Are You Eating The Right Carbohydrates?

This is the technical meaning of "healthy fat." Your body needs
these fats to function properly, yet it doesn't produce it on
it's own. Flax seed oils is the form in which the oil was
extracted from the seed. Omega-3 fatty acids which contain the
majority of flax seed health benefits are very susceptible to
heat.

Flax seeds may come in different colors, but the colors don't
anything to do with the value of their nutrition. They are all
equally beneficial to you.

One way to influence brain health through diet is to consume
the right fats and oils.

Lignans and other flax seed components may also have
antioxidant properties, which means they may reduce the
activity of cell-damaging free radicals.

Are You Eating the Right Carbohydrates?

Whether you're trying to lose weight or just want to eat
healthier, you may be confused by the news you're hearing about
carbohydrates. With so much attention focused on protein diets,
there's been a consumer backlash against carbohydrates. As a
result, many people misunderstand the role that carbohydrates
play in a healthy diet.

Carbohydrates aren't all good or all bad. Some kinds promote
health while others, when eaten often and in large quantities,
may increase the risk for diabetes and coronary heart disease.

What are carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates come from a wide array of foods - bread, fruit,
vegetables, rice, beans, milk, popcorn, potatoes, cookies,
spaghetti, corn, and cherry pie. They also come in a variety of
forms. The most common and abundant ones are sugars, fibers, and
starches. The basic building blocks of all carbohydrates are
sugar molecules. The digestive system handles all carbohydrates
in much the same way - it breaks them down (or tries to break
them down) into single sugar molecules, since only these are
small enough to absorb into the bloodstream. It also converts
most digestible carbohydrates into glucose (also known as blood
sugar), because cells are designed to use this as a universal
energy source. This is why carbohydrates can make us feel
energetic. Carbohydrates fuel our body. Your body stores
glucose reserves in the muscles in the form of glycogen ready
to be used when we exert ourselves.

Carbohydrates are the highest octane - the most desirable fuel
source for your body's energy requirements. If you don't have
an adequate source of carbohydrate your body may scavenge from
dietary protein and fat to supply glucose. The problem is when
you've depleted your stores of glycogen (stored glucose in
muscle and lean tissue) your body turns to burning muscles or
organs (lean muscle tissue) and dietary protein or fat to
provide blood glucose to supply energy needs. When this
happens, your basal metabolic rate drops because you have less
lean muscle tissue burning calories and your body thinks its
starving and cuts back on energy requirements.

So you should continue to eat carbohydrates discriminately
selecting those which have the greatest health benefits.

Flaxseeds and their oil may also lower total blood cholesterol,
as well as LDL ("bad") cholesterol Human studies have shown that
flaxseed can modestly reduce serum total and low-density
lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations, reduce postprandial
glucose absorption, decrease some markers of inflammation, and
raise serum levels of the omega-3 fatty acids, ALA and
eicosapentaenoic acid.

Omega-3 fatty acids are long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids
(18-22 carbon atoms in chain length) with the first of many
double bonds beginning with the third carbon atom (when
counting from the methyl end of the fatty acid molecule). Read
on for more details on flax seed benefits. Like most vegetable
oils, flaxseed oil contains linoleic acid, an essential fatty
acid needed for survival. But unlike most oils, it also
contains significant amounts of another essential fatty acid,
alpha linolenic acid (ALA). There are many benefits to adding
flax seeds to your diet. Well for instance they can get rid of
your constipation problem.

The carbohydrates you consume should come from
carbohydrate-rich foods that are close to the form that occurs
in nature. The closer the carbohydrate food is as Mother Nature
intended, the greater the density of other vital nutrients. If
you are looking for health-enhancing sources of carbohydrates
you should choose from: Fruit: rich in fiber, vitamin A,
vitamin C, folate, potassium and often vitamin E.

Vegetables: fiber, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, often vitamin
E, potassium and a wider variety of minerals than fruit. Whole
grains and grain foods: rich in fiber, protein, and some B
vitamins and are very rich in minerals.

Legumes: an excellent source of protein, fiber folate,
potassium, iron and several minerals.

Dairy foods: protein, vitamin D, calcium, phosphorus,
potassium, riboflavin, and vitamin B12. You can also source
carbohydrates from processed foods such as soda pop or soft
drinks, snacks such as cookies and chips, and alcohol. These
generally are considered to be a poor food choice and should be
consumed rarely. The carbohydrate source (sugar and flour) in
these food choices has been highly refined processed. A diet
rich in refined carbohydrates and processed foods has been
associated with heart disease and onset of type 2 diabetes.

Why are these sources of carbohydrates to be avoided?

1. They are calorie dense and contribute a large number of
calories in a small amount of food. For example a 7oz bag of
potato chips or corn chips have approximately 1000 calories.
Most women on a weight management program will be aiming for
1200 daily calorific intake. So, this is what we mean by
calorie dense and nutritionally scarce.

2. They offer little appetite-holding power because they have
no fiber or protein. As a result you end up searching for food
again soon after your first serve.

3. They contribute nothing to your nutritional profile except
calories. This means you have fewer calories left for foods
that your body requires for good health.

Whenever possible, replace highly processed grains, cereals,
and sugars with minimally processed whole-grain products and
ensure you have at least five serves of fruit and vegetables
daily.

Rather than cut out carbs completely for a very short-term gain
(usually weight loss), there are greater long-term health
benefits in learning how to distinguish good carbs over bad
carbs and incorporating healthy carbohydrates into your weight
loss program. Heart disease is by far the #1 killer in the U.
S., although 1/3 of those deaths could be prevented if people
exercised more and followed better diets, the American Heart
Association said in an annual report.

Also discussed will be the affects of our western diet on
omega-3 levels and the latest research on the cardiovascular,
heart, and the other health benefits of omega-3 compounds. Flax
seed oil is extracted from the seeds of the flax plant. Flax
seed oil and flax seed contain substances that promote good
health.

Flax Seed muffins pregents Cancer? Find Flax Seed Recipe today!
Omega-3 for health! Randomized clinical trials have shown that
omega-3 fatty acid supplements can reduce cardiovascular events
(death, non-fatal heart attacks, non-fatal strokes). They can
also slow the progression of atherosclerosis in coronary
patients. You can eat whole flax seeds but you need to chew
them good to break them up. Your stomach will not dissolve
whole flax seeds and many of them will come out in your stools.

About The Author: Why is Flaxseed called the Miracle Food? More
at http://www.flaxseedfitness.com Why is Flaxseed called the
Miracle Food? More at http://www.flaxseedfitness.com

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