How to be a Better Eater

There’s a lot of information out there, just like the X-Files said. The truth is in hidden among the assumptions and theories, waiting for you to sort through the chaff and get there. Most of this information tells you how to be the “perfect” eater, an ideal person who eats just the right amount of everything and has the perfect body and works out the most.

However, when you think about your lifestyle from a practical point of view, perfection is impossible. What you can do however is look at improving your lifestyle, making adjustments that will benefit you in the long run. Ready? Here goes:

1. Prepare yourself mentally. If you can condition your brain into understanding that you can’t subsist on your diet of chips and cookies, it will help you.       Write down goals and pin them up on a wall, next to the picture of that person whose body you admire. Look at yourself in the mirror every day and say your goals out loud. The stronger your will, the easier this will be.

2. Add a portion of fruits or raw veggies to your daily meal. There HAS to be a fruit you like – papaya, avocado, apples, bananas – just pick one. Buy lots  and eat!

3. Diet food need not be unhealthy. There are cookbooks, cooking classes and websites willing to impart tons of wisdom on healthy eating. Time to use all that information for your personal gain.

4. Never forget the importance of water. Drink 8-10 glasses a day – important for better skin, better digestion, less chances of UTIs in women; the benefits are plenty.

5. Smaller portions – if you’re one of those who likes to eat till he/ she is too stuffed to move for EVERY meal, you need to start thinking of smaller portions. It takes a few minutes for your brain to tell your body that it’s had enough, so eat slowly and enjoy your meal. Just enough food will also make you feel less lethargic after.

6. Eat every two hours – a piece of cheese, a handful of peanuts, plain popcorn. Keep those digestive systems running.

Eat better and slowly you’ll see the changes you’ve always hoped for. Less indigestion and acidity, weight loss, increase in stamina and energy – who wouldn’t want that?

© Text: Healthy Times Blog.

To Nuke or Not to Nuke? Should You Microwave Your Food?

As a child of the ‘80s, I clearly remember the day my parents brought home our first microwave oven. We were lead to believe that, one day, everything from cupcakes to pot roast would breezily be cooked in the microwave while Mom enjoyed all her newfound free time.
What a difference a couple decades makes. Microwaves have since morphed from a space-age technology into a ho-hum appliance that reheats leftovers or zaps our lunch in under a minute. According to the USDA, over 90% of American homes have one, yet few kitchen appliances seem to evoke as strong and visceral a reaction. Why the controversy?
The secret behind your microwave is a device called a magnetron, which converts the electricity from your outlet into very short radio waves, which is a form of electromagnetic radiation. These waves cause the water molecules in food to vibrate, and it’s these vibrations that produce the heat that cooks the food. This use of “radiation” is the key sticking point in some circles when it comes to the impact on your health. As I see it, the question of “To nuke … or not to nuke?” really boils down to two different questions, which I’ve tackled here.

Question: Are microwaves “bad” for food?

Answer: It’s not worse than some other common cooking methods. While the Internet is teeming with articles that talk about how microwaves deactivate enzymes or destroy antioxidants, the truth is that many cooking methods do that, particularly boiling or pressure-cooking foods for long periods of time. Take broccoli, one of Dr. Oz’s favorite superfoods. A 2003 study examined this cruciferous cancer fighter and found that microwaving, boiling, and high pressure-cooking for long periods of time all slashed the flavonoid content, while steaming was best at keeping the nutrients intact. A 2009 study considered a wider group of veggies, subjecting 20 vegetables to a variety of cooking methods and then measuring antioxidant activity. Their conclusion? The vegetables actually varied widely in how much antioxidant activity they preserved – but a key finding was that shorter cooking time, using minimal water, is one of the best ways to retain nutrients. That study concluded that microwaving – because it shortens cooking time – actually preserved antioxidant capacity better than boiling and pressure-cooking in many cases. The authors quipped: “In short, water is not the cook’s best friend when it comes to preparing vegetables”.

Question: Are microwaves “bad” for you?

