Nutritional planning involves balancing macronutrients, understanding calorie formulas, and identifying the functional properties of whole foods to manage weight and chronic conditions effectively.
Salad greens -- the leafy green vegetables that are either too delicate for cooking or traditionally consumed raw -- are a common staple for calorie-conscious dieters and healthy eaters alike.
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Iron is one of the most vitally important nutrients in the diet. Not only is it essential for normal growth and development, healthy skin, bones and teeth and optimal immunity, but it also supplies body cells with the oxygen they need to produce energy.
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Depending on the compounds they produce when metabolized, all foods — with the exception of pure water — are either acid-forming or alkaline-forming in the body. Consequently, each food you eat has a temporary and minuscule effect on your body’s pH balance.
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Bowel regularity is more of an individual experience than a collective one. One person might get rid of solid waste once or twice a day, while another might have the urge to eliminate just once every couple of days.
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Unless it’s one of the few that behaves neutrally, every food is either acid- or alkaline-forming in the body. In general, fruits and vegetables are alkalizing, while meat, most dairy and all sugary foods are acidifying.
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Two different conditions require avoidance of wheat: a wheat allergy and celiac disease. A wheat allergy causes reactions ranging from hives to difficulty breathing.
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Lysine is an essential amino acid that plays an active role in growth and development, collagen formation, calcium absorption and cholesterol regulation. Arginine is a conditionally essential amino acid involved in wound healing, immune system function and hormone secretion.
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Just as often as carbohydrates and fat are shunned in the name of weight loss, protein is turned to as a sure-fire way to keep off excess pounds. Although protein is designed to maintain body tissues and can’t be stored as-is, eating more protein than your body requires can lead to extra body fat.
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Sucanat -- a granulated sugar that takes its acronym-like name from the words “sugar cane natural” -- is often marketed as less refined and more nutritious than table sugar, or sucrose. Although it is minimally processed, Sucanat isn’t any healthier than other types of sugar.
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It’s no surprise that most of America’s sesame seed crop is used by the baking industry -- the flavorful seeds are a familiar topping on bread, rolls, breadsticks, crackers and biscuits.
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Whether it’s because they’re economical, intensely flavored or usually found in a can, sardines are widely regarded as low-end fare in the United States. These small, plentiful fish are as nutritious as they are underappreciated, however, which is why "The New York Times"
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Calories -- formally known as kilocalories -- measure the amount of energy supplied by food and beverages. The number of calories your body requires to function and maintain itself depends on a variety of factors, including your body size, your metabolism, your activity level and your gender.
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If your mouth tastes like metal, it could be the result of a vitamin supplement you are taking. Luckily, the effect is usually temporary and not serious.
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The traditional Japanese diet couldn't be more dissimilar from the standard American diet. Japanese staples include fresh fish, rice, soy, vegetables, fruit and green tea, while the American diet relies heavily on red meat, poultry and processed foods high in salt or added sugar.
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Sugar intolerance, also known as dietary fructose intolerance or sugar malabsorption, is a digestive disorder that affects nearly one-third of all adults, according to the website Food Intolerance Diagnostics.
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As the most concentrated amino acid in your body, L-glutamine -- also known as glutamine -- is involved in more metabolic processes than any other amino acid. Because it fuels white blood cells and other rapidly dividing body cells, glutamine is indispensable to immune system function and tissue repair.
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Muscovado sugar is often touted as a natural, unrefined alternative to brown sugar. It owes its strong flavor, high moisture content and ultra-dark color to molasses, the “impurity” that’s stripped out of more refined sugars.
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Legumes have long been a primary source of sustenance and protein in the global diet. This tremendously large family of vegetables includes fresh and dried peas and beans as well as lentils, alfalfa, carob and peanuts.
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Moscato wines can be as diverse as the muscat grapes they’re made from. Whether they’re produced in Italy, France, Spain, Australia or California, these light-bodied wines are almost always sweet, fragrant, bubbly and low in alcohol.
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Wine gums -- a popular British confection invented in the early 20th century -- come in a variety of shapes, colors and fruit-inspired flavors. Although the chewy, gelatin-based candies are marked with words like “Burgundy,” “Champagne,” “claret,” “port” and “sherry,” they don’t actually contain wine.
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