The BRATTY (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Tea, Toast, and Yogurt) diet

The BRATTY (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Tea, Toast, and Yogurt) diet is generally recommended as part of the prescribed treatment for patients suffering from gastrointestinal ailments. Common conditions such as gastroenteritis, dyspepsia, and diarrhea as well as more serious conditions such as Graft versus Host Disease can be effectively managed and treated with this diet. This diet helps to treat the root cause of diarrhea as well as the accompanying symptoms such as abdominal cramps, dehydration, fatigue, and lethargy. It is important to include all the foods in this diet for a speedy recovery.

Bananas

• Bananas are rich in soluble fibers which help to absorb excess intestinal fluids. A type of soluble fiber in bananas called inulin also helps to promote the growth of healthy gastrointestinal bacteria.
• Dehydration is one of the main concerns of diarrhea as it can cause a person to slip into a coma and can even be fatal. Bananas are rich in potassium, manganese, and magnesium which help to replace the lost electrolytes and prevent dehydration.
• Bananas also contain significant amounts of Vitamins A, B, C as well as calcium and selenium.

Rice

• Rice helps to soothe and regulate the digestive system and helps to regularize intestinal contractions. This reduces and even prevents painful spasms and stomach cramps which is a common symptom of gastrointestinal disorders.
• Rice is rich in soluble fiber which is not digested by the body but instead forms a thick gel. This gel acts as a bulking agent by absorbing excess liquids present in the intestines.
• Rice contains complex carbohydrates and is especially recommended for toddlers and children suffering from diarrhea. Brown rice would be a better option as it has superior nutritional values as compared to white rice.

Applesauce

• Apples are rich in pectin which helps to firm stools. However they also contain sorbitol which can aggravate diarrhea. Homemade applesauce retains the benefits of pectin but the sorbitol is destroyed during the cooking process. This makes applesauce ideal for patients suffering from diarrhea.
• Applesauce also contains significant amounts of Potassium, Manganese, and Vitamin C which prevent dehydration.
• Apple peels have a very high nutritional value but they are also high in insoluble fibers which can irritate the stomach lining and aggravate diarrhea. Make sure that you only use peeled apples when making applesauce.

Toast

• Toast is easy to digest and helps to neutralize strong stomach acids. This makes it ideal for people suffering from diarrhea.
• Toast is easy to digest while bread is not. This is because the heat converts the starch present in the bread into a light carbohydrate which is broken down easily and digested.
• Have toast made out of whole wheat bread as it is healthier than white bread. Whole wheat bread also contains several types of soluble fibers which help to treat diarrhea.

Tea

• Tea is very beneficial in the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders as it helps to increase the number of healthy intestinal bacteria. This decreases the amount of harmful bacteria in the digestive system and speeds-up the recovery process.
• Tea also helps to increase the body’s immunity levels against various intestinal disorders.
• Green tea, Oolong tea and black tea are the healthiest options, and of these green tea is generally considered to be the best.

Yogurt

• Yogurt contains healthy bacteria which help to prevent and treat diarrhea.
• Yogurt has been rated as one of the world’s healthiest foods. It is a good source of vitamins and proteins and helps to strengthen the body and repair any damage to the intestines.
• Flavored yogurt contains several sugars that can aggravate diarrhea. A mixture of a few spoons of honey along with unflavored yogurt would appeal to both kids and adults alike.

You can also include small amounts of steamed chicken, coconut juice, broth, soup, and boiled potatoes in the patient’s diet. A person suffering from diarrhea often feels fatigued and weary and so they often suffer a loss of appetite. Experiment with various combinations and make sure that they only have small servings throughout the day. While plain toast may not be very appetizing, the aroma from a slice of fresh toast with honey will definitely help to work up an appetite. In the same way, finely diced bananas with a few spoons of applesauce would be more appealing than having the bananas and applesauce as individual dishes. You can blend a few slices of steamed skinless chicken and add this to a bowl of freshly steamed rice with a small amount of mashed potatoes on the side. Keep in mind that spicy foods and foods with a high fat content should be completely avoided.