Answer: Microwaves are tightly regulated by the FDA in terms of emissions. The key is to be sure to use microwave-safe containers, such as glass and ceramics, and to avoid plastics, metal and aluminum. Microwaving your food in improper containers could possibly cause potentially harmful chemicals to leach from the container into your food, or in some cases (such as aluminum), cause sparks or fire.
If you are following a lifestyle where you are trying to limit all types of environmental radiation, then microwaves can be considered alongside laptops, cell phones, tablets, and other sources that have become common in American homes and lives (another dramatic change since the 1980s).
Ultimately, whether you choose to nuke your food is a personal choice. You may find its convenience a lifesaver, and a key appliance in helping you to eat a variety of healthy foods despite a hectic lifestyle. Or you may base your choice as much on philosophical or emotional reasons as science – like many other decisions we make about our food and our health every day.
If you do choose to use one, here are my six easy steps to guide you toward your highest level of health.

1. Start with high-quality whole foods (fresh or frozen)
2. Use microwave-safe containers (glass and ceramic).
3. Prepare foods using minimal water and cooking times to preserve nutrients.
4. Include several servings of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet every day as well. (Buying produce in season and at local farmers markets when possible makes it both affordable and delicious).
5. Stand several feet away while you are cooking your food.
6. Be sure there are no cracks, and that the door and hinges all work properly.

© Text: blog.doctoroz.com

How to cook

© Text & Photos: reluctantgourmet.com

Once you learn how to handle these fundamental techniques, you will be able to handle most recipes. Cooking is not just about recipes....it is about how to take ingredients and make them taste as good as possible. Recipes are great road maps to show us how someone else got there, but one of the joys of cooking is to find your own paths. Knowing these techniques is like taking the car out for a spin in a new location. You're not sure where you are going to end up, but getting there will be fun.

	Baking Baking is defined as cooking food in an oven using dry heat. That’s all well and good, but since baking is one of the primary ways in which we cook food, let’s take a minute to look at baking, in depth. When we think of the term “baking” we are generally talking about cakes.
	Boiling How many times have you heard boiled potatoes, boiled cabbage, or boiled eggs? Boiling is a catchall term almost as broad as "cooking" itself.  But cooking in hot water can and should occur over a broad range of temperatures, from poaching to simmering to gentle boil to the occasional full rolling boil. Learn the differences among the techniques, and never end up with dry pot roast, disintegrated dumplings or mushy vegetables again.
	Braising Braising is a cooking technique in which the main ingredient is seared, or browned in fat, and then simmered in liquid on low heat in a covered pot. The best equipment to use would be a crock pot, pressure cooker or Dutch oven. LeCrueset makes a range of enameled pots and pans that are good.
	Frying Frying has gotten a bad rap, but if done correctly this cooking technique can yield a moist and juicy interior and a crisp exterior that is in no way greasy. Frying is also a versatile technique, suitable for everything from meats to vegetables. Learn the secrets to successful pan frying and deep frying so that you will get the results that you want every time.
	Grilling For all you guys out there who are already grill masters, read no further. But for the rest of us mere mortal home cooks who would like a few tips about grilling, read on. I have to warn you: when researching the technique of grilling, I found so many differing viewpoints.
	Roasting Who doesn't love a roasted chicken or Sunday roast beef? Roasting is a dry heat cooking method. A more specific definition includes roasting in an oven, before a fire, or buried in embers or very hot sand. Think about wrapping a potato up in aluminum foil and nestling.
	Poaching Have you ever poached an egg to make Eggs Benedict? Poached pears in wine for dessert? Or delicately cooked a fish covered with water, stock or wine (poaching liquids) in a covered pan to preserve the moistness of the meat? These are examples of poaching you are probably familiar with...
	Sauces As a home cook, one of the hardest things for me to accomplish when first starting out was making a rich velvety brown sauce to serve on steak, lamb, veal, pork, or even chicken. I could put together a pretty good pan sauce using the dripping after sautéing or roasting a piece of meat.
	Saute Saute in French means "to jump" and can be a method of cooking or a way to describe a dish like sauteed chicken breasts. The reason the French called this technique "to jump" is because you are cooking at a very high heat and you don't want it sitting too long in the pan.
	Steaming Steaming is a basic cooking technique that is considered a moist heat cooking method where the cooking happens at a higher temperature than, lets say, braising or poaching but it is also considered a gentle way of cooking. Perfect for delicate foods including most vegetables, white meat poultry and fish.
	Stewing Nothing hits the spot on a cold, snowy day than a rich and steaming bowl of stew. But what is, stew, exactly? Stew is not only the name of a dish, but it is also a cooking method. Stew, the dish, is loosely defined as meat or fish and vegetables cooked by stewing.

