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Light Diet for Diarrhea: Recipes for Light Food for Gastrointestinal

Bland food helps you with diarrhea and other gastrointestinal diseases. We give you tips and show you two simple recipes that support your body.

Problems in the gastrointestinal tract can have various causes, such as greasy food or a food intolerance. Viruses are usually the cause of gastrointestinal flu. Symptoms can be very uncomfortable, including diarrhea, nausea, and/or vomiting.

There are different types of diarrhea, but they all have one thing in common: your body loses a lot of fluids in a short period of time. You should therefore make sure that you drink plenty of non-carbonated water in sips throughout the day. Unsweetened chamomile tea, peppermint tea, or fennel tea can also soothe your digestive tract.

If severe diarrhea lasts longer than three days or is bloody, you should definitely seek medical advice.

Light diet for diarrhea: You should avoid these foods

Don’t eat raw vegetables. Boiled or steamed vegetables are better tolerated.
Avoid hot spices like pepper, chili, or garlic. Instead, use fresh herbs like fennel, caraway, or anise.
Avoid fat. If you only have mild diarrhea, feel free to sauté your food in a small amount of oil, but avoid fried and breaded foods. Skip the oil if you have severe diarrhea.
Avoid legumes. Although they are generally very healthy, they are difficult to digest due to their complex protein structure and are therefore not advisable if you have diarrhea. The same goes for nuts.
Avoid foods that cause gas, such as cabbage, onions, or sauerkraut.
Avoid sugar. Any sweets or sugar in tea should be off-limits during your diarrhea bland diet – the sugar overwhelms your already weakened intestinal mucosa. That’s why coke, for example, doesn’t help with diarrhea.
It is not for nothing that they say: well chewed is half digested. If you prepare your food as a puree or soup, you can support your digestion.

In general, the following applies to diarrhea:

Eat little, drink a lot!
Eat small portions throughout the day.

Light diet for diarrhea: These foods are good for you

Since your intestines are already irritated, you should take a closer look when choosing foods. It is important that the food continues to provide you with vitamins and all the important nutrients while protecting your digestion. Watery, easily digestible vegetables are particularly gentle on your stomach and intestines and help you to rebalance your fluid balance:

carrots
zucchini
pumpkin
Beetroot
Also well tolerated are supplements such as:

potatoes
rice
zwieback
oatmeal
Rice gruel (our recipe: rice gruel for diarrhea)

These foods provide you with nutrients and have a constipating effect. Treatment with psyllium husks can also be helpful. Mix a tablespoon of psyllium husk in a glass of water and sip it all before your first meal.

When it comes to fruit, it is best to use fruits that contain a lot of pectin, such as:

very finely grated apple
grated bananas
The pectin helps you bind excess liquid and thus has a constipating effect. By grating the fruit finely, your body can absorb the pectin better.

Proven light diet for diarrhea: carrot soup

Carrots bind excess fluid in the intestines and can help relieve diarrhea.

If you cook carrots long enough, so-called oligosaccharides are formed, which are tiny sugar molecules. Since they are similar to the intestinal receptors, the pathogens are bound from the intestine and excreted more quickly.

We will show you a simple but effective recipe by Dr. Moro:

Ingredients:

500 grams of carrots
1 liter of water
1 pinch of salt
optional: turmeric
Wash the carrots and cut them into pieces.
Put them in a suitable pot.
Add the water and bring the contents to a simmer.
If the carrots are easy to mash with a fork, you can puree them.
Season the soup with a pinch of salt. Optionally, you can use some turmeric as it has an anti-inflammatory effect. You should avoid other spices until your intestines are feeling better.
In total, the soup should simmer for around an hour so that the oligosaccharides can be released from the carrots. You can eat the soup several times throughout the day to relieve your symptoms.

Light diet for diarrhea: oatmeal in different variations

Cooked oatmeal is easy to digest, yet high in fiber, carbohydrates, and protein. They give you energy again and can support you in your recovery process.

Here is a simple basic recipe for the wholesome porridge.

Ingredients:

1 cup oatmeal
2 cups of water
1 pinch of salt
Optional: carrots, grated apple or mashed banana
How to prepare oatmeal:

First mix the oatmeal with the water in a suitable saucepan.
Then bring the flakes to a simmer and add the salt.
Keep stirring the porridge over low heat until it reaches the desired consistency.

Depending on your preference, you can make oatmeal sweet or savory. For a savory version, simply add a chopped carrot while cooking. Another variation is oatmeal soup.

If you prefer sweet oatmeal, you can finely grate an apple and stir it into the porridge. Since the peel contains a particularly large amount of pectin, it is best to grate the apple with the peel and let it rest for about ten minutes before using it. This allows the pectin to unfold its stuffing effect particularly well.

Another option is bananas. They also contain the valuable pectin and have a constipating effect. It is best to mash the banana with a fork beforehand and stir it into the simmering porridge.

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Vegan Diet and Sport: Is That Possible?

Vegan Sports Nutrition: Is It A Good Idea? And if so, what should you pay attention to? Our author gives an overview of what is known on the subject and has answers to the most important questions.

Vegan nutrition has become a real trend in recent years – also among athletes: the list of well-known vegan athletes is getting longer every year. The boxer Mike Tyson, the Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and the runner Ruth Heidrich swear by the vegan diet. Their argument: higher performance could be achieved through the vegan diet. But is that really true? And what should you consider if you eat vegan and do sports?

