Category: Food & Eating

A Nutritious Diet while Traveling

Sticking to a nutritious diet while traveling can be one of the more difficult things to do. However, if you learn how to make smart choices, a healthy diet is really not that difficult. It’s probably not the best time in which to start a healthy diet, but if you are currently making healthy choices in your foods already, modifying your diet slightly to accommodate travel, is not as difficult as it first may seem.

If you are traveling by airplane, your diet may have to include airplane food, which can often be of poor nutritional value, depending on the selection. When you book your flight, ask about your food options, ask if a vegetarian dish is available? Vegetarian dishes are sometimes more nutritional in this case, but it really depends on what they may be serving. If you can, eat a larger meal before your flight, so that you don’t have to eat the entire meal that is served, to feel full.

When driving or taking a bus, you may be tempted to stop at fast food restaurants and eat the meals found there. Avoid this whenever possible! If you’re on vacation, you may wish to splurge a tiny bit, but having fast food more than once during a week can really be bad for your health. If you must, choose the healthiest options available, like chicken breasts and diet soda.

Also, remember that you can take your own meals when traveling. Carrying a loaf of whole-wheat bread or pita wraps, some lean lunchmeat, and low-fat cheese in a cooler is a great way to avoid high-fat and high-cholesterol junk food meals. These are much better choices and you’ll save a lot of money as well. Call ahead to ask if there will be a refrigerator in your hotel room.

Lastly, make smart choices when you eat out. If you choose salads or pasta get the dressing on the side and ask about low-carb options. In fact, many places print these dieting options directly in the menu for the health-conscious people. Control your portions by ordering lunch menu sizes or splitting the meal in have and getting a doggie bag, and you’ll be well on your way to healthy eating, even away from home.

Yes, eating healthy foods when you travel can be a challenge. However, your health is worth it. Eating meals high in nutrition will also assist in fighting illnesses that you are likely to encounter when traveling and you will find yourself more alert so that you can enjoy your trip.

7 Reasons to grow your own organic vegetable garden

During the last decades there has been a change towards mechanization and homogenization of farming, which uses pesticides, additives, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers and mass-production techniques. All this is clearly affecting mankind’s health, and new diseases are spreading rapidly amongst humans and animals (bird’s flu being the most recent one).

The World Health Organization produces reports to show how the use of chemicals and other products on food, coupled with the manufacturing processes involved, are actually a threat for our health.

If you have space for a few pots or even a small piece of land, it is a wise decision to grow your own organic vegetable garden. Today I’m presenting you with seven reasons for doing this:

1. You will have no additives in your vegetables. Research by organic food associations has shown that additives in our food can cause heart diseases, osteoporosis, migraines and hyperactivity.

2. There will be no pesticides or synthetic fertilizers used. These chemical products are applied to obtain crops all the time regardless plagues or weather conditions, and affect the quality of the vegetables. Besides, pesticides are usually poisonous to humans.

3. Your vegetables will not be genetically modified (GM). Antibiotics, drugs and hormones are used on vegetables to grow more and larger ones. One of the consequences of this practice are vegetables which look all the same and are usually tasteless. Besides, we end up consuming the hormones that have been used on the vegetables, with the potential risks for our health.

4. Eating your own organic vegetables will be much more healthy for you. They will not contain any of the products or chemicals named above, and they will be much more natural than any ones you would find at the supermarket. Your health will not be at risk because you will then know that nothing has been added to your vegetables.

5. Your own organic vegetables will be much more tasty. The use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, hormones and antibiotics make vegetables grow unnaturally and take the taste away from them. With organic vegetables, your cooking will be enhanced as their flavour will show fully.

6. Organic farming is friendly to the environment. Because you won’t use pesticides or other equally harming products on your vegetables, you will not damage the soil or the air with the chemical components.

7. When you grow your own organic vegetables you are contributing to your own self-sustainability and the sustainability of the planet. Small communities have been founded where members exchange products that they grow naturally, thus contributing to create a friendly and better place for us all.

In the end, eating organic products only means that we do not add anything else to them than they would naturally have. As you can guess, additives, fertilizers, pesticides or hormones are not components of naturally grown food. To better care for your health, grown your own organic vegetables -and a few pots is all you need.

If Sugar is bad for you, Are Sugar Substitutes Better Instead?

