Todays Health Article

February 2nd, 2012

Today’s use  of those leafy greens, some we all know about, yet others we may not eat because of the unknown truths and the lack of understanding. It is like most people think… they are good for you but their tastes are bitter. Today you are about to learn of a variety of greens. Greens are a grouping of foods that  closely match our nutritional needs, promote good health, and have a great impact on our immune system.

Spinach Greens

THE TRUTHS ABOUT GREENS

I have noticed that many diet plan have given little attention or even mentioned the need for our green leafy plants, and it even more difficult to find nutritional information. Perhaps it is how they get lumped together with their roots, such as carrots and beats, or the flower grouping, such as cauliflower and broccoli. This gives you some idea that  we are misleading greens for vegetables, when they would be better off to be put into their own food group… greens!

Perhaps Another False Truth

This thought seems to hold with a majority who have not even tried the taste of greens, it was my general assumption of spinach when I was young, that anything that  smelled that bad when it was cooking had to taste bad. It used to about make me gag. However, I enjoy today, because it is totally great fresh, and if not overcooked… is good as well.

So, the most common reasons for the unpopularity of greens is that many people think they taste bitter. This may partly due to the influx, and our addiction to sugar being present in every thing we eat.

Lastly it seems that, we understand  little about these greens, and what is misunderstood, we do not choose to eat. We spend little time in our busy lives to learn about healthy foods. Yet once understood, we are more likely to try if it were to benefit our particular health situation.  Would you not agree?

OK, So What is so Great About these Greens

I have provide some categories that might be found beneficial  to a healthy diet.

1. Greens are  found to have Amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein and they are abundant in greens. In fact eating eating a variety of greens in your diet will provide the essential amino acids needed in your diet. To understand, this makes it easier for our body to build the exact proteins that it needs and are not hard to digest.

The insoluble fiber found in our green leafy plants, offers a critical ingredient needed for our body’s waste and the removal of our body’s toxins. If you could imagine how a sponge absorbs water many times it’s own weight, this is the benefits of insoluble fiber. Not only provides these benefits but actually enhance the immune system.

2. Just mentioning Greens Boost your Immune System because if you take a look at any acid-alkaline food chart, you’ll find that greens are one of the most alkaline of all foods.

While raising your body’s pH by eating an alkaline diet (greens), this is one of the best ways to boost your immune system. Thus, more greens added into your diet will not only boost your nutrition, but also boost your immune system.

3. Greens are rich in vitamins, including vitamin K, E, A, C, and many B vitamins. Greens also contain a wide variety of minerals and important phytonutrients. Calorie for calorie, greens are the most concentrated source of nutrition of any food.

The greens of plants usually have much higher vitamin and mineral contents than the roots. Carrot tops, for example, have several times more nutrition than carrot roots, but the tops are usually thrown away. Each type of green has its own unique nutritional profile. If a nutrient is low in one type of green, it is usually abundant in other greens. Therefore, consuming a variety of greens in your diet is the best way to maximize the nutritional benefits of greens.

4. Unlike many vegetables which can cause fermentation and gas if eaten with fruits, greens actually aid digestion by stimulating your body to secrete digestive enzymes. So greens can be successfully combined with any other food.

How Should I Eat Greens?

 The fresh and organic greens will provide to you the highest nutrient contents and eliminate extra toxins. The fresh and non-wilting greens are much more nutritious than greens that are past their prime. Another solution is growing your own greens or buying locally  to ensure freshness and maximize the nutrients in greens.

To Cook or Not To Cook. Cooking breaks down and destroys nutrients in food, and the hotter the cooking, the more nutrition is lost. That being said, low temperature cooking, such as steaming, preserves much of the nutrition in greens.

You might want to consider adding greens to your soup or stew at the last few minutes of cooking, to preserve the nutrition while cooking.

The list of greens can be found here, the list was so long, I provided this website link so you could read at you leisure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leaf_vegetables

Today’s Health Comments

Are you eating your greens for better health? I know they have been misunderstood by most, yet they can be very nutritional and very beneficial for our health. Mostly few people include only a handful of varieties in their diet. I had not even heard of some of the varieties that are listed on the above site. Yet we are very concerned that they are not going to be liked, so we are not inclined to try. Like most foods that can be eaten raw, this may provide the most nutrients, yet sometimes steaming may be easier for our bodies to digest. To a healthier life, enjoy your greens.

Todays Health Article

January 30th, 2012

Today after reading a couple articles, they prompted the thoughts or questions we must all think about, are our life‘s  reflections healthy in the end. Perhaps as we grow older, we take time to ponder about the meaning of our lives, and reflect upon the past. It could just be an observation, but as we grow older we seem to reflect more on the past than what we might do we the shorter time we have left before us. So you may have been, lately thinking about the meaning 0f life, is it healthy in the end.

In this personal observation, all that we do, how we do what we do in life,  the struggles, the drama, the stress, the pain and suffering, has a permanent reflection on our health. Yet we all know, we live in an impermanent nature, facing the facts about our own life and death meaning.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the meaning of life and the impermanent nature of it all. Observing how we do what we do, the struggles we put ourselves through, the drama, the pain and the suffering. The question that comes to me are these reflections healthy in the end.

While these  thoughts about life, death and purpose drift in and out of my consciousness on a regular basis, it was my research of  my own quest for answers… why I seek God, why I share with others, why I love my family, and the love for my neighbors, and concluding, why I cry with them as well. Is this all healthy? Many people would ask this question…

“What’s the point in life,  we all come to the end?”

You and I both know, we ask this question of ourselves. Why, then when you look around today, you see a lot of struggling… in our own lives as well as the lives of others. There seems to be no shortage today for those who suffer from  hunger, poverty, foreclosures, divorces, and natural tragedies. It seems that there is little goodness that overcomes the weight that struggle carries on our shoulders and our minds. Yet we seek to get through those struggles, putting them in the past, to find peace and happiness.

 Personal Reflections of the Chase for Peace and Happiness

I can only  reflected on my own  life and though I have no idea of the end, the beginning and the middle of my life’s reflection has been fully loaded with life’s struggles. The death of my parents at a young age, lose of finances, home, stress, foreclosure, no employment, spouse with terminal illness, to within minutes of living out on the street. All of  these, in vain of providing for my family of five, a home,  food on the table, and a more promising tomorrow.

 Are You chasing ?s

I would race here and there and chase the dollars so that I could be recognized for awards that measured  success,  travelling more and more for business, bigger house in the country, and spending less and less time with the family This was all in the idea, that  happiness would  fall into place at some distant future. I had  no idea this was all materialistic driven, and I was on some endless treadmill, that at some point, a timer would sound off … and my superficial life would be realized. The End.

But you have to question your self… will that day ever arrive? You and I both know how this life plan goes on, the wanting for more and happiness  seem to be just a step away, it even appears within reach, you just  have to get done whats going on now, or it will always be out of the plan. Is that You?

