Archive for July, 2008

How Green Leafy Vegetables is Beneficial for Good Health

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
peterhutch asked:


“Eat your greens” has been sound advice for generations. Green vegetables are particularly rich in antioxidants. They contain varying amounts of many phytochemicals including some really important ones like Vitamin C, flavonoids and carotenoids. The brassica group (broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, etc) also contain sulphur compounds and indoles, which add extra punch.

Vitamins are found in various food groups. It is easy to achieve adequate intake by following a balanced diet according to the “Healthy Food Guide Pyramid” recommendations.Good sources of vitamin B complex include grain products, meats and vegetables. Vitamin B12 is responsible for red blood cell metabolism.

Beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin are carotenoids, a large class of natural plant pigments responsible for the bright colours of fruit and vegetables. They exhibit strong antioxidant properties and may reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration and some types of cancer. About 40% of the carotenoids we eat are converted to vitamin A; the rest function as antioxidants. Beta-carotene is especially effective in this regard. Beta-carotene may offer some protection from the risk of age-related macular degeneration and some types of cancer.

They are a rich source of minerals (including iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium) and vitamins, including vitamins K, C, E, and many of the B vitamins. They also provide a variety of phytonutrients including beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, which protect our cells from damage and our eyes from age-related problems, among many other effects.

The betacarotene pigment in yellow-orange vegetables was already known for its beneficial properties against eye diseases. But scientists found that the lutein and zeaxanthin compounds in leafy green vegetables, broccoli and other yellow vegetables such as squash and sweet corn are also extremely potent against eye vision damaging.

Lutein is found all throughout our body, but it is very concentrated in the macula of the eyes. That is why it significantly inhibits the risk of developing macular degeneration of the eyes and is much recommended for individuals that have eye problems and also for the ones that make extensive use of their visual ability. For example, people that are over-exposed to sun rays or computer screens on a regular basis.

Brain Health should be a good reason you should consider eating more green vegetables. New studies are showing that important lifestyle choices, like eating healthy green vegetables, can help prevent you from developing sicknesses like Alzheimer’s and a variety of other illnesses.

Raw vegetables are extremely rich in minerals, vitamins, trace elements, enzymes and natural sugars. All of these are things that your body needs to function properly and the raw veggies will help stabilize and normalize your natural bodily functions. They actually help pretty much ALL of your natural bodily functions operate.

While the onion cooks, wash the chard, remove the stems and coarsely chop. When the onion is soft, add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan and add the chard. Lightly salt. Stir, cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until the chard just wilts (this should not take more than 3 to 5 minutes).

Leafy greens are chlorophyll-rich. And chlorophyll, which gives green plants their color, has been proven to help build red blood cells. Nutrition experts now claim that consuming plenty of green vegetables, particularly green leafy vegetables, will help to decrease the risk of heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. They are also said to be effective at lowering blood pressure, improving digestive health and guarding against cataracts and macular degeneration.



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7 Bad Eating Habits for Bodybuilders

Sunday, July 13th, 2008
Adrian Alexa asked:


You might be one of the bodybuilders that are training hard but no results are visible or the rate of development is simply low. In this case we might be dealing with a problem that is not given by your bodybuilding routine but your bad eating habits. They can actually keep weight loss unreachable and even building muscles can become very difficult. Let us take a look at these bad nutritional habits you might be having.

Eating Before Bed - If you want to lose weight it is not a great idea to eat before going to bed. Things get even worse if you are eating bad carbohydrates. Sleep does not come with burning many calories so your body might just turn what you just ate into fat. When eating at night you should rely on vegetables and lean proteins. By eating these at dinner you can eliminate being hungry right before going to bed.

Too Many Processed Carbohydrates - This includes breakfast cereals, fruit juices, candies, breads and different other foods that come with higher than average quantities of sugar. If you do not burn the calories coming from them fast you will see that you end up with fat instead of muscles. Do not misinterpret this piece of information and believe that you need to lose carbohydrates from your diet. The best solution is including carbs in your nutrition at breakfast and directly before the workout.

Not Eating Vegetables - A lot of bodybuilders end up forgetting about vegetables. It does not really matter whether you love them or not because leafy greens, broccoli and asparagus are needed in your diet. Vegetables do come with a lot of vitamins and fiber. They are also harder to digest when compared with protein bars, protein shakes and yogurts. Contrary to popular belief, the food that is harder to digest will eventually make you burn more calories when eating it.

Never Skip Breakfast - This is one huge bodybuilding mistake. If you eat a lot at breakfast you will have all day to burn the calories you took in the morning. If you skip breakfast you will only feel hungrier during the day and you will probably overeat before going to bed. Watch the rule mentioned above and you will see that the combination is not good.

