Eight tips for healthy eating

 Eating a healthy, balanced diet is an important part of maintaining good health, and can help you feel your best. It doesn't have to be difficult either. Just follow these eight tips to get started.

The key to a healthy diet is to do the following:

    Eat the right amount of calories for how active you are, so that you balance the energy you consume with the energy you use. If you eat or drink too much, you’ll put on weight. If you eat and drink too little, you’ll lose weight. It is recommended that men have around 2,500 calories a day (10,500 kilojoules). Women should have around 2,000 calories a day (8,400 kilojoules). Most adults are eating more calories than they need, and should eat fewer calories.
    Eat a wide range of foods to ensure that you’re getting a balanced diet and that your body is receiving all the nutrients it needs.

Get started

These practical tips cover the basics of healthy eating, and can help you make healthier choices:
Base your meals on starchy foods

Starchy foods should make up around one third of the foods you eat. Starchy foods include potatoes, cereals, pasta, rice and bread. Choose wholegrain varieties (or eat potatoes with their skins on) when you can: they contain more fibre, and can help you feel full.

Most of us should eat more starchy foods: try to include at least one starchy food with each main meal. Some people think starchy foods are fattening, but gram for gram the carbohydrate they contain provides fewer than half the calories of fat.
Eat lots of fruit and veg

It’s recommended that we eat at least five portions of different types of fruit and veg a day. It’s easier than it sounds. A glass of unsweetened 100% fruit juice (150ml) can count as one portion, and vegetables cooked into dishes also count. Why not chop a banana over your breakfast cereal, or swap your usual mid-morning snack for a piece of fresh fruit?
Eat more fish

Fish is a good source of protein and contains many vitamins and minerals. Aim to eat at least two portions of fish a week, including at least one portion of oily fish. Oily fish contains omega-3 fats, which may help to prevent heart disease. You can choose from fresh, frozen and canned: but remember that canned and smoked fish can be high in salt.

Oily fish include salmon, mackerel, trout, herring, fresh tuna, sardines and pilchards. Non-oily fish include haddock, plaice, coley, cod, tinned tuna, skate and hake. If you regularly eat a lot of fish, try to choose as wide a variety as possible.
Cut down on saturated fat and sugar

We all need some fat in our diet. But it’s important to pay attention to the amount and type of fat we’re eating. There are two main types of fat: saturated and unsaturated. Too much saturated fat can increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which increases your risk of developing heart disease.

Saturated fat is found in many foods, such as hard cheese, cakes, biscuits, sausages, cream, butter, lard and pies. Try to cut down on your saturated fat intake, and choose foods that contain unsaturated fats instead, such as vegetable oils, oily fish and avocados.

For a healthier choice, use just a small amount of vegetable oil or reduced-fat spread instead of butter, lard or ghee. When you're having meat, choose lean cuts and cut off any visible fat.

Most people in the UK eat and drink too much sugar. Sugary foods and drinks, including alcoholic drinks, are often high in energy (measured in kilojoules or calories), and if eaten too often, can contribute to weight gain. They can also cause tooth decay, especially if eaten between meals.

Cut down on sugary fizzy drinks, alcoholic drinks, sugary breakfast cereals, cakes, biscuits and pastries, which contain added sugars: this is the kind of sugar we should be cutting down on, rather than sugars that are found in things such as fruit and milk.

Food labels can help: use them to check how much sugar foods contain. More than 22.5g of total sugars per 100g means that the food is high in sugar, while 5g of total sugars or less per 100g means that the food is low in sugar.
Eat less salt

Even if you don’t add salt to your food, you may still be eating too much. About three-quarters of the salt we eat is already in the food we buy, such as breakfast cereals, soups, breads and sauces. Eating too much salt can raise your blood pressure. People with high blood pressure are more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke.

Use food labels to help you cut down. More than 1.5g of salt per 100g means the food is high in salt. Adults and children over 11 should eat no more than 6g of salt a day. Younger children should have even less.
Get active and be a healthy weight

Eating a healthy, balanced diet plays an essential role in maintaining a healthy weight, which is an important part of overall good health. Being overweight or obese can lead to health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, heart disease and stroke. Being underweight could also affect your health. Check whether you’re a healthy weight by using our Healthy weight calculator.

