Evolution of the Marketing Orientation

Production Orientation

Production orientation follows the premise that any product of high quality can be readily sold.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Demonstrate the characteristics of production orientation from an economic and marketing perspective

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Key Points

Prior to the 1950s, the production orientation generally held true due to the growing numbers of affluent and middle class people that capitalism had created.
Say’s Law states that the “production of commodities creates, and is the one and universal cause which creates, a market for the commodities produced”.
The emphasis of firms adopting a production orientation of marketing would have been based on the theory of economies of scale, which are the cost advantages that an enterprise obtains due to expansion.
Key Terms

minimum efficient scale: The smallest output that a plant (or firm) can produce such that its long run average costs are minimized.
Production Orientation

The evolution from production-oriented organizations to marketing-oriented organizations was driven by a shift toward a marketplace that catered to meeting customer wants and needs rather than strictly delivering product features and functionality. In today’s business world, it can be argued that customer desires, concerns, and opinions, rather than industry profits, are the driving force behind many strategic business decisions.

However, until the 1950s, organizations relied on the assumption that their businesses would be profitable so long as they produced high quality products that were durable and worked well. This business model — also known as production orientation — soon became outdated as the marketplace turned into an increasingly crowded and global one. In the decades since its introduction, marketing orientation has been the model of choice for brands looking to sell products that compete effectively for consumer attention and brand loyalty.

Economies of Scale in Production-Oriented Organizations

During the Industrial Age of the 18th and 19th centuries, production-oriented companies thrived due to both the scarcity and high demand for mass-produced, high quality goods and services. Industrial firms focused on production orientation models that exploited economies of scale to reach maximum efficiency at the lowest cost. This business practice can also be explained by Say’s Law, which states that “products are paid for with products” and that “production of commodities creates, and is the one and universal cause which creates a market for the commodities produced.

Product Orientation

A firm employing a product orientation is chiefly concerned with the quality of its product.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Describe the basis for a company using product orientation as its marketing premise

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Key Points

A firm employing a product orientation would assume that as long as its product was of a high standard, people would buy and consume the product.
Under the product orientation, management focuses on developing high quality products which can be sold at the right price, but with insufficient attention to what it is that customers really need and want.
Product orientation assumes a developing or closed economy where few, if any, choices are available.
Key Terms

Market Share: The percentage of some market held by a company.

Selling Orientation

As opposed to production or product orientation, a sales orientation focuses primarily on the selling and promotion of a particular product.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Outline the methodology and importance of selling orientation as it relates to product inventory

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Key Points

A sales orientation entails simply selling an already existing product and using promotion techniques to attain the highest sales possible.
Such a modern day orientation may suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes that would diminish demand.
Selling orientations of marketing became popular after the untapped demand following World War II was saturated in the 1950s, when products were not selling as easily as they had been.
Key Terms

dead stock: Merchandize that had been removed from sale, now offered for sale at a later date.
Selling Orientation

As opposed to production orientation or product orientation, a firm using a sales orientation focuses primarily on the selling and promotion of a particular product. The successful management of the relationship between the company and its customers defines the act of sales or selling. It creates value for customers. Emphasis is not placed on determining new consumer desires, as such. Consequently, this entails simply selling an already existing product and using promotion techniques to attain the highest sales possible. Such a modern day orientation may suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes that would diminish demand.

Approaching marketing with a selling orientation was popular for companies in the 1950s and 1960s. Up to this point, a growing population and lack of significant competition combined to create an environment in which production and product orientations could lead to success. However, after the untapped demand caused by the second World War was saturated in the 1950s, it became obvious that products were not selling as easily as they had been. The answer was to concentrate on selling. The 1950s and 1960s are known as the sales era, as the guiding philosophy of business at the time was the sales orientation.

A marketing orientation centered around sales represented a major milestone in modern business. The amount of competition being realized at that point was unprecedented, and the scale of consumerism was rising. For the first time, a more significant effort had to be made to understand the desires of potential customers. In today’s realm of marketing, selling has developed into a holistic business system required to effectively develop, manage, enable, and execute a mutually beneficial, interpersonal exchange of goods and services for equitable value. In other words, the importance of selling makes it indispensable to modern business, and it has subsequently evolved into a complex system. Effective selling requires a systems approach, at minimum involving roles that sell, enable selling, and develop sales capabilities.

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Braces for Grown-Ups: Are They Right for You?

Wearing braces is a rite of passage for many kids. But increasingly, adults are also getting braces to straighten their teeth, fix their bites and improve their smiles. Orthodontic options that make braces inconspicuous are a big part of this rising popularity. If you're considering getting braces, here's what you should know.

First, you're not alone. A 2014 survey from the American Association of Orthodontists found that adults made up a record high of nearly 1.5 million orthodontics patients in the U.S. and Canada.

About three-fourths of adult patients at Storie and Sturgill Orthodontics, based in Johnson City, Tennessee, are there for cosmetic reasons, says orthodontist Dr. Jeremiah Sturgill. "Several years ago it was very, very rare," he says. "But now the technology we have, and the clear brackets that have also come a long way, are helping adults feel more comfortable about getting braces as well."

Even for patients who get braces to look better, it's often a matter of "form follows function," says Sturgill, an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. "A beautiful smile is not only great aesthetics, but it's also easier to clean your teeth if they're well-aligned. You don't have those nooks and crannies."

Sometimes, functional reasons send adults to the orthodontist, Sturgill says. Teeth may be missing, or patients might need space opened or bone built for an implant. In some complex cases, he says, braces are a means to build a foundation for prosthetic work.

