It has been stated so often that we probably remember hearing it as a kid, and that is the health benefits of a good breakfast. There are many reasons for this, particularly because our blood sugar levels will be their lowest after a good night’s sleep. It will be imperative to get not only some food into our system, but food that will set us up for the rest of the day. If you are like me and didn’t listen to everything your mother told you when you were a kid, you probably don’t remember exactly what breakfast foods you should be eating. So first let’s go over a few don’ts: 1. Sugar. Sugary cereals and pastries may give you that sugar jolt you think you might need in the morning, but it certainly won’t set you up for the rest of the day. A cake doughnut has twice as much fat as yeast donuts, but the Trans fat in the frying shortening is worse than saturated fat. 2. Saturated fats. Bacon and sausage are high in saturated fats which are major artery-cloggers. If you absolutely must have bacon or sausage with your breakfast, grill the meat instead of frying it, as frying holds the fats. 3. Sodium. Most of the bad breakfast foods either are loaded in sugar and bad fat, but also salt which will not do your system any good, especially first thing in the morning. Some of the things you should be looking for in your breakfast food are: 1. Protein. Low fat meat, eggs, nuts and dairy products are great because they keep the hunger pangs away longer. For a great high-protein breakfast that is quick, try 100% whole-grain toast with peanut butter or almond butter. 2. High fiber foods. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains are low in calories but are rich in nutrients. If you are trying to lose weight, don’t overdo it on the fruits, as they are high in fructose. And you don’t think of vegetables much for breakfast, but an omelet with peppers, mushrooms and onions is very healthy. 3. If you are into dairy products for breakfast, fat-free Greek yogurt with fresh fruit is catching on in popularity with people looking for a healthy diet. 4. If you want something that is part of a liver cleansing diet that should be included in your breakfast routine, every day squeeze a quarter of a fresh lemon in a cup of hot water and add a little cayenne pepper and stir. These two are excellent liver cleansers. There really is no reason not to have a healthy breakfast every day without fail. Most of the items we recommend can be prepared quickly, and if you are a late riser much can go into their preparation the night before. But it is true what we all learned as kids that eating a good breakfast is a necessary start to a day with a healthy diet. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but if you are intent on maintaining a good diet all of your meals are important. is one method of dieting, and certainly has some valid points, plus check out for thoughts on getting on a no-brainer diet where the experts keep tabs on things. Rich Carroll is a health enthusiast and writer living in London.
When You Think of Breakfast, Think About These Breakfast Foods
January 16th, 2012 § 0
I Don’t Have Any Symptoms, So How Can I Be Gluten Intolerant?
January 15th, 2012 § 0
There is a lot of media coverage right now about gluten and gluten free diets. Is it just another fad diet? Do I need to be eating gluten free? There is so much information and differing opinions about the matter, that it is hard for even the most educated individual to make sense of it all. What is gluten? Gluten is a sticky protein that is made up of two smaller proteins, glutenin and gliadin. Gluten is found naturally in common grains such as wheat, rye, barley, oats (unless noted gluten free), spelt, and kamut. Now, think about a piece of bread. If you were to take that piece of bread, place it in your hand, squeeze and roll it into a ball, what would happen to the bread when you opened your hand? It would remain in that little ball, expanding very little if any. This is due to the binding properties of gluten. Celiac Disease (CD) and Gluten Sensitivity Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity are in many ways similar. They often have similar symptoms, and can be treated with similar interventions. What makes them different is that CD causes a physical damage to the tissues lining the gut. Celiac disease is a genetic disorder that damages the small intestine and interferes with food absorption. It is estimated that 1 in 133 people have celiac disease, and most are undiagnosed. For every symptomatic person with celiac disease, there are eight others with CD that do not experience any gastrointestinal symptoms. Gluten sensitivity is an immune response to an abnormal presence of gluten in the blood or body tissues. Your antibodies (cells that fight invaders in your body) attack the gluten protein because it should not be in your circulation. This reaction is seen as the single cause of many other diseases. So, why are we suddenly hearing so much about gluten? Our society is not eating the same grain that it did 50 years ago! The wheat of today simply is the not the wheat that was once an unblemished wild grass. Wheat has recently become a mutant species as a result of human intervention. The question is, at what cost to us? The New England Journal of Medicine has linked wheat to the cause of 55 diseases. This is because we lack the genetic adaptations to properly digest the wheat of today. What does this mean to you? It is estimated by Dr. Kenneth Fine MD, a gluten researcher, that up to 81 percent of Americans have a genetic predisposition to gluten intolerance If you are having problems losing weight, are constantly tired, battle a cold or flu consistently, have any sort of digestive issue, and/or you are depressed, you may be sensitive to gluten. If you don’t yet have any of these symptoms, continuing to eat gluten will likely put your long-term health at risk. If you have had a test in the past run and they came up negative you may not have the truth. The standard tests run are not thorough enough. They do not test for all of the possible gluten related allergens, they generally only test for two out of twelve. It is essential that you contact an expert that works with a lab that does extensive gluten testing to discuss the elimination of these harmful foods to get your health and body on the right track today! Click here for a FREE phone consultation with our nutrition and health expert.
