Vegetarian Diet

Definition of vegetarian diet is food free from ingredients for which an animal must have died ( such as meat, meat broth, cheeses that use animal rennet), gelatin ( from animal bones), and for the strictest, even some sugars that are whitened with bone char (such as cane sugar but not beet sugar).

People choose to be vegetarians for reason other than economics ( meat is not as expensive). The most common reasons for choosing to be a vegetarian are parental preferences, religious beliefs, lifestyle factors and health issues. Besides that, many people choose a vegetarian diet out of concern over animal rights or the environment.

Different people follow different forms of vegetarianism. Vegetarians fall into groups defined by the types of animal-derived foods they eat:

1) Fruitarians-Avoid all animal products and processd foods
2) Vegan-Eliminate all foods from animals including meat, poultry, fish, milk, eggs and cheese, they eat only plant-based foods
3) Lacto vegetarian-Consume milk and milk products along with plant-based foods, they avoid eggs as well as meat, fish and poultry
4) Lacto-ovo vegetarian-Consume milk and milk products ( cheese and yogurt) along with plant-based foods, eat eggs but avoid meat, fish and poultry
5) Ovo-vegetarian-Consume eggs but not milk and milk products

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), vegetarian who consume milk products and eggs enjoy excellent health, so daily products and eggs can be part of a healthy lacto-ovo vegetarian diet.

However adopting a healthy vegetarian diet is not as simple as scraping meat off the plate and eating what is left. The most important thing that vegetarian can do is educate themselves and take extra steps to get the well-balanced nutrient in order to maintain good health, a high energy level, obtain strong muscles and bones.

The more restrictive a diet is, the more difficult it is to get all the nutrients that body needs. The nutrients that usually deficient in a vegetarian diet are protein, calcium, vitamin B-12, iron and zinc, so they have to know how to get enough of these nutrients from other food sources. Alternatively, they may need to take a daily multiple vitamin and mineral supplement.

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercise can be defined as "any activitity that uses large muscle groups, can be maintained continuously, and is rhythmic in nature."(American College of Sports Medicine, ACSM)

Aerobic means with oxygen and refers to the use of oxygen in muscle's energy-generating process. In this exercise, oxygen is used to burn fats and glucose in order to produce ATP which is the basic energy carrier for all cells. Initially during aerobic exercise, glycogen is broken down to its monomer which we call as glucose, but when glycogen is absence, fat metabolism is initiated instead thus fat will take over glucose to produce energy. By this way, aerobic exercise can help lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.

Aerobic exercise conditions the heart and lungs by increasing the oxygen available to the body.
Breathing is faster and more deeply, this maximizes the amount of oxygen in the blood stream. The heart will also beat faster to pumps blood faster and more forcefully in order to produce energy and deliver oxygen more effectively to the rest of the body. Besides that, capillaries (small blood vessels) will widen to deliver more oxygen to muscles and carry away waste products such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid. To facilitate the transport of oxygen thoughout the body, total number of red blood cells in the body will increase. Furthermore, body will release endorphins which plays a role as natural painkillers that promote an increased sense of well-being.

Aerobic exercise can provide health properties to body. It can reduce health risks such as obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, type-2 diabetes, stroke, certain type of cancer and able to activates the immune system. Weight-bearing aerobic exercise (walking) can reduce the risk of osteoporosis. It can also reduce the buildup of plaques in arteries by increasing the concentration of HDL ( good cholesterol ) and decreasing the LDL ( bad cholesterol). Over the long term, aerobic exercise can increase body stamina and reduce fatigue and even can keep muscles strong which helps maintain mobility as we get older. Moreover, it can keep the mind sharp.

Researchers said that at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three days a week can reduce cognitive decline in older adults. So let us invest 30 minutes a day in aerobic exercise in order to live longer and healthier.

There are many ways to achieve aerobic fitness:
* walking
* aerobic dance
* swimming
* bicycling
* jogging
* running
* dancing
* aquatic exercise
* cross-country skiing
* rowing
* stair climbing
* elliptical training
* hiking

Check with your doctor first before you begin the aerobic exercise if you have a chronic condition, overweight, a smoker, middle aged or older and have never exercised.

