Many health care professionals says that water is an essential nutrient for weight loss.

Water is up to 60% of our body weight, lack of water alters the metabolism of our body. This happens because the body does not have the ability to store additional water. The main functions of water in the body are: transports nutrients, removes toxins from the body, hydrates the skin, helps maintain body temperature and wet ears, mouth and nose. Dehydration can have serious consequences such as weakness, delirium and death.

On the other hand when the water content in the body is very high it can result in headaches, muscle weakness, poor appetite and poor memory.

But, why water is an essential nutrient for weight loss?

Because water can help you lose weight by making you feel full, helps curb food cravings and quenches your thirst. Also, water flushes toxins from your system, increases metabolism and assists your body in keeping your cells hydrated. People who drink more water tend to stay full longer and are less likely to eat.

More reasons? If you are normally a soda or juice drinker, and you replace them with water, drinking water can help you lose weight, partially because you are replacing some calories. There are a lot of processes that go on in your body that requires it. If you do not drink enough water your body does not function at an optimal level, which makes weight loss difficult.

Even more reason? Lack of water gives you headaches and constipation. If you do not drink enough water every day, your body may be storing water and fat that you do not need. If you become dehydrated your body is more likely to store fat. Because water naturally helps to suppresses your appetite, and will help you lose weight and burn fat.

The Water Resource Center in the University of Minnesota states that you need water for your body to burn fat. Without water, your kidneys cannot do their job properly and your liver must pitch in to help. While it is helping the kidneys, your liver cannot burn as much fat, so some of the fat that would normally be used as fuel gets stored in your body instead. The water is stored between the cells and shows up as extra weight. Drinking more water lets the liver get back to its own job of turning fat into fuel. When your body gets enough water, the stored water is released, so the more water you drink, the less you will eat.

Then, what is the necessary dosage? Experts recommend that during the day take 2 to 3 liters of water. But sweat when you exercise increases the need of water. For what is recommended before exercises take 1 to 2 glasses and during exercising drink only when thirsty and to drink as much as you sweat. The way to know whether you drank too much during a long training routine is if your weight afterward is more than it was before your exercise.

A glass of water before eating will help you feel full and eat less. Drink at least 8, eight-ounce glasses of water every day. If you are overweight, drink an additional glass for every twenty-five pounds of excess weight.

Gestational diabetes is a carbohydrate intolerance of variable severity that starts or is first recognized during pregnancy. For prevention of gestational diabetes a woman who is pregnant have to take food with nutrition and avoid junk food.

Even though there is no proof that we can 100% prevent a pregnant woman from getting diagnosed with gestational diabetes there is a proven way to help the possibility of preventing it or once diagnosed with it help maintain it and even in some cases reverse it.  Before we get started I would like to give you an additional piece of information.  It is proven that 30-40% of women who contract gestational diabetes have a greater chance later in life to become type 2 person with diabetes.

Now having said that lets try to do our best and prevent you from getting it in the first place.  Everyone has heard the saying “she is eating for two now” well technically she isn’t but what is happening is the baby is collecting all the nutrients from the mother therefore leaving the mother feeling as though she hasn’t eaten.  Some of us may go overboard in that department and start eating what we want whether it is nutritional or not.  One of the sure ways to help prevent gestational diabetes is to eat healthy and not let the junk food take over your pregnancy.

Again it is fine to splurge a little but overall you must eat healthy 99% of the time and when you do crave the junk it will most likely balance out more than if you were eating whatever and whenever.  Like any person with diabetes a pregnant woman should be eating up to 6 times a day and those should be small portions.  This balances out the sugar levels that helps maintain that hunger we all tend to get certain times of the day or evening.  By making smart food choices in the beginning of your pregnancy can help to prevent gestational diabetes.

Another way to help is to exercise regularly; this doesn’t mean you should go out and run a marathon.  Taking evening walks after dinner is good, keeps your blood circulating and your cardio can get a work out as well.  Being pregnant isn’t a disease that prevents you from doing your normal activities but do get the approval of your doctor before starting any exercises.  In fact before you become pregnant choosing to eat right and exercising will increase your chances of preventing gestational diabetes even more and with less stress on your body while fighting any cravings or aches and pains that your body is not use to.  Getting enough rest and eating healthy along with some exercises while pregnant is always good for you and your baby and gives you a better chance of preventing this type of diabetes.

Please take note that if diabetes runs in your family and you do everything we have mentioned and you still get gestational diabetes that there is not proven medical way to prevent this disease all together.  What we are saying is that you can take the measures of trying to prevent and to make the odds in your favor when it comes to having a healthy pregnancy.  A good diet, exercise program and plenty of sleep helps with many more things other than diabetes, overall it keeps you and your baby healthier.

For an example you eat a simple carbohydrate, such as a piece of fruit or a candy bar. Eaten alone, it would enter your bloodstream in the form of glucose and raise your insulin level almost instantly. Proteins, such as lean cuts of meat, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, and low-fat dairy products, take much longer to digest and are broken down into their smallest components, amino acids. Amino acids, for the most part, do not stimulate insulin secretion. Protein also requires the body to put forth a greater amount of effort for a longer period of time to digest it, which once again slows down the digestive process.

