8 tips to use to include fruits and vegetables in your diet

To enjoy life to the fullest and live it to the longest, it is recommended to include fruits and vegetables in the daily diet of an individual.

This is because fruits and vegetables  are among the few foods that provide the body with  the water-soluble vitamins B, C and Folic acid. These water-soluble vitamins are needed on a daily basis as they easily dissolve in body fluids such as urine and hence "exit" our body systems . This means the body does not store these vitamins, which it needs everyday to prevent diseases, promote and protect our overall health.

Additionally, fruits and vegetables are rich in dietary fibre, which prevents constipation, improve the health of the gut as well as prevent other digestion problems.

It is based on these important reasons that dietitians/nutritionists recommend at least 5 portions of fruits and vegetables each day. By portion we mean one medium size of orange, banana or apple. It also includes, one medium tomato, one slice (5 cm) of watermelon or pineapple, 5 cm  piece of cucumber, eight cauliflower floret, 150 ml of  unsweetened fruit juice etc.

To help achieve this recommendation, I share tips that can be used especially, if you are one who does not often include fruits and vegetables in your daily diet.

1.       Place a bowl of fruits on the dining table or a visible area of the house or workplace as this is likely to attract you and the household to easily reach and have some. Gradually, you will notice that your fruits intake has increased.

2.    Make fruits and vegetables as part of your three main meals - breakfast, lunch and supper. For example can add fruits like chopped banana to Hausa “koko” and other types of porridges.

3.      Eat fruits and vegetables for snacks instead of taking foods high in sugar, salt and fat as the former is a healthier option.

4.       Eat the fruits and vegetables you use in garnishing your foods.

5.      Buy fruits and vegetables in season, at the local/farmer's market and also go for local ones as they are cheaper.

6.       Reward your children with fruit and vegetable salads and not sweets.

7.       Get all your vitamins in the fruit and vegetable by not boiling vegetables but rather steaming or grilling them if you want them cooked. Alternatively, you can use the cooking water for stews and soups instead of pouring away. This is important because these water-soluble vitamins can easily be lost by not using the proper cooking methods.

8.     Properly wash all fruits and vegetables if they are going to be eaten raw to avoid food contamination.

Photo (above) credit: www.championsforhealth.wales.nhs.uk


Get more tips from the book, Become A Healthier You.

About contributor

Irene Danquah, ANutr holds a BSc Biochemistry from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana and an MSc Public Health Nutrition from the University of Southampton, UK. Irene is member of the UK Association for Nutrition (AfN) and the Ghana Nutrition Association. She is on the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists (UKVRN) as an Associate Nutritionist. Irene is the author of the book, Become A Healthier You. Like the World Bank, Irene also believes "Nutrition is an investment issue and improved nutrition is one of the major drivers of economic growth - World Bank, 2006". 

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Constipation, its consequences, causes, solutions and use of laxatives

Constipation is the infrequent or difficulty in emptying the bowel due to stool remaining in the large intestine for long, consequently becoming hard and dry to pass out and/or muscle spasm. Constipation occurs in all age groups.

The consequences of constipation may include; loss of appetite resulting in underweight individuals in most cases, discomfort, pain, bad flatulence and bad breaths. In the long term constipation can also lead to faecal impaction (pool of hard stools in the rectum), haemorrhoids (piles), and bowel incontinence (the leakage of liquid stools). These consequences, affect our quality of life and prevent us from becoming healthier us to enjoy life to the fullest.

As the contributing factors of constipation include
1. Little or no fruits, vegetables, cereals intake and/or change in eating habits.
2. Drinking little or no fluids
3. Little or no physical activity
4. Ignoring the signal to pass stools and having limited time when using the toilet
5. Medication such as antacids, calcium and iron supplements
6. Conditions such as pregnancy, underweight, overweight, anxiety, depression, fever

One can prevent and get relief from constipation and its associated negative effect to become healthier us to enjoy life, fully, an individual must take these steps;
1. Include more fruits, vegetables cereals in everyday diet. These foods will help in drawing water into the large intestine helping form a bulky, soft fecal output for emptying.
2. Drink more fluids to soften stool for easier emptying of bowel
3. Engage in physical activities to improve muscle movement in the intestines to aid stool ‘transportation’.
4. Respond to the signals to empty bowels, so stool do not stay long in the intestine to become hard.
5. Develop regular bowel habits; the same time each day for a bowel movement. This can help train the large intestines to respond routinely and prevent one from postponing bowel time and also help one have enough time when using the toilet.
6. Rest feet on a stool so the knees are above the hips when using the toilet to help stool to easily pass out.
7. Relax to remove less stress on your body (large intestine muscles).
8. Consult your health professional if it is a side effect from a medication. Often when the dosage is completed, one can be relieved.

