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Get Your Antioxidants - Eat a Salad

You’ve probably heard a lot about antioxidants in recent years. Don’t let this sudden interest fool you into thinking they’re just a fad or not important. Antioxidants are a vital part of staying young and healthy. Why?

First of all, we need to know what an antioxidant is. During normal body processes, molecules called free radicals are produced in the body. These are basically unstable atoms or molecules that desperately want to become stable. They do this by stealing electrons from healthy cells, making them unstable and less healthy. Antioxidants reverse this reaction, helping to keep the cells of our body healthy and functioning properly.

One of the most talked about effects of antioxidants is their anti aging properties. As we age, we constantly copy our cells to replace them when they die. Errors in copying occur and build up to form the aging process. Free radicals can also interfere and have been shown to promote wrinkles, memory problems, weakness of the immune system, and reduced elasticity of tissue; all of which are associated with the aging process. We can’t completely stop aging, but proper amounts of antioxidants can slow the process considerably.

Damage caused by these free radicals is also considered to be a cause of certain cancers. Getting more antioxidants can reduce our risk for certain types of cancer, including cancer of the: stomach, prostate, colon, breast, bladder esophagus, pancreas, and possibly many more. Besides cancer, antioxidants have been shown to help prevent other serious problems, such as: cardiovascular diseases, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and vision problems. It is likely that antioxidants can help prevent other diseases and disorders, but their full effects simply haven’t been studied yet.

Antioxidants prevent the oxidation of bad cholesterol. When this type of cholesterol oxidizes, it can attach to the walls of blood vessels causing heart disease. This increases the risk for heart attack and stroke. Oxidized cholesterol also contributes to the hardening of blood vessel walls increasing the risk of high blood pressure. Antioxidants can help keep your heart and the rest of your circulatory system healthy.

Another great benefit of antioxidants is that they help boost the immune system. If you get sufficient levels of antioxidants, you’re not only less likely to get sick; it’s also easier for you to fight off diseases you may get. Along these lines, antioxidants can also help you heal faster when you have an injury; large or small.

Health Food: Benefits of Organic Produce

Can Organic Food Be Considered Health Food? To answer that question we must know a little more about organic food. If we say that Health Food is food that is good for you, I think we can consider Organic Food as Health food.

Buying organic produce has become an increasing trend in recent years.Many people buy it because it’s natural and don’t even bother to research the benefits of these kinds of foods.By buying organic produce you are helping your family and the environment stay healthy and happy for years to come.

1. Organic food tastes better:

No matter what traditional producers try to convince you of, organic produce tastes better.Not only do organic fruits and vegetables out perform regular produce in taste tests, they’ve also been proven scientifically to be sweeter and more firm.Conventional producers tend to use breeds of crops that are genetically modified to look good, but they lose flavor in the process.Organic produce also has a better taste because they are grown in optimum soil conditions and don’t have chemicals in them to mask the natural flavor.

2. Organic food contains more nutrients:

Organic produce contains more vitamins and essential nutrients.Tests have shown organic products to have significantly more substances that promote many aspects of a healthy life from cancer prevention to relieving the symptoms of PMS.Eating the recommended daily amounts of organic fruits and vegetables gives you nutrients levels even a multivitamin can’t match.This keeps your system functioning at optimum levels and makes you feel great.

3. Organic food is free from disease causing chemicals:

Organic fruits and vegetables are not grown using unnatural chemicals.The obvious benefit of this is that your food has less harmful chemicals.This not only helps protects you from chemicals that can cause cancer, heart disease, and even promote Alzheimer’s; it also helps protect the environment from these chemicals as well.When harmful pollutants are put into the soil, they offset the natural balance.They can also work their way into streams, rivers, lakes, oceans, and underground water supplies; polluting the environment and possibly contaminating drinking water.

If you want the benefits of increased food safety, but cringe when you see the higher price tag; you can cut the costs by only buying certain organic produce.Different fruits and vegetables actually contain differing amount of harmful chemicals.

4. Produce that is more important to purchase organically includes:

• Winter squash
• Green beans
• Grapes
• Spinach
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Peaches
• Apples
• Pears
• Cantaloupe

Other types of produce have lower levels and are safer to eat when grown conventionally.

