Chinese food is delicious. Very few will disagree on that. Mixed seafood noodles, beef in black bean sauce, sweet & sour pork.., mouth watering indeed. I personally love em.. But when it comes to calories, Chinese food may not be the best option if you are trying to lose weight.
Calories In Chinese Food
Calories In Coca-Cola
Also known as ‘Coke‘, this world famous carbonated soft drink is sold in over 200 countries and consumed by over a billion people everyday. It is almost impossible to find a hotel or restaurant not selling Coca-Cola anywhere in the world.
Main ingredients used in the production of Coca-Cola are carbonated water, caffeine, sugar, caramel and other natural flavorings. Like any other carbonated drink, excessive consumption of coke can be harmful, specially for the children.
According to the Coca-Cola UK company website, a 250 ml serving of coke contains 105 calories, 26.5 g of sugar and zero fat. A 330 ml Can of Coke contains 142 calories.
Calories In Chocolate
We all love chocolates. Regardless of your age, unless you are suffering with conditions like diabetes, you will most definitely enjoy having anything with the chocolate flavor, any time of the day.
There are various types of chocolates in the market. Sweet chocolate, Milk chocolate, Dark Chocolate and White chocolate are some of the popular varieties among these.
What about calories and other nutrients in chocolates?
Lets take a look at nutrition values of 1 bar of Milk Chocolate with almonds.
Fast Food Calories
What can be considered as ‘fast food‘?
A short answer would be,
“A food with a fast preparing time that can be served quickly..”
While any meal you prepare at home very quickly can also be considered as ‘fast food’, we use this term typically to describe the food items sold in restaurants/stores which has fast preparation time and served to us in a package form if we want it for take-away.
Good examples for such restaurants/stores would be Burger King, KFC, McDonald’s, Subway, Taco Bell and Wendy’s.
How Many Calories In Pita Bread?
Question : How Many Calories In Pita Bread?
Answer
There are about 80 calories in a small pita bread.
The large (6-1/2″ dia), contains about 200 calories.
Nutritional Values Of Sugar
Produced from Sugar Cane or Sugar Beet, Sugar is a white crystalline carbohydrate most of us use everyday as a sweetener and a preservative.
When adding sugar to water, the crystals dissolve up to a point where it gets saturated, after which no more sugar can be dissolved into that solution. The amount of sugar you need to saturate will vary according to the temperature. At very high temperatures, sugar remains in the solution while water evaporates and and sugar molecules will begin to crystallize as soon as the temperature drops back into a solid state. This is very important in making candy.
About Nutrient Density
Question: What is Nutrient Density?
Answer: “Nutrient density” has several meanings and are explained below.
Nutrient Density explained as a simple formula :
ND = Nutrient Content / Total Energy Content
Nutrient density is the ratio of grams value of the nutrient content(vitamins and minerals etc.) to the kilo calorie value of its total energy content. In other words “a measure of the nutrients obtained per calorie..”
Lets take an example..
1. A fresh apple containing 60 calories, few grams of fiber and various vitamins and minerals.
2. A small glass of apple juice with the same amount of calories (60) but no fiber and less vitamins and minerals.
What Are Empty Calories?
Empty calories are calories with almost no nutritional value. In other words, calories present in foods high in energy but has poor nutritional values. The perfect example can be alcohol, rich in energy, loading you with unwanted calories, and lacking in vitamins, minerals or any other vital nutrients.
As empty calories will always cause you to gain weight, it is essential to cut down foods with empty calories if you are trying to lose weight. You can achieve your wight loss goals by having a balanced diet with adequate amount of vitamins and minerals. In order to do so, replace the empty-calorie foods with fruits and vegetables which are nutrient-dense foods. Every Dietitian we know recommend this.
Nutritional And Medicinal Properties of Durian
The Durian is a fruit widely found in southeast Asia known as the “king of fruits”. The edible yellow color flesh emits a distinctive strong odor, even with the husk intact. While some consider this smell as fragrant; most people find it overpowering and offensive.
Nutritional and medicinal properties
The following few paragraphs are taken from the page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian
Durian fruit contains a high amount of sugar, vitamin C, potassium, and the serotonergic amino acid tryptophan, and is a good source of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. It is recommended as a good source of raw fats by several raw food advocates, while others classify it as a high-glycemic or high-fat food, recommending to minimise its consumption.
Health Benefits Of Beetroot
What we know as the vegetable beetroot is a beet (Binomial name : Beta vulgaris) variety with a edible red color tuber. Betalain pigments present in the cell vacuoles of beetroot are responsible for this distinctive red color.
Beetroots are said to be rich in betaine, a nutriant good for cardiovascular health. Betaine help reduce the homocysteine concentration which is harmful to blood vessels which can cause heart strokes and diseases.
Beetroots are also rich in ‘boron’, an element helping in the production process of certain human sex hormones.
Nutritional Properties Of Grapefruit
Nutritional Properties Of Grapefruit
Grapefruit is an excellent source of many nutrients and phytochemicals that contribute to a healthy diet. Grapefruit is a good source of vitamin C, pectin fiber, and the pink and red hues contain the beneficial antioxidant lycopene. Studies have shown grapefruit helps lower cholesterol and there is evidence that the seeds have high levels of antioxidant properties. Grapefruit forms a core part of the “grapefruit diet”, the theory being that the fruit’s low glycemic index is able to help the body’s metabolism burn fat.