Types of Yoga

There are 6 types of yoga:

1) Hatha Yoga (Yoga of Postures)
2) Bhakti Yoga (Yoga of Devotion)
3) Raja Yoga (Yoga of Self-Control)
4) Jnana Yoga (Yoga of the Mind)
5) Karma Yoga (Yoga of Service)
6) Tantra Yoga ( Yoga of Rituals)


Hatha Yoga
--most popular type of yoga in the West
--uses physical poses (Asana), breathing techniques (pranayama) and meditation to achieve better health, as well as spirituality
--this type yoga is suitable chosen by someone who need a peaceful mind and a healthy body

Bhakti Yoga
--generally encompasses chanting, reading of scriptures and worship practices
--teaches a person to have devotion to the “one” or to Brahma by developing a person’s love and acceptance for all thing

Raja Yoga
--means “royal”
--considered to be the king of yoga
--most of its practitioners are members of religious and spiritual order
--teaching of the Eight Limbs of Yoga found in the toga sutras
--sees the self as central, respect to oneself and all creation
--achieve self0respect by first learning to be masters of themselves
--this type of yoga is the best choice for someone who wish to learn discipline

Jnana yoga
--basically deals with the mind, focuses on man’s intelligence
--consider wisdom and intellect as important and aim to unify the two to surpass limitation

Karma yoga
--believed that present situation is based on past actions
--by doing selfless service then the future is free from negativity and selfishness
Karma Yogis change their attitude towards the good and in the process, change their souls which lead to a change in their destiny
--emphasizes spiritual practice to help the individual unify body, mind and heart though certain practices in one’s daily life and work

Tantra yoga
--using rituals to experience what is sacred
--sex is a part but not the whole since this path aims to find what is sacred in everything we do
--must possess certain qualities like purity, humidity, devotion, dedication to his Guru, cosmic love and truthfulness among other things

Yoga and its Benefits

Yoga is originated in India more than three thousand years ago. It is a scientific system of both physical and mental practices. The word “Yoga” came from the Sanskrit word “yuj” which mean to join or unite. This implies joining or integrating all aspects of the individual (body with mind and mind with soul) to achieve a happy, balanced and useful life, and spiritually, union of a person’s own consciousness and the universal consciousness.

In order to integrate the body, the mind and the spirit, thus the emotion, action and intelligence must be in balance. This balance can be achieved though exercise (gentle stretches), breathing (breathing practices) and meditation (progressive deep relaxation) which was formulated by Yogis. These three main structures help each of us to achieve our highest potential and to experience enduring health and happiness.

General benefits of yoga:
* Extend healthy, productive years far beyond the accepted norm
* Improve the quality of lives
* Effective therapy for chronic diseases and conditions that do not respond well to conventional treatment methods. (Down Syndrome and developmental disabilities quick mastery of basic motor, communication and cognitive skills)
* Manifest less self-important, less material attachment, more capacity for joy, less judgments and more tolerance toward others
* Improve circulation, stimulate the abdominal organs and put pressure on the glandular system of the body

Yoga is not a contest. It does not require we transform ourselves overnight into something beyond our capacity. Yoga begin by accepting our limitations, whatever they may be and working with this by self-acceptance as a base, so no competition in yoga because everyone is different.

As a conclusion, Yoga not only a way to achieve a great body or to keep fit, it also encourages you to reflect on yourself and to find your inner peace. It exercises both of your body and your mind.

BMI method and Risks of Obesity

We can measure our body fat by using the body mass index ( BMI ). BMI is a simple and widely used method for estimating body fat. The body weight and height will be taken into account to calculate the body fat.The calculation is weight in kilograms BMI divided by the height squared.

For instance, if iryn weight is 82.55kg and height is 1.83m, she will has BMI of 24.74

82.55kg/(1.83)2=24.74 BMI

The WHO (World Health Organisation) has graded BMI measurements so that it is easier to assess how a body-fat measurement relates to health, see below:

*Less than 18.5 --- (underweight)
*18.5-24.9 --- a healthy weight
*25-29.9 --- overweight
*30-39.9 --- obese
*40 and over --- morbidly obese

From the above information, we know that if someone's weight is more than 25 BMI, then they will be considered as overweight or obese. Obesity can be defined as overweight or too much of body fat, this extra body fat can make body leads to various of diseases, so actions should be taken to get rid of this stubborn fat such as changing eating habit and lifestyle.

