Category Archives: Vegetables
Food can help relieve and protect during a Stressful Time
Most everyone has heard the saying “Stress will kill you”. This actually is a true statement. Stress can cause several diseases illnesses and conditions. It can cause cancer, weight gain, ulcers, miscarriage, acne and many others. Does stress cause gray hair and wrinkles? Yes it sure does. If you need evidence just look at a picture of an incoming president and then look at that same president four years later. You can see what stress does to the appearance of a person. No one can live their life with out heart ache and stress at some point. There are ways to help people deal with stress. Massage, meditation, prayer, yoga, sex, laughter, music and taking a walk are all excellent stress relievers. Taking medicine to relive stress is not a good idea. This can just cause other health problems and conditions. There are also foods that can help you deal with stress.
Dopamine helps with weight loss
I am on a weigh down plan. Anything I can read about weight loss I do. I stumbled across an article about dopamine aiding in weight loss so of course I had to read and share.
Small changes in your diet can boost dopamine in the brain. This helps with mood and weight loss. Dopamine is produced by the brain. It controls weight, body movements and supports circulatory system.
Major Weigh Down Update #2
I have had a discouraging month with my major weigh down plan. I said discouraging but I did not say I am quitting. I am still very determined to lose my 75 lbs. I have tried to figure out what has went on this month. It seems like I have begin to crawl instead of leap. I only lost 4 lbs since my last update on August 28th.
Maybe some of the changes I made over the past few weeks have not been good changes.
I have began eating out nightly with my husband. We are still splitting our meal between the two of us. This makes it very inexpensive for us to eat out. This seemed inviting after a long day at work. I should have remembered I was on a weigh down plan not no a wallet weigh down plan. Maybe it goes back to the thing I have said before about cooking your own food and knowing exactly what is in your meal. Restaurants may add more salt. They may even sneak a little sugar in the food that I would not be adding. Either way this change is going to be altered down to only couple times a week.
Natural foods become more readily available
Fall is here. Farmers are clearing out their gardens. Farmers markets are wrapping up their season for the year. Normally this would mean our natural, organic, locally grown and fresh garden vegetables come to a end until next growing season. This year this will not necessarily be true. Fresh and natural vegetables will be available all winter.
In the past it was difficult to locate a store that offered natural foods. When you did find one the foods were so pricey it was hard to work them into your budget. Finally in the last few months more of the well known grocery stores have added NATURAL FOOD SECTIONS. YEA!!! The demand for natural foods has finally been heard. Natural foods will always remain higher priced than non-natural foods. However there is now competition for natural food sales. This should slowly bring the prices down making it easier for people to afford healthier eating. Store owners once believed eating natural foods was a fad and it would pass. They felt there was no need to invest in an expansion of a natural section. They now see it is not a fad. It is the norm as more people are taking their health into their own hands. They also see that people are seeing the connection between good health and natural foods. They noticed the increase in the past few years of money being spent on natural foods. Natural food sales has increased over the last 5-7 years. Sales are now reaching over 630 billion dollars. Money always talks. The larger stores want a piece of that business.
5 foods may prevent the dreaded disease of CANCER
There are very few adults in the world that have not been affected in some way by CANCER. It is a word and disease that can frighten us to our very core. I think everyone has the fear of being attacked by this disease. I sure do and I look for anything that I can do to prevent it. Prevention is always the best cure for any disease. We never know if we or someone we love will be diagnosed with cancer. We do know that genetics have a lot to do with who develops cancer. Other factors can affect our chances of developing cancer as well such as stress, the environment that surrounds us and of course the food you eat. It seems every disease and cure turns to our food. Are we eating the right or wrong foods? Are there additives or chemicals in our food? There are many things for us to look at in regards to the food we eat and cancer. Wouldn’t it be great if we could discover exactly what foods to eat or not to eat to prevent us from ever having to worry about getting cancer? I recently found an article about a study that indicates there are 5 foods that may actually help us do just that.
The following 5 foods have been studied and are believed to help prevent cancer. If eating these foods decreased our chances in the slightest way from developing this disease it would be worth trying.