Production of organic products also includes a pledge to help conserve valuable natural resources.These producers conserve water by using less irrigation; they conserve soil by taking measures to prevent runoff; they also conserve valuable energy sources by working the land less and selling their food locally.By not using dangerous chemicals and by keeping natural non-farmed areas, organic producers also help to maintain wildlife biodiversity.The main goal of an organic farmer is to grow their crop without taking from the local environment.That way, the land will be available for future generations to farm.

Another lesser known benefit of organic produce is research.Many organic farmers perform research experiments on their own time to try to improve their methods.By buying organic produce, you are actually helping to improve yields and environmental safety for future organic farmers.

Organic Food: Is Organic Food Really the Healthier Choice?

Is organic food really better?

This is a question all of us have asked ourselves from time to times. Since organic food started to gain popularity in the late 1990’s, people have been skeptical about the superiority of organics.Many people claimed that the benefits of organic over traditional products could not be proven.The truth is that there had simply not been enough testing done to prove the benefits of organic products or the drawbacks of traditionally produced food. This is changing very fast now.

What does the research show us?

There have been various studies done to show the improved nutritional value of organic agriculture by analyzing the vitamin, nutrient, and mineral content of both organically and traditionally grown produce.There are significantly higher levels of various components in organic products, including:

1. Chromium, prevents hardening of the arteries and type 2 diabetes
2. Calcium and Boron, build strong bones and prevent osteoporosis
3. Lithium, a common chemical in antidepressants and mood stabilizers
4. Salicylic acid, an anti-inflammatory which can prevent heart disease
5. Antioxidants, protect cells from damage
6. Magnesium, helps prevent death during a heart attack
7. Selenium, helps prevent heart disease and certain cancers
8. Vitamin C, builds the immune system

While this list seems rather long, it’s not complete.While these nutrients have been found in organic produce, they are not the only ones.This list could also get longer as more research is done about the nutrient benefits of organic food.

And now there is the harmful affects of traditionally grown food:

While it’s important to look at the beneficial properties of organic food, we must take into account the harmful effects of traditionally grown foods to fully understand why organic food is superior.When many of the chemicals used in farming were approved, there had been little research done to show whether or not these chemicals we harmful.Research has since found that most of these chemicals have negative effects on humans.Non-organic foods have been analyzed and have been found to contain harmful chemicals, heavy metals, solvents, and various hormones.

Some of the conditions linked with these substances include:

1. Cancer
2. Heart disease
3. Osteoporosis
4. Migraines
5. Hyperactivity
6. Decreased intelligence
7. Impaired hearing
8. Less growth in childhood
9. Anemia
10. Alzheimer’s
11. Multiple sclerosis
12. Rheumatoid arthritis
13. Early puberty
14. Increase in antibiotic-resistant disease strains

Again, this list is just part of the harmful side effects of these chemicals.There are in all probability many more conditions that will be added to this list after more research has been done.Also, most of the research has been done on the affects of single chemicals, and not multiple offenders as are normally found in conventional food.While several of these chemicals have been banned, they are still present in regular and organic food.This is because they linger in the soil; some have been there for over 20 years.

What are the drawbacks of organic food?

While there are obviously many benefits to organic agriculture, it is not without its faults.First of all, organic products are more expensive.Depending on where you buy organic food, it could cost twice as much as regular grocery store brands.There are also concerns that natural fertilizers such as plant material and manure could contain harmful organisms, such as e coli.Although this is rare it can also make you very ill.

Even with the drawbacks, organic food production is proving to be much safer for consumption than other foods available.Along with the health benefits, organic agricultural practices also benefit the environment; keeping it viable for years to come.

I do realize that we still have a long way to go, but, it may be a good idea to try and include as many organic foods in our diet as possible. It is also worthwhile to consider growing your own vegetables.

You may also be interested in an article I placed on our All Our Recipes & More Site. Go and have a look! The articles is about Picky Eaters.

Healthy Food: Turmeric - Benefits Your Health

Turmeric is a tropical root that has powerful health benefits. Native to India, it is very similar to its cousin ginger.It has been used in Indian and Chinese cultures for centuries.Add turmeric to a curry and taste the difference. You can even add some turmeric with a little brown sugar and a hand full of raisins to rice to make what we call "yellow rice" in South Africa. Very tasty with chicken or any kind of meat as well as curries.

