Hypertension Sufferer’s Diet – What Are the Processed Foods to Avoid

Unknown to many, unprocessed, or natural foods already contain sodium chloride sufficient enough for our body’s needs, hence, obtaining salt through natural food is not a problem. It is with the intake of processed foods that our body gets to encounter sodium chloride content that causes high blood pressure problems.

Returning to natural diets is one of the effective solutions in treating or preventing high blood pressure attacks. Accordingly, natural foods would mean anything derived from natural food sources grown from the soil, from trees, or derived from animals without need to add sauces or coatings.

In purchasing food supplies from supermarkets, reading the labels of low-sodium foods can help us determine the processed foods to avoid. An example would be a low-sodium salad dressing that contains 2 milligrams (mg) of sodium and 32 mg of potassium.

If this were to be analyzed further regarding the balance of sodium to potassium content, or in determining its K-factor, the resulting proportion would be 1 mg of salt for every 16 mg of potassium. The prescribed ideal K-factor ratio is 1 mg salt for every 3 mg potassium.

Experts suggest that rather than buy foods with potassium chloride, check the labels for other substitutes like potassium gluconate and potassium bitartrate. Better yet, you can opt for natural or unprocessed foods and use salt substitutes like seasonings from spices and herbs.

Here are some of the processed foods to avoid and why they should be avoided:

1. Cooked cereals with added salt content.

2. Ready-to-eat cereals may have some moderation in sodium but are low in potassium content, hence, the addition of milk, increases the sodium level resulting to further disparity between their ratio. Occasionally, this type of food can be a part of a hypertension sufferer’s diet but other low sodium, high potassium foods should be eaten in order to compensate.

3. Juice drinks that have minimal content as far real juice is concerned. Check the label for artificial flavors and colors as well as its sugary ingredients.

4. Processed meats use high proportions of salt in their preparation. Specifically, avoid processed beef foods like corned beef, beef burgundy, breakfast strips, frozen meatloaf, and frozen or canned sliced beef, Salisbury steak and chipped beef.

Processed pork to avoid includes cured bacon and ham, bacon bits, ham loaf, bacon bits, sweet and sour pork, ham steaks and sausages. Special preparations like frozen veal parmigiana should also be avoided. You should also consider excluding spreads, luncheon meats, franks, bologna, corned beef loaf, barbecue loaf, salami, mortadella, sandwich spreads, Vienna sausage and turkey ham.

5. Seafood are too high in sodium content although some may be eaten occasionally and with caution. Processed seafood however are best avoided since their preparation uses additional salt for processing.

Examples of these processed seafood are deviled crab, crab cakes, crab imperial, canned crab, fish fillets, fillet almondine, fish sticks, canned fish, lobster paste, Newburg lobster, oysters, mussels, clams, sardines and shrimps whether breaded or French fried.

6. Canned soups are definitely processed foods to avoid since most of them contain more than one gram of sodium chloride and less than the desirable level of potassium content. Do not be misled by such information as “no salt content” or “homemade”; such information does not relieve them of their high level of sodium ingredient.

7. Food flavorings with salt. Contain mostly salt blended with other ingredients.

As part of dietary measures that can prevent high blood pressure, it is recommended that the hypertension sufferer’s diet should take into consideration these processed foods to avoid.

Alvin Hopkinson is a leading health researcher in the area of natural remedies and high blood pressure treatment. Discover how you can get rid of your high blood pressure for good using proven and effective home remedies, all without using harmful medications or drugs. Visit his site now at http://www.minusbloodpressure.com

Find More Diet Foods Articles

Best Diet Foods and Weight Loss Plans

The Diet Solution ReviewsThe Diet Solution Program

The so called rapid weight loss diet is one of the closest things to a crash diet. One description of a rapid weight loss diet is this – A crash diet is a diet which is extreme in its deprivations – typically severely restricting calorie intake. Meant to achieve rapid weight loss, a crash diet differs from outright starvation only slightly. Crash diets are typically unhealthy and are rarely – if ever – recommended by doctors or dietitians. Crash diets may lead to malnutrition.

When someone discontinues a crash diet, the “rebound-effect” is often experienced. This causes a person to eat far more than normal, causing them to regain both the weight that was recently lost due to the diet as well as additional weight. This is caused by an evolutionary trait of the human race that historically only took effect in times of famine: after a famine ended, people’s bodies naturally craved to regain both the weight that was lost, plus additional weight as well, in order to protect themselves in case of another famine.

