Diet For Disease Prevention and Senior Health Care

Diet For Disease Prevention and Senior Health Care

Maintaining a healthy diet throughout life can do more than just keep you slim and fit. Healthy eating is important to senior health care and can sometimes prevent diseases such as heart disease and cancer, as well as provide relief for diseases such as osteoporosis. Unfortunately, the importance of eating well is often pushed aside by our busy day to day lives. We continue to jeopardize our future health and get caught up in the cycle of fast food, large portions and sodium laden meals. A healthy diet doesn't have to be daunting on our schedules, or mean giving up all the food we love. A simple eating plan can actually make meals and snacks more efficient for both our time and our bodies.

While a healthy diet is important for an individual of any age, it is especially important for seniors and senior health care. Creating a healthy lifestyle while we are younger, and maintaining it as we grow older, can prevent many senior health care issues, and keep disease at bay. While many seniors rely on specialized senior services for their senior health care needs, it's important to do all we can beforehand to maintain our health and practice preventative care. Below is a list of diseases and the foods that help to prevent or manage disease:

Osteoporosis

Our bones continue to grow until we reach our maximum bone density somewhere in our late twenties or early thirties. Slowly as we age our bones become less dense which can eventually lead to Osteoporosis. Building up our bone density while we are young is a sure prevention method, but there are a variety of foods that can help prevent or provide relief from the disease as well. These are:

• Foods rich in Vitamin D such as dairy products, oily fish, and liver are vital for bone production. Exposure to sunlight also produces Vitamin D. Calcium, in low fat milk and other dairy products, is equally important for healthy bones.
• Aside from nutrition, exercising regularly with low- or high-impact cardiovascular activities can force bones to strengthen. Many senior citizen communities and activity centers offer physical activity and exercise programs ideal for seniors.

Heart Disease

Coronary heart disease is a senior health care issue that can also be prevented through healthy lifestyle choices. Heredity, and poor diet are risk factors for heart disease, and a variety of basic nutrition solutions can prevent or help individuals manage the disease. These include:

• Removing saturated fats from your diet. Replace them with unsaturated fats such as skimmed milk, low fat cheese, and lean meat.
• Eat fruits and vegetables, and limit your total fat intake.
• Eat fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as mackerel or salmon, and grill any meat to remove the fat.
• Adding soy to your diet will reduce cholesterol, and also lower the risk of heart disease.
• Stay away from Trans fats found in fried foods and some baked goods.

Cancer

Research has shown that eating a healthy diet and practicing healthy lifestyle habits can prevent the onset of cancer. Risk factors for cancer include smoking, overweight, and excessive drinking. Though quitting smoking and drinking in moderation will help in the prevention of certain cancers, eating vitamin rich foods and avoiding others to maintain a healthy weight can also play a major role in senior health.

• Fruits and vegetables are vital to Cancer prevention and weight control. Eat a large variety every day.
• Avoid large amounts of red meat and processed meats.
• Wholegrain breads and other sources of fiber such as almonds are essential for weight control.
• Eat fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids as well as beans and legumes that are full of fiber, protein, complex carbohydrates and important minerals.

Eating well and maintaining physical activities don't guarantee the prevention of disease, but contributes toward your physical and mental well-being. A variety of senior citizen services are available, such as senior nutritionists that can offer advice on healthy eating and exercise to improve or maintain senior health. Other healthy foods to build into your healthy lifestyle include:

• Whole Grains
• Almonds
• Beans and other legumes
• Avocados
• Olive oil
• Dark Chocolate
• Eggs

Natural Health Care Practices

Natural Health Care Practices

With increasing food adulteration, health care needs billboard attention. Self care is the best care....

Whether its home made food, fast food or restaurant foods all are adulterated only the percentage of adulteration differs. To some extent home made foods are pure compared to other two but fertilizers and chemicals added in the fields to produce hybrid and good quality, fresh cereals and vegetables are indirectly harmful to our health. In take of chemicals in form of food gradually has degraded our immune system. People of present age, 2000 millennium are less immune to diseases and fall prey to mild infection also. At home or in office - to work, to perform you need to be healthy and the saying 'Health is wealth' has picked up with time.