Most adults need to lose weight, and need to eat fewer calories to do this. If you're trying to lose weight, aim to eat less and be more active. Eating a healthy, balanced diet will help: aim to cut down on foods that are high in fat and sugar, and eat plenty of fruit and vegetables.

Don't forget that alcohol is also high in calories, so cutting down can help you to control your weight.

Physical activity can help you to maintain weight loss or be a healthy weight. Being active doesn’t have to mean hours at the gym: you can find ways to fit more activity into your daily life. For example, try getting off the bus one stop early on the way home from work, and walking. Being physically active may help reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. For more ideas, see Get active your way.

After getting active, remember not to reward yourself with a treat that is high in energy. If you feel hungry after activity, choose foods or drinks that are lower in calories, but still filling.

If you’re underweight, see our page on underweight adults. If you're worried about your weight, ask your GP or a dietitian for advice.
Don't get thirsty

We need to drink about 1.6 to 2 liters of fluid every day to stop us getting dehydrated. This is in addition to the fluid we get from the food we eat. All non-alcoholic drinks count, but water and lower-fat milk are healthier choices.

Try to avoid sugary soft and fizzy drinks that are high in added sugars and calories, and are also bad for teeth. Even unsweetened fruit juice is sugary, so try to limit how much you drink to no more than one glass (about 150ml) of fruit juice each day.

When the weather is warm, or when we get active, we may need more fluids.
Don’t skip breakfast

Some people skip breakfast because they think it will help them lose weight. In fact, research shows that eating breakfast can help people control their weight. A healthy breakfast is an important part of a balanced diet, and provides some of the vitamins and minerals we need for good health. A wholegrain, lower-sugar cereal with fruit sliced over the top is a tasty and nutritious breakfast.
Source:www.nhs.uk

Do You Sweat More Than Normal?

Sure, it's the season of sweat. But are sweatier than the girl next to you?

"They" say girls don't sweat, but mist. "They" lie.

Each and every hour, the average girl sweats five ounces—enough to fill a wine glass, says Michael Shapiro, M.D., medical director of Vanguard Dermatology in New York. And that’s before you factor in scorching temps, stress, and killer workouts.

That's pretty darn sweaty—and chances are you sweat even more than the average lass. Why? One study published in Experimental Physiology found that fit women sweat much more than their unfit counterparts. And despite the pit stains, that's actually a great thing.

The sweat-fitness connection: During exercise, your body adapts to sweat both at a lower internal body temperature as well as at a higher rate. Basically, your body learns it's going to work hard on the regular, so it ups its sweating game to keep you cool—and prevent heat exhaustion—during upcoming physical demands.

According to some researchers, that might be why women still sweat less than men (four times less, on average, according to Shapiro). Just think: Women of our hunter-gatherer ancestry didn’t have to do nearly as much physical labor as their male counterparts did.

But while sweat is any fitness-lover's friend, you can sweat too much—and about one to three percent of all women do, says Shapiro. Hyperhidrosis (layman's term for excessive sweating), can not only be embarrassing and annoying, but if really severe, it could lead to dehydration and off-kilter electrolyte levels. If you feel like you're sweating more than you used to, you perspire when you're neither warm nor stressed (all over or even just on one spot of your body), or you suffer from night sweats, see your doctor to find out if you might have the condition.

How Getting Really Sick Can Impact Your Marriage

As if the illness itself weren't bad enough...

Better bolster your immune system, ladies. According to a study published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, when a wife becomes seriously sick, her marriage is more likely to end in divorce.


 Using raw data from the University of Michigan’s Health and Retirement Study, researchers at Iowa State University and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis examined 2,701 couples over the age of 50 and found that chronic illness in the wife meant divorce was six percent more likely. When the husband got sick, though, there was no greater risk of the marriage ending.

