Nutrition Articles

The Passover season is upon us and this eight day Hebrew festival requires a lot of preparation as you cook for the elaborate Seder meal for your family and friends. While most holidays are centered on food, Passover gives a whole new meaning to holiday eating. Though it may seem impossible to make healthy food choices during the holiday week, mindfulness is key to not letting the festivities hinder your weight loss efforts. Here are 10 tips to keep you mindful for this year’s Passover:

There are so many “magic” creams, lotions and serums in the market today. They claim to erase all wrinkles, turn aged skin youthful once again, erase dark circles and more! While this may be true, these products’ marketing campaigns conveniently leave out all the negative side effects of using these products. The importance of checking ingredient labels

Here are some 5 tips to eat right on a budget: 1. Skip the meat! Eat vegetarian meals more often. Select beans, peanut butter, and eggs as your protein source. This will cause less of a drain on your pocketbook and a great choice to promote heart health! 2. Reduce portion sizes. Reduce your meat serving size to save. A serving of meat is 3 ounce (picture a deck of cards). For heart health begin to use meat as a "side" and fill your plate with a variety of heart healthy vegetables. 3. Select “in-season” fruits and vegetables!

Obesity is becoming a rising problem among kids today. As a parent, it's up to us to help our kids lead healthy lifestyles. Below is a list of quick and easy snacks that you can fix for your kids. nnnFruit Kabobs: nnFruit kabobs are very easy to make. The first step is to gather your favorite fruits. Here are just some of the options that are available: nnstrawberriesnwatermelon nseedles grapesnbanana slicesnpeachesnapplenorangesncantaloupenhoneydewnnWash the fruit and chop u

Are you getting a case of the winter blues? As the days get darker and flu season dawns, it’s more important now than ever to pay attention to how you fuel your body. A few healthy changes to your diet will give you more energy, boost your immune system and help you feel more balanced throughout the day. Here are some suggestions on replacing some not so healthy sweeteners with the best ones available so you can start reducing your sugar intake, curb those sweet cravings, avoid those huge sugar highs and lows and have optimal energy all day long.

Which is that one food item which makes you feel relaxed? Satisfied Sugar has been a consistent genius in making people happy, with its addition to a variety of sweet and bakery products. However, there have been several surveys available on the internet which talks about the various dangers related to sugar consumption. Is it required for us to eat less sugar Is it healthy to completely remove sugar intake from our diet The answer to such questions is a big ‘NO’. Breaking t

Lean Muscle Diet Tips When looking to gain muscle mass we all know you need to eat more throughout the day to help your body build and repair muscle tissue. But let’s take a bigger view of the situation; why are you bulking up? I would imagine all of you are saying I want bigger muscles, I want LEAN muscle gain but none of your are thinking I want to gain ‘weight’ in the form of muscle AND fat. As none of us want to gain fat when bulking, if possible, our diet must reflect

Hundreds of studies done over the last few decades have shown the benefits of eating whole fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. Scientists have studied these foods to determine what is in them that provides these positive results in lower cancer rates, less heart disease, strokes, diabetes and many other chronic diseases. One common factor in all of these are the "antioxidants" vitamins A (in the form of beta-carotene), C and E. An antioxidant is a molecule which can slow or prevent the oxidation of other molecules.

What is one of the most expensive per pound items at the store? Beef Jerky. And how can you have the most flavorful beef jerky, cost effective jerky, by using a home food dehydrator for jerky. By making it at home your cost per pound will drop dramatically. No matter what cut of meat you buy, add in the cost of a food dehydrator, and it will still be a bargain. Everyone loves jerky: Dad, Mom, Brother, Sister and even the kids next door. You will not need to be a master chef t

Has it ever dawned on you that the discomfort that you have been experiencing is a result of food allergy symptoms? Food allergy symptoms can appear within minutes after eating, making these symptoms easy to spot. However, sometimes, such symptoms can take up to a few hours, for their effects to show. Hence you may not attribute them to the specific foods that you have just eaten. Instead they are often misdiagnosed as other problems or simply lumped into a ‘catch all’ diagno

Many people ask are hives contagious. If you have also called hives can catch someone, then they are not alone. Urticaria is a skin condition that has spread to 20% of the population in the United States will have an outbreak of hives in your life. There are many different types of urticaria can be triggered by a number of factors. What causes hives? Hives can be caused by stress, temperature changes (hot and cold) and a number of environmental factors. At any given time can

Refined sugar, or sucrose, has absolutely zero going for it because it’s been stripped of all vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that our bodies need to thrive and survive. That’s why we call junk foods “empty calories”—there’s nothing in them to help your body keep its organs, tissues, and cells humming along the way they should. nnHere’s what happens when you open wide and shovel sugary foods into your mouth: nFirst, your body screams, “Oh, no! I’ve j

Are you health-conscious? Do you eat a healthy, balanced diet? Does your diet include fish or fish oil? If you want the best for your family, you need to start using the finest natural fish oil supplements as soon as possible. These supplements contai Omega 3 fatty acids which are essential for your body. The fats are DHA-Docosahexaenoic Acid, EPA-Eicosapentaenoic Acid and ALA-Alpha Linolenic Acid. Our body cannot produce these fats. Therefore, every health-conscious individual should consume them in order to stay fit and healthy.

