My Diet Meals Reviews and Recipes

Diet advice from a 113 year old man

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:26:00 +0000

Here we can see an amazing story: diet advice from someone who's lived 113 years, and was around when the X-ray was invented, and when the first Olympics was held. Now of course, some of it is genes, but some of it can be traced to a careful diet with very little overeating, lots of fruit, hard work, low dose aspirin, and plenty of water.

His end message was simple: Don't eat so much! Having lived through the depression, he basically ate what was given to him, and developed a habit of "under eating".

It's a known fact that living until on older age is partially due to a healthier diet, and this man only proves the fact even further. It's simply amazing to read this man's story.

Tips #1:
"You get in the habit of not eating at night, and you realize how good you feel. If you could just tell people not to eat so darn much."

Tips #2:
"I eat a lot of fruit every day."

Tips #3:
"I drink water all the time," he said, and just a bit of coffee. "I drink a cup and a half of coffee for breakfast and a cup with lunch."

Tips #4:
"Don't Eat Too Much"

Fascinating stuff from someone who has seen and done it all pretty much, and has some habits we could all benefit from.

More on this: Source

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Calories on KFC Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:05:00 +0000

I don't know about you but KFC seriously is my favorite fast food joint. I don't really care about McDonald, Burger King, Domino Pizza and others but I always crave for KFC. Although I limit myself to one or two chicken in a year (for real), I often get bombarded by people asking about how much calories in one KFC chicken, so here it is:

KFC Chicken

ORIGINAL Thigh: 330 calories, 110 cholesterol
ORIGINAL Breast: 360 calories, 120 cholesterol
ORIGINAL Drumstick: 130 calories, 65 cholesterol
ORIGINAL wing: 130 calories, 55 cholesterol

CRISPY Thigh: 370 calories, 85 cholesterol
CRISPY Breast: 440 calories, 105 cholesterol
CRISPY Drumstick: 160 calories, 55 cholesterol
CRISPY Wing: 170 calories, 55 cholesterol

CRISPY Chicken Strips (3 pieces): 350 calories, 70 cholesterol
Hot Wings (5 pieces): 350 calories, 110 cholesterol

How to Measure Middle Age Spread Or Fat

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:11:00 +0000

Daily Mail UK is doing an informative piece on Middle Age Fat. Here's a quick way to calculate it.

Place a measure tape just above your belly button and measure it. For women, anything above 32 inches are at greater risk for diabetes and heart disease, for men it's 37 inch.

Now that's just one test, another test which is more accurate is Weight To Hip Ratio Test.

Measure the narrowest part of your waist.

Now take the measure tape again and measure around your hips, just below the point where the top of the thigh bone meets the pelvis.

Divide the 1st measurement to the 2nd measurement. Anything higher than 0.8 for women and 0.9 men then you are unhealthy.

More on this on Daily Mail

Middle Age Stomach Bulge

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:04:00 +0000

Middle-Age "spread" may reduce lifespan for women in the long run, new study says

Lots of people think it's fairly normal to add on 10 pounds or so a decade. They say they can't do much about it, and that its a part of aging.

It's commonly called 'middle-age spread'. But, for a woman? It reduces the chance of leading a long, healthy life free of chronic disease, according to a new medical study recently published.

Presented in the British Medical Journal, this latest study tackles the connection between weight gain and life expectancy, and found the more weight a woman gained in the ages 32-45 (middle-age range technically), reduced the chance of living a healthy life after age 70, or even being alive past that age.

The study included data on 17,000 women, and they found after sifting through reams of data and statistics that just under 10% percent of them were considered healthy after age 70.

"Healthy" was defined as being free of one of 11 diseases, mobile, and with good cognitive functioning and still able to be completely active and do everything for themselves.

The really sad number: Only 10% of those in the study maintained a totally healthy weight through the entire study.

The study also showed that gaining weight very early (age 18-25) and gained more than 20 pounds at those ages tended to fare even worse, getting sicker at earlier ages and generally displaying poor health at age 60 or so (and a few didn't make it that far).

It's very clear: gaining weight and that "middle-age spread" hands women a distinct disadvantage when they get older, and that weight and mortality can be pretty closely linked.

Coke's Big Announcement

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:41:00 +0000

Coca-Cola just put out a big press release stating that "they will be printing Calorie information on the front of all their products worldwide by 2011". It's about time they were more up front about their nutrition info.

