Archive for the ‘Healthy Recipes’ Category

Health Foods That You Should Know About

Friday, May 16th, 2008

What is a health food? Searching the term on the Internet brings up many commercial sites designed to sell you the latest in health foods, or health fads. Amazing claims are made about what each new supplement, berry, diet or food can do for your health and your waistline.

True health foods are those foods which supply exactly what the body needs for optimum health. Although there is conflicting information about the best way to take in this optimal nutrition, as you wade through the literature a clearer picture slowly emerges. There are definite health foods out there, and making an effort to include them in your diet will pay off in longevity, fewer diseases and a healthier life.

One of the most important elements of a healthy diet, and one that is significantly lacking in the modern diet, is fiber. The health benefits of including fiber in the diet are numerous. Fiber is not digested by the body but moves through the digestive system to the colon and is then excreted as stool. High fiber foods provide bulk to foods, helping you to feel full and avoid overeating. It also slows down digestion, helping to regulate blood sugar levels and insulin levels.

Having adequate fiber reduces constipation and the risk of diverticulitis. Other gastrointestinal disorders which are caused, or exacerbated, by lack of fiber include inflammatory bowel disease, hemorrhoids, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and colon cancer. Adding this wonderful health food to the diet means eating more plant foods and whole grains. There are also many fiber supplements on the market, although these must be used with care. Always remember to increase your water intake when using fiber supplements.

Whole grains, an important source of fiber, are also a health food for other reasons. They contain many beneficial phytochemicals, which are chemicals derived from plants or fruit. Phytochemicals in whole grains include lignans, phytic acid, saponins, phytosterols, squalene, oryzanol, tocotrienols and phenolic compounds. These have antioxidant effects, lower blood cholesterol and protect against diseases like cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Many of these beneficial compounds are lost when grains are refined.

Phytonutrients play a very important role in health. Many of the pharmaceutical drugs available today have their origins in plant derived compounds. Processing of plants often destroys or removes these phytonutrients, so it is important to eat whole, unprocessed foods as much as possible.

Other essential ingredients in the diet are fats, protein, carbohydrates and vitamins and minerals. Water is essential and dehydration can cause many health problems. For good health foods, make sure you include a variety of foods from each of the food groups every day. Cut down on refined foods, excess fats and sugars, and take in lots of fiber, whole grains and phytonutrients.

There, isn’t that simple?

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The Food Pyramid

Friday, May 2nd, 2008

The food pyramid is designed to inform people how to eat healthy. A colored detailed food chart has been developed to represent five groups of foods and fats. The colors stand for –

Green – vegetables, orange – grains, red – fruits, yellow – fats and oils, purple – meat, fish, beans and nuts and lastly – blue for milk and dairy products.

The pyramid tells us about to eat a variety of food items, some foods are to be taken as much as you can, and some foods are with a caution.

A balanced diet includes foods from all the groups; it means we have to take food from each of the color category each day. The purple and yellow colored food groups are to be taken with an eye to check the total calorie intake whereas the green and orange colored groups give us good nutrition.
The amount is to be taken to remain healthy is variable. But surely we can estimate how much food is needed from each category.

Grains

Foods of this group are measured in ounce equivalents. Actually this is a serving size measurement. The ounce equivalents of most common grains are –

1 slice of bread, ½ cup of pasta or rice, ½ cup coked cereal like oatmeal and 1 cup of cold dry cereal. The adolescents (up to 12 years of age) need 5 ounce equivalents a day and the adults need 6-7 equivalents a day depending upon the total body weight. It is better to take whole grain foods like brown bread, brown rice than bleached rice and oatmeal. Try to take at least half of your grain food from the whole grain source.

Vegetables

Fresh green leafy vegetables are beneficial to everybody. This contains essential vitamins and minerals. Different colored vegetables are rich in different vitamins such as yellow colored vegetables like carrots and pumpkins are rich source of beta carotene and Vitamin A. Green colored vegetables contain Vitamin E and Niacin in good quantity etc. Vegetable servings are measured in cups. Adolescents require 2 cups of food from this category and the adults require 2 ½ cups of veggies daily.

Fruits

Seasonal fruits can be taken daily. Fruits may be sweet or sour and it determines the vitamin content of that particular fruit. Adolescent require 1- 1 ½ cups of fruit each day and adults need 1 ½ – 2 cups of fruits each day.