Unfortunately, the general causes of resulting marital discord are predictable: Caring for a sick spouse is super stressful, and the income lost when one half of a couple is out of commission—or if both have to forego work—can take its toll. In short: Marriage quality plummets with the female spouse’s health.


But that doesn’t explain why marriages in which the husband falls ill seem to weather the storm better. Although the data doesn’t illustrate which spouse filed the divorce papers, researchers think that women might be generally disappointed with their husbands as caregivers. It’s also been found that women seem to experience chronic illness with more pain and depressive symptoms than their male counterparts.

There are limitations to the research: The analysis looked at just four chronic diseases: cancer, heart disease, lung disease, and stroke, so not all illnesses were considered. The couples examined were all in a later stage of life, and of course certain qualities of their union up until that time couldn’t be measured (and even factors that were measured were self-reported, which isn't the most reliable form of data collection). Also worth noting is that since the couples were all over 50, they were probably more likely to adhere to gender norms than younger couples may have been.

Thankfully, women are less likely to contract a serious illness than men, and research shows that marriage may help make you healthier. But if you do become sick, don't hesitate to ask your husband to step up and take care of more things than normal—including you.

Eat These 5 Fruits To Get Healthy And Glowing Skin

Simple lifestyle changes like incorporating fruits in your daily diet can give you glowing skin. Fruits help with Clear complexion; Skin rejuvenation, Natural hydration; Improvement of Skin texture and making the skin appear youthful and glowing. Fruits are safe with no side effects and are cost-effective at the same time. They are free from toxins and have a host of skin and health benefits.

Let us look at a few fruits to get fair and glowing skin.
1. Bananas:
bananas for glowing skin

Bananas, being rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin B and Vitamin E, act as an anti-ageing agent. Opt for a facial using a freshly mashed banana mixed with honey to get glowing skin. It is a rich source of fiber, minerals, magnesium and potassium; they help in proper blood circulation in our body and build immunity from within.They are a great substitute for unhealthy snacking in between meals.

2. Lemons:
lemon benefits for glowing skin

It has high Vitamin C content and natural bleaching properties making it a good cleanser that lightens blemishes, acne scars, spots and skin tone. Start your day by drinking 1 glass of warm water mixed with a dash of lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of honey on an empty stomach. This fights cellulite and clears your skin from within.

A mixture of lemon juice and honey reduces blemishes and acquire glowing skin.

10 Natural Depression Treatments

Being depressed can make you feel helpless. You're not. Along with therapy and sometimes medication, there's a lot you can do on your own to fight back. Changing your behavior -- your physical activity, lifestyle, and even your way of thinking -- are all natural depression treatments.

These tips can help you feel better -- starting right now.

1. Get in a routine. If you’re depressed, you need a routine, says Ian Cook, MD. He's a psychiatrist and director of the Depression Research and Clinic Program at UCLA.

Depression can strip away the structure from your life. One day melts into the next. Setting a gentle daily schedule can help you get back on track.

2. Set goals. When you're depressed, you may feel like you can't accomplish anything. That makes you feel worse about yourself. To push back, set daily goals for yourself.

"Start very small," Cook says. "Make your goal something that you can succeed at, like doing the dishes every other day."

As you start to feel better, you can add more challenging daily goals.

The Crazy-Simple Way to Eat Less

Smart eating isn't always about choosing vegetables over fried food and skipping dessert. Sometimes, the smallest, easiest habits can make a big difference, especially when it comes to this super-simple strategy that helps you cut calories without switching up your food.

No, it's not by skipping a meal. We've got a strategy that is much easier and less likely to make you hangry: Chew your food more thoroughly. Sounds obvious, but science shows it works.

On two different days, researchers at Iowa State University in Ames fed a pizza breakfast to volunteers, instructing them to chew each mouthful 15 times on one day and 40 times on the other. When subjects chewed 40 times instead of just 15, they had lower levels of ghrelin, the hormone that triggers your brain to tell you it's time to eat. They also had higher levels of cholecystokinin, a fullness hormone found in the gut. In real life, this translated to less hunger all the way up to lunchtime, three hours later.