What medicinal properties does turmeric contain?

1. Prevention of cancer and heart health:

To begin with, its main compound, curcumin, has the power to prevent cancer; and improve heart health.Used primarily in curry mixes, curcumin, which is a plant pigment, is responsible for turmeric’s yellowish color.Derived from the Latin, it means earth-merit. Interesting!Turmeric has large leaves, similar to ginger.The stems of turmeric are spicy, and the extract taken and processed is where its properties incur the most benefits.

2. it's an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and lowers cholesterol:

Turmeric is widely known as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal herb, which also lowers cholesterol. Helpful in the treatment of jaundice, the extract also has been known to benefit the liver.In fact, historically, this extract was utilized in treating liver and gallbladder disorders by helping in the flow of bile from the liver.

3. Used in skin care:

Another benefit in using turmeric is the recommendation for use in skin care which, by the way, has been utilized for delivering positive and effective glowing skin for centuries.

4. May help with cancer:

As a possible treatment against cancer, turmeric is being studied for this and other potential treatments as well. One study reports that turmeric shuts down a protein active in the spread of breast cancer.It should also be mentioned that another study revealed that the incidence of leukemia is very low in countries where the people consume a lot of turmeric in their daily diet. Has shown to decrease symptoms of skin cancers and reduced the incidence of chemically caused breast cancer in lab animals

5. Helps with arthritis:

Because curcumin is an anti-inflammatory agent, it is said to relieve the aches and pains associated with arthritis

6. Improves cardiovascular conditions

7. Its oil functions as an external antibiotic preventing bacterial infection in wounds.

8. Curcumin also reduces an active number of genes which is linked to heart disease, colon cancer and Alzheimer's.

9. Uses:

Occasionally shredded and used fresh, turmeric is more often dried and powdered for use. Turmeric extract and turmeric have been used by humans as a food for a very long time, and is believed to have little or no toxicity at all when taken in moderate doses. If consumed in recommended amounts, turmeric extract is generally safe. It has been used in large quantities as a condiment and cooking ingredient with no side effects.

10. You have to keep this in mind:

Physicians discourage the consumption of Turmeric Extract during pregnancy or breastfeeding as it might cause uterine contraction. Turmeric Extract should not be used by people with gallstones or obstruction of bile passages without consulting their doctor.

NB:

As always, consult your physician before taking turmeric or any dietary supplement.

It can be said that used in small amount as a spice in food, turmeric is usually safe except for the cases mentioned above. The beauty is that it is so tasty and versatile, experiment with using it in your cooking.

Enjoy your day,

Magriet.

America's Most Wanted Recipes Volume 1 & 2

Chocolate Recipes Now.com!

Vegetarian Cooking!

The E-Cookbooks Library

Negative Calorie Foods & Recipes eBook

Help! There's A Picky Eater In The House!

Fat loss 4 idiots

Fat Loss Pros

CopyCat CookBook

DOWNLOAD SECRETS OF THE INDIAN RESTAURANT CURRY NOW

THE ULTIMATE CHOCAHOLIC HEAVEN COOKBOOK

Choco Factory

470 Crock Pot Recipes

Healthy Eating And Making The Grade

As we all know college is one of the most difficult times of life to practice healthy eating. Because of your busy schedule, the amounts of stress, and pressure from friends to party, you may find that healthy eating is impossible. However, with a few tips you can make the impossible seem much more manageable. Healthy eating is possible in college as long as you are willing to work at it.

1. Make smart decisions when you are eating at your college’s cafeteria

Most students are provided with a variety of option every day, and although the dessert bar may be very tempting, try to limit the number of times you visit it every week. If your school has a buffet style cafeteria with many choices, try to choose one food from each of the food groups. Avoid anything that is processed, covered in cheese or dressing, and greasy.

2. Scheduling times to eat is also important

When you register for classes, look at the day with meals in mind. You should have enough time in the morning to get ready for the day and grab a quick meal, either in your dorm room or at the cafeteria. Around the middle of the day, make sure that you save time for lunch, and have a timeslot for dinner before 7 PM to avoid eating late at night. You should also plan times to stop for nutritious snacks, like fruit. If your professor does not mind, you can also take these snack foods with you to class. This is a good question to ask during the first day of classes.