This is what experts say about sport and vegan nutrition

Individual athletes achieve great success with the vegan diet – but that’s why it’s far from being transferrable to everyone. Because of course athletes differ greatly from each other depending on the sport, training and physical characteristics. If you ask the German Society for Nutrition (DGE) for an assessment of the topic, you end up with a position paper from 2019 that says:

“Whether a vegan diet increases the risk of nutrient deficiencies or is associated with health and/or performance-promoting or inhibiting effects cannot currently be assessed due to the low prevalence of vegan competitive athletes and insufficient studies.”

The DGE therefore finds that we do not yet know enough about it and therefore does not clearly speak out for or against vegan sports nutrition.

The ecotrophologist Uwe Schröder from the Institute for Sports Nutrition takes a similar view: “Whether veganism influences performance in sports – positively or negatively – has not (yet) been clarified from a purely scientific point of view. While some nutrition experts warn against a vegan diet in competitive sports, top athletes who live vegan prove that world-class performances are possible even without animal products.” But he also points out:

“Outstanding results of individual vegans are not proof of the superiority of veganism as a sports nutrition.”

Markus Keller, Head of the Research Institute for Plant-Based Nutrition (IFPE), also agrees with this assessment: In the few studies on the subject, “neither advantages nor disadvantages of a vegan (sports) diet were shown compared to a mixed diet, for example on performance and Regeneration.”

So while, according to experts, there is nothing wrong with eating vegan as an athlete, the increased performance that some athletes report has not yet been scientifically proven. But what are the arguments for or against vegan sports nutrition?

Benefits of vegan sports nutrition

Nutrition – whether vegan or not – is extremely important for all athletes: it influences physical and mental performance. With food we absorb energy from fats and carbohydrates, proteins and important micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. But many foods also contain ingredients that do us more harm than good – in particular (processed) animal products usually do worse than plant-based products. A vegan diet, on the other hand, has health benefits:

The high proportion of plant-based foods can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, elevated LDL cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, type II diabetes and some types of cancer.
A balanced vegan diet contains a high proportion of antioxidants, vitamins – especially vitamins C and E – and a variety of slowly available carbohydrates. These nutrients can provide performance benefits as they can support training, adaptation and recovery processes.
A vegan diet – especially among athletes – is often also associated with other health-promoting behaviors: Conscious nutrition, non-smoking, low alcohol consumption, higher physical activity.

Disadvantages of vegan sports nutrition

In addition to the advantages of plant-based sports nutrition, there is also a difficulty: “It can be disadvantageous that with a vegan diet in general and also in sports you have to pay more attention to the supply of potentially critical nutrients,” says Donalies. Due to the limited choice of food, vegan athletes have a higher risk of being undersupplied with certain nutrients. Nutrient deficiencies can impair performance and, in the worst case, even endanger your health.

Vegan athletes should therefore keep an eye on their supply of proteins, vitamins B12 and B1, B2 and B3, iron, zinc, calcium, iodine, selenium, vitamin D and the long-chain n-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.

Schröder from the Institute for Sports Nutrition also sees the increased risk of nutrient deficiencies. “Through targeted food selection and combinations, supported by appropriate food supplements, this task can also be easily solved by people who are physically active.”

Fluid intake

The following applies to all athletes: Sufficient drinking is important for health and performance – but the fluid requirement is individual and can vary greatly. Therefore: pay attention to your body.
Tip: Your sense of thirst and the color of your urine are helpful for orientation – if you have a balanced fluid balance, it should be light yellow. In the case of prolonged physical activity (more than 1.5 hours), it is also advisable to use carbohydrate and sodium-containing drinks.

Energy balance in vegan sports nutrition

If you do a lot of sport, you need a lot of energy. However, the individual energy requirement varies: It is influenced by the duration, intensity and phase of training, the type of sport, body size, body weight, body composition and age. That’s why there are no general recommendations – but you can calculate your individual energy requirements.

A negative energy balance can endanger health: in the long term it increases the risk of low bone density, in the medium term the immune system suffers. In addition, there can be a loss of muscle mass and a poorer adaptation to training stimuli. If you want to do sports in a healthy and efficient way, you should definitely ensure that you have an energy supply that is adapted to your own needs.

Vegan athletes in particular should keep an eye on their energy balance. Although plant-based foods have a high nutrient density, they also have a low energy density, and the high fiber content also causes saturation quickly. This can help with weight loss, but for performance-oriented athletes it can have a negative effect on the adaptation processes in everyday training.

Tip: Vegan athletes should make sure to eat small but high-energy meals more frequently during phases with high training loads: foods such as nuts, seeds and high-quality vegetable oils are good sources of energy for in between meals.

Proteins

Proteins are an important and controversial topic among athletes: the body needs proteins to build muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones, to regulate metabolic processes and for the endocrine system. An individually adapted protein intake can support the training process and make the body more efficient. However, that doesn’t mean that a lot of protein helps a lot. Rather, it also depends on the quality, the source and the amino acid composition.

In vegan sports nutrition, one of the nutrients they tend to be deficient in is protein. In addition, plant-based protein sources often lack important essential amino acids.

