Introduction
Dieting to lose weight or eating healthy but restricted calorie diets can be counter productive. You have certain calories and nutritional requirements that must be fulfilled if your body is to operate efficiently and to remain healthy and vital into old age. On one hand, if you eat food that is very healthy but contains more calories than your individual body requires on a daily basis then you will put weight on. This is where the Superfoods come in. The secret to being healthy and at an optimum weight is consuming foods that are so nutritionally packed that you do not have to eat vast amounts of them to obtain the benefit.
In the animal kingdom because of environmental factors that determine the foods that are available, an animal may have to consume several times its own body-weight in a day to obtain the nutrients that it requires. An animal such as the elephant has to eat at least 5% of its body-weight in a 24-hour period and this averages out at 150-kg or 330 lbs of food, although in some cases this can rise to 300 kg or 66 lbs. The problem being that most of the food sources available are of poor quality. This would mean that a man weighing 180 lbs would need to eat between 9 lbs and 18 lbs of food per day. Some of tried this and usually ended up like I did at 330 lbs, coincidentally about what an elephant eats per day!
If you make the right choices about the foods that you include in your diet you can consume fewer calories but increase your level of essential nutrients, providing your body with everything that it needs.
Having said that, you still have a basic requirement for calories each day and it is my recommendation that you should not go below 10 calories per pound of body-weight at any time. This means that a woman weighing 140 lbs should not take in less than 1400 calories per day and a man weighing 180 lbs should not take in less than 1800 calories.
This leaves you with your food choices. To start the process I am introducing you to my top 12 superfoods and in the e-Magazine each month you will find each one given in more detail. I include at least 6 of these foods everyday in my diet and that way I know that I am getting a terrific nutritional punch even if I am on a diet to lose weight.
All fresh fruit, vegetables, lean protein are packed with wonderful nutrients and I really encourage everyone to eat a diet that is very low on processed foods and very high on fresh, raw and if possible organic natural ingredients. The Superfoods on this site are my personal preference, you can use these in conjunction with your own healthy choices.
We cannot say with certainty that eating any food will either protect you from disease or cure you of it. But with a healthy body your own natural defences are stronger and more able to protect you and it makes sense to give your body what it needs to do its job efficiently. There is a great deal of medical research which supports the role of natural nutrients for our health but you must make sure that you consult your doctor should you be concerned about any symptoms that you may have.
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