Dairy and milk products

Foods of this group are rich in calcium. Calcium is responsible for building strong bones and teeth. So, one must include some amount of food from this category. Adolescents need 2 cups of milk daily and adults must take 3 cups of milk each day.
If somebody is having lactose intolerance disease, yogurt, whey, fruit juices fortified with calcium and cheese are other options.

Meat, fish, beans and nuts

Foods of this group are the source of protein and iron. Like cereal grains, these foods are also measured in ounce equivalents and that would equate –

1 ounce of meat, fish or poultry products, 1 egg, ¼ cup of dry cooked beans, ½ ounce of seeds or nuts and 1 tablespoon of peanut butter.

Fats and oils

The products contain saturated and unsaturated fatty acid. It is better to lower the amount of calorie taken daily from this group. Fats and oils from the plant source is always better than that obtained from animal source as they contain more Poly and Mono unsaturated fatty acids which help to reduce the cholesterol level.

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Tea: what is multiple tea infusions?

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

The Chinese people are drinking tea for more than 4000 years and discovered a considerable amount regarding benefits of high quality leaf tea during this time.

Tea has got numerous health benefits. Studies have reported that tea has got the power to reduce the Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) or the bad cholesterol. It also increases the good HDL cholesterol. By lowering the LDL, tea reduces the chance to form the plaques inside your blood vessel (this in turn reduces the risk of having heart attack or stroke); tea has the anti-cancer property also. Polyphenols present in the tea infusion lowers the chance of cancer in the breast, colon, ovary and urinary bladder. Tea helps to regenerate the pancreatic beta cells, thus it also helps to fight against diabetes. Scientists have also experienced that injection of catechins (one of the polyphenol present in the tea) to the laboratory animals reduced the chance of liver carcinoma. EpiGalloCatechin Gallate (EGCG), another ingredient present in tea is a powerful antioxidant. It significantly slows down the aging process in our body.

The Chinese perfected the processing of the tea leaves (Camellia sinensis) and the progress of different varieties of tea. Tea is prepared by infusion technique. They have also perfected the correct infusion methods that guarantee a perfect cup of tea.

At present, many Chinese and other tea drinking people throughout the world employ multiple infusions of whole tea leaves as a quality, cost effective means to enjoy tea. The concept of multiple tea infusion points to that high quality whole leaf tea is infused with clean water more than a single time but the ultimate tea drink will not lose any flavor or quality. In is in fact an economical way to relish a quality tea experience and multiple infusion reduce the cost of high quality loose leaf tea radically.

So, what is necessary to make a multiple tea infusions? It requires any kind of best quality whole leaf tea and uncontaminated water – that’s all.

Whole leaf tea that is cultivated in a premier tea garden and appropriately plucked at the most suitable time is the basin requirement for multiple infusions. After plucking, the leaves must be processed by the time honored and conventional method where the integrity of the leaf tea is preserved. Leaves processed by the commercial CTC (cut, tear, cut) technique is used to prepare most of the tea bags. It will surely not produce quality multiple tea infusions. It is virtually unattainable to make multiple infusions from the most tea bags available in the market or loose low quality leaf tea without causing ample degradation of taste and flavor.

Most of the today’s supplied water contains contaminations that not only wipe out the taste of quality loose leaf tea but are harmful also regarding our long term health. Many packaged drinking water are also not fit to produce a quality cup of tea. While selecting the water to brew tea, you can try purified water made by distillation/ozonisation method that produces purified water with a light and fresh taste.

If you enjoy a good quality cup of tea and want to get the best worth while purchasing tea, search for the tea leaves made from highest quality leaves, which are plucked and processed in the conventional way. This will make you ready to make multiple infusions of your desired tea and considerably reduce the overall cost. Add clean water while brewing and your tea drinking experience will be guaranteed. After all, 4000 years of Chinese tea drinkers can not be wrong.

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Diabetic food

Sunday, March 30th, 2008

Diabetes is a disease where the blood glucose level remains continuously elevated than the normal level. It results into damage in the various bodily organs. Modern concept of diabetes management does not advocate complete restriction of intake of alcohol. Patient is advised to take every foods, but with some precaution to the total daily calorie intake.

The diabetic foods can be divided into six categories. The three main food types are vegetables, fruits and grains, the next group contains milk, milk products and meat products; the last group is fat, oils and sweets.

