Men's Health - Fat in Your Diet, Good, Bad Or Indifferent?

Jack Sprat could eat no fat ... I heard that nursery rhyme as a child. I did not understand it then, and still don't now. Maybe, waste not, want not. But one thing is for certain Jack would fit right into today's society of thin.

Unfortunately, zero fat is not a healthy diet. That's correct, not a healthy diet. In fact, some fats are a necessary part of the human diet and certain fatty acids are not or cannot be easily synthesized by our bodies.

There must be a billion pages written on fat types and diet considerations. Let me simplify it a little from the viewpoint of a male and an engineer.

Basic Assumption:

Any diet should not contain more than 30% fat of any type.

If you are serious about losing weight, then you should aim for 25% or lower.

Fat facts:

• the total number of fat cells in your body does not increase after puberty, they just get larger.
• one gram of fat contains about 9 calories, carbohydrates and proteins about 4 calories per gram.
• most dieters are aiming at around 1800 calories. There many calorie calculators on the web, I favor the one at the mayo clinic site - see the resource box. Using this calculator you input your age, height weight and sex; the next screen asks you to select an activity level, then you are given your estimated daily calorie needs per day, usually in the range of 1500 to 2700.
• only 3% of the calories in fat are expended to convert fat into energy or storage.
• 25% of the calories in carbohydrates and protein are expended to convert them into energy or storage.
• not all carbohydrates are created equal. There are the "calories dense" type. The body cannot process all of the calories in the "average serving" of these carbohydrates so it processes what it can for "ready energy" and directs the remaining calories to storage, for storage read body fat.
• and lastly, muscle weighs about 23% more than fat.

Tangent:

In a valiant attempt to complicate the issue, our food industry introduced hydrogenated fats years ago, which are simply unsaturated fats with extra hydrogen atoms added which in effect makes them saturated fats. Because these fats have been chemically altered they tend to be difficult for our body to process. They are not useful from a nutrition point of view. Best totally avoided. Example - margarine.

OK, let's discuss the two types of fat:

1. saturated fatty acids SFA
2. unsaturated fatty acids.

Saturated Fatty Acids:

Recommendation - minimize the amount of saturated fat in your diet.

How to recognize - saturated fats are usually solid or semi-solid at room temperature.

Examples of saturated fat - all animal fats (beef, veal, lamb, pork, poultry), dairy products (butter, milk, cream, cheese etc.), margarine, bakery products, coconut oil and junk food like potato chips.

Pros - calorie source

Cons - unhealthy calories, in excess it raises LDL cholesterol levels (the bad cholesterol) - leads to heart disease.

Unsaturated Fatty Acids:

There are two types - monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.

Monounsaturated Fatty Acids MSFA

Recommendation - Overall fat content should be limited to 25 - 30%. MFA are necessary but not in excess.

How to recognize - monounsaturated fats are usually liquid at room temperature.

Examples of monounsaturated fatty acids - avacados, vegetables, olive oil, kanola oil, nuts (peanuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts) , fish (salmon, tuna, trout)

Pros - AHA - lowers the risks of heart disease

Cons - excess will result in weight gain

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids:

Recommendation - Overall fat content should be limited to 25 - 30%. PFA are necessary but not in excess.

There are two types - Omega-3 and Omega-6

Pros - source of linoleic acid - linoleic acid deficiency leads to weakness, blurred vision and bad skin.

Cons - can spoil or go bad at room temperature, too much will result in weight gain, too much may cause cancer and lower the HDL level (the good cholesterol - lowering this is bad)

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

How to recognize - liquid at room temperature, unstable and can go bad.

Examples of omega-3 fatty acids - oily fish, salmon, tuna, trout

Omega-6 Fatty Acids

How to recognize - liquid at room temperature, unstable and can go bad.

Examples of omega-6 fatty acids - palm, soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower oil, poultry, eggs, whole grain bread, baked goods and nuts.

Armed with this information about fats, it is time to find out more about our bodies and how the calories in our food are utilized. Better yet, it is time to find out how we can motivate our bodies to lose body fat without starving ourselves.

