Sunday, October 22, 2006

For A Healthy Living: Just Enjoy A Variety Of Vegetables

By Rene Graeber

Eating healthy is important for everyone - and I bet: you know that already...

Plus: one of the most important keys to eating a better diet is eating more fruits and vegetables. I bet again: you knew that too. But:

Many people are unsure how to use vegetables more effectively as part of their diet, but it may be easier than you think to provide yourself and your family with healthy, nutritious meals at a great prices!

One way to create wonderful meals that are healthier than ever is to take a stroll through the produce section of your local grocery store.

Most major grocery store chains have huge produce sections, containing a wonderful variety of fruits and vegetables from all corners of the world.

Trying a variety of different fruits and vegetables is a great way to keep your meals interesting and exciting in addition to nutritious. It is all too easy to become bored when trying to follow a healthy diet, and boredom can lead people to abandon their healthy habits.

Avoiding diet burnout is important to the long term survival of even the most sensible eating plan.

So if you've never had vegetables like collard greens, asparagus or kale before, why not give them a try. Not only can trying new things allow you to make great new discoveries, but it can increase your level of fitness as well. Leafy green vegetables like spinach, broccoli and kale are rich sources of many important vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients.

Another great way to increase the variety of vegetables you enjoy is to combine fresh, frozen and canned vegetables. While fresh vegetables are generally better and healthier, frozen and canned vegetables can be great alternatives for when the fresh varieties are out of season.

One of the best things about fresh fruits and vegetables is the great variety of flavors, colors and textures available. Eating a variety of different colored vegetables and fruits does much more than provide much needed variety. It also provides a great variety of nutrients.

For instance, yellow and orange fruits and vegetables tend to be very high in beta carotene, while green leafy vegetables are often great sources of calcium and other important nutrients. So why not spice up your plain old green salad with a splash of color in the form of yellow peppers or orange carrot slices?

Many people wrongly think that they can make up for a crappy diet by using vitamin and mineral supplements. This mistaken belief is apparently very widespread, since sales of these supplements continue to break records.

When considering vitamin and mineral supplements, however, it is important to remember that foods contain many different minerals, trace elements and other micronutrients.

That means that for every nutrient that has been discovered and synthesized, there may be ten, twenty or more of these micronutrients that have yet to be fully understood. That is why no vitamin supplement, no matter how complete, can truly replace a healthy, balanced diet.

In addition, vitamin and mineral supplements are quite a bit more expensive than a good selection of vegetables and fruits, and not nearly as tasty.

When changing your diet and eating for a healthier lifestyle, it is important to educate yourself about eating right, and go choose the right fruits and vegetables for your tastes. After all, the best diet is the one you can follow for the rest of your life.

One of the best ways to start eating a healthy diet is to choose the freshest fruits and vegetables. Not only do fresh fruits and vegetables taste better, but they are less expensive and more nutritious as well. Choosing a variety of in season fruits and vegetables every week is a great way to enjoy healthy and varied meals.

Of course your favorite fruits and vegetables will not always be in season, so it will sometimes be necessary to supplement those fresh fruits and vegetables with canned and frozen varieties. When choosing canned fruits, try to avoid those packed in syrup; choose canned fruits packed in fruit juice or water instead. They will be healthier and contain less sugar.

Adding fresh fruit, such as apple slices, mandarin oranges, nectarines and the like is a great way to make plain salads more interesting and more delicious. Combining fruits and vegetables is a great way to enhance your nutrition as well.

About The Author
When it comes to vigorous energetic youthful health your very first challenge is to separate the hype, theories, and outright 'BS' from proven strategies and tested programs - just visit Rene Graeber´s website at http://www.gesund-heilfasten.de

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Saturday, October 21, 2006

Watermelon Juice: A Sweet Treat With Added Health Benefits

By: Christine Macguire

Watermelon, an all time favorite fruit for meals and snacks is actually a “vegetable”. The origin of watermelon can be traced back to early Egyptian civilization, which is still evident in the hieroglyphics on the wall paintings. The fruit was held in high regard and often placed on the tombs of many kings and pharaohs. Watermelon has played the role of a thirst quenching fruit in countries in the Mediterranean region due to the scarcity of water in these areas. The African slaves brought watermelon seeds to the western countries and eventually United States has turned out to be one of the leading commercial growers of watermelon. Recent researches show that watermelon is one of the major cucurbit crops in the world accounting for around 7% of world area devoted for vegetable crops.

Watermelons are available throughout the year and are grown for their fleshy, juicy and sweet fruit. Its natural sweetness makes it a delicious and refreshing dessert especially in hot climate. Watermelons are perfect addition to a salad, salsa or a cool drink. Today there are numerous varieties of watermelon with red, pink, orange or yellow flesh. Watermelon consists of more than 91% of water and nearly 8% sugar.

The sweet and juicy watermelon has lots of nutritional benefits:

· It is fat free.
· It has very low sodium content.
· It is Cholesterol free.
· It is a good source of Vitamins A & C

Recent study on watermelons has revealed that it has numerous potential health benefits. The red variety of watermelon contains high concentrations of Lycopene, an anti-oxidant that helps to reduce the risk of many diseases. Lycopene and beta-carotene are compounds called carotenoids, which are highly colored pigments that help protect plants against damage from sunlight. These antioxidants neutralize the harmful free radicals in the human body. Free radicals in the human body cause great deal of damage by oxidizing cholesterol and making it stick to the blood vessel walls, eventually leading to heart attack or stroke. Lycopene in watermelons get rid of these thereby reducing the risk of other fatal diseases such as asthma attacks, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, colon cancer and other heart diseases.

