Kenichiro Ikeda writes:

        Hiroshi Tanaka says he is "health-conscious"; he always learns the latest information about staying trim, energetic and healthy. But the information that he learns is often wrong. And he is very busy with his computer business and he's finding difficult to follow all the recent information on good eating and healthy lifestyle patterns. But he can solve the most of problems if he changes his lifestyle.

        Then, what is the most important problem? His diet. Since he is busy six and sometimes seven days a week, he doesn't have time to eat breakfast most mornings. Also he finds he needs to intake fast food like hamburgers, cheeseburgers or udon at lunch and dinner. But these are very bad. Because breakfast is most important of three meals. So he should eat enough breakfast every day. And he also should eat many kinds of food that he can get balanced nutrition.

        The first problem of his eating habit is lack of vegetable ingestion. He does not like vegetables. Shortage of vegetables results in shortage of fibers, vitamins ( especially A, C, E ). Fibers play the role of cleaner in the intestine, so fibers prevent from being constipated or developing the cancer of the large intestine. Vitamin A (include carotene) is necessary to new cell growth, so it makes easy for him to recover from his fatigue. Vitamin C is need to fight infection, so it prevents from his catching a cold. Vitamin E is an antioxidant, so it regulates the danger of artery sclerosis. Maybe he can take vitamins from vitamin supplements, but vegetables may have unknown ingredients which is beneficial for health, furthermore it is easier to absorb vitamin vegetables than supplies. So he should eat more vegetables. If he cannot, he should drink vegetable juice or fruit juice instead of coffee or cola at least.

        A second problem is that he doesn't understand carbohydrates, fats, and proteins correctly. Carbohydrates are the body's main source of energy. Carbohydrates include all starches and sugars. And Foods containing starches include beans, breads, cereals, pasta, and potatoes. Fat is a valuable energy source and carries fat-soluble vitamins needed for proper growth and development. It also contributes important taste and textural qualities that are part of enjoying food. Proteins are more important as the body's building materials. Muscle, skin, bone, and hair are made up largely of proteins. Food provides our body with these nutrients it needs for energy, growth, repair, and reproduction. So he have to eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods. He need more than 40 different nutrients for his good health.

        The third problem is that he usually skips breakfasts. This problem also recreates the first problem. Breakfast is the source of the power that he expends during the day. And he eats only red meat like beef or pork but does not fish. That is the biggest cause of his high LDL level. Butter, bacon, and cheese for example, are animal products high in saturated fats. There are also some saturated vegetable fats that tend to raise the cholesterol level in the blood. These can be found in solid shortenings, coconut oil, and palm oil. A high blood cholesterol level is a risk factor for heart disease. Cholesterol is required for the formation of bile acids which are needed for fat digestion. So he should try to eat green and yellow vegetables like spinach and carrots. Vegetables like spinach and carrots also prevent LDL from oxidizing as they contain Vitamin E and carotene. LDLs, are often referred to as "bad cholesterol" because these lipoproteins carry most of the cholesterol in the blood. Eating foods that are high in fiber can help relieve some problems with constipation, hemorrhoids, diverticulosis and irritable bowel syndrome. Dietary fiber may help lower his cholesterol. It may also help prevent heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer. Dietary fiber is found in soybeans. Fat of fish eaten des not increase blood cholesterol but keeps blood clean. So it is good for his health to eat more fish.

        Next problem is his overworking. He is very busy six and sometimes seven days a week. He is computer specialist,thus he has no chance that he does exercise on the job.To make matter worth,his idea about exercises is slight wrong. He exercises for only about a half an hour once a week, and yet he feels this is enough to keep him from becoming fat but in reality he needs to exercise more.

        He has another problem yet. That is a genetic problem. Both his grandfather and father have diabetes. His mother is currently ill with a critical heart condition. These facts affect him in some cases. So he has to pay more attention to his lifestyle.

        Additionally he does nothing but watch the computer display. That is very stressful. So he should have hobbies for getting rid of stress, for example, playing sports, cycling, walking, driving and so on.

         

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