The Unhealthy Outcome

We  all seem to wisk through life. Many times during of our life, we just are wanting life to move on quickly, like we we have control of it, knowing there is a better part of our life, another chapter that would be happier or peaceful. It is like a writer who would write a fictitious book, knowing how many chapters the book will contain, and how it will end. However, this is real life, not knowing the chapters life will contain, nor the number till the end.  Yet we continue to live like we will live forever.

Yet do we not just treat time as some cheap commodity that we can superficially waste. We have become so consumed in our jobs and relationships that we dislike. We continue to distract ourselves with the negativity of media and other people’s opinions. We  have become so competitive over beauty, status and owning stuff.

We buy into all the empty promises of cosmetics, luxury products, diets, and get rich schemes… all of which are blindly fabricated by others to profit by. Has this all became the very nature of our lives!

WAKE UP… The Wake up Call

Well I hate to burst anybody’s bubble. but I have not met one person who was extremely successful, that had not given something up, or many, for the price of success. I as well,  surrounded myself with a high level of stress, anxiety,work load, no sleep, and was mentally wore out. Now put financial strain, health issues, and death in the family on top of that, I was a walking time bomb that was ready for a trip to the hospital. Failing to recognize that these “dis-eases”  and signs for my emotions…  it was my very soul’s way of saying, “Wake up and do not let a brick hit you in the forehead.  Well my life was so caught up in… I was indestructible, this could not happen to me.

In this race to survive, we sometimes become mentally paralyzed, forgetting about the life, what it could be, and not what it should be by our designed utopia. Don’t you find this all so exhausting, overwhelming, and there is no end to this type of chasing the pot at the end of the rainbow. For me it was about to come to an end.

The Break Through

I and like many others rushed through life in this way. I did not understand til one day my body completely shut down from extreme fatigue and stress. A trip to the hospital and several months of rest and learning how to cope with what no one  could tell me, as to exactly what was going on with me. After months of tests they determined  I was just on a verge of complete exhaustion. I t would just take time.

That was obvious, that change needed to take place, that my love ones needed me more than the success, and all the materialist needs. I had realized that  before we all know it, the sands of our hourglass would run out, and we face the end of our brief existence on this planet, and to my regret, was missing out on what I really loved, my family and God.

Reflecting now, how we  had lived,  its blunt, harsh, and painful, the truth just stings. At the same time, we can use this emotionally charged observation to our advantage—to inspire us and others, and to emotionally move us  in such a way that we begin to live differently.

NOW we have utilized our time to restructure, at least for me and my family, our lives.  Today we still face struggles but we ask ourselves how we live, how we prioritize, how we contribute, and how we can live more fully in the precious moments we are blessed with. While writing this, my grand daughter, going on three just so reminds me that her time, smiles and hugs send such joys through to my very existence, can not be reproduced when you might need them, but to cherish every moment when they are given. To capture the moment.

It is those moments, I now understood…Perhaps  the only thing that is given freely and no conditions from a child,  is love. Something to think about…Is there an easier route to happiness by focusing on doing good work, contributing value to society, sharing joyful experiences with people we like, and remembering to slow down to savor the moments.

Todays Health Comments

So what is the meaning of life you have chosen? Can life’s reflection be healthy in the end? I believe that there is no single answer, as happiness and success are measured by each individual, but they are weighted by what are sacrificed by driven motives and desires. We tend to be more materialistic driven and competitive when we are younger, and as we reflect back we question what our real intentions for doing so. By understanding what feels right to you, and what you want your life to be about, what do you want to be remembered by your family, and seeking God and finally staying healthy by a balance of love.

Todays Health Article

January 29th, 2012

Today we are always looking at healthier eating habits, and for some of us, a craving for chocolate, has just been hard to except that it is bad for us. Well that is not all true, and some people have come to realize, that chocolate has many health benefits that are actually good for us. I jumped for joy, all the the bad raps about chocolate might finally come to an end. I got overly excited because not all chocolate is alike, and come to find out it was a little chocolate coated. But the real truth here is, it’s the dark chocolate that has the most cocoa and least sugar, is what all the excitement is about. So this is a good thing for Chocolate Lovers!

 Dark Chocolate

“Dark chocolate”, also may be  called  the “plain chocolate” or “black chocolate”. It is produced by adding fat and sugar to cocoa. It is chocolate with zero or much less milk than milk chocolate.

The U.S. has no official definition for dark chocolate but European rules specify a minimum of 35% cocoa solids. This Dark chocolate can be eaten as is, or used in cooking. For those seeking Chocolate which is thicker… more expensive baking bars have higher cocoa percentages, ranging from 70% to 99% are sold.

Dark is synonymous with semisweet, and extra dark with bittersweet, although the ratio of cocoa butter to solids may vary.

 The Good News…

For chocolate lovers: A new Harvard study finds that eating a small square of dark chocolate daily can help lower blood pressure for people with hypertension. This  study joins the growing research into the heart-healthy benefits of flavonoids, compounds in unsweetened chocolate that cause dilation of the blood vessels. The Harvard study had announced  in Atlanta, at the American Heart Association’s science session,  that eating a small square of dark chocolate daily can help lower blood pressure for people with hypertension.
The study analyzed 24 chocolate studies involving 1,106 people. It found that dark chocolate, the kind that contains at least 50 to 70 percent cocoa, lowered blood pressure in all participants, but most notably in those with hypertension. Eric Ding of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a coauthor of the study, says researchers also found that chocolate increased insulin sensitivity, good for lowering diabetes risk.

Dark chocolate also appears to affect cholesterol. The Harvard researchers found some evidence for a small decrease in LDL (bad) cholesterol and a significant increase in HDL (good) cholesterol. Triglycerides, however, were unchanged.

As the researchers write, there is “rather strong evidence” that cocoa consumption improves several important cardiovascular risk factors “and likely reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.”
Research touting chocolate’s health benefits has become increasingly popular in the past decade. While tea, fruits and vegetables also contain these heart-healthy compounds, “flavonoids are notably abundant in the cocoa solids of the cocoa bean,” the study’s authors write.

Chocolate with a higher proportion of cocoa solids — like unsweetened or dark chocolate — will contain more flavonoids. Dark chocolate, for example, contains from 46 to 61 mg of catechin, a type of flavonoid, in 100 grams (about one ounce), while milk chocolate contains only 15 to 16 mg, the study notes.

 Elderly seeking Continued Health Benefits

Others are encouraging people to eat dark chocolate for its health benefits is appealing advice, and older Americans have taken it to heart. Men and women age 55 and over now make up the bulk of dark chocolate consumers, according to the latest figures from market research firm Mintel.

In a May 2008 survey of consumers who bought chocolate for themselves in the past year, two-thirds of those 55-plus said they chose dark chocolate. Among those 65 and older, the preference for dark was even higher — nearly 75 percent.

