What is Cystine?

Cystine - sulfur-containing amino acid that functions as an antioxidant and is a powerful aid to the body in protecting against radiation and pollution.

Who wants to eat a beauty?

Have you ever eaten flowers from your garden? Fruits, herbs and vegetables aren‘t the only things you can eat from your garden. From the earliest times, the blossoms of plants were used for sustenance, at first by trial and error and by watching what birds and animals ate. As time went on, traditions were established: it became known which flowers were edible and this information was passed on within families. A new research states that common edible flowers are rich in phenolic and have excellent antioxidant capacity. They can be added to your food to prevent chronic disease. 

Pumpkin - not just a Halloween decoration

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

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. 

Chromium

Chromium potentiates insulin action and as such influences carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism. Chromium regulates blood sugar, and helps insulin transport glucose into cells, where it can be used for energy.With a deficiency of chromium, the chances of getting diabetes increase. Chromium can also help raise HDL cholesterol levels, and may play a role in preventing heart disease.

Selenium

Regions of North America identified as low in selenium content are the Northeast, Pacific, Southwest, and coastal plain of the southeastern region of the United States, as well as north central and eastern Canada. The lowest selenium content of soil exists in a few regions of China, especially in Keshan, where severe selenium deficiency was first reported in a human population in 1979. Other areas with low selenium content include parts of Finland and New Zealand. 

Iodine

Iodine deficiency is the most common preventable cause of mental retardation in the world. Use of iodized salt or the oral administration of a single dose of iodized oil, and weekly iodine supplements are effective. Use of iodized salt should be encouraged during pregnancy, especially through the end of the second trimester. 

Copper

Copper, a normal constituent of blood, is another established essential micronutrient. Recent interest in copper has increased because of the potential risk of deficiency. Concentrations of copper are is highest in the liver, muscle, brain, heart, and kidney. Muscle contains almost 40% of all the copper in the body. Deficiency develops slowly as copper stores becomes depleted. Deficiencies have not been reported in otherwise healthy humans consuming a varied diet. Bone changes, including osteoporosis, metaphyseal spur information, and soft tissue calcification in infants receiving prolong TPN may resolve with copper supplementation. 

Zinc

The most readily available form of zinc occurs in animal flesh, particularly red meats and poultry. Meat intake is frequently low among preschoolers, occasionally because of personal preferences or socioeconomic reasons, but usually because meats are displaced by cereal foods, milk and milk products that children tend to prefer. Observation led to the fortification of infant and children’s foods, especially cereals, with zinc. Milk is a good source of zinc, but high intakes of calcium from milk may interfere with the absorption of iron and zinc. The phytates from a whole grains in unleavened breads may limit zinc absorption in some populations. 

Fluoride

Fluoride is a natural element found in nearly all drinking water and soil, although the fluoride content varies greatly throughout the world. Some well water has much more fluoride than other water, so families who use well water need to monitor fluoride levels periodically to make sure that levels are not in the toxic range. Although fluoride is not considered an essential element, this anion is known to be important for the health of bones and teeth. 

Iron

Iron deficiency, the precursor of iron deficiency anemia, is the most common of all nutritional deficiency diseases. In the United States and worldwide, iron deficiency anemia is prevalent among children and woman of childbearing age. The groups considered to be at greatest risk for iron deficiency anemia are infants younger than 2 years of age, adolescent girls, pregnant woman, and older adults. Pregnant teenagers are frequently at high risk because of poor eating habits and continuing growth. Women in their childbearing years who are iron deficient benefit from either a diet rich in iron-containing foods or supplements. 

Magnesium

The adult human body contains approximately 20 to 28 g of magnesium, of which 60% is found in bones, 26% in muscles, and the remainder in soft tissues and body fluids. Gender differences in the body content of magnesium begin before puberty. 

Can‘t lose weight? You need a motivation

People are motivated to change through their ability to manage their own behaviors.

Different strategies are needed to offer individualized guidance. We have to raise awareness, give information, provide dietary guidelines, correct misinformation, encourage clients to visualize themselves in a healthier lifestyle, substitue positive behavior for unhealthy ones, identify barriers to success, support a strong sense of self-efficacy. 

Eating guide during pregnancy

A healthy pregnancy diet will promote your baby's growth and development. What pregnant women eat has an affect on the pregnancy, on the fetal development, and on the health of the mother and child.

Vegetarianism

Vegetarians diets are increased in popularity. Those who choose them may be motivated by philosophic, religious, or ecological concerns or a desire to have a healthier lifestyle. Considerable evidence attests to the health benefits of a vegetarian diet. Studies of Seventh-Day Adventists indicate, that the diet results in lower rates of type 2 diabetes, breast and colon cancer, cardiovascular and gallbladder disease. 

Daily menu with all required vitamins

Start your day with a rich breakfast.
Just one cup of cereals (54 g), one glass of milk, low fat, (250 ml) and you'll be satiated and full of energy until lunch.

Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)

Maintains intracellular cement substance with preservation of capillary integrity. Cosubstrate in hydroxylations requiring molecular oxygen. Important in immune responses, wound healing, allergic reactions. Increases absorption of nonheme iron. 

You need vitamin C for the growth and repair of tissues in all parts of your body. It helps the body make collagen, an important protein used to make skin, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels. Vitamin C is needed for repairing and maintaining bones and teeth.

Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)

Vitamin B12 is a nutrient that helps keep the body's nerve and blood cells healthy and helps make DNA, the genetic material in all cells. Vitamin B12 helps prevent anemia that makes people tired and weak. Involved in the metabolism of single-carbon fragments. Essential for biosynthesis of nucleic acids and nucleoproteins. Role in metabolism of nervous tissue. Involved with folate metabolism. Related to growth.

Vitamin B12 is synthesized by bacteria, but the vitamin produced from the microflora in the colon is not absorbed. Food of plant origin contain the vitamin only through contamination or bacterial synthesis. 

Folic Acid (Folate)

Essential for biosynthesis of nucleic acids, especially important in early fetal development. Essential for normal maturation of red blood cells. Functions as a coenzyme – tetrahydrofolic acid. Folate-dependent reaction is the conversion of homocysteine to methionine in the synthesis of S-adenosyl-methionine, an important methyl donor. Also folate-dependent reaction, the methylation of deoxyuridylate to thymidylate in the formation of DNA, is required for proper cell division. An impairment of this reaction initiates a process that can lead to megaloblastic anemia.