One of the keys to a healthy pregnancy is eating right. A healthy diet during pregnancy can go a long way in helping to ensure a healthy pregnancy and women should be well aware of the benefits of eating right while carrying their child. Eating right not only provides the mother with the necessary nutrients to stay fit and healthy during the pregnancy, it ensures that the fetus is getting all of the necessary vitamins and minerals for its development.

So what can you do to help control your weight and follow balanced and healthy diet during pregnancy?

Keep in mind that during pregnancy it is crucial that you do not reduce your calorie consumption. This has the possibility to rob your infant of important nourishment that is required for his/her development and growth.

Below are great tips on how to eat a healthy diet during pregnancy:

Stay away from skipping meals. If you have a routine of missing breakfast every day, you will find that you are not only more tired but starving during your pregnancy, resulting in eating too much. It is important to consume every meal on a daily basis.

Try eating numerous small meals the whole day. This will not only help you feel fuller more time, it can help reduce the nausea or vomiting typically experienced throughout the 1st trimester.

Fulfill your hungers with healthy snacks. Have a wide range of healthy items to eat easy to find so you avoid overindulging in foods that are too self-indulgent. If you are craving anything sweet, think about getting a few small chocolates nearby or choose a cup of hot chocolate. Both of them are more practical for you than a large bag of chips or piece of cake.

Workout during your pregnancy. The activity of working out all alone will be enough to keep you motivated to stick to a healthy diet. You’ll feel happier about yourself and find that you have extra vitality during the day.

Stay away from high calorie beverages. Soft drinks (which is not good for you in any case, especially during pregnancy), juices and additional tasting drinks usually contain a good 100-300 calories per serving. Use only water or flavored water during your pregnancy.

Drink enough water. Water should be a pregnant woman’s drink of choice. Dehydration not only decreases energy output by as much as 30 percent, it also accounts for common pregnancy complications. For example, a lack of water is a contributing factor in 80 percent of preterm labor.

Foods To Avoid During Pregnancy

• Raw Meat: Fresh or uncommon meats are simply not a choice during pregnancy. Uncommon meats for example one of the many selections in steak could have bacteria which are bad for your developing fetus. You can also likely to experience food poisoning so make sure your meat to be cooked well.

• Deli Meats: Deli meats are ready meats common in hot dogs, turkey, beef and chicken products. It should only be consumed when re-heated. The bacteria in it can cause losing the unborn baby or death of fetus in the womb.

• Undercooked eggs: Undercooked eggs potentially have to contain bacteria called Salmonella. Raw eggs are generally present in island dressings. Therefore, you must read the label prior to eating. Symptoms of salmonella include fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhea. When a pregnant mother has fever, there’s an infection, it can go through the unborn baby leading to a life risk to her. Diarrhea can cause lack of fluids, when lack of fluids occurs, nutrients are decreased so as that nutrients required for the unborn baby.

Following these simple strategies on how to eat a healthy diet during pregnancy will help you gain lots of health back into your life, especially now that you are pregnant and care about the health of your child in the womb. Stick to fresh foods and minimize your man-made-food intake as much as you can. This way you’ll feel better, and look better, and so will your new baby!

If you have bad eating routine then it gives significantly to unhealthily blood pressure, even in middle age, when hypertension levels typically increase as part of the aging process. Whether or not you take antihypertensive medicines, the requirement to make weight loss innovations (eg. follow a healthy low-fat diet) is generally in first place on a doctor’s list of recommendations to reduce or prevent the beginning of hypertension. Before outlining the right type of best diet for hypertension, let us take a brief look at health consequences of increased blood pressure level.

Potential Risks of Hypertension and High Blood Pressure

In under developed and even western world, it is estimated that 20-40 percent of all men and women suffer from persistent hypertension. Hypertension puts a strain on the heart leading to atherosclerosis. Result is problems for heart, coronary heart, kidney failure, stroke, damage to the eyes. Choice is yours, make an effort to save these important organs by taking care of your BP. Keep in mind that hypertension is a silent killer, it shows it has the bad effects silently and when you come to realize that you have BP, by that point hypertension often has an effect on your vital organs.

Normal Blood Pressure Levels vs. Prehypertensive and Hypertensive

Normal blood pressure of a healthy adult at rest is 120 (systolic) over 80 (diastolic) or less. Blood pressure levels more than 120/80 and under 140/90 are at prehypertensive stage, while levels over 140/90 are thought to be hypertensive stage. Both prehypertensive and hypertensive issues should make diet plan, exercise and lifestyle changes to reduce or prevent the onset of hypertension and reduce the chance of heart disease.

Excess Fat Raises Blood Pressure

Over weight persons will be getting hypertension. People with weight problems increase their risk of getting the disorder. Furthermore, roughly 7 out of 10 obese adults are afflicted by hypertension. If you drop even 10 pounds can make noticeable improvements.

If you have high blood pressure and not overweight, listed below are few ways to control your BP.

Go For a Healthy Balanced Diet

If you need to lower your hypertension, your diet needs to be full of fruits, veggies, and low-fat dairy foods, while low in saturated and trans-fats. It should also be less cholesterol, high in fiber content, calcium, potassium and magnesium, and relatively rich in protein. The American Heart Association and U.S. government recommend the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension or DASH Diet as the best diet for hypertension.

Number one factor is to reduce your intake of sodium. How salt consumption increases blood pressure. Overeating salt or sodium-rich foods results in a higher usage of fluid and results in greater retention of water inside body, contributes to volume overload and high blood pressure. Additionally, it places extra force on the arterioles (arteries that dilate/constrict to manage blood pressure and blood circulation). Both these effects lead to much higher blood pressure. The recommended every day dose for sodium for most of us is 2,400 mg.