Why natural health care practices are more preferred compared to idiopathic medicines? I have found idiopathic medicines side effects are at times extreme and adversely affect our health in long run. There are numerous natural health care alternatives that deliver promising health care solutions and you can also find communities' that offers free health consultancy. In this Internet world just browse online book stores for free health guides and other health related stuff; lots of health stuffs are available. No doubt, Alioth practices give very fast results but remember they do not eliminate the health problem and disease from the root.

Suffering from beauty complex, anxiety, thyroid problems, nervous disorder, stone, hypertension, cancer, anger, anxiety, diabetes, epilepsy, hepatitis, stress, insomnia, weight issue, dietary, intoxication, acidity, the list is endless. Natural health practices are popular because of their short term and long term benefits. There are number of natural health therapies available: Electra-magnetic radiation and bio-field protection, Reiko, Message Therapies, Spa, Yoga, medication, meditation, Ayurveda. A new sense of well-being, with natural health care practices can be gained.

Yoga helps attain divinity by regulating your body parts and chemical impulse and sets your mind free of worldly affairs and enhances your strength, complete awareness i.e. self realization is achieved. Enjoy the extreme benefits of Ayurveda practices; Ayurveda is an ancient practice and hidden power that frees you of all earthy body problems from the root. Complete balance of body parts, mind and soul and all your actions are streamlined.

Why American Health Care is So Expensive

Why American Health Care is So Expensive

Obesity is America's number one health problem. It commonly leads to diabetes, Type 2, heart disease, kidney disease, and sometimes cancer.

According to a recent report quoted by the New York Times, obese citizens spend about 42% more per year on health care than normal-weight Americans.

"Obesity, and with it diabetes, are the only major health problems that are getting worse in this country, and they're getting worse rapidly," Dr. Thomas R. Fried en, director of the Center for Disease Control, said.

If obesity is driving up health care costs, what can we do about it? Ask doctors to charge less? Make the drug companies provide free diabetes medicines and diet pills to obese people? Ask the insurance companies to provide their services for free?

Maybe we could nationalize the whole health care system and force all American taxpayers share the cost equally of caring for these unfortunate Americans who are the victims of...what? The restaurant industry! That's it! Fast food and Doritos did it to them! Lays potato chips: "Bet you can't have just one!" They dared these poor souls to become addicted to their deadly products--and it worked!.

I'm sorry. I'm being ridiculous to make a point. My point is, our health care system is buckling under the weight of the expensive round-about procedures we do and drugs we provide to counteract the effects of what people are doing to themselves.

Digging Our Graves With A Fork & Knife
We are a nation of food-Alic's. Most of us don't eat real foods prepared at home from fruit, vegetables, whole grains and beans. Most of what we eat has to center around either some animal meat and fat and lots of highly refined carbohydrates. Very few vitamins and minerals are left in our food--and almost no fiber. And we wonder why we get fat , have diabetes, heart attacks, and require expensive medical care.

My medical care costs me nothing but the time it takes to do some daily exercises and eat right. Chalk it up partially to vanity--I never wanted to let myself get overweight or suffer the diseases that plagued my family tree.

A big part of my medical care is to eat what science and my conscience tells me I should, rather than stuff that merely tastes good.

But it's all worth it to me. I'm not pleading with the government to get me health care. Nobody had to inform me that eating too much of the wrong foods would make me sick: I figured it out on my own after reading a few good books and research reports. It wasn't hard--and it was a benefit for me to stay well.

What would I do about the health of the American people?
The best thing the health care professionals could do is to stop coddling us. Stop treating us like imbeciles. Tell us the truth. I suspect that if doctors and public health officials leveled with citizens and told them the golden truth that "We all are about 97% responsible for our own health, based on what we choose to eat," it might make an impression after a while.

It probably won't happen, I know, because the fast-food industry and other makers of fat-food(meat packers and the dairy and sugar industries) are in control of our FDA and the US Department of Agriculture. They would scream bloody murder if the public were told the truth about how their food products are the reason our arteries are plugged up with cholesterol and why we're growing obese.

