Whole nutrition: nutritional value of pear

Pear contain small amount of VitaminC, E and B. The most important of the minerals they contain are potassium, magnesium, and iron. Pears are actually higher in pectin than apples. This makes them effective in helping to lower cholesterol levels and in toning the intestines. It is a highly recommended fruit in cases of renal failure as pear helps stimulates renal function. Pear should be included in weight loss diets because of its mild diuretic action and its depurative effect.

#snacktime #weighloss #healthysnack #almondnut #lowerbloodpressure

Recipe Wednesday: Beet Carrot Ginger Juice

This “pretty potion” is loaded with nutrients to promote a gorgeous, radiant complexion. Get ready for your close-up with a hefty dose of beta-carotene, antioxidants, wrinkle-fighting vitamin C, and ginger — a potent anti-inflammatory to reduce puffiness.

    Prep time 5 mins
    Total Time 5 mins

This recipe makes 2 Servings

Ingredients:

    2 1/2 small beets boiled, roasted, or canned
    2 cup(s) carrot(s), baby (approximately 20)
    1 small apple(s), Gala cored, peel on
    1 slice(s) ginger root (1/4 inch by 2 inches long)
    1/2 medium lemon juiced

Preparation:

Cut all ingredients so that they fit in your juicer

Turn on juicer and add ingredients

Add back in some pulp for extra fiber

Drink!

Whole food nutrition: nutritional benefit of sweet potato

Sweet potato is very rich in beta-carotene (pro vitamin A), particularly in more yellow varieties. Their fat and protein content is minimal.

Sweet potato is quite digestible; it contains an appreciable amount of cellulose type of fiber.

Sweet potatoes protects against obesity. It is certainly a starch-rich food, with a good deal of calories. The sweet potato aids the obese in reducing caloric intake by producing a full sensation in the stomach and reducing appetite. It is necessary to eat sweet potatoes in controlled amounts so as not to exceed the daily recommended daily caloric intake.

Sweet potatoes are almost lacking in saturated fats and sodium. These are the two most pernicious enemies of the circulatory system. Regular sweet potato consumption is recommended in cases of arteriosclerosis, lack of adequate blood flow and hypertension.

5 Best and Worst Foods for “Skinflammation” By Dr Trevor Cates

Inflammation is the biggest trigger for skin issues.

We all know when something is inflamed on the outside, but the problem really starts inside the body. Internal inflammation can happen for a host of reasons such as from poor dietary habits, environmental toxin exposures, immune system overactivity (allergies, autoimmune disease), digestive problems and even hormone imbalances.

A high level of inflammation within the body can cause many health problems including “skinflammation.” One simple way to combat this is to eat more anti-inflammatory foods and eliminate the inflammatory ones.

But, what is an anti-inflammatory food? More importantly, what is an inflammatory food?

What you eat has a dramatic effect on your skin health. You may just think nutrition affects your internal health and your weight, but eating the right foods can also improve the quality of your skin and decrease inflammation.
5 Inflammatory Foods

 - Sugar is everywhere. Try and limit processed foods, desserts and snacks with excess sugar. Opt for fruit instead. Check out my blog on sugar and your skin for more information on reducing your intake.

 - Dairy promotes inflammatory biochemical pathways in the body. Milk (and other dairy products) is a common allergen that can trigger inflammation, digestive problems, acne, skin rashes, and even breathing difficulties.
  
- Barbecued and Overcooked Meat are age-accelerators and pro-inflammatory. Cooking meat at high temperatures, such as with barbecuing, increases advanced glycation end products (also know as AGEs). AGEs cause our skin to become less elastic and we become more prone to wrinkles and accelerated aging. In addition, research shows that meat cooked at high temperatures can become carcinogenic. Limit your intake of red meat to grass fed, and don’t overcook it.

 - Refined Grains have very little fiber and have a high glycemic index. They are everywhere: white rice, white flour, white bread, pasta, pastries… Try and replace with minimally processed whole grains or skip the grains altogether and eat more veggies!
   
- Trans Fats and Common Cooking Oils such as “vegetable oil,” soy, corn, and cottonseed promote inflammation. You’ll find trans fats hidden as “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” oils. These oils are often used in packaged foods because they’re inexpensive and tend to have a long shelf life, but these oils should be completely avoided.

5 Anti Inflammatory Foods

- Berries have a high antioxidant content, which helps protect against and reverse oxidative damage associated with inflammation and premature aging. Aim for organic berries, as pesticides are hard to wash away due to their size.

- Sweet Potatoes are a great source of complex carbohydrates, fiber, beta carotene, manganese and vitamin B6 and C, these potatoes actually help heal inflammation.
   