Tip: Vegan athletes should pay attention to the amount and quality of their protein intake: A combination of many different vegetable protein sources – different types of grain, legumes, nuts and seeds – increases the overall chance of achieving a high biological value. Good combinations are, for example, wholemeal bread with peanut butter or chickpea cream and oatmeal with almond milk. However, if the protein intake is not covered by food, vegan athletes can also use protein supplements made from soy, peas, rice or hemp.

Fats

Fats play a rather subordinate role in sports nutrition. Experts recommend that fat intake in athletes should be between 20 and 30 percent of total energy intake. Fat intake is usually slightly lower for vegans, but the same recommendation applies. It can be achieved, for example, by consuming high-quality oils, nuts, and seeds.

The problem, however, is the supply of the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA): They are mainly found in various types of fish and have a positive effect on the so-called heart rate variability and thus on performance in endurance sports. At the same time, vegans tend to consume too many pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids.

Tip: Vegan athletes should consciously avoid omega-6-rich oils such as sunflower and corn oil and increase the consumption of omega-3-rich foods such as flaxseed, walnuts and chia seeds. In addition, the supplementation of microalgae oil is recommended, it is rich in DHA and EPA and, unlike commercially available fish oil products, is vegan.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are important sources of energy in sports nutrition. The vegan diet usually contains a lot of high-quality carbohydrates, so that the requirement is well covered. In order to cover the high protein requirement at the same time, vegan athletes should eat legumes and grains every day.

However, you should be careful with the fiber content, as fiber supports the unwanted and long-lasting satiety. In addition, many vegetable carbohydrate suppliers contain substances such as lecithin, resistant starch and indigestible carbohydrates that can lead to gastrointestinal problems.

Tip: For a sufficient intake of carbohydrates, high-carbohydrate and low-fiber meals such as rice, pasta and buckwheat are a good choice. Fruit juices are a good source of liquid carbohydrates.

Minerals and vitamins

For all athletes, an adequate supply of minerals and vitamins is crucial for health and performance. Depending on the type of sport, the intensity and scope of the training, and depending on individual factors, the need and risk of nutrient deficiencies differs. There are some minerals and vitamins in a vegan diet that you should keep in mind:

The main source of vitamin B12 is animal products, so vegans should take vitamin B12 supplements to meet their needs. For athletes, vitamin B12 plays an important role in adaptation and regeneration processes, so it makes sense to have the vitamin B12 level checked and monitored regularly.
Athletes can have a higher need for vitamins B1, B2 and B3 due to the increased energy consumption. Good vegan sources include whole grains, legumes, nutritional yeast, mushrooms, kale, broccoli, or nuts.
Exercise can increase iron requirements. In addition, the supply of vegans with iron can be critical in principle. As a vegan athlete you should make sure you get enough legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains and vegetables such as spinach or beetroot – especially as a woman.

Vegans should generally pay attention to their intake of zinc. Athletes may have a higher need. Zinc is involved in protein metabolism, the development and maturation of cells and thus in regeneration. Foods containing zinc include whole grain products, oatmeal, lentils, oilseeds and nuts.
The supply of calcium is on average worse for vegans – which can be particularly problematic for physically active children and adolescents. They have a higher calcium requirement due to growth and at the same time lose calcium through sweat. Vegan sources of calcium include vegetables such as broccoli and kale, nuts, legumes, tofu, and mineral water.
Iodine is involved in the regulation of the entire energy metabolism and is therefore important for athletes. At the same time, iodine is essential for the thyroid gland. However, both too much and too little iodine intake have a negative effect on the thyroid gland. It is therefore important to ensure a balanced iodine balance. Vegans can absorb iodine through iodized salt.
Selenium is important for the immune system and muscle function. It is found in cabbages, onion vegetables, mushrooms, asparagus and legumes.
Like many people, vegan athletes are often not sufficiently supplied with vitamin D. Therefore, supplementing with vitamin D can be useful – but only on medical advice. As a vegan, you should make sure that you choose a vegan dietary supplement.

Conclusion: Vegan diet and sport – an individual decision

There are competitive athletes who are very successful with a vegan diet. However, one cannot assume a general performance advantage (or disadvantage) through the vegan diet. There is not enough scientific research to make a conclusive assessment. A high proportion of plant-based foods is clearly an advantage of vegan (sports) nutrition due to the high nutrient content and a reduction in the risk of certain diseases. At the same time, the vegan diet increases the risk of nutrient deficiencies.

For this reason, the question of whether a vegan diet is suitable for you as an athlete can only be answered individually. As a vegan athlete, you should definitely inform yourself sufficiently and plan your diet well – if you are unsure, you should seek qualified advice.

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Low Purine Foods: Gout Diet List

Low-purine foods should be on your shopping list if you have gout. This list shows you that you can still eat varied and diverse.

Why low-purine foods are the right choice for gout

Change your diet and reduce the purines in meals: This is what your doctor recommends if you suffer from gout.

Gout is a metabolic disease in which the kidneys have trouble getting rid of uric acid in the body. Uric acid is left over from metabolism when your body breaks down purines.
Purines are the building blocks of genetic information in cells. This means that purine is basically contained in every cell – and also in almost all foods. However, it occurs in different amounts and has different compositions.
Gout patients can easily tolerate up to 200 milligrams of purines per day in their meals. However, the exact amount you can tolerate depends on several factors. For example, your height and weight matter. Get medical advice on this.

