10 Worst Eating Habits

Have you ever wondered if there are any rules that apply almost every time when you are trying to lose weight, improve your health or have a healthier lifestyle in general!?! If so, the below information will be extremely useful for you as we managed to conclude which are the 10 worst eating habits.

1. Not Eating Nutritiously or Variously Enough

A well balanced diet, with meals and snacks rich in nutrients is essential for your health. Nowadays people seem to be too busy to take care of their own diet. This phenomenon has led to the increased demand for pre-prepared or semi-prepared food which is low in nutritious value, thus leading people to supplements. Prevention is always better than treatment, so instead of wasting your money on supplements, it would be better to just take your time and make yourself a well balanced and nutritious diet.

2. Skipping Breakfast

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Most people, however, don’t have time for it and just grab a sugary snack which calms their appetite. Sugar does make the hunger go away, but it only lasts for about one or two hours and it doesn’t help in terms of nutrition…not mentioning the weight gain. Make time to eat a consistent breakfast and you’ll start your days much better and you will improve your health.

3. Fast-food

Fast-food products have a high content of sodium and a lot of calories from saturated fats. Such products lack a lot of nutritious elements and, therefore, relaying too much on them might cause vitamins and minerals deficiency. Sure, fast-food is not poison and it’s not a crime to indulge yourself once in a while, but be careful not to make a habit out of it.

4. Eating Late in the Night

It’s not a good idea to dine right before going to bed. During sleep, the stomach reduces its activity, thus taking longer to digest food. Also, calories have a higher chance of turning into fat due to body’s inactivity. This is also why you should avoid snacks after dinner.

5. Lack of Exercises

Exercise is vital for a healthy body. It increases metabolism and burns the food we eat as energy. You don’t have to exercise just for the sake of it. If you enjoy activities like: running, soccer, basketball, dancing, tennis, bike riding, skating, or even taking a walk in the park, stick to them and your body will have a lot of benefits and you will fell much better.

6. Relaying on External Stimulants When Eating

Surveys have shown that US citizens stop eating when they have a clean plate, while some Europeans relay on their internal stimulants (like feeling full) to stop eating. Furthermore, the serving sizes differ greatly from country to country thus bringing a possible explanation as to why some nations are more exposed to obesity than others. It’s simple to solve this problem: just listen to your body and stop eating when you feel full, even if you’re at the restaurant or fast food, you don’t have to eat everything on your plate.

7. Using Food To Calm Down

Often, when we’re sad, impatient or bored, we relay on food to calm us down. But this never really help dealing with the cause of the emotional problems, so experts advise us to recognize when we’re really hungry or at least to pick up a healthy snack.

8. Excessive Snacking

Most people turn to snacks to get them through a stressful day at work. This doesn’t necessarily have to be unhealthy as long as you choose healthy snacks and you don’t exaggerate.

9. Eating in Front of the TV or Computer

Studies have shown that watching TV often distracts you from what you’re eating and you’re likely to consume with about half more than what you really need to. Sure, indulging yourself with some popcorn in the company of your friends at the cinema or some chips on your horror movies marathon night is fine once in a while, but taking your meals in front of the TV is just an exaggeration. The TV doesn’t belong in the kitchen so just relax and just try to enjoy your meal.

10. Not Drinking Enough Water

Some people fail to see the importance of water for our body. Water is important for the brain and all other organs. It also reduces hunger and helps detoxify the body. It is recommended to drink about 2 liters of water a day, plus the water from fruits, vegetables or other food products we eat. Some drinks, like soda and coffee, deplete our water reservoir so it’s best to avoid them when thirsty.

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10 Health Related Benefits of Water

The human body is made up of 60-65% water (lean people have more water in their bodies mainly due to the fact that muscles hold more water than fat).

More researchers recommend 8 glasses of water a day in order to maintain our health, but sometimes this quantity might vary depending on life-style, nutrition, environment temperature, humidity, etc. The human body needs so much water because almost every cell in our body need water to function properly.

Still, if you think that the human body accumulates daily 2 liters of water, think again! Our lungs expel daily about 3 cups of water through normal breathing, if we perspire we eliminate two cups of water a day (not including exercises), etc.

Some of us prefer soft drinks to water. In this case we should bear in mind that sugar slows down the absorption of fluids into the body. Additionally, such drinks contain calories that might sometimes make the difference between weight loss and weight gain.

Besides drinking water, another important method of increasing water intake in our bodies is eating food with a high content of water. Such sources of water are fruits and vegetables.

