Protein Foods: 8 Health Benefits of Foods High in Protein

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Did you know that your organs, tissues, muscles and hormones are all made from proteins? The protein found in foods is used by every part of the body to develop, grow and function properly. It can be argued that nothing is more important than consuming protein foods, and because proteins are involved in just about every body function, it’s important that you consume foods high in protein every day, during every meal to prevent protein deficiency, which can wreak havoc on the body.

Studies show that eating a high-protein diet has a number of health benefits. Not only does it help you maintain and lose weight, but it also works to stabilize your blood sugar levels, improve your ability to learn and concentrate, reduce brain fog, boost your energy levels, support your muscles and bones and support the absorption of important nutrients. (1)

Many people make the mistake of trying diets that involve calorie counting and deprivation. On a high-protein diet, you will feel completely satiated after eating, and you won’t have to deal with the blood sugar highs and lows that lead to cravings and moodiness. You’ll be surprised to see how many foods you can eat on a high-protein diet. Even people on a vegetarian or vegan diet, who sometimes turn to processed foods for energy, have enough high-protein foods to choose from.

We need to eat plenty of protein foods every day to keep our metabolisms running, our energy up and our blood sugar levels stable. You might eat enough protein overall, but do you eat the right kinds? Let’s take a look at some of the best protein foods for health.

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Top 11 Protein Foods to Include in Your Diet

1. Grass-Fed Beef: 3 ounces: 22 grams  

Grass-fed beef is one of the best high-protein foods that you can find. Not only does it supply almost 50 percent of your recommended daily value of protein, but it’s also a rich source of vitamins A and E and powerful antioxidants. Grass-fed beef nutrition has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and improve blood sugar levels due to its protein and healthy fat content. (2)

2. Organic Chicken: 3 ounces: 21 grams

One chicken breast supplies over 30 percent of your recommended daily value for protein, making it an excellent high-protein food option that can easily be added to healthy lunch and dinner recipes. Chicken is also a source of B vitamins, like niacin and vitamin B6, which are important for lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease, treating diabetes, supporting the health of your brain and lowering LDL cholesterol levels. Choose organic chicken to ensure that the chicken was fed organic food grown with no pesticides, received no antibiotics and was given access to the outdoors. (3)

3. Bone Broth: 1 serving (¼ cup): 20 grams

Protein powder made from bone broth is packed with protein and powerful amino acids that support gut integrity and detoxification. It also contains beneficial minerals, including potassium, calcium, selenium and magnesium. With just one serving of this protein powder, you ingest the healing benefits of bone broth like improving joint health, reducing cellulite, boosting your immune system and treating leaky gut.

4. Lentils: 1 cup: 18 grams

Eating lentils is a great way for vegetarians and vegans to get enough protein in their diets. A cup of lentils checks a lot of boxes off the nutrient list, including protein, fiber, folate, manganese, iron, phosphorus, potassium and B vitamins, just to name a few. The protein in lentils helps boost cardiovascular health, aid digestion, regulate blood sugar levels, and alkalize the body and balance its pH level. (4)

5. Wild-Caught Salmon (and other wild fish): 3 ounces: 17 grams

Wild-caught salmon is one of the healthiest foods around because it’s high in protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and a slew a vitamins and minerals — including vitamin B12 (with well over 100 percent of your daily value from a 3 ounce piece); vitamin D; selenium; vitamins B3, B6 and B5; and potassium. The benefits of salmon nutrition promote the health of your entire body, including your brain, bones, heart, eyes, skin and cells. (5)

6. Black Beans (and other beans): 1 cup: 15 grams

Black beans are another high-protein food that can be consumed by people following a vegetarian or vegan diet. Black beans are an excellent source of both protein and fiber, which can help to make you feel full and satisfied after eating, while also controlling your blood sugar levels so you don’t experience blood sugar highs and lows. The protein and fiber duo found in black beans also helps the body absorb nutrients and release acids into the bloodstream, which makes you feel energized and helps to cleanse your digestive tract. (6)

7. Natto: ½ cup: 15 grams

Natto is a fermented food that’s made by soaking whole soybeans, steaming them and adding healthy bacteria into the mixture. Natto offers an array of health benefits due to its protein, manganese, iron, copper, magnesium, vitamin K and vitamin C (just to name a few) content. The smell and texture of natto take some getting used to, but I suggest that you give it a try in order to take advantage of this nutrient-dense, probiotic, high-protein food. (7)

8. Eggs: 1 large free-range egg: 7 grams

Did you know that eggs have a complete amino acid profile? That means eggs contain all nine of the essential amino acids that we need to get from our food. Add eggs to your diet to boost your heart health, aid in weight loss, prevent metabolic syndrome and boost skin health. Not to mention, eggs are rich in biotin, which helps improve protein absorption. Vitamin B6 also plays an important role in protein absorption as it helps enzymes break down the protein and carries the disassembled amino acids to the blood.

But keep in mind, to get the full health benefits of eggs, stick to organic, free-range eggs, which guarantee the hens are allowed to roam, wander, perch and have a good quality of life. Plus, free-range eggs, when compared to eggs from caged hens, contain more vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids and less cholesterol. (8)

9. Yogurt or Kefir: 6 ounces: 6–9 grams

Yogurt and kefir (a cultured dairy product) are balanced sources of protein, fats, carbs, vitamins and minerals, and they’re full of beneficial probiotics that help to improve the microflora in your gut, thereby supporting your digestion and the absorption of nutrients. Adding this high-protein food to your diet can boost your immune system, support weight loss and regulate your mood. (9) This is why probiotic yogurt is considered a superfood. While Greek yogurt is a common go-to, I personally recommend yogurt made from goat or sheep milk.

10. Goat Cheese (and other raw cheeses): 1 ounce: 7 grams

Goat cheese comes from beneficial goat milk, which contains A2 casein protein (instead of A1 casein that’s found in cow’s milk) and is therefore easier to digest. Cheeses like goat cheese and feta cheese provide a good amount of protein per serving, and they help promote nutrient absorption and supply medium-chain fatty acids that boost energy levels and help lower cholesterol. (10)

11. Almonds (and other nuts): ¼ cup/23 almonds: 5 grams

Almonds are a healthy snack that contains protein, antioxidants, unsaturated fatty acids and fiber. Almonds nutrition, including vitamins like riboflavin and minerals like magnesium, help protect your heart from cardiovascular disease, reduce inflammation, support cognitive function, improve the health of your skin and control blood sugar levels. (11) If you don’t want to reach for a handful of almonds or other nuts, nut spreads can be another high-protein option. I recommend having almond or cashew butter and skipping the popular peanut butter.

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8 Health Benefits of Eating Foods with Protein

1. Boost Muscle Mass

Eating enough protein is necessary to build and maintain healthy muscle mass, while also supporting tendon, ligaments and other body tissue. So, protein is important for bodybuilding, but it’s also necessary for developing leaner muscles as well. When your diet is lacking in amino acids, “muscle wasting” (or muscle atrophy) can take place when your muscle fibers are broken down to support your body’s energy needs.