I think it’s apparant that this type of diet is not in most peoples best interest. Let’s take it a little further. It has been observed that some crash dieting or rapid weight loss can lead to Anorexia. This is defined by a loss of appetite or lack of desire to eat.

When people experience appetite loss, decreased energy consumption will subsequently lead to weight loss. When inadequate calories are consumed, the body may become weaker and less able to tolerate many challenges. As body weight decreases, cachexia sets in, and a general failure to thrive may make it more difficult to fight off illness and infection. A poor response to cancer treatments, reduced quality of life, and death may result from substantial weight loss. The spiraling effect of a patient’s reluctance to eat is a source of frequent anxiety for caregivers. Weight loss due to anorexia may be temporary or may continue at a life-threatening pace if the patient continues to consume inadequate energy to sustain body weight.

The most commonly known form of anorexia is satiation following the consumption of food. This can happen in all normal humans and is known as postprandial anorexia. It’s important and healthy as it prevents overeating and of course obesity. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by voluntary starvation and exercise stress. Anorexia nervosa is a complex disease, involving psychological and sociological components.

Related Diet Plan Articles

Diet Plans and Weight Loss Programs Review

Fat Burning FurnaceTruth About AbsFat Loss 4 Idiots

When it comes to weight loss creativity and innovation, body fat wonders never cease to amaze you. Consider that now, both your taste preferences and palette can delve into freshly prepared, highly effective, and even completely delicious meals delivered right to your home via weight loss diet plan health food delivery services.

Essentially, what you have here is weight loss diet plan health food delivery services for body fat reduction support. This is a creative health food delivery services solution that solves at least one of four major obstacles most dieters face in the quest for a better body.

Common weight loss diet plan obstacles include the following:

Lack of Know-How – (Solution): Professional chefs, coupled with and supported by the bona fide expertise of nutritionists, bodybuilding, weight management, and personal trainers, help make it a lot easier for you to take part in successful and effective health food diet plan achievement by eating foods that taste good, as well as supporting negative energy balance needed to lose body fat.

Lack of Money – (Solution): There is much controversy and debate over whether or not being in great shape with maximized performance ability is truly costly, or merely a basic sacrifice that one chooses to make in order to attain more self-satisfying, long-term, weight loss diet plan success. Perhaps you notice that typical junk foods don’t really cost you much. Yet, they also leave you high and dry in terms of healthy meal diet plan weight loss support. Probably, like other things worthwhile in this life we live, items that provide consistent, reliable service come with a slightly higher ticket price.

Yet, weight loss diet plan food delivery services strongly appear to keep your financial outlay at reasonable minimums. Lack of cash need stop no one from attaining the level of fitness they highly desire and truly work to achieve. Less of the bad things and more of the good remains part of a smart, highly recommended, professional health food delivery strategy. Weight loss diet planning is not about money; it’s about awareness, commitment, and dedication.

Lack of Motivation – (Solution): For many, it’s hard to get started on almost any weight loss diet plan at all. Even for some, simply getting up in the morning proves a chore in itself. Yet, a good weight loss diet plan remains an essential part of the body fat reduction process. Without such advance body fat planning or strategy, you leave yourself wide open to yo-yo dieting behavior. That is, you try one weigh loss approach for a while, it fails you; then you return to where you started, feeling frustrated and doubtful about your ability to attain consistent and lasting body fat results. Viable healthy meal food delivery services augment your drive to achieve weight loss results by providing your body with not only physical fuel in the way of food energy, but also helps you release your mental powers with added focus on losing weight. Liking gaining an extra, customized, personalized, or specialized tool to cut excess fat away from your body… diet meal plan food delivery gives you extra options and more alternatives to healthy eating behavior.

Lack of Time – (Solution): To lose body weight effectively, it is important that you be able to concentrate and focus on the daily chores you constantly face. Time management contributes to peace of mind and reducing undue stress, which is counterproductive to weight loss achievement.

Probably the greatest fact you can take home with you, in regard to diet meal planning and health food delivery, is this: Convenience need no longer be a stumbling block to your body fat success. Imagine the power of having professional, caring, educated, and specialized experts affordably prepare your meals CORRECTLY, virtually each and every day, so that you can be as free as possible to reach body fat and weight loss goals effectively, safely, reliably, enjoyably, and in good taste, too.

