Food & Nutrition: Culinary Techniques, Diets & Metabolic Health

Nutritional health is achieved through the therapeutic use of whole foods, safe culinary preparation, and understanding the metabolic impacts of specific dietary frameworks and ingredients.

Surgeon Preparing for Surgery

Post-Surgery Gallbladder Diet

After gallbladder surgery, or cholecystectomy, your body needs time to heal. Upon discharge from the hospital, your doctor may recommend following a low-fat diet for the first month to help reduce indigestion and digestive discomfort. After that, you typically can resume normal eating without any restrictions.

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Cut pineapple

List of High-Enzyme Foods

Enzymes are crucial to your health as they enable your body to break down food components into usable nutrients. Your intestines and pancreas produce a wide variety of enzymes, and certain foods contain these beneficial constituents or contain bacteria that produce them.

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Hamburger with fries and onion rings

Does Fast Food Cause Heart Disease?

Fast food may seem like a convenient, inexpensive meal option, but it often contains excess calories, fat, salt, refined carbohydrates and cholesterol. Interest has grown in determining the health implications of fast-food consumption.

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Bowl

Side Effects of Consuming Cream of Tartar

Food, supplements and medications are all capable of causing side effects. In the case of cream of tartar, a common item used in cooking, you don't have to worry much about food sources. Side effects are unlikely when consumed in typical amounts found in food.

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Close-up of a young woman drinking tea

Herbal Teas That Treat Constipation

While constipation is rarely dangerous, it can cause discomfort and concern when it occurs. Bowel movements vary from person to person, but the University of Maryland Medical Center describes constipation as when you have fewer than three bowel movements weekly.

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Woman stepping on bathroom scale, low section, Close-up of foot

What Is the Ideal Protein Diet?

A variety of methods exist for achieving weight loss, and some methods can help when you've been unsuccessful in the past. The Ideal Protein diet is a medically prescribed weight loss program meant for individuals who either have a lot of weight to lose or failed to lose weight from diet and exercise alone.

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Bacon frying

Diet Plan for Uric Acid

Uric acid is the result of your body breaking down purines, substances found in various foods. Your kidneys filter uric acid from the blood, where it is then excreted in urine. When uric acid remains high, you can develop gout or kidney stones.

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Osmanthus against white background

What Are the Health Benefits of Osmanthus Tea?

Osmanthus tea is made from the osmanthus fragrans flowering plant native to China. Widely consumed in Asia, osmanthus tea is less common in the United States. It's readily available at Chinese health food stores and online in loose leaf and tea bag form, however.

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Bananas in Brazil

The Calories in Plantains

Balancing your calories plays a central role in maintaining a healthy weight. Becoming familiar with the amount of calories in common foods you eat regularly enables you to monitor your daily intake.

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Traditional chinese tea ceremony

Does Oolong Tea Have Caffeine?

Tea contains caffeine unless it's been decaffeinated. The caffeine content varies depending on the plant variety and how long the leaves age. Oolong is grown primarily in Taiwan and China. A semi-fermented tea, oolong possesses an earthy flavor.

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Protein food

Shingles and Lysine/Arginine Foods

Shingles is a rash caused by a type of herpes virus that also causes chicken pox. If you've had chicken pox, you're at risk of getting shingles at some point during your lifetime.

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Psyllium Seeds Background

Acacia Fiber vs. Psyllium

Acacia and psyllium are two dietary fiber supplements marketed for various purposes. Psyllium is most commonly used to relieve constipation, and acacia -- though less common -- appears effective for this purpose as well.

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Lentil salad

List of Good Carbs and High-Fiber Foods

Carbohydrates play a dominant role in your diet and health, but some carbs provide more health benefits than others. For example, whole-grain bread is a better choice than refined white bread. Nutritious carbohydrate foods provide a rich source of fiber, since fiber itself is a form of carbohydrate.

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sliced cheese

Sorbic Acid in Foods

Sorbic acid is a natural compound that is also made synthetically. First isolated from berries in the 1800s, it became commercially available for use as a food preservative in the 1940s and 1950s.. Due to its antimicrobial properties, it's added to a variety of foods to preserve freshness.

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Cup of gourmet coffee

Calories in a Soy Milk Latte

The latte is a coffeehouse classic, traditionally made using espresso and steamed whole milk with a light topping of foam. If for any reason, you don't want it with whole milk, you can typically substitute 2 percent, fat-free or soy milk.

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Avocadon salad

Foods With Oleic Acid

The quantity of fat in the diet is a serious health issue for most Americans. While the Institute of Medicine recommends you limit fat to 20 percent to 35 percent of your daily calorie intake, the average American consumes more than this. On the upside, the right types of fat in the proper amount benefit your health.

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avocado

What Foods Contain Latex?

Most people need not concern themselves with foods containing latex -- a substance naturally present in some plants. However, latex-sensitive individuals might have an allergic reaction to certain foods. This is known as a cross reaction.

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Close-up of head of lettuce

Lettuce Allergy

A food allergy occurs when your immune system responds abnormally to proteins in certain foods. When you think of food allergies, foods such as nuts, eggs and shellfish most likely come to mind. While a lettuce allergy is uncommon, it does exist.

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