4 Reasons Why You Should Eat a Good Breakfast

You might be skipping breakfast because you are in a hurry or you think that it is a way to lose weight. . But skipping breakfast is not the solution. In fact, there are some pretty good reasons why you should eat a good breakfast everyday. 

Here are 4 good reasons:

1. The first reason is that after a long night of fasting, during sleep, your body would have used up the fuel and a good bit of the nutrients that you consumed during the day. A good breakfast will replenish the nutrient levels in your cells to give you the energy and mental clarity you need for optimum performance.
2. Breakfast can provide one-fifth to one-third of your daily nutritional needs. Going without a good breakfast increases the chance that you might consume a lot of empty calories during the day without a matching allowance of vitamins, minerals and other important dietary substances.
3. Breakfast is an opportunity to get milk or other dairy products, including cheese and yogurt, which can help to meet your calcium needs. Keep in mind that calcium is needed to build strong bones. Skipping breakfast may make it harder to get the calcium you need during the rest of the day and put you are risk for osteoporosis.
4. Breakfast will keep you from getting ravenously hungry in the middle of the morning and stuffing yourself with high-calorie junk food.

Trim Your Waistline

You may be looking at your waistline as the target of your weight loss program because it is so prominent. It is what you notice the most as you watch your reflection in the glass windows as you walk through the mall. And it makes fastening your jeans a real challenge. But appearance isn’t everything. There are some real health dangers associated with having a large waistline.

Those dangers include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, sleep apnea, arthritis and back pain, to name a few. More than anything else, it is these dangers that should motivate you to trim your waistline.

You may be familiar with all kinds of online offers for losing belly fat. As with all the other quick weight loss schemes, be careful. If you want to lose the belly fat you have to lose the weight. That means committing to a program that requires improvements in the way you eat and making time for exercise.

How can you jumpstart the process?

First, make healthier food choices. Second, eliminate the sodas, chips, cookies, candy, cake and other sugary and high-fat foods. Third, skip the fast food and nightly pizza. And finally, get moving.
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Consult a Registered Dietitian. If you need help with creating a healthy weight loss program, talk to a registered dietitian. Registered dietitians are the healthcare professionals most trained and experienced in the art and science of nutrition for healthy weight loss. You can locate a registered dietitian by going to the American Dietetic Association website at www.eatright.org and searching to find a registered dietitian.

Preventing Osteoporosis

Overview 

Osteoporosis is a major problem for millions of women and men in the US. The basic cause is lack of adequate vitamin D and calcium. If you are at risk, there are some things that you can do to prevent or slow the development of osteoporosis.

What is Osteoporosis? 

Osteoporosis is a condition in which bones lose calcium and become thin and brittle.

Causes of Osteoporosis 

You can develop osteoporosis if you are not consuming enough calcium. Vitamin D is needed for calcium absorption, so if you do not have enough vitamin D in your body, you could also be at risk for osteoporosis.

Signs of Osteoporosis 

The first sign that someone has osteoporosis might be when they fall and break a bone. It is often said that you fall and break a bone, but as one of my professors used to say, it is more likely that the reverse happens – you break a bone and fall. Sometimes, pain in the hips could be a sign of osteoporosis.

Testing for Osteoporosis 

A bone density test is used to determine the density or thickness of your bones.

Preventing Osteoporosis 

Eating a diet that is rich in calcium is the first step in preventing osteoporosis. But vitamin D must be present in order for you to absorb the calcium and make it available to build strong bones. Taking a calcium supplement along with vitamin D might delay bone loss in some individuals. Regular exercise can also help to prevent or delay the development of osteoporosis.

Treating Osteoporosis 

Unfortunately, by the time osteoporosis is diagnosed, it may be too late to correct the problem with calcium and vitamin D supplements alone. At this stage, your doctor might prescribe a type of drug, called bisphosphonate, that literally harden the calcium in the bones. However, these drugs, which turn your bones into cement-like structures, can have serious side effects.