Protein is especially important after exercise, since physical activity like strength training purposefully damages muscle tissues so they can repair and grow back stronger. For the process to happen effectively, you need some extra protein to help repair the damage. While protein alone won’t enhance athletic performance, research shows that eating protein before and after exercise helps increase muscle recovery, promotes muscle synthesis and serves as effective muscle ache treatment. (12)

2. Help Manage Your Weight by Filling You Up

Although some research studies show conflicting results regarding high-protein diets versus low-protein diets for maintaining an ideal weight or losing weight fast, there’s plenty evidence that protein helps make you feel full and can prevent overeating. While dietary or lifestyle change must be personalized for weight loss to be effective, studies show that controlled calorie intake in association with a moderately high protein intake can be an effective and practical weight-loss strategy. (13)

Some of the reasons this is true? High-protein foods cause increased satiety to a greater extent than carbohydrates or fats, so they can prevent overeating and snacking. (14) It’s usually much easier to overeat carbohydrates, especially if they’re refined or sweetened, than it is to overeat healthy protein foods. Eating protein also creates a process in the body known as thermogenesis, which requires the body to expend more energy (calories) in order to digest food. (15, 16) At the same time, protein helps ward off muscle loss that can result from a low-calorie diet, which makes certain proteins superfoods for weight loss.

3. Stabilize Blood Sugar Levels

Insulin is a hormone that’s required for carbohydrates, fat and protein to be metabolized. However, carbohydrates require much more insulin than fat or protein does. The major determinate of blood sugar levels is the glycemic index response from the foods you eat, so while eating high-carb and high-sugar foods results in fluctuations in blood sugar levels, eating protein does the opposite.

Eating foods with protein has a minimal effect on blood glucose levels and can, in fact, slow down the absorption of sugar during a meal. (17) This means a high-protein diet can help prevent spikes in blood glucose, which is especially important for preventing type 2 diabetes, balancing energy levels, and keeping your appetite and mood in check.

4. Improve Your Mood

Certain amino acids from protein foods are needed to balance hormones naturally, control your mood and act as a natural remedy for anxiety. Proteins help neurotransmitters function and synthesize hormones like dopamine and serotonin that calm us and keep our outlook positive. (18)

Many people who are lacking in key amino acids start experiencing weakness, moodiness, and increased anxiety or signs of depression for this reason. Because protein helps stabilize glucose in your blood, it also prevents mood changes, irritability and cravings that can occur due to fluctuating blood sugar levels.

5. Promote Healthy Brain Function and Learning

Proteins are needed to make enzymes, hormones and neurotransmitters that are critical for cognitive function. As your mother may have told you when you were a kid, eating a healthy breakfast sets the tone for the day and prepares you to learn and remember information.

The brain requires a steady supply of amino acids in order to keep concentration, focus and energy levels up. Studies show that when amino acid deprivation takes place, learning and coordination suffers, but once all necessary amino acids are reintroduced into the diet, learning and motor skills improve. (19)

6. Help Maintain Strong Bones

Many studies now show that a positive association exists between eating more foods with protein and better bone health. (20) The effects of protein on bones also relate to the specific protein foods being eaten and intake of important bone-building nutrients like calcium and magnesium. A diet high in protein from whole, nutrient-rich foods can heal broken bones and prevent bone weakness, fractures and even osteoporosis by increasing calcium absorption and helping with bone metabolism.

Recent studies in the elderly in the U.S. show that the greatest bone losses occur in people with low protein intake of 16–50 grams per day. It’s believed that when someone eats a low level of protein, insulin-like growth factor production is reduced, which in turn has a negative effect on calcium and phosphate metabolism in the bones and bone formation. (21)

7. Protect Heart Health

Some studies show that an inverse relationship between protein intake and risk of heart disease has been observed in adults, as higher protein diets appear to one of the natural remedies for high blood pressure. Also, substituting carbohydrate foods with protein results in lower LDL “bad” cholesterol and triglyceride levels. One reason this might be true is because higher protein diets balance blood sugar and tend to help prevent other heart disease-related causes, including obesity and diabetes. (22)

8. Slow Aging and Promote Longevity

One of the key roles of protein foods is helping the body synthesize glutathione, often called the “master antioxidant.” Glutathione is stored within our own cells and helps us detox and reduce carcinogens that age us. Animal and human studies both show that adequate protein intake is crucial for the maintenance of glutathione and helps the body stay in a state of balanced “homeostasis.” Glutathione deficiency contributes to oxidative stress, which plays a key role in age-related diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, liver disease, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, cancer and viral infections. (23)

Research shows that a diet high in balanced amino acids from protein foods can help treat muscle loss due to aging (called sarcopenia). (24) A diet that has adequate levels of protein helps slow the aging process by keeping muscle mass intact, supporting strong bones, and maintaining high cognitive and immune function. In the elderly, amino acid deficiencies can potentially lead to eye problems like cataracts, heart problems, muscle loss, weakness and mood changes.

As you age, your body is less capable of synthesizing amino acids on its own, which is one reason why the amount of muscle you have tends to decrease over the years while fat accumulates. This makes it even more important for you to eat plenty of protein-rich foods to support not only a healthy body weight, but to keep your memory sharp, energy up, and strength and balance in place.

What Is Protein and Why Are Protein Foods So Important?

What exactly are proteins? Proteins are considered long chains of amino acids, which are the important molecules we get from our diets. Amino acids can be found in many different types of foods, even vegetables, but the highest sources are those that come from animals — like meat, dairy, eggs and fish — plus to a lesser extent certain plant foods like beans and seeds.

Proteins are long chains of amino acids, which are essential molecules for all metabolic processes. Amino acids, such as glutamine, arginine and glycine, allow for the break down, transport and storage of all nutrients, including proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and water.

The body can make some amino acids on its own, but it depends on protein foods to obtain the rest, which are considered “essential” amino acids because we can’t make them. Research shows that amino acids hold great promise in the prevention and treatment of many metabolic diseases, including cardiovascular disorders, infertility, obesity, diabetes and neurological dysfunction. (25)

Although amino acids are separate chemical compounds that are stored in a range of different foods, in the body they’re held together by peptide bonds. Without enough diverse protein food sources in your diet, you risk becoming deficient in certain amino acids. The result? Low energy, trouble building muscle mass, low concentration and memory, mood swings, unstable blood sugar levels, and trouble maintaining or losing weight.

Proteins are used every day to keep the body going. Because they’re used to develop, grow and maintain just about every part of our body — from our skin and hair to our digestive enzymes and immune system antibodies — they’re constantly broken down and must be replaced.