3. What about the weekends?

The weekends can be very challenging for college students because of the pressure to go to parties, where the main food is usually pizza and the main beverage is usually beer. Order pizza and other foods can take an otherwise healthy diet and throw it down the tubes. If you plan to go out for the night and won’t be sure if there will be healthy food choices available, grab a light meal before you leave and avoid greasy calories. Having pizza and other such “college” foods, like wings or tacos, can be fine once in awhile, but if it becomes a weekly event, you’re looking at trouble

And all that beer?

Of course, alcohol is also a great way to ruin a diet. Beer and mixed drinks have a lot of empty calories, and so skipping them altogether is a great idea. If you must drink, choose diet sodas for mixing your drinks, ask for red wine if it is available, or drink light beer. Again, these treat are fine once in awhile, because drinking alcohol every week will only make you pack on the pounds.

Healthy eating is very important if you want to do really well in college. Try and keep that in mind at all times. You cannot expect a malnourished brain to perform properly!

Enjoy your day,

Magriet

America's Most Wanted Recipes Volume 1 & 2

Chocolate Recipes Now.com!

Vegetarian Cooking!

The E-Cookbooks Library

Negative Calorie Foods & Recipes eBook

Help! There's A Picky Eater In The House!

Fat loss 4 idiots

Fat Loss Pros

CopyCat CookBook

DOWNLOAD SECRETS OF THE INDIAN RESTAURANT CURRY NOW

THE ULTIMATE CHOCAHOLIC HEAVEN COOKBOOK

Choco Factory

470 Crock Pot Recipes

Three Deadly Eating Disorders

We all know that healthy eating is very important for our everyday lives, but unfortunately, many people develop problems with body image and it prevents them from having a healthy eating lifestyle. Eating disorders vary greatly from person to person, but one thing remains constant—they are very detrimental to a person’s health. If you or someone you know suffers from an eating disorder, it is important to seek help as soon as possible.

1. Anorexia:

The first kind of eating disorder that a person may develop is anorexia. Anorexia occurs when someone is overly concerned with weight and simply refuses to eat. Someone suffering from this disease usually tries to hide it by discarding the food without anyone knowing, cutting the food into small pieces to make it look smaller, or lying about skipping entire meals. Anorexia is dangerous because it does not allow a person to lose weight in a healthy way. Cutting fat out of a diet is fine, but not getting enough proteins, vitamins, minerals, water, and other nutrients can make your body lose muscle weight and weaken.

2. Bulimia:

Another major type of eating disorder is bulimia. While you may notice an anorexic person losing lots of weight in a hurry, someone who has bulimia may or may not be losing weight. If a person has bulimia, he or she does not have the will power to give up foods, but instead vomits or uses laxatives after meals to rid the body of these foods. Like anorexia, this can rob the body of key nutrients, and it can also lead to problems in the digestive system, throat, and mouth, which are not made for regular induced vomiting.

3. Binging:

The third main type of eating disorder is binge eating. This is a combination of anorexia and bulimia in most cases. A binge eater will, like a bulimic, not deprive his- or herself from food. In fact, someone who is a binge eater will eat enormous amounts of food in a single sitting, and often these foods are not high in nutritional value. Instead of vomiting, a binge eater will then refuse to eat at all and exercise rigorously for a day or two, but then slip into a binge once again. This leads to major problems with weight.

Eating disorders can affect both males and females, as well as people of any race, ethnicity, or age. Most commonly, victims of eating disorders are teen and young adult girls. Many people die every year due to complications with eating disorders, but if you or someone you know suffers from this problem, help is available. Do not postpone getting help! An eating disorder is not going to disappear on its own.

Remember, if you are looking for more recipes, you can go to our site All Our Recipes & More.

A Healthy Diet: Carbohydrate Craze

To eat a healthy diet I think it is important that we have a look at carbohydrates. The Atkins diet and the South beach diet recommend cutting carbohydrates out of your meals as much as possible. That has brought about as interest in carbohydrates, putting it in the forefront. But, before you make drastic decisions about which foods to include in your diet and which foods not include in your diet, it is very important to learn about carbohydrates and what they do for your body.