Good Nutrition
January 15th, 2012 § 0
Being a healthy person starts with your willingness to do what it takes to be healthy. Depending on your degree of dedication, you will be unhealthy, healthy, or at optimal health. The medical field likes to define being healthy as lacking in disease, but that is not a good definition at all. Is someone really healthy just because they don’t have diabetes, high blood pressure, or cancer? I know lots of people who fit this label and they don’t even exercise. Are they healthy? Maybe, but they are certainly not optimally healthy. Being optimally healthy is as far from being “healthy” as unhealthy is from our medical definition of healthy. Think about the guy (or girl) you know who is a gym rat, always eating health food, and doing physical activities that wear you out just thinking about them. Then there are those people who are relatively thin, don’t have health problems, but don’t know what a gym is. Who would you rather be like? Hopefully you said the gym rat who eats well, but if you didn’t, then you are simply lazy. You are not willing to do what it takes to be optimally healthy; that’s the healthiest you can be. It will lead to the highest physical quality of life possible, and the longest life for that matter. When you are ready to do ‘what it takes’ to be optimally healthy, then you must realizing that requires much more than just exercise and diet alone. Those are important, but you have to make healthy living a state of mind. You not only need a good diet, but a great diet. You not only need to exercise, but to exercise effectively; pushing your body to do what it couldn’t before. There are really four aspects to healthy living, and when done to the best degree possible, produce the best results possible: 1) – this doesn’t mean just eating organic or avoiding sugar. It means eating the best foods all the time; every day with no exceptions. That doesn’t mean you can never have a cookie, but a cookie needs to be the rare exception, certainly not the rule. 2) Exercise – this doesn’t mean running on the treadmill for 20 minutes. It means pushing yourself to new levels all the time. 3) Hydration – ever think about how getting enough water affects your health? It’s huge. 4) Sleep – the vast majority of adults require 7-9 hours of sleep each night for optimal health. Get it every single night or your health is less than optimal, period.
