Posts Tagged ‘Vegetable’
Why You Should Eat Your Broccoli!
You might enjoy eating broccoli. You are more likely to be one of the many people that just don’t care for broccoli all that much, or even loathe it. I understand that, but let’s talk about some of the amazing health benefits that broccoli has to offer and some delicious ways to enjoy broccoli. Who knows, broccoli might just be something you’ll start to like!
Why Broccoli Rocks The Nutritional Charts
• The American Cancer Society recommends eating broccoli since it’s anticancer properties are well established.
• Excellent source of isothiocyanates, which fight cancer! Studies have shown that isothiocyanates actually help prevent esophageal and lung cancer, and can even lower the risk of having other cancers.
• In 2003, The Environmental Working Group named broccoli as one of twelve foods least contaminated with pesticides.
• One cup of broccoli contains:
-288 mg of potassium
-2 g of fiber
-43 mg of calcium
-2 g of protein
-1,277 mcg of lutein and zeaxanthin
-81 mg of vitamin C
-magnesium, phosphorus, folate, beta-caratone, and vitamin A.
• Contains indole-3-carbinol which has been shown to protect the structure of DNA, as well as being a strong antioxidant and stimulates detoxifying enzymes. It also protects against the carcinogenic effect of toxins, including pesticides. Indole-3-carbinol is great for everyone – especially women – since it increases the ratio of benign (“good”) estrogen metabolite levels compared to the potentially harmful ones.
Eating Broccoli…and Enjoying it
You can eat all of broccoli – the leaves, stalk, and the “flower” of the plant, which is what most people are familiar with.
Here’s a couple of suggestions on what you can do with broccoli, to make it a bit more enjoyable to eat.
Broccoli & Raw Cheese
-Steam broccoli and once it is done cooking, sprinkle on some raw cheese to the broccoli and serve one the cheese has melted. This is how my Mom was able to get us kids to eat (and love!) broccoli when we were growing up!
Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry
- In a frying pan, combine cooked chicken, brown rice, raw broccoli with a healthy teriyaki sauce and/or soy sauce. This is a great way to enjoy broccoli as part of a main dish.
Broccoli Soup
-This recipe is really easy, and Chef Gordon Ramsay made this dish look more than appetizing! Here’s the video with full instructions:
I hope you all will consider eating broccoli and enjoy the many health benefits that are associated with it!
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Tags: anticancer, broccoli, Health, Nutrition, Vegetable
Are carrots good for you?
One moment we are told that carrots are healthy for us, and the next moment we are told that carrots are bad for you. They both can’t be true, so which is it?
Why some ditch the Carrot
When the low carb diets became more popular, carrots were an avoided vegetable because of their high glycemic index. The important thing to know is the glycemic load – not the glycemic index – is only 4 grams of carbohydrates per serving. This means that the glycemic load is only a 3 out of 40, which means you would have to eat a lot of carrots to get any significant rise in blood sugar. This also means that “carrots are full of sugar” is an inaccurate statement. Some diabetics will still have their doctor advise them against eating carrots, which is up to you if you decide to listen to your doctor in that case. For everyone else, you should be just fine eating carrots, and enjoying their many health benefits.
Carrot’s Health Benefits
Carrots are full of carotenoids, which have been associated with a decrease of up to 50% in bladder, cervix, prostate, colon, larynx, and esophageal cancer. In addition to this, carotenoids have also shown a 20% decrease in post-menopausal breast cancer.
Recent studies have shown that as little as one carrot a day could possibly cut the rate of lung cancer in half.
Carrots contain alpha-carotene, which is a type of carotenoid, where recent studies have shown benefits that may lead to inhibiting tumor growth.
Carrots are a great source of lutein and zeaxanthin, both are types of carotenoids, and when these two nutrients work together, they have shown that they protect the eyes and help prevent macular degeneration and cataracts.
The alpha-carotene and beta-carotene in carrots convert in the body into Vitamin A, which raises the effectiveness of the light-sensitive area of the retina, which can help with night blindness.
Eating Carrots
You can enjoy the health benefits of carrots , either raw or cooked. If you want to get the most of the carotenoids in the carrots, eat them with a little bit of healthy fat, which helps you absorb the nutrients better since carrots are a fat-soluble vegetable.
I prefer not to have carrots juiced. When juicing, you use a lot of carrots and end up removing the natural fiber in the process, which makes for an increase in sugar concentration in the juice.
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Twinkie’s Challenge: Buy Organic
There are a lot of people still debating on whether they should buy Organic or not. Let’s set the record straight once and for all when it comes to Organic.
Definition
Organic food is grown, processed, and packaged without the use of agricultural chemicals, artificial colors or flavors, genetic modification, irradiation, or other synthetic ingredients.
Per the National Organic Program, here are some definitions that should help clear up their labeling:
“‘100 Percent Organic’ must contain (excluding water and salt) only organically produced ingredients and processing aids.
Products labeled ‘Organic’ must consist of at least 95 percent organically produced ingredients (excluding water and salt). Any remaining product ingredients must consist of nonagricultural substances approved on the National List including specific non-organically produced agricultural products that are not commercially available in organic form.”