Stephanie Kern, 47, of Wise County, Virginia, is an attorney who represents children. Her doctor advised her to see an orthodontist for problems with her back teeth, which were crooked, painful and affecting her jaw.

"Sometimes I would even talk funny because it would be so sore underneath my tongue, and I would bite myself in my sleep," Kern says. A tendency to grind her teeth led to two cracked molars that had to be removed, she says, leaving gaps in her mouth when she smiled.

Kern, now among Sturgill's patients, has been wearing metal braces since January. "Wax is my best friend now," says Kern, who feels discomfort from braces rubbing against her mouth. However, she jokes, her daughter, who also wears braces, calls her a "wimp" for using wax.

In public, her braces draw little attention. "I noticed a couple babies staring because they like things that sparkle." she says. Most people don't mention her braces unless they've had them, too.

Kern sees braces for adults in a positive light. "Often, time passes and things deteriorate as opposed to improve," she says. "So it's nice to know you've got something to look forward to as an improvement over time."

Brace Options

Braces apply gentle but steady pressure to ease crowding and move teeth. Braces have three main components: brackets placed on each tooth; a band or bonding to affix the bracket to the tooth; and an arch wire which goes from one bracket to the next. Common options for braces include the following:

Metal braces. Stainless steel braces remain the best choice for some more-complex cases, says Dr. Greg Jorgensen, an orthodontist in private practice in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. "The metal braces are still a little more precise because they can be smaller," he explains. "They can fit into smaller areas where teeth are more crooked."

Clear or tooth-colored braces. These are also known as ceramic braces. "While they're still visible, they're less intimidating," Jorgensen says. "They don't grab your attention." One drawback of ceramic braces is that they can stain.

Invisalign or clear aligners. These appliances, which patients can remove to eat, brush and floss, align the teeth without wires or brackets. Patients wear them 20 to 22 hours a day, Sturgill says. While many people are attracted because they're so unnoticeable, clear aligners can be high-maintenance for patients who prefer to snack and drink coffee throughout the day.

Lingual braces. These are placed on the inner, tongue-side of the teeth. Lingual braces are an option for patients who shy away from wearing visible metal braces but whose cases are complex enough to need more than Invisalign, Jorgensen says.

Gold braces. Still made of steel but coated with shiny gold, these are an option for people ready to full-out embrace their braces. Gold braces are far more popular with teens than adults, Sturgill says.


Not Your Childhood Braces

Treatment with braces can be more challenging for adults. "Kids have really thick, healthy gums," Sturgill says. With age, patients are more likely to have problems like receding gums or bone loss. Orthodontists work closely with patients' general dentists before they start with braces, he says, to make sure gums are healthy and periodontal disease is under control.

If you had braces as a kid, you surely remember the mold-making process. It's different now. Digital X-ray technology is much more advanced, Jorgensen says, cutting down on radiation and eliminating the need for dental impressions made with "goop" in your mouth.

In general, time spent wearing braces is shorter than in years past. The average time for all cases in his practice is 17 months, Jorgensen says. Simpler cases, like fixing small spaces in the upper teeth, may take as little as six months. Complexity drives the length of treatment. "We want to fix everything," he says. "If a patient has an impacted tooth in the lower jaw, it might be a three-year case."

After braces come off, teeth can continue to move and crowd even several years later, Sturgill says. "Because of that, we now recommend retainers for life," he says. Retainers are worn at night. That could be every night for the first two years, he says, then eventually one or two nights a week.

Who Should Treat You?

For consumers who are considering braces, the "No. 1" question to ask their provider is, "'Are you an orthodontic specialist? Have you had specialty training in diagnosing and treating my case as an adult?'" Jorgensen says. "Because right now, the line between a specialist and a dentist who does braces has been blurred by advertising."

Orthodontists have up to 36 months of extra training, Jorgensen notes, and more experience treating misalignments and recognizing complex cases.

Covering Costs

On average, braces fall in the $5,000 to $6,500 price range, Sturgill says. If your budget is tight, talk to the office treatment coordinator about working out an in-house payment plan. Practices also may offer parent-child discounts, he says.

Also, check your insurance. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that orthodontic treatment is partially covered.

How to Spot Bad Diet Trends

The internet hosts a cacophony of competing and conflicting nutrition advice, peddled by folks with widely varying food philosophies. But, as a democratic platform, the web doesn't filter the worthwhile advice from the faddish nonsense, and it can be hard to know which food trends are worth falling hard for – and which deserve a hard pass. Luckily, there are code words that can tip you off as to which you're dealing with. Here's what to know about these terms in order to make informed decisions about your diet:

1. Toxins

Elimination diets and so-called "cleansing" regimens that brand a laundry list of foods as "toxins" should be viewed with suspicion – unless, of course, those foods are actually poisonous the way mushrooms grown in Chernobyl or arsenic-laced jelly beans are. Wheat is not a toxin; if it were, countries like France and Italy wouldn't both outrank the U.S. in terms of life expectancy by a full three years. Dairy is also not a toxin; people from the Scandinavian countries who consume the most of it also outlive the average American by years.

Sure, there may be foods that aren't so good for us – excess added sugar comes to mind – but even then, sugar is not "toxic" in a way that should preclude it from minimal consumption. Fads that brand foods as toxins leave no room for common sense and science; they lump nutritious whole foods like wheatberry salad together with sugary, processed white flour cookies as co-conspirators in a crime to make us all sick and fat. This extreme food faddism produces a relationship with food and eating that's far more toxic than any of the individual foods demonized by it.