Many of us know already that Coke isn't necessarily a health drink, and that its loaded with empty calories, but now it'll be right there in big print right on the front, and not on the back in smaller print where many don't really look.

Soda is a known weight trigger for many dieters, and is one of the first things many nutritionists suggest giving up when trying to lose 20 lbs. or more on any diet, or as part of a lifestyle change to maintain weight control.

Coke has already done this in their Europe, Australian and Mexican markets and are currently releasing the newly labeled products in the USA very soon. As if they couldn't have done this sooner?

They know at least a few will stop drinking the product in response, as those markets above don't always tend to be as health-conscious or calorie-counting as Americans are. And Coca-Cola knows this as well as anyone.

Coke plans to have all their products world-wide labeled by mid-2011 or so, based on their published timetable. All we know is: it can't be soon enough.

Doubling Weight Loss May be Possible with New Drug

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:19:00 +0000

For most people, a short term answer to weight loss is not that difficult to find. You can opt for one of the many diet
drugs that are available on the market or choose to go with the trendiest diet plan. In general, any of these will result in weight loss.

These results don’t usually last very long though. If you’re severely over weight then you may have thought about gastric bypass or had it suggested as an option to you.

Gastric bypass does deliver excellent results in many cases. However you may not be one to take such a drastic measure lightly.
There are also some people that this is just medically not possible. So where does that leave them, or you if fall into this category?

Using approved diet pills suggested by your doctor can be an option, but it’s a long term decision. You have to continue using them to keep your results.

Gastric bypass offers greater weight loss, though. There’s good news to share. It’s called Tesofensin, and it’s a new drug that is proving to product double the weight loss as any other diet pill out there today!

Tesofensin could turn out to be a great alternative to gastric bypass surgery. In a study, obese participants were given different doses
of the drug or a placebo, as well as being put on a low energy diet. The highest weight loss was 28 lbs, and was over a 24 week period.
Of course, there are more studies that are probably going to be started next year.

Not only does it appear to be fantastic at helping you to lose weight, but you could also continue to see weight loss long term.
You would have to stay on the drug, though. It isn’t something you do for a few weeks and then forget about it.

Images: Star Jones admit to having Gastric Bypass from Bliss Tree

Quick Tip Diet Hints & Foods that Fight Fat

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 10:40:00 +0000

You may not think you have time to implement an whole new diet plan. Two good bits of news for you, though – One, you should never try to do a complete diet turn around over night.

This will normally not produce a long term state of mind. Two, there are plenty of small steps you can take that get you on the path to a healthier lifestyle, resulting in weight loss and overall better health.

The first tip is to begin your dieting before you ever think about eating a single bite.

This means being in the right frame of mind when you are at the grocery store. You are faced with literally hundreds of decisions before it’s time to eat. We found a wonderful list of foods that fight which you can add to your shopping list, and here are some my favorites!

Breakfast: Original Shredded Wheat: 80 calories and 2.5 g fiber per biscuit
Frozen, yummy treats: Frozen bars: Creamsicles, Fudgsicles, and Popsicles; any others
Comforting drinks with winter time approaching: Hot cocoa mixes: 20 to 50 calories per serving (you can choose Swiss Miss Diet & Fat-Free or Nestle Carnation Diet & Fat-Free

Of course, you probably aren’t going to be up for switching out a ton of your favorite foods for foods that are included on the complete list. You don’t have to!

Every little change you make for the better will have you one step closer to a healthier diet. A healthy diet is a vital part of any weight loss routine.

In fact, the number one suggestion in 100 smartest diet tips by Prevention magazine was to simply add one fruit or vegetable to your diet each day.

One single fruit or vegetable! You can then slowly keep adding to that until you reach the recommended servings of at least eight per day.

More reading: Fight Fat!

Acai Berry Fruit, What’s the Big Deal?

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:56:00 +0000

If you tend to keep up with health and diet trends at all, then you’ve probably heard of the acai berry fruit (pronounced ah-sigh-ee).

Have you wondered why there is such hype surrounding this little miracle fruit? Whether you’re interested in losing weight or just living healthier, the acai berry fruit is something that you should consider adding into your diet one way or the other. In fact, it was rated as the #1 super food on the Oprah show by Dr. Perricone.

What Benefits Does the Acai Berry Fruit Provide?