Use of Laxatives
Laxatives can help one get relief from constipation by irritating the intestinal muscle to move or by drawing water into the large intestines. However, regular use of laxatives can decrease muscle action in the large intestine – in time, causing constipation. The intestine can even become dependent on laxatives. It is thus recommended to consult a health professional before using laxatives. Bed-ridden or the elderly might need to use laxatives periodically for the relief of constipation but it should per health professional advice.

Get more tips from the book, Become A Healthier You.

Photo credit: www.nhs.uk

About contributor

Irene Danquah, ANutr holds a BSc Biochemistry from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana and an MSc Public Health Nutrition from the University of Southampton, UK. Irene is member of the UK Association for Nutrition (AfN) and the Ghana Nutrition Association. She is on the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists (UKVRN) as an Associate Nutritionist. Like the World Bank, Irene also believes "Nutrition is an investment issue and improved nutrition is one of the major drivers of economic growth - World Bank, 2006". 

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BECOME A HEALTHIER YOU; How to Cut Down On Your Sugar Intake

Overweight and Obesity

Overweight and obesity are risk factors for Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, some cancers and cardiovascular diseases like heart disease and stroke. 

One of the contributing factors of obesity is a diet high in calories. that mean high in fat or high in sugar. In this article, I share tips to help you cut down on sugar, especially added sugar intake, so you can achieve the recommended amount of added sugar in your meals.

For men and women, the recommended amount of sugar added to food, also known as added sugar is at most 70g and 50g, respectively. This recommendation however varies depending on your age, body size and how active you are. To know your exact recommendation, do consult a dietician or nutritionist.

For everyone

When Shopping

1. Read food labels to identify what the added sugars in a product are. They are usually shown on the labels as sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, molasses, hydrolysed starch, invert sugar, corn syrup and honey. When you see the added sugars, check how much of them are contained in the product. A food which contains 22.5g of sugar per 100g of the product is very high in sugar while anything below 5g is low.
2. Swap products with high sugar content like fizzy drinks, sweetened fruit juices, and squashes with low sugar ones like natural fruit juices and water. Because you are more likely to reach for those high sugar drinks when they are in your stores, it is a good idea to avoid stocking your food stores with them.

When preparing meals

1. For meals such as porridge, cereal and homemade drinks like ‘Sobolo’ (Bisarp, hibiscus), swap table sugar for chopped fruits and squeezed fruits juices to meet your taste preference. The fruits will not only improve the ‘taste’ of your food, but also provide you with nutrients such as Vitamin B and C. In the end, you will meet the recommendation of eating 5 portions of fruits and vegetables a day.
2. If you drink tea, coffee or chocolate drinks, gradually cut down on the sugar you add till you can drink these beverages without sugar.
3. When thirsty, reach out more for water, natural unsweetened fruit juices, and less fizzy drinks and sweetened fruit juices, which are high in sugar.
   
   
4. When looking for something to munch in between meals, grab a fruit, vegetable, or nut and avoid toffees and chocolate.
   
   
5. If you are the type who likes to eat desserts after a main meal, decide the number of times in a week or month you will take your desserts. This way you do not eat dessert every day as this is an unhealthy habit. Also when choosing your desserts, pick the ones that are low in sugar content.
   
   
6. When eating high sugar foods such as cakes, ice cream and chocolate, try to eat smaller portions.

For people who have BMI 25 and above / Overweight and Obese people

If you are overweight or obese, you need to take additional steps.

Apart from cutting down on foods high in sugar and fat, you should also do more physical activity, and  increase your consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts. Also make it a point to get enough sleep, reduce or cut out alcohol consumption and adopt a no smoking habit.