2. Anti-nutrients

A pseudo-scientific smear campaign has been launched against some of the absolute healthiest, plant-based foods in the world, and I'm not having it. People who talk about "anti-nutrients" vilify naturally-occurring compounds in certain whole foods – like phytates in spinach and whole grains, or lectins in beans – and make false claims that these compounds leach important nutrients from the body. In other words, they claim that instead of delivering nutrition to the body, these foods remove nutrients from the body and therefore are harmful. By that logic, I've seen spinach, beans, wheat and a variety of other (very healthy) fruits and vegetables get thrown under the bus.

This claim is based on the fact that some nutrients – like iron, for example – are harder for the body to absorb from plant sources than from animal sources due to the presence of such protective plant compounds. But iron, vitamins and other nutrients from plant-based foods are still absorbed to a great extent. And none of these foods actually remove any nutrients from the body or destroy nutrients. In fact, research shows us time and time again that people who eat the most beans, leafy greens and whole grains – in all of their phytate and lectin glory – live much longer, healthier lives than everyone else. Don't buy into this bunk.

3. Nightshades

There's nothing particularly scary about a tomato, pepper, eggplant or potato. But when you collectively refer to this family of flowering plants by a foreboding, gothic-sounding name like "nightshade," it sure is easy to convince people that they're "toxins" to be avoided. Avoidance of the Solanaceae plant family is core to the "macrobiotic" diet philosophy, though other elimination diet protocols have adopted this principle as well. Shunning these veggies is based on the fact that some distant members of this plant family – like belladonna and tobacco – produce natural "alkaloids" that can act as poisons.

While certain Solanaceae plants contain large amounts of alkaloids, your garden-variety veggies contain very small amounts. Moreover, while some alkaloids can be potent and poisonous, others have actually demonstrated an anti-inflammatory or pain-relieving effect. The science and the nuance, of course, are completely lost when diet fearmongers lump these nutrient-dense staples of the health-promoting Mediterranean diet into the "nightshade" bucket and dismiss them categorically. Bottom line: It's best not to chew tobacco or eat green potatoes. Now please pass me the ratatouille.

4. Superfoods

Superfood is a marketing term, not a scientific one. Because there is no standard definition of a superfood, anyone trying to sell you a product can – and does – employ the term to bestow mythical nutritional powers on whatever Amazonian berry, ancient Incan seed, powdered leafy green or pulverized Peruvian root he or she wants you to add to your smoothie. Your supermarket is now home to supergrains, superseeds, superfruits and supergreens.

In fairness, most foods marketed as "superfoods" are objectively healthy and rich in health-promoting antioxidants, vitamins and fiber. As such, I don't think it's a bad thing to consume them. But the relative healthfulness of a pricey, exotic "superberry" from the Amazon compared to your standard issue blueberry from Maine is certainly up for debate. So if you're on a budget, you may get more nutritional bang for your buck buying more mundane nutrient-rich foods like local berries, spinach and pumpkin seeds than from minuscule amounts of their pricey, exotic counterparts.

5. Clean

Like superfoods, "clean" eating is a marketing term, not a scientific one. In general, it's used to describe a food with no artificial ingredients and that's minimally processed. Some use it to describe plant-based foods, while others will give sustainably-raised animal foods the "clean" designation. I actually like the idea behind "clean" food quite a bit, but because the term is unregulated, any marketer can slap it on anything. I've seen highly-processed, cookie dough-flavored, artificially-sweetened protein powders and bars marketed as "clean protein." This kind of dilutes the meaningfulness of the "clean eating" concept, wouldn't you say? Here's a rule of thumb: If a food comes in a crinkly wrapper or the label has to shout at you that it's clean, it probably isn't.

Weight Loss and Faulty Thinking

Americans are highly motivated to lose weight - as a growing list of best-selling books and highly trafficked dieting Web sites attest. We're just not approaching it the right way. The pressure we put on ourselves to succeed - and the self-criticism we indulge in when we fall short of the mark - can have dire emotional and dietary repercussions.

Consider that pair of jeans hanging reproachfully in the closet. You realize they don't fit, and you feel unattractive and worthless. This tendency to evaluate yourself too harshly will only make you give up altogether. You want to head to the fridge for solace.

You need to identify the things you're telling yourself that cause you to feel discouraged and to throw in the towel. Don't beat yourself up when you overeat. Accept that you acted in a self-defeating way, then establish better methods to meet your goal. Review what you'd like to do and work toward that goal.

Perhaps you're not (yet) berating yourself for failures, but putting inordinate pressure on yourself to succeed. When you tell yourself, "I must lose 25 pounds by Valentine's Day, or I'll never get a date," you're setting yourself up for emotional turmoil, as well as weight-loss failure. Losing weight in a prescribed amount of time is a worthy goal, but the perfectionistic premise that sneaks into your thinking may well interfere with sensible eating and exercise.

In a perfect universe, the sight of those jeans, or the knowledge that Valentine's Day is around the corner, would elicit rational thoughts like, "I'm going to look great soon, and I'm going to enjoy the challenge of eating sensibly and exercising along the way." But few of us think that.

What We Really Tell Ourselves

Psychology Today spoke with Nando Pelusi and Mitchell Robin, clinical psychologists in New York City, about what we really tell ourselves, sabotaging our own best efforts to lose weight - or meet any goal.