Purple and Persian Green Crepe Embroidered Churidar Kameez

Purple and Persian Green Crepe Embroidered Churidar Kameez

8 Secretly Super-Salty Foods

Salt adds flavor to foods, but too much can wreak havoc on your health. Watch out for these foods to avoid sodium overload.
Raw Chicken
Salt solutions are pumped into chicken parts to plump them up. Check the label for fine print that says something like "10% broth solution." That means you can expect as much as 60 mg sodium in one chicken breast. Look for chicken that doesn't come with an added broth solution.
Noodles
Italian pasta is fine. But plain Japanese somen noodles carry 280 mg sodium per cup, without the salted broth they're usually served in. Even worse: seasoned ramen noodles, at 1,434 mg per package. Switch to soba noodles, at only 68 mg per serving.
Eat at your own risk: 30 Foods your cardiologist would never eat.
Precooked Frozen Shrimp
It's just steamed shrimp, right? Wrong. Most cooked, frozen shellfish in stores was processed with salt. Expect about 222 mg sodium for 3 ounces. Buy yours at the fish counter; they'll even steam, peel, and devein the shrimp for you.
Frozen Dinners
A Swanson Hungry Man Meatloaf Dinner weighs in with 1,870 mg sodium. Even though it sounds innocuous, Uncle Ben's Spicy Beef & Broccoli Rice Bowl contains 1,550 mg, thanks mostly to soy sauce. If you insist on the convenience of Uncle Ben, try his Sweet & Sour Chicken Rice Bowl instead, at 620 mg, which is still rather high. Your best bet is to cook up your own stir-fry.
Live longer, better: 40 Foods with health super powers.
Cornflakes
A big bowl (2 cups) of this all-American breakfast cereal has 532 mg sodium. Better options: whole-grain cereals. For example, a chunk of shredded wheat has only 6 mg; 2 cups of cooked oatmeal has less than 5 mg.
Ketchup and Mustard
Ketchup has 167 mg per tablespoon; mustard, 168 mg. Spread 'em thin.
Cottage Cheese
This popular protein source has 918 mg sodium per cup. Low-sodium versions contain just 29 mg. Or substitute hard cheese and some milk.
Want a high-protein post-workout meal? Try these 5 best gym snacks.
Smoked Trout, Salmon, or Turkey
Smoke is what you taste, sodium is what you consume. Before they're smoked, these foods are soaked in a salty brine. Smoked salmon has more than 600 mg sodium in a 3-ounce serving. Limit the smoked stuff to special occasions.

18 Exercise Upgrades

What if you could instantly make any exercise 10 times more effective? Chances are, you can. That's because most men—including longtime gym rats—make tiny but key technique errors on even the most basic movements. And as it turns out, these seemingly minor mistakes may be preventing you from achieving the body you want. You see, an exercise may feel right, but smart lifting isn't just about moving a weight from point A to point B. For big-time gains, you need to master the small details.

The good news: The best fitness coaches need only one sentence to tell you how to improve your results. Apply their words to your workouts, and you'll upgrade your routine instantly. Use these 18 tips from the top trainers in the industry to help you perfect your form, engage the right muscles, burn more calories, and lower your risk of injury. Think about it this way: It takes the same amount of time to do an exercise right as it does to do it wrong. So start squeezing more from every second of your workout.

For more expert tips on how to perfect every exercise and build muscle faster, check out the best new exercises for every part of a man's body.

Pushup
WHAT YOU'RE DOING WRONG: You're letting your hips sag as you raise and lower your body.

Perfect your form
1. "When you're in a pushup position, your posture should look the same as it would if you were standing up straight and tall," says Vern Gambetta, the owner of Gambetta Sports Training Systems, in Sarasota, Florida. "So your hips shouldn't sag or be hiked, and your upper back shouldn't be rounded."

