All Entries Tagged With: "Eating"

MEN: Nutrition for Impotence

In terms of preventative health measures, here are a few tips from celebrity personal trainer Lucas James and nutrition expert Jason Apfel that may help augment your lifestyle and current quality of life!

For a start, if you smoke, quit.  Smoking reduces blood flow by causing thickening and loss of elasticity in our arteries.  Aside from the obvious health detriments of smoking, it can actually reduce ones penis size by up to one centimeter in the long term.

Second, if you’re inactive, exercise.  Incorporating regular physical activity can help increase flood flow, but also help with weight loss. Being overweight can cause, or worsen, erectile dysfunction.  Exercise can help with the underlying problems that play a part in promoting erectile dysfunction by.  Aside form the physical benefits, exercise will help reduce stress and mitigate the emotional ties associated with E.D.

Third, eat healthy foods that promote better blood flow.  Some specific foods to avoid are foods high in sodium, which can lead to high blood pressure and cause problems with circulation.  Also stay away from foods that contain trans-fats, which clog arteries and cause heart disease.  These cardiovascular generally translate to insufficient or diminished blood flow, which contribute to erectile dysfunction. Foods that are high in cholesterol also cause clogged arteries and heart disease, similar to trans-fats.  As discussed previously, cardiovascular disease can lead to insufficient flood flow, a primary cause of erectile dysfunction. Watch out for foods that are high in sugar.  A diet high in sugar can lead to weight gain, obesity and diabetes. Weight gain puts pressure on the heart and vital organs making it more difficult to function properly and ultimately increases one’s blood pressure.  The added physiological stress due to diet can significantly decrease blood flow to the penis.

Some specific foods that can help reduce the severity of E.D. are fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, bananas, strawberries, cantaloupe, oranges and watermelon which help to both reduce body fat and overall weight. The Lycopene from tomatoes also helps to relax blood vessels and increase flow. Dark green vegetables such as spinach and kale are a good source of zinc, which has been proven to improve blood flow to the major organs, as well as the penis.

Pistachio nuts are relatively high in the non-essential amino acid arginine, which helps to maintain elasticity in arteries. It also is believed to enhance blood flow by boosting endogenous nitric oxide levels, a compound that relaxes blood vessels.  One recent study published in the International Journal of Impotence Research: The Journal of Sexual Medicine showed improvements in men for erectile function, sexual intercourse satisfaction, orgasmic function, overall satisfaction and sexual desire in men who ate a diet high in pistachios.  It also reported increased blood flow to the penis by 22 percent, as measured by ultrasound.

Eating foods high in Omega-3 fatty acids is essential to controlling heart disease, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and more.  Since heart disease and hypertension are leading causes of sexual dysfunction, foods high in Omega-3 such as fish, flaxseed, walnuts, and eggs can help mitigate these factors in a preventative manner.

2012 Thanksgiving Day Healthy Eating Tips

Thanksgiving Day 2012 is approaching this week and for eating healthy this Thanksgiving here are some tips to help with over eating and weight gain. Thanksgiving dinner is generally a time when friends and family indulge over delicious Thanksgiving turkey, apple pie, wine, stuffing, mashed potatoes and many other favorite foods and recipes. Keep in mind that it’s ok to indulge over these tasty foods, but it’s important to be able to control your portion sizes. Overeating is generally the number one problem that people have during Thanksgiving day dinner.

- Don’t skip breakfast. Eat a regular breakfast that includes dairy, carbohydrates, and sugars. For example, oatmeal with bluberries, four egg whites, low fat yogurt, coffee and a 8 ounce glass of orange juice.  First off all, remember to eat breakfast. Generally,  people tend to skip breakfast and even lunch so they can indulge in the annual Thanksgiving dinner.

- Start the dinner with a side salad. If there’s a salad available, eat it prior to the main course! A salad will help you out with your portion control and keep you on track for the rest of the meal. Remember to use light dressing and avoid heavy cheese and croutons.

- Drink a full glass of water or beverage after salad. Often at times people forget to drink liquids while eating special meals, such as Thanksgiving. Drinking liquids throughout the meals well help break down the food digested and help suppress your appetite.

- Stick to White Meat. 8 oz portion and the white meat has 368 calories and 8 grams of fat while the dark has 400 calories and 16 grams of fat.

- Gravy Train Will Wreck You. Limit your gravy servings to one or none your Thanksgiving dinner.

- Alcohol. Wine, beer and liqouer will add calories and sugars quick. Avoid excess amount of drinks and avoid fruity drinks.

- Bread and Buns Equal Tons of Rolls. Thanksgiving dinner rolls can be a life changing experience, literally. Eat your  dinner roll at the end of the meal and stay clear of dosing large amounts of butter on those buns, rolls and bread.

- Veggie Out! Veggies can be your life saver. Make sure they’re on 1/3 of your plate and avoid the cream and butter soaked vegetables.

- Instant Stuffing – Quick and healthy.

- Replace up to half the fat in baked goods with apple sauce or pureed prunes. For corn bread, use pureed sweet potatoes to replace some of the fat. Check the baby food aisle for purees. Or try ripe, well-mashed bananas in place of some of the fat.

- Replace cream or whole milk with evaporated skim milk, especially in mashed potatoes and cream soups. Make a lower fat, yet very flavorful turkey by slipping herbs or poultry seasoning under the skin and basting with nonfat chicken stock rather than butter.
Make twice-baked potatoes with nonfat ricotta cheese mixed and top with part-skim shredded cheese.