Below are the diseases caused by obesity:

*Heart disease and strokes (lower HDL "good" cholesterol)
*Cancer (colon,breast,endometrial)
*Diabetes
*Hypertention
*Type 2 diabetes
*Gallbladder disease
*Osteoarthritis
*Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
*Dyslipidemia (high total cholesterol or high levels of trigycerides)
*Raises blood pressure levels

Excess Fat lead to Obesity

Fat is important to the body, however the suitability amount of fat should be presented in body in order to let the body function well. If excess of fat exist in body, this will lead to a condition called as obesity. Nowadays, the prevalence of obesity or overweight increased sharply for both adult and children and the obesity becomes a serious issue for our society.

Obesity can be defined as extreme overweight or too much body fat. When body takes in more calories than it burns off, body will convert the extra calories into fat. This over taken of fat can be due to some reasons especially for the eating habit and lifestyle. Below are the reasons of how the fat getting stored in the body:

* Over eating / eating habits
* Less exercise
* Sedentary lifestyle - less active, depends to much on car, television, computer and so on
- less cook at house, almost take meal at outside such as restaurants
* Gene - small part of the DNA that people inherit from their parents play important role in the
weight gain
* Emotions - people tend to eat more to deal with bad feelings
* Endocrine disrupted - thyroid gland problems
* Insufficient sleep
* Smoking cessation
* Weight cycling - caused by repeated attempts to lose weight by dieting
* Stressful mentality
* Certain medications - atypical antipsychotics

The obesity / overweight not only give bad figure to the body, it also give many disadvantages to the health, thus we have to get rid of this stubborn fat from our body.

For more information, please refer to :http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/dieting/obesity.html

What is Yogurt?

My title of thesis is about yogurt . I'm just know that yogurt is a food, a type of healthy food that we can consume. But after i'm doing this thesis, i found a lot of information about yogurt. Yogurt not only play a role as functional food but also has medicinal function.Yogurt is made by the natural bacterial fermentation of milk. There bacterial fermentation ( active live cultures ) are Lactobacillus acidophilus and Streptococcus thermophilis . Some manufacturers use Lactobacillus bulgaricus rather than L. acidophilus. The best temperature for the growing of these bacterial is 41° Celsius.

Benefits of yogurt:

* Easier digest than milk.
* A huge source of calcium. 40% of the daily value. Yogurt is considered a better source of calcium than a glass of milk.
* Lower the cholesterol.
* The active live cultures can strengthen the immune system.
* These bacterial fermentation prevent the growth of harmful bacteria that cause bacterial infections and diseases.
* A good source of protein.
* Decrease the risk of contracting colon cancer.
* Yogurt is a "grow food." . Yogurt may help children with intestinal absorption problems grow.
* The active live cultures can control the ulcer-causing bacterial thus prevent ulcer.
* Prevent diarrhea.

See, yogurt provides a lot of advantages. It should definitely be added to your shopping list the next time you head out to the grocery store. When you purchase the yogurt, looking for the yogurt that is low in sugar and without added trans fat or high fructose corn syrup.

Function of Fats

Fats are chemical compound which formed from glycerol and fatty acid. They are usually soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water. These chemical substances can form either in solid phase or liquid phase at room temperature, depending on their structure and composition.

Function:

* Body's energy provider and energy reserve which helps the body maintain a constant temperature
* To generate body heat, referred to as “burning calories”
* Protecting various organs throughout the body from temperature extremes and physical impact or trauma
* Primary constituent of cell membranes and therefore is critical for all forms of life
* Maintaining healthy skin and hair
* Provide the "essential" fatty acids, which are not made by the body and must be obtained from food
* Monounsaturated fat help raise levels of protective HDL cholesterol
* Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can help reduce blood cholesterol (except HDL cholesterol) when substituted for saturated fats in the diet
* Provide the raw materials that help in the control of blood pressure, blood clotting, inflammation, and other body functions
* Helps in the absorption, and transport through the bloodstream of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K
* Involved in the production and regulation of steroid hormones
* Have important structural roles in maintaining nerve impulse transmission, memory storage and tissue structure