A Quick Starters Guide To Being Healthy (MY... - Healthy Eating

Healthy Eating

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A Quick Starters Guide To Being Healthy (MYP 5 Service as Action Project)

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Hello everyone, me and I my friends have compiled some research, that can help you become healthy. The last part about healthy food stores is focused around the area we live in (Ostrava, Czech Republic) however, the rest should be universal. I hope you find this helpful.

What does it mean to be healthy?

Being healthy means:

Eating regularly

Stabilises sugar levels in body

Prevents you from overeating, which might occur easily if you go for a long time without eating

Eating regular and healthy meals decreases the overall cholesterol level and reduces the body’s resistance to insulin, and helps prevent heart diseases

A balanced calorie intake helps you avoid becoming overweight

Eating plenty of vitamins-

Vitamin A - helps with vision, lowers prostate and lung cancer risk, helps tissues and skin stay healthy

Vitamin B2 - aids conversion of food to energy, required for hair, skin, brain.

Vitamin C - “might lower risks of some cancer”, help create collagen which helps you heal wounds faster and boosts the immune system.

Vitamin D - aids control of calcium & phosphorus levels in body keeping bones healthy.

Vitamin B6 - Reduces risk of heart disease and converts tryptophan to serotonin which helps with sleep, mood and appetite.

Eating fruits and vegetables-

They are naturally low in fat and calories and none have cholesterol

Provide nutrients like potassium, fiber, folate, and vitamins A and C

Reduce risk of heart disease, heart attack, etc.

Some reduce the risk of certain types of cancer and diabetes

Sleeping plenty-

Helps you to remember and learn things the next day.

Helps balance hormones for hunger (ghrelin, leptin) sleep deprivation can lead to hunger and overeating.

Controls glucose in blood and this helps you prevent diabetes.

Sleep deficiency can lead to weak immune system by changing the way they react to incoming pathogens.

Not getting enough sleep can make people less productive, and make them finish task slower, and with more errors

Here are some problems caused by a bad diet, and a lack of exercise

Physical effects of a bad diet

Eating disorders, high susceptibility to addiction, lethargy

Even cause cancer, heart disease, high cholesterol, gallstones, and many others

Mental effects of a bad diet

Malnutrition in a child can lead to mental retardation

Malnutrition in a pregnant mother can cause a whole spectrum of problems for the child, including an increased risk of alzheimer's

A bad diet can lead to a variety of mental issues as well, one of the most common being depression

Physical effects of lack of exercise

Main effect-obesity and faster physical aging

This makes people lazy and unfit, which increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, sleep apnea and many others

Mental effects of lack of exercise

Increases risk of depression and anxiety, especially due to being unhappy with your physical body

A study conducted by the Journal of Health Psychology over a 10 week period, showed that people that exercised had significantly improved cognitive and physical capabilities, that disappeared right after they had stopped exercising

How to have a healthy diet?

Why eat healthy food?

Reduces risk of diseases such as heart attacks , type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and chronic digestive diseases.

How do I lose weight in a healthy way?

Whole foods

Whole foods have a cleansing effect and helps your body break down LDL cholesterol, thereby reducing risks of heart diseases and diabetes

High Fiber

Helps with digestion due to the high fiber content and makes the digestive system more active

Avoid Processed food

Processed food contain more than one type of ingredient

Companies tend to add extra sugar, artificial colouring, artificial sweeteners and bad fat such as ; saturated fat and trans fat.

The ingredients only provide temporary energy or may bring side effects over time such as clogging of veins or increase of cholesterol. Most of them are artificial

Low calorie food ideas

Processed Konjac noodles- 0 cal per 3 oz

Bulgur - 76 cal per ½ cup

Soba noodle 113 cal per ½ cup

Teff - 128 cal per ½ cup

Things to avoid

High fat food (burger, deep fried food) contains saturated fat can cause clogging of blood and increase levels of LDL cholesterol.

High sugar content, sugar only helps with boost of energy

Not eating does not mean weightloss

Cons of starvation

Not fair share of energy used and energy consumed

Only temporary solution due to body’s shock from irregular diet

Can cause problems after you start eating again since body isn't used to the high intake of nutrition

Malnutrition during starving can lead to digestive problems such as organ failure, stomach ulcers etc.

Here are healthy ethnics foods that you can eat (they are ethnic foods, as to provide insight into a variety of foods from different countries. Certain countries have healthier options, giving them a try is worth it.)

Sushi - balances carbohydrate and protein intake

Tandoori chicken - low fat high protein dish

Pasta primavera - includes a lot of antioxidants, helps lower blood pressure and reduce cholesterol

Bean Burrito - Provides protein and is low fat, mix of different types of nutrition

Moo Shu Shrimp - high nutrition, and high amounts of vitamin rich ingredients

Aloo Gobi - Contains several antioxidants, contains spices that help boost organ functions etc.

