients deficiency.
The latter being the insufficient and/or unbalanced supply of nutrients that the body needs.
So, even in affluent societies, where undernutrition is no longer an issue, and where we have the luxury of throwing away more food than we actually consume, malnutrition is still an issue.
How come? Because the modern unhealthy diet makes us overfed and overweight, but may fail to provide for all the micronutrients that the body needs to maintain optimum health.
And it’s this latter issue that I would to focus on today.

Don't Get Fooled: Multigrain Doesn't Mean Whole Grain

This is a mistake one might easily fall into: seeing a food labeled as “multigrain” (such as multigrain bread, crackers or cereals) and thinking that it’s a “whole grain” food.
But this is not always the case as the label multigrain just means that are two or more different types of grains have been used in a product. Not that the grains used were whole.

The Best Quinoa Patties

2013 is “The International Year of Quinoa” according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. An important recognition given to the Andean indigenous peoples, who have maintained, controlled, protected and preserved quinoa as food for present and future generations.
The international organization wants, in particular, to focus world's attention on the role that quinoa’s biodiversity and nutritional value plays in providing food security and nutrition.
Over the last decade quinoa has become a “global food” thanks to its high nutritional value and health benefits. Nowadays, you can find quinoa in almost every grocery store around the country. The price has also become much more "democratic".
Quinoa is one of the staple foods in my diet, and these patties are definitely one of my favorite recipe involving this wonder seed.

Frozen Meat 101

I don’t know about yours but as far as my freezer is concerned, besides some frozen fruits, it’s stocked with meat. It’s so convenient to have it there. When I arrive home late at night, I can always resort to my freezer for some chicken or turkey meat.
But I never cared that much about the freezing process of meat. I just threw it in the freezer in after buying it and forget about it until time had come to eat it.
However, I recently discovered that there are several different methods of freezing and, moreover, that physical and chemical reactions can still occur in meat during storage in freezer.
The more I red about it, the more I realized how little I knew and that it was about time to fill this gap.

People Makes All Sorts Of Assumption On What's Good For You, But You Know Better

When it comes to fitness people are always ready to make all sort of assumption on what’s good for you, what’s bad for you, what you should do, what you shouldn’t do, etc.
They all seem to know better. But even though listening to suggestions it’s a good thing to do, in the end it’s really up to you to know what really works best for you.

Hitting Plateau In Losing Weight? Don't Give Up, Mix It Up!

This happens to everybody on a weight loss journey: you begin a diet, at first it works perfectly, pounds drop consistently, you can see and feel the changes in your body but then everything STOPS. You hit the wall, nothing happens anymore and that number on the scale just stays the same. And what’s the first reaction? Throwing the towel and giving up. 
You start believing that the diet just doesn’t work anymore and might start wondering if there’s any diet that is going to actually work for you. But stop right there, most of the times is not the diet that is not working, more likely it’s just your body that it’s getting used to it and causes what it is usually referred to as “plateau”.

Is There A Thing Such As Eating Too Much Healthy Food?

Here on TheIronYou we always stress out the importance of choosing to eat a lot of healthy food as a way to improve the quality of life. Generally speaking fruits and veggies are identified as being the core of healthy food and healthy eating regimens. In other words the more you eat of fruits and veggies the better you’re off. That’s the general consensus among nutritionist around the world.
BUT, sometime I wonder: is it possible to exceed on healthy food consumption? Is there such a thing as eating too many veggies and fruits? Can this harmful? Is portion size also relevant when it comes to healthy food?
According to a Loyola University Health System registered dietitian the answer to this question is yes. Portion size always matters!

High Protein White Smoothie

Sometime in life in order to move forward you have to take a leap of faith. Depending on the choices you’re facing it can be either a big one or a small one.
When it comes to food it’s rarely a big one. Even if it might take some courage to try a snake meat shred soup or monkey brains (yuk!) the worst that can happen is that you’ll spit it out or just get nauseated. No biggies.
So what I’m asking you today is to take a leap of faith and try this smoothie. It’s made with an unconventional ingredient: cannellini beans. But you’ll have to trust me when I say that you won’t taste them, and that this is an awesome smoothie.
A smoothie with the highest protein content ever. But that’s not all. The proteins come from all different sources: legumes, dairy, nuts, and protein powder. Also, since we’re not using fruits or juices it’s pretty low in sugars hence it can make a great alternative if you have friends and/or relatives that need to keep their blood sugar low.

How Often Should I Replace My Running Shoes?

I was talking to my friend Sam last week and he told me that lately he’s been experiencing some knee pain after his morning runs. I know from experience that knee pain should be taken very seriously and it's not something you wanna mess up with so I sat him down and started asking him all kind of questions. Turns out he’s been running on a pair of shoes that are at least 2 years old and that he’s also been using for walking, working out, shooting hoops and a number of other activities.
So I told him that before having his knee checked, he should try buy a brand new pair of running shoes and give it shot. He called me last night saying that he did as I told him and that he no longer experienced knees pain after running.
His story gives me the opportunity to talk about one of the most important things in running: replacing running shoes.
 
 

Wanna Lose Weight? Keep A Food Journal, Don't Skip Meals And Eat Out Less Frequently

Losing weight is not a simple task. Even the most fit people may struggle when it comes to shed a couple of pounds. For instance, my target weight is 175 pounds, but in the last two weeks for some reason I have reached 178. It’s no big deal but in a triathlon race, when I push myself to the extreme those 3 extra pounds might make a difference. Thus I need to lose them. Now, I might be able to do it in just a couple of days but even I will need to stay focus and not indulge if I want to do it properly.
And that’s precisely what a recently published study claims: losing weight is no joke, and does not happen overnight. It takes focus, dedication and perfect planning.
In particular, researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle have discovered that the recipe for success is faithfully keeping a food journal, avoid skipping meals and eat less out, especially at lunch time.


The above food journal can be downloaded from www.theprojectgirl.com