Copyright 2006 Eva Moffat

When you are considering going on a weight loss diet, probably you have the mistaken idea that you have to eat less. This is not strictly true.

Rather than eating less, it would be better to make wiser choices. If you are in the habit of eating and enjoying cakes and other foods made with pastry as in pies, try to cut these items out of your diet. Replace these foods containing Carbohydrates with foods that are better for you.

What Are These Better Foods?

You want to have a Balanced Diet.

A Balanced Diet consists of:

• Proteins • Carbohydrates • Fats

PROTEINS are found in Meat, Milk, Cheese, Eggs and Fish. These are complete Proteins and help the body to maintain itself in good condition.

Imagine your body is a car engine. Put Diesel in a Petrol engine and you have major problems. And the same if you put Petrol in a Diesel engine.

Protein can also be found in other foods eg plants, fruits and nuts. But these are not Complete Proteins. Yet whether Complete Protein or Incomplete, Protein is Protein and is good for you.

Plants are usually what we know as Cereals, you will usually have them for Breakfast. A way to remember them is to use the mnemonic 'BROW'

B = Barley R = Rye O = Oats W = Wheat

CARBOHYDRATES are found in Wholegrains, eg Corn, Flour, Bread, Rice, Oats, Potatoes and Legumes.

Carbohydrates provide the body with energy.

FATS are found in Meat and Dairy Products and some Vegetable Oils.

The body needs a certain amount of fat to be sure everything is working properly. But there are two kinds of fat that we get from our food.

One is considered GOOD FAT and that is UNSATURATED FAT.

THE BAD FAT is SATURATED FAT.

SATURATED FAT causes the fat to settle on the inside walls of the Arteries. The FAT in the Arteries is called Cholesterol. It's the Cholesterol that makes the Blood Vessels narrow so the blood is unable to pass through properly. The heart then has to pump harder to allow the blood to pass round the body, the result can be the heart is weakened, so causing Heart Failure, High Blood Pressure and Strokes.

BAD FAT is called LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein).

If you can cut ALL the BAD FAT out of your diet, you will be doing yourself and your body a big favour.

But whatever you do, don't mistakenly leave out the GOOD FAT from your diet. Because the UNSATURATED FAT has been found to actually liquefy the Cholesterol and pass it out of the body by natural means.

The GOOD FAT is called HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) this GOOD FAT can be found in Plants and Animal Products. Therefore if you eat more fruit and vegetables you will be on the right path to living a healthy lifestyle.

And as an added bonus, you might even lose weight.

About the author:

Eva Moffat a 66 year old disabled lady, living in Manchester, England. In the early 1970's I was a nurse. My main interest is all aspects of health, especially Weight Loss and Nutrition. I have written several articles. You can see the others if you visit my website. http://www.weight-loss-4-you.com or email me eva.moffat@onetel.net