When you don’t eat a range of foods high in protein, you become at risk of deficiencies in certain amino acids, which can result in many health issues. If you are struggling with the following health concerns, it may be due to aprotein deficiency:

• low energy
• mood swings and anxiousness
• a sluggish metabolism
• trouble concentrating or “brain fog”
• unstable blood sugar levels
• difficulty maintaining or losing weight
• trouble building muscle mass
• poor sleep and insomnia
• low immunity
• slow wound healing
• gassiness or constipation

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What Makes Some Protein Foods Better Than Others?

The body can make some amino acids on its own, but the rest it must obtain from protein foods. Of the 20 total amino acids there are, certain ones are considered “essential” because these are the specific kinds we aren’t capable of making ourselves. Others are “nonessential” because the body can create them by synthesizing other amino acids.

The 20 different amino acids are all unique and have certain functions in the body, so it’s important to cover your bases and eat a variety of high-protein foods in order to make sure you aren’t lacking certain kinds. Even when an amino acid isn’t essential, it’s more beneficial to obtain it from food since this requires less work for the body.

In the U.S. and most other developed nations, people rarely become severely protein-deficient (a condition called Kwashiorkor). However, many people eat the same foods each day and don’t vary their diets enough to obtain all essential amino acids regularly. So while eating plenty of protein in general is important, it’s also smart to eat a variety of different protein foods.

People following a low-calorie, vegetarian or vegan diet are especially at a higher risk for missing out on important amino acids, since animal foods are considered “complete proteins” (meaning they contain all essential amino acids) but many plant foods are not. It’s possible to combine different plant foods in order to create a combination that has all essential aminos — such as eating rice with beans or vegetables with whole grains, for example — but some health experts believe this is not as optimal as eating foods that are complete protein sources.

What are some top protein food choices that are complete proteins?

A longer list is below, but some of my favorites include grass-fed beef, raw organic dairy, cage-free eggs and wild-caught seafood. Grass-fed beef contains special immune-boosting conjugated linoleic acid and healthy saturated fats, plus a superior nutritional content than conventionally raised beef. Similarly, bison, venison and lamb are also good choices.

Wild-caught fish is a complete set of amino acids, plus it’s one of the heart-healthy omega-3 foods. Eggs and raw dairy products provide a high level of nutrients in addition to protein, plus they’re versatile and taste great. Raw dairy like yogurt and kefir also provide gut-friendly probiotics that improve digestion and immunity.

One thing to be conscious about is purchasing high-quality protein foods, especially if they’re animal-based. What do I mean by this? Making sure to buy grass-fed meat; organic, cage-free eggs or poultry; raw, unpasteurized dairy; and wild-caught fish is key for obtaining enough protein while also reducing toxins in your diet.

Better quality animal products contain more nutrients over conventionally raised foods since the animals themselves are healthier and fed more natural, nutrient-dense diets. We also know there are some real dangers of farmed fish and livestock when we eat them in large quantities. High-quality proteins provide more trace minerals and vitamins, healthy fatty acids, and contain far less pollutants, heavy metals, or potential synthetic hormones and antibiotics.

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Foods High in Protein for Vegetarians/Vegans

You don’t have to eat meat or animal products to follow a high-protein diet. There are actually plenty of foods that contain plant protein. For those of you on a vegetarian or vegan diet, eat plenty of these foods to increase your protein consumption:

• tempeh
• lentils
• beans (black beans, lima beans, pinto beans, chickpeas)
• nuts (almonds, peanuts, pistachios, cashews)
• nut butter (almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter)
• brown rice
• oats
• quinoa
• seeds (chia seeds, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds)
• leafy greens (spinach, kale)
• avocado
• broccoli
• peas
• mushrooms
• Brussels sprouts

Hemp protein powder is another great option for vegetarians and vegans. It’s one of the best plant protein powders because it contains 20 amino acids, including all nine essential amino acids that your body can’t produce on its own. The powder is made from hemp seeds, which have barely or even no measurable levels of THC, so it’s completely healthy, safe and legal. Plus, it contains omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, iron, potassium and calcium too.

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How Many Protein Foods Should We Eat Every Day?

We all need a different level of protein based on our exact needs. For example, your body weight, gender, age, and level of activity or exercise all determine how much protein is best for you. There are also some health conditions that require people to either eat more or less protein than the average person. And athletes need to eat even more foods for energy and performance, including plenty of quality protein.

That being said, there are some general protein guidelines that can serve as a good recommendation to aim for each day. According to the USDA, the recommended daily intake of protein for adults who are at an average weight and activity level is: (26)

• 56 grams per day for men
• 46 grams per day for women

The amounts above are the minimum amount of protein you should aim for each day, assuming you are otherwise healthy and are moderately active. These amounts are equal to eating about 0.36 grams of protein for every pound that you weigh.

More ideally, I recommend you take your body weight and multiply that number by 0.5. The result is the amount in grams of protein you should ideally aim to eat each day. For example, a woman who weighs 150 pounds should aim to eat 75 grams of protein daily, and a man who weighs 180 pounds should shoot for 90 grams.

Overall, I recommend that you make about 30 percent of your plate a high-quality source of protein at every meal. This ensures you eat enough throughout the day to meet your needs and prevents you from overeating carbs and junk foods.

It’s best to eat small amounts of protein throughout the day instead of a very large serving only once or twice. This gives your body the right amount of protein it needs at any given time, since only so much can be utilized at once (the rest will be stored as fat or eliminated). Because your body cannot store protein, eating it throughout the day is the surest way to balance your blood sugar levels, ward off hunger and support your metabolism. This is especially important around the time of exercise when protein-rich pre-workout snacks can go a long way.

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How to Follow a High Protein Diet + Benefits

The general rule that I like to follow for consuming protein is eating 50 percent of your body weight in grams of protein per day. Like I said, that means if you weigh 160 pounds, you should be consuming about 80 grams of protein per day. If you’re looking to burn fat on a high-protein diet, then you’ll want to consume even more protein, about 70 percent of your body weight. For people weighing 160 pounds, multiply 160 by 0.7, which gives you 112, so consume close to 100 to 115 grams of protein every day to burn fat more easily.

An easy way to wrap your head around consuming enough protein in one day is to divide the amount of grams you want to eat by the number of meals you consume. If you eat three meals every day and you want to consume 80 grams of protein, then that’s about 25 grams of protein per meal.

Now break that down even further — 25 grams of protein is about a three-ounce serving (about the size of a deck of cards) of grass-fed beef, organic chicken or wild-caught salmon. Combine your meat with a serving of beans and you have plenty of protein in your meal already. Even leafy greens or vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts contain some protein, so adding these vegetables and raw cheese to an omelette is another great way to consume over 25 grams of protein per meal. And to address your mid-day hunger, there are plenty of high-protein snacks that you can turn to, like black bean hummus, yogurt bites, deviled eggs and even cashew butter chocolate chip cookies.

