While nuts are high in fat, but the values go deeper than that because not all fats are equal. There are saturated fats, unsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats.

Of course, saturated fats, found in animal products, are the worst. However, the amount of fat found in some nuts, particularly pistachios, is minimal and is unsaturated fat, which is a good fat because it helps to increase the HDL (good) cholesterol numbers. This is the type of cholesterol that keeps blood vessels clean and elastic so they can function properly.

Speaking of Pistachios

Now, let’s get down to pistachios. Speaking of them specifically, a one-ounce serving of this nut contains about 13 grams of fat. This seems like a lot, but again, most of the fat is unsaturated so it contributes to a good cholesterol profile.

Pistachios are also low in carbohydrates, and they contain dietary fiber which works to fill you up and maintain your blood sugar level throughout the day.

Pistachios are full of B vitamins, which are essential for a healthy metabolism, healthy skin, muscles, eyes and nerve tissue. Other essential elements include arginine, copper and manganese. All are important for immune and nerve function.

Of course, all nuts should be eaten in moderation. Stick to one serving at a time for a snack.

Also, some nuts that you purchase can contain some extra unneeded ingredients. Don’t purchase nuts that have added salt and sugar in the form of honey-roasted or praline. And, use pistachio ice cream only as an occasional treat; otherwise, stick with plain pistachios.

If you love pistachios, keep eating. They are very good for you.

In a world plagued by an obesity epidemic, weight loss is high priority. General health decreases when people are obese. Most people think that losing weight is difficult, but it is only half the issue. Over time, following a program that works for you can bring about results. It gets difficult, however, keeping that weight off over a period of two to five years.

any who lose weight regain it, and sometimes an extra ten to twenty extra pounds on top of their highest previous weight. This occurs partially based on perception. When we lose weight we have a goal. We want to be healthier, slimmer, and more energetic, or we want to decrease the amount of medications we take for medical conditions. There is something to look forward to at the end of the effort.

When the goal is reached, the motivation is gone. Some people return to old eating or sedentary habits and that leads to weight gain again. Losing and regaining weight is a vicious cycle that can take a toll on your body over time. Therefore, the important point here is to find ways to sustain the weight loss you have achieved.

How to Make Weight Loss Permanent

Instead of asking how to lose weight, ask how to maintain the lower weight for the rest of your life. Here are some tips:

* Change your thinking – See weight loss as only half the journey. The second half of your goal is to find a way to incorporate the same habits that helped you lose weight into a long-term maintenance program. Weight loss is not a diet plan, but a lifestyle change to be followed as long as you live.

* Eat breakfast – This is the most important meal of the day. After such a long overnight respite, the body needs fuel to keep the metabolism stoked. Eating first thing in the morning helps to fight cravings throughout the day and keep blood sugar levels steady.

* Exercise – Exercise is a great equalizer. In our minds, if we sweat for an hour or longer each day, eating something that is full of fat negates all of your work, and most are not willing to do that. Also, regular exercise makes it easier to increase its intensity if you notice that you are gaining weight.

* Plan splurges – Losing weight should have some benefit. You don’t have to give up foods you love, just cut back on the portion sizes. This also makes healthy eating the norm.

* Allow mistakes – We all slip at one time or another. Attending a party can lead to weight gain and loss of motivation. Recognize the mistake; accept it and move on.

Losing weight is only half of the equation. The challenge is keeping it off – for good.

To make our skin it look its best requires us to watch what we consume in our bodies. The skin is the major organ of our body. Whenever there is a problem on the inside of our body, it will show up in our skin. If you have ever experienced dull and lifeless-looking skin, you were probably also sick at the time.

In order to prevent the skin from looking sick, you must feed your body the right way. Eating healthily keeps your skin healthy as well. Here are some ideas of how to eat for great-looking skin:

* Dairy products – To reduce the amount of fat, try products such as low-fat or non-fat milk, yogurt and cottage cheese. Dairy contains vitamin A, an essential vitamin for skin health. Yogurt also contains live cultures and probiotics to keep the digestive system clean and the bowels moving properly to remove unwanted waste products. A healthy intestinal system also shows in the skin.

* Whole grains – They don’t just maintain the blood sugar level, but also contain minerals that nourish skin. Whole grain cereals and breads contain selenium, vitamin E and vitamin A. All are helpful for healthy cellular growth of the skin and reduced inflammation.

* Omega 3 fatty acids – These are great for increasing heart health, but can also improve the look and feel of skin. Fats are needed for proper cellular membrane construction. Omega-3 fatty acids can be found in plant oils such as olive oil and flaxseed oil. Also, eating cold water fish such as salmon gives you a healthy dose of it. Try to eat fish at least twice a week. Cooking with olive oil increases your daily dose of omega 3s.

