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Nuts are readily available and provide a highly nutritious food. In addition to protein, carbohydrate, and fat, nuts contain many other important nutrients: fiber, vitamin E, folic acid, potassium, and magnesium. Although on some food charts you may see nuts listed in the same food category as diary products, eggs, and red meat because of the fat content, new information calls into question this designation.

Archeological records indicate that man has cultivated the olive tree for about 6,000 years; having been especially popular in the Isle of Crete (which as you recall, also appeared in the Seven Countries Study to be the site of the lowest incidence of heart disease). All oils that we use for eating and cooking contain "fat" and olive oil is no exception. However, it is mostly monounsaturated fat as opposed to saturated fat or hydrogenated fat. It can be used as a flavoring for cooking or in salad dressings or as a healthy substitute for butter or margarine. Several large population studies have confirmed that diets with higher amounts of fat of the monounsaturated type reduce total cholesterol and LDL ["bad"] cholesterol levels to the same degree as low fat, high-carbohydrate diets [such as the AHA Step I and II diets]. The additional benefit of olive oil is, as part of a Mediterranean type diet, is that it also has a favorable effect on lowering blood triglycerides [also a factor in heart disease] and maintaining HDL ["good" cholesterol].

Increasing the fiber in your diet has been shown to: reduce your cholesterol, reduce your hunger, lower your fat absorption, reduce surges in insulin levels, help with weight loss, lower the risk of colon cancer, and lower your risk of heart disease. WOW! Sounds like a miracle cure - where can I get this stuff? The answer: At your grocery store.

The Healthy Way to eat out. The do's and dont's for your next ethnic meal. Covering foods fromm Chinese, French, Mexican, and Greek... Don't leave home without it.

Introducing Stress Management

At home many people avoid making salads because the cutting up of vegetables takes time and often storage of a half used cucumber or bag of carrots is inappropriate causing waste and unnecessary expense. To save time, why not just pick up prewashed, cut-up salads or salad green available pre-packaged at most grocery stores.

To make clear the ease of bodybuilding, I have arranged a list of five basic keys to successful training. They are nothing new and you can read the same information in any workout motivational book on the market today. Yet they offer valuable insight and are essential to getting started and sticking to it.

Now you are exercising again, and it feels great. Of course, it felt great last year, too, when you went to the gym every morning for almost the entire winter! If it feels so great, why do you keep quitting? You may be able to make your physical activity more consistent by using some of these tricks.

From fat burning, to improved cardiovascular health, to improved recovery abilities, some aerobic work is recommended as an integral part of all training programs. Aerobic is a low-intensity, sustained activity that relies on oxygen for energy. This activity builds endurance, burns fat and conditions the cardiovascular system.