Other Chocolate Factors to Consider

Even though chocolate is regularly eaten for pleasure, there are potentially many health effects, both negative and positive. Cocoa or dark chocolate may positively affect the circulatory system.  The other possible effects under basic research include:

• Anticancer, brain stimulator, cough preventer and antidiarrhoeal activities.
• As an aphrodisiac effect, is yet to be seriously proven, yet it is being proclaimed by many articles.
  
• Research has shown the polyphenols in chocolate inhibit oxidation of LDL cholesterol.
• Consumption of large quantities of any energy-rich food, such as chocolate, without a corresponding increase in activity, is thought to increase the risk of obesity.
• Raw chocolate is high in cocoa butter, a fat which is removed during chocolate refining, then added back in in varying proportions during the manufacturing process. Manufacturers may add other fats, sugars, and milk as well, all of which increase the caloric content of chocolate.
• Chocolate absorbs lead from the environment during production, and there is a slight concern of mild lead poisoning for some types of chocolate.
• The average lead concentration of cocoa beans was a very low ≤ 0.5 ng/g, one of the lowest reported values for a natural food. Lead concentration of chocolate was as high as 70 ng/g for chocolate products and 230 ng/g for manufactured cocoa.200,000 ng is the WHO tolerable daily limit for lead consumption.
• Chocolate is toxic to many animals because of insufficient capacity to metabolize theobromine.
• A BBC report indicated that melting chocolate in one’s mouth produced an increase in brain activity and heart rate that was more intense than that associated with passionate kissing, and also lasted four times as long after the activity had ended.
• Chocolate has been linked with multiple health benefits and liabilities. Research on elderly people showed chocolate might cause osteoporosis.
• Research has shown that it will boost cognitive abilities.
• Scientific evidence has suggested dark chocolate can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular problems  and also reduce blood pressure in both overweight and normal adults.
• Studies have shown dark chocolate as part of a low-fat diet can lower cholesterol levels in adults.
• In August 2011, Cambridge research published in the British Medical Journal: Eating high levels of chocolate could be associated with a significant reduction in the risk of certain cardiovascular disorders.

Todays Health Comments

Today may be good news for those who enjoy chocolate if they choose dark chocolate. Some may have higher fat and sugar that would take away the healthy benefits. Yet if you have a craving for chocolate, the higher cocoa content and less sugar, would and could be beneficial to your health. The research indication of the polyphenols that exist in chocolate is important to consider. Yet if  you consume too much of the sweeter chocolate, with out the exercise to burn the calories, tou could contribute to one becoming obese, and unhealthy. So  here’s to eating  healthy.

Further Reading

http://todayshealthsite.com/chocolate-just…s-costing-more.html

Todays Health Article

January 13th, 2012

Today many people might associate Sugar and Spice with the teen movie, many eating places with this common name or even the famous poem, Sugar and Spice… Everything Nice.

But for immediate clarification this is not about any of those!

Sugar and Spice has found their way into our daily eating habits with various combinations of  foods and desserts.

Our sugar craving though, has surpassed the uses of our spices, resulting in the health delima that has presented itself today. On the other hand spices can lead to healthier lives by their use. So perhaps  it seems only fitting too much Sugar being labeled Naughty and Spice being on the opposite side,  to be considered Nice. So in the nut shell Sugar and Spice, Naughty and Nice needs to be better understood for a healthier diet!

SUGAR

Sugar in its defense is necessary for certian aspects of our diet. It is not only found naturally in many of our fruits, Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and or fructose, this is characterized by its sweet  flavor.

Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet. It and the other sugars are present in natural and refined forms in many foods, and the refined forms are also added to many food preparations. In foods, “sugars” refer to all monosaccharides and disaccharides present in food, but excludes polyols, while in its singular form,

“sugar” normally refers to sucrose. The other sugars are usually known by more specific names — glucose, fructose or fruit sugar, high fructose corn syrup.

Why all these types of sugars are mentioned is because of the level of sugar consumption is confusing, but all are thrown into the stats of the 156 pounds we now consume yearly. This due to the sugar kick we have found our selves on and the ingredient list for just about every thing we has had it added in some form or another.

Naughty (Sugar)

Sugar has been attached as one of the more naughty foods… having a great influence on health today. Though many, many studies have conversed back in forth regarding the influence of diabetes, it has led to to great influx in our obesity due to the carbohydrates that has added calories to our diets. I do not have to explain, that is a good enough reason to eat less sugar. But that not the end of sugar being naughty for our health, it certainly keeps the dentists in business.

It has influx in our Blood Glucose levels and is linked to cardiovascular illness as well. Now some studies are indicating that Alshiemers desease is enhansed as well.

Nice ( Spice)

“If you are seeking to eat healthy, you may very well know that almost all spices are low in fat, cholesterol, sugar and sodium.

You will find little calories that would matter, yet find Spices can be concentrated with essential ingredients that can lead you to a healthier life.

The following spices… you may be familiar with, yet not have the health knowledge for each one.

I have chosen, what I think are some of the healthier Spices. These Spices… Cinnamon, Chili Pepper, Ginger, Black Pepper, Mustard Seeds, and Tumeric.

Chili Pepper is a good resource of Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Potassium, Iron, and Fiber.It also provides anti inflammatory benefits.

Cinnamon contains vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Iron and Manganese. It’s medical benefits allows the control of blood sugars and promotes anti clotting.

Black Pepper provides Calcium, Copper, Vitamin K, Vitamin A, Iron, Potassium, Manganese, and Magnesium.

Ginger contains Vitamin D and minerals are Copper, Manganese, and Potassium. This spice known for its medical benefits when you have that upset stomach or motion sickness.

Mustard Seeds contains Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus and a source of protein and calcium. Mustard seed is also a great source of Selenium… considered to have cancer preventive qualities.

Tumeric also provides Fiber, Iron, Magnesium, Vitamin B6, Manganese, Vitamin C and Potassium.
Tumeric is one of the healthiest because of it anti-inflamatory qualities, it aids in the digestion of your foods, and enables the healing of wounds.

This information provided to enhance your health needs. So in conclusion a healthier life might begin by adding a little spice in your life.”  http://todayshealsite.blogspot.com by dj

Todays Health Comments

Today Sugan and Spice may be popular in many aspects, although some not for the right rreasons. Sugar has become so dominate in our eating habits that obesity has become the number 1 health issue today. Yet spices carry all the health benefits,few calories, and are overlooked most of the time. Spices are, although becoming more used than they have been in the past, just  have not been really understood for their health value.

Todays Health Article

January 12th, 2012

Today you could simply ask the question…how many people want to take the necessary actions to enact a more healthier  lifestyle, among others, by drinking their fruit juice. There are some who just love their juice. But is it still healthy.

Then the lives we live, have become so busy, we tend to take short cuts or not always focused on how to accomplish the very thing we need to do to stay healthy.

