Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

Common Diet Myths

Posted by on June 13th, 2010

Lets bust some common diet myths.

TRUE OR FALSE? Your TV may be the reason you’re putting on pounds or not losing weight.
True! Okay, unless your television is actually feeding you cookies, it’s not LITERALLY causing the numbers on the scale to go up. But excessive TV viewing has been undeniably linked to increased chances of obesity. Need proof? In a recent study those who watched the most TV clearly engaged in less physical activity and had poorer diets than those with low TV exposure. Plus, participants with high exposure to TV had a 43 percent greater chance of being overweight. Even those who watched a moderate amount of TV were 22 percent more likely to be overweight. The takeaway? Don’t be lazy and get sucked in by hours of TV viewing while mindlessly munching on snacks! Limit your tube time to the shows you really love. Or do what I do while watching television, straighten up your TV room, do some cardio during commercial breaks, clean up another room… Whatever. Just get off your butt!

POSSIBLE OR IMPROBABLE? Your workouts could be triggering your weight gain.
Possible! We’re NOT saying you should avoid exercise in order to lose weight. (Sorry, lazy people!) But the truth is this: Research shows that people grossly overestimate how many calories they burn during exercise. Not only that, but physical activity often makes people hungry. And since we tend to think we’ve burned more calories than we really have, we can end up consuming MORE calories than we’ve burned. Remember, it all comes down to calories consumed versus calories burned. So don’t use a workout as an excuse to pig out. Be realistic about how many calories you are really burning while exercising. Use the data provided on cardio machines (don’t forget to enter your weight, age, etc., and no fudging the numbers!) or check out online resources (like Fitness Partner) to get a good idea of the effect your workout is actually having on your calorie balance. Then may be do not count those calories burned as a reason to eat more.

YAY OR NAY? Simply slowing down your eating can speed up your weight loss.
Yay! It may sound like a gimmick, yet it’s anything but. A study in the British Medical Journal, evaluated the eating habits of more than 3,000 people over a total of three years. The conclusion? Those who ate quickly were way more likely to be overweight. Your body needs time to digest and tell your brain it’s feeling full. So take smaller bites and chew carefully. Enjoy your food — don’t just shovel it in your face. Drink water in between forkfuls, and set your fork down while you sip. This will slow down your chewing pace and help you feel full as well. The result? You’ll eat less and take in fewer calories! See there is research behind what I have told all you.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Posted in Food Tags: No Comments »

Do vegetables lose their nutritional value when heated?

Posted by on June 9th, 2010

Remember the other day when you went to mother-in-laws and she served you brown, boiled broccoli – yuck!  This is an example of how cooked vegetables can loose there nutritional value and taste bad! Defiantly there are certainly health benefits in eating raw vegetables.  Cooking properly doesn’t take out all the nutrients. On the other hand there are benefits to eating cooked veggies. They’re more easily digestible, and you can get a better flavor and texture. This might make you eat more of them. In certain cases, cooking actually increases benefits — like tomatoes, where cooking enhances the lycopene content, a powerful phytochemical, which may help prevent cancer. Once peeled or cut, vegetables lose nutrients to the air, or liquid which they are soaked.To maintain vitamin content when cooking follow these tips:

Do not boil: Boiling vegetables sucks vitamins and minerals in the water, leaving your vegetables with very little nutritional value. This will be the broccoli lacking taste, color and palatability.

Avoid overcooking: Because there are so many varieties of vegetables out there it is hard to have a rule for cooking. Try to cook quick as possible. Most cooked vegetables are done when they are just tender when pierced with a fork. Green Leafy vegetables should still be bright in color and just wilted.

Grilling and broiling: This is great summer choice. They use methods high in heat and allow vegetables to be cooked rather quickly which preserve natural flavors and nutritional content.

Popularity: 42% [?]

Posted in Food Tags: , No Comments »

Time for Strawberries

Posted by on May 19th, 2010

They are loaded with Vitamin C, an immune boosting antioxidant that stimulates collage production and reduces damage to free radicals, that cause skin to age. Strawberries also contain malac acid, an astringent that can help remove discoloration form teeth.

Did you know that strawberries have more vitamin C than citrus fruit? That’s right, and they are also a good source of vitamin A, fiber, folates and calcium. Now that it’s strawberry season, try giving your kids strawberries as dessert – they are so sweet right now that they don’t even need any extra sugar! Plus, they are fun to eat when you hold them by the stem and nibble on them like a rabbit would!