Want To Fight Free Radicals? Then Give The Xanthophyll Lutein A Try
January 15th, 2012 § 0
Lutein is a xanthophyll and phytonutrient (plant based chemical compounds that have numerous health benefits in humans). It is a potent antioxidant that is mainly found in green leafy vegetables such as kale and spinach. In this article I will be taking a deeper look at lutein and discussing its main health benefits. 1) HEALTH BENEFITS: As mentioned above, lutein is an antioxidant that can keep your body’s cells safe from dangerous free radicals. Provisional studies indicate that this xanthophyll may also protect the eyes from cataracts (clouding on the lenses of the eyes), macular degeneration and photophobia (a condition where your eyes become very sensitive to light). In addition to this, it may prevent atherosclerosis (a condition where hard plaques build up on your artery walls and prevent proper blood flow), cancer (a health disorder where your body’s cells start to grow in a rapid, out of control way), heart disease and ultraviolet (UV) damage. However, additional studies are needed before these possible benefits can be confirmed. 2) RECOMMENDED DAILY ALLOWANCE (RDA): Lutein is not classed as an essential nutrient so no official RDA has been set. However, a number of sources recommend consuming between 6 milligrams (mg) and 10mg of this natural nutrient every day to boost your health. 3) FOOD SOURCES: Green leafy vegetables are an excellent food source of lutein with collards (7.7mg per 100 grams (g)), kale (18.2mg per 100g), mustard greens (6mg per 100g), parsley (5.6mg per 100g), spinach (12.2mg per 100g) and turnip greens (8.4mg per 100g) being some of the top sources. 4) DEFICIENCY SYMPTOMS: Humans can survive without lutein so there are no official deficiency symptoms associated with its consumption. Some studies have suggested that a long term deficiency of this xanthophyll may also lead to chronic diseases and increase your chances of macular degeneration. However, there are no studies available to back these claims. 5) OVERDOSE SYMPTOMS: Natural lutein is safe for human consumption. However, consuming high levels of lutein supplements can cause carotenemia (a health disorder that causes your skin to turn orange). Fortunately, carotenemia is not harmful and can be reversed by lowering your consumption of this xanthophyll. 1 study has also indicated that ingesting too many lutein supplements might cause lung cancer although the validity of this study has been challenged by many experts. 6) SUMMARY: Although a lot of the benefits discussed in this article still need to be fully confirmed you should definitely make sure you are eating your greens. Green leafy vegetables supply your body with large amounts of this xanthophyll along with a wide range of other health benefits. Tom Parker owns Free Fitness Tips – a fantastic source of free, impartial fitness advice. You can learn more about lutein, the and the many potential by visiting his website.
Yogurt With Probiotics for Your Health and Well Being
January 15th, 2012 § 0
Many of us have heard that yogurt with probiotics is excellent for us all; it aids your digestive health and it boosts our immune system with healthy microorganisms. But many people do not know that commercially manufactured yogurt are typically not recommended for building the right environment in your gut. This yogurt does not promote good bacteria to thrive inside the gut and intestines. There are some very important distinctions between raw yogurt and the majority of commercially manufactured yogurt which could mean the distinction between getting better health or losing your health. Pasteurization ruins an otherwise healthy drink They might promise “yogurt with probiotics”, but it will be produced with the heat pasteurized milk which is not a good source of natural probiotics. This is due to the fact that while pasteurization is used to destroy undesirable bacteria or yeast that may be present in some foods, this process wipes out most healthy nutrients, vitamins and other the helpful microorganisms at the same time. That’s why most commercial yogurt, even with added probiotics, will not benefit you health. Yogurt made from raw milk is a packed with nutrients, it’s a natural product that does not endure this process but comes with all the natural enzymes, vitamins and healthy bacteria, generally known as probiotics. Beware of additives Yogurt which is produced by the thousands by a few countrywide companies is typically packed with processed sugar, preservatives and other artificial substances. Sugar makes many bacteria and yeast thrive in your gut. Only this makes unsweetened, raw yogurt without question considerably better for the body. Natural bacteria can fight Candida-yeast and bacteria development. Candida yeast is nasty; it can ruin the delicate balance in your gut and suppress the growth of the good microorganism inside the digestive tract. Yogurt with probiotics is one way to keep your digestive tract in balance. Is there any healthy yogurt? Yes, of course these is. If prepared from raw milk, both kefir, Greek and regular unsweetened yogurt is great inclusions into a healthy diet. They are packed with calcium, probiotics, and protein while at the same time having a small amount of calories. Greek yogurt though will have most of the lactose, whey or sugars eliminated which will make for a little more bite, taste wise, but also improve the actual protein amount to roughly twice that of most commercially produced yogurt. Consuming any sort of sugar-free, non-heat-pasteurized, raw yogurt packed with probiotics is definitely most health-promoting. You get nutritional vitamins and nourishing substances that your body will love; this promotes growth of the healthy bacteria colonies inside the body and this makes for a healthy stomach. In the stomach and intestine of each person lives over a hundred trillion bacteria, and if you regularly add probiotics to your diet, it will guarantee that the good micro-organisms are thriving in your digestive system. These types of beneficial bacteria will help your to digest food efficiently, you will take in food nutrients more efficiently and your immune system will work smoothly to prevent illnesses. Consuming yogurt with probiotics gives the body an extra boost in getting these essential activities done. Ken Silvers is a writer on health and skin care. For more than 20 years he has successfully used natural products for his own health problems. He is convinced that a natural and organic approach is superior to most commercial and synthetic products. Check out his latest site and read more on , and how to determine if there are any real .