Bad-Mood Foods

How many times have you started out your workweek dreary and run down? You schlep to the coffee machine and start chugging java to make you feel better – sound familiar? Well, you might not have a case of the Mondays. It may have to do more with the foods that you consumed during the weekend.
That’s right, there are very common foods that we consume every day that can drastically decrease our mood. In fact, some of them can actually make you downright depressed. I’ll tell you about some foods that will boost your mood, but, first, the bad news: One of your favorite morning staples could be totally bringing you down – the bagel. Unhealthy white grains, especially when ingested without protein, can cause a spike in blood sugar. Your body reacts by pulling your blood sugar down, causing you to feel lethargic. While that morning bagel may fill you up and make you feel better for a little while, you’ll regret it 45 minutes later when you’re run down and crankier than you were before you ate it.

Next, we have a little monster – the cupcake. Everywhere you go, you see a new cupcake bakery and aren’t they always so cute! Well, they’re not so cute. Carbohydrate-laden foods make it easier for tryptophan to enter the brain, which produces serotonin, which makes us feel great. But the surge of energy caused by the combo of white flours and white sugars is followed by a major crash, as well as mood swings. Avoid the office birthday party if you have to eat the cake.
One of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures is on this “bad” list as well – the hot dog. Or any manufactured processed meat like bologna for that matter.  They are chock full of nitrates, a preservative used to keep food fresh. Nitrates can cause both tension and migraine headaches, so stay away from these meats. If you must have them, look for the nitrate-free versions.
And then there’s the matter of French Fries. I’m probably going to get hate mail for that one. I don’t know one person who doesn’t love their golden fried salty goodness. But with whopping amount of bad fats, high sodium, and refined carbs, these little wonders take hours to digest and can put you in to a fast food coma.

Lastly, stay away from sugar-free drinks. This means the sodas and those little powders or liquids that you add to water. These fool your mind into thinking that you are actually consuming sugar, and then send you on a frenzy to actually find real sugar later. People that drink these diet drinks actually tend to gain more weight than people who drink the real thing. Some recent studies show that the sugar-free sweetener combined with the caffeine can actually turn into formaldehyde in the bodies of some folks – so its best just to stay away all together.
Also, remember that anytime that you have a nutritional deficiency, such as a lack of magnesium, vitamin C or some B vitamins, it could make a person have a shorter fuse that usual.

Good-Mood Foods

Make it your business to try to eat two or more of these good-mood foods every day.
Start with spinach. Try putting in your morning smoothie. Trust me, you wont taste it. It’s rich in iron, and it’s a great energy-booster and wards off fatigue and aids concentration. It is also a good source of vitamin B6 and folate, which provide essential support for the brain’s ability to produce mood-boosting neurotransmitters.

Make sure to include the oily fish in your diet, such as sardines and mackerel. They are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which help the brain to interpret moods and boost concentration levels.
Believe it or not, peanuts are also awesome. They are one of the best sources of the mood-boosting mineral selenium, which wards off anxiety.

Finally, try some yogurt. You can put this in your morning smoothie as well. It’s rich in calcium and protein; it’s also great to ease mood swings, depression and anxiety. Armed with this new information, you can get your happiness back on track (and start mending a few relationships that you lost when you were angry all the time!).