Although some choose to making their own juice, most of you buy your  juice in cartons or bottles at the supermarket, and then store it in the fridge. Here is where we fall short of drinking healthy!

Drinking Our Juice or Not

However, when does our juice actually get drank or not, depending on a number of factors,  mostly because we are too  busy,  and we neglect to check, or take the time to check the juice in the refrigerator. If you are not a real juice drinker or you buy in abundance, the juice is left there for weeks! Now the discovery  may be by the expiration date… which is not likely,  because few of of us read them after the juices  are in the frig… but when it’s blah or spoiled! The question is when is our juice still healthy for us, and when is it not?

Actually, you may know, that some foods and drinks could actually lose the benefits of vitamins and antioxidants after exposure to air in a matter of days or weeks?

Brierley Wright, MS, RD, a master’s in Nutrition Communication at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, provides some clues about how long should we store certain kinds of food. To be sure, certain nutrients will be lost after exposure to oxygen, heat (when cooking), and light.

Orange Juice

A glass of orange juice, to meet the  vitamin C required in a day, that may be packaged in a box or bottle, after opening will lose all the benefits of antioxidants after 1 week.

To get your vitamin C, buy frozen juice concentrate and  drink in a few days. Frozen concentrate can be exposed in a little light and air and provide a healthy drink.

Apple Juice

With Apple juice refrigeration will slow down the spoilage, but it won’t kill the bacteria that will form after a time.  So eventually, bacteria will attack the natural sugars present in the juice, causing the juice to ferment.

Just like the other juices, the vitamin C that is naturally in the apple juice, will break down as well.  Since vitamin C is an antioxidant and helps the product keep its color, after the expiration date, there is a gradual loss of taste, quality, color, and nutrition, although there is no danger to the consumer.  However, there is a lose of health benefits, and your apple juice will turn into vinegar, leaving not such a nice taste.

Cranberry Juice

Cranberry juice depending the percentage of water and added fill-ins to sweeten the taste falls into a similar case as the other juices. But if we are actually talking about 100% cranberry juice, its shelf life in the frig is a lot longer due to the acidity of the drink and the low content of sugar. You might be surprised that some brands due not even have expiration date regarding the use. However, if exposed to sunlight will discolor as well. It is best like any other juice to drink within a short time frame to benefit from this very healthy drink

 Pineapple Juice

You may have wondered why pineapple juice either is frozen or comes in those old fashion cans. It use to be that most fruit juices were sold that way, but not today after the plastic bottle has basically taken over the packaging of juices. Well pineapple is  very susceptible to light, thus the can provides the best protection and the longest life. Putting the juice in a can gives the juice a two to three year life span if stored in a cool dry area.

Once Juices are Opened

If fruit juices are exposed to sunlight or over the temperature of 65degrees… the health benefit becomes to lessen and the shelf life as well. This must be taken into consideration regarding how long your juice will be healthy and have the best flavor. So once the glass is poured, its best to return to the frig and not leave sitting on the table.

Todays Health Comments

Fruit juices today are important for a healthy diet considering you are drinking the juice within the shelf life that allows you to benefit the fullest. It is important to manage them like any other food or drink in the frig that the will spoil and turn into fermentation at some point. If you think they have been opened for a period of time, it easy to open and smell or if they have expiration dates to verify the continued use. To healthy drinking.

 Further Reading

Orange Juice

Todays Health Drinks

Todays Health Article

November 26th, 2011

Today, unlike no other time in the history of mankind, we are being fired upon about food choices. It has become  a marketing strategy, a government  in our face,  the celebrities diets, the TV shows, parents, friends, children, and even the biblical firing upon us to what food choices we should or should not choose. Why is this becoming so apparent these days. Why is everyone firing out, sometimes even laying the law down about our food choices today?  Is this just a fact of Life? Do we as individuals need to be told by others… “What we Should Eat?”

Food Marketing

The whole concept here is and always has been to sell, sell, sell! After all, that’s what they are in the business for and they have been  providing attractive and convincing  advertisements for years regarding what is good for us to buy, not necessarily what was actually healthy for us. They first started out targeting niches of people, and when those became saturated,  from firing upon, now they have have become convincely targeting our youth, and more recently to our children. These children are now driving the influence of many parents, regarding food choices.

The Government in Our Face

Why have they step in, though they have been making reference to our food choices for years. Now adding several agencies, to control food choices that may be good for us. They have now come to grips, that even being in our face about food choices, issuing new suggestion, firing upon the fast food giants, Mrs Obama speaking out, the problem is, we are not listening. That could be the answer for this segment, firing upon us, regarding our food choices, after all we are a nation of obesity.

(click here for the full press release)

Celebrities Diets

Everyone today has one of those fans, celebrities who have made annoucement they have created some miracle diet. Today they pronounce that through the social media, and like a wild fire about to be  upon you, is now trying to convince you to take action, but much like the fire, it eventually burns out, leaving the results behind. The problem lies here, is they use their fame and popularity to influence their fan base, whether it is healthy or not. Not saying that there are those who might actually fire upon us the right choices as well. Just that having a particular size in a moments notice can not be healthy… just because they say so.

The TV Shows

Food Choices and Loosing Weight have always been and most certainly may always be topics for most. If Oprah makes announcement, certainly many would listen, and certainly in my mind, to be genuine. Dr Phil certainly speaks his mind and fires upon us his opinion. The Doctors lay out their opinions and finding research, hoping to benefit all with their latest findings. Then there is Dr Oz who is not afraid to speak out, even if it is controversial. Then we have had the Late Night shows who are always jabbing at us or making fun of our food choices, hoping that their barbs might reach the fire within ourselves to make the right food choices. Then last but not least, by far, my favorite, the totally emotionally, luv ya, get in your face, “The Biggest Looser”. They are all firing out food choices, upon you and me!

Parents, Friends, and Now Children

Today’s food choices and in the past, it has just been that maternal love to share with your children from the day they were born, what as parents, believed to be the food choices for their children. That does not leave after your children are able to make their own choices.  I very much remember several of my parent’s and grandparent’s comments when I would eat too much sugar on my cereal, long after I was a young adult.

Friends seem to think they have a responsibility to insert their 2 cents and fire upon us our food choices, especially if their idea of food choices does not particularly come into agreement with theirs. This actually might be for the better, in many cases, trying to influence us to improve our health choice. However on the other hand, may also drag us down the other path, that what they are eating is OK, regardless of the health consequences.

Children are becoming an influence that has not been seen in the past like they are in the presence, and is becoming a strong marketing influence today. Yes many children are actually influencing parents food choices. One great marketing add, still the longest TV commercial…”Mikey” influenced many parents to buy Life cereal. Then McDonald’s, Happy Meal, with its toy, persuaded many parents to buy their meals for their children. That perhaps if was juwas st a once and awhile occasion, would not make ittle difference, but instead it became a icon in the food industry. Children have become more adept to the fact, that they know their parents like to please them as well, and mistakenly have associated this with showing love,and forgetting that No, is also a sign of love as well. Since parents seemed to have less quality time with their children these days, children are replacing that love with food choices and are firing upon their parents for their actions.