2. "Before you start, contract and stiffen your core the way you would if you had to zip up a really tight jacket," says Kaitlyn Weiss, an NASM-certified trainer based in Southern California. Hold it that way for the duration of your set. "This helps your body remain rigid—with perfect posture—as you perform the exercise."

3. "Don't just push your body up; push your hands through the floor," Gambetta says. You'll generate more power with every repetition.



Bench press
WHAT YOU'RE DOING WRONG: You're thinking only about pushing the bar up from your chest.

1. "Every time you lower the weight, squeeze your shoulder blades together and pull the bar to your chest," says Craig Rasmussen, C.S.C.S., a fitness coach at Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, California. This will help you build up energy in your upper body so that you can press the bar up with more force.

2. "As you pull the weight down, lift your chest to meet the barbell," Rasmussen says. "This will aid your efforts to create a springlike effect when you start to push the bar back up."

3. "When you press the weight, try to bend the bar with your hands," says Pavel Tsatsouline, a fitness expert and the author of Enter the Kettlebell! The benefit: You'll activate more muscle fibers in your lats and move the bar in a stronger and safer path for your shoulders.

Compare how much you can bench to the Men's Health standards and see if you're weak, ordinary, or if you rule on the bench.

Squat
WHAT YOU'RE DOING WRONG: You're starting the movement by bending your knees.

1. "Sit back between your legs, not on top of your knees," says Dan John, a strength coach based in Draper, Utah. Start your squats by pushing your hips back. "Most men tend to bend their knees first, which puts more stress on their joints."

2. "When you squat, imagine you're standing on a paper towel," says Charlie Weingroff, director of sports performance and physical therapy for CentraState Sports Performance, in Monroe, New Jersey. "Then try to rip the towel apart by pressing your feet hard into the floor and outward." This activates your glutes, which helps you use heavier weights.

3. "Instead of raising your body, think about pushing the floor away from your body," says Alwyn Cosgrove, C.S.C.S., co-owner of Results Fitness. "This helps you better engage the muscles in your legs."


Straight-leg deadlift
WHAT YOU'RE DOING WRONG: You're rounding your lower back as you bend over.

1. "To lower the weight, pretend you're holding a tray of drinks and need to close the door behind you with your butt," says Cosgrove. This cues you to bend over by pushing your hips back instead of rounding your lower back—a form blunder that puts you at risk for back problems.

2. "Try to 'shave your legs' with the bar," says Weiss. The reason: Every degree the bar is away from your body places more strain on your back, which increases your chance of injury and limits the emphasis on your hamstrings and glutes.

3. "As you lift the bar, squeeze your glutes like two fists," says Nick Grantham, a top strength and conditioning coach in the U.K. and the owner of Smart Fitness. You'll ensure that you're engaging your butt muscles. This helps you generate more power, lift more weight, and produce better results.


Rows and pullups
WHAT YOU'RE DOING WRONG: You're ignoring the muscles that retract your shoulder blades.

1. "When doing bent-over and seated rows, and any pullup variation, create as much space between your ears and shoulders as you can," says Rasmussen. Pull your shoulders down and back and hold them that way as you do the exercise. This ensures you're working the intended middle- and upper-back muscles.

2. "As you row the weight, stick your chest out," says Mike Boyle, M.A., A.T.C., owner of Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning, in Winchester and North Andover, Massachusetts. This allows you to better retract your shoulder blades, which will lead to better results.

3. "Imagine there's an orange between your shoulder blades," says Grantham. "Then try to squeeze the juice out of it with your shoulder blades as you pull the weight or your body up."

Discover six muscles you ignore—but shouldn't.

Lunge
WHAT YOU'RE DOING WRONG: You're leaning forward, causing your front heel to rise.