Later, the National Organic Program addressed the term “made with organic ingredients”. They wrote:
“Processed products that contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients can use the phrase “made with organic ingredients” and list up to three of the organic ingredients or food groups on the principal display panel.”
Something good to know: If you use the USDA Organic seal on your products that are not produced or handled within the National Organic Program’s regulations, you can have a civil penalty of up to $11,000 US Dollars. Ouch!
Just so you know, products labeled as “Naturally Grown” are not regulated. Some smaller farms who can’t afford to join the National Organic Program to be labeled as “USDA Organic”, can label their products as “Naturally Grown”. Since it isn’t regulated though, there are no guarantees on what you are really getting with this label.
Organic Farms
Having an Organic Farm is a strict business, and as you now know, you can’t just mark up your products as “USDA Organic” just for the fun of it. Organic farms do not use synthetic chemicals or drugs. They instead treat their soil, plants, and animals with natural products, which are a much safer alternative. They have surprise inspections by Inspectors who test the water, soil, plants (or animals) to make sure that everything is within USDA Organic standards. Once they do this, they review receipts from anything from feed to other records of reports and tests. This takes time and money, done twice a year, and the organic farmer pays for the fees involved to be able to label their products as “USDA Organic”.
Nutrition
The debate on whether Organic is really worth the usual additional costs seems to boil down to the common question, “Is Organic healthier for you?” or “Is Organic more nutritious?”. The answer to both of the questions is a simple “Yes”.
According to Virginia Worthington MS, ScD, CNS, in her article “Nutritional Quality of Organic versus Conventional Fruits, Vegetables, and Grains” in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, she found in her studies:
“…the vitamin C content of an organic fruit or vegetable is 27% more, on average, than a comparable conventionally grown fruit or vegetable.”
She also found from the various produce she studied, that you can, on average, find about 21% more Iron, 29% more Magnesium, and 13% more Phosphorus. You will find about 15% less Nitrates. This is all very good news for your body, and more reason to stick to Organic produce.
The Nutrients come from the soil, which then in turns feeds the plant what it needs to produce healthy good-for-you produce which we get to enrich our own bodies with. If the soil is infested with pesticides and harmful chemicals, it will be lacking in nutrients, and the produce will in turn be depleted of nutrients.
Keep in Mind
When you do see “Organic” Chocolate bars, for example, it doesn’t mean it is all of a sudden it will be considered “healthy” or even “low calorie”. It still is sugar, candy, and not to be considered as food. Organic Candy is still Candy! Keep that in mind while you are in the grocery store, and try to stick with foods in its natural form. For example, choose fresh Organic Pears versus Canned Pears.
Your body deserves the best, and it deserves Organic.
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Tags: best, Blog, body, Diary, Fruit, growth hormones, harmful chemicals, Healthy, Lose Weight, natural, nutrients, Nutrition, Organic, pesticides, Skinny, soil, stay active, Twinkie, Vegetable, Weight Loss
Hashed Browns (Organic) by Alexia
Taste Test
These are comparable to the good ‘ol fashioned home-made version you might have been lucky enough to grow up with.
Guilt Free
Not only is this the best frozen hashed browns I have ever had, and lucky for you and me, it is USDA Organic, fat free, gluten free, and fairly low in calories. Let’s just say, you don’t need to hesitate about buying these when looking for convenience and taste, and this is something that will go great with your chicken and apple sausages, eggs, and home made orange juice. Hey, I believe there is a way to not only eat healthy (or at least healthier than the average Joe), but also enjoy some great taste all at the same time.
Preparation
This is pretty quick to make, just brown it on a frying pan or skillet. If you cook this with butter on the pan, just know you will be adding calories to this dish, so be careful with how much you add. A Great alternative to butter, is to use coconut oil, which is a safe oil when heated and cooking your foods.
Serving: 3 oz (about a 1/2 cup)
Calories: 80
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Tags: Breakfast, fat free, gluten free, low calorie, Organic, potato, tastes good, Vegetable, veggie
Asparagus
Asparagus is a high in antioxidants, Vitamin K (decreases dark circles, increases bone mass among other things) and Folate.
It helps with the prevention of hair loss, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), high blood pressure, fatigue, toothaches (who knew?), kidney stones, and even prevents some cancers(especially lung cancer).
Asparagus is great for women in particular. It helps with menstrual cramps, nursing mothers for helping with milk production, and because it is high in Folate/Folic Acid, it can help prevent birth defects like Spina Bifida (incompletely formed spinal chord).
Asparagus isn’t known for being the cheapest veggie out there, but if you ask me, it’s definitely worth the cost for all of the benefits it provides for your body.
How to eat Asparagus? I recommend either baking or steaming this to get the most out of it’s nutrients.
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Tags: asparagus, easy to prepare, folate, good for you, Healthy, Nutrition, prevent hair loss, prevent high blood pressure, prevent kidney stone, prevent spina bifida, prevent toothache, prevents MS, Vegetable, Vitamin K, worth the cost