"I must be thin." This creates desperation, which undermines a healthy long-range approach to sensible eating. Also, perfectionism pervades this thinking (I must not only be thin, but also perfect).
"I must eat until sated." Early humans lived in an environment in which food resources were scarce. While our ancestors had to hunt down squirrels and eat them, we can supersize a Whopper meal and skip the workout.
"I need immediate results." The demand for immediate improvement undermines commitment to a long-term goal. Quick fixes are hard to pass up: "This cupcake will make me feel good right now." We think, why bother eating healthfully, when the reward is far off? Dieting requires present-moment frustration and self-denial with little immediate reward.
"I need comfort." People eat to avoid feelings of loneliness, depression and anxiety. Fatty and sugary food provides immediate comfort and distraction from other issues. Resolving some of these problems may help you overcome poor eating habits.
"I feel awful." "It's terrible being heavy." For some, being overweight is the worst thing imaginable; it can immobilize you and leave you dumbstruck. That's a reaction more suited to tragedy. Weight loss is best achieved without that end-of-the-world outlook.
"It's intolerable to stick to a diet." "It's just too hard to diet." This thinking renders you helpless. People who are easily frustrated want easy solutions. We're seduced by fad diets because they appeal to that immediacy. Yet people who rely on fads suffer high failure rates. When you diet with the short term in mind, you don't learn strategies that require patience and persistence.
"I am no good." "Because I am having trouble in this one area I am worthless." Being overweight can be viewed as a sign of weakness or worthlessness, and most people aren't motivated when they feel that way. Another form of worthlessness: "My worth is dependent on my looks." This idea confuses beauty with thinness, a concept played out endlessly in the media.
Get Moving

Now that you've thrown out your irrational thinking, a little motivation is key to change. But how do you make that leap? Psychologist and marathon runner Michael Gilewski has found that the brain can achieve a state of habitual behavior through small successes - turning a once extraordinary effort into mere routine.

"Even when someone climbs Mount Everest, it's usually not his first time climbing," he points out. Perhaps motivation may simply be the product of positive reinforcement and repeated success. PT asked five expert motivators - including an active-duty drill sergeant and a rock-climbing instructor - how they rally everyone from first-time dieters to hard-core soldiers.

Deborah Low is a certified weight management and lifestyle consultant in Vancouver, British Columbia.

"We have an all-or-nothing attitude: If we don't do our full hour at the gym, we may as well sit around and eat junk food. If you feel guilty and punish yourself, you may eat 10 cookies instead of 2. If you criticize yourself, you'll never change.

"Motivation is something we get from other people; but inspiration swells within us. Thinking 'I'll lose weight and then I'll be happy' is not enough. If we respect and love ourselves, independent of our weight, it's easier to make healthy choices.

"We struggle because we're fixated on the end result. We force ourselves to go to the gym, restrict food, measure and weigh ourselves. You let that number on the scale determine how your day's going to go. I ask clients to remember what it was like to play as a kid. You ran around, climbed on things - your goal was not to lose weight, it was to have fun. Being active gave you a sense of freedom, excitement and amazement. You have to reconnect with that emotion."

Being a Team Player

Chris Broadway instructs an Outward Bound outdoor classroom on Hurricane Island, off the coast of Maine.

"I set the tone of team spirit in the beginning; I teach one person a skill, and his or her responsibility is to teach everyone else. We let the students make their own mistakes. We expect students to have problems, as the activities we construct are a challenge. Discouragement can occur, but we celebrate accomplishments. Students set their own level of achievement. Some have a focus on the end result, but not everyone is results-oriented. Some want to measure success by relationships they form, by the process itself.

"Another motivating factor is how their experience here connects to their lives. We create situations where there are actual risks and perceived risks, as in sailing. We let the group navigate ahead of a storm, deciding when to pull back and when to move forward. We show them how to apply these situations to their own businesses or personal lives - calculate the risk, know when to take it or when to step back.

"It's so much more powerful when another student steps up to deliver the message of leadership. As instructors, we're always building their tool kit so they have the means to do that. With a group of 12, it's difficult to hide in the background. Even if someone's in a slump, he or she absolutely needs to fill a role."

Savor Every Mountain

John Joline is a climbing instructor at Dartmouth College.

"Certain kinds of teaching are done from below telling people what to do but being removed from the activity. I try to teach from above - I climb with my students, participating fully in the activity. I make my enthusiasm infectious.

"Even a climb well within your physical limits - if you strive to climb it beautifully - can be challenging and rewarding. Our culture puts emphasis on goals, on absolutes. We're taught to believe competition should be ferocious. But if we lose that sense of fun, of delight, all the haranguing in the world from an instructor won't give a student lasting motivation. The bottom line is to savor the movement, the physical sensation of moving up the rock and over the stone. That itself becomes a reward compelling enough to keep one involved.

"For someone in his or her mid-30s or older, climbing is still seen as a potentially dangerous sport, daring and terrifying. It's a mental construct that can be inhibiting. Plus, for white-collar workers, running hands and fingers over rough rock could be shocking to the system."

Coming Home Alive

Billie Jo Miranda is a U.S. Army drill sergeant in Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

"The goal is being prepared for war and coming home alive. The [desire to] drop out occurs in the first few weeks. Once they learn they have a comfort zone, get along and trust people, we're pretty much over the hump. We motivate through example; we do it next to, in front of and behind them. We tailor training around the weakest soldier. It may not be beneficial for the soldier who was a college athlete, but everybody is part of a team, they push each other.

