Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
What makes your heart tick?
January 10 2014
Your heart is the “heart” of your cardiovascular system, and it is responsible for just about everything that gives your body life, everything from the transportation of oxygen to the success of your immune system. According to medical experts, the foods you eat and the amount of activity you choose to take part in can dramatically affect the overall health of your heart.
Blood Pressure
Your blood pressure is one area of heart health that needs to be regularly checked and regulated. High blood pressure can be affected by your overall weight, especially once you reach a body mass index score of 30 or higher, which is classified as obese. Excess fat increases the work your heart has to perform to pump blood throughout your body. The harder your heart works, the more pressure is placed on the walls of your arteries, which can increase your risk for blood vessel damage. Lowering your body weight by even as little as 5 to 10 percent can lower your blood pressure and increase your heart health.
Cholesterol Levels
Controlling your cholesterol is also an important part of heart health; it decreases your risks for heart disease, heart attack and stroke. The two main kinds of cholesterol are low-density lipoprotein — LDL or the “bad” cholesterol — and high-density lipoprotein — HDL or the “good” cholesterol. The LDL cholesterol is found in foods high in saturated fat, especially animal proteins. When consumed in high levels, LDL cholesterol can build up in the bloodstream and calcify into hard plaque. This plaque makes it difficult for blood to circulate through the affected arteries, increasing your risk for cardiovascular damage.
Circulation
Taking care of your heart also affects your circulation. Good circulation is needed to transport oxygen and nutrients to the many different cells in your body. Without proper circulation, tissues begin to die, which can result in amputations or even death, depending on what tissues are not getting enough oxygen. High blood pressure, cholesterol plaque and other heart diseases can all affect your body’s ability to transport blood efficiently throughout your body.
Ways to Keep Your Heart Healthy
To keep your heart healthy, your body needs a good amount of exercise accompanied by a heart healthy diet. Try to get at least 30 minutes of exercise five days a week. A heart healthy diet consists of the majority of your calories coming from vegetables, fruits and high-fiber foods like legumes and whole grains. These foods are accompanied in moderation by lean proteins, especially fish, as well as low-fat dairy products, nuts and seeds. MealEasy’s Heart Healthy meal plan has everything you need to keep your heart healthy.
The way to a healthier you in 2014
January 06 2014
Lose weight. Eat better. Finally get fit. The vagueness (not to mention blind optimism) of New Year’s resolutions also makes them near-impossible to achieve. Here are some tips to help you get healthier this year.
• Eat more pickles. Once upon a time, fermented foods were common with every meal. Research has now shown that fermented foods are full of good germs that improve our overall health. By bringing foods such as sauerkraut, kimchee, fermented vegetables (pickles and garlic), cheeses, yogurts and of course, probiotic beer and wine back into our diet, we can live better in a natural and delicious way.
• Plan your meals. Planning your meals avoids over eating and unnecessary snacking. Maintaining a regular schedule of healthy meals with carefully controlled portions will not only improve your health, but you will eat out less and you will waste less food; both of which help you save money!
• Don’t fill your calorie count with liquids. If weight’s a concern, avoiding high calorie drinks such as soft drinks and sugar heavy sports or energy drinks is a great way to start you on your way to better health.
• Try walking instead. Next time you’re about to drive over to the store or about to take the elevator up a few stairs, try walking. It’s cheap, it’s fun and it will help you achieve your weight goals.
• Get a good night’s sleep. Good-quality sleep keeps your appetite hormones in check, cools those inflammatory chemicals that promote heart disease and cancer and keeps your waistline trim. A recent study in the American Journal of Science showed that a good night’s sleep is like clearing your neurological cache. In other words, sleep clears out the clutter. So aim for 7 1/2 to eight hours of shut-eye a night for these benefits.
• Eat more slowly. According to research from the University of Alberta, if you spend less than 60 minutes a day eating – you are eating too fast. It takes at least 20 minutes for your gut to tell your brain that you’ve eaten. Paying attention to what you are eating, chewing and savoring each bite, eating without distractions, such as driving, phone calls or texting, goes a long way to reduce overeating. Vegetables, fruits and complex carbohydrates all take more time to eat than prefabricated processed foods.