Keep in mind that a dietician or a nutritionist can design a healthy lifestyle plan for you.

For children

Obesity can occur at any age, so as much as possible, we should not introduce children to foods high in sugar. Children who are given high sugar foods at an early age develop a preference for those sugared foods and thereby increase their risk of obesity and its related problems.

A healthy lifestyle is the best investment anyone can make. We wish you the best in your journey to become a healthier you in 2015

Photo Credit: Kofimusings

About contributor

Irene Danquah, ANutr holds a BSc Biochemistry from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana and an MSc Public Health Nutrition from the University of Southampton, UK. Irene is member of the UK Association for Nutrition (AfN) and the Ghana Nutrition Association. She is on the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists (UKVRN) as an Associate Nutritionist. Like the World Bank, Irene also believes "Nutrition is an investment issue and improved nutrition is one of the major drivers of economic growth - World Bank, 2006". 

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Five hours to noon

………. It’s 7:00am at my resisdence

I switched on the TV to watch Michael on Sativ Two Morning show. During the newspaper review, the host had to repeat one question three times before getting Michael's attention. Strangely enough, after the first commercial break, when the content of the mug in front of Michael became empty, he also became more attentive. (Research shows concentration levels are low in the mornings when food has not been eaten).

…………… It’s 8:00am at Trape Trust
Mimi walks into the office only to be greeted with unplanned work from her superior. Looking at the workload, which needed to be done before noon, Mimi wonders when she can grab breakfast. She was unable to have breakfast before coming to the office as she had no appetite for it. "I hope I have enough energy to finish this work by noon", Mimi whispers to herself (Studies show energy levels are low in the morning when breakfast has not been eaten).

……………. It’s 10:00am Wichgreen
Lix has just woken up, and he has an assignment to turn  in 2 hours. He is fortunate to have woken at 10:00am as he slept at a quarter to 6:00am after having an all-night meeting with Game of Thrones. He quickly showers and put on his laptop to finish his 4000 word-assignment of which 500 words have been typed. As he typed, he wonders if Philip was able to make to his 9:00am lecture as he was part of the Game of Thrones all-night meeting. His sister calls out to him to come get his breakfast and his response, "Chale I have to turn this assignment in before noon and besides I am checking my weight". (Research shows people who skip breakfast tend to eat unhealthily, leading to weight gain).

…………. It’s 12:00noon at ESL
Kweku is seen chatting heartily with his friends at the cafeteria. Few hours back, this was not the situation. There was no smile on his face and any question asked by his colleagues got him irritated. In his quest to save money for the future, Kweku has decided to eat once a day. For Kweku, Lunch can compesate for all the three main meals of the day. (Studies show when people have low energy levels, they tend to be lethargic and can easily be irritated.).

Which of the above scenarios best describes you? Is an early morning assignment, loss of appetite, waking up late, weight management or/and saving money among others preventing you from eating breakfast, which is the most important meal of the day? Read more about the benefits of breakfast here.

This week on the Olime Health page www.facebook.com/olimehealth, we will be giving you tips to enable us eat breakfast regardless of the "obstacles". Do not be surprised to find fruits and vegetables in these tips as in this month, we are looking at fruits and vegetables. If you missed out on any of  our posts on fruits and vegetables, you can read from here.

Till then, have a lovely week and may all you hope for in this week come to pass.

Cheers!

Pictures: Courtesy Google Images

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Just a finger?

Yesterday, a friend offered me some bunch of bananas she was eating of which I took a finger to eat. She asked in a surprising tone if that would be enough for me. I answered in the affirmative, explaining to her how a medium size banana would do the same job as a bunch will do. She laughed and told me she would never eat a finger of banana while shaking her head at me. Thankfully, her head did not fall off (lol). Smiling, I asked her the size of Water Melon she eats. "Water Melon? I don't like that fruit. Infact the only fruit I eat is banana because that is what I like", she replied.

Hello Dearies, how are you doing? How did the first working week in February go? This is my second post on fruits and vegetables, in which I will give you more information and tips on them to enable you become a healthier you. If you missed the first post, you can read it here. In this post, I will look at portion size (amount, quantity) and the need for us to include different fruits and vegetables in our daily diet.