But, the bottom line is, we don't have to eat those foods. Nobody is forcing us to eat foods that lead to heart attacks, breast cancer, strokes, Alzheimer's Disease, colon cancer, etc., etc. If you don't believe me, then read the medical research that clearly establishes the connection between what we eat and these diseases.

Did you know that there are still pockets of people who still eat traditional diets that are primarily vegetarian--and they rarely have heart attacks. Their women very rarely get breast cancer. People of these nations live to 90 and 100 years frequently, with sharp minds, good eyesight and they continue to work in their gardens and orchards. They are respected and contributing members of their society. If we chose to eat like these people, we could reduce our need for expensive and dangerous health care.

Here's a simple truth of economics: If there was no demand for health care because everyone was healthy, then health care would be cheap. It's a matter of supply and demand. A lot of cardiologists standing around with no triple-bypasses to do would quickly lower their prices. That's my answer to the high cost of health care: Get healthy!

Health Care Reform Or Not - You Pay the Same Health Care Costs Either Way

Health Care Reform Or Not - You Pay the Same Health Care Costs Either Way

Health policy in the U.S. heavily relies on the strategy of denial. Health care costs eat up over 16% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The typical American works two months out of every year just to cover medical treatment! Or, to put it another way, in 2007 the U.S. spent an average $7,421 per resident for health care. That same year, total medical costs were rising at 6.1% annually - far higher than the rate of GDP growth. What could you do with an extra $7,421 each year for every member of your family?

If you are healthy, you may think this cost does not apply to you. While the cost is an average, think about all the places that health care costs are hiding.

Federal income taxes - to pay for Medicaid, Medicare, and other programs

State taxes - to pay for the state's share of Medicaid and other programs

Your health premiums - the amount you pay each month to your employer or an insurance company to cover just being insured (if you have insurance)

Your out-of-pocket costs - your part of the bill when you go to the doctor or emergency room, are admitted to the hospital, buy a prescription, or use any other health care service. If you have insurance, notice that every year you likely pay more to get less in coverage.

Part of every purchase - no matter what you buy, from an electronic gadget to clothes, school supplies, a car or bike, or food, health care costs are hidden in the purchase price. Why? For one thing, the seller has to pay taxes too, and part of its taxes goes for health care programs. Second, the seller is likely providing health care insurance to its employees, with a hefty tab skyrocketing year after year. The seller needs to cover those costs somehow, and you've been nominated.

Seventy five percent of the costs ($5,566 for you and each family member) go to treat people with chronic illness. In other words, those suffering from high blood pressure, arthritis, diabetes, asthma, Alzheimer's, cancer, autoimmune disease, skin and eye diseases, sinusitis, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, and more. The painful list goes on and on. Money is only a minor part of the human cost.

Whether or not there is health care reform will make only a tiny difference in the long run. The soaring costs are not sustainable because other parts of the economy simply can't keep up. If costs keep mounting as they are, engulfing a bigger part of our national resources each year, it won't matter who pays or how. Because no one will have that much money and the system will slide downhill.

The only way to permanently construct a sane health care plan is to have people make meaningful changes in their lifestyle. This means reducing the risk of getting a chronic illness.

Eating a plant-based diet of whole foods is the single most critical action you can take to lower costs and stay well enough to survive the imploding system. This choice is for you to make, not Congress. Breathe easy that you can stay largely outside the polarizing health care debate and hospitals both if you make the best lifestyle choices. And that is not as hard as you might think.

If you are already ill and need treatment, this may be of little comfort. If we drastically reduced, as a nation, the total cost of health care through better diet and other great decisions (such as quitting smoking), there will be plenty to go around to take care of each and every sick person. We won't need to skimp on anyone.

Don't discount the healing power of a whole foods diet. You may feel a lot better even before we get to that long-awaited day when everyone gets the highest quality care.

Will the health care system be public, private, or a little bit of both once we get costs under control? We would have the luxury of debating options at that point because we could afford to! So let's get out of denial and start building a healthier nation now. It starts with you.