Research shows that a high-protein diet can help you decrease body fat and improve satiety by: (27)

• increasing the secretion of satiety hormones
• reducing appetite-stimulating hormones
• decreasing the need for more food for energy
• improving glucose homeostasis

Following a high-protein diet can help you preserve lean body mass while losing weight. People on a low-calorie diet sometimes notice that along with body fat, they are losing muscle too. Luckily, eating high-protein foods can help you to avoid that. A high-protein diet also creates thermogenesis, a bodily process that requires the body to burn more calories for energy so it can properly digest food. So many diets don’t work because we put ourselves into starvation mode, but a high-protein diet allows you to eat plenty of nutrient-dense, filling foods so you feel full and still lose weight.

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Recipes with Foods High in Protein

With such a variety of delicious high-protein foods to choose from, the recipe options are plentiful. You can prepare recipes with one main high-protein ingredient or with a combination of foods that are high in protein. Here are some of my favorite recipes containing a good amount of protein, with both meat and meat-free options:

• Gluten-Free Beef Stroganoff
• Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe
• Cilantro Salmon Burgers
• Turmeric Eggs
• Hummus Recipe
• Keto Smoothie Recipe

And just to give you a few more options, try some of these protein shake recipes and bone broth protein recipes too.

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Are There Concerns with Eating Too Much Protein?

Some people are concerned that kidney or liver function can suffer when their diets are too high in protein. However, there isn’t much evidence that a well-rounded diet that has moderate to high levels of high-quality protein will cause problems in otherwise healthy people. (28, 29) Similarly, as mentioned earlier, protein seems to help with bone and heart health, as opposed to preventing risks for worsened health conditions.

That being said, eating very high levels of protein is correlated with some health risks in certain instances. Eating more calories in general than your body can use, whether from protein or another source, will not result in better health and will contribute to weight gain. Very high protein might also lead to digestive problems like constipation, changes in blood sugar levels, and possibly bacteria and yeast growth in the gut.

Neglecting other nutrients and eating a large amount of protein can also put stress on your organs while they work to balance your body’s pH level (since animal foods can be acidic in nature), plus proteins make your body remove more nitrogen waste products from your blood.

Of course, eating a well-rounded diet that’s varied in terms of foods is important for optimal health. Just like you wouldn’t want to consume large amounts of sodium, you do not want to overcome any food. To sum it up, protein plays a big part in a healthy diet, but quality is key — plus you don’t want to simply load up on protein foods all day long without eating enough vegetables, fruit and healthy fats.

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Final Thoughts on High-Protein Foods

• The protein found in foods is used by every part of the body to develop, grow and function properly.
• Proteins are long chains of amino acids, which are essential molecules for all metabolic processes.
• When you don’t eat a range of foods high in protein, you become at risk of deficiencies in certain amino acids, which can result in many health issues, including low energy, mood swings, difficulty losing weight, poor sleep, low immunity and unstable blood sugar levels.
• Some of the top foods high in protein include grass-fed beef, organic chicken, lentils, wild-caught salmon, black beans, natto, eggs, yogurt, goat cheese, almonds and protein powder made from bone broth.
• For people who don’t eat animal products, there are plenty of plant-based protein options, including nuts, seeds, beans, leafy greens and grains like quinoa.
• To follow a high-protein diet, eat 50 percent of your body weight in grams of protein per day. If you’re looking to burn fat, consume about 70 percent of your body weight in grams of protein.

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SECRET 10 BEST FOOD FOR WOMEN

1. Something's Fishy!
   • Salmon was at one time avoided in favour of white fish or sole, due its higher fat content. However, once we understood the value and benefit of the essential "Omega 3 fatty acids" present in salmon and other oily fish, it was back on the plate. Salmon is also high in protein, low in cholesterol and contains other essential vitamins... The Australian Dietary Guidelines advise eating one or two fish meals per week for good health. The good news is that FSANZ has found it is safe for all population groups to eat 2-3 serves per week of most types of fish. There are only a few types of fish, which FSANZ recommends limiting in the diet - these are billfish (swordfish / broadbill and marlin), shark/flake, orange roughy and catfish.
     
     FSANZ advises that pregnant women, women planning pregnancy and young children continue to consume a variety of fish as part of a healthy diet but limit their consumption of certain species.
2. Crank Up the Calcium!
   • Women of all ages need enough calcium in their diets to build and maintain strong bones. Milk and yogurt are 2 ways to get your calcium. Calcium-rich foods that are also good sources of magnesium (and other nutrients) go a long way to supporting bone, and heart health. Magnesium is the nutrient that plays an important role in the creation of new bone; so think about seeds and nuts as healthy additions to a wholegrain cereal. Calcium, magnesium and potassium are alkalising minerals.If you feel you need to supplement with calcium, remember that calcium should be taken with magnesium in a 2:1 ratio. This is because calcium and magnesium require each other for proper absorption, and utilisation in the body. So, if you supplement with 500 mg of calcium, you need to take 250 mg of magnesium at the same time. eVitamins has the best range of vitamins and supplements and a very comprehensive website to help you determine your needs. 
     