"There will be those who do the minimum. Today's youth are Nintendo children. Training requires them to get out of bed and walk an extra mile. The more rigor you put into training, the more a soldier knows what he can accomplish in combat. They shouldn't enjoy training. It should hurt physically and mentally. And they hate it. But we want them to enjoy the accomplishment. "If you have heart, you have the motivation and the desire to get through anything. It's a patriotic thought process: What we're doing is for the betterment of America. When they say, 'I don't want to do this anymore,' just give me 10 minutes with a soldier and she'll do a 180. We use their being volunteers as a motivational tool: 'Soldier, I didn't ask you to come here. You obviously joined the military for a reason, you wanted to do something for your country.'"

Think Like a Thermostat

Peter Catina is a professor of exercise physiology at Pennsylvania State University.

"Most elite athletes are already at the top of their sport, and to reach the next level is a challenge. But it's difficult to sustain your level when you're at your pinnacle - novice or expert. Everyone must have both physical and mental discipline.

"Self-regulation is key; you can make it simple by being your own monitor. You have to think like a thermostat - be able to detect a discrepancy between the environment and your internal standard. It's the difference between your current state and where your mind and body would like to be. You can then adjust - raise your standards to meet your expectations - through strategy and action. Some of us are born with high self-regulatory skills, but I can identify clients who lack the know - how and I teach them. Awareness is the first step: noting how many calories you've consumed, how effective your exercise is, how frequently and intensely you've exercised.

"Aerobics is no longer the panacea for losing weight. It's the change in body composition that makes you look better, and for that, strength training is more effective. Don't constantly weigh yourself, since muscle weighs more than fat. Instead, measure your body mass index - or even your waist - and only once every four to six weeks. I've had many female clients gain five pounds but go down three dress sizes."

Healthy Eating Tips for Planning, Enjoying, and Sticking to a Healthy Diet

Healthy eating is not about strict dietary limitations, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, improving your health, and stabilizing your mood. If you feel overwhelmed by all the conflicting nutrition and diet advice out there, you’re not alone. It seems that for every expert who tells you a certain food is good for you, you’ll find another saying exactly the opposite. But by using these simple tips, you can cut through the confusion and learn how to create a tasty, varied, and healthy diet that is as good for your mind as it is for your body.

What are the benefits of healthy eating?
We all know that eating right can help you maintain a healthy weight and avoid certain health problems, but your diet can also have a profound effect on your mood and sense of wellbeing. Studies have linked eating a typical Western diet—filled with processed meats, packaged meals, takeout food, and sugary snacks—with higher rates of depression, stress, bipolar disorder, and anxiety. Eating an unhealthy diet may even play a role in the development of mental health disorders such as ADHD, Alzheimer’s disease, and schizophrenia, or in the increased risk of suicide in young people.

Eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, cooking meals at home, and reducing your intake of sugar and refined carbohydrates, on the other hand, may help to improve mood and lower your risk for mental health problems. If you have already been diagnosed with a mental health problem, eating well can even help to manage your symptoms and regain control of your life.

While some specific foods or nutrients have been shown to have a beneficial effect on mood, it’s your overall dietary pattern that is most important. That means switching to a healthy diet doesn’t have to be an all or nothing proposition. You don’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to completely eliminate foods you enjoy to have a healthy diet and make a difference to the way you think and feel.

Switching to a healthy diet
Changing everything at once usually leads to cheating or giving up on your new eating plan. To set yourself up for success, think about planning a healthy diet as a number of small, manageable steps—like adding a salad to your diet once a day—rather than one big drastic change. As your small changes become habit, you can continue to add more healthy choices.

Prepare more of your own meals. Cooking more meals at home can help you take charge of what you’re eating and better monitor exactly what goes into your food.

Make the right changes. When cutting back on unhealthy foods in your diet, it’s important to replace them with healthy alternatives. Replacing dangerous trans fats with healthy fats (such as switching fried chicken for grilled fish) will make a positive difference to your health. Switching animal fats for refined carbohydrates, though (such as switching your breakfast bacon for a donut), won’t lower your risk for heart disease or improve your mood.

Simplify. Instead of being overly concerned with counting calories, think of your diet in terms of color, variety, and freshness. Focus on avoiding packaged and processed foods and opting for more fresh ingredients.

Read the labels. It’s important to be aware of what’s in your food as manufacturers often hide large amounts of sugar or unhealthy fats in packaged food, even food claiming to be healthy.

Focus on how you feel after eating. This will help foster healthy new habits and tastes. The more healthy food you eat, the better you’ll feel after a meal. The more junk food you eat, the more likely you are to feel uncomfortable, nauseous, or drained of energy.

Drink plenty of water. Water helps flush our systems of waste products and toxins, yet many people go through life dehydrated—causing tiredness, low energy, and headaches. It’s common to mistake thirst for hunger, so staying well hydrated will also help you make healthier food choices.

Moderation: the key to a healthy diet
What is moderation? In essence, it means eating only as much food as your body needs. You should feel satisfied at the end of a meal, but not stuffed. Moderation is also about balance. We all need a balance of protein, fat, fiber, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals to sustain a healthy body.

For many of us, moderation also means eating less than we do now. But it doesn't mean eliminating the foods you love. Eating bacon for breakfast once a week, for example, could be considered moderation if you follow it with a healthy lunch and dinner—but not if you follow it with a box of donuts and a sausage pizza.

Try not to think of certain foods as “off-limits.” When you ban certain foods, it’s natural to want those foods more, and then feel like a failure if you give in to temptation. Start by reducing portion sizes of unhealthy foods and not eating them as often. As you reduce your intake of unhealthy foods, you may find yourself craving them less or thinking of them as only occasional indulgences.

