Wellness tip of the day The foods to eat for a healthy gut for women- Part 2/2 4 foods to look for to keep your stomach lean, soothed, and even cancer-free- Our digestive systems continuously extract water and nutrients from an astonishing amount of solid foods and liquids over our lifetimes, all the while fending off nasty microbes and processing waste. What we put into our stomachs is so important that it affects whether we feel well, how flat our bellies are and even our chances of avoiding certain cancers. 3. Choose foods that soothe: caraway, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, fennel, ginger, mint, nutmeg, oatmeal - Try foods called ‘carminatives’ that prevent or relieve gas, and are used to help the digestive process,” says Jennifer Salib Huber, a registered dietitian and naturopathic doctor in Dartmouth, N.S. “Cumin, for example, helps with the digestion of black beans, which is why they’re often found in recipes together. Other carminatives include caraway, nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom.” - Ginger is a traditional nausea remedy, and new studies are backing up the claims. Research shows that it can help quell nausea due to pregnancy, chemotherapy and operations. A 2008 study published in the European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology found that when healthy volunteers took ginger capsules along with a bowl of soup, their stomachs emptied more quickly. This may be useful for treating gastro-paresis, or delayed stomach emptying, a side effect of diabetes. - “Oatmeal is a ‘demulcent,’ which means it gets slippery in water, helping to coat and soothe the stomach,” says Salib Huber. Cooked oatmeal is your best bet, rather than cookies or granola bars where the oatmeal is dry. - Peppermint leaf and oil have long been used to help relieve digestive disorders by relaxing stomach muscles. However, avoid peppermint if you’re prone to heartburn—those same relaxed muscles can allow more stomach acid to move up through the esophagus. Try this: Ginger To soothe motion sickness, chew a one-inch (2.5 cm) piece of peeled raw ginger, or candied ginger, several hours before—and every four hours during—travel. 4. Eat foods to flatten your tummy: avocado, brown rice, dark chocolate, nuts, oatmeal, olive oil, seeds - Choose foods from the Mediterranean diet—lots of fruit, whole grains, vegetables, legumes, olive oil and low-fat cheese and yogurt; plus a moderate amount of fish, eggs, poultry, sweets and wine; and small amounts of meat. That, along with a daily exercise routine, will help you maintain a healthy body weight. - If you lose weight, your GI tract will feel better. Carrying less weight helps prevent abdominal discomfort—that full, bloaty feeling—and acid reflux. Extra abdominal pounds increase pressure on the lower esophageal sphincter, which separates the stomach from the esophagus. That pressure makes the valve open more often, allowing food and acid from the stomach to backwash into the esophagus, causing heartburn. - Carrying excess fat in your midsection—even if your weight is within a normal range—puts you at risk for premature death, according to an American study of 44,636 women published in 2008. It concluded that women with a waist size of 35 inches (89 centimetres) or greater were twice as likely to die from heart disease and cancer, when compared to women with a waist size of less than 28 inches (71 centimetres). Belly fat can also boost your chances of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. - Some foods may actually help target your tummy fat. A 2007 study published in Diabetes Care revealed that a diet rich in monounsaturated fats (MUFA), particularly olive oil, prevented fat from accumulating around the abdomen. Other sources of MUFA include avocados, olives, dark chocolate, sunflower oil, and nuts and seeds such as walnuts, flaxseeds and sunflower seeds. In a 12-week diet study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2008, half of the obese participants ate whole-grain foods such as brown rice and oatmeal, and half ate refined grains such as white rice and bread. Both groups lost weight, but the whole-grain group lost significantly more abdominal fat. Try this: Olive oil Brush bread with olive oil instead of spreading with butter. You’ll consume about 50 fewer calories—and more healthy MUFA. #Indore #Choithram #Wellness
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 05:30:00 +0000
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