Let's Talk About Malnutrition

When we hear the word malnutrition, we immediately think about not getting enough food. However, that issue has another name: it’s called undernutrition.
Undernutrition happens when the human body doesn’t get enough calories in order to function properly.
For millennia mankind has struggled with undernutrition. Only during the last century or so, in the most affluent societies, this issue has been almost eradicated. Unfortunately, it still afflicts the poorest parts of the earth where, people still struggles to get food on their plates daily.
Malnutrition, is broader category, that includes undernutrition but is not limited to it.
In fact, malnutrition has been defined as the condition resulting from an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, are in excess or are in wrong proportion.
In other words, malnutrition includes undernutrition, overeating and nutrients deficiency.
The latter being the insufficient and/or unbalanced supply of nutrients that the body needs.
So, even in affluent societies, where undernutrition is no longer an issue, and where we have the luxury of throwing away more food than we actually consume, malnutrition is still an issue.
How come? Because the modern unhealthy diet makes us overfed and overweight, but may fail to provide for all the micronutrients that the body needs to maintain optimum health.
And it’s this latter issue that I would to focus on today.

You Are What You Eat

Every 35 days, your skin replaces itself and your body makes new cells from the food you eat, what you eat literally becomes you.
You have a choice in what you're made of!
Is there anything more to add?

The Iron You

Don't Get Fooled: Multigrain Doesn't Mean Whole Grain

This is a mistake one might easily fall into: seeing a food labeled as “multigrain” (such as multigrain bread, crackers or cereals) and thinking that it’s a “whole grain” food.
But this is not always the case as the label multigrain just means that are two or more different types of grains have been used in a product. Not that the grains used were whole.

The Best Quinoa Patties

2013 is “The International Year of Quinoa” according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. An important recognition given to the Andean indigenous peoples, who have maintained, controlled, protected and preserved quinoa as food for present and future generations.

The international organization wants, in particular, to focus world's attention on the role that quinoa’s biodiversity and nutritional value plays in providing food security and nutrition.
Over the last decade quinoa has become a “global food” thanks to its high nutritional value and health benefits. Nowadays, you can find quinoa in almost every grocery store around the country. The price has also become much more "democratic".
Quinoa is one of the staple foods in my diet, and these patties are definitely one of my favorite recipe involving this wonder seed.



We’ll start by cooking a good amount of quinoa. Add some egg whites (or eggs), Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, breadcrumbs, onion, garlic and seasoning. A couple of minutes in the pan and that’s about it. That easy.
We just made awesomely tasting patties, full of precious nutrients and calorie considerate.
One further thing: these patties are quite versatile. You can eat them with a salad on the side; or dip them into some tomato sauce or use them in a sandwich (just like falafel).

How To Avoid Ruining A Salad!

Whenever you think about eating something healthy, salad is among the first foods that comes to mind. And that for a reason, as a salad is mostly comprised of raw vegetables, hence low in calories, full of vitamins and antioxidants. All in all a perfectly healthy food.
However, if having a salad for meal is a great thing, there are many ways in which one can ruin it, making a health hazard instead.
So next time you’re standing in front of the salad bar choosing what to add in your plastic bowl try to follow those few simple rules...

Get Stronger Bones With Olive Oil And The Mediterranean Diet

As we grow old we’re all subject to bone mass loss and decreased bone strength, which might determine osteoporosis and fracture risk.
Interestingly studies have shown that the incidence of osteoporosis in Europe is lower among population settled around the Mediterranean basin.
Part of this might be due to better weather conditions, compared to Northern Europe. More sun exposure means more production of Vitamin D, which is a vital component in stronger bones.
But according to a recent study to be published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM), the traditional Mediterranean diet, rich in fruit and vegetables, with a high intake of olives and olive oil could be one of the environmental factors underlying this difference.

Frozen Meat 101

I don’t know about yours but as far as my freezer is concerned, besides some frozen fruits, it’s stocked with meat. It’s so convenient to have it there. When I arrive home late at night, I can always resort to my freezer for some chicken or turkey meat.
But I never cared that much about the freezing process of meat. I just threw it in the freezer in after buying it and forget about it until time had come to eat it.
However, I recently discovered that there are several different methods of freezing and, moreover, that physical and chemical reactions can still occur in meat during storage in freezer.
The more I red about it, the more I realized how little I knew and that it was about time to fill this gap.

"What Would Be Good For Me?" or "What Do I Feel Like Eating?"