-Ginger contains a host of health benefits. Among them, it helps reduce inflammation and control blood sugar. Ginger in food or as tea is a great addition to any diet.
   
- Wild Alaskan Salmon contains anti-inflammatory omega 3s and the antioxidant astaxanthin. Choose wild over farmed to reduce your exposure to inflammation-boosting environmental toxins and enhance the nutrient levels.

- Cruciferous Vegetables broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale and cauliflower are all loaded with antioxidants. Naturally detoxifying, they can help rid the body of possible harmful compounds.

This is just a small taste of all the great healthy and anti-inflammatory foods out there. By focusing on foods like these, and avoiding the worst inflammatory foods, you help banish the causes of skinflammation.

Is it okay to eat fish every day?

Government dietary guidelines recommend that people eat fish twice a week. And we know that fish are full of omega-3 fatty acids—which can benefit both heart and brain. But is it safe to eat fish every day? “For most individuals it’s fine to eat fish every day,” says Eric Rimm, professor of epidemiology and nutrition, in an August 30 article on Today.com, adding that “it’s certainly better to eat fish every day than to eat beef every day.”

While it might be safe to eat fish every day, Rimm says it’s still not clear if there is any added health benefits to that level of consumption. “Most of the science isn’t looking at daily consumption,” he explains. “But many, many studies have shown that those who have it a couple of times a week have a lower rate of fatal heart attacks compared to those who don’t eat any.”

There are some exceptions, Rimm cautions. For example, pregnant woman and children should avoid larger fish with longer lifespans—like swordfish and tuna—because those can have higher levels of toxins, such as mercury. There are also environmental considerations—including the risk of over-fishing certain species. “Even to get people eating fish two times a week we need to ramp up fish farming,” Rimm says, noting that some types of farmed fish can be more nutritious than those caught in the wild.

Source: Harvard.edu

Tomatoes

There are two things you need to know about tomatoes: Red are the best, because they're packed with more of the antioxidant lycopene, and processed tomatoes are just as potent as fresh ones, because it's easier for the body to absorb the lycopene. Studies show that a diet rich in lycopene can decrease your risk of bladder, lung, prostate, skin, and stomach cancers, as well as reduce the risk of coronary artery disease. Aim for 22 mg of lycopene a day, which is about eight red cherry tomatoes or a glass of tomato juice.

SUBSTITUTES: Red watermelon, pink grapefruit, Japanese persimmon, papaya, guava

Recipe Wednesday: Oil-less Okro Uziza Soup by 1Qfoodplatter

Recipe for Oil less Okro Uziza soup
2 Chicken laps cut into small pieces
8-10 pieces fresh Prawn
1/2 cup ngolo
Pieces of Calamai
4 cups chopped Okro (1 cup pounded or blended)
1 table spoon Uziza seeds
1/2 cup sliced Uziza leaves
1 table spoon ground Crayfish
Scotch Bonnet Pepper to taste
Chicken seasoning to taste

Method

- Crush Uziza seeds and tie up in a parcel
- Wash and season chicken with salt, chicken seasoning, few slices of pepper, Uziza seeds parcel. Steam in the little water in the pot till almost dry, add more water and cook till chicken is soft.
- When chicken is ready, press the Uziza parcel against the side of the pot to squeeze out the meat stock and some more Uziza flavour. You may wish to preserve the parcel in a zip lock bag in the freezer for future use.
- When Chicken is cooked add about 2 cups of water, ground crayfish, prawns, calamari and ngolo and bring stock to boil for about 5 minutes. You may wish to remove the calamari so it does not overcook. Return to soup when okro is cooked.
- Correct seasoning of meat stock, add the Uziza leaves cook for about a one minute and add the Okro. The pounded version first and then the chopped ones. Stir Okro into the stock properly and allow to cook for about 3-4 minutes.
- Serve with swallow of choice. 

Yoga for the Body and Mind

With all the hype about yoga, there has to be a lot more to it than sitting cross-legged and contorting your body in weird poses. And there is much more. With over 800 styles of yoga described, how can you find one that you might like?

Rooted in Indian philosophy, yoga is an ancient method of relaxation and regarded by many as a spiritual experience. However, in the last five years yoga has become ubiquitous, with independent studios sprouting everywhere and fitness centers incorporating yoga classes into their group instruction curriculum. Although some people still view yoga as a practice reserved for spiritual seekers looking for inner peace, yoga is rapidly being embraced by many Americans as an alternative or additional way to increase strength, endurance and body tone.

In fact, today many fitness experts recognize yoga as valuable part of functional training. Functional training (also called functional exercise) has become a buzz word in the fitness industry, used in programs for competitive athletes as well as recreational exercisers. Functional training focuses on endurance, strength and coordination to allow individuals to maximize performance of everyday tasks.