The acai berry fruit has been shown to be an antioxidant powerhouse, providing more antioxidants than other fruits that are known to be great sources of antioxidants. It’s believed to provide more than the raspberry, cranberry, blueberry, and strawberry!

There are many suspected benefits of the acai berry fruit, but officially they haven’t been researched and put to the test in studies.

Some of these portrayed benefits are that it increases your energy levels, promotes better sleep, improves your digestive system, cleanses your body of toxins, strengthens your immune system, and improves circulation.

There are even hints that it could be used to fight cancer! A study at the University of Florida, which was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry is the source of this hopeful finding.

It showed extracts from the acai berry fruit actually triggered a self-destruction type of activity in over 80% of leukemia cells that were tested. However, this was only in a cell culture model, and they made it clear they don’t want to give false hope. It’s a start, though!

Are There Any Side Effects of the Acai Berry to Worry About?

There are no real known, negative side effects of the acai berry fruit. Bear in mind that there has been very little research done on it. It’s difficult to research, because it only grows in Central and South America, and it doesn’t stay ripe for long once plucked from the mother plant (Which is why the pill form and acai juices are very popular).

However, if you know you have allergies to pollen or similar berries it only makes sense to be careful with the use of acai berries.

I've seen Acai being pushed by so many companies as weight loss medicines (yeah the one that put a banner there). But as always, without any change in what you eat, and what you do, this lil magical Acai won't give you any sustainable weight loss.

The good news is, most Acai companies are dishing out free bottles and trials so that you don't have to shell a lot of money just to try something you are not sure of. Keep in mind that these companies will try to rebill you once your trial period ends, so if you don't like what they send you, don't forget to cancel your trial.

Hiatus

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:54:00 +0000

Sorry for the VERY VERY LONG HIATUS.
I just didn't have anytime to update this blog due to graduation, my business, love life and I was away on Cambodia for quite some times!

Do you eat more in communal gathering?

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:49:00 +0000

Do you eat more when you are dining in large group? I don’t. In fact I feel awkward when I have to dine in large group or communal gathering even though I already know everybody else there.

Somehow I don’t feel like eating much food when I am in social gathering or some sort. However that's not the case with majority of children according to this research. Children who eat in large group consume 30% more than those who eat in small group.

For most of my friends, I see that they tend to eat faster and much more when they are dining with a group.

According the researchers, the cause of this behavior is the stimulant provided by the sight and sound of others who are engaged in the same activity (eating and talking). Somehow it overrides the satiety signal.

According to their observation, those who eat in large group tend to eat 30% more food, eat faster and don’t pay too much attention to what they eat.

So it’s advisable for children who eat too little to dine more with family and friends to encourage more consumption. While for those who eat too much, it’s advisable to avoid food court and fast food restaurant where the ambient may trigger them to eat more. How about you?

Research from Medical News - Web MD.

Be Fit: Wear a pedometer

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 11:14:00 +0000

Wearing pedometer can help you to lose more weight and improve your physical fitness according to a research.

This small inexpensive device is mainly sold for $15 and can motivate those who are not so physically active to become more active.

The researchers evaluated studies covering 2767 patients who were not physically active. As a result, those who wear pedometer walked over 2100 more steps compared to those who didn’t.

I guess when you are wearing pedometer then you become motivated to walk more steps and see that little number adds up. This is especially true when you have goal such as walking 10,000 steps everyday.

"Much to my surprise, these little devices were shown to increase physical activity by just over 2,000 steps, or about 1 mile of walking per day." (ref: Medical News)

While 2100 more steps or one more mile may not seem to be a significant improvement, it equals to 27% increase of physical activity according to the researchers. It’s amazing how simple idea can beef up your exercise and your health. Go wear one and aim to walk specific number of steps today!

Research Abstract
Image from: Omron HJ-112 Pedometer - Amazon

Diet Plate for Proper Portion Sizing

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 13:13:00 +0000

It’s amazing how simple idea can actually becomes the solution of our problem. And it’s even more amazing to see the inventors profit so much just by mass producing simple idea to solve our problem. Portion control plays an important role in our dieting, and many people have problem in applying it. A UK based company decided to monetize on that fact and created simple plate with marked area for different food.

According to a study quoted by BBC, diabetics who used this marked diet plate lost more than 1.75% of their body weight compared to 0.05% (who relied on will power alone).