When it comes to making decisions on what to eat there are two different option that are presented to us: (1) picking things that are good for our health as opposed to (2) things eaten solely for taste reasons.
The rational decision would be to consume dishes based on the health benefits one could gain from them.
Instead, most of the time we all go down the other and more satisfying road: we eat what we feel like and what will satisfy our taste buds, our cravings.

The Gluten-Free Week Challenge: How Did It Go

Starting this morning I can bring gluten back into my life. The week’s challenge is over. I’ve stayed for full seven days on a gluten free journey. I’ve succeeded. Here are my two cents on the whole experience.

People Makes All Sorts Of Assumption On What's Good For You, But You Know Better

When it comes to fitness people are always ready to make all sort of assumption on what’s good for you, what’s bad for you, what you should do, what you shouldn’t do, etc.
They all seem to know better. But even though listening to suggestions it’s a good thing to do, in the end it’s really up to you to know what really works best for you.

Feeling Fat Can Make You Fat

“Everything that you do, everything that you are starts with the brain, the impulses you sent throughout your body”. This is what my favorite Bikram Yoga teacher Corinne tells us at the end of each class. I’m 100% believer in this, as the power of the brain on the body is far more stronger than we actually perceive and believe.
And when it comes to being fat this link might be really pronounced as a team of researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology just found out that teenagers who perceive themselves as being fat are more likely to grow up to be fat adults.
This effect might be one of the reasons why, notwithstanding the current obsession towards the ideal of being thin, more and more of us are getting overweight.

Hitting Plateau In Losing Weight? Don't Give Up, Mix It Up!

This happens to everybody on a weight loss journey: you begin a diet, at first it works perfectly, pounds drop consistently, you can see and feel the changes in your body but then everything STOPS. You hit the wall, nothing happens anymore and that number on the scale just stays the same. And what’s the first reaction? Throwing the towel and giving up. 
You start believing that the diet just doesn’t work anymore and might start wondering if there’s any diet that is going to actually work for you. But stop right there, most of the times is not the diet that is not working, more likely it’s just your body that it’s getting used to it and causes what it is usually referred to as “plateau”.

This Week's Challenge: Going Gluten-Free

They say you have to try everything at least once in your life. I’ve never been 100% convinced by this saying, but it is true that from time to time you have to get out of your comfort zone in order to get to know yourself better.
Since we recently talked about the gluten-free diet, I’ve thought to myself: why shouldn’t I give a try for a week? See what it feels like?
So this week is going to be a gluten-free week.
Let’s start by saying that I’m not a big carb eater. I never eat pizza and rarely pasta. Also, when I do eat grains I always choose whole wheat ones.
But I must confess it, I have a sweet tooth and I like to have my daily treat. I normally have dark chocolate or Greek yogurt with berries (both gluten-free) but I do like to munch a cookie, having cake or a biscotti. Plus in the morning when I don’t feel like having oatmeal (which in the summer happens almost every other day) I enjoy two slices of whole wheat bread with tart cherries jam (yum!).
So, even if it’s not going to be a major loss for, going gluten-free will do require so effort on my part.

August Workout Playlist

What about an awesome workout on the beach while listening to some rad music? Do it, with August workout playlist playing on your iPod.

Why It's Important To Be Careful With Salt...

Salt (aka sodium chloride) is essential for life and well-being. The human body utilizes sodium chloride to balance the fluids in the body and help transmit signals between the nerves, muscles and brain among other things.
Unfortunately, in modern diets, we tend to exaggerate with salt consumption. We are actually using so much salt that it’s compromising our health severely.
The fact is that salt is one of the basic taste in humans, that is why we like it so much and add it in large quantities in our food.
According to a recently conducted survey the average American consumes around 3400 mg of salt per day which is more than twice the 1500 mg daily dose recommended by the American Heart Association.
Among the consequences of high salt intake are hypertension, abnormal heart development, kidney disorders and calcium depletion.

Is There A Thing Such As Eating Too Much Healthy Food?

Here on TheIronYou we always stress out the importance of choosing to eat a lot of healthy food as a way to improve the quality of life. Generally speaking fruits and veggies are identified as being the core of healthy food and healthy eating regimens. In other words the more you eat of fruits and veggies the better you’re off. That’s the general consensus among nutritionist around the world.
BUT, sometime I wonder: is it possible to exceed on healthy food consumption? Is there such a thing as eating too many veggies and fruits? Can this harmful? Is portion size also relevant when it comes to healthy food?
According to a Loyola University Health System registered dietitian the answer to this question is yes. Portion size always matters!