Everyone knows that sugar is not a good part of a healthy diet and so many people are turning to sugar substitutes in order to get their sweet tooth fulfilled, but, are these substitutes in reality better than sugar or are there more things hidden under the surface of these “healthier” alternatives than meets the eye?
Let’s take a closer look at some of these substitutes and see which ones are better and which ones may be better to avoid.
SUCRALOSE, sold under the name splenda, is useful as a one to one substitute for sugar. Sucralose is made from sugar and is used to make splenda which tastes like sugar. Sucralose has no calories but does not measure, look or act like sugar. Sucralose is 600xs sweeter than sugar so much less is needed for the same sweetness. Sucralose is bulked up with maltodextrin, a carbohydrate derived from corn, giving it some calories and making it look and act like sugar. This combination makes splenda. Splenda has 1/8 to 1/4 the calories of sugar. We are told that all the sucralose consumed will be excreted unused but despite the manufactures claims, sucralose is absorbed and metabolized by the body. The FDA’s “final rule” report says that 11% to 27% of sucralose is absorbed in humans and the Japanese food sanitation council says as much as 40% is absorbed.
SUCROSE is made from sugar beets or sugar cane. Not only does sucrose taste good, but it also gives you quick energy as well. However, the downside to this quick energy burst is that when it’s gone, your body wants another dose of sugar to keep the energy going. Taking in too much sucrose leads to excessive insulin responses, which causes the excess carbohydrates to be stored in your fat cells. Because sucrose is a high-glycemic (rapid release) sugar, you should substitute other sweeteners. Here are some other forms of sucrose to avoid when looking at labels: raw sugar, brown sugar, invert sugar, turbinado, confectioner’s sugar, cane sugar, crystallized cane juice.
ASPARTAME is about 200xs sweeter than sugar and there is a lot of concern over the safety of this sweetener. It is made from two amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Aspartame is marketed under the names NutraSweet and equal and is found in a wide variety of prepared products. This sweetener is not useful for cooking or adding to hot beverages.
MALTITOL, like all sugar alcohols does not promote tooth decay and has a taste and sweetness like sugar. It does not raise blood sugar levels or insulin levels and is useful for diabetics. Like all sugar alcohols, maltitol can have a laxative effect in some people.
SACCHARINE has been around for almost 100 years and is 200xs sweeter than sugar. It is produced from a substance found in grapes. The human body cannot break it down, so it does not produce an insulin response. It is most commonly found in soft drinks and sweeteners like sweet n low.
SORBITOL is a sugar alcohol which is found in numerous products, especially those that need to become dry or hardened like candies or confectionaries. Sorbitol is often used in reduced calorie or light products.
HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP is made from corn starch and has a high glycemic value which means it will cause a large insulin response. There is some controversy over the safety of using large amounts of this sweetener over time. High fructose corn syrup is found in numerous products and is not the same as a product that contains fructose.
FRUCTOSE, also known as fruit sugar, is sweeter than table sugar and only 1/3 is needed as a sugar substitute. Fructose is low on the glycemic index (slow release sugar) and so it helps control insulin responses, keeping them low, which means it is good for diabetics.
DEXTROSE OR GLUCOSE, has a higher glycemic value than table sugar and on most glycemic indexes, glucose is used to compare the value of other “foods” as glucose (which is actual blood sugar) has a faster release into your system than most any other sugar or food item which will result in a very sharp rise in your insulin levels. Diabetics should not use this sweetener. On labels it can also be called corn sugar.
LACTOSE, also known as milk sugar is about half way between sucrose and fructose on the glycemic index. It is made from whey and skim milk and is used largely by the pharmaceutical industry.
HONEY, is an invert sugar formed by an enzyme from nectar. It is a combination of fructose, sucrose, glucose and maltose and is a high glycemic sweetener so it should be avoided by diabetics who need to control insulin. Unlike popular belief’s, honey only contains trace amounts of vitamins and minerals.
As you can see, some sugars and substitutes can be fine to use in place of table sugar but certainly NOT all of them. For diabetics or people trying to control their insulin for fat loss, careful consideration must be taken when using sweeteners or sweetened products. As for the rest of us, well, still we need to be aware of what kind of sweeteners we consume as you cannot always rely on claims made by manufactures of some sweeteners or products which contain sweeteners regarding there safety or health benefits.

What You Should Eat For Optimum Health

We often wonder what we should eat for optimum health and even the government has recently flip flopped its food pyramid which you can see at MyPyramid.gov.
Here’s an overview of the 2005 dietary guidelines from the government.
First off, according to the new government guidelines a healthy diet is one that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk products and will include lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, and nuts.
The diet will also be low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt, and added sugars.
The main theme the government is proposing now is to eat a diet rich in grains and to make half of the grains you eat whole grains. Whole grains contain the entire grain kernel — the bran, germ, and endosperm, some examples would be:
• whole-wheat flour
• bulgur (cracked wheat)
• oatmeal
• whole cornmeal
• brown rice
Next you should “vary your veggies” and in general buy fresh vegetables in season, stock up on frozen vegetables and buy vegetables that are easy to prepare.
For the best nutritional value, choose vegetables with more potassium such as sweet potatoes and spinach and limit sauces which can add fats, sodium and additional calories.
Prepare more of your foods from fresh ingredients to lower sodium. Most sodium comes from packaged and processed foods.
One suggestion for a healthy diet is to try using a salad as the main dish for lunch and go light on the salad dressing.
Focus on fruits. To help you keep focus, have a bowl of fruit always available on the table, counter, or in the refrigerator. Keep cut fruit in the refrigerator and buy fresh fruits in season whenever possible. Buy frozen, dried, and canned fruits as well so you will always have some kind of fruit on hand.
Choose whole fruits or cut fruits over juices whenever possible for the fiber benefits. Choose fruits high in potassium such as bananas, apricots, and cantaloupe. Put cut fruit on your breakfast cereal. At lunch, take a tangerine, banana, or some grapes. For dinner, add crushed pineapple or mandarin oranges in a tossed salad.
Get calcium rich foods and include low fat or fat free milk as a beverage at meals. Have fat-free yogurt as a snack. Use low-fat cheeses on salads and casseroles.
For those who cannot consume milk products due to lactose intolerance choose lactose free alternatives to get your calcium such as cheese, yogurt, and lactose-free milk.
Go lean with protein. The suggestions for your protein intake are to use the leanest cuts of meats such as top sirloin and pork loin and whenever choosing ground beef go with extra lean that is identified as at least 90% lean.
Buy skinless chicken parts as the fat is in the skin. Choose lean turkey and all kinds of fish.
To keep your meat intake lean and as free of fat as possible, broil, grill, roast, or boil your meat choices instead of frying and drain off any fat that appears during cooking.
Choose dry beans such as kidney beans and use them as the main part of a meal often. Make use of nuts for snacks and use them to sometimes replace meat or poultry.