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Wellness page
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Wellness page
“Since maintaining a healthy and
sound body is among the ways of God - for one cannot understand or have
any
knowledge of the Creator if one is ill - therefore one must avoid that
which
harms the body and accustom oneself to that which is helpful and helps
the body
become stronger”. (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Deot 4:1)
A proper emphasis on physical
health is linked with how and what we eat. Jewish tradition has
elaborate
guidelines for how we are to approach food: what we are permitted to
eat, when
we may eat it, how it must be prepared, and what types of blessings we
are to
recite over each bite that enters our mouths. Given this religious
framework,
one might assume that Jews would have a healthy relationship with food.
Domestic
animals are raised in
conditions that cause them to suffer during their lives and even more
when they
are killed. Chickens especially are "debeaked" and live without
enough room to move. They are killed in ways that are inhumane.
Everything that
makes life worth living is taken from them. Because they are "high on
the
food chain", they take up energy and resources that can be used to feed
the hungry in the world. I think that if most people saw and felt the
pain the
animals went through they would not think twice about not wanting to be
part of
consuming animals for food. Most people love their pets and would jump
to save
their pets from pain. I won't go into health effects, that's a personal
choice
and doesn't involve another person/being. There is so much suffering in
the
world, why not make choices to lessen it?
Whether we
look at modern Jewish
social justice work or ancient rabbinic rulings, Jews have always
insisted on
the importance of having compassion for animals and reducing
unnecessary animal
suffering—tsa'ar ba'alei chayim in Hebrew; it’s a Mitzvah. We
can all
agree that animals should be treated humanely. Today's kosher meat
comes from
the same abusive factory farms as all other meat. Despite the humane
intention
and spirit of the Jewish dietary laws, there are no standards to ensure
that
kosher slaughter is any less cruel than conventional slaughter. In some
instances, it's been shown to be much worse.
In the
face of horrifically cruel
and ecologically devastating factory farms and a kosher industry that
has
sanctioned even the most grisly abuse of animals, it's
difficult to see
how eating animals is compatible with Jewish values.
When Kosher
isn't Kosher
Approximately
10
billion animals
(chickens, cattle, hogs, ducks, turkeys, lambs and sheep) are raised
and killed
in the US annually. Nearly all of them are raised on factory farms
under
inhumane conditions. These industrial farms are also dangerous for
their
workers, pollute surrounding communities, are unsafe to our food system
and
contribute significantly to global warming.
"Animals
being ritually slaughtered
in the United States are shackled around a rear leg, hoisted into the
air, and
then hang, fully conscious, upside down on the conveyer belt for
between two
and five minutes-and occasionally much longer if something goes wrong
on the
killing line before the slaughterer makes his cut. "The animal upside
down
with ruptured joints and often a broken leg, twists frantically in pain
and
terror, so that it must be gripped by the neck or have a clamp inserted
in its
nostrils to enable the slaughterer to kill the animal with a single
stroke, as
religious law prescribes."
Cancers,
autism and neurological
disorders are associated with the use of pesticides especially amongst
farm
workers and their communities. Learn about what pesticides are in your
food and
their effects.
Reading
nutrition
labels
Using
Nutrition
Labels To Make Good Decisions
If you’re like most people, you read them looking first to see how many calories the food has and then to see how much fat lurks within. The problem is…
These numbers mean nothing unless…
A.
You know how many
calories you should be eating each day and at each meal.
B. You know how much fat, protein and carbohydrate you need at
each
meal.
Once you know how many grams of protein, carbohydrates and fat you need at each meal or snack, you simply look at the nutritional information for each component of your meal and compare it to your meal requirements.
What
to look for
1. Serving size tells you what amount of the food or drink the nutritional information is based on. Some nutrition panels will also tell you how many servings are in the package or container. Look carefully at the serving size. In foods like potato chips for instance, the nutritional information is typically based on 30g. There may be 2, 3 or more servings in the bag you are about to consume which obviously doubles or triples the number of calories consumed.
2. Calories are a measure of energy. Your energy needs depend on factors such as your height, weight, gender, activity level and genetics. Consuming too many calories results in fat gain. Again, remember that the calorie total on the nutrition label is for the specified serving size only and that the package could, and often does, contain multiple servings.
3. Total fat tells you how
much fat is in a serving. On some, but definitely not all labels, the
total
will be broken down into the four different types of fat, namely
saturated,
polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and transfat. In this particular
example, it
even breaks the polyunsaturated fat down into its two components –
omega-6 and
omega-3 essential fatty acids.
4. In this section, the two most important totals are the cholesterol and sodium. Obviously if you have high or borderline-high cholesterol you want to keep an eye on how much you are consuming. If you have high blood pressure, you really need to be diligent in reducing your sodium intake. As a rule, the amount of sodium should be no more than double the number of calories.
5. Tells you how many grams of carbohydrates are in a serving. A detailed nutrition panel will – as this one has – break down the carbohydrate total detailing how much fiber, sugar and starch is included in the total number. Obviously the higher the fiber the better. As far as the sugar number goes, you must do a little investigation to determine whether the sugar listed is natural sugar (fructose in fruit, lactose in dairy) or sugar that’s been added by the manufacturer (glucose, high fructose corn syrup). Finally, starch tells you how much starch is in the product. In some cases, a product will not have starches listed but will – like in the case of my daughter’s whole grain Cheerios® – have cornstarch listed in the ingredient list.
