Weight gain while vacation traveling

As I mentioned in a tweet few days ago, there was a survey conducted by FLY THOMAS COOK to determine which destination is worst for your waistline. The new released survey result was really interesting especially the reasons that contribute to weight gain during your travel. Hereby I share two info-graphics of the results and I hope you will find your reason of returning home with extra weight instead of extra luggage and how to avoid it.

You can't expect yourself to eat more than 3 or 4 meals a day during your trip, in fact, you shouldn't. I am not a traveler to Europe or middle eat countries, so I can't exactly point out the reasons that contribute to weight gain or loss during the trip to any selected country (that is probably why I'm so attracted to this survey, good research on the factors). 

However, I would like to give some comments on the second info-graphics about the reasons of weight gain or loss. In my opinion, the type of travel could be a strong factor that affect weight as well. For example, if traveler prefer a backpacker vacation which involves a lot of adventure of outdoor activities such as juggle trekking, walking, hiking or snorkeling that can use up a lot energy, then it might lead to weight loss (more exercise and hot weather country for outdoor activities). On the other way, if traveler is following a trip or on behalf company for a meeting/conferences, then he/she might spend most of the time relaxing, hanging around with friends (lots of alcohol drinks or sugary drinks), chatting, discussion and less physical activity but on the same time consume same amount of foods that can lead to high energy consumption rather than energy expenditure, it will cause weight gain. For example, if a person practice a balance diet with around 2000Kcal per day and has a routine exercise, a vacation with low activity level or no exercise but consuming same amount of 2000Kcal diet in a day also can lead to weight gain problem (trying new food, less exercise).

As mention above, alcohol does contain energy that lead to weight gain problem. 1g alcohol supply equals to 7Kcal.  Generally, 12 oz of beer, 5 oz of wine and 1.5 oz of liquor (vodka, whiskey) contain ½ oz pure alcohol that considered as one drink. Hence, one drink can supply you around 105Kcal. The maximum allowance for male in a day is up to two drinks while one drink for female in a day. Beware that an uncontrollable trip with high alcohol consumption can lead to liver problem such as fatty liver, cardiovascular disease, diabetis mellitus or hypertension as well. 

At last, I would like to stress on few interesting points from the survey:

a) Destination recommended for weight gain: Cyrus, Turkey, Portugal, United State. (As I know, Cyrus is a mix culture country with wide variety of Europe, Turkish and  Greek dishes. Well, if I'm the visitor, I will tend to try different kind of foods and cheap too)

b) Three countries recommended to lose weight: Germany, Canada, Ireland (The higher volume of exercise leads to support the statement as mentioned in the full report)

c) Nearly three out of four women and two out of five men said alcohol consumption led

to their weight gain.

I hope you all have your find it useful and feel free to leave your comments. I will update this post again with more interesting fact from the survey. Have a nice day!

Diet for Pregnancy (Part 4)

There are more common health problems during pregnancy such as nausea and vomiting. It is common but tends to reduce risk of miscarriage. The cause may relate with increased level of human chorionic gonadotropin, progesterone, estragon. Normally, it occurs during the beginning of fourth week but will start disappear on 10th week. However, frequent vomiting can lead to dehydration, electrolyte imbalance or weight loss as the loss of appetite towards food intake. Thus, you should try separating the liquid and solid food intake, select well tolerated food such as hard-boiled eggs, popcorn, yogurt, crackers and noodles or porridge. It is advised to ingest small meal frequently, do not get bed with full stomach, and avoid foods heartburn (spicy, high fat, beans, citrus, peppermint, coffee). Besides, avoid any artificial sweeteners, alcohol, recreational drugs, and cigarettes with the potential of harming your soon to be conceived baby.

在怀孕期间也有一些常见的健康问题：

恶心和呕吐是常见的，可是能帮助减少流产几率。引发这现象的原因是激素，孕酮，雌激素水平增加有关。呕吐通常都发生在第四个星期开始至第十个星期，严重可导致脱水，电解质紊乱。因此，把固体与液体状食物分开饮食，避免触发恶心气味的食物，选择易消化食物如水煮鸡蛋，酸奶，饼干，面食类等食物。

胃灼热归因于胃肠道肌肉松弛的孕激素，降低食管括约肌放松，使胃内容物推入食道。因此，是建议少量多餐（5到6餐）经常摄取小餐，不要吃的饱饱就睡觉（容易倒流），避免饮食会造成胃灼热的食物，这包括辛辣，高脂肪，豆类，柑橘，薄荷，咖啡等。此外，在怀孕期间也建议避免摄取任何人工甜味剂，酗酒，嗑药，和香烟都可能伤害你的婴儿。

Human milk feeding is adequate as the sole source of nutrition for up to age 6 months providing that the maternal diet and reserves are adequate plus a sufficient quantity is transferred to the infant. The recommended energy intake during the first 6 months of lactation is an additional 500 kcal with extra 20g protein which means a total of 2300 Kcal under the assumption that 170 kcal/d will be mobilized from energy stores accumulated in pregnancy. The recommended energy intake after 6 months is reduced to an additional 400 kcal/d with extra 15g protein which is 2000-2200Kcal because milk production rates decrease to 600 mL/d. However, this energy calculation needs to be calculated based on different weight. Normal weight can be calculated according to the above energy recommendation while overweight or obese person should maintain a 1600-1800 Kcal for further weight gain prevention and able to lose weight effectively. Of course, protein is needed to maintain adequately for the quality of milk production and calcium intake.