With the help of tables and online calculators, you can check how much purine is in your meals and how much uric acid it produces. The German Gout League, for example, provides a calculator online.

But you don’t have to calculate that much in the long run as soon as your uric acid level has normalized again. Nutritionists recommend a normal, varied and balanced diet with low-purine foods for gout.

Vegetables, fruits and vegetable oils contain little purine. A wholesome diet for gout therefore relies particularly on these products to reduce uric acid.
On the other hand, there is a lot of purine in meat, fatty sausages or alcohol – especially in beer. These foods can cause a gout attack.
You should also avoid ready meals and sugary foods. According to the Apotheken-Umschau, industrial fructose syrup in particular, such as isoglucose, is not compatible with gout.

Lower uric acid through diet: Milk is purine-free

Milk and milk products contain almost no purines. So here you can access gout to your heart’s content. Basically, the less fat a dairy product contains, the lower its purine content and the more suitable it is for lowering uric acid.

Low-purine foods based on milk include:

Low-fat milk or kefir
plain yoghurt or skyr
Quark or cream cheese – you can mix a purine-free spread or salad dressing with fresh herbs such as parsley or chives, for example.
Feta cheese, cottage cheese, or mozzarella. It is best to use mozzarella made from cow’s milk. The animals on the farms often have to suffer for the buffalo mozzarella, which is traded as a delicacy.
Sliced cheese, such as Edam or mountain cheese.
Eggs – choose organic eggs from species-appropriate animal husbandry that also keeps the male chicks alive.

Low-purine foods: These types of vegetables belong on the menu

Some vegetables contain more purines than others. Legumes such as beans, lentils or soybeans are considered critical, as are asparagus and spinach.

Doctors no longer generally eliminate these healthy vegetables from their diet in the case of gout. They recommend adding vegetables with higher purine content to your diet as soon as you no longer need to lower your blood uric acid levels any further.

For example, these types of vegetables are among the particularly low-purine foods:

Salads – salads with bitter substances such as rocket or dandelion are well suited. Tip: Both are also ideal as a basis for pesto.
Kohlrabi
cucumber
carrots or parsnips
Paprika supports the healing process with the inflamed limbs through the vitamin C.
Tomatoes – not all have to be red and round. Many old tomato varieties offer variety, both for the look on your plate and for the taste.
pumpkin
You can plant many of these vegetables yourself in the garden or on the balcony. So you always have low-purine foods on hand.

Low-purine foods: fruit always works

Fresh fruit is also usually one of the low-purine foods. You can enjoy it every day as a dessert or as a snack in between.

There is a small restriction for fruits that are naturally very sweet, such as pears, honeydew melons, sweet cherries or persimmons. Dried fruit is also less suitable because it contains a lot of concentrated sugar. The Apotheken-Umschau reports that fructose can impair kidney function. Therefore, artificially sweetened foods are critical in gout.

However, most fruits are low-purine foods. For example, you can access:

Apples – the local fruit is rich in vitamins and contains hardly any purines. Try out different regional varieties and let yourself be surprised by the taste.
Berries – Strawberries, currants, blueberries, blueberries, gooseberries or aronia berries contain many vitamins. Vitamin C in particular supports the healing process after a gout attack.
Plums – the slightly sour varieties such as the local plums are particularly suitable.
peaches or apricots
Important: Always buy your fruit and vegetables fresh, avoid canned goods and, if possible, frozen goods. It is ideal if you stock up locally with freshly harvested organic fruit and vegetables. In this way you avoid chemical-synthetic pesticides and contribute to climate protection because your food does not have to be transported long distances.

Low-purine foods: There are exceptions for meat and fish

Meat, poultry, fish or crustaceans – all of these have a high purine content. The value rises even higher when additional fat, skin or innards are added. For example, a fried chicken with crispy skin contains more purines than a lean breast fillet.

According to the recommendation of the Society for Nutrition (DGE), even healthy people should not eat more than one meat meal (300 grams) per week.

But there are exceptions. According to NDR, the following types of meat products are among the rather low-purine foods:

lean poultry – important: always prepare without the skin.
lean beef or venison.
Basically, a diet without a lot of meat is healthier. But: Beware of meat substitutes! Pay attention to the ingredients, because tofu also contains a lot of purine. It consists of soybeans, which in turn are among the purine-rich legumes.

Fish: The same applies here – skinless fish has fewer purines and is therefore better tolerated. In addition, fish fats are good for your health: Unlike fatty acids in meat, fish contains omega-3 fatty acids that can inhibit inflammation.

But: eel, halibut, carp, plaice, sole, herring, mackerel or salmon are good for your health – but fishing is often at the expense of the environment. Many of these fish species are already overfished. Endangered fish species are often caught by the fishermen. Therefore, pay attention to species-appropriate fishing or buy fish from sustainably managed organic aqua farms. The Greenpeace fish guide tells you what you as a consumer can do to protect the oceans.
Also pay attention to high-quality organic crayfish, shrimp, crabs and mussels.

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What’s The Deal with the Paleo Diet?

The Paleo diet (or Paleo nutrition) has attracted more and more interest in recent years, not only in the USA but also here. Athletes, stars, and even doctors swear by the so-called “Stone Age diet” for a slim and healthy life. We took a closer look at what is actually behind the Paleo nutrition trend.