While there's nothing magical about chewing your food exactly 40 times, noshing more thoroughly is a simple way to keep your appetite in check. Three ways to eat more mindfully: Put down your fork between bites, don't eat in front of the TV or at a desk, and turn on some relaxing tunes while you dine.

How To Get Younger-Looking Hands

Moisturizing isn't the only skin-care routine you need.

This article was written by Aly Walansky and repurposed with permission from Daily Makeover.

True story: Hands show a person’s age more than any other part of the body, due largely to the fact that people frequently wash and strip them of natural oils, says Revision Skincare expert Emily Velez. Hands also end up with more sun damage due to constant exposure, and washing them throughout the day makes consistent protection difficult. Finally, the hands tend to lose fat and volume as you age, which leads them to have a bony and veiny appearance. Treat them to some TLC for a healthy, younger-looking complexion.

Always Wear Sunscreen
Hands get extra sun exposure from their position on the steering wheel when you’re driving your car—the backs of your hands get all the sun’s damaging rays right through the windshield, says board-certified dermatologist David Bank, M.D. Use a higher SPF sunscreen on the backs of your hands when you know they’ll be exposed for long periods of time, just as you would on the rest of your body.

Failed IVF: Why IVF Fails & What You Can Do

When your body says no to in vitro, an alternate route might be the way to go. If not all the way, at least till you have gathered the provisions you need for the next round of fertility treatments. 
By Julia Indichova.
Failed IVF  and the Power of a Broken Heart

A failed IVF is often a time when the heart is most tender. When, after spending your life’s savings, or using up the allotment of in vitro cycles covered by your insurance, you receive the dreaded call that says: “Sorry, it didn’t work,” you find yourself standing at crossroads.Isabella

Suprising Ways to Get More Energy

Want to get your mojo rising? You're not alone. More than 50 percent of American women report that they simply don't have enough juice, with 29 percent of us dragging tail several times a week, according to the American Psychological Association. No wonder the promise of a quick fix—like the kind that comes in a skinny colorful can—is tempting on crazy-busy days. But reaching for stimulants like sugar and caffeine when you're running on empty only leaves you jittery and then exhausted, says Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D., the author of From Fatigued to Fantastic! For calm energy that gives you mental clarity and makes you feel good, you need to fill your tank. Here are nine healthy boosters that help you do just that.

 Become a Micromanager

Of energy, that is. Take a cue from tennis champs like Serena Williams: They are super­focused when hitting the ball but use their "between point" time as a quick mental and physical time- out. "As soon as they step back and take a few deep breaths, their heart rate comes down, they detach from the moment, and they clear their head, making them­selves ready for their next shot," explains Jack Groppel, Ph.D., a cofounder of Johnson & Johnson's Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Florida, which teaches athletes and leaders to be more productive and successful. The same tactic works on the job, he says. Employees who break for a microburst of activity every hour—like walking over to chat with a coworker or running out to grab lunch with a friend—have more energy, particularly in the afternoon, and are also more focused and motivated, the institute's research shows. "This strategy forces you to disengage from whatever you've been doing, so you can be refreshed when you get back to it," Groppel explains. Bonus: Physical activity also relaxes tight muscles and increases oxygen to your tired brain, while the camaraderie provides social support, which, in turn, helps relieve stress.

Standing Too Much Is Just As Bad As Sitting: What To Do

A sedentary lifestyle makes you a sitting duck for heart disease, diabetes and obesity–even if you work out regularly. Follow our easy advice to increase energy, rev your metabolism and get your butt moving.

I'm a pretty healthy person, but there's a terrible habit that I do every single day. I'm actually doing it right now. And I bet you are, too. The thing is, we all know that sitting is slowly killing us. Our butt-in-the-seat lifestyle—as in desk job, commuting, Game of Thrones marathons—is raising our risk for obesity (one study found that for every two hours a day that women spent sitting and watching TV, they had a 23 percent higher risk) and cancer (a 2014 meta-analysis suggested that every two hours of sitting increases your risk for certain cancers by 8 to 10 percent), as well as diabetes, heart disease and early death (for every two hours of daily sitting while watching TV, your risk for those three increases by 20, 15 and 13 percent, respectively).

