Diet Health

Diet Health questions and answers

Learn more about Diet Health at Diet & Health.net.

Q: Are there any negative health effects associated with drinking diet soda?
I see that diet soda is calorie and sugar free, so it seems like a great alternative to regular soda which is loaded with sugar, and the taste really isn't that different. Are there any negative health consequences with drinking diet soda? Thank you.

A: #1 You gain more weight than from normal sugar. I can link you to some studies for this. #2 Aspartame is highly addictive, so you will drink more soda than you would otherwise. #3 Aspartame is incredibly toxic (since it was originally developed as a chemical weapon), and the previous posters have listed some of the many side effects from the substance. It should not be in the food supply, but when Regan came into power, his friend owned the aspartame company and got him to fire the FDA director and replace him with one who would approve it. If you care about learning more of the wonderful properties of aspartame, watch this! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-566922170441334340&q=sweet+misery&total=463&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Q: At what age did you start to notice/focus on your health, diet and fitness?
Some get a calling younger than others, I got mine about 2 years ago, when I was 13.

A: mine was this year im 15 but i have a good reason i was hospitalized for my poor eating habits considered an ED cuz i ate alot one day all junk binged then next day ate zero so i got into health a lot and taught myself soo much still have alot of questions lol bout mostly exercise but i know lots bout nutrition so i watch myself and my fitness etc so i didnt relli notice as much of it flashed before me as i layed in a hospital bed for 2 weeks--Joe

Q: What kind of diet or health plans do police officers follow?
the in shape cops that keep in shape in their uniform what kind of health stuff do you do ? and follow how did I know I get all donut jokes.......there are a lot of officers i see in good shape

A: they eat the main food groups and workout! treadmill wieghts etc

Q: What is a diet/health website that tracks your weight and calories for the day, but where you can actually...?
write in yourself what you ate, not pick it from what they have? Like on fitday, you can pick foods to add, but I want to write it in myself. Like I had a cup of steamed veggies for part of my breakfast today, but it wouldnt let me add that. So does anyone know of a website that actually lets you type it in? Thanks

A: Calorieking.com is really good and you can create custom foods, with your own calorie intake information

Q: Good health diet to get clearer skin?
I'm starting to get really bad acne. I think it might partly be because of my diet. I used to eat like fast foods all the time but i've cut them out of my diet. But what are some foods i should eat and some that i should avoid to have clearer skin?

A: Acne is bacteria. Try using Purell Hand Sanitizer. Believe it or not, it truly helps flare-ups. It is available at Wal-mart. You can try a "travel size" bottle for a $1. Also incorporate yogurt into your diet. Yogurt contains the good bacteria your body needs to fight off the in balance of bad bacteria. Shop for a yogurt with the least amount of sugar grams. Stay away from greasy foods and especially soda.

Q: What is the best health, diet and exercise message board/forum to participate in online?


A: im using www.sparkpeople.com and it is free

Q: Do any one that a good health diet to lose weight fast.?
I need a good health diet to lose weight fast 100 pounds the health way I have tired my self so I need someone that has lose the weight to tell me what they have done I am sad