     Save 20% - 70% On Health Products At eVitamins!
3. Green Power!
   • Broccoli for example is not only a good source of calcium, potassium and B vitamins; it contains plant substances called sulphurophanes. These plant chemicals are cancer-protective and help the liver process and clear any excess oestrogen. Nowadays we don't just produce oestrogen internally, but we are exposed to it in the environment in the form of oestrogen-like chemicals found in plastics, tap water and other insidious places. Excess oestrogen causes weight gain, hormonal imbalances, night sweating, and presents an increased risk of fibroids, breast cysts, breast cancer and endometriosis.
4. Water me please!
   • Water is a nutrient and the fact is we need it... and plenty of it. Certainly, water may be one of the best tools in the weight loss game. It not only suppresses the appetite, but helps the body metabolise stored fat. Water keeps the body's tissues well hydrated, so if you want smooth, line-free skin for as long as is naturally possible... drink up!
5. Soy Good!
   • Soya foods (including beans, tofu, Soya milk & yogurt, soy sauce, Tamari and Miso) are the richest food sources of phytoestrogens (and of course soy protein). The natural plant substances - phytoestrogens - are now thought to be beneficial in maintaining bone density, as well as being the best "alternative" to HRT when many women need hormonal support as they enter menopausal years. Tofu, milk, and yogurt are also great calcium sources. All these foods can help a woman significantly lower her bad cholesterol (LDL) and raise the good (HDL) cholesterol. Tofu is a great source of low-fat, vegetable protein, best used in a vegetable stir-fry with soy sauce, and brown rice. Slim Secrets bars are also a great source of soy protein and taste great!
6. Iron it out!
   • Women need to eat more iron-rich foods. Getting iron from food (as opposed to a supplement) is by far the best way to get the correct amount of iron the body needs and can absorb. Lean red meats and dark poultry are the ideal food sources of iron. Unfortunately that doesn't help much if you are vegetarian or one of the many women who avoid red meats. In this case, think about eating more of the following iron-rich foods... lentils, dried apricots, beans, spinach, enriched wholegrain cereals, pumpkin seeds, and oysters! If you do need to take a supplement please go to eVitamins for the best supplements on the market.
7. Flax those muscles!
   • Flax seeds (or linseeds) and flax seed oil have so much to offer women. For starters, flax is full of "essential" Omega 3 fatty acids (EFA's), which help to balance women's hormones, protect a woman from heart disease (the leading cause of premature death among women) and the pain of arthritis. The dietary fibres in flax are called lignans, which contain phytoestrogens, currently being researched and showing promise in cancer prevention. Lignans are also thought to have antioxidant properties. The best way to get the benefit of the flaxseeds fibre and oils is to grind them in a clean coffee mill, used just for this purpose. Alternatively use a pestle and mortar, and sprinkle them onto cereal in the morning or add them to a bowl of natural yogurt and fruit. The essential fatty acids are very fragile, unstable, and liable to oxidation if exposed to light and air. Within the whole seeds, the oil is protected. So buy fresh, organic seeds if at all possible. You can eat them whole; just chew them thoroughly!
8. Orange Aid
   • Orange vegetables such as orange squashes (and tubers) like pumpkin, butternut squash and sweet potatoes are a girl's best friend when it comes to nutritious, comforting food. All these foods are filling, low in calories, and rich in beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, which will work plenty of its antioxidant magic in your body. Antioxidants are important in the anti-ageing process, helping to repair and regenerate skin and other tissues. Beta-carotene is also thought to help reduce the risk of breast cancer.
9. Kale who?
   • Kale is an often-overlooked vegetable that happens to be loaded with folate (folic acid), an important B vitamin for women. Having a deficiency in folic acid during pregnancy may cause neural-tube defects in babies. Kale is also an excellent source of vitamin C and calcium, too.
10. Well Bean
    • Beans and pulses should be included in everyone's diet, but for women they are especially important. They are highly nutritious, low in fat, and an excellent source of vegetable protein. A fibre-rich diet is one of the first components to colon cancer prevention, and with more women dying of colon cancer than breast cancer every year; it makes sense to eat plenty of beans. This group of foods also contains phytoestrogens, the natural plant hormones, which are also protective against cancer, as well as being important for bone health. Bring on those beans!

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Tips for Successful Students

Successful students exhibit a combination of successful attitudes and behaviors as well as intellectual capacity. Successful students . . .

1. . . . are responsible and active.

Successful students get involved in their studies, accept responsibility for their own education, and are active participants in it! Responsibility is the difference between leading and being led. Active classroom participation improves grades without increasing study time. You can sit there, act bored, daydream, or sleep. Or you can actively listen, think, question, and take notes like someone in charge of their learning experience. Either option costs one class period. However, the former method will require a large degree of additional work outside of class to achieve the same degree of learning the latter provides at one sitting.

2. . . . have educational goals.

Successful students are motivated by what their goals represent in terms of career aspirations and life's desires. Ask yourself these questions: What am I doing here? Is there some better place I could be? What does my presence here mean to me?Answers to these questions represent your "Hot Buttons" and are, without a doubt, the most important factors in your success as a college student. If your educational goals are truly yours, not someone else's, they will motivate a vital and positive academic attitude. If you are familiar with what these hot buttons represent and refer to them often, especially when you tire of being a student, nothing can stop you; if you aren't and don't, everything can, and will!

3. . . . ask questions.

Successful students ask questions to provide the quickest route between ignorance and knowledge.In addition to securing knowledge you seek, asking questions has at least two other extremely important benefits. The process helps you pay attention to your professor and helps your professor pay attention to you! Think about it. If you want something, go after it. Get the answer now, or fail a question later. There are no foolish questions, only foolish silence. It's your choice.

4. . . . learn that a student and a professor make a team.

Most instructors want exactly what you want: they would like for you to learn the material in their respective classes and earn a good grade.Successful students reflect well on the efforts of any teacher; if you have learned your material, the instructor takes some justifiable pride in teaching. Join forces with your instructor, they are not an enemy, you share the same interests, the same goals - in short, you're teammates. Get to know your professor. You're the most valuable players on the same team. Your jobs are to work together for mutual success. Neither wishes to chalk up a losing season. Be a team player!

5. . . . don't sit in the back.

Successful students minimize classroom distractions that interfere with learning.Students want the best seat available for their entertainment dollars, but willingly seek the worst seat for their educational dollars. Students who sit in the back cannot possibly be their professor's teammate (see no. 4). Why do they expose themselves to the temptations of inactive classroom experiences and distractions of all the people between them and their instructor? Of course, we know they chose the back of the classroom because they seek invisibility or anonymity, both of which are antithetical to efficient and effective learning. If you are trying not to be part of the class, why, then, are you wasting your time? Push your hot buttons, is their something else you should be doing with your time?

6. . . . take good notes.

Successful students take notes that are understandable and organized, and review them often.Why put something into your notes you don't understand? Ask the questions now that are necessary to make your notes meaningful at some later time. A short review of your notes while the material is still fresh on your mind helps your learn more. The more you learn then, the less you'll have to learn later and the less time it will take because you won't have to include some deciphering time, also. The whole purpose of taking notes is to use them, and use them often. The more you use them, the more they improve.

7. . . . understand that actions affect learning.

Successful students know their personal behavior affect their feelings and emotions which in turn can affect learning.If you act in a certain way that normally produces particular feelings, you will begin to experience those feelings. Act like you're bored, and you'll become bored. Act like you're uninterested, and you'll become uninterested. So the next time you have trouble concentrating in the classroom, "act" like an interested person: lean forward, place your feet flat on the floor, maintain eye contact with the professor, nod occasionally, take notes, and ask questions. Not only will you benefit directly from your actions, your classmates and professor may also get more excited and enthusiastic.

8. . . . talk about what they're learning.

Successful students get to know something well enough that they can put it into words.Talking about something, with friends or classmates, is not only good for checking whether or not you know something, its a proven learning tool. Transferring ideas into words provides the most direct path for moving knowledge from short-term to long-term memory. You really don't "know" material until you can put it into words. So, next time you study, don't do it silently. Talk about notes, problems, readings, etc. with friends, recite to a chair, organize an oral study group, pretend you're teaching your peers. "Talk-learning" produces a whole host of memory traces that result in more learning.

9. . . . don't cram for exams.

Successful students know that divided periods of study are more effective than cram sessions, and they practice it.If there is one thing that study skills specialists agree on, it is that distributed study is better than massed, late-night, last-ditch efforts known as cramming. You'll learn more, remember more, and earn a higher grade by studying in four, one hour-a-night sessions for Friday's exam than studying for four hours straight on Thursday night. Short, concentrated preparatory efforts are more efficient and rewarding than wasteful, inattentive, last moment marathons. Yet, so many students fail to learn this lesson and end up repeating it over and over again until it becomes a wasteful habit. Not too clever, huh?

10. . . . are good time managers.