Biblical

Today those of faith seem to find themselves perhaps being fired upon as well. For those of you who believe, the Bible actually spells out what we should eat and drink and not indulge foolishly, nor should we become drunken. It shares about the food choices. Although I may have  overlooked,  few were obese in those days, yet the basic foods of those days… are present today. So why has the religious sector, now stepping up regarding our food choices. Perhaps, because they have a listening audience, and we do have a serious problem, regarding our food choice. Maybe as a good faith gesture on their part, they are trying to save us from ourselves whom are not necessarily making the right choices.

(The food laws of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 are simply God’s instruction in how to properly maintain the physical human body He had created. They are for man’s good health)

Simply Why we are being Fired Upon

Perhaps the Best Explanation… is just the Freedom to do so! Is it in our best interests, regarding our food choices that we may select, perhaps yes, and many times no. Why are we being fired upon by so many influences, do they have a genuine concern for the American public’s food choices?  What food choices have they have chosen, could  they actually be right?  After all we are a Nation that has been certainly influenced by the past to become a Land of Plenty. Now a land of obesity.  This is probably the number 1 health issue today… that can actually be controlled. So if you do not want be continually fired upon by all of the above, everyone must become more in-tuned to our food choices, and the marketing of food choices would follow.

Todays Health Comments

Yet Today most people feel we are not only being fired upon from all of the above. Perhaps some mean well and others are just in it for your pocket book, having nothing to do with your health at all. The sorting out the truth is sometimes a little more difficult than we will admit to. We sometimes have so much to absorb about  food choices, we loose the proper mindset to say no, or back a way from those who have been firing upon us. Though some feel responsible to do so because they mean well and have become their captivated audience, does not mean it is always the right food choice.

Further Reading

McDonalds Under fire or Parents

Stricter Diets and More Exercise Encouraged

Todays Health Article

November 12, 2011

Today, we may be trying to understand the foods that allow us to burn excess fat while choosing those that are also healthy. Sometimes we assume that some  foods are actually of no health value, mostly  because of our lack of understanding their nutritional value.  With in his report I sought out  and came across a specialist who explains this important topic in laymen terms. I found the article of  great value so I have included it in it’s entirety.

The Top 5 Healthiest Fat-Burning Foods some may surprise you!If you want to lose body fat faster, try incorporating these 5 healthy super-foods into your diet & regular meal plans.

by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author – The Truth about Six Pack Abs
1.  Grass-fed beef or bison (NOT your typical grocery store beef!) - I know most people think that red meat is unhealthy for you, but that’s because they don’t understand how the health of the animal affects how healthy the meat is for consumption. Keep this in mind — “an unhealthy animal provides unhealthy meat, but a healthy animal provides healthy meat”.

Typical beef or bison that you see at the grocery store is raised on grains such as corn and soybeans. Soy and corn are NOT the natural diet of cattle or bison, and therefore changes the chemical balance of fats and other nutrients in the beef or bison. Grain-fed beef and bison is typically WAY too high in omega-6 fatty acids and WAY too low in omega-3 fatty acids.

On the other hand, grass-fed beef from cattle and buffalo (or bison) that were raised on the type of natural foods that they were meant to eat in nature (grass and other forage), have much higher levels of healthy omega-3 fatty acids and lower levels of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids (that most people already eat way too much of) compared to grain fed beef or bison.

Grass fed meats also typically contain up to 3 times the Vitamin E as in grain fed meats.

Not only that, but grass-fed meat from healthy cattle or bison also contain a special healthy fat called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in MUCH higher levels than grain-fed meat. CLA has been proven in scientific studies in recent years to help in burning fat and building lean muscle (which can help you lose weight!).  These benefits are on top of the fact that grass-fed meats are some of the highest quality proteins that you can possibly eat… and this also aids in burning fat and building lean muscle.

Grass-fed meats are a little harder to find, but just ask your butcher or find a specialty grocery store and they usually have cuts available.  I’ve also found a good site to order grass-fed meats online – http://healthygrassfed.2ya.com
2.  Avocodos – Even though these are typically thought of as a “fatty food”, it’s all healthy fats!  Not only is this fruit super-high in mono-unsaturated fat, but also chock full of vitamins, minerals, micro-nutrients, and antioxidants.

Also, I think guacamole (mashed avocados with garlic, onion, tomato, pepper, etc) is one of the most delicious toppings ever created, and you can be happy to know that it’s also one of the healthiest toppings you can use on your foods.  Try sliced avocados or guacamole on sandwiches, burgers, scrambled eggs or omelets, in salads, or as a side to just about any meal.

The quality dose of healthy fats and other nutrition you get from avocados helps your body to maintain proper levels of hormones that help with fat loss and muscle building.  Also, since avocados are an extremely satiating food, eating them helps to reduce your appetite in the hours after your meal.  Say goodbye to junk food cravings and bring on that lean body!
3.  Whole Eggs, including the yolk (not just egg whites) - Most people know that eggs are one of the highest quality sources of protein.  However, most people don’t know that the egg yolks are the healthiest part of the egg… that’s where almost all of the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants (such as lutein) are found in eggs.

Egg Yolks contain more than 90% of the calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamin, B6, folate, and B12, and panthothenic acid of the egg. In addition, the yolks contain ALL of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K in the egg, as well as ALL of the essential fatty acids.  Also, the protein of whole eggs is more bio-available than egg whites alone due to a more balanced amino acid profile that the yolks help to build.

Just make sure to choose free-range organic eggs instead of normal grocery store eggs.  Similar to the grass-fed beef scenario, the nutrient content of the eggs and the balance between healthy omega-3 fatty acids and inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids (in excess) is controlled by the diet of the chickens.

Chickens that are allowed to roam free outside and eat a more natural diet will give you healthier, more nutrient-rich eggs with a healthier fat balance compared with your typical grocery store eggs (that came from chickens fed nothing but soy and corn and crowded inside “egg factories” all day long).
4.  Nuts:  Walnuts, Almonds, Pecans, Macadamia, etc –  Yes, this is yet another “fatty food” that can actually help you burn fat!  Although nuts are generally between 75-90% fat in terms of a ratio of fat calories to total calories, this is another type of food that is all healthy fats, along with high levels of nutrition such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.  Nuts are also a good source of fiber and protein, which of course, you know helps to control blood sugar and can aid in weight loss.

Nuts also help to maintain good levels of fat burning hormones in your body as well as helping to control appetite and cravings so that you essentially eat less calories overall, even though you’re consuming a high-fat food.  My favorite healthy nuts are pecans, almonds, pistachios, and walnuts, and by eating them in variety, you help to broaden the types of vitamins and minerals and also the balance of polyunsaturated to monounsaturated fats you obtain.