The top 5 fruits with one of the highest content of water are:

1. Watermelon (92% water)
2. Strawberries (92% water)
3. Grapefruits (91% water)
4. Cantaloupe (90% water)
5. Peaches (88% water)

Additionally, the top 5 vegetables with one of the highest content of water are:

1. Lettuce (96% water)
2. Cucumber (96% water)
3. Celery (95% water)
4. Radish (95% water)
5. Zucchini (95% water)

If drinking water is not that easy for you, here are some tips that will make it easier for you to drink water:

1. Drink less but more often (every two hours drink a cup of water, take water with you in the car, when you watch TV, etc.)
2. Include some natural flavors in your glasses of water
3. Use ice, lemons, straws, etc.
4. Use colorful containers
5. Drink cold water (it might taste better)
6. Replace soda with water at lunch
7. Drink a glass of water before you eat (recommended especially when you are trying to loss weight, as water decreases your appetite)

Additionally, for those who think that drinking less water means less kg on the scale, we should bear in mind that the more water we consume, the less we retain, because a clean inner body works more effectively.

Water consumption has a lot of health benefits. There is not a single diet in the world that restricts water consumption.

The most important 10 health related benefits of water consumption are:

1. External benefits: additional moisture for our skin, prevents the aging process, a more fit body, etc.

2. Headaches: 75% of our brain is made of water. So, when the body has a water deficit, the brain will be the one of the first who will signal the problem, causing headaches. When drinking alcohol, although some might not recommend, water might be the solution to get back in shape because it eliminates toxins and re-hydrates the brain.

3. Back pains: are often caused by fluid deficits in our bodies. The disks within our backs are filled with fluids, mainly water, and act like shock absorbers. Regular movement and a proper fluid level will keep these disks hydrated and will allow them to support the weight of the upper body.

Usually, the fluid inside the disks support 75% of the weight, while the shell supports 25% of it. When the fluid level drops, the shell is forced to support a higher weight level, causing pains and other problems.

4. Reduces infections: The lymphatic systems in our body is responsible for waste disposal. This system breaks down toxins before passing them into the blood stream.

A low intake of water will disturb the flow of lymph in our systems, making our bodies less resistant to dangerous infections.

5. Hypertension often occurs when the human body is trying to adjust to blood volume loss. Our blood is almost 85% water, so its volume depends a lot of the water intake.

When the body detects a drop in the blood volume, it closes less active capillary beds in order to maintain active areas proper fueled with blood. When vessels close, they cause an tension increase in the muscles. So, water helps by increasing the blood volume and thus, reducing tension.

6. Concentration: water is used to flush out toxins contained by certain food products (preservatives, additives, etc.). By drinking water, these toxins are flushed quickly from the liver, making you more active and increasing your concentration capacity.

7. Arthritis: water is used to lubricate joints between our bones. When water intake is low, the friction between cartilage surfaces increases, causing swellings, pains, etc.

8. Breath: bad breath is a clear sign that your body needs more water. Our saliva helps the cleaning process of our teeth of bacteria and keeps our tongue hydrated.

9. Cramps: oxygen is transported to our muscles by blood. If the blood is not properly oxygenated, muscles create lactic acid causing cramps. By drinking water we make sure that our blood is fueled with oxygen.

10. Other important benefits: asthma, digestion, fluid retention, morning sickness, etc.

There are many other benefits of drinking water. A proper hydrated body is a more healthy and resistant body!!!

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2 of the Most Important Elements in Fruits

1. Water in Fruits

Water plays an important part in our lives. 70% of our planet is covered with water, resembling with the human body that consist of 80% water. So, it seems that we should control our water intake in order to maintain the “volume” of water in our bodies.

Some might say that we could drink 2 bottles of water a day and have the intake covered. If you think that this is the proper solution, think again!

You don’t have to flood your body with water, you only have to consume food that is rich in water. So, the best sources of water for the human body are fruits and vegetables.

Fruits have the highest water content of any other food. Additionally, they contain all the vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, amino acids and fatty acids needed by the human body.

The results of a survey outlined that those who eat fruits at every meal tend to want to eat less food at the next meal, resulting in a very safe and healthy weight loss diet. The main factor influencing our appetite might be the sugar content (glucose) in fruits.

Some researchers also found that fruits contain a substance that can reduce the risks of heart attacks and heart diseases. The substances prevent the blood from becoming to thick and plugging up the arteries.

Water helps our bodies to integrate nutritious elements contained by food. A faster integration of nutritional elements means a faster digestion. By digesting food quicker our bodies can use their energy for other purposes that digestion (our bodies save energy).

For example, grilled meat is digested in approximately 8 hours, while a fruit salad digested in 30 minutes or less.

Additionally, fruits do not even digest in the stomach. Most of them (except dried fruits, dates and bananas) are pre-digested in 20-30 minutes. As they pass through the stomach, they break down and release their nutrients in the intestines.