When a carbohydrate is eaten in together with a protein, it becomes a new source of energy on a molecular level. So when a simple carbohydrate is eaten in combination with a lean protein source, such as a piece of cheese or a slice of turkey, that combination of foods goes through a very different digestive process than if either is eaten alone. If you combine carbohydrates with proteins, less glucose enters the bloodstream, and it is released over a longer duration of time. This lowers your insulin level so your body can burn the carbohydrates as fuel as opposed to storing them as fit.

Another important factor to consider is those endless cravings for sugar or carbohydrates. Eating a little protein with each meal will reduce your cravings for such foods. Let me give you a brief explanation. When you eat sugar or a carbohydrate alone, it raises(spikes) your insulin levels, but what goes up must come down. So when your insulin level drops, it creates a craving for more sugar or carbohydrates for immediate energy and to get “high” again, because now you are feeling tired and lethargic. Sounds like an addiction, right? It’s something to think about. However, when you eat a little protein with each meal, which forces the secretion of glucagon(the hormone that stimulates insulin secretion), your insulin level balances out so your body doesn’t go through the insulin roller-coaster ride. The result is that you have a sustained, well-balanced energy level throughout the day instead of that tired, lethargic feeling you may usually experience around midafternoon.

The premise behind a higher-protein diet is that it’s not the protein or fat in our daily diet that is causing the obesity epidemic, it is the excess of high glycemic carbohydrates and carbohydrates eaten alone and in excess that create and store fat. In other words, lean sources of protein and good fats will not make your weight raise they are eaten in the right proportion. Fat does not induce a secretion of insulin. Do you remember the low-fat craze that swept through our country not so long ago? Every major food manufacturer jumped on the bandwagon and made low-fat versions of almost every food product. What happened? We got fatter, not thinner! We ended up eating more of those low fat foods because they didn’t fill us up due to the reduced fat content and the fact that they were high in sugar and carbohydrates. Consider this: an entire chicken breast has approximately 300 calories; a small Snickers bar has approximate 275 calories. The chicken breast does not require the secretion of insulin, but the Snickers bar does. As a consequence, when eating the Snickers bar there is a greater chance your body will store these calories in your fat cells; eating the chicken breast will not. So start to eat more protein to keep your weight down and of course it will make you healthier.

Missed periods is the earliest and most recognizable sign of pregnancy. For the women who do not keep a track of their periods or have an irregular menstrual cycle, it will take a while for them to register their pregnancy. Vomiting or morning sickness is another early sign of pregnancy. Increase in hunger or total loss of appetite follows the missed period and nausea pregnancy symptoms. These signs may vary and swing either way with each passing day, as the body prepares itself to welcome a new life. Every woman, rather every pregnancy, differs in pregnancy symptoms.

There is no standard checklist to determine pregnancy. Different women have different symptoms. It is very important to listen to what your body tells you and recognize any untoward signs. This way you can even recognize early signs of pregnancy much before any testing takes place. Some women experience pregnancy symptoms within weeks of conception, some may have no symptoms other than missed or delayed periods. Some of the most common pregnancy symptoms are listed below.

Nausea or morning sickness: Most well known early sign of pregnancy are experienced between 2-8 weeks after conception. This queasy feeling is due to the changes in the hormone levels the body experiences as it prepares for embryo implantation.

Delayed or missed periods: It is the classic early sign of pregnancy. The uterine lining need not be shed anymore so as to embed the embryo for growth.

Fatigue or tiredness: This pregnancy symptom starts as early as first week after conception.

Swollen or tender breasts: Within a week or two of conception, some women may notice changes in their breasts; they may be tender to touch, sore or swollen due to hormonal imbalance.

Darkening of areolas: The skin around the nipples darkens as the pregnancy advances in weeks, to prepare for the baby.

Backaches: Lower backache is also an early sign of pregnancy, though a dull backache remains throughout the pregnancy due to the increasing weight of the fetus.

Headache: Some women experience headaches early in the pregnancy due to sudden rise of hormones.

Frequent urination: Around 5-8 weeks as the growing uterus presses against the urinary bladder, one needs to make frequent trips to bathroom to evacuate urine.

Food cravings: This is a very classic early sign of pregnancy and lasts throughout the entire pregnancy. Some women crave for sweets and ice creams, while other may want salty food or pickles. According to pregnancy journal, this is one way of the body to take in the missing nutrients or augment poor diet due to nausea.

Implantation bleeding: About 6-12 days after conception the embryo implants itself into the uterine wall. Some blood spotting or cramping may take place at this moment of time. This is also an early sign of pregnancy to be watched out for.

Bad nutrition could create unnecessary temptations and leave you in unhealthy condition. By neglecting your health and consuming nutritionally void foods you make your body ask – Where’s the good stuff? – I want more!

Don’t let bad eating turn into a habit of cyclical negative behavior. Catch it now and beat the demon of craving. Eating the good foods helps to make sure that you have access to the necessary nutrients you need. Because it’s true that if you do not have the nutrients that you need then your vitality might be suffer.

It is common knowledge that if you neglect proper eating practices then the results are you risk your own health, but what isn’t brought up are the optimal foods that you should consume for the best possible overall advantages. Excellent food mixes will give us the best results. You must aim to combine the best foods in a well thought out meal. Read the rest of this entry »