Spanish diet - is it healthy?

Recommended wholegrain breads, pasta and rice, are not very popular in Spain. Spain's culinary traditions rely on an abundance of locally grown vegetables and fruits as well as meats and poultry. Jamón serrano (a cured ham), and chorizo (a seasoned sausage) are popular. Seafood and fish are popular in coastal areas. Olive oil and garlic are common ingredients. The tradition of tapas, now enjoyed in many U.S. restaurants, originated with the practice of bartenders covering a glass of wine or beer with a small plate of free appetizers. The great variety of tapas enjoyed today are testimony to their popularity.The Spanish tradition of eating tapas is a dream health recipe.

Pumpkin - not just a Halloween decoration

If your goal is a healthy, nutritious diet, add pumpkin to meals regularly.

Meals for weight gain

For gaining weight an allowance of 500 to 1000 extra calories per day you should get. Daily energy requirements can be calculated on the basis of the individual’s present weight. If 2000 calories is normally needed to maintain present weight, 2500 to 3000 calories would be required to achieve weight gain. The intake should be increased gradually to these levels to avoid gastric discomfort and periods of discouragement or electrolyte imbalance and heart dysfunction. 

Children's weight management

About 17% of children and adolescents 2 to 17 years of age are overweight or obese. Childhood obesity increases the risk of obesity in adulthood. For the child who is obese after 6 years of age, the probability of obesity in adulthood is significantly greater if either the mother or the father is obese. Obesity that began in childhood tends to lead to hypertension, elevated LDL cholesterol, diabetes, and triglycerides in adulthood. 

Surgical procedures for weight loss

Before any extremely obese person is considered for surgery, failure of a comprehensive program that includes calorie restriction, exercise, lifestyle modification, psychological counseling, and family involvement should be demonstrated. Failure is defined as an inability of the patient to reduce body weight by one third and body fat by one half and an inability to maintain any weight loss achieved. Such patients have intractable morbid obesity and should be considered for surgery. Before surgery the patient should be evaluated extensively with respect to physiologic and medical complications, psychological problems such as depression and poor self-esteem, and the extent of motivation.

Weight loss medication

Appropriate pharmacotherapy can augment diet, physical activity, and behavior therapy as treatment for patients with a BMI of 30 or higher, or patients with BMI of 27 or higher who also have significant risk factors or disease. These agents can decrease appetite, reduce absorption of fat, or increase energy expenditure. 

Maintenance of reduced body weight

There is a general perception that almost no one succeeds in long term maintenance of weight loss. Weight loss maintenance may get easier over time, after individuals have successfully maintained their weight loss for 2–5 years, the chance of longer-term success greatly increases. Continued adherence to diet and exercise strategies, low levels of depression and disinhibition, and medical triggers for weight loss are also associated with long-term success. 

Popular diets: pros and cons

For many of us, the key to making our diet plan a success is to find out a way to incorporate it into our busy lifestyle. We have to learn how to make diet plans work for us instead of against us. Healthy eating is not about strict nutrition philosophies, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it's about feeling great, having more energy, and keeping yourself healthy as possible. There is no doubt that healthy eating is an important part of your weight loss plan. Healthy eating begins with learning how to eat smart. It's not just what you eat, but how you eat. 

Very low calorie diet (VLCD)

Extreme energy-restricted diets provide fewer than 800 calories per day, and starvation or fasting diets provide fewer than 200 calories per day. These diets are frequently involved as a part of religious or protest regimen or in a personal effort to lose weight. Under these circumstances it is seldom continued long enough to produce the serious neurologic, hormonal, and other side effects that accompany prolonged starvation. 

Obesity and overweight

Obesity and overweight are a result of an imbalance between food consumed and physical activity. Nowadays calories consumption of adults has increased, but there are no changes in physical activity. Obesity is a complex issue related to lifestyle, environment, and genes. Overweight adolescents often become obese adults. Obese adults are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, certain cancers, infertility. 

Body weight regulation

Total calories are more important than any single macronutrient. 

Body weight components

Body weight is the sum of bone, muscle, organs, body fluids, and adipose tissue. All of these components are subject to normal change as a reflection of growth, reproductive status, variation in exercise levels, and effects of aging. Maintaining a constant body weight is a complex system of neural, hormonal and chemical mechanisms that keeps the balance between energy intake and energy expenditure within fairly precise limits. Abnormalities of these mechanisms result is weight fluctuations and the most common are overweight and obesity. The inability to gain weight can also be a problem. In the elderly or in children unintentional weight loss can be especially detrimental and should be assessed and treated early to prevent malnutrition.