A: There are many sensible things you can do that will make a tremendous difference over the long term if you need to lose weight. It can be done in a healthy way. This is what has worked for me. Keeping a food journal really does help. It will give you a much better sense of how much you are eating, and when, and why. Make a few additional small changes - walk everywhere, always use stairs instead of elevators, walk on escalators, get up and move around at least once an hour if your work or your life in general is sedentary, walk every day, use a pedometer. Walking 10,000 steps a day is a really good idea. Build up to a long brisk walk everyday, or most days. Be more active and watch less TV and spend less time on the computer. Buy one piece of exercise equipment to have at home and be strict with yourself about using it. Sometimes you can find mini-steppers or exercise bikes at second hand stores and thrift stores for just a few dollars. Start a weight lifting routine. Join a gym. Possibly you can find one that has someone who specializes in weight lifting programs for beginners. Weight lifting will increase your metabolism as well as improve posture and appearance overall. Even if you can't get to the gym you can work out at home using things around the house. Invest in a good weight training book. The Dummies series actually has a good one. In terms of diet, cut out or reduce things like junk food, pop, fat, fast food. Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meat, fish. Particularly if you choose a vegetarian lifestyle include natural peanut butter, hummus, dried fruit and nuts. Pay close attention to getting the nutrients your body needs to be healthy. Make your portion sizes smaller. Use a smaller plate - in our society we have become accustomed to thinking that we need a large plate of food at every meal, and we don't. About quarter of your plate of food should be protein and at least half of it should be veggies. Learn to count calories. At your current weight and activity level, you may possibly need about 2000 calories or more to maintain your current weight. So you will lose weight at a reasonable and healthy rate if you cut back to about 1600 or 1700 calories a day. Eat small amounts frequently, rather than three large meals. Never skip breakfast. Include some protein in your breakfast. It will help get you through the day. Drink plenty of water, at least 8 big glasses of water a day, and more if it is very hot, if you sweat a lot, or if you are exercising intensely, and eliminate fruit juices. Fruit juices have too many calories, so get your vitamins from fresh fruit, not the juice. You will begin to see changes in your body. Check out websites about nutrition, exercise, weight training, etc. Here are a few helpful links. http://www.nutrawatch.com/ http://www.caloriesperhour.com/ http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_eating_diet.htm http://www.wikihow.com/Lose-Weight-the-Healthy-Way http://weightloss.about.com/cs/fitness/a/aa011503a.htm http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/no-weight-workout?page=4

Q: Does anybody know of a non- prescription diet for urinary tract health for dogs?
My dog has gone through two surgeries for bladder stones and to help prevent it she needs to be on a urinary diet. She well not eat the c/d hills sience diet so i wondered if there were other dry foods out there for urinary tract health besides science diet.

A: No dog will starve if there is food in the bowl. Just offer the food until she eats it.

Q: What health risks are associated with fruit shortages in a person's diet?
I have oral allergy syndrome, so I can not eat fruit. Yes, ALL fruit. That sucks, doesn't it? Anyway, I am writing a bio essay and we had to analyze our diet. I have to write what health risks I am prone to because of certain aspects of my diet. I can not think of any health risks, but I am thinking that maybe my lack of fruit consumption could lead to something, but what? Also note: I eat a lot of vegetables, I just don't eat fruit. No, I can't eat a tomato.

A: Fruits give you vital vitamins, like vitamin C. You should have blood work done and speak to a health professional inorder to figure out what types of vitamin supplements you need to take to stay healthy. I do know that you will lack some important nutrients that will keep you from processing certain foods. I don't know exactly what your health risks are but my neighbor is a doctor. I will ask him later tonight. Try Google, "lack of fruit in diet risks" Sorry I can't help more, it is good that you eat a lot of vegetables that might compensate for the lack of fruits.

Q: Is a raw food diet the key to absolute health?
I'm always thinking about the idea of "absolute health"...there has to be some diet out there that is the best possible diet for a human...we have dog food figured out; the same food every day and they get all they need! Why isn't there "human food"? So, I wonder if raw food is the most natural and healthy way to eat. It sounds good on paper, but what do you think?