6. Tells you how many grams of protein are in a serving.
7. Not all labels give you vitamin totals. Frankly I never look at this part of the label. I take a high-quality multivitamin each day which provides me with everything I need.
8. Down the right-hand-side you see numbers signifying what percent of the daily total is provided in a serving. Those percentages on is a total of 2000 calories per day. Just in case you are wondering how many calories you should be consuming each day.
Proper
weight
control
A
person’s normal weight should not be determined for egotistic reasons. Health experts worldwide agree that adults who
are
overweight and have weight related medical problems or a family history
of such
problems can benefit from weight loss. Even a small weight loss of 10
to 20
pounds can improve your overall general health by lowering your blood
pressure
and cholesterol levels.
Maintaining
a
healthy weight is
very important for protection against the many obesity related illness
or
disabilities. If your weight is currently over the healthy range for
your
height, losing weight will certainly be beneficial for your health,
your looks,
and how you feel. Check your height to weight ratio using this
approximate height to weight chart
guide:
If
you
are underweight you may
need
to gain some weight, this should always be done as part of a balanced
and
nutritious diet. In addition you should also be sure to Calculate
your Body Mass Index (BMI)
The New Food Pyramid is a tool to educate people to eat a more balanced diet from a greater variety of food portions without counting calories. The USDA has now expanded the four food groups to six groups and expanded the number of servings to meet the calorie needs of most people. This new food pyramid is more flexible and accurate than any of the past versions. The reason being that one image of a pyramid with markings of what your daily intake should be can not apply to everyone. It all depends on a person's lifestyle, and how much exercise they get involved in during a week. It also depends on if a person is trying to lose weight or gain weight. If a person is trying to gain weight then they should proceed by eating the highest amounts of recommended servings, if a person is trying to lose weight then they should try to aim for the lowest recommended servings per day. To have a good idea of what you should be eating and how much of it you should be eating. You can view this interactive guide, created by the United States Department of Agriculture at http://www.mypyramid.gov/
If your weight is in the ok range then you're eating the correct amount of food to keep your weight in the desirable range for health. However, if you are overweight for your height, try to cut down on the amount you're eating, especially food and drinks high in fat or sugar, and try to do more physical activity, exercises, workouts, etc., as being overweight can increase your risk of heart disease, type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and osteoarthritis. Be sure to check with your doctor if you need to lose weight and had problems losing it in the past.
The most effective way
to lose weight
Commercial diet programs that supply weight loss packaged foods, food addiction meetings, and drugstore weight-loss products, at best, provide temporary weight loss. Such methods of losing weight ultimately results on putting the weight back on again. These “yo-yo” diets can be more harmful than beneficial. By following these steps instead, you can produce lasting results to maintain your proper weight.
People
turn
to nutritional
supplements for some perfectly good reasons, including a need to
compensate for
an inadequate diet, or a desire for a "natural" cure. However,
supplements lack many of the safeguards afforded to prescription or
over-the-counter drugs, and even some potentially helpful supplements
can pose
risks. Philip J. Gregory, Pharm.D., editor of the Natural Medicines
Comprehensive Database, the leading medical reference on natural
remedies,
explains how to find supplements that may help you—and how to protect
yourself
from those that almost
certainly
won't. Click here
for the Nutritional Supplements Health Guide.
How to know if a
supplement really works
If someone is claiming that he has uncovered a secret that no one else in the world knows but him, that's a clue he's probably trying to promote junk. There are no such secrets. Many products also claim to be "clinically tested." In reality, that can mean that someone took the product and told the company, "It worked for me." Skip any product that does not have actual, published, peer-reviewed clinical trials to support its claims. Many quack products end up targeting challenging conditions where the medical options are not great like irritable bowel syndrome, cancer, migraines, or weight loss. By the way, there is no such thing as a truly safe, effective weight-loss supplement, including the better-known supplement Hoodia. In addition, if anybody makes a claim that a supplement is "nontoxic" and better than a drug, is based purely on opinion. Few trials out there compare a natural product to a prescription drug.
Won’t certain
supplements keep me healthy
People take supplements with good intentions - they want to be actively involved in their health, and taking a pill is a lot easier than eating a healthy diet or getting some exercise. The law allows manufacturers to say their product "supports heart health" or "supports prostate health," which is so general people interpret it to mean that it can prevent a specific disease. However, in most cases we have almost no data on how well supplements prevent disease. The studies are hard and expensive to do.
Are there any
supplements that are highly recommended?
Yes, a psyllium or fiber supplement. High fiber in the diet can reduce cholesterol absorption, and if you can't or won't get it from food, a supplement is also acceptable. Fish oil is worthwhile for people with high triglycerides or heart disease, or who don't like fish. Saw palmetto can reduce prostate symptoms. Calcium and vitamin D are helpful for preventing osteoporosis. Multivitamins are appropriate for people who don't like or eat much veggies.