1. "When you lunge, keep your torso upright, and focus on moving it up and down, not backward and forward," says Rasmussen. This will keep your weight balanced evenly through your front foot, allowing you to press hard into the floor with your heel and target more muscle.

2. "Drop your back knee straight down to the floor," says Boyle. Consider this a second strategy to help you remember that you should drop your torso down, not push it forward, as you do the exercise.

3. "To work your core harder, narrow your starting stance," says Gray Cook, M.S.P.T., the author of Athletic Body in Balance. The smaller the gap between your feet, the more your core has to work to stabilize your body. Your goal: Lunge so that it's almost like you're walking on a tightrope as you perform the exercise.

Fitness basics

You need to exercise for about 60 minutes every day. Setting aside 60 minutes all at once each day is one way to get in enough exercise. If you wait until the end of the day to squeeze it in, you probably won’t exercise enough or at all. If you’re not active for 60 minutes straight, it’s okay to exercise for 10 or 20 minutes at a time throughout the day.

Different exercises

No matter what your shape — apple, pear, ruler, or hourglass — there's an exercise for you!

• Pick exercises you like to do and choose a few different options so you don’t get bored. Get some great exercise ideas.
• Aim to exercise most days of the week. If you’re not very active right now, start slowly and work your way up to being active every day.

Children and adolescents should do 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of physical activity daily. You should combine the different kinds of exercise below to total 60 minutes each day. For example, you could do 35 minutes of swimming, 10 minutes of push-ups, and 15 minutes of jumping rope to reach 60 minutes.
Even if you have a disability, you should also exercise at least 60 minutes each day. Talk to your doctor about what exercises are right for you. Read more about staying active with a disability.

Exercise Type	How often?	What is it?	Why do it?
Aerobic exercise	Most of your 60 minutes of daily exercise, at least 3 days a week.	Aerobic activities are those in which young people regularly move their muscles. Running, hopping, skipping, jumping rope, swimming, dancing, and biking are all examples of aerobic activity.	It makes your heart and lungs strong.
Muscle-strengthening exercise (3 or more days each week)	As part of your 60 minutes of exercise each day, at least 3 days a week.	Muscle-strengthening activities make muscles do more work than usual. This is called “overload” and it makes your muscles stronger. Climbing trees, yoga, rock climbing, lifting weights, or working with resistance bands are all muscle-strengthening exercises	It increases your strength and builds muscle.
Bone-strengthening exercise (3 or more days each week)	As part of your 60 minutes of exercise each day, at least 3 days a week.	Bone-strengthening activities push on your bones and help them grow and be strong. This push usually comes from impact with the ground. Running, jumping rope, basketball, tennis, and hopscotch are all bone-strengthening exercises. (These exercises can also be aerobic and muscle-strengthening.)	It will make your bones stronger. Your bones get strongest in the years just before and during puberty.

If you’re working out with weights, be sure to read this article on strength training! It will help you train safely.

Why fitness matters

Exercise is an important part of a lifetime of good health! Exercising is also fun and is something you can do with friends. Regular exercise provides both mental and physical health benefits.

Mental health benefits of exercise

One of the great things about exercise is that it can improve your mental health. Regular exercise can help you feel less stressed, can improve your self-esteem, and can help you to feel ready to learn in school. Kids who exercise may also have reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Exercise can also improve your overall mood. Did you have an argument with a friend? Or did you do poorly on a test? A workout at the gym or a brisk 30-minute walk will make your brain produce chemicals that will make you happier and more relaxed than before you started working out.
What if you’re having trouble sleeping? Again, it’s exercise to the rescue! Regular exercise can help you fall asleep faster and help you sleep deeper. A good night's sleep can improve your concentration and productivity in school the next day.