Food Sources of Calcium 

The most common food sources of calcium are milk and other dairy products. You can also get calcium from other foods that have been fortified with calcium, including orange juice and some breakfast cereals.

Food Sources of Vitamin D 

Natural sources of vitamin D include fish, fish oil, fish liver oil and mushrooms that have been irradiated. Orange juice and some breakfast cereals that have been fortified with vitamin D are also good sources. However, most of the vitamin D that you get comes from the sun. You can get about 400 IUs of vitamin D from food. In comparison, your body can make 10,000 IUs with just a brief exposure to the sun (10 to 20 minutes of sunlight).

Recommended Intake of Calcium 

The recommended intake for calcium is 800 milligram for adults. If you are at risk for osteoporosis, you might need as much as 1000 to 1200 milligrams of calcium plus vitamin D. To meet this goal, a dietary supplement is usually required.

Recommended Intake of Vitamin D 

The recommended intake for vitamin D is 400 IUs from food sources. This is the amount deemed necessary to prevent rickets or osteomalacia, which are signs of calcium deficiency in children and adults, respectively.

There has been a lot of discussion about the need for higher doses of vitamin D, with some studies suggesting that the recommended intake of 400 IUs is not enough and that people need a much higher dose of this vitamin.

Summary 

Osteoporosis is a condition that results from lack of adequate calcium and vitamin D in the body. You can prevent or delay the development of osteoporosis by eating foods rich in these two nutrients, and getting regular exposure to the sun. Exercise can also help to prevent osteoporosis.

Vitamin D Insufficiency Linked to Obesity

Overview
If your are obese, your doctor might want to run a test to determine your vitamin D status. Don't be too surprised if a blood test shows that the level of vitamin D circulating in your blood is below normal. This would be consistent with what others have found. Studies on American adults show that obese individuals are more likely to have insufficient vitamin D in their blood than individuals who are not obese.

Vitamin D is Trapped in the Fat Cells
Vitamin D insufficiency - low levels of vitamin D - is believed to be a major problem, affecting millions of Americans. All too often, the level of vitamin D circulating in the blood is found to be low in obese individuals, with a greater number of normal weight individuals having adequate levels.

You may be consuming what the recommended level of vitamin D, which should be adequate to meet your needs. You could be getting adequate exposure to the sun. You might even be taking a vitamin D supplement. But if you are obese, your lab work is likely to come back showing that your blood levels are low, maybe even deficient.

The low levels of vitamin D in the blood of people who are obese may be due to the way fat cells process the vitamin. It seems like the fat cells trap the vitamin, making it unavailable for all the vital functions that require vitamin D. The good news is, losing weight appears to resolve the problem for many people, according to a number of studies.

Insufficient levels of circulating vitamin D can also happen to obese people who undergo gastric bypass surgery. The problem with gastric bypass is that the surgery involves bypassing an area of the small intestine where vitamin D would normally be absorbed. Consequently, little or no vitamin D can be absorbed following the surgery. In this case, the doctor is likely to prescribe a vitamin D supplement.

If you suspect that you may be suffering from vitamin D insufficiency, talk to your doctor and a registered dietitian before making any drastic changes to your diet or taking large doses of any supplement.

Osteoporosis
Vitamin D helps to promote the absorption and transport of calcium from the gut to the various tissues and organs where it is needed. This includes carrying calcium to the bones where it is needed for ongoing remodeling of the bone. If vitamin D is locked in the fat cells and not available in the blood when needed, the remodeling of the bone will be impeded. As a result, the bones will become weak and thin. This condition, called osteoporosis, often leads to hip fractures and falls, particularly among the elderly.

Losing weight
Losing weight and consuming a diet that is rich in calcium and vitamin D, along with adequate exposure to the sun can help to prevent or slow bone loss associated with osteoporosis. But keep in mind that although calcium and vitamin D are key factors in promoting bone health, there are a number of other nutrients that are also involved.

Note: The information provided in this blog is for information and educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for personal medical guidance. Always consultant your personal doctor and registered dietitian before making any drastic changes that could affect your nutritional status and your health.