A: Hi! Allow me to share with you my experience with "going raw"... I also think about what is IDEAL when it comes to health and nutrition, too. My curiosity and research led me to where I am now. I became a vegetarian initially because it really does NOT seem very natural to me to eat meat or animal products. Read this article by Milton Mills and really think about some of the reasons he gives.: http://www.all-creatures.org/mhvs/nl-2003-wi-meat.html My husband and spent all night talking about those exact things one night right before we made the decision to go veg. We had already gotten rid of a lot of chemicals from our lives and were trying to get a little closer to how we felt Nature intended us to treat our bodies; after really thinking about whether we're naturally suited to eat animal products we thought going veg made sense. I spent a lot of time reading different sites and browsing recipe books at the bookstore the first few months. I kept seeing stuff about "raw vegans" and I was really drawn to the idea of raw food. I kept buying raw recipe books and reading about all the experiences of people who have gone raw. It really did sound too good to be true! Again, though, it made sense to me. It just doesn't seem like Nature would intend for us to cook most of our food. I really respect the incredibly complex way that Nature manages to make everything work together so perfectly and I believe that (most)food in its natural state is perfect. Cooking it and adding chemicals to it...it all makes it not perfect anymore. We see this when we boil food and it loses so much of its nutrients to the water or when we heat food and it loses all the enzymes that Nature had to have put there for a reason. I read SO much stuff about raw foods before actually giving it a try. Honestly, I didn't think I could do it. But little things kept gnawing at me, like all the bizarre and elaborate recipes you could do with raw foods (not the most natural way to eat, but the next best thing - some of the recipes just looked so FUN) and things like photos of blood after eating raw food and then after eating cooked food (white blood cells en masse as if our bodies attack cooked food like it was poison!) and all the descriptions from raw foodists about how they GLOWED and had all this energy and were becoming more beautiful and more healthy every day. I was too intrigued and had to give it a shot. I went completely raw right away and stayed that way for about a month. Within the first week I noticed a big change in my overall attitude and energy level. People were commenting on what a good mood I was in. By the end of the month I was seeing that GLOW other raw foodists talked about and my husband even said my eyes sparkled. I felt fantastic. My food was digesting better than ever (I never really thought about digestion until I did it RIGHT and noticed the difference) and I had a whole new appreciation for the tastes and textures of food on a different level. I would say the whole experience touched me on several levels. Do you ever have experiences that just click with you as "right"? So, of course I stayed 100% raw, right? No! Can you believe it? The fact is, it was a lot of work the way I was doing it. I like to prepare complex meals and so I was doing a lot of recipes that involved blending and dehydrating and there were a lot of experiments that turned out awful. I travel a good deal and just didn't prepare as much as I should; eating at restaurants gets old when there's really nothing but salads for you on the menu. My husband was really losing patience with the food I was preparing, too. And we DO get addicted to certain kinds of foods: comfort foods, snacks like popcorn at the movies, real cookies, nice, hot soups. You don't realize how we associate so many different foods with different things in our lives until you do something drastic like go completely raw. Anyway, it got to be a lot of work and wasn't as satisfying as I'd like for me on an emotional level. I started eating soaked and cooked beans more and more often and eventually I found excuses to add more cooked food to my diet until I got to where I am now, which is about 50-75% raw depending on the day. I am a little disappointed in myself because I like to think I can do anything I put my mind to and I KNOW in my heart that raw foods CAN do amazing things for our bodies and health if we consistently make them a large part of our diet. I am going through an especially busy time in my life right now and I keep telling myself that when things calm down a bit I'm going to be better and smarter about my diet. I wish I could have stuck with it all the way, but, alas, no one is perfect. We can try to be, though, and I think a raw diet is a pretty good thing to aim for.

Q: i have to go on a wheat and dairy free diet for health problems. can you tell me what foods are conidered?
i have to go on a wheat and dairy free diet for health problems. can you tell me what foods are conidered? are considered dairy, and mabey some good recipes that are wheat and dairy free. thank you

A: For "Wheat free" recipes go to: http://www.wheat-free.org/recipes.html there is a host of recipes there from main course, cakes and cookies and bread. For "Diary Free" products go to: http://www.godairyfree.org/Table/Recipes/ ENJOY

Q: What is your philosophy on diet and health?
Beyond 'low carb', 'low fat', etc. Get down to the nitty gritty and justify your views.

