Keep Health Up

Archive for September, 2009

The fact is – all those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness. The food we are eating must be healthy, that’s right. What does it mean healthy food? This is a food that can supply your body with optimum nutrition, energy, proper organ function and a healthy and attractive appearance. No doubt the proper eating includes food from all food groups, it must be fruits, vegetables, whole-grains, lean proteins, legumes and low fat milk products.

Keeping special diet based for instance on using of fruits and vegetables only can reduce the risk of heart and other diseases. So picking up certain diet don’t forget that your eating must be always balanced. Regarding healthy vegetables dark-green vegetables like broccoli, kale and lettuces, orange vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash, and red vegetables like tomatoes and red peppers are healthy vegetables.

Such products as grain cereals, rice, breads and pasta are also very necessary for vital functions. In products read the label and make sure the grain that is listed such as rice, wheat, corn or oat is referred to as whole in the list of ingredients. Whole grains are an outstanding source of fiber. Fiber can help lower the risk of diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Legume, the class of vegetable including peas, beans and lentils are low in fat, comprising no cholesterol, are high in protein, and has phytochemicals that helps to prevent heart disease and cancer. They also contain rich fiber content.

Lean meats, fish and poultry are better food items with essential nutrient, protein. Seeds, nuts and beans also comprise protein. Choose and consume low fat cheese, low-fat yogurt, or low-fat milk every day. Dairy products can reduce the risk of diabetes and help to build powerful bones by reducing osteoporosis. Some variety foods such as sugars, alcohol and some fats should consume only in small amount.

Healthy Carbohydrate Foods
The carbohydrate foods can supply your body with optimum nutrition, energy, proper organ function and a healthy and attractive appearance. Good carbs supply minerals, essential vitamins and a number of essential phytonutrients. Good carbs include high amount of fiber and provide on-going energy. They also help to eradicate toxins from our body and lower cholesterol level.

The three basic best sources of good carbs are good vegetables, good fruits and whole grains containing high fibers. Beans, legumes, raw nuts, seeds and low fat diary are other good carbohydrate sources. These good carbs are also an essential part of healthy low glycemic diet. Consuming foods with a short glycemic index is able to help you to lose weight and maintain healthy triglyceride and blood sugar levels to administer or avoid developing heart diseases and diabetes.

Healthy Protein Foods
Protein foods are essential in helping to build a perfect body and building muscles because proteins are the building blocks of our body. Therefore foods high in protein should be included in everyone’s diet. A list of good protein foods are following.

Beef, chicken breast, chicken thigh, chicken wing, chicken meat, most fish fillets, tuna, pork, egg, milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, soft cheeses (Mozzarella, Brie, Camembert), medium cheeses (Cheddar, Swiss), hard cheeses (Parmesan), beans (including soy), tofu, soy milk, most beans (black, pinto, lentils, etc), soy beans, split peas, peanut butter, almonds, peanuts, cashews, pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds etc. are good protein sources. These should consume in appropriate amount without crossing the limit.

Healthy Good Fat Foods
Fat has a meaningful involvement in the body weight and health. There are two types of fats such as saturated fats and unsaturated fats. The saturated fats are not good for health. Sometimes it coagulates in the arteries and cause stroke and heart diseases. The saturated fats are only harmful fats to health, therefore not avoid all fat foods because fats are also very much essential for our body. Good fats are absolutely needed for good health.

So, the wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings. Let food be your medicine.

No doubt all of us, irrespective of age, sex, other differences do care about health and fitness. Actually the goal of any diets, exercise or sport training we do is not only to loose some weight but health improving of course. Regular physical exercises strengthen your heart and lungs, build muscle, increases metabolism. Besides that it stimulates the release human growth hormone and regulates aging process as well.

And that’s absolutely great for your health if you can make your exercise a habit doing it at the same time every day strongly. If you suppose that the only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not you are not right!:-) I’m sure that only the things we do with a pleasure is good for health. One study found that people who do bodybuilding workout, strength training or just aerobic exercises became 25% more active in daily life than before they started to do so.

Today bodybuilding has become a wide popular sport and that’s no wonder, bodybuilder trains increase strength and build beautiful large muscles. So while some builders do so for posing competitions, still others using different training methods, learning from steroid books create their own cosmetic purposes. It’s wellknown that general function of steroids is promoting growth of muscles and bones. By the way, bodybuilding has not yet become an Olympic sport because of the using of anabolic steroids and growth hormones. But the real and true enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are united.

In connection with some 2,000 students at Washington State University have reported symptoms of swine flu, the west-coast school instituted a blog to help provide information to students about the sudden and dramatic spread of the A(H1N1) virus on campus just days into the new school term, SAN FRANCISCO, California (AFP) reported. It is assumed that it has begun handing out flu self-care kits to students, university officials said.

“We estimate that we have been in contact with about 2,000 students with influenza-like illness in the first 10 days of our fall semester,” the latest online posting said.

“At this time of year, we would typically only see a handful of patients with influenza-like illness. Health care providers in the local community have also seen WSU students with influenza-like illness, but we have no way of knowing how many.

“We also have no way of estimating how many students are self-caring at home without contacting us,” school officials said.

“Two hundred of these kits have already been distributed with 1,000 more in process,” university officials said, adding that none of the cases of swine flu so far has required hospitalization.

“The overwhelming majority of our patients have had mild symptoms and are usually better in three to five days,” the university said.
As far as is generally known there have been 593 swine flu-related deaths in the United States, however, second only to Brazil which has recorded 657 deaths.

It’s really very good news for all those who love chocolates and don’t want to deny oneself to enjoy with it. Well, I guess you’ve heard already that consuming chocolate can help ward off the grim reaper if one has suffered acute myocardial infarction — otherwise known as a heart attack. “It was specific to chocolate — we found no benefit to sweets in general,” said Kenneth Mukamal, a researcher at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and a co-author of the study.

“It seems that antioxidants in cocoa are a likely candidate” for explaining the live-saving properties, he added. “Our findings support increasing evidence that chocolate is a rich source of beneficial bioactive compounds,” the researchers concluded.

It’s interesting that research’s results held true for men and women, and across all the age groups included in the study.

So here is great recipe for easy prepared but really tasty (I’ve tried!) Chocolade Cake
The batter is mixed entirely in one sauce pan. This recipe makes enough for one 9×15 pan or 2 8×8 pans.

Melt in sauce pan on low heat, stirring continuously:

4 tbsp butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
Add on burner:

1 cup milk
Maintain low heat, stir until it thickens a bit.

Take off burner. Add in order:

2 cups sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
2 egg yolks
Stir, then add:

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
When mixed, add

1 cup milk
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes (until a wooden toothpick, inserted into the center of the cake, comes out relatively clean).

Icing
it’s better to make this cake as a two-layer cake with a sour cream icing in the middle, and whipped cream on the outside. This is a good combination, as the whipped cream isn’t too heavy.

The sour cream icing can be made melting 6 oz of semisweet chocolate. After it is melted, stir in 1/2 cup of sour cream.

Any sculpting should be done after cake is layered, but before the outer icing is applied. Whipped cream can very easily be colored using food coloring, allowing one to decorate colorful cake sculptures