How to Prepare Vegetables the Healthy Way
News flash: vegetables are good for you! That is easy enough to assume, however the real nutrition depends on how you treat or prepare them. If you like cooked vegetables as opposed to raw veggies, that is better than nothing. However, if you over cook certain kinds it might deplete the nutrients therefore making the attempt to eat healthier useless. This article will provide more information on how to eat your power foods.
It is ideal to lightly steam vegetables instead of boiling, sautéing, or roasting. The one exception to the rule would be the red tomato. Cooking actually increases its level of lycopene, an antioxidant thought to help prevent certain types of cancer, heart disease, and vision loss. One of my favorite recipes is white flounder fish lightly sautéed or grilled with olive oil, garlic and cherry tomatoes cut in half. This is such a simple meal to make and it’s always a crowd pleaser. Your best bet is to go with a fresh salad lightly dressed with oil and vinegar paired with a bit of healthy fat such as an avocado.
Leave skins on whenever possible but be sure to wash them first. Many fruits and vegetables hold most of their antioxidants in their skins. You don’t have to get all your antioxidants from fruits and veggies. Dark chocolate, red wine, and nuts also contain antioxidant-like substances. They just aren’t as low-cal or as good for you as produce, but it’s still fine to have them once in awhile to treat yourself. Tea and spices are other sources of antioxidants that you can load up on to your heart’s content. You are already on the right track by adding fruits and vegetables to your meals, but by adding some of these helpful tips to your palate you are in a better place than where you started from.
Lyla Feldman writes about health and fitness. Some of her favorite passions include writing about energy drinks and natural sleep aids.
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July 5, 2008 No Comments
Ways to Add More Fruit and Vegetables Into Your Diet
Many of us don’t get the recommended five servings of fruit and vegetables per day. This is mostly due to our unhealthy diets and hectic schedules. Many of us would rather reach for a candy bar or a bag of chips instead of taking a few minutes to wash some celery or carrot sticks. Since many of us are aware of the many health benefits that fruit and vegetables have to offer, why are we not making more effort to incorporate these foods into our daily diets?
Incorporating fruit and vegetables into our diets can be really easy, fun, and healthy. We can create many delicious treats that are just as irresistible as a candy bar or a bag of chips. One way to incorporate vegetables into your diet is to eat them with your favorite dip. Instead of grabbing that bag of tortilla or potato chips, try to cut up some celery and carrot sticks to eat with your favorite French onion dip. As for fruit, there are numerous fun and delicious recipes. For instance, you can make a fruit parfait instead of eating ice cream. Simply place some fresh berries in a bowl, top them off with vanilla yogurt and add little pieces of nuts or granola. You can also make chocolate covered strawberries instead of reaching for a candy bar. Simply melt some chocolate, dip the strawberries and place them in the fridge. For added antioxidants, try using dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. Another great snack which incorporates fruit is cereal. Simply make a bowl of whole grain cereal and add some of your favorite fruit to it. Add some fat free milk if you are aiming at weight loss. All of these recipes are delicious and easy to make so don’t be afraid to incorporate them into your diet.
Lauren S. Johnson writes health articles about fitness and nutrition.
Some of her favorite passions include studying the medicinal benefits of herbal remedies, diet pills, and hoodia gordonii.
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June 21, 2008 No Comments
Foods That Cleanse The Colon
Because in the colon cleansing process our diet has a major importance it is very important to know what we should eat and to eat only healthy food. Many people rely only on their diet and the way they eat to help cleansing the colon. This is a good alternative to the invasive medical procedure, such as colon hydrotherapy, still it is very important that the methods to be combined so the effect can be real. This way you can combine a colon cleansing diet with different types of colon flush treatments by eating healthy food in addition to other natural cures so the positive effect can be greater.
Juice Fasting
Many people consider that an effective way to cleanse the colon is by not eating or by fast. The fast and the diet by not eating can help the body to clean itself of the built up feces in the colon. Fast juices are very popular. They can provide you with nutrients your body needs during the fast. It is very important that you consult your doctor before beginning any type of diet or fast.
Leafy Green Vegetables
Leafy green vegetables are perhaps the most important vegetable family in our diet. These dark-green vegetables provide fiber, Vitamins A and C, riboflavin,
Folic acid, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium and oxygen. Several studies have shown their remarkable benefits and the positive effect that vegetables like broccoli, spinach and kale have on the colon.
Fruit
Fruit have a very important part in making the colon cleanse more efficiently. Some of the most important diets include the following changes regarding the fruits: to eat fruits, sip on fruit or vegetable juice between meals, to eat as much fruit as you want but do not drink more than 6 ounces of fruit juice per hour.
Whole Grains
Whole grains are cereal grains that retain the bran and germ as well as the endosperm, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm. Whole-meal products are made from whole-grain flour. We can find it in wheat breads wheat pastas and they have an important role in the colon cleanse process as well.
There are many unhealthy food that you need to avoid such as ice creams, chocolates and other high calorie foods, fatty foods including fast food, burgers and french fries, but the best way to keep your colon clean is through a healthy diet, sport and exercise.
June 1, 2008 No Comments
