Good Fats Prevent Chronic Disease was written by Jane Oelke from NaturalChoicesForYou.com
Essential fatty acids are the number one recommendation for anyone who has, or wants to prevent common chronic diseases today, such diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. And they are very helpful in improving immune system function to increase energy and reverse some of the damage seen in diseases such as lupus, fibromyalgia, and MS. What types of fat are in your diet?
If you have dry skin, stiffness, concentration problems, or hormonal imbalances you may be lacking in a type of fat that is essential to health. Essential fatty acids are those fats that the body needs; yet cannot synthesize itself. Many types of fat are unhealthy fats, yet some are beneficial and necessary. In fact, cutting all fat from the diet is actually harmful to health.
Essential fatty acids are needed to metabolize other types of fats that are not good for us. Saturated fat is a harmful fat that is found in many types of red meat and dairy foods. Yet, the worse types of fats are the partially hydrogenated oils found in snack foods. These types of fats, found in most processed foods, are converted to trans-fatty acids when heated, or oxidized. So when you make boxed cakes or brownies you create trans fats when you bake these partially hydrogenated oils that are included in the mix so that the box can sit on your shelf indefinitely. These are the types of fat that increase cholesterol in the arteries.
The good fats, called essential fatty acids, are important in many metabolic processes, including energy production. Since the body cannot produce them, they must be consumed in the diet to optimize health. The essential fatty acids are the omega-3 (linoleic) and omega-6 (linolenic) polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Every cell in the body is like a tiny factory, taking in raw materials from the surrounding fluid and sending out various chemicals. Everything going into or coming out of the cell has to pass through the cell's membrane. The membrane depends on essential fatty acids to remain fluid and flexible. Without them, the membrane becomes stiff and unable to do its job.
Essential fatty acids are also important to bring vital oxygen to muscle cells and they enable the cells to more easily absorb nutrients needed for recuperation. In one study of 63 patients with fibromyalgia, essential fatty acid supplementation resulted in a 74% reduction in pain in patients after 1 month, and 85% after 3 months.
This is a list of the benefits realized by regular use of essential fatty acids:
As you can see, fatty acids are essential for metabolism and health. Flax oil is the richest vegetarian source of omega-3 fats. It is commonly used in salads in place of other salad dressings. Flax oil shouldn't be used for cooking, as high heat damages the fatty acids. Other sources of omega-3 fatty acids are fish oils from salmon, tuna, cod, and mackerel.
Omega-6 fatty acids are found in many vegetable oils such as borage, flaxseed, walnut, soy, corn, sunflower, and are especially abundant in evening primrose oil. These omega-6 acids help to soften dry skin and relax tense muscles.
Both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids need to be supplemented in the diet. The ideal ratio of these fats is 2 parts omega-3 to 1 part omega-6 to reduce inflammation and pain, and to improve energy metabolism. Increasing the amount of fish oils and flax oil will help especially get the omega-3 fatty acids into the metabolism. 2000 mg. of flax oil is usually equivalent to 2 capsules or 1 tablespoon, and is the recommended minimum per day.
The omega-3 and omega-6 need catalysts to be absorbed in the body. These catalysts are vitamins B3 (niacin) and B6, vitamin C, and the minerals magnesium and zinc. When there is a deficiency of these nutrients then the essential fatty acids will not be absorbed well. Also when too many saturated or trans fats are part of the normal diet then supplementation of essential fatty acids is less effective.
A combination of essential fatty acids, minerals, enzymes, and antioxidants, are all needed in your daily diet, or on whole food supplement form, to make the metabolic changes that reverse many chronic disease symptoms. Supplementing with sufficient amounts of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in balance will help you absorb the other nutrients you take in from your foods, and can make a great improvement in your overall health and vitality.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
Good Fats Prevent Chronic Disease
What Is A Balanced Diet For Losing Weight And Good Health?
What Is A Balanced Diet For Losing Weight And Good Health? was written by Rudy Silva from fatty-acid-remedies.for--you.info
The total calories that you should be consuming depend on whether you are a women or a man. It depends on your body structure and your activity level. So you need to make some adjustment on the numbers I present.
If you have been eating around 1800 calories per day you can slowly move your intake down to 1600. Work down from this level over a month's period to 1400 calories. Don't go below 1200 calories per day. Otherwise you can over stress your body.
If you have just started out and are eating 2400 calories, decrease your calories to 2000 or 2100. If you don't lose weight in 2-3 weeks reduce your calories lower. Over a month's time you can move down to 1600 calories and see if you start to lose weight. If you do, stay at this level.
It's not a good idea to make a drastic shift in your consumption of food since your body can react and get into a "starving mode." In this mode your body will store more fat making it difficult for you to lose weight.
Remember not to eat junk food. When you eat quality food, it takes less food for you to become satisfied as compared to eating junk food.
Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fat
There are many ideas about what combination or percentages you should eat of the various nutrients - protein, carbohydrates, and fat. I don't believe that exact percentages exist, which will provide weight loss and good health for all individuals. Each one of you will require different percentages depending on your weight, health, body structure, emotional make-up and a variety of other conditions. For this reason some diet programs work with some people and not with others.
One of best eating habit programs that will help you to lose weight is to eat:
Quality Protein - is essential for the body to survive. There 8 essential amino acids and 14 non-essential. Protein is used to regulate certain body processes by contributing to various chemical reactions and by creating a number of body chemicals.
Eating excess protein results in an acid body, which favors disease. Protein eaten alone causes a 25% increase in your metabolism. When combined with fat and carbohydrates there is only a 10% increase. What this means is that eating more protein and less fat and carbohydrates gives you a boost in metabolism.
It is recommended that around 30% - 35% of your eating habits consist of protein.
Carbohydrates - consist of simple and complex sugars. When carbohydrates are eaten they are broken down into sucrose, which is readily accepted by your cells. Sucrose is converted into energy in your cells. If you eat a lot of high glycemic carbohydrates, your bloodstream becomes overwhelm with sucrose. The excess sucrose in your cells will be converted to fat and stored.
Because most people have been adding weight eating high glycemic carbohydrates, it best to change your eating habits and decrease your intake of these carbohydrates. In general people have been eating 80% high glycemic foods (HighGF) and 20% low glycemic foods (LowGF.) You need to change that to 80% LowGF and 20% HighGF.
This means that you should limit eating foods like potatoes, bread, corn, pasta, muffins, and any flour products.HighGF encourages the storage of fat since the more sucrose you have in your blood, the more sucrose is escorted into your cells by insulin.
You need to concentrate on foods, which are LowGF. Many of these foods are vegetables with small amounts of carbohydrates and high fiber content.
Low GF discourages the storage of fat since less sucrose is in the blood and less is escorted into your cells.
Quality Fats - which are eaten with your meals, prevent sugars from moving quickly into your blood stream.
You need to eat more of the good fats. It's these fats that will help you lose weight. The good fats are omega 3, omega 6, and medium chain fatty acids, MCFA.
Here is the breakdown on the quantity of each type of fat that you should be eating. These percentages are what you should be working towards so that fats provide you with good health and help you keep your weight down.
There you have it, the numbers and percentages of protein, carbohydrates, and fats that give you a balanced diet so that you can lose weight.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
It's Not That Bad - The Biggest Lie We Tell Ourselves
It's Not That Bad - The Biggest Lie We Tell Ourselves was written by Dr. Jamie Fettig from HealthyEatingDiet.com
Some people say to themselves, junk food is not that bad. If you want to believe this than good luck. Remember how important your beliefs are and especially the ones that are faulty that you still believe. It goes back to what I said earlier. If you want to build a slim, toned and healthy body you need the right building blocks. Those building blocks are not found in junk food of any kind. I do not care how fat free or enriched it is, how many added vitamins and minerals there are, how low carb or "healthy" the manufactures try to make you believe it is. Junk food is junk.
The old expression ‘you are what you eat’ is so true. If you believe the junk food is not that bad for you I really do take pity on you. Because no matter how much other stuff you do from this book, you will become less healthy, more overweight and have more and more aches, pains, symptoms and diseases. The bottom line is really that Junk food is Junk.
All you have to do is look at the history of man. Everything man has ever made or tried to improve beyond how nature created it, always turns out to be worse for you than the original product nature created. And if there is something that has not been proven to be worse for you than the product in nature, give it time. If you do not learn from history you are doomed to repeat it.
It is nice, wanting to believe that some day we will be able to perfect a new biotech food that gives us everything we need, lasts forever, is convenient and even comes in our favorite flavor.
That day has already come and it is called natural food. Eating Healthy is as simple as eating Fresh and Pure.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
The Benefits Of Drinking Herbal Teas
The Benefits Of Drinking Herbal Teas was written by Lee Dobbins from a2z-vitamin-and-herbs.com
Herbal teas have long been known to have medicinal benefits as well as being tasty to drink! Some of my favorite teas are chamomile tea, jasmine tea and ginger tea. Each of these has a distinctive taste as well as health benefit.