Health Benefits From Cinnamon
January 14th, 2012 § 0
Cinnamon has many purposes. For most people it is a condiment for oatmeal or milk, used in potpourri, and you can buy it anywhere. Are you aware there are also numerous health benefits from cinnamon? Do you know where cinnamon comes from? The health benefits from cinnamon may make you think it came from heaven. Cinnamon is actually a bark from a specific type of tree belonging to one family (of trees). There is no such thing as plain old cinnamon, in fact there are numerous types of cinnamon! The various forms of cinnamon come from many different parts of Asia. Most of the world’s cinnamon, estimates have the number around 90%, come from Sri Lanka and Southern India while other area’s ranging from Madagascar to Vietnam and China produce the remaining 10%. Cassia is the most popular form of cinnamon in the United States. Cassia is also known as “Chinese Cinnamon” while “True Cinnamon” is grown in Sri Lanka. Cinnamon from Sri Lanka has a much more delicate and “high-end” taste than what we have grown use to in America.Although not as aromatic, cassia is also popular. Chinese medicine has utilized the health benefits from cinnamon (specifically cassia) for thousands of years. Aside from powder, you can take the cinnamon quills or sticks – however if grating bark bothers you creating a liquid from cinnamon is also very easy. You can simply take the quills as they are and place them into a liquid and allow their properties to become infused in what you place them in (for example tea’s or milk). A little teaspoon of cinnamon can give your body a surprisingly high amount of different nutrition benefits! You will find a mineral benefit from cinnamon such as manganese, iron, and calcium also. The good news does not stop there though, you can also find a healthy dose of vitamin C as well as K. The kicker, it also has over a gram of fiber! All this in one teaspoon. There’s also a gram of non-fibrous carbohydrates hiding in there. Aside from being packed with powerful nutrients, cinnamon also has the ability to combat a wide array of digestive problems. Some of the health benefits from cinnamon are how it fights indigestion, nausea, diarrhea, gas, bloating, and upset stomachs! Cinnamon has started to become very popular in the scientific and medical communities as new health benefits are becoming known. Cinnamon recently has been found to also process anti-inflammatory effects. This could be why my mother has less arthritis pain when she sips cinnamon sticks in her tea to combat the mentioned indigestion. The health benefits of cinnamon do not stop with digestive health. In fact it is believed and now proven that cinnamon has a rather large effect on cholesterol as well as blood glucose levels. A real good attribute for the health properties of cinnamon are that it may actually improve Type 2 diabetes as well as insulin resistance. Insulin sensitivity as well as naturally monitoring blood glucose levels are some of the strong health benefits from cinnamon that caused the justifiable attention after several studies. It only took a half of a teaspoon of cinnamon to get these results. If you improve your insulin resistance can positively impact your health in a few ways. You may be able to lose some weight. You could also stand a much lesser risk of developing heart disease. These are major problems in America. The studies are showing mixed results in some cases, and they are also in the preliminary stages, however the research into the health benefits from cinnamon are on a very positive road. Another finding from the studies was, along side improved blood sugar levels, good improvements in triglycerides as well as blood pressure. Most notably the studies concluded that the LDL (bad) cholesterol levels in the study participants had dropped as well. Supplementing with the wonder spice discussed, and maybe trying to reap the health benefits from cinnamon does not come without risk. Although it is considered harmless for the most part, cinnamon does have an anti-clotting effect which could negatively impact those taking blood thinners. Another group that is prone to complications are pregnant women. However, in smaller doses it does actually appear safe for pregnant women to take on an on-going basis. Although preliminary studies on the health benefits from cinnamon are semi-inconclusive and showed mixed results in some cases, the results should not be looked down upon. In fact, this herb has been sought after and highly valued since the days of Moses. Cinnamon is a neat and easy to find food, do yourself a favor and go watch the fast cinnamon recipe that is both healthy and wholesome and reap the health here. Although it is primarily a diabetic diet resource, you should check out also the . Comments and thoughts are of course welcome and encouraged!
