Plums originally originated in the continent of Asia. They are the member of the plant Genus Prunus, which also consists of apricots, cherries, and almonds. One can t go wrong in adding plums in their diet. Plums have the qualities of being low in calories and they also enable you to meet your daily dose of vitamin A, vitamin C, and fiber needs. Some other amazing benefits of plums are :

Low in calorie content: Plums contain few calories as compared to its portion size, as they are low-energy foods containing 70 calories. There are just 70 calories in two plums of medium sizes. It has been suggested by CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Preventions) that when one includes more amounts of low-energy dense foods in their diet, it can help them to limit their total amount of calorie intake for controlling hunger and weight loss.
Good source of fiber: Plums are very good source of fiber. 2 grams of fiber can be found in two medium sized plums. In average, adults need about 20 to 30 grams of fiber in a day, where most people consume only around 15 grams of fiber. The fiber content in foods can help control hunger. Fiber also helps to add bulk to our stool. It helps to mitigate and prevent constipation. Fiber also has the power to prevent the risks of heart diseases by absorbing cholesterol from our blood stream.
Low glycemic index food: The calories in plum come from the carbohydrates in the form of sugar. In two medium sized plums, there is about 19 grams of carbs and about 16 grams of sugar. Although plums are high in sugar and carbohydrates, plums are low glycemic index food. The glycemic index helps to rank the foods that contain carbohydrate on how and by how much they affect blood sugar. Foods with a high glycemic index can cause a brisk rise in blood sugar. Whereas foods with low glycemic index cause a little bit of rising in blood sugar. And also people who eat too many of high glycemic index food has a high risk of diabetes and also heart disease according to the Harvard School of Public Health. Whereas eating low glycemic index foods helps to control diabetes and also helps in weight loss.
Good source of vitamin A: Eating two medium sized plums can provide about eight percent of a person s daily need of vitamin A or 400 international units. Vitamin A is essential for eye health, development and growth, immune health, reproduction, and bone health. Vitamin A is also known as a fat soluble vitamin.
Good source of vitamin C: It is an important water-soluble vitamin. We need a minimum intake of vitamin C in order to make collagen which also helps in healing of wounds and plums are rich in this nutrient.

Plums - 5 Health Benefits You Never Knew!

Milk is nutritious, but sometimes, avid dieters shrink away from consuming milk. It is generally believed that the fat content in milk hinders weight loss. On the contrary, milk has a lot of benefits.

Here are some facts you need to remember before you say no to milk:

Nutrients and milk: Particularly, milk is an excellent source of zinc, vitamin B, protein and most importantly, calcium. So when you ditch milk in your crusade of weight loss, you skip out on calcium, the mineral primarily responsible for good bone health. Some studies suggest that calcium can actually add to weight loss, but this needs more research to back it up. 
Health and milk: Previously milk did get a bad reputation when it was linked as a supposed cause of stroke and heart attack. But a recent study produced a result which proved the complete opposite, milk can actually prevent stroke and heart attack! According to research, milk can actually lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels. 
Muscles and milk: Milk contains whey and casein protein, both of which are high-quality proteins if you are looking to build muscles. Whey is a fast protein (gets digested faster) while casein is a slow protein (gets digested slowly). Your body gets a good and healthy supply of proteins when you consume milk, so don t write it off just yet. 
Fat and milk: As mentioned before, calcium can cause your body to burn fat. There is research pending on it, but the preliminary results suggest that dieters shouldn t skip out on milk. You might argue that you can just consume calcium supplements in that case. However, it has been discovered that other milk proteins to add to fat burning, which you cannot get from supplements. Milk is good for you, but it isn t a miracle weight loss food. So yes, you will need to follow a healthy diet as drinking a glass of milk with a couple of doughnuts will not help you at all.
So, milk is not all evil as people think it to be. It could be good for your weight loss plan. And the best way to incorporate milk into your weight-loss diet is to consume the low-fat skimmed milk variant than the whole fat milk as you get 90 calories from one cup of skimmed milk as compared to 150 calories from whole milk with nearly the same protein and calcium content. This way you get the best of milk without worrying about the fat in it plus an extra fat loss of 1 kg (9000 calories) from 150 cups over the time with a saving of 60 calories in each cup.