Chamomile tea is a favorite herbal tea that many use if they have trouble sleeping. It has natural sedative, antiinflamatory and antispasmodic properties so is also good for cramps. Due to it’s calming benefits it is often used to help relieve anxiety. It is rich in essential oil and can help the digestive system function properly. Chamomile is also very good for your skin and you can wet a cloth in the tea and use it as a skin cleanser or compress.
Jasmine tea is a combination of green tea leaves and jasmine flowers. It has a lovely jasmine scent and flabor with all the wonderful antioxidant properties of the green tea. Jasmine tea has long been used for it’s relaxing and warming qualities and is also soothing to the digestive system. This tea also may help lower cholesterol according to recent studies and may even help with longevity.
Ginger tea has powerful medicinal properties. It is reputed to be a aphrodisiac and can help freshen your breath! It has anti fungal and anti spasmodic properties and can help sooth stomach upset by neutralizing acids and aiding digestion. Ginger is also reputed to help relieve nausea, motion sickness, dizziness, flatulence and even help to ease muscle pain.
To properly make herbal tea, use 1 tea bag per person or, if you are making it from the dried herbs, use 1 teaspoon of the herb. Add boiling water to the herb mixture and let sit for 5 minutes. Don’t let it sit for too long or it will start to taste bitter. Don’t drink it too soon or the herb won’t have imparted it’s flavor into the water enough. Typically herbal teas are taken "black" but you could add a little milk or some sugar or honey to taste if you like.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
Water And Water Filters: How Much Do You Know?
Water And Water Filters: How Much Do You Know? was written by Vanessa Lausch from allaboutwater.org
Water is a vitally important component of any valuable and useful nutrition plan. This statement is hardly earth shattering or groundbreaking and few (if any) jaws will drop at the sight of it. It is common knowledge that water is essential to our survival as living beings. Most people are very well aware of this fact, but do they really know why water is so essential? What does water do in our bodies and why does it make a difference what kind of water we drink? Is a water filter truly necessary and worth its price? Read on to learn the answers to these questions and find out how much you know (or don’t know) about that magical, life-giving fluid: water.
Some Water Basics
Depending upon whom you ask, water makes up anywhere from 60% to 90% of our body’s matter. Not only is water essential for ensuring our survival as human beings, it is also essential for the survival of the earth and all living organisms on it. In its simplest, most pure form, water is a molecular compound composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Although water contains no calories, it is absolutely essential for maintaining energy levels, regulating body temperature, controlling cravings, and cushioning sensitive organs, tissues, and joints within the body. Water is the substance that ensures that our bodies continue to run; water also ensures that they run efficiently.
Once water enters the body, it quickly travels through the esophagus into the stomach where it is digested and sent to the appropriate locations within the body. Water then becomes the major constituent of blood, ensuring the transfer of all other nutrients to the organs and tissues of the body. After all organs and tissues have received their needed amount of water and accompanying nutrients in order to ensure proper cell functioning, the body then sends excess water to aid in the transfer of wastes out of the body through the kidneys, bladder, and rectum. In essence, water is the major means of transport for all substances in and out of the body.
It is necessary to continuously replace water in the body as such a large amount of water is expelled from the body each day through simple respiration. While a person may live for four weeks or more without food, he or she will only live for approximately one week without water. The exact amount of water one needs to drink each day to replace water in the body depends upon a number of factors and cannot easily be calculated. However, most nutritionists agree that eight glasses (two liters) of water each day is an appropriate amount for most people. This number may change when a person’s level of physical activity and environmental climate are taken into consideration.
Benefits of Drinking Enough Water
Besides the maintenance of normal bodily functions and the regulation of body temperature and general energy levels, drinking adequate amounts of water can result in some significant health and cosmetic benefits. First of all, water has long been known and recognized as a valuable diet aid. Many cravings for food are often misdirected cravings for water. Once the body is satiated with the needed drinking water, cravings are greatly reduced. Water also ensures a general level of health and fitness by quickly transferring toxins and other harmful substances out of the body. Water naturally moisturizes the skin and hair, as well, giving them a healthy, glowing appearance. Water can also serve as a natural protection against several types of cancer.
When a person becomes dehydrated (meaning he does not have adequate amounts of water in his system to ensure proper body functioning), the symptoms of dehydration quickly appear. These symptoms include, but are not limited to: fatigue, headaches, difficulty concentrating, and constipation.
How Important is Clean Drinking Water?
Water is something of an interesting substance. It is a natural solvent; therefore, wherever water travels, it dissolves and carries along other substances. For this reason, there really is no "pure" water available in the world. Water always carries other substances, whether these substances are useful minerals or dangerous chemicals and biological contaminants. One would be absolutely amazed at the amount of contaminants a simple water filter removes from "treated" tap water.
While the natural solvency of water is one of its most valuable characteristics (due to the usefulness of this characteristic in allowing water to carry and dissolve food nutrients for use in the body), it can also be one of its most volatile and dangerous characteristics. It is certainly vital to maintain an adequate amount of water in the body, but to be truly beneficial and effective, that water needs to be as clean and pure as possible. When water carries such contaminants as chlorine or lead into our bodies, it can actually become more harmful than beneficial. Water, laced with such contaminants, can become a cancer-causing agent or a purveyor of brain damage and learning disabilities.
We cannot simply cut water out of our diet, despite its penchant for carrying contaminants with it; water is far too essential to our survival. Thus, it becomes our responsibility as wise and conscientious individuals to clean that water and know what it contains before we take it into our bodies. We will likely never receive pure, clean water directly from the tap, but a home water filter can remove several of the most dangerous contaminants from that water before we drink it. A water filter can help to ensure that we receive all of the benefits of drinking adequate amounts of water and none of the adverse health consequences of drinking contaminated water.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
Alkalize Your Way To Better Health
Alkalize Your Way To Better Health was written by Bill Marshall from poweraffirmations.com
Todaywe're shifting our focus from wealth to health. First of all, I am notan expert. If you have a health condition, you should go see yourdoctor. What I'm going to discuss in this post is something I was firstexposed to at a Tony Robbins seminar.
First let me set thestage. It was day for of the Tony Robbins "Unleash the Power Within"seminar in Pasadena, CA. I had been to the seminar before, so I knewwhat to expect. Or so I thought...
The way the previous seminarhad been run, Tony was out of the building--gone--bye-bye. The topicwas on Living Health, a subject that Tony Robbins is very passionateabout. The story we had been told is that the last time he spoke aboutit live, he went for 18 hours! Now those of you who have been to one ofhis seminars knows that this is entirely possible. In fact, theprevious days certainly seemed close to that.
Anyway, theseminar started exactly the same way as before. Shortly after itstarted, I was about to leave. Then they appeared to have videoproblems. One of Tony's associates came back on stage and apologized.It looked like they had a legitimate disaster on their hands. Then heasked if there was anyone in the audience who was familiar enough withthe material to complete the seminar. Suddenly a familiar voice cameover the speakers--it was Tony, live and in person.
The wholething was a set up. And they had kept it secret during the entireprevious 3 days. In fact, the audience that day was a fraction of theaudience the days before.
Tony explained that it had been manyyears since he had taught the seminar live and that there were some newexciting distinctions he was going to share with us that day. Therewere some things in the previous seminar he now thought were not quiteright based on his new knowledge.
Of course, like everyone else in the audience, as soon as he walked on the stage I was riveted. No way I was going to leave now.
WhatTony shared for the rest of the day definitely caused a major shift inmy thinking about health. Without getting into too many details, hetalked about his studies with Robert O. Young and one of the primary(if not they primary) cause of bad health: acidosis. This is thecondition of the body being too acid. I have never heard this discussedbefore.
Tony has a set of recordings of his seminar availablecalled Living Health. I purchased those (actually repurchased those)sometime after the seminar. I may be wrong, but I think the CDs of thesecond set I purchased were recorded at the seminar I attended. You canlearn more about this if you get the Living Health program or purchaseRobert O. Young's book, "The pH Miracle."
Just to be clear, Idon't get any kind of money for endorsing Tony's seminar. I justmention it because it has formed the basis of many of the PowerAffirmations I created for the recordings on health.
How do youknow if your body is too acid? The safest assumption is just to assumethat it is. If you get some yellow litmus paper (just search theinternet), you can take a small strip and put it under your tongue. Ifit's a light shade of yellow, guess what, you're acidic. If it turnsblue, most likely you are alkaline.
First of all you need tounderstand the pH (potential for hydrogen) scale. It is a logarithmicscale from 1-14 that measures the acidity or alkalinity of a chemical(hint: your body is a chemical factory). A pH of 7 is neutral (thenormal pH of pure water).
The fact that it is a logarithmicscale is important. For example, a pH of 6 is ten times more acidicthan a pH of 7. But a pH of 5 is a 100 times more acidic.