Successful students do not procrastinate. They have learned that time control is life control and have consciously chosen to be in control of their life.An elemental truth: you will either control time or be controlled by it! It's your choice: you can lead or be led, establish control or relinquish control, steer your own course or follow others. Failure to take control of their own time is probably the no. 1 study skills problem for college students. It ultimately causes many students to become non-students! Procrastinators are good excuse-makers. Don't make academics harder on yourself than it has to be. Stop procrastinating. And don't wait until tomorrow to do it!

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5 key skills for academic success

It's never too early or too late to help your child develop the skills for academic success. Learn how to build these skills and stay on track all year long.

It takes a combination of skills — organization, time management, prioritization, concentration and motivation — to achieve academic success. Here are some tips to help get your child on the right track.

Talk to your child.

To find out which of these skills your child has and which he can develop further, start a simple conversation that focuses on his goals. Ask him about his favorite subjects, classes he dreads and whether he’s satisfied with his latest progress report.

Listen for clues.

Incorporate your own observations with your child’s self-assessment. Is your child overwhelmed by assignments? She may have trouble organizing time. Does your child have difficulty completing her work? She may get distracted too easily. Is your child simply not interested in school? She may need help getting motivated.

Identify problem areas.

Start here to help your child identify which of the five skill areas are trouble spots.

1. Organization

Whether it’s keeping track of research materials or remembering to bring home a lunch box, children need to be organized to succeed in school. For many students, academic challenges are related more to a lack of organization than to a lack of intellectual ability.

Tips to help your child get organized:

• Make a checklist of things your child needs to bring to and from school every day. Put a copy by the door at home and one in his backpack. Try to check with him each day to see if he remembers the items on the list.
• Find out how your child keeps track of his homework and how he organizes his notebooks. Then work together to develop a system he will want to use.
• Shop with your child for tools that will help him stay organized, such as binders, folders or an assignment book.

2. Time Management

Learning to schedule enough time to complete an assignment may be difficult for your student. Even when students have a week to do a project, many won’t start until the night before it’s due. Learning to organize time into productive blocks takes practice and experience.

Tips to help your child manage time:

• Track assignments on a monthly calendar. Work backward from the due date of larger assignments and break them into nightly tasks.
• Help your child record how much time she spends on homework each week so she can figure out how to divide this time into manageable chunks.
• Together, designate a time for nightly homework and help your child stick to this schedule.
• If evenings aren’t enough, help your child find other times for schoolwork, such as early mornings, study halls or weekends.

3. Prioritization

Sometimes children fall behind in school and fail to hand in assignments because they simply don’t know where to begin. Prioritizing tasks is a skill your child will need throughout life, so it’s never too soon to get started.

Tips to help your child prioritize:

• Ask your child to write down all the things he needs to do, including non-school-related activities.
• Ask him to label each task from 1 to 3, with 1 being most important.
• Ask about each task, so that you understand your child’s priorities. If he labels all his social activities as 1, then you know where his attention is focused.
• Help your child change some of the labels to better prioritize for academic success. Then suggest he rewrite the list so all the 1s are at the top.
• Check in frequently to see how the list is evolving and how your child is prioritizing new tasks.

4. Concentration

Whether your child is practicing her second-grade spelling words or studying for a trigonometry test, it’s important that she works on schoolwork in an area with limited distractions and interruptions.

Tips to help your child concentrate:

• Turn off access to email and games when your child works on the computer.
• Declare the phone and TV off-limits during homework time.
• Find space that fits the assignment. If your child is working on a science project, she may need lots of space; if she’s studying for a Spanish test, she will need a well-lit desk.
• Help your child concentrate during homework time by separating her from her siblings.

5. Motivation

Most children say they want to do well in school, yet many still fail to complete the level of work necessary to succeed academically. The reason is often motivation. Tapping into your child’s interests is a great way to get him geared to do well in school.

Tips to help motivate your child:

• Link school lessons to your child’s life. If he’s learning percentages, ask him to figure out the price of a discounted item next time you shop.
• Link your child’s interests to academics. If he’s passionate about music, give him books about musicians and show how music and foreign languages are connected.
• Give your child control and choices. With guidance, let him determine his study hours, organizing system or school project topics.
• Encourage your child to share his expertise. Regularly ask him about what he’s learning in school.
• Congratulate your child, encourage him and celebrate all his successes.

Often what holds children back from trying is the fear of failure or the memory of a time they didn’t do well. You can help break this cycle by celebrating your child’s successes, no matter how small, and by giving him opportunities to succeed academically.

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TOP FIVE SKILLS FOR SUCCESS AS A STUDENT

What does it mean for you to be successful in college? Many students entering college for the first time, or perhaps returning to college after many years, wonder if they can be successful in their studies.

Within higher education, student success is often thought of in terms of persistence (staying enrolled in college) or meeting a personal goal (earning a degree). Research has examined what factors are most likely to contribute to successfully completing college and meeting your individual goals. Cornerstone University's Professional & Graduate Studies division seeks to integrate a number of these research-based findings into our work in student success.

Here are five skills for success that draw upon some of this research.

1. MAKE A COMMITMENT TO ACADEMIC STUDY.

This might seem like an obvious place to start, but to be successful, you should make an intentional choice to make the most of your classes and assignments.

This includes:

• A commitment to getting the most out of class time.
• Being open to learning new ideas.
• Developing effective reading and writing habits.
• Asking for help from professors when you need it.

Vincent Tinto is well-known within higher education for his work researching why students leave college. He states that students should have strong academic integration to persist in their studies (Tinto, 1993). In other words, successful students integrate into the academic aspects of college life and find satisfaction in their studies.

Braxton and Lien (2000) have also discussed academic integration, especially the importance of students remaining intellectually connected to their college and not becoming isolated.

In addition to regular classroom learning, PGS offers workshops and additional resources to help you achieve success in your studies. These provide ways to connect with the university and enhance opportunities to be successful.

2. RECOGNIZE THAT RELATIONSHIPS MATTER.

Tinto (1993) also talked about the importance of social integration or a sense of connection and belonging a student feels towards their university. This idea highlights the importance of relationships and how making connections with others can help you achieve success.

Getting to know other students in a cohort or degree program can be essential to being successful, especially when you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed with classes or assignments. Having other people available to provide support can make a huge difference. Friends and family can also be an essential source of encouragement and support.

3. DEFINE YOUR GOALS.

One of the best ways for you to maintain focus and energy is to clearly identify goals and steadily work toward achieving those objectives.

Ken Bain (2012) writes that successful students have a high degree of motivation for attending college. Sometimes motivation might be internal (e.g., a desire to finish a degree, to fulfill a personal ambition, etc.) or it might be external (e.g., a new job, a change of career, addressing a social issue, etc.).

Whatever the motivation is, write it down and use it as a reminder of why attending college is important.