The Diet Solution Program Scam Diet Plan Honest Review

The Diet Solution Program has developed to be one of the most popular diet programs out there currently. Authored by Isabel De Los Rios, an exercise and nutrition specialist, the diet plan’s premise is that maintaining healthy nutrition leads to optimum health and weight loss and does not need a specific diet plan. You can, in fact, make your own diet plan based on your metabolic type, a topic that Isabel De Los Rios touches on The Diet Solution.

The Diet Solution Program focuses on proper nutrition and shows you how to live a healthy lifestyle based on eating methods that help maintain your ideal weight throughout your life. The program exposes and myths on food items deemed healthy, but may actually be harmful to you. Indeed, the Diet Solution Program is more than just a weight loss program – It’s is a manual to a healthier life.

Isabel De Los Rios has said “The plan gives dieters a way to change eating habits for life, developing a long term eating strategy and not just modify the diet temporarily.” After reading around on forums and other community groups, it is obvious that she holds true to that statement.

Reading the Diet Solution not only told me what ideas and notions about eating were true, but also went into detail explaining why and how these things either do or do not work. The science behind it was truly amazing and was enough to create changes in anyone’s own eating habits.

As you start reading through the manual, you will first learn about your distinctive metabolic rate. You will also understand why it is unnecessary to count your calories if you want to lose weight. You will be able to create your meal plans according to your own physical make-up. You will be able to discover the detrimental effects of dairy products, artificial sweeteners, and the truth about soy. It also teaches you various recipes on eating grains which are very essential. And most importantly, learn the vital role of water therapy to naturally detoxify your body. The diet solutions program does not have rules that burden you much. It even allows you to discover your unique physique in stress free ways until you grab that successful healthy living.

It’s best to be prepared for a change in diet to what you’re used to but this is going to happen on any diet program and not just on The Diet Solution. This program is also going to provide you with an education on how to read your body and its reactions so that you can start to identify when things you eat are having a negative effect on you. The best thing about this program is that it won’t promise you results in thirty days and then the diet is over. It’s about making lifestyle changes that you will carry with you forever.

Users of the Diet Solution Program say it has helps to burn away the excess fat without having to endure extreme diets or workout programs. Many people changed to better and more balanced diets and reduced on poor eating habits such as junk foods. Others have noted lower cravings for snacks. The principles offered in the Diet Solutions program present new ways of dieting and good eating which, if properly followed, are guaranteed to give successful results. When combined with the highly beneficial Acai Berry Supplements, the effects are even more pronounced for overall good health, weight loss and enhanced energy levels.

Click to Download The Diet Solution Program

Related Diet Plans Articles

A HCG Diet Plan Designed For You

Sure, you could lose weight rapidly. There are many fad diets that work to shed pounds quickly – when you are hungry and deprived. But why lose weight than to discover it? To keep the kilos off permanently, it can be far better to lose fat slowly.

And a lot of specialists say you may do without the need of going on a diet plan. Instead, it truly is essential to make some simple adjustments to your lifestyle. Take in breakfast every working day. 1 way, in which is typical to several those who shed extra pounds and keep it off, is by consuming breakfast every day. Lots of individuals consider that skipping breakfast is a great technique to cut calories, but typically end up consuming a lot more in the course of the working day, says Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD, author of Pocket Idiot Guide to New pyramids food. Studies show that people that take in breakfast are superior in school or conference room.

Try a cup of whole-grain cereal on top of fruit and dairy merchandise very low in fat. A rapidly and nutritious begin for the working day. Go to Grain. Substituting complete grains and refined grains like white bread, cakes, crackers, pretzels, and you may add substantially needed fiber and filled far more swiftly and is quite probably to consume a reasonable portion. Pick complete grain bread and pasta, brown rice, bran flakes, popcorn, crackers and full of rye. And add protein at each meal and snack. Adding a source of lean or lean protein each and every meal or snack will assist preserve you feeling complete longer so you’re less probably to overeat. Strive low-fat yogurt, modest portion of nuts, peanut butter, eggs, beans or lean meat.

Industry experts also suggest ingesting modest frequent meals and snacks to retain blood sugar steady and stay away from overindulging. Or you’ll be able to try a brand new revolutionary slimming alternativewithout making use of any diets, you are able to test HCG, which may be injected or could be taken orally thru pills. You can appear up for far more info on this web page http://www.nrgappliedscience.com/. To stay fit is to stay healthy. Make your simple steps on how to lose weight without dieting.

To know more about how to lose weight without dieting visit us now!

Find More Diet Plan Articles

DietTerminal’s Weight Loss Plan

Hi everyone

Having a sound weight loss plan can mean the difference between getting yourself fit and healthy and giving up within a week. This article will give you a few tips on choosing a plan that will have you stick to the program, and get yourself looking and feeling the way you deserve to be. So read on!