Thehuman blood has a natural pH of about 7.4. The human body cannotsurvive if the pH of their human blood drops to 7 or rises to 7.8! Sothe body has natural buffers it uses to keep the blood within thesenarrow limits. Hint: your bones (including your teeth) are mostlycalcium--an alkaline substance. So if your body gets too acidic, itleaches the calcium from your bones creating tooth decay and bone loss.Increased storage of fat and water retention is also a way your bodyprotects itself. To get to your ideal weight--alkalize.
Now thereal trick is how do you change your body from acid to slightlyalkaline and keep it there. It is a fact of chemistry that it takes alot of alkalinity to neutralize even a little bit of acid. For example,to change a gallon of water with a pH of 5 to 7 would take 20 gallonsof water with a pH of 7.5!
Here's some simple math: your body is80% water. Water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon. To find out about howmany gallons of water are in your body at any one time, multiply yourbody weight by 80% and divide by 8.34. Let's say you weigh about 170lbs. 170 x 80%=136 lbs. 136/8.34 is about 16 gallons of water.
Obviously,the human body is much more complicated than this. But what thisindicates is just how diligent we need to be to alkalize our body.
Ibelieve that the trick is to drink alkaline drinks and eliminate acidicdrinks. From what I've studied, the closer your drinks are to a pH ofabout 9 the better.
One of the most shocking things I learned atTony's seminar is that fresh orange juice and carrot juice are actuallyacidic, and so can cause the body to become too acid if taken toexcess. Same with eating too much fruit. That was a significant shiftfrom his earlier program. Note: I still like fruit and think it can bebeneficial, but only in moderation.
The foods that really shineare the live, leafy greens--what a surprise! He showed some photos thatshowed the amount of energy in the food (I forget the name of theprocess) and it was amazing the amount of energy radiating from freshwheat grass--like a lightening storm!
I think that eating theleafy greens and drinking their fresh juices is one way to increaseyour alkalinity, but I've come across some other products that workwell for me (no, I'm not promoting some MLM--most of these can bepurchased over the internet or at your local health food store). Inorder to test the alkalinity of some products, I'm relying on thelitmus paper I mentioned earlier.
So here are some of my findings based on my simple testing:
So what conclusions have I reached:
Adequatewater is critical to good health. But, all waters are not the same.While any bottled water is better than no water, whenever available,Essentia and Evian are the best I've tested (see the important notebelow about Penta Water added after I originally wrote this article! ).
Important Note: Iwrote this article before testing Penta Water. I'm adding this extrabonus material because I think it will help you. I'm glad that theinternet allows me to edit articles I've already written as I learn newthings.
New Bottled Water Recommendation
Earlier thismonth in my article about alkalizing and energizing your body forbetter health, I wrote about Essentia Water. I want to let everyoneknow about another product that I have recently tried that I think issuperb: Penta Water. I will warn you in advance that this bottled wateris very expensive related to other waters. In California, it sells for$1.65 for a half-liter. But I will also tell you that after drinking itconsistently for about a week, it is probably far and away the bestwater I have ever had.
While it tested neutral for alkalinity,based on the research I found at the Penta website(www.pentawater.com), the special qualities of the water actuallycreate a very high alkalizing effect on the body. Without going intoall of the details, not only do they purify the water to a high degree,they also use physics to change the structure of the water so that itcreates smaller water clusters at the molecular level. There are otherthings they do (without adding anything to the water) that appear tohave a very beneficial effect. I suggest that you visit their websiteand read the research for yourself. While it is a bit on the glitzyside, based on my personal experience, I don't think they areoverselling their product.
The real proof to me was after Itested my own alkalinity after a few days on the product. Withoutmaking any other changes to my diet, the litmus strip came out a verydark blue. It seems clear to me that this is primarily due to drinkinga large amount of Penta (about 3 liters or more per day).
Thebottom line: if you can afford to drink it regularly (start using thoseaffirmations so you can!), I recommend Penta over any other bottledwater currently on the market.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
Healthy Eating Made Simple
Healthy Eating Made Simple was written by Dr. Jamie Fettig from HealthyEatingDiet.com
The confusion about eating healthy and dieting will now be cleared up, all in one easy sentence. Are you ready? Everyone is different.
What is healthy for one person is not going to be the best diet for everyone else. You are different than everyone else. What food is best for you is not necessarily going to be what is right for everyone else. Some people do well on meat, others don’t. Some people are fine with lots of carbs, others not. What food is best for you is really dependent on you and your lifestyle.
I will make it really simple to help you figure out what is good. There are a couple of general rules of thumb that apply to everyone. They are really simple. Are you ready?
It is that simple. All the food you eat, no matter what kind you eat, should be fresh and pure. It is that simple. Then, just listen to your inner knowing, and it will tell you what to eat that is fresh and pure.
If you are craving steak, eat steak. If you want veggies, eat veggies. If you want some fruit, eat fruit. If you want some nuts or seeds, eat nuts and seeds. When your choices of food are always from the fresh and pure categories, you will eat exactly what you need to eat without having to worry about your carbs, calories, fat, cholesterol, or anything. It’s so simple.
So what does fresh mean? Fresh generally means not in a can or box. Most things that are put into cans and boxes are old and dead. The life force has been long gone from the food. It is no longer fresh. Now, stuff in a box or can may be fresh, but it usually isn’t. Frozen stuff can go either way. Frozen stuff is usually fresher than boxed or canned stuff. It has to be, because it cannot last as long frozen as it can in a box or can.
What does Pure mean? This means nothing artificial and nothing added, including poisons, pesticides or, one of the biggest culprits, refined carbohydrates, commonly called sugar. Sugar is added to almost everything in a regular grocery store. Even many things in a supposed "health food store" have sugar added. Pure usually includes the food being organic.
It is my position that if a food product meets the categories of both fresh and pure, it is not inherently bad, ever. There is no one food that is right for everyone and there is no food that if fresh and pure, is wrong for everyone either.
Some people are better off not eating late at night, others are. Some people do well skipping breakfast, others don’t. Some people do well with three big meals, others do better snacking all day long. Some do better with variety, some do better with the same thing over and over again. It is really different for everyone.
Choose foods that you want to eat, that sound good to you that are fresh and pure. Listen to your inner wisdom and what it is telling you to eat, and you will be just fine. And Coincidentally, eating healthy and resetting your weight-o-stat is the only permanent "weight loss" solution.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
The Skinny On Oats, Oatmeal, Vitamins, Nutrition For Skin Care And Bath Products
The Skinny On Oats, Oatmeal, Vitamins, Nutrition For Skin Care And Bath Products was written by Nick A. James from health-goji-juice.com
Oats (botanical name Avena sativa)
An oat is a grass that produces a fibrous root and a hollow jointed stem with narrow, flat, pale-green leaves. Oats are native to southern Europe and eastern Asia. They are widely cultivated as a food.
An oat is an edible cereal grain produced by the cereal grass of the same name. They are light colored and have a nutty flavor and a chewy texture.Usually we think of them as breakfast food but oatmeal has long been known for its skin-soothing properties. Many skin lotions and ointments are formulated with oats for it's skin healing properties.
As a nutritious breakfast food oats provide a healthy addition to your diet in that there is 140 calories per 1/2 cup serving. They also provide 4g of dietary fiber, of which 2g of this is soluble fiber and 2g is insoluble. Insoluble fibers are those that cannot be dissolved in water. And soluble fibers can be dissolved in water. They provide 10% of your daily iron needs. Also of this 1/2 cup serving, there is 26g of carbohydrate and 2.5g of fat, which is considered lowfat.
Three grams of soluble fiber from oatmeal daily, in a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease. Besides all this, this nourishing cereal also contains, vitamins, starches, minerals and 5g of protein. Clinical trials have been done, and they have shown that regular consumption of oat bran reduces blood cholesterol levels in just one month. High-fiber diets may also reduce the risk of colon and rectal cancers.
Oats contain the alkaloid, gramine, which has been credited with mild sedative properties.
There are several forms of oats on the market and the following lists the most popular kinds. Whole oats without the hulls are groats.
Other uses for Oats Are in Skin and Bath Products.
Oatmeal is found in many bath products and skin and body products. Oatmeal baths are wonderful for soothing dry, flaking skin, and poison ivy and dermatoses. It alleviates itching from poison oak and chicken pox. It has long been used in facial scrub products and is a very natural product.
Oat straw contains high levels of silicic acid, which makes it an effective treatment for many skin diseases, especially those associated with the nervous system. Try using an external oat-straw preparation to relieve shingles and herpes.
Besides eating them in the form we are most familiar with, the box of oats that we purchase in the supermarket, oat products can be purchased in commercial form as capsules, extracts, and tinctures.
One expert lists the primary functions of oats as: If eaten, a supportive, nurturing tonic for the nervous system, If eaten, it can be used to alleviate digestive problems associated with stress and tension, If applied externally, it can relieve skin diseases especially those with a nervous basis.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
Startling New Evidence: You Can Slow The Aging Process, Scientists Say
Startling New Evidence: You Can Slow The Aging Process, Scientists Say was written by David Kern from applepoly.com
What if you could actually slow your rate of aging, and live healthier longer, simply by eating certain foods? U.S. Government scientists now say it’s possible.
