What does a healthy diet really mean?

Is it a Diet or a Lifestyle Change?

Think of the word "diet" and what springs to mind? Restrictive meal plans? Best-selling books by skinny celebrities? Guilt producing health nuts who make us feel like anything that we might want to eat is not only bad for us but will ultimately cause our unfortunate demise and it will be all our fault because we didn't listen to them and follow their diet?!? OK, maybe that last one is just me.

Anyone who has been diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, prediabetes or type 2 diabetes has heard the word "diet", usually in the context of a health care professional telling us that we need to change to a healthier diet. But these days, we tend to think that there must be a detailed diet we need to follow, a book we have to read a membership we have to buy, or a guru we need to pledge our allegiance to.

But "diet" actually has another meaning. According to our good friend Merriam Webster, the word "diet" can also mean "food and drink regularly provided or consumed." Another definition is "habitual nourishment".

Here in this country, there is so much talk of diets, that we start to think that we have to be "on a diet." The other meaning of the word diet gets lost in the hype: Your diet is what you eat everyday.

People can have a healthy diet, a junk food diet, or a steady diet of Steven King novels. It's just another way of saying... something you consume on a regular basis.

So when we hear in the news that we should add something, say, like olive oil, to our diet, it just means that we should chuck the trans-fat laden hydrogenated gunk we're eating and substitute something that's kinder to our heart instead.

No fancy diet required. Just tossing out some bad stuff and adding some healthier choices to what we already eat everyday.

More unhealthy items to limit or eliminate from our diets:
Beverages that contain high fructose corn syrup
Packaged salty, fried snacks
Other packaged snacks that contain trans fats or high fructose corn syrup
Deep fried or breaded, battered foods
Creamy sauces or soups
Processed foods like hotdogs, luncheon meats, or high-fat frozen foods
Sugar-laden foods like packaged cookies, cakes and breakfast cereals

Healthy things to add to our diets:
Fresh or frozen vegetables and salads
Lean meats
Water and other unsweetened beverages like green tea
Homemade low fat, low sugar treats
Fresh fruit
Monounsaturated fats like olive oil, canola oil, nuts and seeds
Whole grain breads, brown rice, and other sources of fiber

A diet doesn't have to be rigid, it doesn't have to cost a lot of money and it doesn't have to be on

The New York Times Bestseller List. It just has to be something that we can follow everyday. Good choices that fit our preferences and our lifestyles. In other words, an everyday diet that we can follow for life.

10 Tips for Better Health!!

1. "Eat it, it's good for you." - Listen to your mother and eat breakfast every morning. People who eat breakfast regularly are 5 times less likely to put on weight.

2. "How do you know you don't like it, if you haven't tasted it?" – Remember to add fish to your diet. The omega 3's found in cold water fish can cut your risk of heart disease and decrease symptoms of depression.

3. "I can't believe you can sleep in this filth!" - Get plenty of rest. People who sleep less than 7 hours a night on average are 2½ times more likely to die prematurely.

4. "You can say just about anything about anyone, as long as you "bless their heart" somewhere in the sentence." -Remembering those social skills come in handy when meeting new friends. Elderly people who are more involved in communal activities live longer and have less medical problems.

5. "If you're going kill each other, do it outside" - Get outdoors and experience nature. It raises brain serotonin (the feel-good hormone). It's easy, start with a daily walk.

6. "Don't put that in your mouth, you don't know where it's been." – Brush your teeth and floss already. Studies have shown that practicing good dental hygiene can add 6.4 years to your life.

7. "You WILL eat it, and you WILL like it!" - Eat your vegetables, your mother was right, again - bless her soul(or heart!). Fruits and vegetables are chock full of good things - fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Remember fiber keeps things moving.

8. "Why didn't you go before we left the house?"- Another of life's mysteries. Remember peeing is good, so drink lots of water. For every ounce of coffee or soda pop you consume, ½ ounce of water is siphoned from your tissues.