Smoothie Bowls Better Than Ice Cream

Next time you have a pint of Chunky Monkey on your mind, whip up a smoothie bowl instead. "Smoothie bowls are fast becoming a fave snack (or meal), as a healthy alternative to ice cream or frozen yogurt," says McKel Hill, a dietitian, nutritionist, and creator of Nutrition Stripped. Like good old-fashioned ice cream, smoothie bowls are cold, creamy, and thick enough to scoop with a spoon—with the added bonus of nutrient-rich fruits and veggies. Fire up the blender and give these game-changing recipes a go.

 Smoothie Bowl: Carrot Cake Protein

Smoothie bowls are a fun, fresh way to get all your essential nutrients without sacrificing taste, says Casey of Casey's Wholesome Kitchen. They're thicker than regular fruit smoothies, but lighter than ice cream, so you feel satisfied, not weighed down. Exhibit A: This carrot cake protein smoothie bowl will keep you full till lunch.

10 Amazing Beauty Tricks With Coconut Oil

Let's work backwards. When you think about the health benefits of coconut oil, we're going to guess that the last thing that comes to mind is rubbing the edible plant grease all over your face. Or your arms. Or your hair. But a growing body of research, countless experts, and an army of natural-beauty devotees swear by the stuff for just about everything. Are they onto something?

Yes, according to our experts. Coconut oil is used in many natural beauty products, and for good reason: It's naturally antibacterial and antifungal, it's an excellent moisturizer, it can penetrate hair better than other oils, and, well, it smells like cookies.

"Yum," says Tieraona Low Dog, MD, director of the fellowship program at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. "Is there anything more luscious than coconut oil?"

We can't think of anything. But we can think of 10 amazing uses for it in your very own home that don't require spending a fortune on store-bought products. In fact, all you need is one thing: Raw (and preferably organic) virgin coconut oil.

8 Surprising Beauty Uses For Epsom Salt

Epsom salts aren’t just for athletes soaking their sore, tired muscles. They’re also an under-the-radar beauty treatment with a slew of benefits. "Epsom salt is a pure mineral compound—magnesium sulfate—and people don't realize that it can play a major role in their beauty routine," says Taz Bhatia, MD, founder and medical director of the Atlanta Center for Holistic and Integrative Medicine. Here are her favorite home remedies that use the drugstore buy from head to toe.

1. Pump up the volume of your hair.
Add equal parts Epsom salt, such as Dr. Teal's Epsom salt, to equal parts of your favorite conditioner, work the mixture into your hair, and leave it on for 20 minutes before rinsing. The treatment will get rid of excessive oils, which can leave hair looking flat and greasy. Bhatia suggests repeating the treatment once a week.

6 Ways To Nail The "No Makeup" Makeup Look

The holy-grail goal of makeup is to look like you're not wearing any—like you woke up with a dewy complexion, long lashes, and rosy lips. Since that can be a tall order if you're, you know, human, we put together these tips for an easy, no-makeup makeup look that'll leave everyone wondering where you got your glow.

Skip the foundation
Nothing's less natural than cakey foundation. Go for a do-it-all BB cream instead, which combines the benefits of a moisturizer, sunscreen, and foundation in one tube—but goes on without a trace. Or consider a CC cream, BB's even lighter relative. Put a few drops into your palm and warm it up by rubbing it gently with your ring or middle finger before applying, suggests San Francisco-based makeup artist Emily Kate Warren. "The heat of your palm melts the formula so it has a more liquid consistency and sinks into skin more easily when you put it on," she says.

Let's Start Loving Our Bodies

Even the most gorgeous celebrities hate on their frames—what's up with that? It's time to start thinking more highly of your body, whether you live in Hollywood or Timbuktu. It begins here.

"I don't like my thighs, my midsection..."

It sounds like a snippet from you and your girlfriends' weekly body bashing sessions. But this exact quote comes from none other than Scarlett Johansson, and it's proof that poor body image can affect people of any shape—including, apparently, women who dominate multiple Sexiest Woman Alive lists.

