| Calcium | An essential mineral for building strong bones and teeth, calcium is found not only in dairy products but in many vegetables, including broccoli and collards, and in some nuts and seafood. Calcium also requires vitamin D to be absorbed in the body. Most Americans get less than half the calcium they need. When people reach age 30, their bones begin to lose more mass than they create. Osteoporosis, the process by which bones lose their density and become brittle, can be prevented by adding more calcium-in the form of dairy products, vegetables, as well as supplements-to the diet, as well as by doing regular physical activity that includes weight-bearing exercise like running or playing tennis or soccer. Weight-bearing exercise helps build and maintain bone density. |
| Calorie | A calorie is a unit of measurement for energy, most often used to measure the amount of energy we get from food. To lose weight, you must expend more energy--by planned or incidental exercise-than you take in while eating. The recommended daily calorie intake is 2500 for men and 2000 for women, unless you are trying to lose weight. The safest way to lose roughly a pound of body weight per week is to cut 250 calories per day and burn 250 calories per day. The resulting 3500 calorie deficit should burn a pound of body fat per week. With nine calories in every gram, fat is the most calorie dense nutrient. Carbohydrates and proteins both have four calories per gram. However, while cutting fat from your diet will reduce your caloric intake, foods that are fat-free are not always as low in calories as you'd hope. When it comes to weight loss, calories are calories, and your best bet is to cut them across the board, not focus on cutting specific nutrients. |
| Conjugated Linoleic Acid | CLA is a newly discovered good fat called "conjugated linoleic acid" that may be a potent cancer fighter. In animal studies, very small amounts of CLA have blocked all three stages of cancer: initiation, promotion and metastasis. Most anti-cancer agents block only one of these stages. What's more, CLA has slowed the growth of an unusually wide variety of tumors, including cancers of the skin, breast, prostate and colon. Human CLA research is in its infancy, but a few studies have suggested that CLA may have similar benefits in people. A recent survey determined that women with the most CLA in their diets had a 60-percent reduction in the risk of breast cancer. The most abundant source of natural CLA is the meat and dairy products of grass-fed animals. Research conducted since 1999 shows that grazing animals have from three to five times more CLA than animals fattened on grain in a feedlot. |
| Dehydration | Dehydration occurs when your body loses too much fluid. This can happen when you stop drinking water or lose large amounts of fluid through diarrhea, vomiting, sweating, or exercise. Not drinking enough fluids can cause muscle cramps, and you may feel faint. Usually your body can reabsorb fluid from your blood and other body tissues. But by the time you become severely dehydrated, you no longer have enough fluid in your body to get blood to your organs, and you may go into shock, which is a life-threatening condition. |
| E coli | Escherichia coli (also called E. coli) is a bacterium that can cause serious infections. Most of the hundreds of types, or strains, of E. coli live harmlessly in the digestive tracts of humans and animals. But some strains produce a powerful toxin that causes bloody diarrhea and occasionally can cause severe blood problems and kidney failure. The most common of these strains is E. coli O157:H7. (The letters and numbers specify one strain of E. coli.) Other strains of E. coli can cause urinary tract or other infections. |
