Nutritionist - a health professional with specific training in
the field of nutrition and who has the skill to help consumers make informed decisions about the foods and beverages they include in their diet. Also called a `dietician`.
Folic Acid - one of the B vitamins necessary to form essential body proteins and genetic materials. Foods that have abundant supplies of folic acid are leafy vegetables such as spinach, mustard greens, and collard greens and a variety of lettuces, peanuts, whole grains and enriched grain foods, lentils, peas and beans, broccoli, brussel sprouts, beets and asparagus, oranges, strawberries and bananas, and orange and pineapple juices. The findings from research studies conducted lately additionally indicate low blood folate levels can be connected with elevated plasma homocysteine (homocysteine is a sulfur-containing amino acid derivative that normally undergoes rapid enzymatic metabolism and is thus present at only low levels in plasma) and increased danger of CAD (coronary artery disease). Newer research findings conclude that, if all females in their childbearing years ingested sufficient folic acid (either in the form of folate from foods or in the form of vitamin supplements), fifty percent to seventy percent of neural tube and other birth defects in fetuses could be prevented, according to the U.S. CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Folic acid is critical from conception until 4 to 6 weeks of gestation, when the neural tube (that develops into the brain, spinal cord, spinal nerves, and spinal column) is developed. This means sufficient folate or folic acid ingestion should begin prior to conception taking place. Hypertrophy - an enlargement in the size of an organ or tissue. It should be distinguished from hyperplasia, which is caused by an abnormal increase in tissue growth due to excessive cell division; hypertrophy occurs due to an enlargement of cell size rather than division. It is most often found in muscle which has been purposefully worked upon, the most familiar method being bodybuilding exercise.
Binge Eating - an eating disorder involving ingesting abnormally large quantities of food and where the binger feels unable to control either what is being eaten or how much is being eaten, without regurgitation or laxative or diuretic abuse.
Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) - the degree of exertion individuals believe they are putting into an activity (including increased heart rate, increased respiration or breathing rate, increased sweating, and muscle fatigue). The Borg scale is a scoring system, which helps people describe how hard they feel they are working by assigning a numeric value from 6 to 20. Numbers that are lower down on the scale signify a modest level of exertion, and numbers that are higher up on the scale signify that the body is working harder.
Ecologist - an individual who examines the ecology of an ecosystem. Cardiovascular - connected with the heart and blood vessels as a unified system in the body: heart (cardio) and blood vessels (vascular).
Lipids - a family of chemical compounds that includes triglycerides (fats and oils), phospholipids, and sterols.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans - published by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) every five years, these Dietary Guidelines reflect the most current scientific knowledge, and are the foundation of the US government`s nutrition policy. The fifth edition of the Dietary Guidelines, issued in `00, contains ten guidelines. Its thrust is founded on three initiatives: Aim, Build, and Choose. It is geared to inspire Americans by stressing this advice: 1) Aim for getting into shape 2) Build a Healthy Base and 3) Choose judiciously. This new collection of guidelines is the first to advocate daily physical exercise and the first to incorporate a guideline targeted at food safety.
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) - a quality-based methodology used in the food & beverage industry to identify potential food-safety hazards. The basic policy under HACCP for preventing foodborne illnesses and to emphasize high quality standards is to recognize the red-zone areas and attempt to keep away from them. Instead of making it a federal responsibility to identify that there is indeed a problem that concerns food safety, HACCP transfers responsibility onto the food sector to make sure that the food items it produces are safe. Food producers must necessarily take suitable precautions to safeguard against bacterial contamination from occurring as the basic quality measure. HACCP works by the following principles: Be familiar with the potential health risks for food & beverage consumers concerning a certain product; Recognize the crucial milestones in the food-processing cycle (CCPs or `critical control points`) at which the health-hazards could take place; Establish precautionary actions to forestall the health risk from happening; Run constant checks in order to make sure these safety measures are in effect; Organize an appropriate solution in case tracking and monitoring indicates any cause for concern; Organize in-depth record-keeping to document the supervisory actions and the necessary action that was taken; Verify that the integrated system is functioning smoothly.
Physical Activity - any form of exercise or movement. Such activity could comprise planned activity such as morning/evening walks, running or jogging, tennis, or any other sports. Such activity might additionally include other daily activities such as household chores, gardening, taking one`s dog for a walk, among others. It is recommended that adults get at least 30 minutes and children get at least 60 minutes of moderate physical exercise on five to six days of the week. Light to moderate physical exercise refers to any activity that needs roughly the same amount of energy as would be spent on a 2-mile walk at the rate of 4 miles an hour.
Anticarcinogens - substances which safeguard against the formation of cancers or cancerous tumors. More than six hundred chemicals are supposed to be anti-cancer substances. These vary from the organic chemical ingredient (found in garlic, broccoli, cabbage, and green tea) to artificial antioxidants, for example butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and derivatives of ATRA (all-trans retinoic acid).
Lutein - a class of carotenoid (orange-red plant pigment) found in most green vegetables, which has a beneficial effect on the eyesight by protecting the eyes from free radical damage.
Islet Cells (Islets of Langerhans) - clusters of cells in the pancreas, including the alpha cells that secrete glucagon (that increases blood sugar levels) and beta cells that produce insulin (that regulates blood sugar levels).
Galactose - a simple sugar consisting of a single sugar molecule present in both l-galactose as well as d-galactose forms as an ingredient of FSO, which are fructo-oligosaccharides naturally occurring in plants, and GOS, which are galacto-oligosaccharides naturally occurring in animals (such as lactose and raffinose) plus polysaccharides, which are a class of carbohydrates made up of a number of monosaccharides (such as agar-agar and the natural gelling agent, pectin). Galactose is the sugar derived when the digestive system assimilates and breaks down lactose (a sugar which occurs naturally in milk and often known as `milk sugar`). Background Retinopathy - an early stage of diabetic retinopathy (damage to the small blood vessels in the retina), which typically does not damage vision. Also called `non-proliferative retinopathy`.