* Eat berries – Berries of all sorts are full of antioxidants, which we know fight free radical damage done in the body from cellular activity. It is this damage that can lead to wrinkles, saggy skin and other signs of aging. To keep skin strong, toned and looking its best, keep free radical damage to a minimum. Try strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and others.

* Water – Drink as much as you can. Water gives the body an internal cleansing and is also most important for proper kidney function as it helps the body remove toxins. Try drinking at least eight glasses a day.

* Green tea – This contains antioxidant substances called polyphenols; these are also found in chocolate that contains a high level of cacao. Polyphenols have anti-inflammatory properties, which also increase immunity levels.

Keep your body healthy-looking on the outside by feeding it well inside.

Some of us are born with a problem called lactose intolerance, which means that the body displays a negative reaction to the sugar lactose, found in milk and other dairy products such as cheese and yogurt. Because the body lacks the enzymes to break it down, it has to be eliminated.

Those who are lactose intolerant often find out after repeatedly eating dairy products and suffering the ill effects, which diarrhea, abdominal cramping, nausea, bloating and gas. It can occur anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours after eating a dairy product.

This can eliminate a lot of foods from your dietary list. It also means reading a lot of food labels to see what contains any form of dairy and what does not. For children, this can mean watching their friends enjoy pizza and knowing that they can’t have any or they will suffer its effects.

Healthy Delicious Dinners

Children still can enjoy some of the same foods that their friends eat, but without the lactose sugar that can make them sick. It takes a bit of creative thinking, but it will be beneficial to your child and the entire family.

Members of the family need to watch what they buy when there is a lactose intolerant child in the house. Any dairy products need to be clearly labeled so the child doesn’t eat them. This is also an opportunity to get your child involved in cooking. You are not only having fun, but showing them how to create meals that they love that won’t make them sick.

If your children have been diagnosed, here are some ways that they can still enjoy delicious meals.

Lactose-Free Dinner Meals

* Macaroni and cheese – Instead of using regular milk to make the cheese sauce, try plain soy milk. Instead of cheese, there is a product on the market called nutritional yeast. It has a nutty flavor and is the consistency of a powder, and can be used as a kind of thickener for sauces. It can also be added to cheese substitutes for better flavor.

* Pizza – You can make your own pizza dough for the crust. Add pizza sauce to your dough. For a cheese-less topping, create a cheese sauce using soy milk and nutritional yeast and then cover the pizza sauce. Add your favorite toppings and bake.

* Lasagna – Your cheese sauce will come in handy again. There is also dairy-free ricotta cheese to add as a filler between the layers. In addition to pasta sauce, add meat and/or vegetables to the layers of the lasagna.

Just because your children can’t eat dairy, doesn’t mean that they can’t eat delicious foods.

Zinc is an essential mineral that is naturally present in some foods, added to others, and available as a dietary supplement.

In the body, zinc is responsible for helping with numerous aspects of cellular metabolism. For one, it plays an important role in immune function. Zinc is instrumental in stimulating the formation of T-lymphocytes or helper T-cells, which are white blood cells that rush to the sight of an invading infection to stop the onslaught on the body. It plays a role in wound healing as well. A daily intake of zinc is requiredbecause the body has no system for its storage.

It supports normal growth and development throughout your life. In the womb, it helps to ensure that the neurological systems develop as they should during each trimester of pregnancy. After birth, it still functions to support brain development.

Basically the body couldn’t do without zinc and yet, many people are deficient in this mineral. It may not be noticed at first, but over time it can show up in decreased immunity or greater susceptibility to colds and other illnesses. You often see people taking Echinacea or zinc as a homeopathic remedy to fight these conditions.

Foods that Contain Zinc

The best way to get zinc into your system is in its natural form through your food. This is always a preferable choice to supplements. Check your diet. If you are not eating any of the following foods, you could be deficient in zinc:

* Oysters

* Beef

* Pork shoulder

* Breakfast cereal, fortified

* Lobster

* Chicken leg

* Baked beans

* Cashew nuts

* Yogurt

The average person over the age of four needs 11 milligrams of zinc a day.  For those over age 60, the estimated requirement is 9.4 milligrams for males and 6.8 milligrams for females.

Zinc is an important mineral used in every cell in the body. Check to see if you are getting enough to keep your body healthy.

As we age, our bones lose mass due to a loss in calcium, the mineral important for proper bone growth. If you are missing proper nutrients during your developmental years, lit can affect you for the rest of your life.

