Tabetha Cool - Low Fat Diet Recipes: Gluten Free Recipes and Superfoods

Low Fat Diet Recipes

Gluten Free Recipes and Superfoods

Tabetha Cool and Julianna Walts

Copyright 2013 Tabetha Cool and Julianna Walts

All rights reserved.

There are two different kinds of fat in our diets, one is a good essential fat that contains nutrients to help the body be healthy and function normally, and the other is a bad fat that has no redeeming value except to make us unhealthy. Healthy fats help the body with proper development of the brain, increase in energy, proper blood clotting, and aids in the absorption of several vitamins. The best way to avoid these bad fats is to go on a low fat diet. Both the Superfoods diet and the Gluten Free diets are naturally low in these bad fats.

Good fats are found in vegetables and fish and nuts. Bad fats are found in junk foods and come from lard, margarine, partially hydrogenated oils such as palm and coconut oil and fat from other meats. A low fat diet will limit or eliminate the bad fats and focus on the good fats. A low fat diet has many good benefits.

Because fat contains many calories, it also turns into fat in the body. If you eat many calories of any foods, this too can turn into fat. Eating too many calories and fat causes obesity, which is a big health concern for many people. Being obese can cause issues with the heart, hypertension, diabetes, breathing issues, sleep issues, and is hard on the kidney and liver. Because obese people are less likely to be physically active, they are at a greater risk for conditions that arise due to immobility. A low fat diet helps people to lose the weight and fat.

A low fat diet may help to prevent and treat heart disease. Because a low fat diet consists of good foods such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains (unless you are going gluten free), lean meats, and legumes (beans and peas), these foods help to encourage a healthy body. The diets in this book - the Superfoods and the Gluten Free both feature these healthy foods, which will promote a healthy heart.

When trying to eat low fat your best bet would be to stick with diets that include the whole foods that are naturally low fat rather than trying to buy "low fat" processed foods. Eating as natural as possible will help the body to lose the fat and combat the conditions that stem from being overweight. Obesity is responsible for many different health ailments including hypertension, cardiovascular issues, bone and joint issues, sleep issues, and more. These issues are easily preventable and treatable before they occur if the weight is lost. Going on a low fat diet helps to stop and cure obesity.

A low fat diet also helps to keep the cholesterol levels in balance. Often if a person is diagnosed with high cholesterol, the health care provider will have the patient go on a low fat diet as a part of the treatment. Eating a diet high in fats can result in high cholesterol. High cholesterol can cause a host of health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, blocked arteries, stokes, leg issues, and hypertension. By eating a healthy low fat diet, you can safely help to treat and possibly prevent high cholesterol.

If you want to help the low fat diet to succeed faster, add exercising in with the diet plans. By exercising, the body has the energy to burn the calories, which helps to melt the fat and weight. Exercising helps to boost the metabolism, but it may be difficult at first to get up and start to move around. Start slow and work up to higher intensity workouts.

Even just walking for a half an hour at a time helps to burn calories. You do not have to walk at a fast pace, just walk at a pace that is comfortable at first to get your body use to the exercise. As your body increases in stamina, you can add intensity to the walk. The distance walked is not as important as the amount of time spent doing a physical activity. The most effective exercises should last a minimum of half an hour. Set out, walk away for 15 minutes, then turn, and come back. After a while, increase your speed so you are walking faster. Add arm movements while walking, even just pumping the arms (as a jogger would) helps to burn more calories.

You can vary your workouts by doing low impact aerobics, swimming, light weight lifting, dancing, jogging, bicycling, or even climbing stairs. Make sure you warm up by doing a few stretches before the workout and do a few stretches after it is over. Doing a warm up and a cool down helps to prepare the body for the physical activity and helps to keep from being injured by making the muscles pliable.

Always drink plenty of water throughout the day, but especially surrounding the workout. The body functions better if it is well hydrated. Be sure to keep the water coming all day. It helps with dieting to drink a glass of water prior to the meal. You may not eat as much if you have water on the stomach. Do not over do the water, only drink until satisfied and drink to keep from feeling thirsty. You will need around 8 cups of water a day, more or less depending on your weight and height.

As always, never start a new diet or exercise routine without first clearing it with your health care provider. All the recipes within this book are healthy low fat recipes with the intention of giving you choices with your meal plans. Go over your diet and lifestyle with your health care provider first and show them this book and the recipes. All the content within this book are for informational purposes and not meant to diagnose or treat any condition.

The key to success with the low fat diet is to stick with it. Make a determination to get on the diet and stick with it, exercising at least three times a week, and making healthy lifestyle choices.

Before we say anything else about superfoods and the recipes that youll find in this book, its important to mention that superfoods isnt a term which nutritionists or dieticians use. In fact, there isnt any single, universally accepted definition of the term, although it is used to market all manner of food products and nutritional supplements. That doesnt mean, however, that some foods arent, for lack of a better term, super in terms of their nutritional value and health benefits.

Perhaps the most useful definition of superfoods is this: a food which is rich in essential nutrients, phytochemicals and other beneficial compounds, but that is also healthy in the broadest sense. These are fairly low calorie foods which contain no additives or artificial ingredients.

The best superfoods are also some of the easiest to find at your local market. Foods like pumpkin and other winter squashes, wild salmon, beans and lentils, spinach and other dark leafy greens, blueberries, kiwi fruit, oats, sweet potatoes and even chocolate (dark chocolate, not milk chocolate). Common though these foods may be, they all meet the superfoods criteria and are highly nutritious, healthy foods which deserve a prominent place in anyones diet.

Well go into the nutritional benefits of these superfoods in a little more detail in the individual chapters which follow. From vitamins and to phytonutrients which may play a role in preventing illness, to fiber and of course, flavor, these are foods which have a lot to offer your palate and your health.

Salmon is the exception among superfoods in that its an animal product rather than a fruit, vegetable or seed. Salmon is one of the richest sources of omega-3 fatty acids, a compound which can promote cognitive development, possibly improve mood and fight inflammation (and as such, is thought to help prevent certain forms of cancer as well as stroke and heart disease, among other illnesses). Its also an excellent source of lean protein and vitamin D, as well as carotenoid compounds (which are what give salmon its distinctive color).