Low Fat Black Bean and Cabbage Stew Recipe
Low Fat Black Bean and Cabbage Stew Recipe
(makes 6 servings)
Ingredients:
*2 tablespoons olive oil
*1 large onion, chopped
*1 leek, chopped
*3 garlic cloves, minced
*1 tablespoon paprika
*2 tablespoons chopped fresh marjoram or thyme
*1 1/4 lbs. potatoes, coarsely chopped
*14 oz. can black beans
*3 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
*6 oz. cabbage or scallions, shredded
How to make :
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and leek and sauté for 3 minutes. Add garlic and paprika and continue to sauté for 2 minutes.
Low Fat, Low Calorie Asparagus and Leek Soup Recipe
Asparagus and Leek Soup
Ingredients:
*1 1/2 lbs chopped fresh asparagus, washed and tough ends removed
*Nonfat cooking spray
*1/2 cup onion, chopped
*1 cup leeks (white part only), washed and chopped
*1/2 cup celery, chopped
*1 small potato, peeled and cubed
*3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
*1/2 cup nonfat sour cream
*Salt and pepper to taste (Nutrition facts calculated without added salt)
Directions:
1. Spray a skillet with nonfat cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add asparagus, onions, leeks, celery and potato, then cover and cook for 20 minutes or until vegetables are softened, stirring occasionally.
Basic Nutrition Course Part V: Vitamins And Minerals
Will a supplement give you more energy?
Vitamins and minerals are essential compounds needed in small amounts by the body. Contrary to popular belief, taking vitamin/mineral supplements will NOT give you energy. Only calories (from carbohydrate, protein, and fat) give you energy. Vitamins and minerals have no calories, so they can’t give you energy. Vitamins and minerals do, however, play vital roles in the metabolic processes that convert carbohydrate, protein, and fat to energy. So, if you have a deficiency of a certain vitamin or mineral, taking a supplement may help make you feel better.
Vitamins
Basic Nutrition Course Part IV : Protein
Do you need extra protein to build muscle?
Protein in food is broken down to amino acids in our bodies. Amino acids provide the building blocks for growth and repair of ALL the body’s cells, including skin cells, liver cells, immune cells, as wellas muscle cells.
The key to building muscle is resistance training (not consuming protein or amino acids) and consuming adequate calories and carbohydrate to fuel this type of training. In theory, it costs an extra 350-500calories every day to build a pound of muscle in a week. It only costs an extra 10-14 grams of protein every day to build a pound of muscle in aweek. (NOTE: 14 grams of protein is the amount in 2 oz. of chicken–a mere biteful!) In most cases, the only reason high protein, weight gainer drinks and sports bars help is because they provide these extra calories.
Basic Nutrition Course Part III : Fat
Will eating fat make you fat?
No! Many students confuse dietary fat (the fat that we eat) with adipose tissue (the fat on our bodies). Dietary fat does not automatically stick to your waist, legs, butt, and thighs. Only excess calories from dietary fat makes you gain body fat. Excess calories from any source makes you gain body fat.
If you include fat in a meal plan that contains an appropriate number of calories, the fat in your food will be burned as energy. If you eat too many calories (regardless of the source-carbohydrates, protein, fat, or alcohol), the excess calories will be converted to and will be stored as body fat.
Basic Nutrition Course Part II : Carbohydrates
Do Carbohydrates make you fat?
Despite what a lot of the latest diet books claim, carbohydrates (like pasta, bread, potatoes, and fruit) are not fattening in and of themselves. Excess calories (whether from carbohydrate, protein, fat, or alcohol) are converted to and stored as body fat in your body. The only way that carbohydrates can become fattening is if you eat too many of them (too many calories from ANY source can be fattening) or if you smoother them with tons of high fat/high calorie sauces and spreads.
Why Carbohydrates make some people fat
There are two main reasons why carbohydrates can lead to weight gain in some people:
Basic Nutrition Course Part I : Calories
What’s the magical formula to achieve your weight goals?
In order for your weight to stay the same, the energy (or calories) you consume must equal the energy (or calories) you expend. In most cases, it’s really a simple matter of energy balance: “Calories In” must equal “Calories Out.” “Calories In” includes what you eat and drink. “Calories Out” includes your resting metabolic rate, thermic effect of food, and physical activity. Your personal calorie requirement depends on these three factors.
1. Resting Metabolic Rate
Basic Nutrition Course : Introduction
One of the biggest issues when it comes to achieving a healthy lifestyle for many is the lack of knowledge on the very basics of nutrition. Nutrition in itself forms the very basis of what we should be eating and drinking and why. We all know that eating too much of anything is bad, but do we really know what constitutes too much, why we shouldn’t have too much of it, and what happens if we do.
Fitness Over Fat Loss – Results For Life
The fat burning exercises above will help you burn fat and calories fast. They are your short term answer to burning fat. They are more efficient at this than, for example, long runs.
But keeping excess fat off, is a life long process. So you have to consider your long term goals, which may change with age and your life circumstances.
For the long term, your number 1 priority has to be with exercise you enjoy. It goes without saying that you also continue your healthy diet.