Oats’ Beta-Glucan Fiber for Cholesterol Control
January 14th, 2012 § 0
Oats are an energy-rich source of grain with great health benefits, and they can be eaten at breakfast or used as an ingredient in recipes for biscuits, bread, etc. Oats are an important source of dietary fiber (soluble and insoluble). They contain beta-glucan, a soluble fiber which creates a gel-like substance during its passage through the digestive system which traps cholesterol containing foods, thereby reducing their intestinal absorption. Oats are rich in tocotrienols, a certain type of antioxidants which inhibits cholesterol synthesis. In addition, their beta-glucan content has been shown to slow the increase of blood glucose levels. According to studies, the beta-glucan soluble fiber found in oats appears to reduce carcinogens in the gastrointestinal system, since their phytoestrogen content (lignans) have been associated with reduced risk of breast cancer (and possibly other types of cancers). The following are some of the benefits of incorporating oats in our diet: 1. The high content of dietary fiber improves bowel movement and relieves the body from the symptoms of constipation 2. When consumed 45 minutes to 1 hour before exercise of moderate intensity, research has shown that oats can increase metabolism and performance 3. Finally, oats are rich in many nutrients, including beta-glucan, which has been found to enhance the immune system and speed up the recovery time from infections About beta-glucan Beta-glucan is a dietary plant-derived fiber which influences energy balance through physical-chemical properties by speeding up the onset of the sense of feeling full. The inclusion of fiber in our daily diet seems to help control appetite and reduce energy intake by reducing the feeling of hunger. Beta-glucan is a natural indigestible polysaccharide, a natural fiber that is quite soluble. It is found naturally in many plant products, mainly in oats and its products, i.e. bran and oat flour. Barley has also a high content of beta-glucan. Furthermore, it is found in other plant products, such as wheat, rye and even rice, although in lower quantities. For several years, the beta-glucans have been investigated for their ability to strengthen our immune system by activating phagocytes, T and B cells, and cytokines. They appear to aid the immune system by alerting against foreign invaders such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, enhancing the action of macrophages, and increasing the production of cytokines. Various studies have indicated that fibers such as oat bran, improve the lipid profile. The mechanisms by which fibers act upon blood lipids are the following: 1. They generate a gelatin-like substance in the gut, which binds cholesterol and reduces its intestinal absorption 2. They bind bile acids in the intestine, thereby reducing serum cholesterol 3. They inhibit cholesterol synthesis via the colon’s bacterial fermentation process Thank you for reading this article. Get more information, as well as your FREE nutritional supplement sample, your FREE Life Extension magazine, and your FREE online fitness / diet log at !