When Barbara Walters recently asked the new mom about her bod with a cult following, Johansson replied, "It's an okay body, I guess. I wouldn't say it's particularly remarkable."

How to Balance Hormone Levels Naturally

Hormones play an important role in our health as they affect many of the body’s processes. More often than not, hormonal imbalances are caused by changes in estrogen and are more common in females than males. Hormonal changes typically occur during puberty, menstruation, pregnancy and menopause.

In addition, factors like advancing age, poor diet, too much or too little exercise, adrenal exhaustion and stress, lack of sleep, birth control pills, toxins and chemicals like pesticides contribute to hormonal imbalance.

Some common symptoms of this problem include anxiety, irritability, mood swings, insomnia, fatigue, weight problems, excess hair growth or hair loss, migraines, low sex drive, oily or dry skin, acne, food cravings, premenstrual syndrome, infertility and others.
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Home Remedies for Irregular Periods

An irregular period, medically known as oligomenorrhea, is a common problem among women. It usually refers to infrequent periods with intervals of more than 35 days.

A normal menstrual cycle ranges from 21 to 35 days. Menstrual bleeding generally lasts for two to seven days. Women normally have 11 to 13 periods in a year, but those with oligomenorrhea may have fewer than six or seven periods.

Irregular periods are characterized by variations in the time between each of your periods, the number of days that your periods last, and abnormal blood loss (whether less or more than usual) during a period.
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A number of factors can cause this problem, such as eating disorders, significant weight loss or gain, anemia, menopause, thyroid disorders, hormonal imbalance, liver disease, tuberculosis, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, recent birth or miscarriage, polycystic ovarian syndrome, uterine abnormalities, and other health conditions.

Mediterranean Diet Plan: The World's Healthiest Diet

The more doctors test it, the more they find that eating Mediterranean is the absolute best way to lose weight. Based on the cooking and eating styles of Italy, France, Greece, Spain, and other Mediterranean countries, the plan features olive oil, fruits and vegetables, nuts, legumes, fish and poultry, whole grains and, yes, wine! It's high in heart-healthy fats and, unlike other diets, doesn't forbid any food group. "It's hard to stay on extreme diets," says Harvard nutrition expert Walter Willett, MD, PhD, whose book Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy popularized the approach in the United States. "This diet has lots of variety and wonderful flavors so people stick with it."

Best Shoulder Exercises According to Science

You've got running, yoga, and spinning down to a science, but finding the perfect shoulder-scultping routine can feel a little more daunting. Solution: Focus on these shoulder exercises that have been proven to show serious results, then start counting the days until tank-top season.

Sculpting strong, sexy shoulders is as easy as one, two, three. New research from the American Council on Exercise revealed the most effective exercises for defining your delts. Grab some weights and add this triple-threat sequence to your workout. Do three sets of 10 to 12 reps each.

Dumbbell Shoulder Press: Standing with feet hip-width apart and a dumbbell in each hand, lift weights to shoulders, palms facing forward and elbows bent at 90 degrees. Press weights upward until arms are extended overhead, then lower to starting position.

45-Degree Incline Row: Lie chest-down on a 45-degree incline bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip so palms face you. Let arms hang straight down toward the floor. Pull elbows toward ceiling by bending arms and squeezing shoulder blades together, then lower to starting position.

Seated Rear Lateral Raise: Sitting on the edge of a bench with a dumbbell in each hand and arms hanging straight down, palms facing each other, hinge upper body forward. Keep back straight and raise arms out to sides until elbows are at shoulder height, perpendicular to torso, then lower to starting position.

Weight-Loss Smoothies: Mixed Berry Cobbler

Go for coconut milk in this antioxidant-rich mixed berry recipe by Mimi Kirk, author of the new cookbook The Ultimate Cookbook of Modern Juicing, for plenty of healthy fats to keep you satiated.

Makes 1 serving

1/2 cup almond, hemp seed, or coconut milk

1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

1/2 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen

1/2 cup blackberries, fresh or frozen

2–3 Medjool dates

Blend all ingredients in order listed until smooth.