• Be mindful of what you are eating. In the words of Hippocrates: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” The best medicine is preventative medicine. With that in mind, thinking about what you are eating and the quantity of that food is the best medicine for a healthier you. Try to stay away from too many processed foods and convenience products and look to increase your intake of fruits, vegetables and legumes.
• You’ve got to move it to lose it. If your goal is to lose weight this year, then healthy eating is an excellent way to start but it’s not the only thing you need to do. Move regularly and you’ll think, sleep, work, play and even love better. Move every day for as little as 15 minutes and the rewards are even greater. How great? How’s reducing your risk of some types of cancer by up to 50 per cent? So swim, walk, run, shovel snow, do yoga, play golf, it doesn’t matter what it is as long as it gets you moving. This is the advice from Greg Wells, assistant professor at the University of Toronto and associate scientist of physiology and experimental medicine, the Hospital for Sick Children.
Try these simple steps for a healthier 2014.
Control you waste and your waist
January 01 2014
One of the biggest food stories of 2013 was without out a doubt the amount of food wasted by the average American household. In the United States 30% of all food, worth US$48.3 billion, is thrown away each year. It is estimated that about half of the water used to produce this food also goes to waste, since agriculture is the largest human use of water.
That’s a lot of wasted food. So, what can you do? You can start by planning your meals. Meal planning is an excellent way to reduce the amount of excess food that is purchased and also a great way to use up leftovers.
Another advantage with meal planning is that it can help reduce the amount you eat by eliminating overeating and a reliance on fast food and processed foods. When you plan your meals for the week and stick to that plan, you will find that you are eating less of what’ unhealthy and more of the foods that are good for you.
So let’s make 2014 the year that you take control of your waste and your waist.
What are your New Year’s resolutions?
December 30 2013
Are you like the 38% of Americans who’s New Year’s resolutions include “losing weight” this year? Did you also have “losing weight” on last year’s list?
If so, then MealEasy’s got the answer.
For a limited time, MealEasy is offering a yearly membership for 50% off!!! And with the new Weight Loss Meal Plan, reaching your weight goals has just become very easy. Based on the idea of “mindful eating”, the Weight Loss Meal Plan takes a whole new approach to weight management. Without severely restricting your diet, this plan is designed to succeed where so many others have failed.
With a calorie based approach, the Weight Loss Meal Plan takes the guessing game out of meal preparation and weight loss. Now you can eat the foods you love and know that they are nutritious and are helping you get your weight where you want it.
Now that’s how you start a new year!
There’s still time
December 23 2013
You still have time to get that special someone the perfect gift…the gift of good health.
MealEasy has just launched a revolutionary Weight Loss Meal plan that is guaranteed to improve your health and help you achieve you weight loss goals. It’s simple. It is based on the premise of “mindful eating”; being mindful of what you eat and how much you eat. It’s based on simple calorie reduction to help you get to your perfect weight…but don’t worry, there’s no math involved. All you need to do is choose the amount of calories you want to eat and MealEasy does the rest.
You’ll get unlimited access to over 800 meals all within a reduced calorie range. And a reduced calorie range does not mean reduce flavor, on the contrary. The meals you’ll be able to choose from are as delicious as Lemon Herb Pork Chop and as sumptuous Linguine with Clams.
So, if you’ve got someone you love that might need an extra hand in the kitchen choosing and preparing mouthwatering, healthy and nutritious meals, then the time is NOW to take advantage of this offer of 50% off a MealEasy yearly subscription.
The gift of good health
December 20 2013
Are you having trouble finding that last minute Christmas gift? MealEasy’s got you covered.
It’s so hard to find the perfect gift. But what could be more perfect than the gift of good health?
And with New Year’s Resolutions on everyone’s mind, the timing couldn’t be better to buy someone you truly love the gift of good health. According to studies an amazing 45% of Americans make New Year’s Resolutions – 38% of which are weight loss related. That’s a lot of people that want to eat healthier. And many of these people don’t know where to start.