How To Activate That Brown Fat For Natural Weight Loss
January 14th, 2012 § 0
Brown fat is among the most powerful elements to promote natural, faster weight reduction. If you are seeking to destroy that excess fat you’ve wanted to drop for so long then listen up. Studies show that many of us with higher amounts of brown fat rather than white fat, are less obese compared to those people that have a higher amount of white fat. The reason being that brown fat features a natural ability to destroy fat by burning calories, it’s natural energetic characteristic. The question most people wish to know is “How do you really active brown fat to help make you more lean?” There are several ways for you to do this right after looking over this article, so you’re able to start improving your fat burning dramatically and immediately. I’ve put together four steps you can take to naturally active your brown fat levels, so how about we get into it. Decrease Your Stress Did you know there is a huge link between stress and fat build up? The main reason is that stress limits the amount of brown fat you posses within you, which limits your power to naturally destroy fat. Therefore I suggest you limit your stress levels by making little changes in your everyday lifestyle. A good example of this can be to improve your sleep levels and be careful not to hurt your body by failing to get enough sleep. Sleep is considered as a major link to stress so if you could get healthy degrees of sleep each night, your whole body will reward you and fight alongside you as part of your battle against body fat. Decreasing Portion Size Of Meals In order to activate more brown fat within your body, you need to be smart concerning your meals and just how you eat them. Being careful with what you take in isn’t really enough these days, because you must have smart meal planning alongside it. Listen to your body and stay smart concerning how you eat. When I say listen to your own body, I am talking about not over-eating or under-eating by not listening to your entire body. Your whole body will provide you with signs about whether you need more food or whether you have enough food in your body. As well as being attentive to your entire body, you’ll want to plan your foods and cut the portion scale of each meals. We as humans desire to eat in large portions as it satisfies us, but our bodies disagree. To be able to activate more brown fat and promote faster weight loss, you have to raise your meals daily, but reduce the portion dimensions of each meal. This will likely allow for your body to manage food slowly throughout your entire day rather than stuffing your body with food that doesn’t allow it to produce the necessary changes for lots of food. This enables your body to naturally increase brown fat levels and also have a consistent amount at the same time. A Healthy Thyroid Means Healthier Fats As soon as your thyroid is in perfect shape it is going to naturally produce more heat and increase your ability to activate brown fat due to that heat production. The problem is that many people don’t know about their thyroid let alone how you can keep it healthy and strong. Here are several ways you can nourish your thyroid so it will be healthy and strong. 1) Drink Kombucha Elixers as well as other forms of fermented drinks 2) Follow a nourishing, herbal supplement program 3) Eat plenty of vegetables because your thyroid requires the nutrients they provide 4) Take thyroid-nourishing supplements that offer healthy nutrition and strength Don’t Over Exercise And Over Workout I’m not saying not to exercise and workout, however I am saying to be smart and tune in to your body. Yes, you’re designed to workout to muscle failure and push yourself to your limits during exercises, but this includes being smart and listening to your whole body. You understand the limitations of the body better than anyone so you’re able to push yourself to your absolute limits without burning yourself out and hurting yourself. When individuals over-exhaust themselves during workouts it does not just hurt them, but also it decreases your own body’s capability to product brown fat. Include some yoga within your Exercise Program because slow, methodical breathing also activates more brown fat naturally. You should be smart regarding your workouts and tune in to your own body, because I promise your brown fat levels will become stabilized through this. By simply utilizing these key secrets, you can activate that brown fat completely naturally without having to do anything hard or difficult. By activating that brown fat, you will see a dramatic improvement in your fat loss results in addition to your ability to reach your Fitness Goals naturally and fast. Looking to “level up” your results fast and naturally? The guaranteed best way you can do this is to download my Free ebooks, which show you with hundreds of tips, secrets and mini-programs that work insanely well. Looking for the Ultimate Source for Fitness secrets and pointers? Look no further, you can go to the Ultimate Source For Six Pack Abs, and learn with real fitness secrets that work.