In a weight-training routine, incorporating deadlifts (a great exercise to strengthen the back and thigh muscles) can help to decrease the likelihood of injury and strain in a simple movement like bending over to tie your shoe. Similarly, yoga can functionally develop the body by improving the body’s ability to interpret and respond to nerve signals sent back and forth between the muscles and the brain. The increased connectedness of mind, nerves, and muscles results in more fluid body motions and quicker adjustments to unexpected situations like tripping over a curb.

Yoga Basics

Yoga practice is commonly broken down into different postures or asanas. The different postures are guided by breath and focus on using core strength (mula bandha) to move energy (prana) through the body. Because there are many different schools of yoga, it can be challenging to nail down which discipline is right for you. Below is a simple guide to the different branches of yoga.

1. Asthtanga and power yoga. Ashtanga is a fast-flowing vinyasa-based (connecting movement with breath) practice with a set sequence of postures. Depending on the teacher, Ashtanga can be a rigorous workout, so be prepared to sweat. Power yoga is a generalized term that emerged in the mid-’90s to make yoga more accepted by western culture. Like Ashtanga, which is considered a “power yoga,” the focus is on moving energy and creating heat within the body.
2. Jivamukti. Jivamukti originated out of a studio in New York City. A challenging class with a fast-flowing pace, Jivamukti utilizes the ashtanga-style, but incorporates chanting, singing readings and meditation.
3. Iyengar. The Iyengar flow is generally a much slower practice, emphasizing stillness and form of each posture. Iyengar focuses on the body’s imbalances and promotes physical alignment and mental serenity. Iyengar practice often incorporates props, such as straps, blocks and bolsters to help a person unable to perform a posture independently, obtain the full benefit of the asana.
4. Bikram. The Bikram, also called “hot” yoga, aims to make you sweat profusely. Bikram classes are held in heated rooms of around 100° Fahrenheit. The goal is to heat the body from the outside in and the inside out. The Bikram practice is a series of 26 ordered postures.
5. Kundalini. The Kundalini practice consists of rapid breathing, postures, chanting and meditation. Using slow and deliberate movements, Kundalini focuses on “moving energy through the body to enhance consciousness.” The term Kundalini is also used to describe an energy of awareness. The theory is that through yoga and meditation one awakens his or her kundalini to discover inner awareness.
6. Kripalu. Also called “gentle” yoga, Kripalu integrates mind, body and spirit in three stages - willful practice, willful surrender and meditation in motion. It claims to promote spiritual healing by evoking awareness of your physical, mental and emotional experience. The class consists of postures that tone muscles, improve blood flow and energize the mind and body.

Most yoga classes range from 60 to 90 minutes long.

With so many styles of yoga, and its growing popularity, fitness centers and independent studios have begun to group yoga disciplines. For example you might attend a class called restorative yoga or athletic yoga. Broad terms are used to help students relate to the practice and get a general sense of the flow of the class. You may also encounter hybrid fitness classes that incorporate yoga techniques, such as yogalates (a combination of yoga and pilates), spin yoga (a class of half cycling and half yoga), and kids’ yoga (promoting movement, physical expression and inner spirit for kids).

Yoga can be a great vehicle for positive physical and mental transformation. Ultimately, trial and error is the best way to determine which style of yoga is right for you. Trying different classes and different teachers can help you find one that meets your needs.

Source: Harvardhealth

This Weight-Loss Trick Is So Easy You'll Wish You Thought of It Before

If you want to shed those extra pounds, invest in a refillable water bottle. Researchers from the University of Birmingham in England recently published a study in the journal Obesity that revealed drinking a glass of water before a meal can actually help you lose weight.

For the experiment, 84 adults with obesity were recruited and randomly divided into two groups. The first 41-member group were told to drink about 16 ounces of tap water 30 minutes before their main meals, while the second 43-member group were told to imagine they had a full stomach before eating.

Not surprisingly, the group who drank water before eating lost, on average, about three pounds more than the other group did. And even more incredible is those who drank water before consuming all three daily meals said they loss almost 10 pounds over 12 weeks.

"Losing a few extra pounds over the course of a year can be significant to an individual, and this could be an easy way to help with that weight loss," said study author Dr. Helen Parretti, NIHR clinical lecturer at the University of Birmingham. "It's a simple message that has the potential to make a real contribution to public health."

While we know staying hydrated is important for our health and body, this scientific study proves that the glass of water you're drinking at restaurants before you eat will also help you save on calories. Go, water! And if you are not completely on board with drinking more water, these fruit-infused variations will change your mind.

Source: Popsugar