Total amount of daily intake for a healthy young adult is 1600-2800 cal. Depending upon the built, the amount of calorie is to be determined. Again, women patients will be more benefitted while taking the low range calorie and men are meant to high end calorie group. The precise number of servings will depend on the diabetes goal, lifestyle, division in the calorie and nutrition needs and of course the type of food the patient likes most. The total number of calorie should be judiciously divided into major meals and snacks.

Let us have some idea about different group of foods that is acceptable for a diabetic patient.

Starches and grains

The most acceptable group is cereal, bread, rice and pasta. The bulk of the diabetic diet should come from this group. These foods contain carbohydrates mostly. The acceptable grains are wheat, corn, oats and rye. Vegetables that contain starch like potatoes and peas also belong to this group besides dry beans like pinto beans and black eyed bens. These vegetables come into this group as the have the same amount of calorie as contained in equal serving of a slice of bread. So you can count them as same amount of serving carbohydrates into your meal plan. The following foods can be taken roughly 6-12 servings per day but keep an eye on it and try to take the as lower range as you can. This are – 1 slice of bread, ¾ cup of dry cereal (you can make any preparation – the total calorie should be counted), ¼ of a bagel, one 6” tortilla, ½ cup cooked cereal, 1 cup of winter squash, ½ cup either of yam, potato, peas, cooked beans or corn and 1/3 cup of pasta or rice .

Vegetables

Vegetables are rich in vitamins, fiber and minerals. You can take as much as green leafy vegetables like spinach, sorrel, chicory, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, tomatoes, cucumbers, Brussels sprouts and lettuce. One serving contains 1 cup raw or ½ cup of cooked amount.

Fruits

Fresh fruits contain plenty of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and fiber. Fruits that you can take are oranges, blackberries, strawberries, apples, cantaloupe, bananas, grapes and apricots. You can take 2-4 servings a day.

Milk and milk products

Milk is rich in calcium, vitamins and minerals. Low fat or skimmed milk is better. You can take 2-3 servings a day and a serving contains 1 cup of low fat milk or 1 cup of yogurt.

Meat and other non vegetarian items

This group contains beef, chicken, fish, turkey, eggs and cheese. This group provides required amount of proteins and minerals. It is always better to take white meats. You can take 4-6 ounces per day divided into major meals.

Fats and sweets

This is the group you would try to take as less as possible. Otherwise you can save consuming these items for a great treat for a single time once in a while. A single serving include 2 small cookies, ½ cup of ice-cream and 1 cupcake or muffin.

It is not so hard to follow this diet guideline. You can make a great deal of preparations by combining these items and you diabetic life more enjoyable.

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How to combat child obesity?

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

Doctors and other health care providers have warned of a health catastrophe if the fast growing numbers of obese children is not brought down very quickly. In a recent study in India, involving 4300 children of middle and upper middle class families, have found that more than 26% are overweight and 3.9% of them are plain obese.

The situation is similar the world over. Aggravating the problem is the established fact that when children watch TV, they take snacks more than usual. These foods are high is salt and calories and very low in fiber. This means a double problem. With the increasing number of both the parents working, the already sedentary children are taking the kind of food that increases the fatty tissues in the body. Besides, if both the parents are obese, the child has more propensities to become obese.

It is not just junk food alone that adds to the fat. Even the traditional cooking style involving refined and bleached wheat and polished rice have dislodged whole grain as the staple cereals.

Syndrome X or dysmetabolic syndrome is spreading fast in these days. It is a defective gene action where the insulin action of the body is not adequate and the fatty tissues are not broken down. Obesity is not a separate thing but a metabolic element of Syndrome X comprising of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia and high blood pressure.

But what is the harm of bearing a little extra fat for a child? Actually, experts say, obesity in children may give rise to arthritis, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in future for the child.

So, what you will do to keep your children fit and healthy? Let’s have a look –

Do not allow children much time in front of TV or computer playing video games. Besides putting on some extra weight, the habit will be changed to become a couch potato. Define the hours to be spent for TV, but allow them to watch their favorite TV shows.

Make a habit for healthy foods. Encourage them to take green salads and clear soups instead of taking meat salad or sweet corn chicken soup.

