Diet & Nutrition

How Your Brain Signals Your Body's Need for Food

You may think that hunger is all in your stomach and that dieting is all in your head. But nutrition experts know that hunger is regulated by a complex system of chemicals that send signals between your [more…]

Toxic Minerals to Avoid in Food and Environment

Many minerals are an essential part of a healthy diet. Other minerals are toxic even in tiny amounts, leading to nerve dysfunction and memory loss, a weakened immune system, and even kidney damage. [more…]

Leaner Body Fat Percentages in Male and Female Athletes

Women have higher percentages of body fat than men, because female reproductive hormones require more fat. Women with healthy weights are generally between 15 and 25 percent body fat and men fall into [more…]

How Much Protein Do You Need in Your Diet?

A normal American diet generally provides sufficient protein, so protein deficiencies are rare in the United States. The National Academy of Sciences Food and Nutrition Board sets requirements [more…]

How Much Exercise Is Enough for Weight Loss?

Combining exercise with a diet is the best way to lose weight. But how do you know if you are exercising enough to reach your dieting goals?

The current guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and [more…]

The Dangers of Vitamin Megadoses

Some vitamins are toxic when taken in the very large amounts known as megadoses. It’s nearly impossible for your diet to provide an overdose of vitamins D, E, K, C, and all the Bs. [more…]

Setting Realistic Diet Goals to Maintain Healthy Weight Loss

Accepting weight loss that misses the mark by a few pounds is healthier than writing off your diet as a failure and then giving in and gaining the loss back. A healthier diet strategy is to maintain the [more…]

Setting a Reasonable Calorie Level for Weight Loss

To lose weight, you have to cut calories, but if you cut too many from your diet, you may not lose any weight, and you probably won’t be able to stick to your diet for very long because you’ll lack essential [more…]

Healthy Body Image: Bigger Than Model Thin

Research shows that women — especially those on a diet — in the United States determine their ideal body size and shape from the way models in television ads and fashion magazines look, not from the way [more…]

Carbohydrates Do More Than Make Energy for Your Body

Making energy isn’t the only thing your body does with the carbohydrate nutrients in your diet. Carbohydrates also protect your muscles. When you need energy, your body looks for glucose from carbohydrates [more…]

How Your Healthy Body Relies on Electrolytes

Many mineral nutrients essential to a healthy diet — including calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium — form compounds that dissolve into charged particles. But nutritionists generally use the term electrolyte [more…]

How Your Body Processes Alcohol

Food in your diet must be digested before being absorbed by your cells, but alcohol included in your diet flows directly through your body’s membranes into your bloodstream, which carries alcohol to nearly [more…]

How to Understand and Deal with Food Cravings

Are you craving is a high-calorie diet buster — a food devoid of nutrients? Dieters aren’t the only ones who experience cravings for foods. But dieters, especially those who frequently go on and off diets [more…]

Diets with High Fiber and Low Calorie Content

The thinking behind these high-fiber, low-calorie diets is that because fiber can’t be digested, it doesn’t have calories. This is true. And because it takes up so much room in the stomach, it’s filling [more…]

What Lean Really Means for Lean Meat

How lean is lean meat? And what’s the difference between lean and extra lean meats? Guidelines have been established so that these terms have clear definitions. Meat, poultry, or seafood must meet certain [more…]

How to Figure Your Body Mass Index

You can use Body Mass Index (BMI) to determine whether you’re at a healthy weight or overweight and, therefore, at a greater risk of developing weight-related health problems. BMI strongly correlates to [more…]

Calorie Counting Fats and Carbohydrates in Your Diet

On a gram-by-gram basis, fat has more calories than carbohydrates or protein. Therefore, eliminating fat or cutting down on the amount you eat helps you lose weight. However, if fat is replaced with carbohydrates [more…]