Ahhhh, those summer days! What a great time for sun, fun and fabulous tasting food. And what a great time for fast & easy grilling ... everything from the main entree to the side dish to the dessert. The best part is that all can be done naturally and healthfully AND in "fast-food" ...

We all know that as little as fifteen minutes of sunlight per day is adequate to allow our skin to manufacture enough levels of Calcitriol (Vitamin D). What you may not already know is that the skin production of Calcitriol (Vitamin D) can be hindered by multiple different factors and can cause or exacerbate vitamin D deficiency. Factor #1: Sunscreen Use: In order for the skin to make Calcitriol (Vitamin D), it requires UVB rays from sunshine. For this reason, sunscreens that

The fetal heart rate an important factor that would help that doctor asses the condition of the baby while he is still in his mother’s womb. The normal can range from 110 beats per minute to 180 beats per minute. However, the baby’s heart rate can vary depending on his activity. If he seems to extra hyperactive, it could even go up to 190 beats per minute. That is still considered normal. If he is resting, it could go down to 110 or 120 beats per minute. Listening to the fet

Nothing revolutionizes your health like the power of green. The way I see it, the more green goodness you get in your diet, the better. Better yet, mix it up! Each plant on this planet has its own particular flavor and aesthetics. Not to mention its unique nutritional value. So while the growing season is going strong, here’s my list of greens you should look for and add to your plate. Of course, these greens are no ordinary veggies – they’re super fabulous! They knock

While teenagers are notorious for their love of junk food and odd eating habits, it is important that they eat a proper diet. A healthy diet for teenagers can help them do better in school and promote optimal physical development as their bodies mature.nnA healthy diet for teenagers starts with consuming the proper amount of calories. On average, a teen girl needs between 1,800 and 2,100 calories each day, while a teen boy needs between 2,200 and 2,700 calories to meet his en

Nature's best kept secret - Fresh Wheatgrass The young form of the wheat crop that is widely grown is called the wheatgrass. Rose by the wheat growing farmers the fresh wheatgrass is obtained when small shoots sprout from the wheat seeds. The fresh wheatgrass has always been an essential part of the diet of animals presenting many benefits. With many studies and researches conducted on the wheatgrass, it has been deemed as a natural product packed with the very essential nutr

You have the desire to shed some extra pounds but you feel as though you don’t really know how or where to start. Your appearance is worse than ever, you feel shameful about the way you feel and to top it off, you are starting to seriously panic about the future of your physical health. Well there's no need to fear! It’s not as difficult to get going on a fantastic weight loss program as you might think. Now I don’t necessarily mean one of those big commercial instituti

Coffee is one of the most common beverages people drink on a daily basis. In most people’s eyes, coffee is more than just a drink, it’s a morning ritual, a habit, a necessity to allow for proper daily function. As you embark on your health journey, you change your bad habits by making healthier choices, eating more fruits and vegetables and well-balanced meals, and fitting exercise into your daily routine. Though drinking coffee is a habit, it doesn’t have to be a bad one.

While knowing that prevention is key to avoiding the common cold, it’s of little comfort once you are hit with one. The following are some key “Do’s and Don’ts” if you are one of the unfortunate ones to catch a cold this season. What to Increase: Eat foods rich in Quercetin. Quercetin is a ...

What should I eat? When should I eat? How much should I eat? These are all questions that likely float around in your mind every single day. The “what, when and how much” of eating have been implanted in your mind as result of a lifelong dependency on dieting as your only hope towards losing weight and achieving the body you love. But this is a misconception. Diets don’t work and will end up leaving you with two things: long term weight gain and self-doubt.

Nut milks. Oh, how I adore thee : )nnNut milks are what I consider to be a raw food classic. They're quick, easy - fun, even. And they taste jolly good too. In fact, if you know what you're doing they taste superb, and anyone - young or old - would love them given half a chance.nnWhat follows is the why, what and how of nut milks together with a few hints and tips for making good ones greater. So even if you already consider yourself to be a Nut Milk Maestro, the following ar

For many people, the answer is yes! We have such a proliferation of sugary foods, refined-carbs and sweet beverages that sugar consumption has skyrocketed! The annual US average is around 150 pounds (that’s pounds) per year. That’s the weight of an entire person each year!