Couscous - whole grain food that helps take away toxins from the body. Alternative to things such as pasta and rice.

Greek salad - large intake of whole food, helping body’s digestive system

Tom Yung Gung - Ingredients in soup are proven to help fight against cancer.

Hummus - Protein filled and low of calories, recommended with vegetables over crisps and bread due to both of them being calorie dense

Here are two healthy Korean and Indian dishes that are healthy and easy to prepare (you can try these yourself!)-

Korean Bibimbap: Rice + Vegetables +meat and basically anything you want, and additional sauce and spices. This increases intake of whole food and grains decreasing risk of LDL cholesterol, blood clogging. And increase the intake of fiber. Also helps eat vegetables and ingredients you normally wouldn’t eat.

Curry Carrot soup: Cook oil and curry powder in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in carrots, celery and onion; toss to coat in oil. Cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Stir in broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are very tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

How do I exercise to stay healthy?

Why exercise?

Exercise strengthens your heart, reducing your risk of heart attack

Your muscles stay more receptive of insulin, decreasing your risk of diabetes

Exercise also decreases your odds of falling into depression

Cancer is also affected by exercise, people who are active for at least 7 hours a week, have a lower chance of getting certain types of cancer

On average, how many calories do some of the most common exercises burn?

How many calories you burn depends fully on your current weight and fitness, if you are heavier and do the same amount of exercise as someone lighter than you, you will burn more calories, as it takes more energy to move your bigger body, and if you are already super fit, doing certain exercises will not have much of an effect on you either, and you will burn a smaller amount of calories

Here are the amounts of calories you burn doing common exercises(all of the numbers are for a person weighing 70kgs):

10 mins of push ups will burn about 90 calories

10 mins of sit ups will land you at 90 calories burned

10 mins of squats will burn about 60 calories

If you run 10 km in 1.5 hours, you will burn almost 800 calories

Cycling at about 24 km/h for 1 hour will burn about 700 calories

Here is an easy routine that you can follow, it only takes about 15 minutes, depending on how well and how quickly you can do these exercises-

5 burpees

10 lunges

15 sit ups

20 squats

25 push ups

And got back up the list (you can play with the numbers to make it adapt to you best, but it is recommended to not go lower than these values)

Please note, that you should take your time performing each of the exercises, make sure you do them properly, and that you feel the muscle it is targeting, otherwise, it will not have an effect

Another disclaimer is, that these exercises are applied to your day in order to increase your calorie output per day, without having to leave the house, and these exercises will develop some of your muscle mass, for pure weight loss, consider running or biking, as those activities are more efficient at increasing your calorie output

After a couple months of doing this daily, along with a healthy diet, you can lose weight very quickly, and after you have reach a point at which you are happy, you can decrease the amount of exercise you do

What is the difference between losing weight and gaining muscle?

Most people think these go hand-in-hand, but that is actually not true

Muscle growth is best done by doing resistance exercises, meaning, putting the muscles under pressure, and then providing nutrients like proteins, so the muscle rebuilds itself stronger than it was previously

While weight loss can be achieved easiest, when the calorie output outnumbers the calories input, which forces the body to use some of the energy it stored as fat in order to function

Weightloss calls for a calorie deficit, while muscle growth calls for an abundance of calories to allow the muscles to re-grow

Please note, that in both cases, for the process to be done correctly, the foods you eat need to be healthy, as to not starve your body of important nutrients during weight loss, and as to not overload your body with fats and unnecessary calories in an attempt to acquire muscle growth

Exercise is great stress relief

Exercise makes your brain create endorphins, which make you feel good

When you’re exercising, you are focused on a single task, so you can clear your mind of anything stressful going on

Decreases effects of depression and anxiety

Useful apps and resources

Calorie counting and dietary suggestion apps

The Fitbit app and the Fitbit in general

The Fitbit is a watch, similar to the apple watch, that shows you the time, how many steps you have taken that day, how many calories you've burned, how many kilometers you have travelled, and others things, depending on which version you get.

In the application, which you can connect to your watch by bluetooth, you can input your water intake,and calorie intake, as well as your sleeping pattern and exercise, and the app will show you statistics of how you’re doing, so you can see where to improve

Other calorie counting websites and apps include:

My fitness pal

Lose it!

Fat Secret

Cron-o-meter

SparkPeople

Step counting apps- these can help you figure out the calories you burn

Stepz

Walker

Pacer

Wokamon

And many others

Health forums-You can check these whenever you want expert help, but do not have the time to visit a health clinic.

