Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Dangerous foods for your wellbeing


Artificial sweeteners 

Trying to skip the calories of sugars with artificial sweeteners? No, thanks! This shortcut is not as safe as you may think...

Think basics... In nature there are no artificial sweeteners, so first of all it is not natural! We have invented them with the idea of skipping calories and lowering the cost of the foods. No one can say for sure how healthy these sweeteners are. There are a lot of studies that put a loads of doubts in sweeteners like aspartame. 

According to these studies aspartame increased cancer risk in animals and affected the brains of the mices. Of course, we are talking of big amounts of this chemical. I do not think that taking a coke, which is known to contain aspartam, will have any undesired effect at all, but drinking tons of it every day ... We’ll have to see what happens... 

Artificial sweeteners are sweeter than the sugars, consuming a lot of them each day will increase the level of sweetness that we’ll want to eat with our food. Instead eating honey and brown sugar in low quantity would be the ideal choice for your health. 

On the other hand I think that artificial sweeteners are a good choice for the diabetics and the guys suffering from reactive hypoglycemia.

Table salt

A little salt sprinkled on your plates won’t do a anything bad, but remember that all the foods we use already have their own salt. Try eliminate salt as much as you can, because after all, the table salt is not like the natural sea salt. It is refined, meaning that it doesent have the trace minerals found in the sea salt, even the iodine found in it, is added. We need those trace minerals, found in the unrefined sea salt, if we want to be in good health, but we don’t need too much sodium chloride (found in the table salt) because it tends to increase the blood pressure.

Margarine 

Margarine is not like butter, which is a sub product of milk (basically you take out the fats that are in the milk). Margarine is made from vegetable oils, like the one we use to fry or cook. 

Many years ago, in some parts of the world, for example the eastern communist countries, margarine was prepared even from the crude oil. This is the oil from which diesel is made and is used to run the cars! 

But nowadays the problem with margarine is that it is just too full of trans oils. Beside that, margarine has so many calories that it increases the bad cholesterol. Cholesterol and trans oils accumulate in the blood vessels, especially in the coronaries, being so the cause of a cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack or a myocardial infarct. Margarine is vegetable, but it is not a good choice for the vegetarians.

Microwave popcorn

Before you sit down to watch your new favorite movie, pop a bowl of kernels in the stove, not in the microwave . 

The bag's liner contains PFOA, a proven intoxicant and carcinogen in animals. This chemical clings on to popcorn and studies have linked it to infertility.

Microwave food

Use your microwave oven to heat and not to cook your foods. Drinking a hot soup from the microwave, is ok, but cooking with the microwave oven is not the same. It is belived that the microwaves tend to destroy the natural shape of the food molecules, because the range of these waves is at the molecular level. This is believed to happen only if you are cooking the foods for a long time, so be confident that nothing will happen, if you use the microwave ovens to just warm up your food. 

GMO-s (Genetically modified organisms or known as genetically modified food)

World population has passed 7 billion people and is still growing. All these people are hungry at one point or another. Feeding them is not easy, because it is well known that the earth resources have a limit. Plus the crops tend to be very vulnerable to diseases and aridity, or even wetness. 

So, the need for genetically modified crop, to resist these kind of challenges, has aroused. It is difficult these days to distinguish the GMOs from the natural food. They can be found in all kinds of processed foods, used to feed the animals, whose products we consume. In some countries, it is not even obligatory to write on the labels, if the food is GMO or not. You really can’t find out the truth, but there are countries where GMOs are forbidden to enter. If you live in Europe, avoiding GMO foods is easier, since laws require labeling. In the US and Canada, however, food manufacturers are not required to label if their food is genetically modified or not. 

Genetically modified foods have been linked to toxic and allergic reactions, sick, sterile, and dead livestock, and damage to virtually every organ studied in lab animals. The effects on humans that consume these new combinations of proteins, produced in GMOs, are unknown and have not been studied.

The only negative side proven about the GMOs, is the allergenic properties that these kind of foods have, to some people, causing even death. 

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Top foods for thyroid health


The thyroid gland is one of the most important glands in the human body. It controls the way you metabolize food, the way you use energy, lose and gain weight, how well or poorly you sleep, and much, much more.

It is well known, but worth mentioning that your thyroid simply can’t function without iodine, and if you are iodine-deficient, higher iodine intake could make all the difference for your thyroid. 

Selenium is another indispensable element to healthy thyroid function. An array of selenium-based proteins and enzymes help to regulate thyroid hormone synthesis and metabolism and to maintain just the right amount of thyroid hormones in the blood and tissues, including the liver, kidneys, and thyroid gland, as well as the brain. Selenium-containing enzymes also function as a protective “detox”, preserving the integrity of the thyroid gland when we’re under all kinds of stress.

Zinc, iron, and copper play vital roles in healthy thyroid function as well. Check their levels for a healthy thyroid gland's function. 

In hyperthyroidism, oxidative stress can be particularly high. This happens because the thyroid is more active, and it is using more oxygen, which leads to an accumulation of oxygenated compounds that can harm your cells. 


This is why antioxidants are recommended, especially in hyperthyroidism. The B vitamins (B2, B3, and B6) are also important for thyroid function because they are involved in manufacturing T4.

Foods that support your thyroid gland's health:

IodinePrimary sources: sea vegetables, and seafood, as well as iodized sea salt.
Secondary sources: eggs, asparagus, mushrooms, spinach, sesame seeds, beans, garlic
SeleniumBrazil nuts, tuna, organ meats, mushrooms, beef, sunflower seeds
ZincFresh oysters, sardines, beef, lamb, turkey, soybeans, whole grains, sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts, ginger root, maple syrup
CopperBeef, oysters, lobster, dark chocolate, tomato paste, nuts, beans (soybeans, white beans, chickpeas), sunflower seeds
IronClams, oysters, organ meats, soybeans, pumpkin seeds, white beans, blackstrap molasses, lentils, spinach
Vitamin A
(beta-carotene form)
Sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, spinach, broccoli, asparagus, liver, lettuce
Vitamin CPeppers, kiwifruit, citrus, strawberries, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, papaya, parsley, greens
Vitamin EWhole grains, almonds, soybeans and other beans, sunflower seeds, peanuts, liver, leafy green vegetables, asparagus
Vitamin B2
(riboflavin)
Almonds, mushrooms, egg yolks
Vitamin B3
(niacin)
Rice bran, wheat bran, peanuts (with skin), liver, poultry white meat
Vitamin B6
(pyroxidine)
Sunflower seeds, wheat germ, fish, liver, beans, walnuts, brown rice, bananas

Stay well! 

How much protein is good for your heart?



When we think protein, the first food that comes into our minds is meat, but we tend to forget that along with proteins meat is full of fats. This can increase the levels of LDL, or known as the 'bad cholesterol' in our bodies, resulting in heart problems...

So, remember that meat is not always the best source of proteins for us...Try to choose low-fat foods with high levels of proteins such as skim milk and lean meat. You can even substitute lean meat with legumes, a cup of legumes gives you about 16 grams of proteins. When making a plate, it is best to combine meat with vegetables,  so you will be getting proteins from different food groups.

The daily recommended doze of proteins required by your body is in short known as RDA or recommended daily allowance and to calculate that, you will have to take into account your weight and age.

There are some special categories that require more proteins than normal. Pregnant women require 10 grams more protein than the amount they consumed before. Lactating women require 20 grams more than their usual consumption in order to support milk production. Athletes require 50% more proteins in comparison with normal people.


Stay healthy! 
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