A Quick Preamble: It really wasn’t so long ago that the “FrankenFoods” we know so well today started being developed and mass produced – the late 1900’s saw the development of new technology and farming practices that ensured heavily refined and chemically enhanced foods like wheat and sugar were easily and cheaply produced for the masses… …then post WW2 saw the advent of margarine and of course the ultimate “FrankenFood”, heavily processed, chemically enhan

The average person can live about a month without eating any food, but can only live a few days without water. As essential as water is to sustain life, water also has extraordinary healing properties. Coupled with minerals found in natural hot springs and mineral baths, water has been used throughout history to treat various ailments, particularly degenerative diseases. The science of using therapeutic baths, known as balneology, has been around for more than 5,000 years. According to archaeological evidence, the Greeks and Romans used water and bathing as curative remedies.

1. Rise & Dine. Eat something within the first hour of waking to get your metabolism to begin burning calories. This “something” can be as simple as a couple of crackers or ½ of a banana. For those of you who are not hungry in the morning, you need to eat anyway. You will be missing the ...

I am getting a little perturbed today as I read through information on a hugely important, amazing substance known as alkylglycerols (AKG’s), an ingredient found in the liver of cold water sharks. And since it’s also found in our bone marrow, and found in mother’s breast milk (as designed by ...

They may not refer to it as “super-sizing” anymore but the sizes of meals in the fast food chains are still pretty hefty. And in this day and age of economic slow-down, it’s easy to want more for your money. For a few extra cents, you can double the serving size of your French fries and soda and even get a sugary dessert treat. This may look like a great deal but the truth is, when it comes to our health it’s a really bad deal.

Today there is so much pressure on women to fit a certain “body type” and live up to unachievable standards. It can put a lot of stress on you when there are already so many responsibilities that you have to fulfill. It can burden your mind and take away from your happiness.

Healthy eating is important. So, how can it be that some people - eat healthfully but don’t feel truly healthy?rn- are fanatical about health and healthy eating and they’re still not healthy?rn- no matter what they do, just cannot get healthy? Do they have “bad genes?” Are they destined to be unhealthy? Or is there some other explanation? Do you see yourself or someone you know in this scenario? Let’s look at what it means to be healthy. When you’re healthy, you - feel good - have a lot of energy - have a zest for life - have a positive mindsetr

I read some interesting research lately that I want to share related to chicken and blood pressure. We know that blood pressure is a significant risk fact for heart disease and stroke. It's estimated that around 1 billion people worldwide live with high blood pressure. Being able to control high blood pressure through food selection is very important.

This article is an excerpt from "The Acid-Alkaline Diet" and taken from the website www.innertraditions.com n nfrom Chapter 1: What Is Acid-Alkaline Balance? nn The Buffer System nnAcids and alkaline substances are substances possessing opposing characteristics. When they combine, their respective properties cancel each other out. This process is similar to that which occurs whenever two opposites are brought together. If hot and cold, black and white are blended, their respe

All the money in the world isn't going to create a successful business. There's a number of concepts and key points that people either learn or figure out on their own that often have to do with success. Success in business, and in life, is often about realizing expectations. Some say over half is just showing up. But when you know what's wanted or expected, it can be a game changer in your outlook and goals.

Here are 7 steps you can take this month to get started on the right path to lower blood pressure and heart health. 1. Lose weight and/or maintain a healthy weight Maintaining a healthy weight or losing weight will lower your blood pressure and make any medication you take to treat high blood pressure more effective. One of the easiest ways to evaluate your weight is by calculating your body mass index (BMI). 2. Increase your physical activity

Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause dozens of health problems.rn rnVitamin B12 deficiency can make your tongue swell, turn your skin yellow, make you incontinent and interfere with your sense of taste and smell. It can cause joint pain and give you pins and needles. It can cause depression, paranoia and make you hallucinate. Too little B12 is linked to anemia, robbing your cells of oxygen and making you tired. And it can also dramatically increase your risk of heart disease. An

Limiting sugar intake is essential if you are working to lower triglycerides. Sugar has a direct impact on triglyceride levels. Here are 5 tips to cut back your daily sugar intake: 1. Gradually cut back. If you eat a high level of sweets daily it’ll be very difficult to cut them out “cold turkey”. Gradually wean yourself off the sugar. If you have 2 cans of soda daily, cut back to 1. If you enjoy dessert with lunch and dessert, cut back and limit dessert to one meal only. Continue to wean yourself down until the sweets are an occasional treat.