The American Heart Association has certified watermelon to be one of the constituents of a sensible low saturated fat, low cholesterol diet. Watermelon is grown in many nations and is highly priced in a few. Watermelon is often given as a precious gift in Japan where they call it, Suika. The Japanese wrap it beautifully in a protective covering or cellophane and present it. All parts of watermelon are dibble. The rind is used for making sweet pickles and the seeds can be baked and salted.

Watermelon juice known as Agua Fresca in Mexican and is a delicacy in the country. With more than 50 varieties of watermelon there are varieties of juices in the market with a perfect blend with other additives.

About The Author
Christine Macguire is an expert Internet marketing professional with years of experience in various industries such as: Business, Finance, Real Estate, Web-Design, Health & Medicine and many more.

Author Website: http://www.sundiacorp.com

Friday, October 20, 2006

6 Great Fruits For Diet


Fruits are rich of nutrition. They are not only known for having a great power in human treatment, but they are also a good source for weight loss. That's why many women take fruits in their diet. Among a thousand or million fruits in the world, there are just a few that can be the very good fruits for weight reduce.

Let See What Are They;
  1. Apple
    A study reported that by eating an apple before taking a meal can reduce weight to 33%.

  2. Lime
    Compared to other fruits, a lime contains most fiber. It's property that can dissolve in water, make it a good material to reduce the desirer to eat high carbohydrate food.

  3. Water melon
    Water melon has 92% content of water. It can activate the receptor in a stomach to send the full signal to the brain.

  4. Orange
    An orange has nutrient that can reduce the fat calories in foods.

  5. Grape
    Besides can avoid glucose in the blood from become fat, it also helps to against the fat building in the stomach.

  6. Strawberry
    Strawberry has a great content of antioxidant to increase the body metabolism.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Broccoli, Carrot and Pumpkin


Do you like to eat broccoli, carrot and pumpkin?
Or either one or two of them? Thank god if you can make them friends!

Let see what you get for having them in your meal.

[Broccoli]

Broccoli is in a same family of cabbage. This family usually contains high 'glucosinolates' and 'sulphoraphane'. Glucosinolates is a natural plant compounds, found mostly in cruciferous plants such as broccoli and cauliflower. Some glucosinolates might have useful anti-cancer activity. The sulphoraphane in the broccoli helps in reducing the risk of intestines cancer, breast cancer and high blood pressure.

High taking protein foods can cause your body lack of calcium which is important in building dense and strong bones. If this happen you might have osteoporosis. One way to avoid this is to take broccoli. These leaf vegetables contain vitamin K which is useful to reduce the losing of calcium in the body.

[Carrot]

Carrot is rich of mineral, antioxidant and cilium.
The antioxidant from a carrot is known as a most effective resource to increase immunization system and building the body’s cells. This is why carrot can be a good medicine for skin and acne’s problems.

Iron in a carrot helps to increase the blood cells which is useful for getting fairer skin. Carrot also contains beta carotene which is good for eyes and functioning as a anti-tumor.

[Yellow Pumpkin]

Pumpkin is rich of Vitamin A which can against skin problems, eye irritated, unbalanced glucose in the blood, spread diseases and lung problems.

This vegetables also contains calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, potassium, niacin, vitamin B and C and magnesium. All these nutrients are very useful to keep the liver functions.

The pumpkin's seeds contain fat and protein which can be fried to be eaten to remove worms in intestines.


Thursday, October 05, 2006

The 9 Great Material

As a start, here are 3 everyday ingredients (spices), 3 great fruits and 3 kind of vegetables that can be used to treat a few sicknesses.
  1. 1 Garlic Cures Migraine.
    Take 2 teaspoon of garlics, peel the skin and wash cleanly. Chew them slowly, swallow and drink a glass of warm water. Do it every morning. Chewing a nutmeg also can reduce migraine, but it can make you sleepy. So, don't take it if u want to have a travel.

  2. Ginger Combat Travel Sickness.
    Take a quarter or teaspoon of powdered ginger or a one centimeter slice of root ginger at least 20 minutes before you get in the car.
  3. Black Pepper Improves Digestion.
    It helps to prevent the formation of ulcers by killing harmful bacteria in the stomach, and build-up a healthy mucus in the stomach. They also stimulate the production of saliva and gastric juices to improve the digestive system. Add a few teaspoon of powdered black pepper into your cook.

  4. Apple : Take an apple a day keeps the doctor away!
    Although a single apple contains a low vitamin C, it has an antioxidant and flavonoids to boost the activity of this vitamin. This helps reducing the risk of colon cancer and heart attack.

  5. Kiwi Fruit, Small But Rich With Nutritions.
    Kiwi fruit is a great resource of cilium, magnesium, vitamin E and fiber. It contains 2 times of vitamin C compared to 1 orange.

  6. Strawberry Prevent Cancer.
    Strawberry has the highest antioxidant between all main fruits. It prevents body from cancer.

  7. Salad Cures Insomnia.
    Salad contains calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium and zinc. It helps release stress.
    Take salad once a day, you will have a good sleep.

  8. Carrot For Constipation.
    A carrot also rich with vitamin A, B and C. It is effective for constipation, diarrhoea and high blood pressure problem. Cut a carrot into a few slices, boil it with a cup of water. Drink the boiled water to cure your constipation.

  9. Chilli reduces high cholesterol level and high blood pressure.