Women's Health and Nutrition

Just thirty years ago, the idea that a healthy diet could prevent disease was a far-fetched theory. It is now a fact. And that's great news. Eliminate simple sugars, packaged and processed foods from your diet and start enjoying whole food meals for major benefits like:

• A trim, slim body
• Smooth skin and fewer wrinkles
• More energy
• A more positive attitude
• Victory over food cravings

Start with baby steps. Try one new healthy habit at a time. Be open to tasting new dishes and preparing your favorite foods in a new, healthy way. Changing to a healthy whole food diet takes time, but the Vitamix whole food machine can make those changes easier to make. The best time for better health is now--and you'll love the way it looks on you!

Looking for the best beauty treatment? Head for the fridge!

Make-up, facial masks and body wraps may make you look and feel good temporarily, but lasting good looks can only come from what you eat. Good food-fresh, whole foods--are beauty's best friend. By the same token, packaged, processed "fake" food containing refined sugar and hydrogenated fats is worse for your body than bad sunburn.

Here's how that works: When highly-processed carbohydrates rapidly convert to sugar the body is damaged in a phenomenon called glycation. Glycation is a process that discolors and toughens food in storage-and it can occur in your skin as well! Sugar is the culprit that causes age-related changes to your collagen that result in loss of elasticity in the skin and deep wrinkles.

A word to the wise: Become aware of the glycemic index ratings of the foods you eat-and don't eat foods with a glycemic index (GI) over 50. You may be very surprised at how high some of your favorite foods are ranked.

The glycemic index measures how much your blood sugar increases in the two to three hours after eating a certain foods. High on the glycemic index means high in sugar, and here's what happens when you have high blood sugar: Your body fat is virtually guaranteed to stay right where it is because it cannot be used for fuel! You will experience major cravings and hunger pangs. And even if your calorie intake is low, you will have a tough time losing weight with high blood sugar.

Listed below are a few on the "Must Avoid" list:
• White rice
• Dried fruit
• Corn Flakes
• Pretzels
• Bagel

The lower a meal's glycemic index, the kinder it is to your body and skin, the more slimming it is and the more even your energy level will be. The extra bonus of eating low GI foods is that cravings disappear and you will only need to eat when your body is truly hungry.

Here's the "To Do" list:
• Bell peppers
• Berries
• Cantaloupe
• Spinach
• Salmon

Low GI eating doesn't need to mean constant chart checking. It is basically just real-food eating. Fresh, whole vegetable juices and soups made in your Vitamix whole food machine are the perfect way to "power up" with low-glycemic meals. You can choose from 50 delicious whole food juice recipes in the Vitamix Whole Food Recipes for Better Living cookbook and experiment with making variations of your own. Soups are simple, too. You can make them from scratch in about 4 minutes-and you've 50 of those to choose from as well. Enjoy!

For more info on the glycemic index, go to www.glycemicindex.com.