Floyd P. Horn, then Administrator of the scientific research arm of the USDA, broke the exciting news in February 1999.
"Young and middle-aged people," said Horn, "may be able to reduce risk of diseases of aging -- including senility -- simply by adding high-ORAC foods to their diets."
I don’t know about you, but I find that statement tremendously exciting: "simply by adding high-ORAC foods."
Buddy, Can You Spare Some ORAC?
Unfortunately, most Americans have no idea that there may be a simple solution to preventing- or at least postponing- the ravages of decline, disease, and feeble old age.
ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. It’s a test developed by the USDA and Tufts University to measure the antioxidant speed and power of foods and supplements. The ORAC test is quickly becoming the accepted standard for comparing antioxidant capacity.
And as you may know, oxidative stress, or free-radical damage, is implicated in all diseases associated with aging, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes- a short list of the 5 major killers of Americans.
She Told You So
An easier way to understand ORAC is to look at particular foods. Let’s take spinach, for example. We all know spinach is good for us. Mom said so. And Popeye.
When USDA scientists tested spinach, they found it has an ORAC value of 1260 units per serving. So spinach qualifies as a "high-ORAC food," which may help slow the aging process.
It turns out Mom was right. She knew it would keep you healthier. But she probably never told you that spinach may keep you younger- to actually help you age more slowly.
Sound the Alarm
We have an epidemic of age-related disease in America. The statistics are shocking. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) in Atlanta now says that 80% of elderly Americans have at least one chronic disease. And 50% have two or more!
And the ORAC tests help explain these terrible numbers. The truth is, our diets are woefully deficient in nutrient-dense, high-ORAC foods.
USDA researchers estimate that you need somewhere around 5,000 ORAC units in your diet every day to get the ORAC benefits that slow aging and prevent disease.
But they also estimate that the average American gets only 1,200 ORAC units a day. This means that most of us are eating our way to one or more of the chronic diseases of aging.
Is it any wonder, then, that the diseases of aging are out of control? The average American gets less than the antioxidant (ORAC) value of one serving of spinach every day.
So what do you do if you hate spinach? No worries! There are many foods that rank high on the ORAC scale. Many delicious fruits and vegetables have high ORAC values: prunes, raisins, blueberries, blackberries, kale, alfalfa sprouts, and Brussels sprouts are all rich in ORAC. Just find the ones you like, and eat more of them.
Vitamin C, a common health supplement, scores 1,890 units per gram. (For comparison, spinach delivers 12.6 units per gram) And that’s another very good reason to supplement your diet with antioxidant vitamins.
But if you want to get serious about a true anti-aging diet, there are specialty food ingredients available that deliver far higher ORAC values than ordinary foods and vitamins.
The Next Level of ORAC
Scientists are now testing "superfood" antioxidants that can give you astonishing ORAC protection- much higher than ordinary foods and vitamins.
One of these new generation ORAC foods, derived from the skin of immature apples, tests as high as 13,000 per gram on the scale- over 1000 times more powerful than spinach!
Anti-aging enthusiasts are now using these super-antioxidant ORAC foods to get maximum protection for aging and related physical and mental decline.
Why? Because high-ORAC foods may slow aging. And the next-generation ORAC food ingredients are showing remarkable health benefits in human and animal studies, against the same diseases associated with aging- heart disease, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
So let me ask you:
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
Healthy Eating Habits - What We Can Learn From A 6-Month Old
Healthy Eating Habits - What We Can Learn From A 6-Month Old was written by Melanie Jordan from healthyeatingcoach.com
When my niece was 6 months old. she started eating "real" baby food beyond the formula in her bottle, and I got a kick out of feeding her one of her meals of squash. Okay, so not all of it got in her mouth, but she was pretty cooperative overall.
I was curious as to what else she was eating, and my sister-in-law showed me an assortment of baby food jars containing green beans, carrots, bananas and a variety of other fruits and vegetables.
It was at this moment the following thought hit me. When we come into this world we are mainly vegetarians and flexitarians with healthy eating habits We don't start off eating meat, poultry and the various other junk food we become accustomed to later on. The craving for these items is something we learn. And if we can learn it, we can also "unlearn" it. That's what I did when I used my unique Fallback Methods to make the easy, gradual transition to my healthy "NMP" (a form of flexitarianism) eating style. By the way, I coined the acronym "NMP" to describe my healthy eating style. It stands for "no meat or poultry", but unlike vegetarian diets, includes fish, and its emphasis on converting favorite comfort foods we all grew up on and like to eat out, into more healthful meatless forms.
You can do your children a huge favor by bringing them up vegetarian or flexitarian (I call it "NMP"), or at least as "NMP" as possible, and letting them continue with the non-meat/poultry diet they naturally started when they first were introduced to solid food. You can also help the other children in your life including grandchildren and nieces and nephews, by teaching them when you have time with them that good food choices are their friends.
There is an epidemic of overweight and obese kids in the United States due to poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle (too much television, video games and computer time). So diseases like Type II diabetes which are supposed to be adult onset are starting to show up even in teenagers. Researchers have shown that arteries can begin being clogged by poor diet from the early years of childhood on. It's never too soon to adopt healthy eating habits that can put a child in the best possible position to have a very long and healthy life.
So does this mean that as your kids grow they cannot have all the "traditional" kid fare that all of us love like hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken nuggets? Not at all! There are healthy and delicious non-meat/poultry versions of all of these foods that you can use, and feel good about giving your child. So your kids can definitely "have their cheeseburger and keep their health too!" There's even one company, Yves, that has introduced a line of lunchable-type meals that mimic those incredibly unhealthy, heavily-advertised meals that kids are often sent off to school with.
And, just because you're not a kid (at least in numeric age) anymore yourself, it doesn't mean that you can't easily "unlearn" and improve upon your current eating habits. "NMP" eating is designed to allow you to eat healthfully, yet still have all your favorite comfort foods. "NMP" also teaches you to avoid hidden food dangers. It's the unique combination of the two that gives you the best of all possible worlds when it comes to diet and your health. So why not make "NMP" the healthy eating style of choice in your household? It's never too early and it's never too late!
Note: Please check with your pediatrician or other healthcare professionals to determine the best way to incorporate healthy "NMP" eating in your child's diet or yours and its applicability to your particular situation.
Copyright 2008 SunLover Publishing LLC
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
What's That In My Food!
What's That In My Food! was written by Kathy Thompson from faceuptoit-youcan.com
If you drop a bomb, you kill not only your enemies but your friends as well. This is the effect food additives have on humans.
Man has existed for thousands of years, and only started using additives at the start of the industrial revolution, when women were set free. Most animals eat their food when and where it is grown. Not humans. Man, because of his concentrated urban areas, was forced to ship and process his food.
Food additives are any substances added to food which may have some "useful" purpose, such as protection from deterioration or spoilage.
Additives are also used to improve taste, flavor, texture, and appearance to restore nutritive value and to aide in processing and packaging. There are at least 704 additives used in the processing of our food.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, manufacturers have to prove that the additives are necessary.
Additives kill bacteria of all living organisms in the food, so there is no decay. There is nothing to prevent them from harming body enzymes and organs.
Milk is a good example. Calcium chloride is added to canned and evaporated milk. It is also used to melt snow and causes metal parts to disintegrate. Milk substitutes contain an array of acids and gases.
Choose your bread carefully. It takes five times the chemicals to make whole wheat bread than white bread.
Sugar is pumped so full of acids, then boiled several times, which makes it the deadest and most dangerous product on the market. Meat has about 13 different additives, ranging from dyes to acids to buffers.
Then to find out what's in your food-read labels and check with the FDA.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
What You Eat Can Protect Your Skin From The Sun
What You Eat Can Protect Your Skin From The Sun was written by Barbara Levine from ARAcontent.com
(ARA)- By now you probably think you've heard all of the health reasonsthere are for eating your vegetables. But recently, researchers fromHarvard University have announced that lutein -- a potent antioxidantfound in such dark green, leafy vegetables as spinach and kale -- mayprotect the skin from sun damage.
"Lutein has been widelyrecognized for its eye health benefits for several years. But, our datais the first of its kind to suggest that lutein may have the potentialto act as a preventative agent against UVB-induced skin cancer," saidSalvador Gonzalez, M.D., Ph.D., leader of the Harvard research team."In addition, these data suggest that lutein protects the skin againstdamage caused by exposure to UVB light, further validating our positionthat lutein is a critical component to overall skin health."
Lutein(LOO-teen) is a yellow pigment (the yellow is covered up by chlorophyllin green leaves) found predominantly in vegetables. It is also presentin the eyes and skin of the human body. In women, lutein is found inthe breasts and cervix. As an antioxidant, lutein protects the eyesfrom the damaging effects of aging. Lutein also acts as a light filter,protecting against the sun's harmful rays.