Like I mentioned in the first post, fruits and vegetables are to be eaten everyday and not few days of the week or month (Go here for a recap). In order to achieve the amount of Vitamins (especially B and C, Folic Acid) and Minerals and other nutrients, which our bodies need to protect us from diseases and promote our wellbeing, it is recommended for us to eat at least 5 portion sizes of fruits and vegetables per day. A portion size of a fruit or vegetable can be one-medium size of the fruit/vegetable, a handful of the fruit/vegetable, half slice of the fruit/vegetables. For example; 1-medium tomato, a handful of grapes and 1- slice (2-inch slice) of Water Melon. When we eat the right portion size of a fruit or vegetable, we provide the body the amount of each Vitamin and/or Mineral it needs to function properly. Do not therefore be worried or surprised like my friend, when you have only one medium banana to eat in the morning.

Eating different fruits and vegetables is the best way to go. Like the saying, variety is the spice of life, so it is when we want to eat healthily and for that matter, fruits and vegetables. When different varieties of fruits and vegetables are eaten, we make available the different types of Vitamins, Minerals and other nutrients, which each fruit and vegetable contains, to the body, enabling it to carry out its function well to protect and promote our wellbeing. If you are like my friend who only eats banana, you are most likely depriving your body some vitamins and minerals and this can be detrimental to your health. Imagine this; you are always eating only fruit A and this fruit lacks Vitamin C, which is needed for maintaining healthy connective tissues, how would your connective tissues be made healthy then? Hope you see and appreciate the point I am making. This therefore means we are to include different fruits and vegetables in our diet. The rainbow can be a guide when choosing the 5 portions (at least) fruits and vegetables for our daily diet , different colour of fruit and vegetable.   

I will end the second post on fruits and vegetables. I hope I have answered some of your questions. In my next post, I will look at how to "hunt" for fruits and vegetables and how we can have a low budget on them. As much as I would have loved to continue the fruit and vegetables series next week, I have to postpone it to the week after and for the Valentine Day celebrations. Yes! next week is St. Valentine's Day.

I am sharing this blog post with my friend, I hope you will do same with your loved ones, so together we can become a healthier us.

Do remember to like us on Facebook  (www.facebook.com/olimehealth) if you have not and if you have, invite a loved one to like us, so they do not miss out on the healthy tips being shared on the page each day .

Till then, Cheers!

Pictures: Courtesy Google images

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What are the plans?

Happy New Dearies!

I know I wasn’t the first to wish you a happy new year even though I hoped so. I imagined the first two days will be full of best wishes from friends, families, loved ones and I did not want my best wishes for you to be lost in the “sea of many happy 2014 wishes” so I chose this 3^rd day of 2014 to wish you the very best of 2014. :) Now tell me, how have the first three days of 2014 being like for you? Here at Olime Health, they have been exciting. Truth is we have labelled this year, as an exciting year for us and for you. There are exciting packages waiting to be unwrapped this year and I pray you not to miss any of these packages.

Oh Dearies, each year you give me more reasons to continue with this blog. Reading my blog’s yearly report, I must say the figures for the number of views, visitors, comments, and countries are simply amazing. Wow! We beat last year’s record by 250% on the average. Thank you so much. Your continuous visits, comments, feedback and love for this blog mean so much to me. I wish I could say thank you in person. I want you to know that I do not take your patronage for granted. In my language, we would say Medaase bebree (Thank you much, Merci beaucoup, Gracias, Asante sana, Danke).

So tell me, what are your plans for this year? Do they include health and nutrition ones? I bet they do and I can imagine what they are, if you doubt me take a read here and see if I got it right. And you count on Olime Health to assist you in achieving your health and nutrition goals. Here at Olime Health, the plans have been drawn up and are being worked on. I hope you are also working on yours, this year, we have to rock it or what sayest thou?

This is the first post so I will keep it short but remember not to miss out on the exciting packages, which have been put in place to help you prevent, promote and protect your wellbeing.

Do like Olime Health on Facebook, www.facebook.com/olimehealth where most of the action will be taking place and keep coming. Tell others about us and let’s become healthier us together. :)

Till then, enjoy life to the fullest and live it, to the longest. Cheers!

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