 Text: © blog.doctoroz.com

Smart tips to eat a well-balanced diet all the time

As much as I wish we could eat a well-balanced diet all the time, I understand that sticking to healthy food choices on a daily basis can be a challenge. You have to attend the office happy hour, the block BBQ, a birthday dinner or a retirement party. Bottom line: There will always be temptation, and it’s okay to give in once in a while.

Part of rebooting your body is learning to eat in moderation. For example, go ahead and have a slice of birthday cake, but then make the conscious and healthy choice to follow it up with more nutritious foods the next day. Remember that what you eat will support and fuel your body. If you are eating foods rich in sugar, like birthday cake, chances are you will experience a severe crash in energy. Maybe eat just half a slice of cake or take just a bite. Another alternative: Fill your plate with low-fat cheeses and crackers or veggies and hummus to sustain energy for a longer amount of time.

Eating healthy means enjoying a broad variety of foods with a mix of carbs, protein and fat. As you continue your journey to a healthier, happier you, here are some wellness tips to keep in your back pocket.


Stay hydrated. Always drink before, during and after physical activity.
Water helps you feel satisfied, flushes your system and keeps you hydrated, but it’s not the only source you can use for hydration. Fruits have liquid which support hydration. Try oranges, watermelon and apples. In addition to hydration, they can help keep you full longer.

Fill your plate with all foods. 
In order to ensure your nutrients are coming from food sources, at every meal, fill your plate with fruits and/or vegetables, a protein source (preferably a lean protein), and complex carbohydrates such as whole grains and legumes. For example, lunch can be a chicken quinoa salad with the dressing on the side. An option for dinner can be steamed fish with kale and a side of bulgur.

Eat your colors.
Vegetables and fruits are packed with the essential nutrients we need on a daily basis. Filling your plate with colorful choices within your caloric count will help you get the most out of your reboot. From fiber to antioxidants, a plate full of colors – red, orange, green, yellow, blue and purple – is truly the easiest way to get the healthy nourishment you need. 

Pack portable snacks.
You never know when in-between-meal hunger will strike. So keep portable non-perishable protein-rich and carbohydrate-containing foods in places like your purse, gym bag, glove compartment of your car, office drawer or briefcase. By doing this, you will avoid the temptation to select chips from the vending machine or other unhealthy snacks. Dried plums, nuts and turkey jerky are all great options.

Hats off to you for rebooting your body and dedicating yourself to happier, healthier you!

Text: © blog.doctoroz.com

 

Healthy Homemade Food that you should be eating this summer

© Healthy Times Blog.

Summer time! Fresh produce, a whole lotta lemonade, fishing by the lake, freshly barbecued trout and dinner by the patio overlooking your summer garden. Summer almost has a taste of its own. But as the mercury swells, the possibilities of running into unhealthy food options increase with that of fun resulting in the summer obvious: try skin problems, rashes, dehydration and bacterial diseases. The need is to address the problem from within by turning to healthy homemade food and prevent the aforementioned- better yet when many of summer’s fruits and vegetables are brimming with secret health benefits. 

Here are some of our favorite picks for the coolest food and we’ll tell you why they’re a particularly good choice in the dog days of summer. 

Corn & blueberry Salad:Rich in two antioxidants—lutein and zeaxanthin—corn can act like natural sunglasses, helping macular pigment to form that     filters out some of the sun’s damaging rays. Boil it, Roast it on the cobs, puree it or make a great summer salad with corn and blueberry: Unexpected as it might seem, the flavors come effortlessly alive in this lime and cumin laced salad..

Watermelon juice & salad: 80% water and full of vitamins, a glass of fresh watermelon juice can not only help your body be hydrated but also does wonders to your skin. If you are not the juice kind, toss this quick and easy salad with melon and cantaloupe. With its layers of cool sweetness, it will become a great dessert!

