To understand better what you put into their mouth over a period of
time, it can be very useful to make a 'diet log' in which you record
absolutely everything you eat and drink over say a two-week period.
With this knowledge you will often see more clearly what you should
be doing to improve your diet.
Instead of giving you complicated or fad diets which might be
suggested by the latest media article, we will, instead, give you some
basic guidelines that can be very helpful in the development of your
own diet, which should be both balanced and varied. For optimum
results, supplements should be taken over and above an existing
good diet – they are not designed to replace a good diet. Our
suggested guidelines for a general, good diet are as follows:
1. Eat between five and nine portions of fruit and vegetables per day, every day
In selecting these, preferably buy fresh organic produce and/or
products from the farm gate or local farmers' markets. Go for
diversity, selecting produce with different colours, for instance dark
greens, bright reds, oranges and yellows. This 'colour diet' makes
good sense scientifically as you get a great diversity of
phytonutrients and antioxidants in to your body this way. Of your
daily fruit and vegetable consumption, take roughly half of it as
fruit and half as vegetables.
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2. Where you consume grains, make sure these are wholegrains wherever possible
So, avoid white bread (and other simple carbohydrates), and consume
wholegrain breads instead. Pasta should also be wholemeal and rice
brown. Don’t overdo the carbohydrates, complex as they may be.
Avoid high glycaemic carbohydrates (refer to the Glycaemic Index
table on the back pages of two Ultralife brochures: 'Seven Principles
for the Ultra Healthy You' and 'Quick Start for Weight Management
and Good Health with Ultralife.'
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3. Proteins should be lean
There is no doubt that most people are far too reliant on
carbohydrates – and simple (high glycaemic) ones – for their energy
and this is a major factor in excessive weight gain and obesity. One of
the key factors in the very popular Atkins diet, is making protein (and
to a degree fats) your key energy source. It’s the animal fats,
particularly if they come from non-organically-reared meats that we
see as the main problem; they can contain excessive levels of toxins.
Protein, without animal fats, can be found in such foods as lean
meats, fish, tofu, beans, chickpeas, nuts, seeds, etc.)
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4. Fats should come mainly from plants or fish, rather than from
Animals
Good quality olive, flax or linseed oils are good sources of unsaturated
fat and essential fatty acids. Because fats have a tendency to
accumulate environmental toxins, it is advisable to ensure that
vegetable oils, nuts, seeds and other vegetable–based high fat foods
are organic. Fish should preferably be wild or, if farmed, it should be
organic, again to reduce your burden of environmental chemicals.
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5. Cooking and food preparation methods
Try to eat wholefoods, rather than processed foods, most of the time.
You might find a good macrobiotic cookbook will give you some useful
ideas. There has been a big trend towards processed foods over the
last few decades and processing contributes to a very significant loss
of nutrients including vitamins, minerals and enzymes. Don’t over
cook your vegetables, and eat plenty of raw foods in the form of
salads and fruit. Think about getting yourself a sprouter for your
kitchen window sill; alfalfa or mung bean sprouts can be added to
salads or included as a filler in wholegrain sandwiches. If you need
quick, portable snacks, fresh fruit, dried fruit & nut mixes or
wholegrain, fruit, seed and nut 'energy bars' are to be preferred over
chocolate bars and savoury snacks.
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6. Supplementation
There is no doubt that many people are deficient in nutrients even if
they eat a ‘balanced and varied’ diet. This is because the nutrient
quality of many foods has deteriorated as a result of intensive farming
methods and crop breeding programmes in which cosmetic
appearance and storage life, rather than nutrient quality, are the
main emphasis.
Ultra+ Daily Detox and Ultra+ Max (our unique combination product
which contains the ingredients in three other Ultralife products,
namely Ultra+ Multi-Vites, Ultra+ Antioxidants and Ultra+ Fruit & Veg), for
example, provide a combination of extremely high quality nutrients
and herbs in just two products. This makes your supplementation
regime so much easier than having to rely on more conventional tablet
and capsule products.
Kids should avoid sugar laden fizzy drinks which supply empty calories
and , often, many artificial ingredients and preservatives. Ultra+ Fruit
& Veg, available in either delicious natural orange or tropical flavour,
is a perfect product for kids in place of fizzy drinks and cordials.
It’s an ideal complement to any lunch box and a great way to ensure
your child gets many of the key nutrients found in 5 to 9 servings of fruit
and vegetables.
For those wishing to lose weight, substituting our unique, dairy-free
meal replacement product, Ultra+ Shake, for one or even two meals a
day, can help you lose weight rapidly and safely, particularly when
combined with other dietary advice (above) and exercise (below). For
more information, have a look at the range of Ultralife marketing
material and our detailed Technical Bulletins covering Ultralife’s
remarkable range of nutritional and food products.
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