Nutrition

Understanding basic nutrition should be everyone's priority. If you don't understand anything about ingredients, calories or foods, then you can't better your own health. This guide will teach you the basic concepts that will help you with your health and nutrition goals.

Nutrition | How To's | Articles | FAQs | Free Diets | Forums | Guides | Top 5 | Tools

• What is Nutrixercise?
  • Nutrixercise is an important concept to understand because nutrition and exercise should always be paired together to achieve the best results.
• How to Read a Nutrition Label (updated version)
  • Properly reading a nutrition label is a basic skill that everyone who is interested in staying healthy needs to learn. Too often, food manufacturers market an item as healthy when in fact it's no different than the average unhealthy product on the shelf.
• 8 Steps to Improving Your Eating Habits
• It seems that the only people who try and eat healthy are those looking to lose weight, and even then, most of the time it's a temporary change. Regardless of your weight goals, having a healthy diet has countless benefits including feeling better, being more energetic and looking great.
• Staying Healthy During a Recession
• Whether you think we're in a recession or going through a rough patch, you understand now more than ever the need to save money. Gas prices are at an all time high, food is following closely behind and health insurance is too expensive to buy if you don't get it from your employer. When times are tough, some luxuries such as gym memberships and healthy food seem unnecessary.
• Supplement Safety
• In our society of quick fixes, we have supplements that solve every imaginable problem ranging from too much belly fat to improving memory and even stopping hair loss. Unfortunately, most claims made by supplements have no real science to back them up.
  
• Misleading Food Labels
• Learning the benefits of eating health foods may convince you to start eating them. But what if the foods you start eating aren't any healthier than the ones you gave up? Misleading statements on food labels can lead to that.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Are all calories the same?
  • Gaining weight, losing weight or simply maintaining weight requires that you control your calorie intake. Our body gets its energy from calories found within food. When you eat too much, you gain weight. When you restrict your intake, you lose weight. When it comes to weight balance, all calories are the same. When it comes to overall health, picking the right foods will lead to a healthier life.
• How many calories should I eat each day?
  • It seems as though every month a new diet book, pill or product is released and claims that you can lose weight without giving up your favorite foods or even exercising more than you already are. Before you get all excited and spend your money on these "miracles", realize that there is only one way to control weight: calories intake.
• Do calorie calculators work?
  • Calorie calculators can be found on countless websites. Even Straight Health has its own calorie calculator which uses sex, weight, height, age and activity level to estimate a person's daily calorie expenditure. But are these numbers reliable and should you base your diet off of them?
• What's the difference between sugar in fruit and junk food?
  • Everyone knows that sugar is an ingredient you should generally stay away from. But what is the difference between the sugar in fruit and junk food? One of these you should eat a lot of and the other you should avoid.
• Is it OK to eat junk food sometimes?
  • The dilemma: you know how unhealthy doughnuts can be but love them nonetheless, should you eat one here and there? You defiantly should. To be completely healthy, you have to make your body as well as your mind happy.
• What is a good food to eat before bed?
  • Good nighttime nutrition is important to help your body rebuild damaged muscle tissue. Eating the right foods before you go to sleep will give your body the nutrients it needs to recover from intense workouts and help get you in better shape. Eating the wrong foods will lead to an increase your body fat percentage.
• Should I take a multivitamin?
  • Having a complete and balanced diet high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains minimizes the need for a multivitamin.
    
• What vitamins can give me an energy boost?
  • There are plenty of products that claim to give you an energy boost without the caffeine. Most of these are loaded with certain vitamins that are associated with energy metabolism. But can a vitamin with no calories really give you any extra energy?
    
• What is a good way to count calories?
  • Counting calories may seem tedious and unnecessary but there are plenty of easy and efficient ways of keeping track of your intake.
    
• Should I count my calories?
  • The amount of calories you take in versus the amount you burn is the only thing that will determines whether your succeed or not.
    
• How can I easily count my sodium intake?
  • Typically, when thinking of the word diet, we think temporary. Spring breaks, weddings and even weekend beach trips will get us to lose some weight. Unfortunately, these short term diets don't work.
    
• Are supplements worth the money?
  • The sale of supplements is booming on the false notion that some is good and a lot is better.

Top 5 Lists

• Top 5 Reasons to Eat Healthy
  • The types of food you eat will have a huge impact on your overall health. A diet filled with sugar and saturated fat can increase your risk for cardiovascular disease, strokes and diabetes while a diet filled with healthier options can prevent many of these conditions.
• Top 5 Bad Eating Habits
  • Bad eating habits such as junk food, unhealthy snacks and skipping nutrition labels can wreak your health, diet and even fitness goals.
• Top 5 Healthy Eating Habits
  • Liquid calories, skipping meals and having a strict diet are just some of the bad eating habits that need to change if you're looking to improve your overall health.
• Top 5 Ways to Eat Healthy During a Recession
  • With tough times ahead of us, everyone is looking for ways to save money and the grocery store is no exception. Sure we could all go on Ramen Noodle diets and probably save a lot of money, but that would be creating big problems tomorrow to solve a few problems today. There are plenty of ways you and your family can stay healthy and still save money during a recession.

Tools

• Free Diet Plans
  • This tool will provide you with a daily meal program that is personalized for your own needs. Whether you're looking to gain, lose or maintain weight, the SH Trainer can help you reach your goals.
• Daily Nutrient Needs Calculator
  • This tool will calculate your daily needs of fats, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, and minerals.
• Common Terminology
  • A few common terms you should know if you're interested in improving your health, eating healthy and starting an exercise routine.
    
• Functions of Vitamins & Minerals
  • Here are the major functions and sources of all the vitamins and minerals.