Raspberry trifle with yogurt: Raspberries are a great source of fiber and it also aids in preventing weight gain or even promote weight loss. Make trifle your go to dessert this summer and replace cream with yogurt for a healthy spin.

Blueberry pancakes:Looking for a great breakfast? Go ahead and include the blueberries in it this summer for it can help you do away with muscular fatigue. Summer is a season of sports and blueberries carefully counter it.

Salsa: Substitute your daily chip dip with a healthy salsa that’ll not only be a treat but also fill in those missing vitamins.

The brouhaha surrounding home cooked food is not actually for no reason. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 76 million people are poisoned by food each year in the United States. This is mainly due to the food-borne pathogens such as bacteria, viruses and parasites that can harm or even kill you. Statistics suggests that forty cents of every U.S dollar spent on food is for prepared foods (which include restaurant food too) and which allows for more possibility of consuming cheap foods. Going by the statistics, cheap food can be either prepared when labour is low or the demand. The demand is high, which leaves us with a less paid chef who may or may not be experienced handlers, posing a greater risk of improper cooking and contamination of foods. At home, the risk is completely eliminated. To add, you can regulate temperature, oil, quality and salt in your home cooked food making it directly translates to better food- a criteria you must keep in check this summer. 

Health benefits of Cereal

© HealthTimesBlog.

Cereals used for human consumption belong to the grass family and are seeds of matured plants, in which nature has stored the elements for germination and growth of germs like starch, fat, protein, organic mineral salts and vitamins. They are rich in complex carbohydrates that provide lots of energy, lower blood cholesterol levels, maintain blood sugar levels, help prevent cancer, constipation, colon disorders, heart diseases, and are also enriched with proteins, fats, lipids, minerals, vitamins, enzymes, niacin, iron, riboflavin and thiamine. Most of the cereals, especially barley, oats, and wheat have abundant fibre. Breakfast cereal is packaged breakfast food, that is consumed cold or mixed with milk or water; often fruits are added for extra nutrition and taste. Cornflakes, porridges, and oatmeals are the best examples of breakfast cereal. The most familiar grains used for making breakfast cereals include rice, maize, corn, ragi, bajra, wheat, barley, sorghum, Italian millets and oats.

Nutritionists recommend including grains in diet, but it’s the whole grain that comes with the health benefits. Wholegrain should be a part of all meals, filling about a third of the plate. They come in two forms – refined or unrefined. Whole grains are unrefined and whole, while the refined grains are stripped of their outer bran coating and inner germ during the milling process. These would be white rice, white bread and white pasta. Bran cereals feature the benefit of maximizing the grams of fiber per each serving. Eating all bran cereal will make one feel more full, not only in the short term, but also extending to a couple of hours thereafter. This longer state of feeling sated may just have something to do with all bran cereal’s lower glycemic index. All bran cereal has also been found to reduce the likelihood of weight gain for both men over 40 as well as women in the age range of 38 to 63. These cereals help in managing your weight and reduce risk of obesity or other chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Dietary fiber, as contained in a high-fiber cereal, help lose weight because it is slow to digest and one feels less hungry. Cereal can also support weight control if consumed as part of a healthy meal or snack with fruits, fat-free yogurt or milk. The extra fiber from fruit and protein from dairy products can decrease hunger.

Water: The best ally

The value of water for our bodies is priceless. A very important and simple way to achieve a healthy life and a strong body is to "drink clean-pure water frequently". The organism must get used to intake water daily as part of a routine. The water, it is universally recognized as an important solvent because one of the functions is to sweep out contaminants from the body, eliminating the poisonous physical matter from the stomach and clearing completely the kidneys. In addition to dragging the waste from the digestive system, it is an element to gives life because contains oxygen and valuable minerals.
Without a doubt whatsoever, the water has a wide range of beneficial effects on our bodies. The current nutrition considers the vital importance of water in the daily diet and suggest as a general guideline to drink at least eight glasses of natural- potable water per day (about 2 liters) to enjoy and get most out of all its benefits.