Think smaller portions. Serving sizes have ballooned recently. When dining out, choose a starter instead of an entree, split a dish with a friend, and don't order supersized anything. At home, visual cues can help with portion sizes. Your serving of meat, fish, or chicken should be the size of a deck of cards and half a cup of mashed potato, rice, or pasta is about the size of a traditional light bulb. By serving your meals on smaller plates or in bowls, you can trick your brain into thinking it’s a larger portion. If you don't feel satisfied at the end of a meal, add more leafy green vegetables or round off the meal with fruit.

Take your time. It actually takes a few minutes for your brain to tell your body that it has had enough food, so eat slowly and stop eating before you feel full.

Eat with others whenever possible. Eating alone, especially in front of the TV or computer, often leads to mindless overeating.

It's not just what you eat, but when you eat

Eat breakfast, and eat smaller meals throughout the day. A healthy breakfast can jumpstart your metabolism, while eating small, healthy meals (rather than the standard three large meals) keeps your energy up.
Avoid eating at night. Try to eat dinner earlier and fast for 14-16 hours until breakfast the next morning. Studies suggest that eating only when you’re most active and giving your digestive system a long break each day may help to regulate weight.
Cut back on sugar
Aside from portion size, perhaps the single biggest problem with the modern Western diet is the amount of added sugar in our food. As well as creating weight problems, too much sugar causes energy spikes and has been linked to diabetes, depression, and even an increase in suicidal behaviors in young people. Reducing the amount of candy and desserts you eat is only part of the solution as sugar is also hidden in foods such as bread, cereals, canned soups and vegetables, pasta sauce, margarine, instant mashed potatoes, frozen dinners, low-fat meals, fast food, and ketchup. Your body gets all it needs from sugar naturally occurring in food so all this added sugar just means a lot of empty calories.

Tips for reducing sugar in your diet

Slowly reduce the sugar in your diet a little at a time to give your taste buds time to adjust and wean yourself off the craving.

Avoid sugary drinks. Try drinking sparkling water with a splash of fruit juice instead.

Don’t replace saturated fat with sugar. Low-fat or no-fat doesn’t necessarily mean healthy, especially when the fat has been replaced by added sugar to make up for loss of taste, such as in the case of many low-fat yoghurts and so-called diet foods. For many of us, the added sugar could be doing more harm than the saturated fat it’s replacing.

Avoid processed or packaged foods like canned soups, frozen dinners, or low-fat meals that often contain hidden sugar that quickly surpasses the recommended limit.

Be careful when eating out.  Most gravy, dressings and sauces are packed with sugar, so ask for it to be served on the side.

Eat healthier snacks.  Cut down on sweet snacks such as candy, chocolate, and cakes. Instead, eat naturally sweet food such as fruit, peppers, or natural peanut butter to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Check labels and choose low-sugar products.

Eat more fruit and vegetables
Fruit and vegetables are low in calories and nutrient dense, which means they are packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber. Focus on eating the recommended daily amount of at least five servings of fruit and vegetables and it will naturally fill you up and help you cut back on unhealthy foods. A serving is half a cup of raw fruit or veg or a small apple or banana, for example. Most of us need to double the amount we currently eat. To increase your intake, add berries to breakfast cereals, eat fruit for dessert, swap your usual side dish for a salad, and snack on vegetables such as carrots, snow peas, or cherry tomatoes instead of processed snack foods.

Add a rainbow to your healthy diet

The brighter, deeper colored fruits and vegetables contain higher concentrations of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants—and different colors provide different benefits.

Greens. Branch out beyond lettuce. Kale, mustard greens, broccoli, and Chinese cabbage are all packed with calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc, and vitamins A, C, E, and K.

Sweet vegetables. Naturally sweet vegetables—such as corn, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, yams, onions, and squash—add healthy sweetness to your meals and reduce your cravings for added sugar.

Fruit. Fruit is a tasty, satisfying way to fill up on fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants. Berries are cancer-fighting, apples provide fiber, oranges and mangos offer vitamin C, and so on.

Fill up on fiber
Eating foods high in dietary fiber can help you stay regular, lower your risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, and even help you to lose weight. Depending on your age and gender, nutrition experts recommend you eat at least 21 to 38 grams of fiber per day for optimal health. Many of us aren't eating half that amount.

In general, the more natural and unprocessed the food, the higher it is in fiber.
Good sources of fiber include whole grains, wheat cereals, barley, oatmeal, beans, nuts, vegetables such as carrots, celery, and tomatoes, and fruits such as apples, berries, citrus fruits, and pears.
There is no fiber in meat, dairy, or sugar. Refined or “white” foods, such as white bread, white rice, and pastries, have had all or most of their fiber removed.
An easy way to add more fiber to your diet is to start your day with a whole grain cereal or add unprocessed wheat bran to your favorite cereal.
How fiber can help you lose weight

Since fiber stays in the stomach longer than other foods, the feeling of fullness will stay with you much longer, helping you to eat less. Fiber also moves fat through your digestive system quicker so less of it is absorbed. And when you fill up on fiber, you'll also have more energy for exercising.

Choose healthy carbs and whole grains
Healthy carbohydrates, especially whole grains, provide long-lasting energy. Whole grains are rich in phytochemicals and antioxidants, which help to protect against coronary heart disease, certain cancers, and diabetes.

What are healthy carbs and unhealthy carbs?

Healthy carbs (or good carbs) include whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables. Healthy carbs are digested slowly, helping you feel full longer and keeping blood sugar and insulin levels stable.