Milk - Is It Good or Bad for Your Weight Loss Plan?

There is a commonly held view that eating disorders are a lifestyle choice. Eating disorders are actually serious and often fatal illnesses that cause severe disturbances to a person's eating behaviors. Obsessions with food, body weight, and shape may also signal an eating disorder.

Signs and Symptoms of Common Eating Disorders are discussed below...

Anorexia Nervosa-

People with anorexia nervosa may see themselves as overweight, even when they are dangerously underweight. People with anorexia nervosa typically weigh themselves repeatedly, severely restrict the amount of food they eat, and eat very small quantities of only certain foods. Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any mental disorder.

Symptoms:

Extremely restricted eating
Extreme thinness (emaciation)
A relentless pursuit of thinness and unwillingness to maintain a normal or healthy weight
Intense fear of gaining weight
Distorted body image, a self-esteem that is heavily influenced by perceptions of body weight and shape, or a denial of the seriousness of low body weight
Other symptoms may develop over time, including:

Thinning of the bones (osteopenia or osteoporosis)
Mild anemia and muscle wasting and weakness
Brittle hair and nails
Dry and yellowish skin
Growth of fine hair all over the body (lanugo)
Severe constipation
Low blood pressure, slowed breathing and pulse
Damage to the structure and function of the heart
Brain damage
Multiorgan failure
Drop in internal body temperature, causing a person to feel cold all the time
Lethargy, sluggishness, or feeling tired all the time
Infertility
Bulimia Nervosa-

People with bulimia nervosa have recurrent and frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food and feeling a lack of control over these episodes. This binge-eating is followed by behavior that compensates for the overeating such as forced vomiting, excessive use of laxatives or diuretics, fasting, excessive exercise, or a combination of these behaviors. People with bulimia nervosa usually maintain what is considered a healthy or relatively normal weight.

Symptoms:

Chronically inflamed and sore throat
Swollen salivary glands in the neck and jaw area
Worn tooth enamel and increasingly sensitive and decaying teeth as a result of exposure to stomach acid
Acid reflux disorder and other gastrointestinal problems
Intestinal distress and irritation from laxative abuse
Severe dehydration from purging of fluids
Electrolyte imbalance (too low or too high levels of sodium, calcium, potassium and other minerals) which can lead to stroke or heart attack
Binge-eating Disorder-

People with binge-eating disorder lose control over his or her eating. Unlike bulimia nervosa, periods of binge-eating are not followed by purging, excessive exercise, or fasting. As a result, people with binge-eating disorder often are overweight or obese. Binge-eating disorder is the most common eating disorder.

Symptoms:

Eating unusually large amounts of food in a specific amount of time
Eating even when you're full or not hungry
Eating fast during binge episodes
Eating until you're uncomfortably full
Eating alone or in secret to avoid embarrassment
Feeling distressed, ashamed, or guilty about your eating
Frequently dieting, possibly without weight loss
Unspecified Eating Disorder-

This happens when the behavior do not meet the criteria for any food or eating problems but still pose significant threat and problems.
This also happens the clinician is not able to assess whether an individual is affected by a certain disorder.
Treatment-

Treatment is available. Recovery is possible...

Eating disorders are serious health conditions that can be both physically and emotionally destructive. People with eating disorders need to seek professional help. Early diagnosis and intervention may enhance recovery. Eating disorders can become chronic, debilitating, and even life-threatening conditions.

When you begin to notice that disordered eating habits are affecting your life, your happiness, and your ability to concentrate, it is important that you talk to somebody about what you are going through.

The most effective and long-lasting treatment for an eating disorder is some form of psychotherapy or psychological counseling, coupled with careful attention to medical and nutritional needs. Ideally, this treatment should be tailored to the individual and will vary according to both the severities of the disorder and the patient's particular problems, needs, and strengths.

Eating Disorders

Overeating or binging on food is a problem that a lot of people face. Our bodies inform us about our hunger and when it is satiated. But when we get exposed to the world of dieting and diet foods we are addicted to them, unable to find a balanced way of eating.

Overeating - 3 Tested Ways To Kill This Unhealthy Habit

Caffeine is said to be good for the body if it is consumed in limited quantity. It is also to be kept in mind that the form in which it is consumed is also important, and green tea is said to be very good. But what about having green tea very soon after a meal is finished?