How does the paleo diet work?

To put it simply, the Paleo diet is the so-called Stone Age diet. So the species-appropriate nutrition for humans. Basically, it consists of high-quality meat and fish, nuts, seeds, and vegetables. The Paleo diet is modeled after the eating habits of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. It’s not about imitating life in the Stone Age. Rather, advocates of the Paleo diet assume that with this principle you are eating exactly what human beings have been prepared for by hundreds of thousands of years of evolution. Accordingly, the Paleo diet aims to become particularly slim, powerful, and healthier.

Criticisms of the Paleo Diet

One weakness of Paleo is the genetic changes that humans have undergone since the Stone Age. In addition, the sometimes quite high meat consumption in the context of the Paleo diet is viewed critically.

The basic rules of the Paleo diet

Give up sugar

With Paleo, you should avoid sugar as much as possible. Sugar is often “hidden” in finished products and beverages in particular.

Avoid grain

In addition, white flour products should be avoided. Rice and corn should also not be on the menu, as they contain a lot of carbohydrates.

Leave out finished products

Finished products, such as packet soups, should not be eaten on the Paleo diet. Because they often contain flavor enhancers and other additives.

No dairy products

After a short familiarization phase, you can then take the next step. And this consists of avoiding milk and milk products, such as yogurt and cheese.

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Freeganism: This is Behind the Vegan Diet

There are many different diets, and freeganism is one of them. You can find out what this rather new type of diet is all about here.

There is no official definition of freeganism, but the different definitions are all pretty similar. Below you will learn more about what freeganism is, the motivation behind it and whether it is legal.

This is freeganism

Freeganism isn’t just a diet, it’s a lifestyle. The origins of it can be found in New York. The name is made up of the English word “free”, which means “free” or “free of charge”, and the word vegan. Translated, it means something like eating vegan food for free or living vegan.

But that is not the main idea of ​​freeganism. People who eat or live freegan usually do so out of a political stance, because they don’t want to be part of the throwaway, affluent capitalist society. They are thus trying to denounce capitalism, the exploitation of humans and animals, overconsumption and food waste.

That’s how you live freegan

So freegans feed themselves exclusively on free food that is no longer normally sold in the supermarket. To achieve this, many freegans go “containers”. However, this is forbidden in Germany – if you are caught, you can be reported for trespassing and theft. But there are also legal alternatives that you can use to eat freegan:

On the one hand, you can use the Foodsharing platform, whose goal is to save overproduced and leftover food.
You could also check with local supermarkets to see if you can have expired or discarded groceries. Maybe one or the other grocery store in your area is already a member of the “Too good to go” app.
If you decide not only to eat freegan, but to live freeganism holistically, the following tips will help:

Use platforms like Ebay classifieds for free clothes and other free things.
Attend clothing swap parties.
Ask family, acquaintances and friends for things that they no longer need or can lend you.

What you should consider if you want to become a freegan

If you want to try freeganism for yourself, here are a few things to think about beforehand:

Consider whether you want to go to containers or whether you would rather use legal alternatives. You can find out more about this here: Instead of containers: 4 ways you can legally save food.
You should also consider in which areas of your life you would like to become freegan. Do you only start with nutrition or do you want to pay attention to your clothing and other everyday items?
Realize this: you never know what groceries and other things you will find or get. So be flexible and consider whether you have options for preserving or preserving food in different ways. More information can be found here: Preserving food: 3 simple methods.
The foods you get can affect how balanced your diet is. It may mean that you need to buy additional foods to ensure a balanced diet.
From the last two points mentioned, what is perhaps the most important: Before you become a freeganer:in, you should think about how you can eat a basically balanced vegan diet and what you should consider and possibly supplement. Vitamin B12 is recommended for vegans, for example as a dietary supplement.

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Flexiganer: Why You Should Try the Diet

Flexigans eat vegan, but not always. From time to time they also reach for animal products. We will explain the advantages of the diet and what you should pay attention to.

Flexigans mainly eat vegan food, but occasionally also eat animal products. The term is made up of the words “flexible” and “veganer:in”. With this diet, you can decide for yourself how often or rarely you consume animal products. Because as a Flexigan:in you don’t do without all animal products directly, the changeover is easier compared to a purely vegan diet.

This is what a flexible diet can look like

The flexible diet is individual and can look different for every person. So you can decide for yourself how often you eat animal products and which ones.

For example, you can only eat vegan during the week and only vegetarian at the weekend.
Or you only eat vegetarian on special occasions, for example in a restaurant, on birthdays or other celebrations.
Vegan alternatives to minced meat, schnitzel or sausage are available in many supermarkets, but also in online shops such as Vantastic Foods**. In addition to vegetables and carbohydrates, you also have a protein-rich component on your plate. However, some vegan substitute products contain many additives. On the other hand, they make it easier to get started with a plant-based diet.
Try the variety of plant-based alternatives for milk and yoghurt. Soy, almond or oat milk are good alternatives for the milk in muesli or coffee.
This is how you become a Flexigan:in
There is no exact diet plan that you can follow. But there are many ideas and tips that can help you if

You want to become a Flexigan

Set goals. Plan how often you want to eat animal products each week. In the beginning it can still be several days. If this works well, you can reduce the vegetarian days.
If you buy animal products, look for organic quality. Organic animal husbandry is more environmentally friendly than conventional animal husbandry. In addition, the organic seal also stands for more animal welfare.
Get inspired. There are many recipes for vegan alternatives and reports from vegans on the internet.

