Nutrisolution -The Diet Clinique

Meat forms an essential part of the daily diet of many people. But it often gets difficult to choose between white meat (chicken or fish) and red meat (beef or pork or mutton) due to the numerous health benefits offered by both. Moreover, both kinds of meat have some health risks as well, which should be kept in mind while consuming either of them.

Read on to find how each type of meat may affect your health, and, which will be more beneficial for your body.

Fat content

People who are more conscious about their weight often tend to choose white meat over red meat because of its lower fat content. For example, fat content in chicken is only about 11%, whereas pork contains about 45% fat. Moreover, the saturated fat content of red meat is about 2.64 times that of white meat.

Protein content

100 gm of chicken breast has about 29.80 gm of protein, whereas the same amount of lamb and pork contain 22.51 gm and 27.55 gm protein respectively. In this case, consumption of white meat will prove to be beneficial as your body can absorb only 74% of the protein in red meat and 80% of the protein in white meat.

Other nutrient content

Red meat is rich in niacin, vitamin b12, riboflavin and thiamine, iron and minerals like zinc and phosphorus. While vitamin b12 aids proper nerve health and ensures that the red blood cells function properly, zinc is responsible for strengthening your immune system.

White meat contains fewer nutrients in comparison to red meat. However, fish contains high amount of omega-3 fatty acids, which help in improving lipid profiles and prevent cardiovascular diseases.

Health risks

Consumption of both types of meat has been long associated with increased risk of different diseases. The presence of myoglobin, a type of protein in red meat, is responsible for increasing the risk of certain types of cancer. Also, red meat has been often linked with increased chances of hypertension and heart diseases.

These days, feeding antibiotics to chicken for enlarging their size has become a common practise. So, consumption of this type of meat increases the amount of drug-resistant bacteria in your body and reduces the effect of useful drugs too.

White meat and red meat both have their own health benefits and risks, so including small amounts of both in your diet will prove to be beneficial for your body. Determine the amount of each type of meat you will consume depending on your body's specific requirements.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

Being a vegan is not a fad diet. It's also a personal philosophical and lifestyle choice. A person may choose to become a vegan because of environmental factors, health factors, and other ethical reasons. What differentiates a vegan from a vegetarian is the fact that a vegan not only doesn't eat meat or other animal products but doesn't use any other animal products or by-products whatsoever, such as dairy products, leather, eggs, honey, wool, silk, fur etc.
Good News is that adopting such a lifestyle can be an entry into a world of better health.
Some of the health benefits of being a vegan are:
1) Improves mood - Edible and dietary sources of food from animals are rich in arachidonic acid, and research has concluded a relationship linking mood disturbances with arachidonic acid. It has been also found that restricting the consumption of meat, fish and poultry can lead to mood improvements. Vegetarian diets are not rich in this acid and, thus, they may help in uplifting your general mood.
2) Can reduce chance of diabetes by up to 50% - According to a research by Loma Linda University School of Public Health, a vegan diet can lead to a drastic reduction in the prevalence of diabetes. A vegan diet also helps in the management of diabetes as well as helps to reduce the likelihood of contracting diabetes by 50%.

3) Lower cholesterol - Eating animal fat doesn't have any benefit. Instead, it can have harmful health effects. Thus, it's not surprising that once animal fats are removed from your diet, it can lead to a healthier lifestyle. After studying the long-term effects of following a vegetarian diet, researchers in Korea have concluded that body fat and cholesterol tend to lower in vegans than those who follow a non-vegetarian diet.
4) Reduces risk of stroke and obesity - Vegans, in general, have a lower chance of binge eating and choosing to eat food out of emotions; this is because they follow a strict diet. These two factors, which contribute to obesity, are mostly observed in non-vegetarians and very rarely in vegans.

It is often believed that eggs tend to heat up your stomach and, hence, should be avoided as much as possible. People believe that eating eggs during the hot summer months can lead to detrimental health effects. One of the reasons attributed to this belief is that eggs contain copious amounts of cholesterol, which can generate tremendous amounts of body heat.
However, contrary to popular belief, eggs do not heat up your system and perfectly safe for consumption during the season of some summer.
Having eggs for breakfast helps you with the following:
1. Cholesterol Factor - To be precise, a single egg provides 212 mg of cholesterol out of the recommended 300 mg. However, cholesterol in your diet does not raise the cholesterol levels in your blood. This happens because the liver produces a high quantity of cholesterol each day, and when you eat more eggs causing your cholesterol levels to rise, the liver starts producing less of it. In fact, a study found that eggs didn't raise cholesterol in 70% of its test subjects.
2. Provides Choline - Choline is a substance, which is required by the body to build cell membranes and to perform a horde of other functions like liver function, brain development, nerve, and muscle function. Lack of choline could lead to disruption of these functions. Whole eggs contain more than 100 mg of this less known nutrient, and therefore, should be a part of your diet.