9. "Why? Because I said so, that's why!" - Need to think about the logic of that one? Maybe a little meditation is in order. Take time for quiet reflection and prayer-- it is shown to reduce stress and lower blood pressure.

10. "A little soap & water never killed anybody." - Wash your hands. Yup, we are channeling mom, again. By frequently washing your hands you wash away germs that you have picked up from other people, or from contaminated surfaces, or from animals and animal waste. One of the most common ways people catch colds is by rubbing their nose or their eyes after their hands have been contaminated with the cold virus.

Mobiles can be cancerous than smoking!!

A new study by an Indian-origin neurosurgeon has shown that cell phone use could kill more people than smoking, because of its possible association with brain cancer.

Dr Vini Khurana, a staff specialist neurosurgeon at the Canberra Hospital and an associate professor of neurosurgery at the Australian National University, said heavy usage of mobile phones might turn out to be a greater threat to human health than smoking and even asbestos.

To support his finding, Khurana conducted a 15-month 'critical review' of the link between mobile phones and malignant brain tumours, and said that using mobiles for more than 10 years could result in more than double the risk of brain cancer.

In order to curb this danger, he has urged for 'immediate and decisive steps' by industry and governments to reduce people's exposure to invisible electromagnetic radiation emitted by handsets.

He has also asked to begin a 'solid scientific study' observing heavy mobile phone users for a period of at least 10-15 years.

'It is anticipated that this danger has far broader public health ramifications than asbestos and smoking, and directly concerns all of us, particularly the younger generation, including very young children,' the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Khurana, as saying.

However, he added that it is not that smoking was better for people than using mobile phones, but mobile-phone related health issues were a lot more dangerous and affected a far greater number of people.

He pointed out that currently there were 3 billion mobile phone users worldwide, and the number is growing with each passing day. In fact, people started using them as young as three.

He underlined that mobile phone radiation could result in heating up the side of the head or potentially thermoelectrically interact with the brain, while Bluetooth devices and 'unshielded' headsets could 'convert the user's head into an effective, potentially self-harming antenna'.

Khurana indicated that there had been increased reports of brain tumours linked with heavy and prolonged mobile phone use, particularly on the same side as the person's 'preferred ear' for making calls.

However, Chris Althaus, chief executive of the industry body, the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, rejected Khurana's conclusions, saying handsets were designed, built and tested to comply with strict science-based guidelines.

He also pointed out to a 2000 World Health Organisation fact sheet, which said no recent reviews had concluded that exposure to the radiofrequency fields from mobile phones and their base stations caused any adverse health consequences.

But this was denied by WHO, saying that there were 'gaps in knowledge' that required further research to better assess health risks, which would take several years to complete. Even Khurana said that the WHO fact sheet was irrelevant in this instance because 'most of the worrisome data has been surfacing in the last 12-24 months'.

Another fact sheet on the NSW Cancer Council's website said stressed for further research as not much was known on the long-term effects of electromagnetic field exposure.

Khurana said there is a time-gap of 10-20 years between the starting of regular mobile phone usage to the diagnosis of a malignant solid brain tumour. And the link between mobile phones and brain tumours had not yet been 'definitively proven' because widespread mobile phone usage started in the mid-1980s and solid tumours might take several years to form.

'In the years 2008-2012, we will have reached the appropriate length of follow-up time to begin to definitively observe the impact of this global technology on brain tumour incidence rates,' said Khurana.

However, he stressed that there was already enough evidence to warrant industry and governments taking immediate action to reduce mobile phone users' exposure to electromagnetic radiation and inform them of potential dangers.

'Worldwide availability and use of appropriately shielded cell phones and hands-free devices including headsets, increased use of landlines and pagers instead of current mobile and cell phones, and restricted use of cellular and cordless phones among children and adults alike are likely to limit the effects of this physically invisible danger,' said Khurana.