Unhealthy carbs (or bad carbs) are foods such as white flour, refined sugar, and white rice that have been stripped of all bran, fiber, and nutrients. They digest quickly and cause spikes in blood sugar levels and energy.

Tips for eating more whole grains

Whole Grain Stamp
Include a variety of whole grains in your healthy diet, including whole wheat, brown rice, millet, quinoa, and barley.
Make sure you're really getting whole grains. In the U.S., check for the Whole Grain Stamps that distinguish between partial whole grain and 100% whole grain.
Start by mixing grains. If whole grains like brown rice and whole wheat pasta don’t sound good at first, start by mixing what you normally use with the whole grains. You can gradually increase the whole grain.
Avoid refined carbs such as breads, pastas, and breakfast cereals that are not whole grain.
Add calcium for bone health
Your body uses calcium to build healthy bones and teeth, keep them strong as you age, send messages through the nervous system, and regulate the heart’s rhythm. If you don’t get enough calcium in your diet, your body will take calcium from your bones to ensure normal cell function, which can lead to osteoporosis.

Recommended calcium levels are 1000 mg per day, 1200 mg if you are over 50 years old. Try to get as much from food as possible and use only low-dose calcium supplements to make up any shortfall. Limit foods that deplete your body’s calcium stores (caffeine, alcohol, sugary drinks), do weight-bearing exercise, and get a daily dose of magnesium and vitamins D and K—nutrients that help calcium do its job.

Good sources of calcium include:

Dairy. Dairy products are rich in calcium in a form that is easily digested and absorbed by the body. Sources include milk, unsweetened yogurt, and cheese.

Vegetables and greens. Many vegetables, especially leafy green ones, are rich sources of calcium. Try collard greens, kale, romaine lettuce, celery, broccoli, fennel, cabbage, summer squash, green beans, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, and crimini mushrooms.

Beans. Good sources of calcium include black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, white beans, black-eyed peas, or baked beans.

The role of protein in a healthy diet
Protein gives us the energy to get up and go—and keep going. While too much protein can be harmful to people with kidney disease, the latest research suggests that most of us need more high-quality protein, especially as we age.

How to add high-quality protein to your diet

Eat plenty of fish, chicken, or plant-based protein such as beans, nuts, and soy.
Replace processed carbohydrates from pastries, cakes, pizza, cookies and chips with fish, beans, nuts, seeds, peas, tofu, chicken, and soy products.
Snack on nuts and seeds instead of chips, replace baked dessert with Greek yogurt, or swap out slices of pizza for a grilled chicken breast and a side of beans.
How much protein do you need?

Protein needs are based on weight rather than calorie intake. Adults should eat at least 0.8g of high-quality protein per kilogram (2.2lb) of bodyweight per day.

Older adults should aim for 1 to 1.5 grams of lean protein for each kilogram of weight. This translates to 68 to 102g of protein per day for a person weighing 150 lbs.
Divide your protein intake equally among meals.
Nursing women need about 20 grams more high-quality protein a day than they did before pregnancy to support milk production.
Enjoy healthy fats (and avoid unhealthy ones)
Despite what you may have been told, not all fats are unhealthy. While “bad” fats can increase your risk of certain diseases, “good” fats are essential to physical and emotional health. Foods rich in certain omega-3 fats, for example, can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, improve your mood, and help prevent dementia.

Add these good fats to your diet:

Monounsaturated fats from avocados, nuts (like almonds, hazelnuts, and pecans), and seeds (such as pumpkin and sesame).

Polyunsaturated fats, including Omega-3s, found in fatty fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, and sardines. Good vegetarian sources of polyunsaturated fats include flaxseed and walnuts.

Eliminate these bad fats:

Trans fats, found in processed foods, vegetable shortenings, margarines, crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, baked goods, or anything with “partially hydrogenated” oil in the ingredients, even if it claims to be trans-fat free. No amount of trans fat is safe.

Watch your salt intake
Sodium is another ingredient that is frequently added to food to improve taste, even though your body needs less than one gram of sodium a day (about half a teaspoon of table salt). Eating too much salt can cause high blood pressure and lead to an increased risk of stroke, heart disease, kidney disease, memory loss, and erectile dysfunction. It may also worsen symptoms of bipolar disorder.

Be wary of processed or pre-packaged foods. Processed foods like canned soups or frozen dinners often contain hidden sodium that quickly surpasses the recommended limit.

Use herbs and spices such as garlic, curry powder, cayenne or black pepper to improve the flavor of meals instead of salt.

Be careful when eating out. Most restaurant and fast food meals are loaded with sodium. Some offer lower-sodium choices or you can ask for your meal to be made without salt.

Buy unsalted nuts and add a little of your own salt until your taste buds are accustomed to eating them salt-free.

Sources: www.helpguide.org

Mediterranean Diet ‘Reduces Risk Of Deadly Breast Cancer By 40%’, Study Reveals

Following a Mediterranean diet could slash risk of deadly form of breast cancer by up to 40%, a large study has found.

Scientists monitored more than 62,000 women over a period of 20 years to see how their breast cancer risk was affected by what they ate, according to Press Association.

Those who adhered most closely to a Mediterranean diet rich in plant protein, fish and olive oil were 40% less likely to develop ER-negative breast cancer than women who adopted the diet the least.

This form of the disease, which is not stimulated by the sex hormone oestrogen, is often harder to treat than hormone-sensitive cancer and more likely to prove fatal.