Try to find raw nuts instead of roasted nuts if you can, as it helps to maintain the quality and nutritional content of the healthy fats that you will eat.

Also, try to broaden your horizons beyond the typical peanut butter that most people eat, and try almond butter, pecan butter, or macadamia butter to add variety to your diet.
5.  Berries – including blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and even the “exotic” Goji berry:  Berries are a powerhouse of nutrition… packed with vitamins and minerals, and also some of the best sources of antioxidants of any food in existance.  Berries also pack a healthy dose of fiber, which slows your carbohydrate absorption and digestion and controls your blood sugar levels to help prevent insulin spikes (which can stimulate fat gain).

Get creative and mix up your berry intake by using the basics — blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries… but also get adventurous and give a more ”exotic” berry a try, such as Goji berries (which are one of the most nutrient-dense and highest protein berries on the planet).

I like to add berries to my yogurt and cottage cheese mixtures, as well as oatmeal or oat bran, salads, or just taking a bag of mixed berries and mixed nuts with me for the day as a mid-day healthy snack!

I hope you enjoyed this look at some of the healthiest fat-burning foods you can possibly eat.  I could list a ton more, but wanted to give you my favorites for now!

For More Details, Click Here!

Todays Health Comments

Today we must include these food in our diet, so that we may be not only using their nutritional values but also their health benefits. Certainly we all have a better understanding of those foods now that may help us burn off some of our excess fat, but help us to maintain our weight as well. This author is responsible for many articles and further reading will be provided. below.

Todays Health Article

August 19th, 2011

Today, people  just may have completed or kicked this line around with several answers. Perhaps it may never even touched you in way that seemed to matter.  Why should this subject, be even given such consideration. Perhaps ridiculous, when the world as we  see it, is a planet full of water, lakes and streams. Simply put, we need water every day to stay healthy… and today when you think about it, all the vegetation on this earth, and all life existence, is in need of water, as well. It very well may be, to the average person, who seems surrounded by accessibility to water, it’s too much to even to compensate how much water is being used on this earth  each and every day. What  our water today, might one day become, simply not enough, very costly, controlled or rationed, and or contaminated. Where do we go from here.

Where is Earth’s Water Located?

You may have concluded that… water is continually moving around, through, and above the Earth as either water vapor, liquid water, and ice. The Earth may be compared closely to the likes of a terrarium, whereby it neither, as a whole, gains nor loses much matter, including water.

If you think about it, not too get far off the subject, little  matter, other than meteors from outer space, are captured by Earth, and very little of Earth’s substances escape into outer space.  This is an important concept to understand which certainly holds true about water. This means that the same water that existed on Earth millions of years ago is still here. Think there is no idea how old or where the water you just drank came from.

Water on and in the Earth

Salt Lake City, Utah to Topeka, Kansas, USA.
Credit: Illustration by Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; USGS.
View full size

FACTS

By viewing these bar chart, about 97 percent of all water is in the oceans and about three percent of all Earth’s water  is freshwater. The majority of that, about 69 percent, is locked up in glaciers and icecaps, mainly in Greenland and Antarctica.

You might be surprised that of the remaining freshwater, almost all of it, is below your feet, as ground water. No matter where on Earth you are standing, chances are that, at some depth, the ground below you is saturated with water.

Of all the freshwater on Earth, only about 0.3 percent is contained in rivers and lakes—yet rivers and lakes are not only the water we are most familiar with, it is also where most of the water we use in our everyday lives exists.

Simply Not Enough!

Wong Poh Poh, a professor at the National University of Singapore, told a regional conference that global warming was disrupting water flow patterns and increasing the severity of floods, droughts and storms — all of which reduce the availability of drinking water.

Wong said the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that as many as 2 billion people won’t have sufficient access to clean water by 2050. That figure is expected to rise to 3.2 billion by 2080 — nearly tripling the number who now do without it.

At the beginning of the decade, the World Health Organization estimated that 1.1 billion people did not have sufficient access to clean water.

The New York Times article, “Southeast Drought Study Ties Water Shortage to Population, Not Global Warming”, summarizes the findings of Columbia University researcher on the subject of the droughts in the southwest between 2005 and 2007. The findings were published in the Journal of Climate. They say the water shortages resulted from population size more than rainfall.

Lawrence Smith, the president of the population institute, asserts that although an overwhelming majority of the planet is composed of water, 97% of this water is constituted of saltwater; the fresh water used to sustain humans is only 3% of the total amount of water on Earth (Hoevel). Therefore, Smith believes that the competition for water in an overpopulated world would pose a major threat to human stability, indeed, world wars may be fought over the control of thinning ice sheets and nearly desiccated reservoirs.^[6] 2 billion people have gained access to a safe water source since 1990.

According to the California Department of Water Resources, if more supplies aren’t found by 2020, the region will face a shortfall nearly as great as the amount consumed today. Los Angeles is a coastal desert able to support at most 1 million people on its own water; the Los Angeles basin now is the core of a megacity that spans 220 miles (350 km) from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border. The region’s population is expected to reach 41 million by 2020, up from 28 million in 2009. The population of California continues to grow by more than two million a year and is expected to reach 75 million in 2030, up from 49 million in 2009. But water shortage is likely to surface well before then

Water Very Costly

It was not that long ago when most of thought that selling bottled water was a joke someone came up with, who in their right mine would buy a bottle of water, yet today its is one of the bigger share of the beverage industry. Who would ever thought that what was for many FREE for the taking is now dollars for a gallon. I remember our water came from a spring that ran out of the side of the mountain into a a concrete reservoir which then was gravity fed to our house… no electricity required. Yes, all you had to do was turn on the faucet and the water freely flowed out. Those were the days.

Now if you live in a city or even now miles from one, their control or regulation to pay the price that they demand seems to be a way of life… even in the Great North West! We have have seen the price of a gallon of water to continually escalate whether we have had large snow fall or little, makes no difference here. I have not heard of a water bill going down.

“Water bills future” was Googled and many of the major cities all over the world indicated that the need for increase costs for their water prices. Therefore, as the demand for water is being indicated, so does the price escalate. Needless to say, where will the price stop, will water be afforded, only by the wealthy.

On 23 April 2010, the World Bank held a high-level private meeting about water in New York, at which higher  prices were discussed. Days before that the OECD, which represents the  world’s major economies, issued three water reports calling for prices to rise. “Putting a price  on water will make us aware of the scarcity and make us take better  care of it,” said Angel Gurría, the OECD secretary-general. It has also been a key theme of meeting of industry leaders in Paris, hosted by Global Water Intelligence.

The discussion at the World Bank was  raised by Lars Thunell, chief executive officer of the International Finance Corporation.  “Everyone said water must be somehow valued: whether you call it cost,  or price, or cost recover,” said Usha Rao-Monari, senior manager of the  IFC’s infrastructure department. “It’s not an infinite resource, and  anything that’s not an infinite resource must be valued.”