UVA and UVB rays aretwo types of harmful rays found in sunlight. UVA rays contribute towrinkling the skin, as well as to the development of skin cancer. UVBrays are the ones that are the primary cause of sunburn and skin cancer.
Goodsunscreens block both UVA and UVB rays and are critical to skin health.But, you can do even more to protect your skin and eyes when you'reoutside.
Safety tips to keep top of mind:
It's important to note that when lutein isconsumed in foods or vitamins, it deposits in various tissues in thebody -- the eyes, the skin, fat tissue and so on. Therefore, it mayalso be beneficial to apply lutein directly to the surface of yourskin. Several skin care products containing lutein are now availableand can be purchased online at www.sephora.com or at salons that carry California Tan Heliotherapy sun care products.
Formore information about how lutein can help promote healthy eyes andskin, talk to your doctor and visit the Lutein Information Bureau at www.luteininfo.com.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
Organic Food - The Benefits Of Natural And Organic Produce
Organic Food - The Benefits Of Natural And Organic Produce was written by Carrie Reeder from ezerk.com
Havingspent most of my life living off of junk food, I was pretty shockedwhen I started learning about what goes into the produce we consumeevery day from the grocery store.
Most of the produce you wouldbuy at the grocery store has been genetically modified to be moreappealing to the customer. But, evidence suggests that geneticallymodified food can be harmful to your health. There are very fewregulations on genetically modified food, and there aren’t any longterm studies on how they affect human health. About 70% of the food youpick up at the grocery has been genetically modified.
Also,there are many types of insecticides used on produce, that arepotentially harmful to your health. Farmers, nowadays, do not use theproper crop rotation when growing their produce. Crop rotation means:The successive planting of different crops on the same land to improvesoil fertility and help control insects and diseases. The by-product ofno crop rotation is that food in general is much less nutritious andraises a need for more insecticides to be used.
To avoid thehealth risks that can be associated with eating food that has beengenetically modified, has been treated with pesticides and does not useproper crop rotation, eat organic food.
Organic food has beenproven to contain sometimes 2-3 times the nutrients that conventionalproduce has. And with so little research available on this subject, whoknow how many other ways conventional produce is damaging to ourhealth. How many other ways could organic food be better for us?
Ifyou don’t believe it, try it. When I first began learning about organicfood and the differences between it and conventional food, I went to ahealth food store and bought a bunch or organic produce. I couldn’tbelieve the difference in taste. The tomatoes I had bought in thegrocery store had very little flavor and could only be used as aningredient in a dish, definitely not something you would want to eatplain. But, the organic tomatoes I bought, I found myself just sittingdown and eating plain. They actually had a garden fresh flavor to them.Usually when I would buy fruit, it would sit and rot on the table untilI threw it away. It just never sounded good. Now, when I buy organicfruit, I can hardly keep myself from snacking on it all day. It justtastes so much better and healthier.
I have definitely noticed adifference in the way I feel after switching to eating mostly organicfood. I have more energy. I crave healthier food. I feel more satisfiedwhen I eat. I don’t crave junk food or sugary snacks anymore. I knowother people too, who have noticed the same effects from switching toan organic diet.
To find more information about organic food visit: more about organic food.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
Monitoring BMI In Children Today Could Lead To Better Health
Monitoring BMI In Children Today Could Lead To Better Health was written by Dave Saunders from glycoboy.com
In a new study published by the American Heart Association, it is suggested that infants who gain weight rapidly during their first week may be more likely to have weight problems later in life. This study has led to a recommendation to monitor Body Mass Index (BMI) readings in children in an effort to fight obesity through heightened awareness.
According to the American Heart Association, about 15% of children are overweight and obese. This measure is up from 5% in the 1980s. Children measuring in the top 5th percentile of BMI should be considered overweight, however this measure is not necessarily an automatic recommendation for severe diet changes, which may be especially harmful for children. As a child develops further, these measures can change without changes to diet.
Children falling between 80% and 95% are considered "at-risk" and should be monitored further.
As obesity rates continue to rise in the US, studies like these continue to gain in importance. As the child develops, potential health risks may be prevented through early awareness and lifestyle management. How this may impact cardiovascular disease and Type II Diabetes rates will likely require many years to measure.
Of course, all of these recommendations should be factored in with education and support for improved lifestyle and diet. Given the pressures of youth, it is important to not stigmatize a child and foster eating problems and poor self-image where the body mass problems may have been associated more simply with poor, and uneducated, dietary choices and insufficient physical activity.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
Healthy Eating Myths Destroyed
Healthy Eating Myths Destroyed was written by Dr. Jamie Fettig from HealthyEatingDiet.com
Some of the things you think you know that just ain’t so (these myths are not true):
The Medical professions current way of thinking about cholesterol. They look and see lots of cholesterol in the blood. So they scratch their head and say, well, don’t eat so much cholesterol then. If you eat less cholesterol, you will not have as much in your blood. Now, on the surface, it sounds good. But there are two major flaws with their theory. The first one. It doesn’t work. I dare you to try and find someone whose cholesterol significantly went down by eating less cholesterol. You will be hard pressed to find someone. Even with medication.
That brings in my favorite definition of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. This is what the medical profession has been doing for Years. Telling people to do the same thing, with out really getting results, expecting to get different results. It just doesn’t work that way.
The Second flaw in their theory is this. The cholesterol in your blood is not the same cholesterol in the food you eat. Your body actually has to break down the cholesterol in the food you eat, and then absorb the pieces of the cholesterol. Then your body, if it wants to, has to reassemble the pieces back into the cholesterol you find in your blood. And your body does not make cholesterol, unless you need it.
The question is then why would you need cholesterol in your blood?
Cholesterol’s primary job is to carry glucose (sugar) around the blood stream. You need an equal number of cholesterol units as you have sugar molecules in your blood. So if you have 3000 sugar molecules in your blood, you need 3,000 cholesterol molecules to carry them. The actual numbers are much, much higher than this, but you get the point.
The more glucose or sugar molecules you have in your blood, the more cholesterol you need to carry them.
So what affects your blood sugar levels? Mostly what you eat. Refined Carbohydrates. When you eat refined carbohydrates, the get digested and absorbed into the blood stream very quickly. Your body then very quickly converts the refined carbohydrates into glucose. This causes a spike in your blood glucose levels. And if you have a high amount of glucose in the blood, what do you need again? That is right; you need lots of cholesterol to carry those glucose guys around.
Your body is smart. It learns from the past. If you are constantly having high amounts of glucose because of the food you eat. Your body prepares for the next time that you eat refined carbohydrates. It prepares by having lots of cholesterol on reserves to deal with the certain increase in glucose levels that are inevitably going to happen.
So if you eat refined carbohydrates often (daily) your body prepares by keeping lots of cholesterol on reserve to deal with this. This is one of the biggest reasons why so many people have high cholesterol levels. Your body is smart, and it is preparing for the inevitability of your blood glucose levels going way up from eating refined carbohydrates.
Like I said, your body is smart. It is a very quick learner. If you quit eating food that makes your blood sugar levels high, your body will get rid of the excess of cholesterol levels in your blood. That is why, often with in weeks, your cholesterol levels drop significantly, often 50 or 100 or more points, when you quit eating refined carbohydrates.
Now, the trick comes with, what is "refined carbohydrates". Refined carbohydrates are things that are mostly calories from carbohydrates that have been refined from how they are found in nature including most sugars. Great, what does that mean? Things like breads, crackers, pastas, sugar (in most forms), and grains are refined carbohydrates.
To safely, significantly lower your cholesterol level with in weeks, quit eating refined carbohydrates. It is that simple. And again, don’t take my word for it. Do it yourself, and measure your cholesterol levels before and after, and you will see for yourself. If you cut refined carbohydrates out completely, you will often notice the 50-100 point drops within weeks. If you still eat refined carbohydrates, you will notice a decrease, but not as quickly. And the amount your cholesterol drops will be in direct proportion to how much refined carbohydrates you quit eating. The less you eat, the more it will drop. It really is that simple.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
The Skinny On Salt
The Skinny On Salt was written by Jeremy Likness from losefatnotfaith.com
Salt was used long before recorded history began. One of the earliest known writings, the Chinese Png-tzao-kan-mu, mentioned more than 40 types of salt.
This work was written over 4700 years ago. Even older settlements have been found around the world with various devices such as pottery used to evaporate water to leave the salt behind. It is speculated by some that major civilizations flourished in arid regions at the edge of vast deserts due to the physiological need for salt.
Salt, or sodium chloride, is a chemical compound. Salt occurs naturally in many areas of the world. Salt crystals are cubic in form - if you view salt through a magnifying glass, you will see small "squares" or cubes.