Sounds like a good product, but there’s one catch. It is expensive. Priced at $30, I think that’s way too expensive for plate.

But you can look it from another point of view too, people have spent A LOT OF money on various dieting products and plans that $30 seems to be insignificant. In fact I like the idea of this marked diet plate better than any drugs or expensive diet food.

Via That's Fit.

Update: Another competitor has sold similar plate for cheaper price here.

Happy Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 11:48:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving for those who are celebrating. While there's nothing stopping from overindulging yourself, remember that Thanksgiving doesn't last all season. Rome wasn't built in a day, your diet won't be devastated in a day either. But if you end up indulging on the left over for the next 7 days then chance is you will gain a lot of weight.

Enjoy yourself and celebrate it properly. Just remember to get back on track tomorrow. Remember you still have Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year (for those who celebrate it), so there are more feasts coming ahead.

For Thanksgiving link love:

Dinner on calorie budget
Turkey Trivia
Thanksgiving Prayer
5 Easy Ways to Enjoy Thanksgiving
Move Move! on Thanksgiving

The Health Tips Tags

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:50:00 +0000

I was tagged by Shern’s Mom to share few health tips and give my thoughts on the existing tips. I was supposed to only bold the tips that I agree with and add few more pointers but I couldn’t help commenting on the existing tips on the tags.

Here are the existing health tips by previous tags particpants (I am supposed to copy the whole thing):

Copy the whole thing, skim the list and put a * star beside those that you like. (check out especially the * starred ones.) Share one of your own health tip (tip on how to be more healthy) with others. Try to make your tip short but informative. Tag at least 2 person.

My response is written in italic below each of the points.

1. Be happy - Everyday health and beauty
Huh?

2. Be contented with what God Bless us – chanelwong
I guess if becoming human with no ambition makes you healthy then so be it.

3. Be faithful – Ruth
While I have nothing against being faithful, I just don’t see how it can help your health if you don’t do something about it anyway.

4. Laugh a lot – Chinnee
Laughing is a good practice to reduce stress, just make sure there’s something to laugh about.

5. Take time out for rest and relaxation – Kiasumum *
Kudos.

6. A real work out for sweating - Dora *
Kudos.

7. Don't worry, worryin is like a rockin chair, it gives you somethin to do, but it gets you nowhere. - shern's mom *
Agree. Better wording is, worrying won’t solve any problem so you need to take action thus solving the problem and making your life somehow a little less stressful.

--
Now it’s my turn:

8. Do your household chores. Doing household chores is a great (although not fun) way to burn additional calories and making your house a little more inhabitable.

9. Can’t stop snacking? Next time eat the snack from the plate instead of the bag.

10. Have enough sleep. It’s vital for your body and health in general. In fact people who sleep less than 4 hours at night are 74% more prone to obesity in the long run (ref).

11. Get a dose of early morning sun daily. It warms you up and it’s great for your skin and body.

12. Sushi is godly.

I am tagging Curry Egg and LifeLongSharing for these tags. Copy the entire list, endorse the one that you like and add some pieces of your thought.

"You can't come here because you are too fat."

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:01:00 +0000

A Welsh woman is banned from entering New Zealand to join her husband who has been hired there. Rowan Trevize’s visa had been denied because the government deemed her as too fat. Her husband has already left to New Zealand after struggling to lose two inches through crash diet in order to meet the requirement.

“When the couple first tried to gain entry to the country they were told that they were both overweight and were a potential burden on the health care system. Reference”

If Rowan still can’t lose weight in December, her husband has already stated that he would abandon the idea of moving to New Zealand and would come back to Wales.

New Zealand officials uses BMI to assess people weight require that immigrants should not be burden for the country’s health care. I completely agree with New Zealand’s policy on this issue, what’s the point of letting migrants enter when they can become potential burden for health care.

Another issue is the usage of BMI as measurement tool. Muscular people with high BMI can potentially fall into the ‘overweight’ category due to high muscular mass. Of course some would say that she should be allowed to enter with the consequence of not receiving any health care and insurance.

What do you think about such policy? Do you think she should be allowed to enter?

5 Things Which Make You Eat More

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:50:00 +0000

1. Refined Carbs

Refined carbohydrates refer to grain based foods where machinery has been used to remove the bran and the germ of the grain.