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Soup Diet: All the Pros and Cons

With a soup diet you can eat healthily and sustainably and relieve your digestive system. However, in the form of a crash diet, it can also be problematic. Here you can find out more about the advantages and disadvantages.

Many magazines and journals praise a soup diet primarily as a weight loss diet. So you should “spoon yourself slim” when you have “sinned” again. However, such an attitude can quickly lead to us starving for days and working exclusively towards an ideal weight. Whether the diet is healthy and sustainable often plays a subordinate role.

This not only promotes a nutrient deficiency and promotes the yo-yo effect after the diet, but possibly also a negative self-image. Therefore, focus more on eating healthily as part of the soup diet and doing something good for your body. If you want to lose weight, you should continue to take care of your mental health and avoid constant hunger pangs.

Soup Diet: General Advice

In order to make a soup diet not only healthy and filling, but also ecologically sensible, you can consider the following tips:

Incorporate as many different types of vegetables into your diet as possible. When making your selection, you should base your selection on what is available seasonally. In autumn and winter, for example, pumpkin, potatoes, parsnips, kale and leeks are ideal. In the warm months you can fall back on tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and broccoli. You can find more information about this in our season calendar.
To save time, you can prepare a large amount of soup at once. You can also freeze them in portions and thaw them as needed. Then you will soon always have different types of soup in stock and make sure that your menu is varied enough. Tip: You can freeze your soups plastic-free in a number of ways, for example by freezing them in jars.
If you want to relieve your intestines for some time, you should cook the vegetables sufficiently and puree the soup well.
In order not to lose the joy of eating, you can spice up your soups with spices, herbs, oils and (vegetable) cream. You can also add lentils and beans before pureeing. They ensure a creamy consistency and provide you with vegetable protein.
If you are more hungry, you can also add some cooked rice to the soup.
Do you sometimes feel like something sweet? This is also not a problem with a soup diet. You can make a warm breakfast soup from oatmeal, steamed fruit, plant drink and nut butter.
If you make sure you get enough calories and nutrients, you can follow a soup diet for up to two weeks. After that, you should slowly reintroduce your digestive system to solid food. To relieve your body even more, you can also do without alcohol, nicotine and sweets during the soup fast.

Soup Diet: These are the benefits

Done properly, a soup diet can provide numerous benefits:

So you eat a lot of vegetables (and possibly also cooked fruit) during this time and thus provide yourself with many micronutrients.
If you pay attention to regional foods, this diet is also climate-friendly. After all, you save a lot of CO2 emissions. If you use organic goods, you also avoid chemical-synthetic pesticides.
In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we often don’t chew long enough, so our intestines have to struggle with larger pieces of food. This can lead to flatulence and a feeling of fullness. With a soup diet, you can give your digestive system a break for a while.
Especially in the cold season you can warm up with the warm soups at every meal.
You may also try lots of new healthy soup recipes. This way you avoid ready meals and can use the cooking time as valuable me-time.
Ideally, you will be motivated to continue eating healthily and sustainably even after the soup diet.

You should pay attention to these disadvantages

Depending on how you design it, a soup diet can also have disadvantages:

If you only make soups from low-calorie vegetables, you will hardly get full. Therefore, make sure to include filling ingredients (such as potatoes, pumpkin, legumes or rice) and also enough fat (e.g. in the form of high-quality vegetable oils or (vegan) cream).
There is a high risk that after a few days on the soup diet you will quickly become bored and feel like eating solid food. You can then either take a short break or make sure to make the soups more interesting in terms of taste.
Maybe you get the impression that you don’t have to drink as much anymore. After all, you only eat liquid food all day long. Nevertheless, you should continue to drink at least one and a half to two liters of liquid per day. It is best to use (still) water or unsweetened tea.
As with many forms of dieting, a decisive disadvantage of a soup diet is that you can no longer easily go out to eat with friends. After all, you want to go through with your soup cure. Therefore, you should not practice this diet for too long. Alternatively, you can treat yourself to an exception or order a soup in the restaurant.

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Lose Weight with Cinnamon: That’s What the Cinnamon Diet is All About

Lose weight with cinnamon? That’s not so far-fetched, because there are many health-promoting substances in the Christmas spice. But there are also a few things to consider. Learn more about the cinnamon diet here.

When it comes to cinnamon, few people immediately think of losing weight, but rather of Christmas cookies. Cinnamon also gives curries, homemade spice mixtures or chai lattes a special taste. The spice is made from the bark of the cinnamon tree, which belongs to the laurel family. Only two types of cinnamon are important here in Germany: Cassia cinnamon and Ceylon cinnamon. You can find more information about the types of cinnamon here: Cinnamon: effects, ingredients and differences between the types.

Cinnamon is not only a delicious spice, but is also considered a medicinal plant. It contains many phytochemicals, can help to regulate blood sugar levels and is even said to be able to prevent cancer. Due to its ingredients, cinnamon can also help with weight loss.

How does cinnamon help you lose weight?