Physical health benefits of exercise

Another great thing about exercise is that it can keep your body healthy. Kids who exercise often have a healthier body weight than kids who don’t exercise. Exercise makes your bones solid, improves your heart and lungs, and makes your muscles strong.
Exercise can also affect specific diseases that affect adolescents and teens. New research shows that teens who exercise regularly (about 60 minutes of brisk exercise each day) burn more calories and use blood sugar more efficiently than teens who don’t exercise. This could protect you from developing type 2 diabetes. Why should this concern you? Well, in recent years, a lot of health problems that doctors saw only in adults are now seen in young people. For example, 15 years ago type 2 diabetes was rare among adolescents, but now it accounts for almost 50 percent of new cases of diabetes in young people. In fact, type 2 diabetes used to be called ‘adult-onset diabetes,’ but the name was changed because so many young people were developing the disease.
Here is something else to consider: children and adolescents who are overweight are more likely to become adults who are overweight. If you start good habits (like daily exercise) when you are young, you will be likely to continue them when you’re older. 
New research shows that exercise during the teen years (beginning at age 12) can help protect girls from breast cancer when they are older. Also, regular physical activity can help prevent colon cancer later in your life.

Get moving!

The more time you spend in front of the television or playing video games, the less time you have to be active. Not being active is called sedentary (say: sed-un-tair-ee). Leading a sedentary lifestyle can cause weight gain and even obesity (dangerously high weight), which can lead to type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol levels, and high blood pressure. These three health issues can hurt your heart and make it easier for you to get certain diseases. Make physical activity a regular part of your life. It can help you protect your health! Obesity can also hurt your self-esteem, too.
More information about how exercise is helpful (and healthful!) can be found at Why Exercise is Wise.

Getting enough sleep

What’s up with sleep? It may seem like a waste of time when you’ve got so much you want — and need — to do. But sleep can help you do better in school, stress less, and generally be more pleasant to have around. Sound good? Now consider some possible effects of not getting enough sleep:

• Feeling angry or depressed
• Having trouble learning, remembering, and thinking clearly
• Having more accidents
• Getting sick more often
• Feeling less motivated
• Possibly gaining weight
• Having lower self-esteem

How much is enough?

Experts say most teens need a little more than nine hours of sleep each night. Only a tiny number get that much, though. Are you one of the lucky few who can manage with less? Or are you slipping up on sleep? Here are some ways to see if you’re getting enough:

• Do you have trouble getting up in the morning?
• Do you have trouble focusing?
• Do you sometimes fall asleep during class?

If you have answered yes to these questions, check out the tips below for getting better sleep.

Tips for better sleep

• Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day — even on the weekends!
• Exercise regularly. Try to finish exercising at least five to six hours before bedtime.
• Don’t eat a lot close to bedtime. Food can give you a burst of energy.
• Avoid bright lights right before bed, including the ones that come from the TV or the computer. Sleep in a dark room. Darkness tells your body it’s time for sleep.
• Sleep in a slightly cool room. If you can't control the temperature, try using fewer blankets or dressing lightly.
• Follow a bedtime routine. If you do the same things each night before bed, your body will know it’s time for sleep. Take a warm bath or shower. Or drink a glass of milk.
• Wake up to bright light. Light tells your body it’s time to get up.
• Listen to your body. If you’re feeling tired, go to sleep. If you can’t fall asleep within 20 minutes of going to bed, get up and do something else until you feel sleepy.
• Avoid caffeine. That means cutting back on coffee, soda, chocolate, and energy drinks — or at least trying not to have any late in the day.
• Don’t nap for longer than 30 minutes or take naps too close to bedtime.
• Don’t stay up all night studying. Try doing a little each night instead. If you pull an all-nighter, you may be too tired to do well on your test.
• Set aside time to relax for about an hour before bed. Turn off your cell phone and your computer! If your tasks have you worried, write them down to get them off your mind.

If these tips don’t help, you could talk to your doctor or nurse. Also keep in mind that good sleep isn’t just about the number of hours you’re in bed. If you wake up a lot in the night, snore, or have headaches, you may not be getting enough quality sleep to keep you fresh and healthy.