Examples of these foods are white rice, white bread, noodles and pasta. These foods cause our insulin production to increase and crash our blood sugar. When blood sugar crashes, we’ll crave for more food later on.

2. Boring Food

Often when we have eaten a LARGE meal which consists of just a type of food, we find that we still have place left for ice cream and a little dessert.

This is because our body and mind still craves for sweet. Rather than over eating the dessert, try to have more variety in the meals.

Prepare a small plate of fruit beforehand and eat it during your dinner, if you really need to have dessert, prepare a sensible portion of it beforehand. I find that I tend to eat more dessert if I don't prepare it beforehand.

3. Heat

When temperature drops low, our body sends a signal to our brain that we need to eat in order to increase our body temperature. The colder it is, the more that you want to eat. That’s why a lot of people gain weight during winter, coupled with holiday and a couple of festive dinners, weight can rise significantly during this period.

4. Perception

We often associate bigger plate with more food. Unconsciously we would eat more food if we were given bigger plate to start with. In fact, we also eat more when we eat snack directly from the package, regardless the size of the package. Read about the perception factors here.

5. Suppressed Craving

When you try to banish food that you crave, you will end up eating more of it in the future. At least that’s what a study quoted by BBC suggested. This rebound effect is also imminent in smokers too. The lesson, don’t banish it completely but eat it in controlled portion.

Ham and doughnut soda anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:29:00 +0000

Holiday season is coming and it’s time for the wacky soda company, Jones Soda Co, to release their holiday pack. Last Christmas they have showcased fine arrays of soda products such as green pea, gravy, and potato soda.

This Christmas their flagship products will be ham, Christmas tree and sugar plum soda. For Hanukkah, dough nut flavored soda seems to be their flagship product.

While it does sound disgusting, out of curiosity I badly want to try ham flavored soda.

There’s even one more flavor that fickle my curiosity, according to CNN they have released dirt flavored soda in the past. Can’t seem to find it in their website though. What about you? Do you think you’ll dare to drink one?

Calories Burned in Household Chores Equals to One Hour Running

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:07:00 +0000

Struggling to do your household chores? Are you lazy to vacuum your house on regular basis?

Try doing your daily household chores diligently and you can burn around 50.261 calories in a year.

In a study involving 3000 respondents, researchers found that people walk more than 22 miles in a year while they are cleaning their houses. In addition, the researchers also concluded that domestic household chores such as vacuuming and ironing translate into 6800 calories burned in a year.

“Keeping the house tidy annually burns the same number of calories found in 603 glasses of wine, 192 bars of chocolate, 369 cans of fizzy drink, 146 cheeseburgers or 394 packs of crisps.” Ref

Although one can’t expect to lose weight simply by doing household chores, a little more movement and extra calories burned can’t hurt either. Here’s a list of household chores which burn the most calories from DailyMail. Don’t ask me how laundry can burn freaking 9000 calories in a year (when all you need to do is to press a button and wait).

Over a year domestic chores were found to provide the same amount of exercise as spending 57 hours running at 8.5 miles an hour. That's about one hour running per week.

DailyMail.co.uk

Thanksgiving Survival Tips: Dinner on Calories Budget

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:03:00 +0000

Thanksgiving can be a nightmare for those who are in calorie budget. It’s often touted as the most fattening day in the year beside New Year. Since Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away, here are few tips to help dieters enjoy their Thanksgiving without overindulging themselves.

1. Limit your alcohol intake.
Alcohol calories can add up really fast. Not to mention that many drinks are high in calories. Limit your alcohol intake and stay sober.

2. No Finger Food
Many appetizers are high in calories. Keep in mind that you will be consuming a lot of calories in your main course. It’s harder to limit your portion on appetizer compared to on main course. It’s hard not to grab another appetizer if you have just had your first bite. Exceptions: seafood and vegetables.

3. Don’t starve yourself beforehand
Many people already reckon that since they will be overeating during the party, it’s better to starve themselves prior to the party so that their calories intake won’t soar to the roof. The fact is, if you are starved it’s hard not to have a second or triple helping on anything. Eat a normal breakfast and don’t arrive at the
celebration in starvation.

4. Don’t set yourself an impossible goal
Come to the celebration with the right mindset. It’s a holiday - change your mentality from weight loss to sensible eating.

5. Be selective
There will be plenty of delicious dishes on the table so take a look first on the choices and decide which one and how much that you want to eat beforehand. Prioritize seasonal dishes over everyday dishes.