Ninety percent of bone growth occurs by age seventeen, but many teens don’t make the necessary choices to create the healthiest bones possible for their adult life. It takes exercise, proper diet and also healthy habits to cultivate calcium-rich bone. Unfortunately, teens don’t necessarily think about healthy bones and don’t consume enough calcium in their diets.

Calcium is needed for different reactions in the body, especially in the conduction of electrical impulses across muscles and nerve fibers. The body takes the calcium it needs from the bones.

On a daily basis, this calcium needs to be replenished. When the supply is not adequate to meet the demand, the bones get weak and brittle as you age.

Here are some ways that teens can increase their calcium intake for healthier bones now and in the future:

* Eat or drink more dairy – Dairy products contain a lot of calcium. Even if you are self-conscious about your weight, opting for low-fat varieties of milk, cheese and yogurt will still boost your daily calcium intake.

* Eat more vegetables – Green is great when it comes to vegetables. Try all the dark leafy greens until you find one you like. Try a fresh spinach salad with cheese.

* Exercise – Weight-bearing activities increase the density and hardness of bones. Many student athletes suffer from stress fractures when they play sports, which could be due to the lack of sufficient calcium in the diet. Include high impact sports such as basketball, soccer, volleyball and running. Also include weight training in your regimen to increase strength.

It takes a variety of activities as well as a healthy intake of calcium to improve bone strength. Your bones for the rest of your life are molded during the teen years. Make healthy choices to help yout bones stay strong as you age

In the quest for better health, more and more people are reading food labels, which contain information on nutritional content, including grams of fat and also calories per serving. If you choose a food that is low fat, does that mean that it will also be low calorie?

Relationship between Fat and Calories

Each different nutrient contains a different caloric amount. For instance, carbohydrates and protein contain about four calories each. Fat contains double that (eight calories) per gram. This means that you will have to burn eight calories to get rid of one gram of fat.

This is one reason why people are drawn in by packaging that states “low fat” or “fat free.” Don’t take for granted, however, that the fat content is the only information you have to worry about. It is important to read all of the information on the label.

The Truth about Calories

Calories per serving means the total caloric content of the ingredients in a food divided by the portion size. Therefore, snacks may be low-calorie because there are fewer calories in a serving size.

Consider those snacks in 100-calorie packaging. The calorie count may be only 100, but if the same ingredients are used in the low-calorie version as in the original product, then the fat content may be the same but you are simply getting less quantity.

Pure sugar has no fat content but plenty of calories. Foods that state fat-free or low-fat may be substituting sugars for the fat. The calorie content will rise with each serving you eat. Excess calories increase fat stores just like eating unhealthy fats.

The Truth about Fats

All fats are not created equal. A serving of walnuts may have ten grams of fat but it is unsaturated fat. They also contain omega-3 fatty acids that help improve heart health and boost immunity.

Eating a chicken sandwich from a fast food restaurant may have lower calories because it is a lean cut of chicken, but frying can add more fat to the equation than you need. You are gaining more saturated fats which we need less of in our daily diets.

So, does low fat mean low calorie? In many cases the answer is no, especially if you eat processed foods. However, by eating fresh foods such as lean meat, fruits and vegetables, you yourself can control the number of calories and grams of fat you consume.

Remember to read food labels carefully so that you know exactly what you are eating, and also whether it has maximum nutritional benefit without containing a lot of fat calories.

The body needs carbohydrates, but many people are confused about which ones they should or can eat and which ones they need to avoid.

Carbohydrates are vital nutrients in the diet. Combined with proteins and fats, they make up one third of what our bodies need each day for a balanced diet. Carbohydrates provide fiber, which helps to reduce the risk of some cancers and heart disease. Eating the right ones can also help with weight control.

Depending on your gender and age, you need these amounts each day:

Women – 25 grams

Men – about 40 grams

Middle-aged women and men – 20-30 grams

People know that they need carbs, but they don’t always know which ones to choose.

Simple versus Complex

There are two types of carbs: simple and complex.

Simple carbohydrates are sugary foods such as candy bars, processed sweets and also naturally sweet fruits like strawberries, mangoes and apricots. They have a more profound effect on blood sugar. For about an hour after you eat a candy bar, you have all the energy in the world but then you get sluggish. That is the result of a drop in blood sugar, and then the only way to renew that energy is with more sugar.

Complex carbohydrates have more to them than sugars. They contain a portion of fiber. Since the body takes longer to digest these carbs, your blood sugar stays steady throughout the day. Because fiber is filling, food cravings are taken care of as well. You will find that you have more energy throughout the day than if you consumed only simple carbs for quick energy.