4. MAKE CONNECTIONS.

One of the most beneficial aspects of being a college student as an adult is drawing from your own life experience and expertise. As an adult student, you almost always have knowledge and insights gained from your work life, your family background and your community involvement.

As you take classes, read books and complete assignments, you can look to find ways to integrate their new learning with what you already know. This is especially effective in making connections to a current workplace or community issue. Often there will be moments of insight or connections while sitting in class, listening to a lecture or reading. Keeping a list of these insights encourages you to see your growth over time and fuels your motivation for learning. Bain (2012) states that making these types of connections and maintaining a curiosity for learning are important for success.

5. MANAGE YOUR TIME.

As an adult student, you may face a challenge in finding enough time for your studies. You may have a busy schedule of balancing work, family and other commitments. Adding college-level studies to this schedule is a major practical consideration for most students.

Your schedule will look different than others, but sitting down with a calendar on a regular basis and mapping out specific blocks of time for study can make a big difference. Telling friends and family that you have committed a certain time to complete an assignment or read for class can also help you to make room for your studies. And it lets others know how to adjust to an established study schedule.

Becoming a successful student and developing skills that will sustain learning can take time to develop. Taking small steps toward a specific goal is one way to become successful.

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10 Skills All Students Need to Be Successful

This is the first of three posts that I am writing in an attempt to inspire more discussion around the following question: How do we prepare students to be successful in their futures?

Determining an answer to this question, is a discussion that I believe needs to include students, instructors, parents, businesses and community members. In other words, this is a discussion that needs to include everyone!

In order to tackle this issue from the stance of an educator, I want to take a look at three different questions:

1. What are the skills that our students need to be successful?
2. In order to help students develop these skills, what type of projects and assessments can we engage them in?
3. What are some tools and practices that we can use to implement these skills into the classroom?

The goal of this post is to address the first of these three questions.

The Issue

In the United States alone, there are approximately 55.6 million students attending elementary and secondary schools and 20.5 million students attending colleges and universities. In the majority of schools and classrooms that I have worked with, students are mainly being assessed on lower-level thinking skills such as memorization and recall. The multiple choice, short-answer and matching questions, along with the academic research paper, are still depended on as the main modes of assessment.

This needs to change.

My goal was to discover the most important skills that students need to be successful. After speaking with hundreds of business leaders and reading hundreds of articles, it became clear that it is time for education to change. The same skills continued to be mentioned. There is less demand for obedient workers who can simply show up on time and follow directions. There is an increased demand for self-directed workers who can adapt and learn quickly, think critically, communicate and innovate.

Approximately 65% of our students will be employed in jobs that don’t exist yet. So, how do we prepare them for this? I believe that we do so by helping student develop the skills that they will need to succeed in a future filled with uncertainty.

The Skills

I decided to compile the notes I took while doing my research. My goal was to identify the skills that were brought up the most in an attempt to determine which skills our students will need to be successful in their futures. The following are the 10 skills mentioned the most often:

1. Adaptive Thinking: In the digital age, things are changing at exponential rates. By the time employees learn the newest software or program, a better version is coming about. Future employers will need to continuously adapt to changing conditions as well as be able to learn new things quickly and efficiently. We need our students to learn how to learn.
2. Communication Skills: There continues to be an emphasis on the ability to communicate. In the digital age, however, we have access to a wide variety of new ways to communicate from video-conferencing to social media. Future employers need to be able to communicate with people within their team, as well as people outside of the team and organization.
3. Collaboration Skills: Most classrooms foster a culture of competition and independence rather than one of teamwork and collaboration. Future employers will need to quickly adapt to a culture of collaboration. They will need to collaborate with others within and outside of the organization, often using a number of new technologies.
4. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills: There is a decreased emphasis on employers following directions and an increased emphasis on employers thinking critically and solving problems. In a rapidly changing world, employers need employees who can solve problems, provide ideas and help improve the organization.
5. Personal Management: This includes the ability for employers to independently plan, organize, create and execute, rather than wait for someone to do this for them.
6. Inquiry Skills: The large majority of academic assessments ask students for answers. Rarely do we assess students on how well they can ask questions. The ability to ask great questions, however, is a critical skill that is desperately needed in a culture which requires constant innovations.
7. Technology Skills: Almost every business that I talked to said that employers will need to be skilled at using technology. In the digital age, technology is everywhere. Schools, however, have been slow to adapt to this change. Rarely are students required or taught to learn technology efficiently. This needs to be emphasized.
8. Creativity and Innovation: This skill is mentioned often. I believe that it correlates with the ability to ask good questions and the ability to problem solve. Employers will be looking to employees more and more for creative and innovative solutions to issues that exist.
9. Soft Skills: Schools rarely spend time teaching students soft skills, including skills such as time management skills, organizational skills, the ability to look someone in the eyes when talking to them, or using a firm handshake. I have heard a number of times, by different business leaders, that these skills seem to be disappearing.
10. Empathy and Perspective: Although this skill has always been important, it seems to be another one that is slowly disappearing. The ability for our students to put themselves in someone else’s shoes, to understand their feelings, and to help solve their problems.

The Action

Although it is important for our students to learn a core set of knowledge, we are not helping them develop these 10 skills by simply requiring them to regurgitate facts in an attempt to earn grades for a course. We need to have students apply what they are learning by engaging them in projects. We need to engage them in higher-order thinking skills in order for them to develop the skills that will be critical to their future success. Bloom’s Taxonomy provides a great illustration of the different levels of thinking. As educators, we need to stop depending on the lower level skills, such as memorization and recall, and help students develop higher-order thinking skills such as applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.

Then, and only then, will we be helping students to develop these skills. Most educators that I have spoken with agree with this analysis. There is one question that seems to always arise, however: In order to help students develop these skills, what type of projects and assessments can we engage them in?

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Center for Young Women's Health

What is “healthy eating?”

Healthy eating is a way of balancing the food you eat to keep your body strong, energized, and well nourished. When you eat well, you are taking good care of your body.

• Aim for regular meals (usually 3 meals per day; one in the morning, afternoon, and evening) and healthy snacks (when you are hungry or need extra energy)
• Eat foods from all of the food groups (carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, proteins, and dairy) each day to meet your nutritional needs
• Balance nutrient-rich foods with small amounts of other foods, such as sweets or fast foods
• Eat when hungry and stop when full

Healthy eating is a great way to:

• Have energy all day long
• Get the vitamins and minerals your body needs
• Stay strong for sports or other activities
• Reach your maximum height (if you are still growing)
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Prevent unhealthy eating habits, like skipping meals and feeling overly hungry at the next meal