Like R&B singer Lauryn Hill once sang, ‘the sweetest thing I have ever know, was like the kiss upon the collarbone’… that was of course, until I came across a corporate office and millions of Hersey kisses. After visiting offices around the country, I can honestly say that today’s professionals are working in a real-life Candyland board game! No matter how hard you try to stay on the path you get caught daily in the Lollipop Woods, Peppermint Forest, Molasses Swamp, Gumdrop M

No doubt you’ve seen the recent commercials for different products touting the benefits of good gut flora as product manufacturers capitalize on this new health craze. Bacteria have always been thought of as something to be wary of. What?? Now we are supposed to embrace eating bacteria to improve our colon health? YES!! It’s not very sexy, but it’s one of the most important things you can do for your health. Reduces allergies. Probiotics have been found to decrease the incid

Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to give up all salt in order to maintain optimum health. The right kind of salt should be an integral part of everyone's healthy eating plan, even those with high blood pressure. Here are the real facts about Salt: The human body cannot survive without salt (which is why you get a saline drip when you are in the hospital). Sodium is an essential nutrient that your body can’t manufacture on its own, therefore it must be consumed.

If you want to “get Lean” and “Ripped”, you should be eating to get lean and ripped. Don’t be fooled into thinking that just because you exercise, you can eat whatever you like. Not so, and it is bad for your health. You are not providing the replacement nutrients needed for your body to repair itself after a workout.

Anyone who has experienced Bell's palsy will tell you how disturbing symptoms can be. One of the reasons why it is so disturbing is that it seems to occur to people of all - a day that are living their lives and things are good and the paralysis has beaten the next day. The doctors have a handful of possibilities why it happens and when they are discarded - patients say the cause is unknown. The symptoms are dramatic! Inability to close my eyes all the way cause extreme dry e

Were you aware that regardless of how hard you hit the gym, all of your efforts could be wasted if you are not feeding your body the nutrients it requires when you are not at the gym? Let's imagine you spend an hour busting your rear lifting your best. Following that, you down some water and head down to have a burger with the guys. Why not? It provides protein right? Well, the main problem is that your body demands more nutrition than only your typical burger and fries. It t

HDL cholesterol is typically referred to as the “good” cholesterol and LDL cholesterol as the “bad” cholesterol, but is this really accurate? The label given to LDL cholesterol of “bad” and HDL “good” cholesterol tends to be misunderstood. Dietary Cholesterol

Increasing the amount of omega-3 fats in our diet and decreasing the amount of omega-6 is beneficial in reducing your risk for heart disease. Most American’s consume a high omega-6 diet, with omega 3 being a common deficiency. Omega 3 deficiencies and the imbalance between omega 3 and omega 6 intakes have been linked with serious conditions, including heart attacks. Successfully maintaining a ratio of 4:1 to 1:1 omega 6 to omega 3 will help lower cholesterol levels and control high blood pressure. How much omega 3 do you need to add?

People often say that good habits are the ones that create positive consequences, whereas the bad ones are most likely to pull you down and not let you succeed. Researchers even estimate that about 40% of human behavior is controlled by habits, which can be quite alarming – especially if you don’t know how to put an end to the bad ones. If that’s the case with you, just stay with us and keep on reading because we’re here to help you out.

No physical activity involved in the profession can definitely take its toll at the end of the person. The hard work involved in carrying out a construction project, such as loading and unloading of construction materials, handling some awkward and repetitive manual tasks that involve bending, climbing, lifting can definitely cause a huge strain on the back. These, plus the need to work on the demand point that the construction worker in good shape and have a good balance at

As I sat down to write this article, that famous song by Engelbert Humperdinck kept running through my head (hence the name of the title). How appropriate, I thought, as this is exactly what needs to happen when we get a build up of toxins in our bodies. Nowadays, we live in a society with many potentially harmful chemicals in our environment. Unfortunately, they can be anywhere. In our homes, at work and at play. They enter our body through the food we eat, the water drink, the air we breathe, what we put on our skin and what we absorb through our mucous membranes.

It’s Easter time! What better way to celebrate than to spend time with family and friends, give thanks for what Easter really means, and eat some chocolate. Chocolate is one of the world’s most favourite foods and recent research is showing that eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate can be good for us. Because it is made from plants, chocolate contains many of the health benefits of dark vegetables. These benefits are from the flavonoids, which act as polyphenol antioxidants, protecting our body from aging caused by free radicals.