- Use whole grain bread rather than white bread for the stuffing. Try whole-wheat flour in your baking recipes (start with replacing a quarter of the regular flour and experiment with what works best for that particular recipe).

- Make low-fat roasted vegetables by spraying with a little bit of olive oil (rather than pouring it on), and sprinkling with dried thyme, salt & pepper.
When you’re mixing in ingredients such as sour cream or ricotta cheese, you can easily use the low-fat versions and no one will know the difference.
Cook your vegetables and grains in low-salt vegetable or chicken broth rather than butter. You’ll add lots of low-fat flavor.

- Butter. If you want to add butter to a recipe, add a small amount just before serving. It’ll be the first thing you taste and smell, so a little will have a big impact.

Lucas James is the top rated celebrity personal trainer in Arizona. James specializes in helping men and women achieve weight loss through 1-on-1 private personal training, custom meal plans, and the best fitness programs and routines!

Guide: Eating Healthy Food at the Airport

Here’s an extensive list on how to eat healthy while traveling at airports. This guide will give you meal options to help you avoid weight gain and keep you on track with some healthy eating habits. Lucas James has put this list together for all those busy jet setters who are in and out airports on a monthly basis. Lucas James is celebrity personal trainer headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ.

Starbucks
Perfect Oatmeal
Mix your oats with preportioned packets of brown sugar (50 calories), dried fruit (100 calories), or nuts (100 calories).
140 calories 3 g fat

Au Bon Pain
Apple Croissant
This sweet pastry has half the calories of an apple strudel—and delivers 70 percent of your daily vitamin C needs.
280 calories 11 g fat

Dunkin’ Donuts
Egg White and Turkey Sausage Flatbread
With 19 grams of protein, this hearty sandwich will keep you satisfied for hours.
280 calories 6 g fat

Panda Express
Mixed Veggies and Steamed Rice
This stir-fry contains two vegetable servings—and no MSG or trans fat.
390 calories 0.5 g fat (with 1?2 a serving of rice)

McDonald’s
Hamburger
Instead of fries, opt for a side salad with lowfat balsamic vinaigrette (60 calories, 3 g fat).
250 calories 9 g fat

Baja Fresh
Ensalada with Charbroiled Chicken
Top this high-protein salad with fresh salsa verde and you’ll tack on just 15 extra calories.
310 calories 7 g fat

Pizza Hut Express
Personal Pan Cheese Pizza
To keep calories in check, take half the pie to go—or toss it if you’ll be tempted to eat it minutes later.
295 calories 12 g fat for 1?2 a pizza

Champions Sports Bar & Restaurant
Sesame Seared Tuna Salad
Yellowfin tuna tossed with an orange, ginger, and mustard dressing has gourmet appeal.
372 calories 18 g fat

KFC
Honey BBQ KFC Snacker
Order a side of steamed string beans (25 calories) with this sweet-spicy chicken sandwich.
210 calories 3 g fat

Snacks

Hudson News
Special K Chocolate Peanut Protein Snack Bar
Unlike candy, this chocolatey treat contains fiber and 4 grams of protein.
110 calories 3.5 g fat

Hudson News
Snak Club Tropical Mix Dried Fruit
Satisfy that midday sugar craving with this fruit-and-nut combo.
120 calories 5 g fat per 1?3 bag

Hudson News
Wheat Thins
These crackers have 40 percent less fat than chips and are made with whole grains.
140 calories 6 g fat for 16 crackers

McDonald’s Premium Bacon Ranch Salad with Grilled Chicken
McDonald’s offers a number of decent salads that can be ordered with or without meat. The premium bacon ranch salad with grilled chicken has just 260 calories (without dressing) with 33 grams of protein and 50 percent of your daily value of vitamin C. But watch out — the chicken strips step up the salt in your meal with 710 milligrams of sodium. If you’re watching your salt, order the salad sans chicken. Douse your salad with the low-fat balsamic vinaigrette dressing, which adds only 40 calories.

Au Bon Pain Garden Vegetable Soup
Filled with cabbage, broccoli, zucchini and green bell pepper a medium-size serving of this vegetarian soup has just 80 calories plus 3 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber. Like most restaurant soups this dish is high in salt (with 1,070 milligrams of sodium). Order a size small if you want to curb your salt intake.

Starbucks Multigrain Bagel
Starbucks’ menus vary based on location, but you’re likely to find this quick and convenient snack at most stores. The coffee chain’s fat-free multigrain bagel has just 320 calories per serving, 12 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber. And with just 220 milligrams of sodium, it’s a lower-salt airport option. (These numbers are for a bagel without cream cheese.)

Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal
This food is quite possibly one of the healthiest options in your airport. It has 140 calories with 5 grams of protein, 105 milligrams of sodium and just 2.5 grams of fat. Plus, there’s vitamin A, calcium and iron in this oatmeal — and the ingredient list is comfortingly short and easy to pronounce. Jazz up your oatmeal with extra toppings like dried fruit (100 calories) or nuts (100 calories).

Dunkin’ Donuts Egg White Veggie Flatbread
Thank you, Dunkin’ Donuts for giving us something tasty to snack on other than sugary fried balls of carbohydrates. Dunkin’s egg white veggie flatbread has just 290 calories plus 11 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber. Real veggies like bell peppers, potatoes and onions add vitamin A and vitamin C. Keep in mind that there are 9 grams of fat and 680 milligrams of sodium in this sandwich.