2. Glucose

The extraction of energy from fruits is a relatively difficult process. Everything we eat or drink has to be digested in order to obtain energy for our bodies. There are 2 different ways of extracting energy from food:
- BURNING WITH OXYGEN, for sugar and fat (fruits, etc.)
- BURNING WITHOUT OXYGEN, for proteins (meat, dairy, etc.)

This process is one of the most effective ones for the human body. The energy of fruits is concentrated in the form of sugars (glucose). The human body uses oxygen in order to transform glucose into energy. After transforming glucose into energy, the waste products remaining after this reaction are water and carbon-dioxide. Water is used by the human body, while carbon-dioxide is eliminated through the lungs by breathing.

When referring to extracting energy, this process is 3 times more effective as compared to a combustion engine. By transforming glucose in energy, the body extracts about 50% of the contained energy, while a combustion engine uses only 10-20% of the energy (the rest is lost through heat).

As regards the other burning process, without oxygen, the energy is extracted from proteins. Products like meat, milk, dairy, etc. contain energy in the form of proteins and fat. The process of transforming proteins into energy is more difficult and time-consuming. Additionally, the body uses more energy to transform proteins as compared to glucose.

The waste products of this burning process is ammonia which is connected to carbon-dioxide and forms the less toxic ureum which is excreted by kidneys.

Our bodies always burn a mix of glucose and fat. The ratio of the fat and the glucose in the burning process depends of the intensity of the activity carried out by a person.

Low intensity activities tend to burn more fat than glucose, while high intensity or duration activities tend to burn more glucose.

Let’s take for example two of the most common exercises: walking and running.

Walking for 30 minutes will force your body to burn about 110 kcal of fat and about 60 kcal of glucose.
A major difference occurs if we change the intensity of the exercise. So, running for 30 minutes will force your body to consume about 120 kcal of fat (10 kcal more as compared to walking – not a major difference) and about 250 kcal of glucose (4 times more as compared to walking – a major difference).

Additionally, some believe that more muscles means less fat. With a higher muscle to fat ratio you must burn extra energy, some of it resulting from stored fat.

Here are some interesting examples that might help you when deciding on a fruit (in terms of provided energy):

1. Dates: 300 kcal and 20% water
2. Olives: 142 kcal and 75% water
3. Avocados: 126 kcal and 81%
4. Bananas: 88 kcal and 76%
5. Pomegranates: 81 kcal and 82% water
6. Figs: 80 kcal and 80% water
7. Persimmons: 76 kcal and 81% water
8. Lychees: 76 kcal and 82% water
9. Guavas: 72 kcal and 81% water
10. Kumquats: 68 kcal and 82% water

Here is a brief description of main 3 fruits in terms of provided energy:

1. Dates

The Date Palm is native to the desert oases of northern Africa. The Date Palm tree has a very old history, evidence of its cultivation suggesting it could be found in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and Arabia. Today, the palm is often cultivated for its fruit.

Dates are believed to have many traditional medicinal uses. They can be used as a detersive (due to its high content of tiannin) and as an astringent. Also, dates can help against sore throat, fever, colds and other problems. Also, some believe that dates can help against alcohol intoxication.

Dates can be eaten in four stages from unripe to sun-dried. It is very helpful to eat dates unripe because they provide a large amount of vitamin C. Dates contain a small quantity of water, so by drying them you won’t concentrate them very much, although the fruit will lose vitamin C.

Nevertheless, 100g of dried dates provides you with about 300 Kcal and almost none of them come from fat.

2. Olives

The olive fruit is very popular among countries near Mediterranean Sea. References of olive are made in old literature like Iliad and Odyssey, were olive oil is viewed as a luxury, accessible only to the wealthy. Today, olives still play an important part in the economy and culture of these countries.

Olives have many uses in cuisine: in cocktails (as an adjunct to martini), bread, sausages, etc. Olives are rich in vitamin E, minerals, monounsaturated fats, and anti-oxidants. 100 grams of canned olives contain about 142 kcal, approximately 100 of them coming from fat.

3. Avocados

The avocado tree originates from Mexico and Central America. The word “avocado” comes from the Spanish “aguacate”, which comes from the Aztec “ahuacatl”, meaning “testicle”. The fruit was named this way because of its shape.

The avocado leaves contain a toxic fatty acid derivate named persin. This causes some animals to be harmed or killed if they eat them. The fruit is also poisonous to birds; however, there are no negative effects on humans, besides those who are allergic to it.

Avocado provides nearly 20 vitamins including vitamin E, vitamin C, folate, fiber, iron, potassium, lutein and beta-carotene. 100 grams of avocado can provide about 126 calories, of which 110 kcal are from fat.

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