Each year more than 55,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer, 30% of whom have ER-negative cancers. Around 11,400 women die from breast cancer in the UK every year.

A typical Mediterranean diet includes high intakes of plant-based proteins such as nuts, lentils and beans, whole grains, fish and “healthy” monounsaturated fats such as olive oil.

Consumption of refined grain foods such as white bread or white rice, red meat and sweets is kept to a minimum.

See Also:
Ditch ‘Low-Fat’ Food For Mediterranean Diet, Says Weight Loss Study
How To Manage Your Diet After A Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Professor Piet van den Brandt, from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, who led the study published in the International Journal of Cancer, said: “Our research can help to shine a light on how dietary patterns can affect our cancer risk.

“We found a strong link between the Mediterranean diet and reduced oestrogen-receptor negative breast cancer risk among post-menopausal women, even in a non-Mediterranean population.

“This type of breast cancer usually has a worse prognosis than other types of breast cancer”.

Alcohol, which normally forms part of a traditional Mediterranean diet, was excluded from the study because of its known links to breast cancer.

Previous findings have shown that almost 12,000 cases of breast cancer could be prevented in the UK each year if alcohol consumption ceased.

Dr Panagiota Mitrou, director of research funding at the charity World Cancer Research Fund, which funded the new research, said: “This important study showed that following a dietary pattern like the Mediterranean diet, could help reduce breast cancer risk - particularly the subtype with a poorer prognosis.

“With breast cancer being so common in the UK, prevention is key if we want to see a decrease in the number of women developing the disease.

“We would welcome further research that helps us better understand the risk factors for the different breast cancer subtypes.”

Following a Mediterranean diet only had a weak non-significant effect on the risk of hormone-sensitive ER-positive breast cancer, the study found.

Emma Pennery, clinical director of the charity Breast Cancer Care, said: “The news that a Mediterranean diet may be able to cut the risk of a certain type of breast cancer by up to 40% is intriguing.

“Breast cancer isn’t just one disease - not all types have the same triggers and this study unpicks these complexities.

“Women call our Helpline every week with anxieties about getting breast cancer and what they can do to avoid it.

“We know how devastating a diagnosis is and this study adds to evidence that a healthy diet, full of ‘good’ low-saturated fats, plays a part in lowering risk of the disease.

“However, it’s important to remember while lifestyle choices like eating a well-balanced diet and taking regular exercise can help reduce the risk of cancer, they don’t guarantee prevention.

“So it’s crucial women know the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, and contact their GP with any concerns.”


Souces:huffingtonpost.co.uk

Tofu: Health Benefits, Concerns And Recipes Using The Vegetarian Staple

Tofu can be a great way to add texture to your meals and cut down on the amount of expensive meat you’re buying.

But what exactly is tofu and is it any good for your health?

What Is Tofu?

According to Aisling Pigott, a spokesperson from the British Dietetic Association, tofu is “a tasty and versatile food for vegetarians, vegans and meat-eaters alike”.

Traditionally used in Thai and Chinese cooking, tofu is made by curdling fresh soya milk that has been made from soya beans. It is then pressed into squares and cooled.

Health Benefits

“Tofu is a low fat and high protein food,” says Pigott. “It’s also often high in iron and calcium.”

According to the NHS, iron is an essential mineral that helps to make red blood cells, which carry oxygen around the body. Calcium is key to keeping bones and teeth strong and can also ensure that blood clots normally.

Charlotte Stirling-Reed, from SR Nutrition, agrees that tofu could be beneficial to health, particularly to vegetarians.

“It’s a great source of protein and micronutrients,” she tells HuffPost UK Lifestyle. “It also contains fibre, beneficial polyunsaturated fat and is low in saturated fats.”

Soya beans (which tofu is made from) have also been linked to reducing hot flushes in people going through the menopause and even reducing the risk of breast cancer.

But Stirling-Reed warns that studies around these two areas are “very confusing” and controversial, so should be taken with a pinch of salt until more conclusive research is carried out.

Health Concerns

There are conflicts of opinion surrounding the health benefits of tofu and whether or not is really is a “superfood”.

“Some studies may have suggested benefits to eating soya and soya products such as tofu, but others also show no associated benefits and, even more concerning, is the fact that there are also some studies showing negative associations from eating soya,” Stirling-Reed says.

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Blogging on HuffPost Healthy Living, Dr Joseph Mercola says fermented soya from organic soya beans can be a beneficial part of your diet. But most westerners consume unfermented soy, mostly in the form of soya milk, tofu, TVP, and soya infant formula, which can be problematic.

He claims that unfermented soya products increase your body’s vitamin D requirement, contain high levels of aluminium, (which is toxic to your nervous system and kidneys), and interfere with protein digestion (which may cause pancreatic disorders).

“Soya’s anti-nutrients are quite potent. Drinking just two glasses of soya milk daily provides enough of these compounds to alter a woman’s menstrual cycle. But if you feed soya to your infant or child, these effects are magnified a thousand-fold,” he adds.

“Infants fed soya formula may have up to 20,000 times more oestrogen circulating through their bodies as those fed other formulas. You should never feed your infant a soya-based formula.”

As Stirling-Reed says, “the jury is very much still out with regards to soya”, therefore it’s probably best to consume tofu in moderation, as part of a varied and balanced diet.

How To Eat It

You can bake, fry or grill tofu to create a range of different textures. Traditionally it’s put with Chinese or Thai flavours and is great in a stir-fry, but it can also form the basis of a tasty soup.

Scroll through the slideshow below for a whole host of recipe ideas and cooking instructions.