Why is a weight loss plan important? Well, it’s not just important, it’s essential. Proper planning means that you’ll have real, tangible goals to achieve. If you wake up one day and decide you’ll have a healthy breakfast and go for a walk, that’s great. But who’s to say you’ll have that motivation tomorrow? The fact is, keeping yourself motivated at all times isn’t possible. We all go through down times, feeling like it’s not worth it and we’re destined to remain in our current state forever. What’s most important in losing weight is our ability to work, even when we’re in one of these moments.

BUY THE BEST WEIGHT LOSS AND FAT LOSS PRODUCTS, ALSO READ REVIEWS

So by making a weight loss plan, we’ll not just be training our body to be fit and healthy, we’re training our mind to stick to the plan. The way we do this is through routine. If you undertake a routine to perform exercise every morning at a certain time, after just a short period the brain will begin to actually rewire itself to live with this change. When I say “rewire itself”, I mean that literally. You have the power, through the use of a good plan, to physically alter your brain to expect exercise in the times you have trained it to recognize.

Now since you’re going to be working out your brain as well with this weight loss plan, it’s important to remember that the brain itself is a muscle. You can’t start out doing weights lifting more than your body can handle, so it doesn’t make sense to start a weight loss regime that takes on a drastic change in your way of living that your mind can’t stick to. You’ve got to crawl before you can walk, so start out with simple things like a change to healthier foods, and at least a half hour of exercise every day. Even after a couple of weeks you’ll start feeling better, and if you can stick to this, then you’ll be ready to increase your workload.

BUY THE BEST WEIGHT LOSS AND FAT LOSS PRODUCTS, ALSO READ REVIEWS

One important thing to remember when you’re utilizing a weight loss plan involving exercise is that you’ll probably gain muscle while you lose fat. Since muscle weighs more than fat, you might find that you aren’t losing the amount of weight you were hoping for. But don’t worry, the fat’s still going and you are getting healthier. A good solution to this problem is to just look in the mirror to see how much better you’re looking, and focus on the sensations of your own body to see how much better you feel. There’s too much emphasis these days on just losing the weight, so remember that the scales are just an indicator designed to help you, not hold you back.

So, when instituting a weight loss plan, remember that you’re training your brain to work through the hard times. Stick to your regime religiously, but don’t plan out more than you can handle, or you’ll find yourself giving up early. Now get moving!

BUY THE BEST WEIGHT LOSS AND FAT LOSS PRODUCTS, ALSO READ REVIEWS

 

Diga Docomo is the Chairman of Universal Marketing Solutions (UMS). UMS promotes almost all kinds of products available in the market. All the articles provided by UMS is 100% tested and proven to be true. All the advices provided in the articles are provided by professionals in this field and the viewers can implement these tips without any fear. Also the products recommended in the articles were researched and proven to be the best and the most successful programs available in the market. These products do not have any health effects. Our main concern is our Customer’s Health.

You can trust our advices and make your move
Best Regards
Diga Docomo

 

Infertility Diet – Which Foods to Avoid and Which Will Help You Get Pregnant

Having a well balanced and nutritional meal plan has a great effect on not just your ability to conceive but also your overall health. With infertility, diet can play a major role, which is why it’s important to understand what foods to avoid, and where you should be looking for essential nutrients.

Zinc:
Zinc is a very good nutrient to look at for both men and women. In men, it helps sperm production and raises a man’s sperm count. In women, it’s an essential nutrient needed for egg production during ovulation.

Foods That Contain A Lot Of Zinc:
Oysters, shellfish, wheat bran, pine nuts, pecan nuts, eggs, cashew nuts, fish, and liver.

Iron:
Low iron levels in women can lower a woman’s chances of producing a healthy egg. In addition, while pregnant, iron is very important to have as it creates hemoglobin which is a protein in your red blood cells that carries oxygen and other nutrients to your organs and tissues.

Foods That Contain A Lot Of Iron:
Bread (Both White and Whole Wheat), green peas, broccoli, almonds, ham, peaches, and tomato juice.

Vitamin E:
Studies have shown that vitamin E can increase fertility among men and women. It’s believed that the antioxidant effect of this vitamin makes sperm more fertile.

Foods That Contain A Lot Of Vitamin E:
Avacados, eggs, peanuts, sweet potatoes, apples and corn oil.