Tips for Healthy Eating

1. Don’t skip meals – plan meals and snacks ahead of time.
   • Believe it or not, eating 3 meals with healthy snacks in between is the best way to maintain your energy and a healthy weight. You are more likely to choose foods that are not as healthy when you skip meals and become overly hungry.
   • Eat breakfast. Skipping breakfast can lead to over-eating later in the day.
   • Eating away from home? Don’t leave yourself stranded—take foods with you or know where you can go to buy something healthy and satisfying.
2. Learn about simple, healthy ways to prepare foods.
   • Try healthier ways to cook foods such as grilling, stir-frying, microwaving, baking, and boiling instead of deep frying.
   • Try fresh or dried herbs (basil, oregano, parsley) and spices (lemon pepper, chili powder, garlic powder) to flavor your food instead of adding less healthy toppings such as butter, sour cream, or gravy.
   • Trim the skin and fat off of your meat—you’ll still get plenty of flavors and it’s more nutritious.
3. Sugar – avoid getting too much.
   • Sugary drinks are a big source of empty energy. This means that they contain a lot of energy (in the form of calories) that your body may not need, and they don’t contain a lot of nutrients (vitamins, minerals, or fiber). Try diet sodas, sugar-free drink mixes, water, and seltzer water instead of regular soda or juice. Even “natural” unsweetened juices contain a lot of energy you may not need. Don’t go overboard—if you are going to drink regular soda or juice, try to limit the amount you drink to 4-8 ounces, one time per day.
   • Lots of sugar is also found in foods such as cakes, cookies, and candies. Whole grain or wheat desserts may contain less sugar. It’s okay to enjoy these foods once in a while as long as they don’t replace healthier foods.
4. Solid fat – avoid getting too much
   • Foods with solid fats such as butter, cream, hydrogenated oils, or partially hydrogenated oils contain saturated and possibly trans fats. This can be a big source of empty energy, without many nutrients. Try lean proteins such as beans, fish, and poultry, or heart healthy oils such as olive or canola oil instead.
   • As with sugar, solid fats can be found in desserts too. Choosing desserts made with fruit purees or olive oil instead of butter and cream can be healthier options; however, it is okay to enjoy these foods once in a while, as long as they don’t replace healthier foods.
   • Creamy sauces and dressings such as alfredo or ranch are often high in saturated fat and the serving size is likely less than you would expect. With sauces like this a little goes a long way.
5. Be mindful when eating
   • Slow down when you eat. Try to relax and pace yourself so that your meals last at least 20 minutes, since it takes around 20 minutes for you to feel full.
   • Listen to your body. Eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full will help your body balance its energy needs and stay comfortable. Ask yourself: Am I eating because I’m hungry? Or am I stressed, angry, sad, or bored?
   • Try naturally fiber rich foods, such as whole grains, vegetables, and fruits so you feel comfortably full.
6. Avoid “diet thinking.”
   • There are no good foods or bad foods. All foods can be part of healthy eating, when eaten in moderation.
   • You do not need to buy low carb, gluten-free, fat-free, or diet foods (unless told specifically by your medical provider to do so). These foods are not necessarily lower in calories—they usually have lots of other added ingredients to replace the carbs or fat.
   • YOU are more important than your weight or body size—believe it! Your health and happiness can be hurt by drastic weight loss plans. If you have not yet reached your adult height, rapid weight loss could interfere with your growth. Instead of trying extreme approaches, focus on making small lifestyle changes that you can stick with for life. This approach will leave you feeling healthier and happier in the long run.

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Top Ten Healthy Foods for Women

Healthy foods are good for everyone; even your dog will appreciate an organic diet rich in lean protein, fresh fruits and vegetables and pure spring water.
However certain foods are especially beneficial for a woman’s body, which is much more than just a smaller version of a man. Female bodies and brains are physically different than male bodies and brains; we are much more sensitive to the artificial hormones and pesticides crammed into many commercial food products, which can wreck havoc on a woman’s reproductive system. Protecting your body with antioxidants and other vitamins and nutrients that ward off disease is crucial to keep your system healthy, balanced and functioning at a optimal level.
Although these foods are healthy for all humans to eat, they are especially beneficial for females. And remember to buy organic!

1. Kale

   

   One of the most potent leafy greens, kale is packed with folate, which is an essential B vitamin for women and unborn children; even those females not planning to get pregnant anytime soon should consume it regularly. Kale is also a rich source of calcium (for strong bones) and vitamin C (for immune defense), and B vitamins are known to be mood balancers.

2. Orange squash and roots
   

   Butternut squash and pumpkins as well as orange root vegetables like sweet potatoes and carrots are loaded with beta-carotene, which is a powerful antioxidant. You may know beta-carotene as the protector of vision, but it is also thought to protect against breast cancer and repair damaged skin as well, slowing the signs of aging.
3. Iron
   
   Menstruating women must consume iron or risk anemia; although this important mineral is widely taken in multivitamin form, your body will absorb iron better if you consume it in foods like spinach, lentils, lean red meat and dark poultry. If you are taking a multivitamin, make sure it is one made specifically for women that includes iron.

4. Broccoli

   

   A bonafide superfood, broccoli is a stout source of many vitamins and nutrients. Ounce for ounce, broccoli provides more vitamin C than an orange and is also loaded with fiber, beta-carotene and folic acid. Broccoli is one of the best foods an expectant mother (or anyone!) can eat and is particularly useful for those with digestive disorders.

5. Mangoes

   

   Like many fruits, mangoes are powerhouses of vitamin C, a nutrient that fights inflammation and keeps your immune system running smoothly. However juicy mangoes are also very high in vitamin A and are thought to help protect against cervical cancer- a great excuse for a smoothie.
6. Beans
   
   Many women suffer from digestive irregularities such as IBS, and having plenty of natural fiber in your diet from beans, lentils and legumes can help prevent such chronic diseases like colon cancer, which kills more women every year than breast cancer. Plus, bulky beans are low in fat, inexpensive and are a filling way to beat hunger.

7. Yogurt

   
   
   Women need a high intake of calcium to keep their bones strong against the brittle breaks of osteoporosis. Dairy is a fine source of calcium, and yogurt gives the added benefit of good bacteria (also know as probiotics) to keep the colon healthy and the whole body system in balance. Skip the premade, commercial yogurts that are extremely high in sugars and instead opt for natural yogurt and flavor it yourself with honey, or agave syrup and fresh fruits.

8. Figs

   

   Shapely and elegant, figs contain high levels of vitamin B-6, a nutrient that has been proven to balance the mood and ease the symptoms of PMS. The fiber in figs helps you feel full and can sooth many common digestive irregularities as well.

9. Salmon

   

   Salmon and other fatty fish such as mackerel and sardines are rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids, which are indeed necessary for proper brain function as well as protection from arthritis and heart disease. Most people today don’t get enough of these brain-protecting nutrients, so you should try to include salmon and other foods high in omega-3 fatty acids several times a week.

10. Berries

    

    Cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries aren’t just cute and delicious- they contain powerful anti-cancer agents that play a key role in cell repair and may protect against many forms of disease, including breast cancer and colon cancer, the two cancers that affect women most. Dense in vitamin C, folic acid and antioxidants as well, berries ward off urinary tract infections, help your vision and may also protect against skin aging. Try to include berries in your daily diet.

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