Jun Morinaga writes:
Hiroshi Tanaka is a 29-year-old computer specialist.
he doesn't have time to eat breakfast most mornings, and he also finds
he needs to intake fast food like hamburgers, cheeseburgers or udon at
lunch and dinner. he relies on vitamin supplements which he takes with
four or five cups of coffee in the morning and colas in the afternoon.
He admits that he really hates most vegetables, and he eat a lot of
meat, beef and pork mostly. He knows he should be eating foods that
are rich in fiber, but he thinks that "like most Japanese, I get my
fiber from eating udon and rice, and that's all I need to think about,
right?"
More troubling, Mr Tanaka has been feeling lots of pressure at
work lately, and most recently he finds it hard to relax even after
work. Both his grandfather and father have diabetes. His mother is
currently ill with a critical heart condition. Mr Tanaka's LDL level
is measured at 172. There are two kinds of problems. One is a kind of
behavior problems and the other is a kind of risk factors. For
example, eating fast food,eating a lot of meat, beef and pork ,
getting fiber from eating carbohydrates, like udon, rice are behavior
problems, and family history of diabetes and heart disease are the risk
factors. In order to be a healthy person, first, he had better get his
vitamins not only from vitamin supplements but also many kinds of
vegetables.
And he had better get minerals from many kinds of natural
diets. Vitamins and minerals help the body turn food into energy and
tissues. There are 13 vitamins in all: vitamin A; the vitamin B
complex, which includes thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6,
folic acid, vitamin B12 pantothenic acid, and biotin; and vitamins C,
D, E, and K. Minerals are iron, copper, fluorine, iodine, selenium,
zinc, chromium, cobalt, manganese, and molybdenum.
The best way to get
the vitamins and minerals you need is by eating a varied, balanced
diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Second, he should
eat more carbohydrates than fats. Carbohydrates include all starches
and sugars. They are the body's main source of energy. Each gram of
carbohydrate provides 4 calories. And beans, breads, cereals, pasta,
and potatoes have much carbohydrates. On the other hand, Fats pack a
lot of energy. Each gram of fat provides 9 calories. There are three
kinds of fat: saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Animal
and dairy fats, which remain solid at room temperature, are saturated
fats. Saturated fat is often called "bad" fat. Unsaturated fats
include vegetable fat and oils; they remain liquid at room
temperature.
Third, fiber has been shown in studies to help reduce the
rates of some forms of cancer, namely colon and breast cancer. Certain
kinds of fiber have been found to lower levels of cholesterol in the
blood. A number of foods are good sources of fiber, including fruits,
vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains. So, Mr.Tanaka should get
his fibers from them not only rices. Fifth, he should take exercise
more often. Taking exercise reduces the fat and LDL cholesterol which
is in arteries and veins, and as a result, it helps prevent heart
disease. And, taking exercise increases the amount of blood to the
blood capillaries. So every cell in the human body is able to keep on
being lively.
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