Salt is an essential nutrient - your body requires both sodium and chloride, and cannot manufacture these elements on its own. This is why there is a human gustatory receptor (taste bud) specifically for salt, forming one of the basic components of "taste". Salt is an electrolyte and has a slight charge. Salt preserves food by making it difficult for microorganisms to live - the salt draws water from the cells of microorganisms and dehydrates them.
In the body, salt helps to regulate blood volume and pressure. The relationship between salt and blood pressure was known as long as 4,000 years ago, when the Chinese emperor Huang Ti wrote of the connection between salt and a "hardened pulse." Many studies have shown that increasing or decreasing salt intake for salt-sensitive individuals can have a direct impact on blood pressure.
Within the body, salt serves as part of the ion pump. Just as salt formed a hostile environment for microorganisms by dehydrating them, salt controls water balance in the human body. The sodium/potassium pump is a prime example of how electrolytes are critical to health (sodium and potassium are both electrolytes). Two potassium molecules are pulled into a cell, and three sodium molecules are pumped out. This is an endless cycle, with the net result that cells carry a slightly negative electrical charge.
For many years, controversy has existed with respect to the optimal amounts of salt in the diet. Unfortunately, many studies focused on the salt content of foods without taking into account other electrolytes. Biologically and physiologically, sodium intake alone does not regulate the sodium/potassium pump - potassium intake is important as well! More important than the amount of sodium in the diet is the ratio of sodium to potassium. While food labels are required to report sodium content, they are not required to report potassium content, which makes analyzing potassium intake extremely difficult.
Recent research suggests that this ratio is critical. While many studies have focused on high sodium content in the diet, it appears that problems with hypertension may be related more to an inappropriate ratio of sodium to potassium. Processed foods are extremely high in sodium. The major sources of potassium are fruits and vegetables. In recent years, the typical American diet has increased in the amount of processed foods and drastically decreased in the amount of whole, unprocessed foods such as fruit and vegetables. This means that sodium intake is potentially much higher than potassium intake.
When monitoring sodium in the diet, it is important to consider two factors. The first factor already discussed is the ratio of sodium to potassium. In order to balance this ratio, it is important to eat whole, unprocessed foods and not to add excessive salt to meals. This will lower the amount of sodium in the diet. One should also increase the amount of fruit and vegetables consumed in order to increase potassium in the diet. The exact ratio is unknown, but research suggests that a 1:1 ratio is probably a good target. The typical American diet is more than a 5:1 ratio in favor of salt!
The second factor to consider is fluctuation of intake. Salt sensitivity is not sensitivity to salt in general. It is sensitivity to a drastic change of salt intake. If a person is taking 5 grams of sodium consistently, then suddenly goes on a low sodium diet, problems can occur with a radical shift in blood pressure. Similarly, someone on a "low sodium" diet who suddenly increases sodium intake may experience similar problems. This is why many people who eat healthy throughout the week and then treat themselves to a "splurge" meal sometimes feel nauseous and can even experience elevated heart rate and blood pressure: it is the body's reaction to the sudden increase in salt intake.
The sodium/potassium pump affects fluid balance. The body monitors the amount of salt and potassium in the bloodstream, as the body has no mechanism for storing electrolytes. Sodium and potassium are typically filtered in the kidney. When a shortage of either exists, the body secretes hormones that drastically reduce excretion of electrolytes and fluids. This is why cutting out sodium too soon before a body building competition can actually cause the competitor to retain water - the body is reacting to the lowered intake by preserving fluids and electrolytes.
To summarize, the skinny on salt is as follows:
The lesson here is one of moderation. Salt is not the enemy, and by no means should it be eliminated from the diet. On the other hand, everyone should be aware of the role that sodium plays in a balanced nutrition program, to make sure that excessive salt is not being consumed. Balance salt intake with potassium intake. The preferred source of any vitamin, mineral, or other nutrient is always natural, unprocessed foods.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
Focus On Fiber: How Much Is Enough?
Focus On Fiber: How Much Is Enough? was written by Monique N. Gilbert
Looking for an easy and natural way increase your vitality and improve your overall well-being? Try eating more fiber!
Theaverage American only gets about half the amount of fiber they needeveryday for their body to function optimally. According to theAmerican Heart Association (AHA), fiber helps lower cholesterol and isimportant for the health of our digestive system. Both the AHA and theNational Cancer Institute recommend that we consume 25 to 30 grams offiber daily.
Dietary fiber is a transparent solid complexcarbohydrate that is the main part of the cell walls of plants. It hastwo forms: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber may help lower bloodcholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. Insolublefiber provides the bulk needed for proper functioning of the stomachand intestines. It promotes healthy intestinal action and preventsconstipation by moving bodily waste through the digestive tract faster,so harmful substances don't have as much contact with the intestinalwalls.
Unfortunately, many people are not eating this muchfiber, which is causing serious cardio-vascular health concerns.Recently the AHA and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) confirmedthat coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the UnitedStates, killing more people than any other disease. It causes heartattack and angina (chest pain). A blood clot that goes to the heart isconsidered a heart attack, but if it goes to the brain it is a stroke.The AHA ranks stoke as the third most fatal disease in America, causingparalysis and brain damage.
Eating a high-fiber diet cansignificantly lower our risk of heart attack, stroke and colon cancer.A 19-year follow-up study reported in the November 2001 issue ofArchives of Internal Medicine indicated that increasing bean and legumeintakes may be an important part of a dietary approach to preventingcoronary heart disease. Beans and legumes are high in protein andsoluble fiber. Another study reported in the January 2002 issue of theJournal of the American College of Cardiology also suggests thatincreasing our consumption of fiber-rich foods like whole grains,fruits and vegetables, can significantly lower the risk of heartdisease. Additionally, results from recent studies at the AmericanInstitute of Cancer Research indicate high-fiber protein-rich soyfoods, such as textured soy protein (also known as TVP) and tempeh,help in preventing and treating colon cancer.
Whole beans,soybeans and other legumes are excellent sources of fiber. A 1 cupserving of cooked navy beans contains about 19 grams of fiber! Alwaysread the Nutrition Facts label to find out the amount of, and the typeof, fiber contained in any particular food. To help you achieve yourdaily allotment of fiber, here is a list of various foods with theirfiber content.
Examples of Dietary Fiber:
MoniqueN. Gilbert, B.Sc. is a Personal Health, Nutrition & LifestyleCoach; Certified Personal Trainer/Fitness Counselor; Recipe Developer,Freelance Writer and Author. Go to http://www.MoniqueNGilbert.com to learn more about Monique’s coaching.
Copyright © Monique N. Gilbert - All Rights Reserved
References:
**"Legume consumption and risk of coronary heart disease in US men andwomen: NHANES I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study." Bazzano, L. A., He, J.,Ogden, L. G., Loria, C., Vupputuri, S., Myers, L., Whelton, P. K.,Archives of Internal Medicine 2001 Nov 26;161(21):2573-2578.
**"A prospective study of dietary fiber intake and risk of cardiovasculardisease among women." Liu, S., Buring, J. E., Sesso, H. D., Rimm, E.B., Willett, W. C., Manson, J. E., Journal of the American College ofCardiology 2002 Jan 2;39(1):49-56.
** "Virtues of Soy: A Practical Health Guide and Cookbook" by Monique N. Gilbert, Universal Publishers, 2001, pp. 11, 18, 24.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
Must Have List Of Foods That Lower Cholesterol
Must Have List Of Foods That Lower Cholesterol was written by Dave Saunders from glycoboy.com
Cholesterol is present in our bodies by one of two ways; our liver produces cholesterol and we eat foods containing cholesterol. High amounts of cholesterol, especially LDL cholesterol that is bad for us, can lead to many health complications and significantly increase your risk of heart diseases.
While there are many foods that are high in LDL cholesterol, there are a lot, which can actually help to lower your LDL cholesterol levels and increase your HDL cholesterol or the good cholesterol. Here's a list of foods that lower cholesterol, which is a must have for anyone who is trying to reduce their LDL levels and increase their HDL levels.
Apples: Everyone has heard of the saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away". Well, apples are also very good for lowering your LDL cholesterol levels. 2 full apples, or 12 ounces of apple juice, if taken everyday, can reduce your risk of heart diseases by as much as 50%.
Garlic: Garlic helps to lower LDL cholesterol and thins your blood naturally. This prevents clogging up of arteries and thus lowers your risk of heart diseases.
Onions: Eating just half a raw onion everyday can increase your HDL levels by 25% and lower your LDL as well.
Beans and Legumes: These contain soluble fiber which helps to increase your HDL cholesterol and reduce your LDL cholesterol. All kinds of beans and legumes such as pinto, kidney, black-eyed, lentils, pink beans, etc are good for your heart.
Unsaturated Fats: Contrary to the misconception that all kinds of fat are bad for you, unsaturated fats and omega 3 fatty acids can actually be good for your heart. Monounsaturated fats (olive oil, canola, peanut, and almond oil) and polyunsaturated fats (corn oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil etc) increase the HDL cholesterol and lower the LDL cholesterol and are thus good for your heart.