They are my husbands favorite fruit so this newsletter is dedicated to them.

Tips for serving Strawberries without much else

  • Just give them a rinse and serve them as is – if they are ripe and fresh, they don’t need much else
  • Squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon over a bowl of freshly washed and sliced berries to enhance the flavor
  • Don’t wash them until you are ready to serve. When you do rinse and serve them, make sure you throw away any moldy ones and cut off the bruised parts of good ones.
  • Puree them in a smoothie with milk, bananas, ice and vanilla.
  • For a little extra sweetness if needed, sprinkle a small amount of nautral cane sugar or a teaspoon of agave syrup over a big bowl – a little goes a long way and the berries really don’t need much to enhance them.
  • If you want to get fancy, you can melt a little dark chocolate in a saucepan and dip the ends of the berries in the hot chocolate, or drizzle a small amount of chocolate syrup on a bowl of berries. Again, don’t use too much, but maybe just enough to get your kids to eat the whole bowl!
  • Try growing them. Strawberries are one of the easiest berries to grow and don’t need much, but watch out for your furry neighbors. They are hip to the fact that these red beauties are delish! You’ll have to net or cage the berries so they don’t disappear.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Posted in Food Tags: No Comments »

Spring Into Action with Healing Food

Posted by on April 15th, 2010

The cure for the common cold has been elusive this year, but certain foods show promise in helping severity and duration of its symptoms. Yes chicken soup may be on of the best. The soup acts as an anti-inflammatory. It temporarily speeds movement of the mucus through the nose, relieving congestion and limiting the time the viruses spend in contact with the nasal lining. Also helping you stay hydrated which is important with a cold.
rainbow Spring Into Action with Healing Food
Healing Rainbow
Antioxidants interfere with the disease process by neutralizing free radicals. This helps ward off a cold or helping you recover from one more quickly. Look for fruits and vegetables that are rich in antioxidants such as beta carotene and other carotenoids as well as vitamins C and E. Try apricots, asparagus, beets, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. Citrus fruits probably come to mind  first when you think about vitamin C but broccoli, cantaloupe, kale, bell peppers, and strawberries are good sources. Vitamin C has been found to reduce the duration of colds. Foods with high levels of vitamin E include almonds, peanuts butter, salmon, and sunflower seeds.

Pantry Remedies
Drinking warm lemon water with honey may relieve coughs and sore throats. Teas are rich in antioxidants and possibly the best is green tea. The best thing you can do is eat a rainbow of foods.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Posted in Food Tags: , , No Comments »

Big thing in Nutrition

Posted by on April 15th, 2010

Up Your Fiber Intake with Plant Foods

Scientists link high fiber intake to weight loss, lower waist circumference, improved metabolic health and reduced risk for Type 2 diabetes. An increase of 10 grams of dietary fiber lowers the risk of heart attack by 14 percent. There is a reduction in some types of cancer, colorectal in particular. Women with high fiber intake and low fat intake have been found to have a lower risk of breast cancer. Upping fiber intake has been linked with longevity.
BeansPeasandLentilsPosters Big thing in Nutrition
Soluble v. Insoluble

Soluble dissolves in water and insoluble does not dissolve in water, while neither type is digestible, both are essential so choose plenty of fiber rich foods.

Fiber is available in apple skins, nuts, vegetables and whole grains. This insoluble bulk promotes the movement of foods through the digestive system, preventing constipation. Cellulose in the skins of plant food is helpful for hemorrhoids and aids in the removal of cancer-causing substances from the colon.
Found in apple pulp, barley, beans, citrus, oatmeal, peas, rice bran, and strawberries, soluble fiber slows the digestion of foods, helping you feel full longer. This type of fiber moves cholesterol out of the body, lowering LDL cholesterol, and helps balance blood sugar levels.

PS. It is best to add fiber slowly and drink more water when you do.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Posted in Food Tags: , , No Comments »

  • 14 Days of Email to Find a New You

    join our mailing list
    * indicates required

  • Our Etsy Store

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Free MMORPG | Thanks to MMORPG List, VPS Hosting and Video Hosting
Rss Feed Tweeter button Facebook button Technorati button Reddit button Myspace button Linkedin button Webonews button Delicious button Digg button Flickr button Stumbleupon button Newsvine button Youtube button