Wine Reviews Ratings

posted by admin on May 5

Here is your Healthy Food Guide to the Dirty Dozen Foods as complied by the Environmental Working group. The organization takes the government data and identifies which types of produce have the most chemicals and pesticide residue. They then publish the list of the Dirty Dozen Foods that perhaps you would be safer if you picked the Organic variety.

Celery tops the list. Celery has no protective skin, which makes it almost impossible to wash off any chemicals. While you could peel the outer side of the celery, you can’t peel the inner side. If you need celery, consider organic.

Peaches, Multiple pesticides (as many as 62 of them by some reports) are applied to this fruit in the orchard. Because they start to apply these chemicals while the peach is still a flower, the pesticides can be on the inside as well as the outside of the peach.

Strawberries, the pesticides are applied to these plants while the berry is still a flower, as much as 59 pesticides have been detected on strawberries. Imported strawberries have even less stringent regulations for pesticides so you might want to avoid strawberries altogether during the off season.

Apples, typically grown with poisons to kill pests such as insects and fungi, you can often see the chemicals being sprayed on the fruit while it is one the tree.They use up to 42 different pesticides on apples. Peeling and scrubbing does not remove all the pesticides but it does remove a lot of the beneficial nutrients found in the skin of the apple.

Blueberries are new to the dirty dozen for this year. They are treated with as many as 52 pesticides which makes them one of the dirtiest of all the berries on the market. Because blueberries are so good for the heart, you really want to go organic and keep blueberries as part of your diet.

Nectarines are up there with apples and peaches as dirty tree fruit because tree fruit is sprayed while the fruit is still in flower, the pesticides get inside the fruit.

Bell peppers are often sprayed with insecticides and their skins don’t offer much of a barrier to protect the inside of the pepper.

Cherries have been found to contain up to 42 different pesticides, and those in the U.S. Often have much more than imported cherries.

Spinach is new to the list this year. It has been found to have up to 48 different pesticides making in high on the list.

Kale is a hardy vegetable that does not suffer from pests and disease but this year it is found to contain a large amount of pesticides anyway.

Potatoes, a household staple is back on the list with up to 37 different pesticides.

Grapes complete the list. Imported grapes are on the list this year. You can not wash or peel off the pesticides. When you think of organic grapes, think of organic wine also. The pesticides that are found in the grape can make it into the wines we drink.

That completes the list of the Dirty Dozen Fruits and Vegetables. When you can, it is wise to purchase the organic produce for better health. If and how badly these pesticides can effect us is still unknown. There are those that will tell you that there isn’t enough pesticides on a grape or two to hurt you. When you eat the required servings of fruits and vegetables that amount can add up quickly. It is your Health, so you must make the choice. This report is just to make you aware of the possibilities and not to advise you on what to eat.

posted by admin on Apr 8

The trick to weight loss is the right kind of foods that are taking inside your body. It is a big thing that you bring the best of your body by extending your choices for foods. Losing weight does not mean cutting a great deal of your food diet. Rather, weight loss is the science of using foods to lose weight.

It is very important to have the right kinds of nutrients and minerals that will keep your body working. But you cannot get the best of nutrients by just eating certain kind of foods or limiting yourself to a set of food diet. The best nutrients that you can bring into your body provides body support; nutrients keep your body in the right track without much problems in health.

Fruits can give you the needed nutrient requirement that you need. If you can eat five kinds of foods a day, you are assured to have an almost complete nutrient need. However, choosing the right kind of fruits for your weight loss program is an important matter that must not be disregarded.

The benefits of fruits for weight loss:

The low level of calories in fruits help your body to control its weight for the best. Yes, the lesser calories your body intakes, the better your way to success in losing weight. With fruits, your body will have the right kinds and supply of vitamins and minerals without giving you a problem of weight gain.

On the other hand, the load of vitamins and minerals in your body will give you a far better energy to use for body exercises. Doing exercises can greatly help your body to lose weight but you need the energy to do it. Instead of depending on fats and carbs for energy, vitamins and minerals in fruits can help you that much.

Moreover, with fruits you will be assured to have a perfect body health. It will reduce the risk of cardio vascular problems. It will enhance your body and give you a stronger immune system to fight harmful radicals from the environment and other factors.

Here are some practical tips to gain the advantages of eating fruits:

Instead of eating junk foods, it is good to have a slice of apple a day. It is a great way to suppress your appetite for other foods. Or instead of satisfying yourself with ice cream, it is good to eat fruits alone without the fatty dairy products that are added to the ice cream.