Preserving For the Winter
As the summer of 2012 comes closer to the end so does my weekly trips to the farmers market. My weekly visits will be put on hold until summer of 2013. Putting vegetables on hold is not quite as easy as putting a date on a calendar. However it is not very difficult either. This is the time of year to preserve for the winter. Preserved fresh, locally grown and organically grown vegetables will taste much better this winter than the ones you find in the freezer section of your grocery. Not to mention the self satisfaction of knowing you have done the best you can for your family. I like to freeze some squash for squash casserole, stewed squash and squash puppies. (Squash puppies are delicious with beans, chili, soups, leafy greens or fish. You just add grated squash to your favorite hush puppy recipe.) I also try to freeze some okra for stewing or baking. I like to can some squash relish and some jellies to share with family and friends. I have gotten my squash relish canned and that is all. I am behind this year and I will need to get to work over the next few weeks to catch up.
Vegetables and Fruits have their own Season
I think all of us can smell or see a certain food cooking and relate it to a holiday, a special day or a season. I have several of these thoughts. When I smell oranges I always think of Christmas. Turnip greens and apples always makes me think of fall. Coconut cake makes me think of spring. Homemade ice cream makes me think of summer. I could keep going but I think you get the idea.
Organic or Not Organic?
Over the last couple days the news media has been saying organically grown food is no healthier than non-organic food. This statement is totally false. The study they are trying to quote from even shows that organically grown is healthier. Why are they trying to mislead people? Anyone would know food grown without pesticides would have to be healthier.
The study, or actually it is a review of a study, they are referring to clearly says that the organically grown vegetables have 30% less chemical pesticides than non-organically grown vegetables. How can they say organic is not healthier? Guess they like eating chemicals and poison and for some sick reason want to encourage other people to do the same. It also states that organically grown meat contains 33% less antibiotic-resistant bacteria than non-organically grown meat.
Do Not Kill your Food
If you follow my blog you know how much I believe in organically grown food. However, even organic vegetables can be prepared in a way that destroys some of their nutritional value. If you cook organic vegetables to a temperature over 118 degrees you will destroy some of the nutrients you are trying to receive by choosing organic. I really enjoy the benefits of going to the local farmers market. I enjoy knowing that I am buying vegetables that are as fresh as possible. Once again if you cook them to a high temperature you lose their nutritional value. I have always heard eat raw vegetables when possible. I read an article recently that explains what a raw food diet really means. I learned many things about what is really healthy, when it comes to vegetables, cooked and uncooked.
Food was intended for us to receive nutrition and nourishment for our bodies. It was also intended to fight disease by giving us the vitamins and nutrients our body craves. Somewhere down the line, eating and food became entertainment, a social event, and a form of enjoyment. Raw uncooked vegetables seem to be a bit boring. Cooking, grilling, baking, boiling, toasting and frying became more exciting. Once our food goes through one of these cooking processes, it loses its vitamins, nutrients, minerals and disease fighting abilities. It is “dead”. If food is cooked to high temperatures it is nutritionally destroyed. All the minerals and antioxidants are gone. All the cancer preventatives are gone. Vitamins are charred and gone.
Gluten and celiac disease
Have you noticed the changes in our food over the last few years? Over 50 years ago people grew their own food or purchased it from a neighbor. People worked hard in the fields pulling weeds and chopping weeds with a hoe. They did not use poisons as freely as today. They watered from springs only when they had to. They waited for rain if at all possible. Over the years our food has lost so much of its valuable health benefits. Now crops are heavily sprayed with pesticides and fertilizers. Special chemicals are put on our vegetables to make them larger. The days have passed where the weeds are pulled or chopped out. Weed killer is now sprayed on a regular basis.
Even the wheat grown today is different. We have to have hybrid or super charged grain. Why can’t we just have regular grain for our bread? Our wheat has been altered so much that it is not healthy anymore. Wheat now spikes your sugar level worse than actual sugar. This has been caused by crossbreeding plants and trying to make super grain.
The change in wheat has caused other issues as well. One being the increase in gluten. Years ago wheat only contained about 3% gluten. In recent years this has increased to 50%. This is caused from the production of hybrid wheat. Hybrid wheat was introduced into our lives because of the high yield, meaning more money at the cost of the health benefits. The overload of gluten is bringing with it many health issues such as constant inflammation, digestion problems and many autoimmune diseases.