3. Contains Lutein and Zeaxanthin - One of the gradual symptoms of aging is worsening eyesight. There are many types of nutrients that help in countering this degenerative process. Two such nutrients are lutein and zeaxanthin, which eggs are rich in. These two antioxidants help to build up the retina of the eye. Moreover, they also help in preventing eyesight conditions like cataracts and macular degeneration. Eggs are also rich in Vitamin A, the lack of which is the most common cause of blindness worldwide.
4. Reduces Risk of Stroke - For many decades, eggs have been unfairly criticized. A popular misbelief was that high cholesterol in eggs made them a cause for cardiac problems. In a review, which accounted for 17 studies and a total of 263,938 participants, no associations were found between eggs and heart diseases. Eggs are also highly filling and help to lose weight to a certain extent. In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

Potassium is an essential mineral which is known as an electrolyte. Electrolytes are responsible for maintaining the ionic balance of your body. Other electrolytes are sodium, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, chloride. These electrolytes bear an electric charge which manages the electrical activity of your health system. Potassium also helps the muscles of the body to function properly. In fact, it has its contribution in regulating blood pressure; a crucial role for a healthy heart.

Potassium deficiency is a kind of medical condition which is known as hypokalemia. The normal level of potassium in the human body should be in between 3.5-5.0 mmol/L. But the deficiency in potassium can cause severe problems including muscle weakness, nerve disorders, heart problems, etc. Kidney is the organ which is known to manage the potassium balance by removing the extra potassium through urine.

Causes of potassium deficiency:

1. Lack of potassium in diet
2. Dehydration
3. Diarrhoea
4. Too much sweating
5. Several medicines also cause potassium deficiency

Signs of potassium deficiency:

1. You are getting wiped out too often: Like it is discussed before that potassium is responsible for your muscles to work actively. Each and every cell needs the required amount of potassium to work effectively. So, a little deficiency of potassium can leave you exhausted throughout the day. If your normal working routine leaves you exhausted and if you are sweating too often, then there is a chance that you are suffering from hypokalemia.
2. High blood pressure: Potassium plays an important role in maintaining the blood pressure by helping in relaxing the blood vessels. Low potassium can cause the blood vessels to get constricted, due to which your blood pressure increases.
3. Muscle weakness: Potassium plays a significant role in building the strength of your muscles. Lack of potassium can easily cause muscle weakness, aches and spasms.
4. Irregular heartbeat: Anything regarding your heart problem can scare you badly; especially when you experience sudden skipped heart rate or when your heart rate doubles. Low potassium can cause such palpitations and skipped heartbeat.
5. Feeling dizzy: Lack of potassium in your body can slow down your heart rate and make you feel dizzy or you may feel that you are going to faint. Though many other medical conditions can be responsible for such symptoms but hypokalemia is one of them.
6. Constipation: Potassium deficiency can affect your overall health. You might encounter symptoms like bloating, abdominal cramping etc.
7. Numbness and tingling: Potassium is significant in keeping your nerves healthy. Potassium deficiency can make you experience numbness, needle sensations on your feet, wrist, etc.

These are the signs that people encounter when they suffer from hypokalemia. Hypokalemia can make you feel extremely sick and it causes several diseases which are discussed above. It is always advisable to visit a doctor when you encounter any of these above mentioned symptoms. Consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

Here are 10 more tips to lose weight even faster:

1. Eat a high-protein breakfast. Eating a high-protein breakfast has been shown to reduce cravings and calorie intake throughout the day.
2. Avoid sugary drinks and fruit juice. These are the most fattening things you can put into your body, and avoiding them can help you lose weight.
3. Drink water a half hour before meals. One study showed that drinking water a half hour before meals increased weight loss by 44% over 3 months.
4. Choose weight loss-friendly foods. Certain foods are very useful for losing fat.
5. Eat soluble fiber. Studies show that soluble fibers may reduce fat, especially in the belly area. Fiber supplements like glucomannan can also help.
6. Drink coffee or tea. If you’re a coffee or a tea drinker, then drink as much as you want as the caffeine in them can boost your metabolism by 3-11%.
7. Eat mostly whole, unprocessed foods. Base most of your diet on whole foods. They are healthier, more filling and much less likely to cause overeating.
8. Eat your food slowly. Fast eaters gain more weight over time. Eating slowly makes you feel more full and boosts weight-reducing hormones.
9. Use smaller plates. Studies show that people automatically eat less when they use smaller plates. Strange, but it works.
10. Get a good night’s sleep, every night. Poor sleep is one of the strongest risk factors for weight gain, so taking care of your sleep is important.