If you really want to drink some sweets, it is good to go for low- sugar fruit juices that you can get in the market. Fruit juices contain fiber and acid which helps to digest food. It will be a great help for your body to lose weight. You should not go for beverages and wines.

The craving for food will always be there. You need to add fruit factor to you diet. Say, if you can’t stop yourself in eating meat, then try to eat yogurt or granola. It is a big thing to complement fatty foods with healthy fruits snacks or fruits.

Losing weight can be very hard to reach. But if you know what foods to eat and what to avoid, you will surely make things easy. It is very important for you to make things for the best by extending your best way in eating fruits as part of your diet.

posted by admin on Apr 7

Many people eat genetically modified foods without being consciously aware of it. But the question is are genetically modified foods safe for human consumption? Many of the processed foods that we buy from the market have genetically changed ingredients. The most common genetically modified foods are derived from plants – soybean, corn, canola and cotton seed oil. So many foods unknowingly consumed by us like cereals, snacks, foods consisting of soybeans, cottonseed and canola oils may have genetically modified components. Even tomatoes and potatoes are genetically modified.

What does genetically modified food mean? Is it safe for us to consume? Also referred to as Biotech or genetically engineered food, it refers to food items that have had their DNA changed through genetic engineering. The plants are modified in the lab to improve their desirable qualities and food value. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of genetically modified food:

The disadvantages are:

Damage to health due to unnatural foods
Contamination of food and water supply due to use of chemicals on crops
The creation of herbicide-resistant weeds
Loss of bio-diversity in crops
The disturbance of ecological balance
The advantages on the other hand are few:
Resistance to pests and diseases
Increase in availability of food

We can see that the damage to health and environment caused by these genetically engineered foods far outweighs their advantages. Genetically engineered products carry more risks than traditional foods.So what is a better alternative? Organic food is a much better and healthier option. A raw vegetarian diet rich in fruits, nuts and vegetables is one of the safest and best ways to keep your immune system strong and prevent diseases. These super foods contain immune-boosting antioxidants – vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that protect and repair cells from damage caused by free radicals.

Some foods are higher in antioxidants than others. The three major antioxidant vitamins are beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E. To get the maximum benefits of antioxidants, eat these superfoods which are power-packed with all the possible vitamins and minerals necessary for the body. Raw Cacao Bean has a very high antioxidant content, many times better than Green Tea, Red Wine and Blueberries. It has the highest Vitamin C content in its raw natural form and is rich in minerals. Raw Maca has fatty acids, 20 different amino acids and unique minerals. Marine Phytoplankton is a rich source of omega 3 fatty acids, amino acids, chlorophyll and minerals.

With a wide array of completely healthy vegetarian superfoods such as these and many more available in the market, why go for genetically modified foods?

posted by admin on Mar 30

To lower your blood pressure, follow the DASH diet (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) that was made by researchers from Harvard University. Here are the basic guidelines in the program:

~ seven to eight servings of grains or grain products, such as whole wheat bread and whole wheat past (in pasta, I recommend Full Circle 100% organic Capellini, whole wheat)

~ four to seven servings of vegetables

~ four to five servings of fruit

~ two to three servings of low-fat or non-fat dairy products. Make sure you include low or non-fat yogurt – one that is not high in sugar – Dannon Fit and Healthy is an excellent choice.

~one to two servings of red meat, poultry or fish (a serving is 3 ounces).

~one serving of nuts or legumes

Here are some more tips to help lower your blood pressure:

1. Eat lots of fruits that are high in potassium, which causes your body to excrete sodium through your urine, thereby helping to control blood pressure. Researchers at John Hopkins University have found that low potassium intake was associated with high blood pressure. This goes to show that if you increase your levels of potassium your blood pressure should go down.
Foods that are high in potassium are: apricots, bananas, peaches, prunes, oranges, cantaloupe, lima beans, stewed tomatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach, catfish, lean pork, lean veal, cod, flounder, trout, skim milk and yogurt.

2. Make sure you get enough calcium and magnesium. There is evidence that these minerals may help lower blood pressure. Magnesium rich foods are wheat germ, fortified cereals, sunflower seeds, halibut, mackerel, spinach and most nuts. As far as calcium is concerned, dairy products will do the trick, as you know, and also dark green veggies. Isagenix now offers a green foods drink for those who don’t eat enough greens – you might want to try it.

