Nutritional planning involves balancing macronutrients, understanding calorie formulas, and identifying the functional properties of whole foods to manage weight and chronic conditions effectively.
Net carbohydrates are the carbohydrates that have an immediate blood glucose impact. Calculating net carbohydrates properly is important to understanding the foods you eat and how they affect your diet.
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Proteins play essential functions that include everything from the creation of antibodies to muscle contraction, chemical reactions and the health of hair, nails and skin. The amino acids present in protein regulate chemical reactions and improve healing time, control blood pressure and help with blood clotting.
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Calcium is an essential mineral that must come from your diet and/or supplements. Without enough of it, your bones, heart and circulatory system could suffer. Vitamin D works with calcium to help build and sustain healthy bones, among other things.
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The nutritional value of a hamburger can vary greatly, depending on how it is prepared and what ingredients it contains. Some hamburgers contain more than one patty, and the extra bacon, cheese, sauces and other condiments can change the amount of calories, fat and carbohydrates your hamburger provides.
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Carbohydrates serve as your body's preferred fuel source for everything from exercising to completing mental tasks. When you follow a low-carbohydrate diet, the goal is to control your carb intake to encourage your body to utilize stored fat for energy.
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Labeling foods as either "good" or "bad" might be a simple way to decide which foods are good for you. The problem with these labels is that they give a negative connotation to foods that can still be part of a healthy diet when enjoyed in moderation.
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An important amino acid that has a variety of different functions in the body, l-glutamine is found in many foods, including those that contain plant or animal protein. There is no minimum level of intake required for l-glutamine daily, but average consumption ranges between 1 g and 6 g.
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Skipping food for a day may seem like a quick solution for slimming down, but the reality is that fasting can be harmful to your health and probably won't cause lasting weight loss.
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Creatine and caffeine are two performance-boosting supplements often used in sports settings. There is a lot of controversy, however, over the effectiveness of using these two substances together. A study published in the October 2001 "Journal of Applied Physiology"
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Creatine, glutamine and protein are commonly included in sports performance supplements. Each serves a distinct purpose. Creatine provides your muscles with energy and draws in water needed for growth and recovery. Glutamine is an amino acid, the building block of protein, that is most abundant in muscles.
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The oil of certain fish contains an essential fatty acid known as omega-3. Omega-3 fatty acids are necessary for human health and development, but they cannot be produced by the body.
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Marathon runners, endurance cyclists and elite athletes all know the feeling when, during a big competition or long training session, energy levels plummet. This is due to a lack of readily available fuel to power the muscles.
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Although prevalent in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, in the West turmeric is largely known as an ingredient in Indian curries. However, in parts of India the yellow-hued spice is also used as a beauty product.
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A large amount of visceral fat -- the fat that forms between your internal organs -- swells your abdomen and gives you a more prominent belly. Even if you have little excess subcutaneous fat, the kind you can pinch under your skin, you can still carry excess visceral fat.
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If you like baking your own loaves of bread using a bread maker, there's no need to put the machine on a shelf now that you're on a low-carb diet. Use recipes featuring low-carb flours, such as coconut, almond or soy, to create a variety of breads that fit your diet plan. You'll still count "net"
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Frown lines can make you look older and stern. They are caused by small muscles between your eyebrows and in your forehead, an area called the glabella. Frowning and squinting contract those muscles, almost as if you are deliberately exercising them.
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Caring for your voice takes a well-rounded approach. In addition to vocal warm-ups and attention to environmental factors, such as cold or smoke, you need to eat conscientiously. Most foods that you should avoid do not trigger disease in the vocal cords.
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Amino acid supplements are generally sold as sports supplements, and most are not very effective for that purpose as long as protein intake is adequate. Two of them, however, have piqued interest as a possible treatment for depression and other brain disorders.
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Sodium aluminum silicate is one of the hundreds of food additives that manufacturers use to improve certain qualities of their product to appeal to consumers. An additive has no nutritional value of its own, but may improve other aspects of food, such as color, flavor, texture or shelf life.
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Herpes infections are caused by the herpes simplex virus and include HSV type 1, which commonly causes cold sores around the mouth and face, and HSV type 2, which affects the genitals, buttocks and anal area.
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