The cinnamon diet is touted in many lifestyle magazines. And not without good reason: In fact, there is evidence that cinnamon can help you lose weight – due to its ingredients and in connection with a balanced, healthy diet.

Cinnamon has been shown to help lower blood sugar levels. Several studies have demonstrated this effect. Taking cinnamon lowers insulin levels and instead of breaking down sugar in the blood, it breaks down body fat.
Another study suggests that ingesting cinnamon causes the stomach to empty more slowly. As a result, the feeling of fullness lasts longer after meals and you eat less.
Cinnamon is considered a warming spice. The heat development in the body consumes additional energy and accordingly cinnamon could help with weight loss.

What you should consider with the cinnamon diet

Even small amounts of cinnamon (about one gram per day) are enough to maintain the health-promoting effects. The Federal Center for Nutrition (BZfE) recommends taking a maximum of two grams of cinnamon per day, as the spice contains a lot of the natural flavoring substance coumarin:

The lower-quality, cheaper cassia cinnamon in particular contains a lot of coumarin.
Some people are very sensitive to taking coumarin. Coumarin is also suspected of causing liver damage. The Federal Center for Risk Assessment (BfR) has therefore set a maximum amount of two grams of (cassia) cinnamon per day for adults (with a body weight of around 60 kilos). However, this is a guideline for daily, continuous intake.
If you do not consume cinnamon regularly, according to the BfR, it should be harmless to your health to exceed the amount of two grams. The common household cinnamon is also classified as generally harmless.
If you consume cinnamon regularly (e.g. with the cinnamon diet), the BfZE recommends buying higher-quality Ceylon cinnamon, as it has a lower coumarin content.
Pregnant women in particular are advised not to take too much cinnamon.
If you want to lose weight with cinnamon, we therefore recommend that you use Ceylon cinnamon – and not overdo it with the amounts of the spice.

Lose weight with cinnamon – that’s how it works

The most important thing first: If you want to lose weight with cinnamon, you should only do so in combination with a balanced and healthy diet. You can use the 10 rules for a balanced diet as a guide. In addition, sufficient exercise and sport is just as important.

For the cinnamon diet, you only need to include the spice in your daily menu. Half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day is enough. Since the spice goes with many dishes and drinks, it is not difficult:

You can mix cinnamon, water, and honey to make a drink that aids in digestion and helps burn fat.
Cinnamon is also a great addition to your morning coffee. By the way: There are also great regional alternatives to coffee.
Whether porridge, fruit salad or smoothie: Most sweet dishes taste great with a pinch of cinnamon. Of course, the spice also goes well with cakes and biscuits.
Cinnamon also goes well with hearty dishes such as a delicious pumpkin curry.
By the way: We at Utopia advise you to question diets. Do you want to lose weight in order to conform to a certain socially propagated ideal of beauty? Then think again. It is important that you feel comfortable in your body.

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Low-carb Diet: How Does It Work, Is It Useful for Losing Weight?

Every year, from New Year’s Day to Easter, you hear new and old suggestions on how best to implement the good intention of “finally losing weight” – the low-carb diet is a classic. Right?

To put it simply, the low-carb diet is about consuming fewer carbohydrates, as these are considered “fatty foods”. Instead, protein meals are supposed to make the body believe it is hungry and force it to burn fat.

Depending on the low-carb nutrition plan, one to all meals a day should be prepared with as few carbohydrates as possible. As a result, the pounds should tumble. That doesn’t happen, because no diet can do it quickly and easily. Losing weight with low carb is very possible – but only if you change your diet in the long term and don’t shy away from more sport and exercise.

Everyone can get in – something with these 5 low-carb recipes that focus on protein. In the supermarket there is also a growing number of industrial foods and cookbooks, from low-carb bread to low-carb pasta and low-carb pizza, everything is there. Because you can make money with diets and corresponding products.

But is all this really necessary? So we took a closer look at the nutrition trend.

Low-carb diet: only for healthy people

Basically, all metabolic processes and quantity recommendations in this article refer to healthy people. For example, someone who already suffers from type II diabetes due to being overweight has a different metabolism and therefore needs different nutritional recommendations.

Low Carb: Diet without carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are basically a very good source of energy, which benefits our muscles and brain. If you eat the right carbohydrates in the right amount, you won’t get fat. Carbohydrates can keep you full for a long time and ensure, among other things, that the body forms the so-called happiness hormone serotonin.

If you always eat enough carbohydrates, you will also do something good for your soul: you will become more resistant to stress, keep your mood and have a lower risk of developing depression. Because: Perhaps you have already noticed that many people are in a bad mood during a diet and when losing weight, are more easily stressed and do not seem happy.

There are two different types of carbohydrates:

complex carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, grain products, muesli …), i.e. starch products, and
simple carbs (fruit, candy, cookies…), meaning things with sugar
The body converts both types of carbohydrates into glucose, but at different rates. Complex carbohydrates are absorbed into the blood more slowly in the form of glucose than simple carbohydrates. Prerequisite for a long-term low-carb diet: at least one meal per day contains complex carbohydrates.

It’s not like complex carbohydrates are any better for losing weight. But the simple carbohydrates definitely carry the risk of weight gain.

Eating carbohydrates raises blood sugar levels, which leads to insulin release. Insulin is a metabolic hormone that ensures that the glucose from the meal is also transported into the cells and stored as glycogen. As long as this process is going on, the body can’t get to its fat deposits, and therefore your love handles can’t get to the collar either.