That’s why we created MealEasy. It’s the best source of healthy meal plans and yummy nutritious food. With the new Weight Loss Plan now added to the list of meal plan options, you’re sure to find something for everyone on your list.
For a limited time, MealEasy is offering our yearly subscription at an incredible 50% off!!! Now’s the time to give the gift of good health…the gift that will last a lifetime.
Click here to purchase.
It’s time for a real solution!
December 17 2013
Most of us, at one time or another, have struggled with our weight. Often, this leads to depression and to overeating…which leads to more weight gain.
Many of us have tried so called “miracle cures” and celebrity endorsed fad diets only to be faced with unrealistic targets and drastically reduced food choices. These diets most often lead to failure, which leads to depression, which leads to…you get the idea.
That’s why at MealEasy we’ve worked really hard to develop a Weight Loss Plan that will work for you. You won’t get any celebrity endorsement or any miracle cures. What you’ll get is food you will want to eat, a plan that’s simple to follow, and the results you’ve been searching for.
It’s based on “mindful eating”. The premise is that sensible, controlled eating and regular exercise are vital to prolonged weight loss success. It’s really that easy. All you need is a commitment to wanting to improve your health and a plan that works. The MealEasy Weight Loss Plan is a plan that works.
And now is the time to act. Researchers at the University of Scranton (Journal of Clinical Psychology) confirmed that 45% of Americans make New Year’s Resolutions – 38% of which are weight loss related. Why not make this year’s resolution stick?
A cup of coffee
December 11 2013
Many people think that choosing healthier food options is simply too expensive. But would it surprise you that for the equivalent of a cup of coffee, or about $1.56 per day, you can eat foods that are much better for you?
According to this Harvard study, spending about $1.50 a day or $550 a year is the difference between a healthy diet and an unhealthy diet. So next time you’re thinking you can’t afford to eat better, think about your daily cup of coffee.
Our Obesity Epidemic
December 06 2013
There’s no denying, North Americans are facing an obesity epidemic. And this epidemic is costing the U.S. $147 BILLION annually!!!
Part of the reason for the increase in obesity is because we simply eat too much. We eat too much because portions, over time, have become larger and larger. This is especially true for fast foods and processed foods.
Studies have shown that people will eat up to 30% more when offered a larger portion. With the advent of the “supersize” and the all you can eat buffet, most folks feel they are betting a “better deal” if they get a larger portion. Does that mean we were going hungry in the past? Of course not. It simply means we’ve grown accustomed to eating too much.
In order to combat this epidemic we have to start eating less. Portion control is an important tool in the fight against obesity. Eating fewer calories, especially calories from sugar and processed foods, will help us achieve a healthy weight. Cutting back and eating smaller portions is not easy but it is necessary if we want to stop this epidemic.
At MealEasy we’re all about portion control and we know how difficult it can be to go from a 10oz steak down to a 4oz steak. That’s why we developed our system with the option to choose your own calorie range. That way you can gradually reduce the amount you’re eating and still feel full. We know that this is the best way to achieve a healthy weight and maintain it.
New Research debunks “Healthy Obesity” myth
December 03 2013
New research from Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital shows that the idea that someone can be obese yet still healthy is a myth. The study found that obesity carries a higher risk of premature death compared to that of normal-weight people, regardless of cholesterol, blood pressure and blood-sugar readings.
In an analysis of data pooled from several previous studies, researchers found that people who were obese but metabolically healthy had a significantly increased risk of having a heart attack or stroke and of dying prematurely.
Lead author Dr. Catherine Kramer said that even in the absence of such markers as high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol, an obese person with a body mass index, or BMI, of 30 or greater had a 24 per cent higher risk of having a heart attack or stroke or of early death compared to a normal-weight person.
Maintaining a healthy weight, or BMI of between 18.5 and 24.5, is important in reducing the risks of heart attack and diabetes