Tips for a healthy diet: Have a look at the following:

1. Carbohydrates can be good or bad for your body.

It is necessary to eat enough good carbohydrates, because that is how our body has enough energy for low-intensity activities during the day. Carbohydrates are famously found in breads and grains, but actually they are also found in a number of other foods as well, such as fruits and vegetables. When keeping an eye on your intake of carbohydrates it is important to distinguish the good from the bad.

2. You need to know that all carbohydrates are basically sugars.

a. Complex carbohydrates are the good carbohydrates for your body.

These strings of sugar are very difficult to break down and trap other nutrients like vitamins and minerals in the sugar strings. As they slowly break down, the other nutrients are also released into your body, and you can provide with fuel for a number of hours.

b) Simple sugars are the bad carbohydrates.

Bad carbohydrates, on the other hand, are simple sugars. Because their structure is not complex, it is easy to break down. They also hold little nutrients for your body other than the sugars from which it is made. Your body breaks down these carbohydrates rather quickly and what it cannot use is converted to fat and stored in the body. Staying away from simple carbohydrates is what most diets recommend, since they have little nutritional value when compared to complex carbohydrates.

3. More importantly than how carbohydrates work in the body and the difference between good carbohydrates and bad carbohydrates is how you can actually eat these carbohydrates!

a) First, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

These foods include carbohydrates, but also a variety of other nutrients needed by your body.

b) Another great tip is to cut the white bread and bread products out of your diet and replace them with whole wheat or 12-grain breads instead.

Look at the packaging. Foods rich in fiber are probably a source of good carbohydrates.

For your health's sake, it is good to cut out all the bad carbohydrates and substitute them with the good carbohydrates. Lear the difference and apply it to your diet. Cutting out all carbohydrates is not good for your body and it is recommended that you eat a well balance diet. Do have a look at our articles about the Food Pyramid.

Enjoy your day,

Magriet

Is It Possible To Eat Healthy On A Small Budget?

It is possible to eat healthy on a limited budget. If you are interested in eating a healthy diet compared to your current diet, I have good news or you—you don’t have to be rich to do so. It is fully possible to involve yourself in healthy eating, even if you are on a very tight budget. This may require a little bit of extra time and effort to plan your meals, but you can make good and inexpensive food choice in order to provide your body with excellent nutrition.

1. First, it is important to plan for your healthy diet.

When you go shopping, take a list with you of the healthy foods you need to purchase instead of walking up and down the aisles without a plan. When you have a shopping list, you are less likely to purchase random junk foods that you do not need, and so you’ll save money as well as be good to your health. Planning ahead with a list also allows you to look through store sales fliers in order to choose healthy foods that are offered at discount prices that week in particular. When you do go shopping, make sure that it is not on an empty stomach, when you will be craving fatting foods and will be more likely to overspend and waste money on unhealthy products.

2. You should also consider purchasing items in bulk.

Many club stores have a membership fee, but you can save a lot of money if you have an adequate amount of freezer and pantry space. Look at the healthy foods you need, and then head to the bulk-food supply store in order to grab enough of the item for the next month. Remember to choose foods that are both healthy and the freeze readily.

3. Eat at home as much as possible.

When you go out to eat or stop at a fast food restaurant on your way to and from work or during your lunch break, you will pay extra money for the convenience of someone else preparing the food. These foods are also usually high in calories and low in nutrients. Instead, calculate the money you would normally spend to eat out and then use it to buy more expensive healthy ingredients at the supermarket. You can make breakfast and dinner and also pack a lunch to carry to work or school.

4. Purchase foods that are in season.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are usually very high in nutrients, but when you want strawberries in January, you’ll end up paying the extra price. Learn when fruits come into season in your climate and purchase them at those times of year. You can learn to can or otherwise preserve these fruits and vegetables if you want to have them all year round! Of course, heading to your local farmer’s market is a great way to purchase these items and save money. Healthy eating on a budget is all about being creative with the money you do have.

So there you have it, with a little planning and a little creativity you can eat healthy on a small budget. It is also good to keep these tips in mind even if you are not on a limited budget, just think of all the things you can do with the money you will save. Good food and healthy eating can go together!