Don’t Get Too Hungry - Do not let your body become to hungry before the next meal. You do need to time the meals so that you eat right before getting too hungry. This will keep you from eating more than you need at every single meal.

Eating Frequency - If you do not eat often enough you will notice that the body will not digest food efficiently. Eating often is crucial to a bodybuilder. You will see that most trainer do recommend that you eat once every three hours and 6 meals per day is better than three. Do not misunderstand this and believe that you should eat more. You should ideally split the three daily meals into 6 and all will fall into place much better.

Bulking Up Does Not Mean Eating Everything - A lot of bodybuilders end up making a crucial mistake during bulk up phase. You do not have to eat as much food as possible in order to build up the muscle you want. High Quality foods must always be your goal and eating too much will generate an excess of fat that will not help you out. You might want to consult a specialist trainer or nutritionist if you think that you can not handle the problems that come with what and how much to eat during bulking up.



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Eat More Veggies. Eat More Fruit. Get Healthy–Really?

Thursday, July 10th, 2008
Herb Dreyer asked:


While it is common to see scientific studies on how health can be improved by using certain, particular supplements of vitamins and minerals it is not the same for the real McCoy.

How true? Ask yourself and do a goggle search (or a PUB Med or any advanced search of scientific articles) about how many times you see a study–any study–on a particular fruit or vegetable that comes out proving some health improvement. Not a group, but a particular fruit or vegetable. And proof of health, not disease (this is an important distinction).

We are talking about real science here not just made up stuff from some science nut or health nut. And we are talking about real fruits and vegetables like a particular apple or broccoli as opposed to a group of fruits or vegetables. In other words we are talking about something very concrete and not at all abstract–this is where real scientific study comes in very handy: such study is not abstract or it is not science. And, importantly, if I can prove it and you cannot, it is not scientifically provable. Period.

How many? Which vegetable? Which fruit?

There are plenty of promoters of eating fresh fruits and vegetables and many of them provide solid credentials like the Harvard, Tufts, Eat 5 a day, and so on (for a really good goggle search try vegetables and health or fruits and health).

For example, the Harvard site cites the latest dietary guidelines that, “call for five to thirteen servings of fruits and vegetables a day, depending on one’s caloric intake. For a person who needs 2,000 calories a day to maintain weight and health, this translates into nine servings, or 4½ cups per day.” The citation for this is The USDA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is a helpful abstraction but not a particular guide to particular fruits and vegetables and how they can promote your health.

But most of what these prestigious institutions promote is air–no scientific studies demonstrating the health effects of a single fruit or vegetable could be found on the Harvard site, not one. True, it’s nice air, but air nevertheless.

Now we are not talking about the genuine research on fruits and vegetables like this one listed in Pub Med, “Electron beam and gamma irradiation effectively reduce Listeria monocytogenes populations on chopped romaine lettuce”, (J Food Prot. 2006 Mar;69(3):570-4, for those who need to know) . This kind of research is not after the health promoting effects of eating, in this case, romaine lettuce. And it does not pretend to be anything other than what it is.

Of course sites promoting the health benefits of eating of fruits and vegetables could be hiding the scientific studies and don’t want to bother their visitors with all those numbers and scientific names for turnips or plums. Or farmers who grow the really good stuff and how to buy them.

I remember a study concerning folate and green leafy vegetables and some kids on an island in the South Pacific. The study, a genuine scientific study, had to be halted because the scientists found that the children in the study could not get enough folate for their diets from the fresh vegetables because the vegetables themselves were deficient. So the study stopped because, ethically, depriving the children’s diet of this essential ingredient could hurt them–especially when the science proved the children would be deficient on a natural diet. So much for the health promoting benefits of this entire group of vegetables–and I have not seen another study to refute this single isolated, particular controlled scientific study on green leafy vegetable and exactly how they promote health in humans.

So how do you know if the fruits or vegetables you eat can really promote better health? Simple answer is you don’t. But then again, if you stopped eating fruits and vegetables what would happen? Could be all those diseases they write about in Pub Med and cited by the Tufts nutritionists and become the cover story about our fat nation for Time Magazine: eat your fruits and veggies and stay healthy or until we know, for sure, something different.



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Can you substitute vegetable oil with butter for baking brownies?

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
Butter and a butter knifeImage via Wikipedia
Me asked:

I am trying to make Brownies out of box, but I need to use butter…
the box calls for 2/3 cup of vegetable oil, but i am adding a stick of butter.
can i use the butter as a substitute? or will the fat content make the brownies bad?
and if i am able to substitute, is there a ratio of where butter and vegetable oil equal?

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