A: my diet is simple. all of my meals are protein based either with eggs, poultry, lean meat, lean pork or seafood. I supplement each meal with either low GI complex carbs or fats depending on the time of day and my energy requirements. I eat a variety of veggies of different colors daily with several servings of low GI fruits. most of my fat comes from olive oil and assorted nuts and seeds. In general I follow a low carb diet about 40% protein, 30% carbs and 30% fats. I work from home so I do not expend much energy outside of the gym these days. at rest the primary energy source of skeletal muscle is free fatty acids and the brain only needs 5 grams of glucose per hour to function normally. in general there is simply no need for a high carb diet for the sedentary individual. based on a 2,000 calorie diet why would the average sedentary individual need to consume 250 grams (50% of cals) of carbs daily? to walk from the house to car and around the office all day? it's ludicrous especially when only 15% of the US population gets regular exercise. the reasons for the steadily declining health status in the US is so clear and obvious. a diet of heavily processed foods combined with a sedentary lifestyle could only result in increased disease and illness. I try to consume as little processed foods as possible. all of the additives, preservatives, etc. added to foods today are causing many of the health problems in our society today. processed foods lack the natural enzymes that whole foods provide so the body can effeciently utilize nutrients. just because the label of a food items states nutritional information does not mean that those nutrients are available and will be utilized. people today focus way to much on calories, carbs and fats instead of the source of those calories. the ingestion of proteins, carbohydrates and fats have various effects on the levels and production of various hormones in the body. whole foods have a pronounced positive effect on the endocrine system while the opposite applies to heavily processed foods. many uneducated folks say weight loss is a simple equation of cals in vs. cals out, but human biology does not function in such a simple manner. in general people make eating a healthy and balanced diet harder than it has to be. I eat for function and not so much for flavor. I consume basic foods and use spices, etc. to flavor them. I pretty much eat strict Mon-Fri so the weekends I can relax and eat whatever I want when dinning out with friends, etc. currently i'm 39 years old weigh 250 lbs with 9% body fat. I've never been prescribed a prescription medication in my life and haven't missed a day of work or school since I got the chicken pox in 1983 when i was a freshman in high school.

Q: What is a good health/diet/fitness info website?
Can someone please give some good websites with info/news on health/diet/fitness?

A: this work out has really worked for me...i am already seeing results after a week of doing it explore the website to get every bit of information you can www.iwantsixpackabs.com

Q: If I choose to focus on one aspect of my diet to improve health, what would be the most important?
I plan to work up to more but I want to make the biggest difference at first. Should I focus most on calories, fat, fiber, carbs, or some other aspect of my diet? Also, please explain why you suggest a specific aspect over another.

A: We don't know your diet so we can't give you a perfect answer. However we can talk like you have a normal American diet. Chances are you eat too many empty calories. If you're trying to improve your health, you could go for 3 mile runs every day and burn at least an extra 300 calories, not counting the calories burned with an increased metabolism post workout. Or, you could make smarter food choices. 3 miles to run is not too bad for some people as far as difficulty goes, but it does take a decent time commitment. Instead, if you were to eat 3 less chips ahoy cookies, or avoid 2 cans of Pepsi, or stay away from chips you could lose those 300 calories right there with NO extra time commitment If you already do not eat sweets, then I recommend trying to lower the fat in your diet. Drink 1% or skim milk. When you eat meat, make it a lean meat like fish, chicken or turkey as often as you can. Avoid fast food at all costs. Large McDonalds milkshakes have 1100 calories in them alone! Chances are you're fine as far as carbs go. Anything processed generally has some carbs in it. Fiber is always good to eat more of. It'll keep you "regular" and get your heart healthier.

Q: How is my diet affecting my health?
I eat very little, usually a meal and a half a day. I eat a lot of vegatables and fruits, medium amount of grain, and hardly any meat and medium sweets. I dont feel hungry doing this. I am having depression and apathy and am not sure if it is my life or diet.

A: It could be either one or both........ Everybody is different, you really have to find a diet that works well for you. I would suggest maybe eating more often.......4 - 5 small meals, this could boost your energy level which may also help with the sluggish feeling that often accompanies depression. Stay away from too many sweets, white flour and white sugar, anything that sparks your blood sugar level. Exercise really would help too if your interested...... good luck and I hope you feel better...lol