That's Fit

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), food allergies and other gut-related problems are pretty common these days. So are we as a population getting sicker, or is there another cause? Maybe it has something to do with what we're eating? Yeah, I think that's more likely.

Over at The Daily Mail, they're talking gut problems like IBS and food allergies -- and why you probably have none of the above.

When a child is prone to issues like gas, constipation and pain, a parent's first move is to assume they have a food allergy or sensitivity to either wheat or dairy and to remove that item from the child's diet. But nutritionist Jane Clarke says that's exactly the wrong thing to do because children instead turn to junk foods. Plus, fiber from wheat and calcium from dairy are an essential part of a healthy diet, especially in kids and teens.

If you're not convinced a healthy diet is the way to go, consider this: The better you eat, the better your skin looks. I don't know about you, but I sure don't like a compromised complexion. If you don't either, try incorporating these healthy goods into your diet -- they'll work from the inside out and are as good for your skin as any cream you can slap on it, says Cheryl Forberg, author of Positively Ageless and contributor for Prevention.com.

• Omega-3-rich fish, such as salmon, anchovies, and sardines. Flax seed counts too. Full of wonderful oils for the skin, omega-3s promote softness and minimize fine lines.
• Lean dairy products, such as yogurt and kefir. These contain loads of calcium and protein and work to repair cells and promote the growth of collagen.
• Healthy fats, such as olive oil and nuts. Get your vitamin E and more omega-3s here if you want softer skin.
  
• Fruits and vegetables, especially berries, like blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. Can't go wrong with these picks -- they'll secure the integrity of your skin.

Here at That's Fit, we often talk about how a healthy diet is good for you. But what does "good for you" actually mean? According to Diet-Blog, a healthy diet can have a positive impact on your immune system -- important information as we head into cold and flu season.

How does diet affect your ability to prevent or fight off nasty bugs? It gives your body the nutrients it needs to not only run efficiently, but also to fight off invaders before they infect. Since eating these foods won't stop a cold once it starts, you'll need to make these highly nutritional choices part of your daily diet.

For a healthy immune system, eat foods like:

• leafy greens, carrots, and sweet potatoes
• 100% juice
• high-quality protein like lean meats and fish, beans, lentils, or soy
• vitamin E-rich nuts and seeds, like sunflower, almonds, and walnuts
• whole grains, oats, quinoa, and brown rice
  
  

Of course, the choices are endless and Diet-Blog has even more ideas for you. Pair a healthy diet with sleep and exercise, and you can say bye-bye to those bugs and hello to a healthy winter.

Day 5: So what does 1500 calories look like? At my house, something like this:

Breakfast:
2 eggs, scrambled with 1/2 red bell pepper -- 230 calories
OR
Oatmeal, milk, and blueberries -- 250 calories

Snack:
Carrots and hummus -- 150 calories
OR
Apple and peanut butter -- 290 calories

Lunch:
7 oz. tuna on a bed of salad greens with a tiny bit of my favorite (sinful) salad dressing -- 290 calories
OR
A frozen low-calorie entree (like Lean Cuisine) with a small side salad -- 450 calories

Snack:
Kashi Pumpkin Spice Flax bar -- 140 calories
OR
A piece of fruit and a small handful of nuts -- 230 calories

Dinner:
Baked salmon with dill sauce, whole wheat couscous, dinner salad with garden veggies -- 600 calories
OR
Homemade pesto on whole wheat pasta -- 500 calories

And if I have calories left over, I enjoy an evening snack!

It's easy to get stuck in a rut, eating the same foods day in and day out. But variety, as they say, is the spice of life.

When people think about muscle, they think biceps, triceps, glutes, and abs. But beyond the muscle you can gawk at see, there's a lot of muscle that's in action all the time inside your body -- like your heart, for one. So, even if you're not trying to build rock hard abs, it's important to remember to feed the muscles you can't see too.

Protein is important to muscle health, because it contains amino acids necessary for growth and repair. According to MSNBC, most Americans get plenty of protein in their diet, but tend to eat less of it as they get older. But not only is the amount of protein you eat important, so is it's quality. Choose high-quality proteins like eggs and fish over fattier meats like ground beef.

Protein isn't the only nutrient necessary for strong muscles. Find out what else you need over at MSNBC and in the gallery below.

But here's the kicker. In order to avoid a multi-vitamin and still get enough nutrition, you need to eat the right foods. For instance, iron should rarely be taken in pill form (especially by men), but iron is an important nutrient for kids and teens. You can make sure they get enough by feeding them foods like fortified breakfast cereals or black beans, but serve them with foods that are high in vitamin C (such as orange juice) to boost absorption.

Prevention has the scoop on other important nutrients, who needs them, and the best way to get them, whether in supplement form or through the foods you eat.

As a mom, I work pretty hard (like all of you) to make sure that my kids not only eat a healthy diet, but that they learn how to make good choices about what they put in their mouth. Though my three-year-old still needs a little convincing, my five-year-old is really starting to get the picture. She tries new foods at meal times, knows the difference between "sometimes" foods and "all the time" foods, and looks forward to "treats" like fresh cucumbers from the garden or green peppers dipped in hummus.

After a busy day running errands last week, however, she really showed me that all the focus on nutrition was paying off. It was a grueling day of doctor appointments and car repair, and it was long past when they should have had an afternoon snack. I resorted to the bad behavior of bribing to get my cranky kids through, promising a trip to the ice cream store on the way home.

After our last errand, we passed the farmer's market and decided to stop. We picked up fresh, local cherries, raspberries, and melon to chop up into a fruit salad for dinner. After we all got loaded in the car, my daughter told me, "Mom, you don't need to get us ice cream now. We just want to eat those raspberries. Is that ok?"