Foods To Avoid:
While having a good nutrition plays an important factor to conceiving and infertility, there are also foods that are bad and will hinder your progress.

Caffeine and Alcohol:
This constricts blood vessels which can stop the right amount of blood from reaching the uterus. This can make egg implantation difficult.

Meat:
It’s recommended that couples avoid having too much meat, as it can raise ammonia levels in the body. This can also make it difficult for a fertilized egg to attach to the uterus.

When treating infertility, diet can very much affect how hard it is to conceive. But getting pregnant doesn’t have to be difficult!

Are you have problems conceiving? Then it’s time to take a look at some all natural approaches like the ones found at http://www.get-pregnant-fast.info that will help you to overcome infertility issues and get pregnant quickly using completely safe, and holistic methods.

More Diet Foods Articles

Rapid Diet Plan To Natural Lose Weight

If you are struggling to lose weight, and want to feel better after a diet, then this might be something you should look into.
Whatever you do, don’t waste your money on diet patches, pills and potions – they may harm you and they will certainly harm your wallet. Also, these diet products, programs and supplements can be quite dangerous as well as beneficial. However, they can be quite dangerous as well. Yes, it is. In fact the best way to lose weight is completely natural.

1. Eat More Fiber. While it might seem odd to add bulk to your diet, fiber is a great way to decrease your appetite and purge your body of excess toxins. A snack that is high in fiber, like an apple or some bran cereal, can help you stay full between meals.

2.  You to completely avoid taking foodstuffs such as pastries, pastas, pizzas, bread, baked goods, cheese, cereals, fruits, honey, alcohol and meat. You need to eat normal meals of green vegetables, fish, eggs, peanuts, tofu, turkey bacon and veal.

3. Eat more fruit, as fruit contains usable carbohydrates packaged in fibre, which serves to level your blood sugar levels. Also, eat more vegetables. Although it is very difficult to eat too many vegetables, they provide vitamins and are full of fibre, so they satisfy your hunger with fewer kilojoules. Stay away from food that are high in fat, calories and sugar such as high-fat dairy products, chicken with skin, fatty meat, lard, desserts and pastries. Avoid “junk” food at all costs meaning you’ll have to let go of that favorite burger or pizza. They should never feature in your quick weight loss diet tips.

4. In the evening of every day, you need to drink a glass of salt water. This is to help clear out your system before you go to bed. You should be warned that a bowel movement will follow this glass of salt water within about 30 – 60 minutes. The mixture for the glass of salt water is about 12 ounces of water and a teaspoon of organic sea salt. You may have to adjust this amount to make it work better for you.

5. Try to drink minimum 10-12 glasses of water daily. Sound sleep is a must for a healthy body. Make sure that you are sleeping about eight hours in a day. In the first stage, you came to know what to eat and what to eat in smaller amounts. Continue following that regime,and try to cut short the quantity of meals but remember to eat frequently. Suppose, you take four slices of bread in the breakfast. From now, eat only one slice in the breakfast and eat the other slice of bread after two hours from the breakfast time.

6. The best way to do exercise is by walking. Walk everywhere! It’s free! If you can afford it, get a pedometer and measure how much you’re doing each day. You can walk whatever the weather if you have the right clothes and footwear or you can just walk around your home or the shops – it really doesn’t matter as long as you move!

Author is an online researcher on natural weight loss. Nutritionist. Click read more on natural weight loss, best diets to lose weight.

Find More Diet Plan Articles

Candidiasis Diet – Foods to Avoid and Include

It is a well-known fact that candidiasis diet is not the easiest of diets to follow. But on the other hand, it needs to be said that the health benefits and improvement in general health and wellbeing that people suffering from candidiasis can obtain from this diet are really significant. If you follow this diet and the other recommendations as outlined in the 5-step plan you will reap the benefits – you can be assured of that.

Always remember to cure candidiasis or yeast overgrowth as it is also known, you will have to follow a holistic approach as outlined in the 5-step plan. You will not be able to cure candidiasis with diet alone. I will provide you with a link to the plan at the bottom of this article.

Let us have a look at the diet component of this process.

When it comes to food it is very important to understand that candidiasis is caused by yeast like bacteria called Candida albicans and that this yeast thrives on certain foods, which it uses as food and fuel to grow and multiply. So it must be obvious then if you can deprive it of its food it will stop growing.