Controlled or Rationed by !

Whether we like it not, this country, government, state, and city, have many of these regulations all ready in place to ration water if need be or they do so by the cost of water. Many of our elderly or fixed income families use very little water compared to the average household. There is also brown yards, no grass watered, nor do they take long showers.  Water for these people is already a commodity that has out priced their household income.

Reminds me of our farming days, where sometimes the only green grass was in our yards because the horses  and cows had eaten the grass to barren ground, so we let them in the yard to mow the grass and clean up the neglected weeds.

It’s no secret that water is being rationed, as we speak,in many parts of the world… either because of droughts or heat waves, or just unhealthy water, or natural disasters. Rationing is a form or control that allows all to share… sort of. I remember a few years ago our city chose to do so, as well. We could only water on even days, night only, because our address was an even number. There was city crews patrolling, “the water patrol” giving tickets to those who chose not to adhere to the rules.

Just think how this might become should our neighborhood become one of those areas that has not seen rain for a very long time, and haveexcessive heat! Poor Texas!

Contamination on the Rise

The Facts of contamination are certianly on the rise

• Every day, 2 million tons of sewage and industrial and agricultural waste are discharged into the world’s water (UN WWAP 2003), the equivalent of the weight of the entire human population of 6.8 billion people.
• The UN estimates that the amount of wastewater produced annually is about 1,500 km3, six times more water than exists in all the rivers of the world. (UN WWAP 2003)
• An estimated 500,000 abandoned mines in the U.S. will cost $20 billion in management and remediation of pollution; many of these sites will require management in perpetuity. (Septoff 2006 and http://www.abandonedmines.gov/ep.htm
• In the U.S. state of Colorado alone, some 23,000 abandoned mines have polluted 2,300 km of streams. (Banks, et al. 1997)
• Chlorinated solvents were found in 30 percent of groundwater supplies in 15 Japanese cities, sometimes traveling as much as 10 km from the source of pollution. (UNEP 1996)
• Roughly one unit of mercury is emitted into the environment for every unit of gold produced by small-scale miners, a total of as much as 1000 tons of mercury emitted each year. (UNEP/GRID-Arendal)
• In a recent comparison of domestic, industrial, and agricultural sources of pollution from the coastal zone of Mediterranean countries, agriculture was the leading source of phosphorus compounds and sediment. (UNEP 1996) Nutrient enrichment, most often associated with nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural runoff, can deplete oxygen levels and eliminate species with higher oxygen requirements, affecting the structure and diversity of ecosystems.
• Nitrate* is the most common chemical contaminant in the world’s groundwater aquifers. (Spalding and Exner, 1993) And mean nitrate levels have risen by an estimated 36% in global waterways since 1990 with the most dramatic increases seen in the Eastern Mediterranean and Africa, where nitrate contamination has more than doubled. (GEMS 2004)
• According to various surveys in India and Africa, 20-50% of wells contain nitrate1 levels greater than 50 mg/1 and in some cases as high as several hundred milligrams per liter. (cited in FAO 1996)

Todays Health Comments

Today water is no dougbt a main health issue… It is our very existance to survival. What Our Water Today, Might Some Day Become is dependent on actions today and not wasting and not contaminating for tommorrow. With our every day growing population… to exceed a 40% growth by by the year 2020… will our water supply be an enough? Will water become the most costly commodity on this earth… or will find the solution to utilize what we have? There may come a time when natural disasters, like the tsunami in Japan, where water may  become rationed to only those type of disasters. With the need to provide more and more food supply to feed the worlds population, what will be the next chemicals used to fertilize those crops, to control the ever increasing contaminates found in our water? Many questions will need to be resolved and there is not much time  for some action to be taken. Our industrial waste and sewage is becoming a costly  action necessary to continue to provide clean water.

Todays Health Article 

June 12th. 2011

Today breakfast is still argued the Number 1 most important meal of the day for those who seek maintaining a healthy diet and for those who are in consideration of maintaining or loosing weight, breakfast also has its place. Otherwise, eating on the run, limits you to perhaps a fiber bar, yogurt, or a fruit snack. But what may be missing are the enjoyment of a breakfast with others or the family. The OJ or Milk, a sprinkling of almonds or raisins on your oatmeal with milk, and your choice of fruit. I enjoy Blueberries or Strawberries with my oatmeal.

Little  Facts about Oatmeal

The oat grains are de-husked, heated and cooled, to stabilize the “Oat groats”, the seed inside the husk. Through this process of heating, a nutty flavour is given to the oats. These oat groats may become  to be produced as fine, medium or coarse oatmeal. Then these rolled oats are steamed and are flattened whole

Steel cut oats may be small and broken  from the de-husking process, these may be steamed and flattened to produce smaller rolled oats.

Quick-cooking rolled oats (quick oats) are cut into small pieces before being steamed and rolled.

Instant oatmealis pre-cooked and dried, usually with sweetener and flavoring added.

Both types of rolled oats may be eaten uncooked or may be cooked to make porridge.

Oatmeal Cookies

It is also used as an ingredient in oatmeal cookies and oat cakes.

Oatmeal may used as an accent, as a topping on many oat bran breads or a the coating on Caboc cheese.

In some countries rolled oats are eaten raw with milk and sugar or raisins.

Oatmeal is also used as a thickening agent in savoury Arabic/Egyptian thick meat plus vegetable soups.

Oatmeal for Breakfast  Health Benefits

There has been increasing interest in oatmeal  because of its health benefits. The  daily consumption of a bowl of oatmeal can lower blood cholesterol, because of its soluble fibre content.  Studies have  reported that oats can help lower cholesterol. The popularity of oatmeal and other oat products increased after the January 1997 decision by the Food and Drug Administration that food with a lot of oat bran or rolled oats can carry a label claiming it may reduce the risk of heart disease when combined with a low-fat diet.

The answer was because of the beta-glucan in the oats. Rolled oats have long been a staple of many athletes’ diets, especially weight trainers; given oatmeal’s high content of complex carbohydrates and water-soluble fibre that encourages slow digestion and stabilizes blood-glucose levels. Oatmeal  also contains more B vitamins and calories than other kinds of porridge’s.

Oatmeal Nutrition Facts

•  Being a complex carbohydrate, oatmeal breaks down gradually in your body, keeping your blood sugarstable, and giving you slow energy release.
  