There are a lot of health benefits of green tea and as a drink, it has a reputation for being a wonder drink, and quite rightly so, it is to be kept in mind that having the right time to drink green tea is a must. You must avoid consuming just after the meal as there are chemicals, which exist in green tea which are known as phenols. What happens with these phenols if the green tea is taken not long after a meal, is that they can interfere with the absorption of the iron present in the food.

In addition to not drinking green tea at mealtime, or post mealtime, it is perhaps also a good idea to stay away from drinking it when milk and items which are made from milk such as cheese are being consumed. There is a reason why this is the case is that the proteins which exist in milk do not let green tea have its normal effect on the metabolism of the person i.e. raising the metabolism and making the challenge of losing weight a bit easier.

If it is still the case that drinking green tea with or after a meal is a habit, which has no chance at all of being shaken off, then what can be done is that the meals should be changed to an extent to contain a greater amount of iron-rich food. This will go some way in counteracting the effect the phenols have. Apart from just iron-rich food, food that is rich in vitamin C is also to be consumed.

However, that being said, people who are anyway deficient in iron are better off steering clear of green tea consumed after a meal. Instead, what they can do if have it between meals and also at the start of a day. What this will accomplish is that all the benefits of the green tea can be imbibed by the body and none of the nutrition value of the food is lost either. Furthermore, green tea drunk between meals can also reduce the appetite and help weight loss. What could be better? If you wish to discuss any specific problem, you can consult a doctor.

Related Content: Auric mind rejuvenation drink, the magical beverage that calm and energises the mind.

There are a lot of health benefits of green tea and as a drink, it has a reputation for being a wonder drink, and quite rightly so, it is to be kept in mind that having the right time to take green tea is a must. You must avoid consuming just after the meal as there are chemicals, which exist in green tea which are known as phenols. What happens with these phenols if the green tea is taken not long after a meal, is that they can interfere with the absorption of the iron present in the food.

Green Tea - How Having it Right after Your Meal Affects You?

Vitamin D is a crucial vitamin that is soluble in fat. Vitamin D is essential for the growth of your bone and it ensures increased flow of calcium into your bloodstream by promoting the process of its absorption from the consumed food. Poor concentration of vitamin D may result in the development of rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults. Vitamin D is important in maintaining the immunity of your system; deficiency of vitamin D gives rise to a number of health problems including cardiac disorders, arthritis, hypertension, diabetes and even cancer.

Daily exposure to mild sunlight helps to synthesize Vitamin D in body. Dietary sources include milk, cod liver oils, fish, meat, fortified dairy and food products.

The most reliable way to diagnose the deficiency of vitamin D is through blood test; it is the most effective method of measuring the level of vitamin D in your blood. The following are some dominant symptoms of vitamin D deficiency:

Influenza: According to studies, vitamin D acts a guard against the attack of a number of respiratory infections which are widespread in children. Hence, lack of vitamin D in children is responsible for the development of various respiratory tract infections and diseases.
Depression and Schizophrenia: The root cause of depression and various other psychiatric disorders have been linked to deficiency in vitamin D. It is extremely important for expecting mothers to maintain a sufficient level of vitamin D in their body, during the gestation period to reduce the risk of delayed brain development and other mental ailments in the new born babies.
Cardiovascular disease: Cardiovascular ailments are more prevalent among people, who tend to suffer from vitamin D deficiency. Patients who suffer from cardiac discomfort have responded well to vitamin D treatment.
Asthma: Intake of vitamin D supplements reduces the severity and discomforts that are associated with asthma and have also shown considerable reduction in the occurrence of asthma attacks.
Periodontal disorders: Lack of vitamin D may result in the formation of numerous harmful bacteria in your mouth and may give rise to several oral discomforts in form of painful gum inflammation, bleeding and loss of tooth. Vitamin D aids in the formation of cathelicidins and defensins, which are effective in maintaining the overall oral health.
Cancer: Types of cancer including prostate cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer are linked with Vitamin D deficiency. Supplements of vitamin D are helpful in controlling the growth and development of breast cancer, especially the estrogen sensitive breast cancer.

Vitamin D Deficiency - 6 Signs That You are Suffering from it 

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