The Healthy Diet

Archive for the ‘Healthy Vegetarian Diet’ Category

Garlic and onion seem like healthy foods but what exactly are the health benefits from onion and garlic? Dr. Nicholas Perricone in his New York Times' best selling book, The Perricone Promise, says that garlic and onion are the world's number two superfood, second only to the acai berry, the nature's amazing fruit from the Amazon. Garlic and onion belong to the Allium family which also includes leeks, scallions, shallots and chives. Let's examine the health benefits from onion and garlic below.

What are the health benefits of Garlic?

The health benefits of Garlic include:

• lowering total cholesterol while raising the HDL or good cholesterol
• lessening the risk of atherosclerosis (the hardening of arteries)
• lowering blood pressure
• reducing the risk of blood clots which cause the majority of strokes and heart attack.
• destroying infection causing viruses and bacteria
• reducing the risk of certain cancers particularly stomach cancer
• producing more natural killer cells in the blood to fight tumors and infections
• helping fight against neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's
• enhancing detoxification by reducing toxins.

What are the health benefits of onions?

Onions are also very healthy with the following health benefits:

• inhibiting the growth of cancerous cells
• increasing HDL cholesterol, especially raw onions while reducing total cholesterol levels
• increasing blood clot dissolving activity
• helping prevent colds
• stimulating the immune system
• lowering blood sugar levels in diabetes
• having anti bacterial and anti fungal properties
• reducing the risk of certain cancers
• helping relieve stomach upset and other gastrointestinal disorders

If you want to read Dr. Perricone's famous book: The Perricone Promise, here is a link to it.

The Perricone Promise: Look Younger, Live Longer in Three Easy Steps

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Most food that contain fat contain both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Below are food containing either monounsaturated fats or polyunsaturated fats or both.

Food containing monounsaturated fats

Monounsaturated fats are found in natural foods including (but not limited to):

• nuts,
• avocados,
• tea seed oil (over 80% monounsaturated fat),
• olive oil (oleic acid) (about 75% monounsaturated fat ),
• Canola oil is 57%–60% monounsaturated fat,
• grapeseed oil,
• ground nut oil,
• peanut oil,
• flaxseed oil,
• sesame oil,
• corn oil,
• popcorn,
• whole grain wheat,
• cereal,
• oatmeal,
• safflower oil,
• sunflower oil,
• tea-oil Camellia

Food containing polyunsaturated fats

• fish oil
• cereal oil
• whole grain wheat oil
• peanuts oil
• grapeseed oil

What is the DASH diet?

The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) is a diet promoted by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute which is a part of the NIH, a United States government organization, to control hypertension.

Typical DASH Diet

A major feature of the DASH diet plan is limiting intake of sodium.

It also generally encourages the consumption of:

• nuts,
• whole grains,
• fish,
• poultry,
• fruits and
• vegetables

while lowering the consumption of:

• red meats,
• sweets, and
• sugar.

It is also "rich in potassium, magnesium, and calcium, as well as protein and fiber.

What is the DASH diet based on?

The DASH diet is based on NIH studies that examined three dietary plans and their results. None of the plans were vegetarian, but the DASH plan incorporated more than the others studied:

• fruits and vegetables,
• low fat or nonfat dairy, beans, and nuts

Dash Diet Plan

Not only does the DASH diet plan emphasizes good eating habits, but also suggests healthy alternatives to "junk food" and discourages the consumption of processed foods. The DASH diet reduced systolic blood pressure by 6 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure by 3 mm Hg in patients with normal blood pressure. Those with hypertension dropped by 11 and 6, respectively. There are several eating plans included in the diet, with the daily caloric intake ranging from 1699 to 3100 dietary calories.

NIH DASH Diet Guidebook

The NIH has published a Dash diet plan guidebook, "Your Guide to Lowering your Blood Pressure With DASH", which details the nutrition facts of popular mainstream food items and their healthy alternatives. The manual also provides samples of meal plans and proportions along with their associated nutritional information. The last pages of the manual provides a list of resources and how to obtain them.