Doctorslounge.com

Netdoctor.com

Health24

Patient.info

ehealthforum.com

Health clinics around Ostrava-You can come here for dietary suggestions, usually these places also sell healthy foods, supplements and other related things.

Slimbee-Ostrava Poruba

Mephacentrum-Ostrava Poruba

Nutristudio-Opava and Ostrava

Most hospitals also have their own dietary clinics

Gyms around Ostrava-Here, you can make sure you get enough exercise, most gyms also provide personal trainers for an extra fee, that can develop an exercise plan for you.

Pure Jatomi-Ostrava, Nova Karolina

Twister Fitness Club

Fitcentrum Assen

TOP FITNESS

BODY LAND Fitness

Healthy food stores around Ostrava-Here you can get some specialized healthy foods, that might not be offered in regular stores. (Here is a link to a map of all of the major stores in Ostrava:google.cz/search?espv=2&q=h...

MALEDA-Ostrava Avion Shopping Park

Vitaland-Ostrava Avion Shopping Park

Slimbee-Ostrava Poruba

Variace Shop-Ostrava

Milota-Ostrava Poruba

Resources:

"10 Top Health Forums Online For Expert Support." MakeUseOf. MakeUseOf, n.d. Web. 02 Jan. 2017. <makeuseof.com/tag/10-top-he....

Bjarnadottir, Adda. "The 5 Best Calorie Counter Websites and Apps." Authority Nutrition. Authority Nutrition, 27 July 2016. Web. 02 Jan. 2017. <authoritynutrition.com/5-be....

Cohen, Ian. "10 Healthiest Ethnic Foods." Men's Fitness. Men's Fitness, n.d. Web. 02 Jan. 2017. <mensfitness.com/nutrition/w....

"Exercise and Stress: Get Moving to Manage Stress." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic, 16 Apr. 2015. Web. 02 Jan. 2017. <mayoclinic.org/healthy-life....

"Gaining Muscle vs Losing Fat." Gaining Muscle vs Losing Fat. Spartafit, n.d. Web. 02 Jan. 2017. <spartafit.com/articles/gain....

Https://facebook.com/SarahJacobsson.... "The Best IPhone Apps for Tracking Steps." CNET. CNET, 29 Apr. 2016. Web. 02 Jan. 2017. <cnet.com/how-to/the-best-ip....

"Nutrients and Health Benefits." Choose MyPlate. United States Department of Agriculture, 12 Jan. 2016. Web. 02 Jan. 2017. <choosemyplate.gov/vegetable....

Publications, Harvard Health. "Listing of Vitamins." Harvard Health. Harvard Health, June 2009. Web. 02 Jan. 2017. <health.harvard.edu/staying-....

Publications, Harvard Health. "Why We Should Exercise - and Why We Don't." Harvard Health. Harvard Health, Oct. 2008. Web. 02 Jan. 2017. <health.harvard.edu/family-h....

"Why Is Sleep Important?" National Institutes of Health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 22 Feb. 2012. Web. 02 Jan. 2017. <nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health....

Wood, Layne. "Effects of Lack of Exercise & Nutrition." LIVESTRONG.COM. Leaf Group, 05 June 2015. Web. 02 Jan. 2017. <livestrong.com/article/2662....

Www.becomeinteractive.co.uk, Become Interactive -. "The LEAN Team." Regular Eating and The Benefits - GetFit Nutrition. Get Fit, n.d. Web. 02 Jan. 2017. <nutrition.getfit.com/tips/r....

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MYP5SA
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6 Replies
KazG1 profile image
KazG1

Some interesting information, good starting point thanks

MYP5SA profile image
MYP5SA in reply toKazG1

Thanks for your feedback!

sistersukes profile image
sistersukes

It would have been better if the claims made were referenced in the text. I'd also suggest thinking about your audience, as some of the terms you use are not ones that are used any more in the UK, e.g. 'mental retardation'. Watch out for pejorative terms as well like 'lazy' unless you have a reference for it. I did like the idea of suggesting healthy foods from around the world, it's something that could be expanded on.

MYP5SA profile image
MYP5SA in reply tosistersukes

Thanks for the feedback! What do you suggest I should change "mental retardation" to? I thought it was okay to use.

MYP5SA profile image
MYP5SA

I am not quite sure what you mean, could you please expand?

MrC_Ostrava profile image
MrC_Ostrava

Hi Guys, Good job. Indeed, the healthy ethnic foods are fantastic - I learned about a few that I've never heard of before.

One additional suggestion is to perhaps break down the thread into four posts. It is not "written" anywhere that all of the information (lots) has to be included in only one post.

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