The consumption of carbohydrates is therefore unproblematic as long as you allow the body time between meals to burn up the nutrients transported into the cells. During this time, for example, you should not eat any more carbohydrates and also refrain from anything else that would raise the insulin level again, such as consuming high-calorie drinks or snacks.

Carbohydrates in themselves are neither unhealthy nor bad, but an important nutrient for muscles, brain and psyche! The clever low-carb diet is less about losing weight and more about not gaining weight through the wrong carbohydrates thanks to a sensible change in diet.

Is protein better than carbs for weight loss?

Of course, you also need protein, and every balanced meal includes a source of protein. Also read: Vegetable protein: These foods provide a lot of protein. The protein is broken down into amino acids in the body, which do not increase the blood sugar level and therefore do not initially lead to insulin release.

However, a few of these amino acids cause the body to start producing glycogen itself. What is intended as an “emergency program” in order to still have energy in times of hunger no longer makes sense in modern everyday life, but it nevertheless leads to an increase in blood sugar levels and thus to a release of insulin. However, this only happens after about six to eight hours.

A meal that contains no carbohydrates and consists only of protein only leads to an interruption in fat burning after many hours due to the delayed release of insulin. If you avoid carbohydrates, you can give your body at least six hours more time to burn fat. That’s why the low-carb diet is so often recommended for weight loss.

Does the low carb diet really work?

First of all: No “diet” works in the long term – unless you also follow this diet in the long term. A change in eating habits is therefore better than a short-term diet. And they can very well include aspects of a low-carb diet.

Ideally, with a low-carb diet, one or two of the three meals a day are prepared according to low-carb. If possible, such a meal contains a lot of protein, no carbohydrates and only a little high-quality vegetable fat in order to avoid an increase in insulin levels and the associated interruption in fat burning.

However, it is important not to eat or drink anything between meals, which increases the blood sugar level and thus leads to the release of insulin. Snacks, fruit, coffee with milk and other solid or liquid carbohydrates between meals are completely taboo.

The low-carb diet allows snacks, but these are generally not recommended because they train the wrong eating habits with snacks between meals.

Because protein also leads to a (delayed) insulin release, it makes sense to fill the time of this insulin release with a carbohydrate-rich meal in order to make at least a minimum of it available to the muscles, brain and psyche. A balanced, mixed-food meal with at least 50 percent complex carbohydrates (preferably whole grain) is advisable here.

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Egg Diet: Why You Shouldn’t Do It

The egg diet is designed to help you lose weight quickly without feeling hungry. In this article, we will show you the snags of this type of diet and how you can eat a more balanced diet.

Egg Diet Principles

The egg diet falls under the low-carb diet. About five eggs a day and low-carb vegetables are recommended. Of course, the egg diet can be modified and designed individually. For example, it is also possible to integrate low-fat pieces of fish and meat or low-carbohydrate types of fruit into the egg diet. Basically excluded from the egg diet are:

butter
margarine
oils
milk and milkproducts

As a protein-rich food, eggs are the focus of this diet. The idea behind it is that the proteins should increase your feeling of satiety and you have to eat less overall. Usually (and especially when food choices are restricted), the egg diet is only done for a short period of about two weeks. Its purpose is to help you lose as much weight as possible in the shortest amount of time.

If you’re thinking about going on this type of diet, choose organic eggs. This supports a species-appropriate husbandry of chickens. You can also be careful to buy eggs from vendors that don’t shred chicks.

Risks and evaluation of the egg diet

How one-sided and harmful the egg diet is ultimately depends on how many other foods you integrate and the quality of the selected foods. The eggs themselves are a good source of high quality protein, vitamins and minerals. The relatively high amount of cholesterol in eggs has long been a matter of controversy. For healthy people, no negative influences seem to be proven for the time being. Therefore, the German Society for Nutrition cannot set any binding maximum amounts for the consumption of eggs. However, she recommends no more than three eggs per week.

While eggs are not unhealthy per se, the egg diet does exclude a great many foods. In the course of the diet, it can happen that you do not take in enough vitamins and minerals. Therefore, the egg diet is generally not suitable for a long-term and balanced diet.

That doesn’t mean you should cut eggs out of your diet entirely — quite the opposite. Eggs can be part of a balanced diet. However, the egg diet is less about the idea of ​​eating healthy and more about losing weight fast. This in turn also includes the risk that you can quickly regain weight afterwards due to the yo-yo effect. If you want to reduce and stabilize your weight in the long term, a crash diet like the egg diet is not suitable.

This is how a long-term balanced diet succeeds

It is therefore better to find a balanced diet as part of a healthy lifestyle that you can easily maintain over a long period of time. Not only what you eat is important for your health, but also how active you are, how well you sleep and how well you feel in general. Basically, diets that focus on a single food make little sense. The quality of your diet quickly suffers and you lose sight of the health-promoting potential of other foods and their ingredients.

In another Utopia article, we show you which 10 rules for everyday life can support a balanced diet. You should also make it clear to yourself that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all healthy diet. Find out for yourself which foods and food combinations are good for you and which are not. In addition to health effects, other aspects can also play a role, such as sustainability and ethics. In this way you can build up your nutritional principles over time – although it pays to always remain open to new knowledge.

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