  Oatmeal and Fruit

•  The phytochemicals and fibre in oats may have cancer-fighting properties.
• Fiber in oatmeal helps with weight loss by being low in calories- less than 150 calories per serving, by making you feel full and easily passing food through your body due to high fiber content.
• Bad cholesterol causes your arteries to get clogged and that can be very exhausting for your heart. Oatmeal can eliminate your bad cholesterol without affecting your good cholesterol. Oatmeal sticks to the bad cholesterol in your blood and takes it out of your body.
•  ’Getting rid of bad cholesterol’ is not the only way oatmeal leads to a healthy heart. It has a high content of vitamins- A and B vitamins and minerals- iron and calcium, high fiber and is very low in fat.
• Oatmeal is great for diabetics, soluble fibre helps stabilize the blood glucose levels by decreasing the absorption of sugar in the blood.
•  Have mood swings? Several studies have proven that foods rich in soluble fiber helps smooth out blood sugar levels by slowing the absorption of sugar into the blood. It is also rich in B vitamins that is important for proper nerve function. This means oatmeal may help if you find yourself cranky all the time. It is certainly a food for a better mood , as it acts as a tranquilizer for your body.
•  Being rich in vitamins, protein, magnesium, silicon, selenium, zinc, potassium, especially iron and calcium, oatmeal may help with building strong bones and teeth.

Todays Health Comment

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Today what you eat for breakfast will more than likely affect your energy levels and your mood. Oatmeal is the food that can help you begin your day with ongoing energy, fight against diseases, lose weight, stay relaxed and calm. Not to sound like a commercial but oatmeal is usually allergy friendly, full of nutrition and it does not go through any form of refined processing. Oatmeal is cheap,and if you  add some nuts,  fruits, or  perhaps a little bit of honey… you have the perfect breakfast!

Todays Health Article

May1, 2011

Today is always a good day to barbecue…knowing that the food is always going to taste delicious!  Many folks will be digging out the ole barbecue here shortly… perhaps its the sign that comes along with Spring Fever and our long winters. I like others though, use the barbecue year round and there is nothing better tasting than good barbecued food, if done right! However the question is what are the health risks and benefits when barbecuing your favorite meats or foods.

Poor Barbecuing Techniques Creates Health Risk

  Barbecueing incorrectly can dangerous byproducts. Their technical terms are known as heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). A proper enplanation of both terms will help to understand how many people may be putting themselves and others  at risk of these byproducts.

HCAs

They’re created when red meat, poultry, and fish “muscle meats” are subjected to intense high heat.

They have been shown to cause cancer in lab animals, and may increase the risk of cancers of the breast, colon, stomach, and prostate in humans, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research.

Some heterocyclic amines (HCAs) found in cooked and especially burned meat are known carcinogens.  Further research has shown that cooking certain meats at high temperatures creates chemicals that are not present in uncooked meats. For this example, heterocyclic amines are the carcinogenic chemicals formed from the cooking of muscle meats such as beef, pork, fowl, and fish.

 Researchers have identified 17 different HCAsresulting from the cooking of muscle meats that may pose human cancer risk. Heterocyclic Amines in Cooked Meats”. National Cancer Institute. 15 Sep 2004. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/heterocyclic-amines. Retrieved 2007-08-09.

 NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics found a link between individuals with stomach cancer and the consumption of cooked meat. 

 Other studies for colorectal, pancreatic, and breast cancer is associated with high intakes of well-done,  or barbecued meats.

Heterocyclic Amines in Cooked Meats”. National Cancer Institute. 15 Sep 2004. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/heterocyclic-amines. Retrieved 2007-08-09.

A Fact 

People who eat medium-well or well done beef were more than three times as likely to suffer stomach cancer as those who ate rare or medium-rare beef^.

Eating organ meats such as liver or heart have very little or no HCA content naturally or when cooked. Heterocyclic amines and neurological disorders

Harmane, a β-carboline alkaloid found in meats, has been shown to have strong neurotoxic characteristics, and in particular, is ‘highly tremorogenic.’These chemicals are formed during the cooking process of meat, particularly the longer they are cooked, and the more they are exposed to high temperatures during cooking.http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/15287390601172015 >.

 PAH’s

 They are formed when animal or fish fats drip onto hot coals. The smoke and fire flare-ups drive these residues into the food. PAH’s are thought to increase the risk of stomach cancer.

 Ways to Minimize or Reduce HCA or PAH

 There are a few simple ways to minimize or reduce HCA and PAH contamination.

 Reducing the heat is the first. HCA’s need intense heat to form, which is why they are absent in boiled or baked foods. One study found a threefold increase in HCAs when cooking temperatures were raised from 392 to 482 degrees.Correct cooking time is also important. Meats and fish cooked longer at high temperatures dry out and split open, exposing the inner layers of the food to more intense heat — and more HCA’s.

A nice low heat … makes for a better tasting and more tender dish. Also precooking meat in a microwave helps cut down HCA’s and allows lower temperature barbecuing.  You should also have proper ventilation, which cuts down the amount of smoke that permeates meats and increases PAH levels.  Those grills with top vents should keep open to allow smoke to escape.

A healthier alternative to barbecuing is grilling — simply leave the hood open or off. Food selection is also critical. HCA’s are found in cooked “muscle meats.”

Anti-cancer marinades

One of the biggest surprises  occurred a few years ago, when research chemist Mark Knize of Lawrence Livermore Labs brought a chicken stick from a local street fair back for HCA testing, and found little of the carcinogen. Kinze’s subsequent research revealed that the thick oil and sugar barrier was the key in an anti-carcinogenic marinade. Combining low-heat cooking, a thick marinade, and healthy spices can maximize potential health benefits.

Marinades,

 Marinades along with proper cooking, are the secrets of a great barbecue. Most folks belief the opposite, that all that tasty marinades are what takes away from being healthy. You are in control here. These tasty marinades and flavored spices which also contain many beneficial phytonutrients:

•  Garlic,” Touted as “the spice wonder-drug” by Louis J. Vanrenen, author of Power Herbs, garlic contains allicin, a potent anti-cancer agent.
•  Onions — Red and yellow onions contain quercetin, “which inhibits both cancer and heart disease,” says dietitian Laurie Deutsch Mozian, author of Foods that Fight Disease.
•  No salt , because it can raise your blood pressure,
• Peppers  to spice it up
• Tomato to add that special taste

All of these flavors or tastes offer special health benefits. For further reading on how to spice up your life and health.” http://todayshealthsite.com/spice-up-your-health.html ”

Todays Health Comments

Todays barbecue can be healthy if some simple steps are followed. The regulation of heat is the most important, with gas heat or propane users the temperature can be a quick heat but is much hotter than that of the old way… charcoal briquettes. Managing heat with a good thermometer is great way…the newer ones have them already. Also great way to know approximately when the particular meat will be cooked. I have barbecued forever and I have gone through the various kinds and have finally settled in on a charcoal fired with a propane lighter. The temperature is easy to manage and the taste is delightful. No waiting for the briquettes to get fired as they are going in a few minutes. No lighter fluid, nor it’s after taste, and very capable of providing you a healthy meal. The meat if marinated does provide selected taste to the desired cut, but also can help to ward off some of the risks apparent to barbecuing with high heat. So turn down the heat and enjoy a healthier barbecue.