Is that ok? I assured her that, yes, that was a great idea. We drove home, ate all of the raspberries before they could be put into the salad, and marveled at how, sometimes, our kids have so much to teach us.

Little girls born in Japan in 2007 have the longest life expectancy of any other people on the planet... 86 years. Though life expectancy is a complicated issue, experts say that Japanese women live so long in part because of their healthy diet and unique social structure, as well as advancements made in medical care. Boys born in Japan last year can expect to live 79.2 years, while residents of Iceland and Hong Kong aren't far behind.

The flip side of this is that Japan's birth rate is also very low, which leaves the Japanese government in a unique position -- how to run a country with an aging population without a younger population to back them up?

Still, the Japanese are definitely doing something right. About.com digs a little deeper into the hows and whys of the long life spans of Japan.

They say that 40 is the new 30, and I hope they're right, because, for me, that milestone birthday is less than five years away. There isn't much that you can do to stop the march of time. But there are ways to stop the effects of aging on your body, and eating highly nutritious foods is one of those ways.

A nutritious diet supplies your body with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytochemicals, and fiber, all things that you need to stay healthy and strong. And junk foods -- such as those that are high in fat, sugar, and salt -- put you at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Just imagine at your next birthday if someone added extra candles to your cake! Eating an unhealthy diet might just add years to your life.

To find out if your diet is helping maintain your "nutritional age," check out this quiz from eDiets. After you answer the questions, find out how to make better choices about what you eat each day.

The word isn't all that appetizing, really -- fermented. It sounds like something that happens to gym socks left in a locker over a long weekend. But fermented foods are packed with beneficial bacteria, known as probiotics, and can be a nutritious addition to a healthy diet.

What exactly are fermented foods? According to this article, they are foods that use microorganisms to convert the carbs in a given food to alcohol or acid. This prevents the food from spoiling, and also gives fermented food a nice tangy flavor. Examples of common fermented foods are:

• yogurt
• kefir
• sauerkraut (non-pasteurized)
• kimchi
  
  

You can easily make your own kefir and yogurt at home, if that interests you. Or you can find these and other fermented foods at your local health food store.

For more tips on what makes a healthy food choice, check out AOL Body's America Takes It Off! and their article on How to Stock a Healthy Refrigerator.

Stinging prices at the gas pump and grocery store are prompting many Americans to go on a recession diet. Makes me wonder if this evolving diet will lead to a bigger or smaller pinch of fat on our waistlines.

Middle- and working-class consumers are significantly changing their consumer behaviors. Starbucks is expecting a drop in sales. Domino's Pizza, Ruby Tuesdays and higher-end steakhouses such as Ruth's Chris and Morton's are seating fewer patrons. One restaurant survey revealed the number of people ordering an alcoholic drink dropped from 42 percent last summer to 31 percent last month. Some report cutting out red meat and reaching for turkey instead. Yet the pendulum swings in a less nutritionally-healthy direction, too. Wal-Mart Stores reports higher sales of peanut butter and spaghetti.

Eating more home-cooked meals and purchasing cheaper, leaner cuts of meat could conceivably prove slimming. But I've read plenty of articles and studies citing a tight budget is a significant barrier to eating enough healthy fruits and veggies. So in an attempt to fill the gas tank, will people slap together pb&j sandwiches and twirl mounds of spaghetti or reach for the healthier rice and beans and home-cooked chicken noodle soup instead? Recession diet or not, the foods we put in our own tank ultimately impact our weight and our health.

Nutritionally investing in your child's school performance is more than offering a healthy breakfast, says one new Canadian study. Well-rounded nutrition throughout the day boosts literacy.

Canadian researchers examined 4,589 fifth-graders involved in the Children's Lifestyle and School-performance Study. Nearly 20 percent of the students had flunked an elementary literacy assessment. Turns out the better a child's nutritional habits, the less likely students failed the test. Even after adjusting for the effects of family income, education, school and sex, a quality diet's positive impact on literacy held firm.

Keep buying those carrot sticks. Pack a healthy lunch and snack. Make a goal to prepare double the number of home-cooked meals next month and see how your family responds. Step forward and guide positive choices whenever you can. This morning, our son scored a juice box (too much sugar) and a low-fat granola bar (better) as a team snack following his soccer game. Our younger daughter wanted something special from the concession stand, too. So we guided her purchase toward the 60 percent less fat Chex Mix, even though it would have been easier to just buy the Laffy Taffy candy. Schools can make all the healthy food policies they want, but parental modeling of healthy eating matters most.

As fabulous as we at That's Fit think this blog is, the truth is there are hundreds of wonderful blogs on healthy living to be seen all over the blogosphere. So in this feature, Fit Links, we'll introduce you to some that have caught our eye.

The headlines tell us that food prices are on the rise, and that's not good news for any of us. I've already noticed a difference at my local market and have had to give up some of my usual products for less expensive versions.

Eating a healthy diet doesn't have to be break the budget, but if you're pinching pennies and still want to eat right, it can take some planning. Luckily, there are plenty of blogs out there that share some good advice.

With a little effort and a lot of willpower, you can find a healthy meal in a restaurant, fast food restaurant, or grocery store deli while out on your lunch hour. But a faster, cheaper, and healthier option is to pack your own lunch.

Side by side comparisons of fast food and homemade lunches will usually reveal that the brown bag version is lower in fat, calories, and sodium, and that it costs less per serving.

When you pack your lunch, include whole grains, lean protein, and fruits and vegetables. Consider packing it the night before to save time. Don't forget to include a healthy snack to ward off that afternoon trip to the company vending machine.