Other Cholesterol Lowering Foods: Oats, fenugreek, artichokes, turmeric, guggul, green tea, nuts, and black tea, are all known to lower LDL cholesterol in your body.
Of course, diet is no substitute for a doctor’s care when you are ill. Diet and nutrition represent "the other side of the coin" and always inform your doctor whenever you make a dietary change, especially if you are on a pharmaceutical drug.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
Fruits For Summer: Summer Skin Care
Fruits For Summer: Summer Skin Care was written by Jasdeep Singh from weightloss-health.com
Summer is the time when we sweat highly and beating the heat is always high on our agenda. So, we move on to aerated drinks or other beverages. But what we tend to ignore is that we can fight the heat in a much healthier way. That is, through FRUITS. Fruits not only provide us with the required fluids but also the electrolytes which we lose while sweating.
Excess of dehydration can cause headaches, dizziness, loss of concentration and muscle cramping. So to counter that, Summer provides us with a larger variety of fruits so that we can make up the lost fluids and electrolytes. Here is the list of some highly beneficial fruits specially in summers.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
Healthy Eating Myths Shattered
Healthy Eating Myths Shattered was written by Dr. Jamie Fettig from HealthyEatingDiet.com
Salt does Not Cause High Blood Pressure. Some things you need to know first to fully understand blood pressure, as well as helping you to understand about many other things in your body: The difference between average and normal.
Average is a mathematical statistic. Don’t let that big M word scare you. All average means is that you add up all the totals you have and divide by the number of totals you added. This gives you an average of the group of numbers.
Normal is what is right for an individual, or what is common or appropriate for each particular person.
What the medical profession does is make the average normal. They measure a bunch of people’s blood pressure, divide the added totals by the number of people they measured, and come up with an average blood pressure. And then they say this is the normal blood pressure for everyone.
I will let you in on a little secret. If you had the blood pressure I have at this exact moment, you would probably pass out. If you had the same blood pressure standing as you did sitting, you would probably pass out. Your blood pressure changes all the time, all day long. Your normal blood pressure needs to be different than everyone else’s. You need the right blood pressure for you at the right time. If you had the average blood pressure all the time, you probably would be dead by now.
So what do you do with this? Take all the numbers the doctors give you with "a grain of salt." Just because their charts show that you "should be" in this range does not mean you actually should. You are different than everyone else. Your normal might be outside of the range of average that they go by and still be perfectly healthy for you.
So your "high blood pressure" might very well be normal for you. And if it is actually too high for your normal, salt really has nothing to do with it.
Again the medical profession came up with a theory and never really tested it before they released it as "truth" on the world. Someone said that salt attracts water, and blood has water in it. So if you get rid of some of the salt in the blood, then there will be less water in the blood as well. And if there is less volume of blood, the pressure will have to be less. That was their theory and they began telling people to eat less salt thinking it would lower people’s blood pressure. No real tests, no real studies, and yet believed to be true by many.
Here is the real proof it is garbage. Try and find one person whose blood pressure decreased because they quit eating salt. You will be very hard pressed to find one person. Because eating less salt does not lower your blood pressure. Just like a Diuretic, medications that cause you to release more water than your body wants to from your blood through your kidneys, is often prescribed to attempt to help lower blood pressure. And again, I dare you to try and find people who this has helped.
You see, the body is so much smarter than we are. Many more internal factors go into what your blood pressure is than how much water you have in your blood. Your Blood pressure is a function of your blood vessels, the stuff in your blood, the muscles in and around your blood vessels, your heart, and so much more. If you force water out of the body, your body will compensate in other ways to keep your pressure at your unique normal. Your body knows best where your blood pressure should be. And until you change one or some of the internal factors (and medications do not count) your body will do everything in its power to keep things where they are at.
Want something that is free and easy that decreases the blood pressure significantly for many people who actually do it? Drink Water. It often is as simple as that and here is a perfect example of why. Imagine some really thick ketchup and trying to suck it through a straw. Versus if you put a bunch of water in the ketchup and mix it up and suck the ketchup through the straw. Does it take more or less pressure to suck the watered down ketchup through a straw? It takes less pressure. Similar with your blood. If your blood is thick and sludgy because you are dehydrated, your body will increase your pressure to force the blood through the little itty-bitty vessels and capillaries.
Actually, your blood pressure is more than this. And drinking water does so much more than make your blood thinner so it flows through the vessels easier. Whatever the reasons, drinking water often lowers people’s blood pressure.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
Avoiding High Cholesterol Foods
Avoiding High Cholesterol Foods was written by Dave Saunders from glycoboy.com
Cholesterol finds its way into our bodies in two main ways. The first is through our liver, which produces differing amounts of cholesterol in different people, and the second is through our diet.
A certain amount of cholesterol is needed by our bodies, but the liver makes all that is required for us. Any cholesterol that we intake through our food, is all extra cholesterol, and should be avoided as far as possible. Thus, what to eat and what not to eat becomes a major concern for people who are trying to become healthier and lower their cholesterol levels.
Many foods contain cholesterol and many don’t. Food stuffs such as oils, fats, and animal products including meat, eggs etc are cholesterol containing foods. Plant foods do not contain cholesterol.
Within the category of cholesterol containing foods, there are those that are cholesterol high foods, while some may contain lesser amounts of cholesterol. Egg yolks as opposed to egg whites contain a very high amount of cholesterol. But of late, research has lead doctors to believe that egg yolks increase the HDL cholesterol, which is good for your heart and not the LDL cholesterol that is bad for you.
If you are in a quandary as to what to eat to lower your cholesterol levels, you should minimize your intake of meat, fats, and dairy products. Increasing your intake of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains can be very good for your heart as they are not cholesterol high foods.
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts
10 Flaxseed Facts To Improve Your Nutrition
10 Flaxseed Facts To Improve Your Nutritionwas written by Annika Rockwell
Flaxseeds may be the smallest seeds you willfind in any health food store, but there is nothing little about theirenormous contribution to our overall health. Discovered in 5,000 BC,these little brown seeds were worshiped for their magical properties,such as healing the intestines, skin conditions, improving energy, andoverall health.
Here are ten great reasons to eat flaxseeds every day:
1) Packed with minerals
Minerals not only build your bones, but give you energy. Flaxseedscontain 7 times more potassium than a banana and more calcium than acup of skim milk! Consuming about a ½ cup of flaxseeds per day willprovide you with 831mg of Potassium, 236mg of Calcium, 431mg ofMagnesium, and 112mcg of folic acid.
2) Help prevent cancer
Flaxseeds are rich in lignans, which have been researched anddocumented to have anti-cancer properties, especially inhormone-sensitive cancers such as breast, prostate, and endometrium.Lignans help excrete dangerous estrogens, which cause breast cancer,and they also help prevent estrogen-caused tumor growth. In addition,lignans prevent testosterone binding, which in turn helps preventprostate cancer. The active ingredient in lignans, SDG, inhibits newtumor growth and development as well as the growth of establishedtumors. A ½ cup of flaxseeds contains 53 mg of lignans, way more thanfruits and veggies which contain about 0.001 mg.
3) Improve immune system strength
From HIV to the common cold, Omega 3s and lignans within flaxseeds helpstrengthen the immune cells. Research shows that this type of immunemodulation has been helpful for auto-immune conditions such as Lupusand Rheumatoid arthritis.
4) Enhance brain development in infants
The omega 3s in flaxseeds have been shown to significantly improvebrain and retina development in unborn infants and the infants oflactating mothers. This research recently allowed for the makers ofinfant formula to include this essential fat.
5) Loaded with healthy Omega 3 fat
Aside from fatty fish, flaxseeds are one of the only foods containinglarge amounts of the incredibly beneficial Omega 3 fat, which nourishesyour brain and gives your skin and hair a healthy glow. A 1/2 cup ofgrounded seeds will give you up to 50 grams of Omega 3, which is a gooddaily dose.
6) Help you burn body fat
Our cells are loaded with unhealthy fats from fries and junk food,which slow down our metabolism and contribute to obesity. Adding inhealthy Omega 3 fats and fiber gets your metabolism burning at a higherrate. In addition, flaxseeds are high in fiber and protein which helpyou feel fuller faster.
7) Eliminate constipation
Since flaxseeds are 30% fiber and 40% healthy fat, a ½ cup of seedsdaily provides 27 grams of fiber and 50 grams Omega 3s which worktogether to heal the intestines and provide constipation relief. Thisamount of fiber also meets the US National Cancer Instituterecommendations for daily intake.
8) Improve hypoglycemia and diabetes
The fiber and protein in the seeds help keep blood sugar more stablethroughout the day, because fiber slows the release of insulin.
9) Decrease risk of heart disease, coronary artery disease, and strokes
Flaxseeds are documented to decrease tryglicerides, increase good HDL,and decrease platelet reactivity, all of which are critical for keepingyour heart and arteries healthy.