哺乳期间的营养需要比起怀孕时的营养更为重要。婴儿从出生到大概六个月时，体重可达到出生体重的一倍，这全依赖于母乳的营养。所以，这六个月母亲所摄取的营养是非常重要的，必须确保饮食营养是充足让婴儿吸收，因为婴儿只依靠母乳得到营养。因此，建议在哺乳期的前6个月摄入额外的20克蛋白质，增加500卡路里，这意味着每天摄取将在2300卡路里。 6个月后推荐的能量摄入将减少，只需要额外15克蛋白，这是2000-2200Kcal。因为牛奶产量率会减少到600毫升/天。然而，这种能量的计算还需要根据不同重量计算。正常体重可以根据上述能源的建议，而超重或肥胖应保持1600至1800年为预防体重增加，同时有效地进行减肥。 当然充分的蛋白质是必要的，尤其从牛奶方面因含钙量也很重要。

At present, our information about the role of dietary supplementation in lactation is limited. A balance diet during lactation is important rather than then supplements. A supplement of vitamin D (10 g/d) is recommended for women who avoid milk and other foods fortified with vitamin D. Similarly, a supplement of vitamin B-12 (2.6 g/d) is recommended for lactating women who are complete vegetarians.

就如上述所说，产妇的营养可以影响母乳的品质。目前，我们对在哺乳期的膳食补充剂的资料是有限的。哺乳期间的饮食平衡才是最重要的，而不是依赖补充剂。补充维生素D（10克/天）是建议给不喝牛奶和其他乳制品的产妇。同样的，素食产妇也可以摄取维生素补充维生素B-12（2.6克/天）。

Diet for Pregnancy (Part 3)

Hi all, wish you having a good health during this summer. I'm going to wrap up pregnancy topic this few days as I have prepared it long while ago. I am in the midst preparing new topic as well. Hope any women who "soon to be mummy" can still get some tips through this post.

For brain intellectual, learning ability and fetal vision development, as we know, omega-3 fatty acids included DHA and EPA seems to play an important part for it. Omega-3s have been found to be essential for both neurological and early visual development of the baby. Omega-3s are also used after birth to make breast milk. Research has confirmed that adding EPA and DHA to the diet of pregnant women has a positive effect on visual and cognitive development of the baby. Studies have also shown that higher consumption of omega-3s may reduce the risk of allergies in infants. Hence, it is advisable for pregnant women to gain good sources of omega 3 fatty acids - mostly comes from deep sea colded fish. For example, salmon, tuna and mackeral, sardines, anchovies, and herring. Thus, we do encourage pregnant mother should take at least one meal in daily life with the portion size can be around 60-90g boneless part or up to 120g include bone. Adequate portion size can ensure we get sufficient omega-3 as well as protein intake. If you already take adequate portion size of omega 3 from diet, it is not necessary to take fish oil supplements. However, if you go for a try, choose a high quality fish oil supplement from a reputable manufacturer that delivers the health benefits of EPA and DHA without the risk of toxicity.The normal range for omega 3 fatty acid for pregnancy women is 300 mg DHA daily.


我们知道，ω-3脂肪酸DHA和EPA，对大脑智力，学习能力和胎儿的视觉发展是非常重要的。ω-3脂肪酸被认为是对婴儿的视觉神经和早期发展重要的。 ω-3脂肪酸也对母乳非常重要。研究已经证实，添加EPA和DHA对孕妇的饮食和宝宝的视觉和认知发展产生积极作用。研究还表明较高的食用ω-3脂肪酸(EPA和DHA的摄入量)可降低婴儿过敏症的风险，降低先兆子痫的风险，并可能增加出生体重。 ω-3缺乏，也增加了母亲的抑郁症的风险。良好的ω-3脂肪酸来源大多来自深海鱼。例如，鲑鱼，金枪鱼和鲭。因此，我们鼓励孕妇应至少一天里应吃至少一餐。一餐鱼的份量大概食用60至90克的去骨部分或到120克包括骨。当我们从我们的天然食品获得充足ω-3脂肪酸，实际上是没有必要再摄取ω-3脂肪酸补充剂。不过，如果你去尝试，要选择高品质的鱼和有信誉的生产厂家购买。儿童和孕妇应避免吃那些潜在的汞污染的最高级别（如鲨鱼，旗鱼，鲭鱼或方头鱼）鱼，较低的汞的鱼包括罐装淡金枪鱼，鲑鱼，鳕鱼，鲶鱼。

For pregnant women who is a coffee/tea lover, Caffeine can lead to less healthy life for pregnant mother. Caffeine can increase heart rate, diuretic (loss fluid) and stimulate central nervous system. Caffeine can pass from maternal to fetal blood that relates to miscarriage problem. If you really like coffee/tea, try control your intake to <4 cups/day.


咖啡因可以被发现在咖啡，茶或一些碳酸饮料，这似乎对孕妇不良。咖啡因可提高心率，利尿（亏损流体），并刺激中枢神经系统。咖啡因可从母体传递给胎儿的血液，造成流产的问题。如果真的需要消耗，尽量控制摄入量少于4杯/天。