3. Eat more fish. Studies suggest that large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids lower hypertension. Cold-water fish are the highest sources of these fatty acids. If you don’t like fish, or are allergic to it like I am, I highly recommend that you purchase Young Living’s Omega Blue, which contains pure fish oil and omega enhance. It is heavy-metal, PCB and dioxin free and still maintains natural Omega-3 ratios and mild flavor.

4. Watch your drinking. Alcohol is fine in moderation. This means drinking no more than one ounce of alcohol a day, the amount in a 24 oz. beer can, 10 ounces of wine, or one mixed drink. Women should only drink half of that since their body frames are smaller and metabolize alcohol slower. If you drink anymore than that, not only does your blood pressure increase, but you cause severe problems to your liver and you are at higher risk for a stroke.

5. Watch your weight. Being overweight makes you up to six times more likely to develop high blood pressure than if your weight were optimal, and especially if most of this weight is around your waist. For tips on losing weight and living a healthier lifestyle, please go to my Health4U website (see link below)

In summary, to lower your blood pressure, follow a healthy diet. Eat only wholegrain breads and pasta, eat lots of fruits that are high in potassium, make sure you get your calcium and magnesium every day, get your omega-3 oils (whether it be by eating fish or my taking a good supplement), drink alcohol in moderation, and make sure you are a healthy weight.

posted by admin on Jan 7

Cancer can affect anybody, and despite all the cancer research there is still no real cure for it. That is why it is so important for everybody, to take some preventive measures against cancer. The best way to prevent cancer is to include antioxidant vitamins into your everyday diet.

We all know how bad free radicals can be for our health. But what are they? To put it simply, free radicals are particles that allow extra oxygen into human cells, which causes the cells to break. Antioxidant vitamins can stop this distractive process.

Foods high in antioxidant vitamins

All doctors recommend including a variety of fruits and vegetables into your diet. These bring many benefits to your health, being low in fat and high in fiber. But they are also very rich in antioxidants. Brightly colored vegetables and fruits contain the most antioxidants. So including beetroot, carrots and red capsicum in your everyday menu, would serve you a reasonable amount of antioxidants.

• cherries,
• blackberry,
• strawberry,
• blueberry,
• red grape
• walnuts
• sunflower seeds
• ginger
• spices
• green tea
• coffee without milk

Common vitamins like Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Vitamin E are all powerful antioxidants, so all fruits rich in these vitamins should be included. But there are many more, for example red wine and red grape contains Reservatrol, an important antioxidant. Another great antioxidant Flavonoid can be found in green tea. So, the most sensible thing to do is to include a wide variety of different fruits, vegetables and berries in your diet. Berries are particularly good, because they all contain large quantities of antioxidant vitamins.

And there is one more source of antioxidants, a food that is usually on a “bad for you” list – chocolate. But it has to be dark chocolate; milk chocolate doesn’t have antioxidant properties. When you eat chocolate, or any antioxidant food, avoid drinking milk at the same time. Milk significantly reduces the effect of antioxidants.

Antioxidant vitamin supplements

Getting vitamins and antioxidants from natural sources is of cause the best. However, with our busy lives many people can’t eat as much fresh produce as they would like. Also bear in mind that when you buy vegetables and fruits during winter months, their antioxidant value is very low. Most vitamins are easily destroyed by light and storage, so tomatoes that are sold in a supermarket in December give you almost no health benefits, even though in general a tomato is considered a good source of antioxidants.

In this case antioxidant supplements can be beneficial. There are plenty of vitamins and dietary supplements on the market. Some of them are specifically marketed as “antioxidant supplements” others are just a variety of vitamins. Many multivitamins contains 100% of all essential vitamins for your health. Also remember, that Vitamin C is an antioxidant, and multivitamins usually don’t contain enough of Vitamin C. So it makes since to take additional Vitamin C supplements.

Whether or not vitamin supplements are as good for you as antioxidants from natural sources is debatable. Some doctors say that by taking antioxidant supplements you can meet most of your antioxidant needs. Others argue that supplements are not as beneficial as vitamins you get from food.

The problem is that vitamins in a pill are not as easily absorbed by our bodies as nutrients we get from food. So eating mostly fast food and taking antioxidant vitamin supplements to compensate is not such a good idea after all.

You can also get natural antioxidant supplements, like grape seed extract. These are absorbed better, than synthetic vitamins.

Other benefits of antioxidants

Doctors emphasize the importance of antioxidants because of their ability to prevent and fight cancer. But there are many other health benefits – antioxidants boost your immune system, helping you feel and look young. If consumed regularly, antioxidant vitamins have an amazing anti-aging effect.