How can you lower sodium consumption? Eat fewer pre-cooked or processed food, and eat more fresh food. Sodium is found by natural means in fresh foods like grains, fresh fruits, veggies, meats, nuts, and dairy products, but in far lower quantities compared to processed foods (eg. packet, bottled or canned food).

High Sodium Foods

These foods normally have high sodium content. In order not to go over the RDA, either avoid them completely, or choose low-sodium options.

• Sauces: baking soda, barbecue sauce, catsup, garlic salt, mustard, onion salt, soy sauce, steak sauce, salad dressing, baking powder, mustard, onion salt, seasoned salts like lemon pepper, bouillon cubes, meat tenderizer, and monosodium glutamate.
• Salted Snacks: peanuts, pretzels, pork rinds. Tortilla chips, corn chips
• Soup: instant soups, regular canned soups.
• Pickled Food: Olives, or sauerkraut, herring, pickles, relish,
• Meats: smoked or cured meats (containing sodium-nitrite) such as bacon, bologna, hot dogs, ham, corned beef, luncheon meats, and sausage, ribs, and chitterlings,.
• Dairy: Most cheese spreads and cheeses.
• Drinks: club soda, saccharin-flavored soda.
• Cereals: Instant hot cereals, regular ready to eat cold cereals.
• Ready-to-Eat: boxed mixes like rice, scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese and some frozen dinners, pot pies and pizza. Quick cook rice, instant noodles,
• Fats: Butter, fatback, and salt pork.

Choose those foods which labeled as low-sodium, very low sodium, or salt-free. Check food labels for words that indicate high sodium content, including: sodium nitrite, sodium propionate, disodium phosphate, and sodium sulfate. monosodium glutamate (MSG), sodium benzoate, sodium hydroxide.

Lower Sodium Eating Habits

• Do not add extra salt when cooking or preparing meals. Cook with more herbs and spices.
• Do not have salt on the table while eating does not add salt on salad.
• If you cook with salt, switch to chili, ginger and lemon juice for flavoring.
• If you eat cured/smoked meats, switch to fresh cold meats.
• If you eat ready-to-serve breakfast cereal, choose low-sodium types of cereal.
• Rinse before eating. If you eat tuna, salmon, sardines, or mackerel canned in water.
• If you eat soup, switch to low-sodium or fresh soups.
• If you cook with whole milk or fat diet, switch to 1 percent or skimmed buttermilk.
• Remember taking less salt diet, your BP will be in normal limits.

Here’s the most efficient way I found to cook brown rice on a stove.  It takes about 35 minutes from when you start to when you’re eating (which is pretty good for brown rice).  This method works for both short grain and long grain brown rice.  I prefer long grain.  I’ve eaten hundreds of batches of brown rice using this method over the past 10 years.

Here are the instructions:

1. Put brown rice and water together in a pot with a lid.  Use the ratio of 1.5 cups water to 1 cup rice.  I normally make 3c rice with 4.5c water for a single batch.
2. Set the heat to maximum, and bring the rice/water to a boil uncovered.  Then put the lid on the pot, and reduce the heat to low/simmer.  If your lid has a steam valve, keep it closed.  Let the rice simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat, and let the rice sit in the covered pot for another 10 minutes.  It’s OK if you let the rice sit longer than 10 minutes (20 or 30 minutes is fine too), but don’t let it go any less.  I prefer my rice to be slightly chewy, not mushy, so I usually remove the lid after 10 minutes.
4. Eat and enjoy.  Be careful when you remove the lid, since a lot of steam may escape when you do.

This works for white rice too.

After the rice is cooked, I normally scoop some into a bowl, and mix it with a little tamari and 1-2 tablespoons of sesame seeds.  The sesame seeds add a lot of flavor to the rice.  Sometimes I’ll eat it with steamed veggies and blackened tempeh, both of which can be prepared while the rice is cooking.

I put the leftover rice in a plastic container in the refrigerator, which keeps well for several days.  Since I don’t use a microwave, I usually just eat the leftovers cold.  But when I’m not in the mood for cold rice, here’s another tasty dish I make from the leftover rice:

1. In a small pot, add 1 teaspoon of oil, and heat it for about 1 minute on medium heat.  I prefer dark sesame oil because it adds a lot of flavor.  Canola oil works well too.
2. Add some chopped veggies to the pot, and sauté them in the oil for a few minutes.  My favorites are onions, green onions, and bell peppers (any color).
3. Once the veggies are cooked, scoop in some of the leftover brown rice.  I like to use 2 parts rice to 1 part veggies.  Mix it well with the veggies.
4. Reduce the heat slightly to medium-low, and cook the rice/veggies for 3-4 minutes until the rice is hot, stirring about once every minute.
5. Pour in a little tamari to taste, and mix it with the rice.  Cook for another minute to sear in the flavor.
6. Turn off the heat.  Mix in 1-2 tablespoons sesame seeds.
7. Eat and enjoy.

I hope you find these recipes helpful.  Brown rice became a staple of my diet after I studied macrobiotics during the mid-90s, and I eat it almost every week.  I find it a great food for endurance activities.

Most ripened or aged cheese is low in moisture content and can be frozen without drastic flavor and texture changes. Thaw slowly in the refrigerator for 24 hours or more. If frozen for several months, the cheese may dry out somewhat and become crumbly when thawed.

Paul Kahan