So, where do the “good” and the “bad” come into it? If you have ever heard of the South Beach Diet then you know about the glycemic index. It measures how different carbohydrates raise the level of glucose in the blood. Carbs with high glycemic index numbers will spike blood sugar and leave you craving more sweets.

Good Carbohydrates

When choosing which carbohydrates to include in your diet, look at the fiber content. Foods with more fiber will take longer to digest. Also, when fat is eaten with insoluble fiber, the fiber attaches to a portion of fat from your meal and it is eliminated as waste. Here are some examples of good carbs:

* Green leafy vegetables

* Beans

* Whole grains

* Fruit (in moderation and those with high fiber content).

Bad Carbohydrates

These carbs contain mostly sugars with very little fiber. Anything made with white enriched flour falls into this category: white bread, white rice and white flour pastas. The enriching process strips the fiber, leaving only the sugar.

Now that you understand more about how carbohydrates work, you can make more informed choices when selecting which ones to eat.

When people eat nuts, they feel guilty that they are getting more fat than satisfaction from the eating. However, eating nuts can help you reduce your risk of many types of diseases, including heart disease.

Nuts are a plant-based food and while nuts are rich in fats, they are healthy fats that the body needs. Instead of eating processed foods or fast foods, swap them out for a serving or two of nuts each day.

A look at the Walnut

Now let’s look at the walnut in particular. They are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which you may have heard about in relation to coldwater fish. If you are not a fish eater or are only eating a couple of servings a week, you can supplement that by having a serving of walnuts each day.

Walnuts also contain protein. If you want to reduce your intake of animal source protein, increase your intake of nuts. On the good side, walnuts also have a good ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. You want to reduce your intake of omega-6s which come from fatty meats and fried food sources.

Walnuts have been shown to improve bone health and help reduce neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. The brain needs good fats to help facilitate the movement of certain substances into the cells.

Antioxidants are substances that fight free radical damage in the body. Walnuts are full of antioxidants. One in particular that they contain is melatonin. It helps us to get to sleep and stay asleep at night. Restful sleep is conducive to the body’s reparation process. Walnuts also help to boost immunity and offer anti-inflammatory benefits.

Walnuts can be sprinkled in yogurt, cereal or eaten as is. At lunch they work well on salads. You can also use walnut oil to create a tasty salad dressing.  Also, look on the Internet for a recipe for French nut cake, which does not contain flour, but does contain a great deal of walnuts.

One food that is often misunderstood as far as cholesterol is concerned is seafood.

A certain amount of cholesterol is needed in the body to help with the integrity of cellular membranes. Cell membranes need to be permeable to some substances that benefit the cells and also to bar other substances.

There are three numbers that make up your total cholesterol number: LDL, HDL and triglycerides. The HDL number represents the “good cholesterol.” This type keeps vessel walls smooth so that plaques don’t stick and decrease the size of the blood vessels.

The LDL number represents “bad cholesterol.” The walls of vessels become affected by sticky plaques made up of a type of cholesterol that can adhere to the inside of the vessels.

High triglyceride levels can increase the adherence of plaques. They are fats in the blood that are acceptable in smaller levels, but in large quantities they can make lumens of vessels smaller. This can increase the risk of stroke and heart attack.

Seafood Misconception

Many people avoid seafood such as shrimp, lobster and other shellfish and seafood because they think it will raise cholesterol levels. In fact, some seafood contains cholesterol, but it is a kind that will benefit you. ALA, an omega-3 fatty acid, is found in fish and other seafood. The body uses omega-3 fatty acids to increase cardiovascular health, reduce stroke, and help with nervous system development.

Here is how each type of seafood can help your body.

* Shrimp – Won’t raise cholesterol levels. If your levels are normal, they will stay that way.

* Crabs, clams – Work to lower LDL levels in the blood.

* Mussels, oysters – Lower LDL and also raise HDL levels to increase good cholesterol.

* Fish – Increases HDL levels.

Moderation

Just like with other foods, eating in moderation is better than overeating. Eating two or three servings of seafood a week can provide you will the amount of good cholesterol that the body needs. The recommended level is about 300 mg per day.

Be careful, though, as the cholesterol profile of seafood will change when other foods such as sauces and butter are introduced. This increases the amount of omega-6 fatty acids which are known to help increase LDL cholesterol stores. Try healthy ways to prepare your seafood for more of the omega-3 fatty acid benefit.

If you love to eat seafood, but have been avoiding it because of cholesterol concerns, now you know that seafood can help your cholesterol levels.