6. Eat slowly
Take your time and allow your stomach to send signal to your brain whether you are full or not. Eat slowly and savor the food.

7. Portion Sizing
MSNBC has published a guide on how your plate should look like. A serving of turkey no larger than a deck of playing cards and half a cup each of two starches. (A half-cup is about the size of a computer mouse.)

Beer Rehydrates Your Body Better than Water

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:46:00 +0000

Thinking of reaching water after your workout session? Hang on, recent research has just unveiled that beer is actually better than water in replenishing your body following a workout session.

The researcher from Granada University, Spain claimed that the bubbles in beer help quenching the thirst while the carbohydrate can quickly replace lost calories.

Participants were asked to run on treadmill in a hot condition (temperature 40 C) until they were exhausted. The he divided the participants into two groups; the first group was given water while the second group was given beer. The researcher concluded that beer is slightly better than water in rehydrating.

This fact is hard to believe and even harder to practice for me.

First of all if you are maintaining or trying to lose your weight, why waste hours and hours in the gym if you are going to recoup half of the calories your burn by drinking beer immediately?

Second, beer wouldn’t taste very nice on my mouth if I have just exercised for hours and feeling thirsty. Heck drinking beer often makes me thirstier. As a matter of replenishing, there are plenty of electrolytes drinks which taste better than beer after a workout.

Last, I can't tolerate beer on empty stomach. After a workout, chance is my stomach will be empty. Drinking beer on empty stomach will only make it goes straight to my blood. I get nasty stomachache either if I drink beer on empty stomach.

What do you think? Will you consume beer after your workout?

Via Orlando Sentinel Blog.

Related video: Watch the Beer Diet Guide!

Cutlery and Toolware

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 09:58:00 +0000

Rather than buying cheap plastic lousy diet fork, here’s a cutlery that has dual purpose. Of course what it remains speculative on what we should do with this cutlery.

I guess it can enhance your masculinity, wrench = man, eat food with wrench = uber manly, right? Another use would be as a diet tool. Simply just eat with the tool end and you’ll eat way much slower, harder thus lesser. And of course you won’t chuck it away since it costs $24 each. You will need to pay almost $100 for four pieces of this wrench-cutlery.

Via ToolMonger - by Wrenchware

6 Healthiest Low Glycemic Index Fruits

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:27:00 +0000

It’s no secret that fruit is good to your health, but not all fruits are created equal. Some fruits are high in extra sugar content that you probably don’t need. Sugar content is measured by glycemic index (GI), generally everything under 55 is considered low in GI. Fruits listed here will have GI value less than 45. Here are my top 6 favorite fruits which are low in sugar content and taste delicious also (in no particular order).

1. Avocado

Glycemic index is less than 15. This green, meaty fruit is loaded with oleic acid which has the ability to lower cholesterol.

On top of that, avocado is heart healthy. It’s loaded with folate, an important nutrient to your health. You can literally mix avocado with anything, slice it, dice it, puree it and mix it with your salad, steak or simply make a delicious refreshing avocado juice.

2. Tomato

Glycemic index is less than 15. Lycopene in tomato is a cancer busting anti-oxidant. 100 gram of tomato contains 18 calories according to calorie counter. Similar to avocado, you can literally mix tomato with anything. My favorite is to make quick 5 minutes Gazpacho (cold tomato soup).

3. Grapefruit

Glycemic index is 25. This sour and tangy heaven is rich in vitamin C and lycopene. 100 gram of this pink fruit contains approximately 32 calories.
Other than squeezing the fruit for the juice or topping it with sugar (try low calorie sugar substitute), you can also use the grapefruit to ceviche fish (sprinkling it on fish).

4. Plum

Glycemic index is 24. Plum is rich in phenols, antioxidant substance which protect your cell. Other than that, plum is an excellent source of vitamin C.

Even the dried plum, prune, still yields similar antioxidant and tastes excellent too. Beware of additional sugar content when purchasing packaged prune. 100 gram of fresh plum contains approximately 46 calories.

5. Apples

Glycemic index is 35. This is a great fruit to satisfy your sweet tooth. Apple is an excellent source of fiber, in fact one small apple is estimated to contain 2.5 g of fiber, approximately 10% of our daily recommended fiber intake. Apple juice is also one of the most refreshing and versatile drink that I ever had. Add diced apple to your salad or just take one for snack daily.