While eating at any fast food junction, order the better foods like a pizza is a better alternative to burger and milk shake is always better than cola. This has to be maintained at the parties also. Do not go for a-la-carte menus. Try the simpler and nutritious foods.

Your dinner time should be early in the night and preferably with home-cooked food. This will substantially reduce the time spent in front of TV. After dinner, all the family members should sit together and enjoy each other’s company.

Always choose baked food items over fried good as that will give you less calorie. Moreover, baked items have more fiber that in same amount of fried goods. Fried items contain more LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein) which is regarded as ‘bad cholesterol’. If accumulated for a long time, LDL in turn gives rise to increased level of cholesterol.

Give your child more cereals, lentils and vegetables. Make different preparations everyday otherwise your child will get bored with the same menu.

You must cut the red meat as much as possible and supplement with sea food. The latter contains more omega 3 fatty acid which is a potent antioxidant.

Allow them playing for the whole evening after coming back from school.
Fix the timings of taking foods.

Encourage your child to take seasonal fruit and fruit juices.

Give your child plenty of quality time. Try to go for outing every weekend and let your child do the things what they like. Allow them a single day for their choice of food.

Never let your child to put on some weight.

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Detoxification Through Food

Friday, March 14th, 2008

Our body regularly produces numerous toxic materials through metabolism. You can detoxify your body by curtailing every food except fruits and vegetables besides taking a ‘detox’ drink daily, but the more rational way to detoxify your body is to combine all foods in the food pyramid judiciously. How to achieve this? Well, let’s have a look -

The diet should include fruits and fruits juices, vegetables and virtually all the probable healthy foods.

Fruits – any fresh fruits are safe. The fruits you can take- apples, oranges, bananas, pears, grapes, raisins, pineapple, mango, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, melons, peaches etc.

Fruit juices – homemade juices are the best. But canned pure fruit juices are also a healthy option. Only thing you have to check the expiry date and ‘sweetened’ or ‘pure’ variety.

Vegetables – fresh green leafy vegetables are first choice food. Otherwise you can take canned ‘in brine’ or ‘in water’ variety. These include sprouts, spinach, cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, spring onions, and cucumber.

Oatmeal – this is a good food to check the cholesterol level.

Beans and lentils – this contain fibers which help to prevent gastric ulceration.

Brown rice and noodles – brown rice is always better than bleached white rice.

Fish – fish contains Omega 3 fatty acid that is a potent antioxidant. You can take salmon, cod, mackerel, lobster, different types of carps, trout, tuna, haddock, red mullet, monkfish and swordfish.

Nuts and seeds – this are rich in vitamins that help to fight against infections. Brazil, almonds, walnut, hazel nut, peanut, pecans, macadamia, pistachio and pine nuts belong this group.

Popcorn are also offering good amount of antioxidants.

Balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil contains substances that check the cholesterol level.

Garlic was used as a natural antioxidant in Indian traditional system of medicine (Ayurveda) since a long time. Ginger and other fresh herbs like turmeric are also advised.

Ground black pepper and honey have anti aging property.

Last but certainly not the least is water. A healthy young adult must take at least 2.5 liters of water daily.

Now let us have some knowledge about which foods are in ‘bad’ category so that we can avoid them as far as practicable.

Meat and meat products of any kind is avoided. White meat is marginally advised.

  • Milk and dairy items
  • Butter and margarine
  • Any kind of food that contain wheat and wheat flour like bread, cakes, pastries, biscuits, pizzas
  • Chocolates and sweets, jams and marmalade
  • Any kind of junk food
  • Processed foods, ready-to-eat food packets, sauces and fast foods
  • Alcohol, tea, coffee and all sorts of carbonated beverages including diet colas
  • Salt

All the foods in the second category are partially metabolized inside our body. The byproducts generated (excretory products) after metabolism are either excreted through kidneys or via stool. Now, during the process of excretion they pass through different organs of our body. If they get stored due to any reason (excess amounts generated that our system is incapable to excrete or they bind with some other material to get deposited into the tissues), the ill effect will be obvious. They may again slow down the process of excretion. Deposition in the liver, heart and brain can damage our system extensively. Aging process is hastened by these unwanted products. Our natural defense system get weaker leading to severe infection obtained from a trivial source.

It is better to take foods that are good to our body and do not cause any harm. Being a vegetarian can solve the problem. Think about it.

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