3 Groups of Foods to Avoid

Sugar in all its forms and in this case you must remember that sugar is not just the normal sugar in food but also the sugar in fruit such as dried fruit and fresh fruit. So don’t have more than one fresh fruit a day. 
Yeast this includes baker’s yeast as you will find in bread, pastries etc, but also don’t forget that Vegemite, Promite, Marmite and those types of spreads all have yeast  in the. It is best to always read the labels very carefully.
Refined Carbohydrates such as baked breads, pastas, cookies, potatoes, etc. : These foods turn very quickly into sugar.

4 Groups Foods to Include in Your Diet

Wholefoods which include fish, brown rice, one fruit a day and veggies and legumes, (especially mung beans) and other whole grains. All sprouts are very helpful here. Green leafy vegetables such as parsley, watercress, cabbage, wheatgrass, etc will all promote a healthy intestinal flora. 
Add as much garlic to your food as you (and your family) can tolerate. It reduces infection and fights bacteria
Add flaxseed oil and olive oil to your diet it protects your cells from damage
Add seaweeds the iodine will help to fight the yeasts

To read more and get a better and full understanding of the candidiasis diet and the 5-step treatment plan to cure candidiasis please visit the links provided.

The Atkins Diet Plan – Induction Phase, Foods to Eat

The first phase of the Atkins Diet Plan, the Induction Phase, is undoubtedly the hardest for most people to follow. In this phase you really cut the carbs. The objective is transforming the body’s energy source from burning carbs to burning fat. Simply put, you are allowed 20 grams of net carbs per day. Net carbs are the total carbohydrate intake minus the carbs contained in fiber, sugar alcohol, and glycerine. Because those carbs aren’t digested they don’t count. If your vegetable serving contains 5 grams of carbs but 2 of those grams come from fiber, then only 3 grams of carbs actually count.

So what can you eat during this stage of the Atkins Diet Plan? First come the proteins. Most protein food is in. For example, this means you can load up on eggs, meat, and seafood. But there are exceptions. You can’t eat breaded meats such as veal schnitzel or meat loaf. I don’t usually think of bacon and eggs as a diet food, but this combination is sort of OK. You must hold the toast and jelly, perhaps the coffee, the orange juice, and the hash browns (the onions are OK but not the potatoes). Can we still call such a breakfast bacon and eggs?

Some vegetables are OK; others are not. Be careful to count your vegetable carbohydrates as most of your carbs come from the veggies. Here is a list of permitted vegetables in approximate order of carbohydrate contents, starting with the lowest: Bean or alfalfa sprouts, greens such as lettuce, spinach, radicchio, and endives, herbs, celery, radishes, cabbage (or sauerkraut), mushrooms, avocado, cucumbers, asparagus, green and wax beans, broccoli, cauliflower, green, red, and jalapeno peppers, summer squash (including zucchini), green onions, leeks, brussels sprouts, snow peas, tomatoes, eggplant, artichoke hearts, onions, okra, spaghetti squash, carrots, turnips, water chestnuts, and pumpkins.

Most cheeses have less than a gram of carbohydrate per ounce, but make sure to check the labels. You are allowed 3 to 4 ounces of low-carb cheese but no cottage cheese or other fresh cheese except for cream cheese.

The Atkins Diet is low-carb. Don’t try to make it low-fat as well. Make sure to eat lots of cold-water fish such as salmon, sardines, herring, and mackerel in part because of their Omega-3 fatty acids. You may go for eggs that also contain high amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids. Virgin and extra-virgin olive oil are fine. Stir-fry those permitted vegetables in canola, grapeseed, or peanut oil, especially if they are cold-pressed. High-oleic sunflower and safflower oils are OK; otherwise avoid these oils. Use full-fat mayonnaise, preferably based on the oils. Butter is OK as is trans-fat free margarine. You may even have two or three tablespoons of heavy cream or an ounce of sour cream per day. For a real treat have a dozen olives. You may also use Metamucil or flax seed meal to increase your fiber intake.

Drink lots of water. The recommended amount is 8 8-ounce glasses a day. You may drink soda water or carbonated water provided that it doesn’t include any sugar. Diet sodas with sucralose (Splenda) are OK. No sugar means no fruit juices. Herbal teas are in as are decaffeinated coffee or tea. Can you drink real coffee or other caffeine beverages? That depends on you; it may slow your weight loss.

Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet, but to be honest, he would rather just drink fine Italian, French, or other wine, accompanied by the right foods and spend time with his wife and family. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. Visit his site devoted to the weight-management, nutritional, and health aspects of wine at http://www.wineinyourdiet.com. Check out his global wine website at http://www.theworldwidewine.com with his new weekly column reviewing wines.