Drink water moisturize the skin, helps remove impurities, oxygenates and tones the body from inside out. This is because its light mineral composition produces a deep action. The results are visible, the skin look fresh and flexible.
If you want to reduce the feeling of hunger, the most simple and natural way to fool the stomach is to drink a large glass of water. It is useful to keep the wolf from the door. It has a relatively brief effect, but it works. At the same time is physiologically useful.

Drink water is the golden rule of any diet. By cutting out certain food, you usually lose a significant amount of fluid. If these fluids are not replaces, the body will become dehydrated and that will leads to fatigue, headaches and irritability. In addition, if you do not drink enough water, your body tends to retain fluid. Contrarily, if you drink more than the amount indicated (minimum recommended, from eight to ten glasses a day), the water that the body does not need will be rapidly eliminate clearing out accumulated toxins. In addition, to take two glasses of water half an hour before meals will help you to eat less and save calories.
Water is the most important ally for the appropriate bowel function. Drink water accelerates intestinal transit, preventing constipation and dry stool.

The best tips to drink water

Like always in everything, there is a correct method to drink water. Is important to keep up with the following hot tips:

* Drink at least from eight to ten glasses of pure-potable water per day. (natural, tasteless).
* Do not drink water with meals to avoid sweep along the food.
* Drink water half an hour before or after meals, but should be done in moderation.
* If you are very thirsty during meals, quench one’s thirst with a moderate amount of water.
* Do not gulp down water.
* Drink water slowly, mixing it with saliva, like it were a solid food.
* Do not drink frozen water, it cools the stomach, slows down the gastric juices natural action and then the digestive system will be affected. Moreover, neither too hot drinks because it makes no sense to burn the stomach.
* If you are very thirsty, first you must refresh your mouth retaining the water and then swallow it.
* The water should always be fresh- natural, neither extremely cold nor too hot. If the water has been exposes after some time is necessary to change the liquid to other glass to aerate it.
* It is good to replace (at breakfast) tea or coffee for a glass of sweetened warm water with a tablespoon of pure honey or lemon juice.
* It is important to satisfy the thirst demand. Remember, if you drink water late at night, you may need to get up at bedtime to relieve bladder. When have the feelings to urinate you should not wait for it, holding it longer can produce damage to the body.
* Have always on hand a glass of potable-pure water, drinking between meals eliminates toxins and allow the body to grow new tissue.

Why fad diets fail?

The famous strict diets or miscalled "low calories" are base on the idea that the fewer calories consume, the mayor amount of weight lose. However, promise magical results in a brief time disappear over a long period. This reality, which repeats in each new fad diet, has a rational explanation that reveals why the effects cannot be keeping. Even more, the limited and low consume of calories (energy throughout food) in the long term can mean a body great effort causing a variety of negative health consequences.

The drastic reduction of food intake and lack of essential nutrients explains why people whom follow strict diets end up starving, dehydrate, with overweight and an awful nutrition. To top it all, these diets produce an obsessive behavior associated with continuous weight control and calorie consumed and they generate compulsive behaviors related to food. You cannot do a lifetime record of what food and calories you must take. Therefore, people end up hating the scale, because this innocent device evidences a reality that contradicts the false promise of a diet.

The initial weight that you can lose with some of the fad diets is the result of a significant fluids loss. Without a proper medical supervision, this process can represent a danger to the body, causing disorders associated with body dehydration. In addition, strict diets can generate a significant weight reduction and fat levels loss, but at the same time may cause a loss of muscle mass and body energy. The body immediately detects that the food intake has been reduce and starts to function in inanition or alert condition, doing everything possible to conserve the reserves of energy that it has. This means that the less you eat in a long term, the less ability to burn energy your body will has, which is why you always will maintain your body weight without variation, no matter how little you eat.

“The drastic reduction of food intake and lack of essential nutrients explains why people whom follow strict diets end up starving, dehydrate, with overweight and an awful nutrition.”