10) Decrease inflammation
Inflammation causes migraines, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease,lupus, MS, psoriasis, and allergies. The omega 3s in flaxseeds inhibitinflammation by lowering inflammatory cytokines.
Incorporate flaxseeds in your diet today! You can find flax recipes andmore info at http://www.RockwellNutrition.com.
Two excellent flax products are: FiPro Ground Flax Seeds by OakmontLabs: http://www.rockwellnutrition.com/product.asp?itemid=782
Pure Organic Flaxseed Oil by Pharmax: http://www.rockwellnutrition.com/product.asp?itemid=44
Remember to subscribemy full feed to get latest posts
The Worshipful Company Of Bakers
The Worshipful Company Of Bakers was written by Jeremy Likness from losefatnotfaith.com
Bread is one of the oldest known recipes to man. It has been around for several millennia ...
The recent low-carbohydrate craze has given bread a bad reputation, but not all breads are created equal. There are more varieties of bread than there are supplement companies. This article will explain the history of bread, the types of bread, and the role that bread can play in the quest for good health and a better body.
The History of Bread
It is estimated that the first bread was made around 10000 years BC or over 12,000 years in the past. This bread was more than likely flatbread, similar to a tortilla, made simply of ground grains (flour) and water that was mashed and baked. The first tools and implements used in the making of bread are dated to about 8000 years BC.
Egypt is attributed with popularizing the art of making bread. Egyptians are considered to be the agricultural pioneers of the old world, probably benefiting from interactions with Samaria. The closed oven was invented circa 3000 BC and allowed for more varieties of bread to be produced. It is around this time that leavened bread is first described, that is bread, bread with yeast added so that it would rise during production. Refined grains were considered superior and therefore were prevalent in the higher courts, so the poorer populations used barley and sorghum in their breads.
Around 1000 BC the Mosaic laws were introduced. These laws, in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, contained instructions to the nation of Israel regarding proper food preparation. When the Hebrew people fled Egypt during the legendary Exodus, they were forced to make unleavened (flat) bread in their haste. Leviticus declares a feast commemorating the exodus using flatbread. Bread is a common symbol of bounty in the bible – Leviticus 21:22 declares, "He shall eat the bread of his God." When the people of God were lost in the wilderness, they were fed manna, which was described as bread from heaven. The Christian Savior, Jesus Christ, is called the "Bread of Life".
The bible also gives one of the earliest recipes for sprouted grain bread. It reads, in Ezekiel 4:9-17: "The thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof." While more than a year of nothing but this bread sounds like quite a marathon diet, analysis of products today using the same recipe show that it was a well-balanced, nutritious bread that yielded plenty of protein, fiber, carbohydrate, and healthy fat.
In 400 BC, around the time when Socrates was providing sage dietary advice, Plato imagined an ideal world. In this world, men would live to a ripe old age. Their main source of sustenance would be whole grain bread from local wheat.
168 BC saw the establishment of baker’s guilds in Rome. Bread even played a major role in politics when, in 40 BC, as part of a campaign, it was decreed that bread should be freely distributed to every male adult.
In 1202 AD, English laws were passed to regulate the production of bread. While many people are aware of the differences between whole grain (brown) bread and white breads, few realize that it caused quite a stir in 1307 when the white bread bakers and brown bread bakers split to form separate guilds! It was not until two centuries later, in 1569, that the guilds were reunited and called the "Worshipful Company of Bakers."
As early as 1826, the whole grain bread used by the military was called superior for health to the white, refined bread used by the aristocracy. In fact, the term refined today comes from this fact. Before the industrial revolution, it was more labor consuming (and therefore costly) to refine bread, so white bread was the main staple for aristocracy. This made them "refined".
In 1910, Americans were eating 210 pounds of wheat flour every year. The commercial bread-slicing machine was invented in 1912 by Otto Rohwedder, and unveiled in 1928. The 1930s saw the United States pursue a diet enrichment program to begin fortifying breads with vitamins and minerals after their discovery in the late 1920s. In 1941, calcium was added to help prevent rickets, observed in many female recruits to the military. In 1956, it became the law to enrich all refined breads. By 1971 consumption of white bread had dropped to around 110 pounds per year, but by 1997 (possibly due in part to the low fat, high carbohydrate craze and the food pyramid) consumption was up to 150 pounds – still 60 pounds shy of the fit, trim Americans at the turn of the century.
Types of Bread
There are many types of bread. This is by no means an exhaustive list.
In the most basic form, grinding grains, adding water, and heating it produces whole grain flatbread. Whole grain bread is similar, only yeast is added so that the bread rises. White bread starts out similar to whole grain bread. The grain is processed, however. The hard, outer portion of the grain is stripped, removing fiber and many vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats that are naturally available. The remaining portion is ground to a fine powder, the enriched with a generic spray of vitamins and minerals. This is then used to bake the bread.
Spelt bread is a grain-bread, but made from special wheat that does not contain gluten. Gluten, a form of protein, is a common allergen and gluten intolerance or allergies are quite common.
Since whole grains are not sweet, sourdough bread is simply wheat bread with no sweetener added. Once a sweetener is added – often high fructose corn syrup in commercial breads, but typically brown sugar, honey, or molasses in fresh baked breads – it becomes the typical bread you are used to buying.
Varieties such as oat, barley, rye, kamut, triticale, millet, and even rice bread are simply variations using different grains other than traditional wheat. Sometimes seeds and spices are added, creating varieties such as basil, garlic, onion, or cinnamon bread.
Sprouted grain bread has increased in popularity in recent years. Traditional bread is made from ground flour from the hardened kernel of grain. Sprouted grain bread involves soaking the grain and allowing it to sprout. The sprouted seedlings are then mashed together and baked. Sprouting allows the enzymes in the grain to convert some of the carbohydrates and fats to vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Due to the changes that take place, sprouted grain bread typically is higher in protein, fiber, and certain vitamins and minerals than regular bread. It is also less refined and processed than even stone ground wheat bread, so it has less of an impact on your blood sugar.
Bread and Nutrition
Many commercial types of bread are highly refined. Enriched breads have the original nutrients stripped out and replaced with inferior, often lesser quantities of standard vitamins and minerals. Some companies will try to produce wholesome-looking bread by adding grains to the outside, even when the main ingredient is enriched bread. High fructose corn syrup is often added as a sweetener.
The first thing to look at when purchasing breads is the ingredients list. Look for breads where the very first ingredient is "whole grain" or "stone ground" rather than "enriched" (even if whole grains follow the enriched flour ingredient). Look for natural sweeteners like molasses or honey over high fructose corn syrup. Preferably, the sweetener and salt should be last on the ingredients list. If you consume high quantities of bread or keep the bread refrigerated, it will last longer and you can purchase fresher varieties that do not contain additives or preservatives. The most basic ingredients list will look like this: whole-wheat flour, water, salt. There should be a few grams of protein and fiber per slice – low protein and/or fiber is a sign of excessive processing that has stripped these nutrients, and implies that the other nutrients will be missing as well.
Rye bread typically contains moderate portions of protein and fiber per slice. A 100-calorie slice will contain a few grams of protein, a few grams of fiber, around 20 grams of carbohydrate, and decent amounts of calcium and iron. The addition of flaxseed increases protein and fiber (for the same 100 calorie slice) but also adds trace amounts of health, unsaturated fats.
There are actually some amazing bread recipes that can be very beneficial for the bodybuilder. A variety of bread called "Men’s Bread" by French Meadow Bakery contains the following: Organic whole wheat flour, filtered water, organic flaxseed, organic pumpkin seeds, organic oat fiber, organic low fat soy flour, organic wheat flour, organic sesame seeds, organic raw sprouted fava beans, organic sunflower seeds, organic millet, organic pea protein isolate (non-GMO), organic wheat flour (wheat germ restored), soy germ isoflavone concentrate (non-GMO), organic sprouted quinoa, organic sprouted amaranth, organic sprouted spelt, organic sprouted kamut, wheat gluten, organic sprouted barley, organic sprouted oats, organic sprouted wheat, unrefined sea salt.
This power-packed ingredients list provides a 100-calorie slice of bread with essential fatty acids, 5 grams of fiber, and 8 grams of protein to only 11 grams of carbohydrate. It is abundant in over 13 vitamins and minerals. Compare this to a typical slice of white bread, which contains no fiber, trace amounts of protein, and double the carbohydrate.
Summary
Bread has been around for ages. While trends such as low carbohydrate nutrition or low fat dieting come and go, bread is here to stay – people "earn their bread" or "bring the bread home" and are constantly looking for the "best thing since sliced bread". Before eliminating bread from your program, consider the many types of bread that are available and decide if there is one that suits your needs. Bread can increase your protein intake, add fiber to your diet, refill you muscles by supply quality carbohydrate in addition to healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals. People are always looking for the next great protein or power bar. Why not try a slice of bread?
Remember to subscribe my full feed to get latest posts