Nutritionists Secrets for Staying Slim

Whether consciously or not, many thin people follow the strategy of starting out with a sizable soup or salad, which leads them to eat less for the rest of the meal. Often people cannot stop eating even though they are full. Why is this? According to traditional Asian medicine, the body requires five tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and pungent. These tastes nourish the internal organs and satisfy the taste buds. If any of the tastes are lacking in the diet, your body will be unsatisfied, causing cravings. By understanding how this principle affects you, you can begin to control your appetite.

If you’ve found that munching sugary snacks just makes you crave more sugary snacks, you’re not alone. Eating lots of simple carbohydrates — without the backup of proteins or fats — can quickly satisfy hunger and give your body a short-term energy boost, but they almost as quickly leave you famished again and craving more. The problem comes not when we indulge in a sweet treat now and then, but when we over-consume, something that’s easy to do when sugar is added to many processed foods, including breads, yogurt, juices, and sauces. Therefore one needs to consciously make an effort to keep the sugar cravings under control.

If you thought shutting down the kitchen early in the evening could save your waistline, you were right. After setting your “Kitchen Closing” time, determine the set dinnertime that works for you and your family most nights of the week. Sure, every now and again practice or late nights at the office will interfere. But by eating earlier in the evening, you’ll leave time for a brisk walk after dinner and certainly give yourself more time to digest before retiring for the night (and your heart and digestive system will thank you).

There’s no concern that water will dilute the digestive juices or interfere with digestion. In fact, drinking water during or after a meal actually aids digestion. Water and other liquids help break down food so that your body can absorb the nutrients. Water also softens stool, which helps prevent constipation.

Several studies have shown that people who keep food journals are more likely to be successful in losing weight and keeping it off. In fact, a researcher from one recent study says that people keeping a food diary six days a week lost about twice as much weight as those who kept food records one day a week or less. For one thing, keeping a food diary instantly increases your awareness of what, how much, and why you are eating. This helps you cut down on mindless munching. Food diaries also help people identify areas where they can make changes that will help them lose weight.

Most people eat more than double the amount of sodium their bodies need – which increases chances of high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease and other problems. Kids who eat high sodium diets are 40% more likely to develop high blood pressure, and this is even worse among children who are overweight. – See more at: http://sodiumbreakup.heart.org/reduce-sodium-empowering-taste/#sthash.LPJV8CI0.dpufOur taste buds can adapt to eating less salt. Research suggests that when people eat lower-sodium foods over time, their taste preferences change so they prefer those foods and they find that the foods they used to enjoy are too salty. When salt is cut gradually, sometimes people don’t even notice! And when less salt is used, you can appreciate the true flavor of food. For example, try roasting a sweet potato or butternut squash and enjoy the flavor that develops as it cooks and caramelizes.