Here is the link to the mayo clinic calculator.
To understand better how to achieve a healthy balanced diet
which will help you enjoy a better quality of life,
please visit The Health Jerk Blog.

Skin Care - Using Beauty Care Products

Some people are more fortunate than others when it comes to how good their skin looks but how they achieve this is not a secret; by performing some simple skin care techniques every day, results should be seen quite quickly. Whilst plastic surgery, liposuction and other invasive techniques have been incredibly popular in the past, mainly because they provide near instant results, that is no longer the case with modern beauty care. The financial benefit of beauty care products over conventional cosmetic surgery is huge but there are also health benefits which any other type of cosmetic enhancement procedure cannot match.

The problem has always been our image of beauty care products like cold cream and the anti-aging formulations. Today's products are able to do much more after the research that has been carried out and are an important addition to your personal care regime. We often forget that our skin is an organ that needs looking after as it has a difficult job to and needs regular help.

The first step in skin care is making sure your skin is clean as pollution like dust, bacteria and make-up all take their toll, so the skin must be clean. Gently massage your cleanser into your skin in circular motions using your fingertips and then rinse off with warm water but only pat your skin with a soft towel to dry it.

Each person's skin has its own pH balance and if you use a toner once you have cleansed your skin, it will re-establish your natural PH balance. To reduce the number of wrinkles and help make your skin soft and supple, use moisturizing creams or lotions once you have finished with the skin toner. Moisturizing also has the added bonus of locking in the moisture that can be lost without its use, so do not skimp on this beauty care product.

Once or twice weekly you should treat your skin with an exfoliant or natural peel to remove dead skin cells and to deep cleanse your skin as part of you skin care routine. This step means that you will need to cleanse and then use a toner on the skin otherwise the exfoliant may not be completely removed.

Skin around the eye is very delicate and needs to be looked after so special beauty care product creams help alleviate the dark rings and puffiness that some people suffer ensuring the sin is much more supple and youthful looking. Along with these simple steps above ensure you drink plenty of water, exercise regularly and eat a nutrient rich diet, all of which will help keep your skin looking youthful, radiant and beautiful. The health of your skin should not be underestimated, not just for vanity reasons but for our overall health as it is a barrier against the elements, pollution and disease.

Learn how to use beauty care products properly by visiting http://beauty-topics.info a popular website that provides tips, advice and resources on beauty and beauty products

Advantages and Disadvantages of Plastic Surgery

When it comes to the advantages and disadvantages of plastic surgery, you really have to look in more depth on the specific procedure you plan on having done. Although each possible procedure has its own list of pros and cons associated with it, they can all be generalized for simplicity. The biggest disadvantages associated with plastic surgery are the risks as well as the price tag, however when compared to the benefits, these will usually outweigh the disadvantages of plastic surgery. For starters, whether you are having a reconstructive procedure or a cosmetic procedure, the goal is to make yourself look better.

While some people who decide to undergo the knife may already look great, there are many others who have been teased and taunted their entire life about their features. Not only do years of teasing and taunting take their toll on a person's emotional well being, but a person who does not like something about themselves will also cause an emotional scar. Since who we are has a lot to do with our emotions, then it is safe to say that even the smallest procedure that effects our self esteem in a positive manor can outwardly make you seen as a whole new person. Isn't it what it is all about, changing ourselves so not only we look better, but feel better as well?

The obvious risks associated with plastic surgery are the possibilities of not only having a complication, but also receiving bad work. No wants to pay a substantial amount of money to end up looking worse than before they went in for the procedure. On top of this, there is also no one who wants to pay to have a procedure dine just so they can have nerves damaged.

In order to better understand the advantages and disadvantages of plastic surgery, you really have to talk with the surgeon who will be in charge of your procedure so that he or she can better explain the risks. It is also important that you are as well informed as you can be in case you have to make a decision as it is better to make an informed decision rather than a guess.

Dr. Jim Greene would like to provide you more in depth information that will help you make a sound decision regarding:

Plastic surgery

Reconstructive surgery

Surgery