6. Cherry

Glycemic index is 22. One cup of cherry contains 74 calories. What I love about this fruit is its sweet but elegant scent.

On top of that, cherry has nice color; you can literally garnish most dishes and drinks with cherry. Be wary of dried cherry since it is often loaded with additional coloring and sugar.

Pet Food vs Fast Food

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:09:00 +0000

A tin of sardine flavored pet food doesn't sound appealing to us, human. But it turns out that pet food isn't only good for your pet's health but also to yours as well, research suggested.

In a test conducted to measure fat, salt and sugar level in 30 human meals versus 15 brands of pet food, pet food scored better in term of healthiness compared to fast food.

Nutrition experts discovered that Gourmet Gold cat food has just 2.9g of fat per 100g ? a mouth-watering EIGHT TIMES less than the percentage found in pieces of KFC. The level of fat was also far lower than a McDonald’s Big Mac and a Pizza Hut meal. (ref)

Gourmet Cat food

Fat: 2.9g
Salt: 0.4g
Sugar: 0.4g
Protein: 7.7g
Fiber: 0.4g

KFC two chicken pieces & fries

Fat: 12g
Salt: 0.7g
Sugar: n/a
Protein: 12.2g
Fiber: n/a

Cesar dog food

Fat: 4.4g
Salt: 0.4
Sugar: 0.5g
Protein: 10.9g
Fiber: 0.7g
(ref)

If pets have the same lifespan as human, would they live longer and healthier than us? But life as pet got to be boring, imagine eating the same food for the rest of your life. Perhaps that's the reason pets die at 10 - 15 years, out of boredom.

Food Preference Gene May Affect Your Food Choices

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 11:57:00 +0000

Do you have a soft spot for certain food? If so, perhaps your gene is the one to blame according to researchers. The researchers at Kings College found a similar eating pattern between twins.

The research itself only analyzed twin as case study, but using the research result, the researchers pointed that genetics play a great part in determining preferred foods. This conclusion challenged the belief that our food preference is formed by our neighborhood. Furthermore, the researchers pinned that 41% - 48% of our food preference is influenced by gene.

The findings, and other similar research, pointed to genetics playing a "moderate" part in the development of preferred foods. She said that it was possible that genes involved with taste, or the "reward" chemicals released by the body in response to certain foods, might play a role. People have always made the assumption that food choices are all due to environmental factors during life, but it now seems this isn't the case. (ref)

While the researchers believe that environmental factors have little effect to food choices, I disagree. Educating children about healthy food can make significant impact in their food choices.

If they live in an environment where junk food is treated as daily staple, then they will grow up thinking the same. Environment still plays a great role regardless of the genetics. This research only means that greater efforts must be placed to influence one’s eating habit and improve self control.

Full story on BBC

Edamame Snack: Healthy Green Beans

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 08:40:00 +0000

Recently I just got addicted to edamame. The reason was, I just found out that they actually cost very cheap if you know where to buy. Traditionally restaurant here has been selling a handful of edamame for $2 which was expensive for me.

I just found that I could get a bucket for just less than $1. On top of that, edamame tastes better than its soybean compatriots and loaded with tons of health benefit. For instance, edamame is good source of protein, fiber and mineral which actually tastes sweeter than other soybeans.

Here’s the nutritional information of 100g Edamame (from Edamame.com & HS):

Calories 125.0
Protein 12.1
Fiber 9
Carbohydrates 13.1
Fat 3.6
Calcium 9.3
Iron 2.7
Sodium 5.0
Vitamin A 130.0
Vitamin U1 0.31
Vitamin C 40.0

As you can see it’s packed in fiber (you need 4 slices of whole wheat bread to get the same amount of fiber). Adult needs 20 – 35 grams of fiber in a day, simply by snacking edamame can provide you with a boost in fiber.

Some researches suggested that edamame can ward of bad cholesterol and promote good cholesterol as well as reducing insulin resistance (for people with diabetes).Edamame have become a part of my daily snack now. I always have this as a companion snack whenever I am watching DVD or reading book.

To cook edamame into a delicious snack, you just need to boil it with salted water. Then let it cool for a while or just serve it when it’s piping hot. I also love adding edamame into my salad bowl or serve it with sautéed vegetables for a quick and delicious side dish.