Is Farm-Raised Salmon Nutritionally the Same As Wild Product
January 13th, 2012 § 0
It has been well documented as to the nutritional value of salmon. It is a high-quality source of protein, with all the essential amino acids. It is high in vitamins A, D, B6 and B2, along with niacin and riboflavin, calcium, iron, zinc and magnesium. Plus of course the Omega-3 fish oils, which are polyunsaturated and have been shown to have greater healing effects than the Omega-6 oils found in vegetable oils. Add in the fact that it is very easy to digest and it is no wonder dieticians refer to it as a miracle food. It is undisputable that wild salmon has all the above benefits, plus quite a few that were not mentioned. But most of us, unless we eat canned Alaskan salmon, are consuming farm raised salmon. So here we will look into the nutritional variations between farm raised and wild salmon to truly get an understanding of whether we are getting all the benefits of salmon that we have supposed. Two of the major differences we will talk about involving whether salmon is healthy involve contamination and nutritional value differences. Contamination. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are compounds that can cause harmful to human health. These PCBs have been found in farmed salmon, usually in their fat, and studies have uncovered that they come through fish meal that is fed to farmed salmon. These higher levels were not found in wild salmon. Nutritional Differences. Whereas wild salmon are lean, cultivated salmon have much higher levels of fat. This probably shouldn’t be surprising, as wild salmon are out freely swimming in the oceans and battling to swim up streams. On the other hand, farm raised salmon are virtual couch potatoes, lazily swimming around waiting to be fed. Studies by the U.S. Department of Agriculture have found that wild salmon have a 20% lower fat content and a 20% higher protein content than farm raised salmon. The good news is farm raised salmon were found to contain as much or more omega-3 fats as their free brethren, but the bad news is they are less usable. This gets rather complicated. The farm raised fish have much higher amounts of omega-6 fats, and conversion enzymes are needed to convert both types of fats into forms our body can use. So when high amounts of omega-6 is consumed with omega-3s, much of the conversion enzymes go to work on the omega-6 fats, preventing the manufacture of anti-inflammatory substances from omega-3 fats. In short, consuming the wild salmon allows the body to convert the more beneficial omega-3 fats much more efficiently. This article is certainly not intended to have anyone take salmon out of their diet plan, but to make known the issues involved. The levels of contaminants are still well below the government guidelines, with the Environmental Protection Agency guideline being the strictest by far. The average level of PCBs in salmon is still a little lower than the EPA guidelines, which means that we are still safe to consume this super food. Just be aware of the potential hazards. For more information on the health benefits of salmon, gives you more on this interesting subject. Another interesting food topic is on some of the best cuisine in the world. Rich Carroll is a health advocate and writer living in London.
Farm raised salmon still offer health benefits, and if these PCBs can be reduced there is no need to be scared away from eating salmon. A few tips to try: be sure not to eat the skin of farmed salmon, and trim any excess fat. Grilling or broiling will help reduce a significant portion of the problematic fat. Lastly, eat more canned salmon, since almost all of it is wild salmon.
Achieve Health Goals? Say Mooo to Meat and Dairy!
January 13th, 2012 § 0
“You put a baby in a crib with an apple and a rabbit. If it eats the rabbit and plays with the apple, I’ll buy you a new car.” Harvey Diamond Oh, where to begin on this topic! This could be one of the most controversial, confusing, misunderstood, mis-communicated, lied about, topics of healthy living that we face as a race today! So why all the fuss? Why are people starting to talk more and more about meat consumption being bad for human health? Are they all just annoying tree huggers? Over the top activists who jump on any old band wagon that comes along? Or could it be that there is truth in the idea that eating meat is bad for the human body? And if this is so, why have we been taught for so many years that animal products are good for us? Do you want to achieve health goals? Stay with me, we will cover this in detail. For years people believed that the world was flat. Only when brave sailors pushed the boundaries of understanding did the human race begin to understand the earth is a sphere. People were absolutely certain that objects denser than air would never fly. This understanding was smashed when adventurous souls dared to attempt the impossible and use machines to fly through the air. For centuries people believed that the there was a sun god and when they displeased this sun god, it would punish them with bad weather and poor harvest that year.Today, very few human beings hold this belief. For years people believed there was no harm to come from smoking. It was even believed by some to be good for a person’s health to smoke. Nowadays, it is widely understood that smoking, even passively, will cut years from a human life and cause illness along the way. I believe there will come a time in the next few decades (hopefully sooner) when people will look upon eating meat with the same pitiful smile or look of disbelief they do when thinking of poor souls who used to believe smoking was ok, or that an angry sun god was responsible for the weather patterns. Quite honestly, that day couldn’t come soon enough! If people really want to achieve health goals then this shift needs to happen. “Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian die.” Albert Einstein For people who eat meat as a staple part of their diet, whenever this topic comes up for discussion, the usual initial response is ‘meat gives me my protein, my iron, energy, helps me build muscles, people have done it for thousands of years, all animals do it, it’s natural, it’s why we have canine teeth.’ If someone can move past their absolute belief that it’s good for them and natural to eat meat, the next and obvious question that comes up is ‘Then why have we been taught that eating meat is good for us?’ Great question! Why have we been taught for decades that consuming animal products is good for us? We will cover this more later in this article, but for now suffice to say there are 2 main reasons for this sort of misunderstanding. The first is ignorance which can lead to the belief that what they are teaching you is correct. The second is that the person telling you the lie is doing so because they have another agenda. In the case of eating meat, the other agenda very often comes down to bottom line profit of the animal farming corporations. Woe betide anyone effecting their bottom line profits for something as unimportant as the health of the human race! So before I jump on my soapbox and put you off reading the rest of this article, let me tell you that I won’t be speaking just from my opinion, I will share with you facts that you can decipher however you choose to. If this article does nothing more than entertain you for 10 minutes, so be it. If however, this jolts you out of your ignorance of the facts and helps you understand the devastating effects your food choices are having on yours and your family’s health, then I will rest happy. The Protein Myth… This seems to be among the first objections people come up with when they have at least a semi-serious thought about not eating meat or at least cutting down the amount they eat. We have had this myth pummelled into us so deeply and for so long that virtually every adult I speak to knows that we need protein and we need to eat meat to get enough. Nothing could be further from the truth however. The idea that we need to eat meat for protein and we need to eat the quantities that are promoted is shear lunacy. There is zero truth in this and the people promoting this idea to us have a profit to make when we buy their products. This is why it is always important to query the intention of the person telling you anything. If they have an agenda to serve themselves, you may not be able to trust the information. For example, the standard recommendation throughout the developed world ranges anywhere from 10-50% of your daily calorie intake should be coming from protein and, in particular, animal protein in the forms of meat and dairy products. The problem with these figures is that anything higher than 10-15% is beginning to defy all sincere and unbiased evidence. To achieve health goals requires drastically less than the people who profit will ever suggest to you. Here’s what some unbiased scientists have to say: The American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition – recommends approximately 2.5 % of our daily caloric intake should be protein. The World Health Organisation – recommends approximately 4.5% of our daily caloric intake should be protein. The National Research Council in the U.S – recommends just over 8% of our daily caloric intake to be protein. The NRC even allowed a hefty margin to account for what they believe to be 98% of the population. The number would be less than 8% without this added caution. So 8% is considered to be completely safe. These types of results are typical of studies produced by unbiased parties. When scientists who truly value finding what is healthy for the human race undertake such a study, the results usually fall somewhere in this category. Studies produced by bodies that have a direct or indirect link to any large organisation that will suffer the loss of sales if the truth about protein intake becomes common knowledge often report higher numbers. Just a few days ago I saw an article in the news that the U.K government will be asking McDonald’s, KFC and other such companies to help them create U.K health policy in the future. Now forgive me for being skeptical, but I don’t believe for one second that the likes of McDonald’s and KFC will have, as their first priority, the health of the nation over the profit of their business’. “The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined. If beef is your idea of “real food for real people” you’d better live real close to a real good hospital.” Neal Barnard So, back to this protein debate. When in your life are you growing the quickest? When you are a baby, right! So when you are consuming mother’s milk and you are growing at the fastest rate you will ever grow, what percentage of mother’s milk do you think is protein? Anywhere from 1% to 7%, depending on which study you read, of human mother’s milk is protein. On its own this may not act conclusively to prove our protein needs are that small, but among all the other evidence compiled over and over again, it becomes an absolute certainty that anything more than 10% is absolutely not necessary and, in fact, can be harmful to the body – especially if it is protein from any animal via meat or dairy products. So what happens when people eat too much meat? They get sick, ill and tired. You see, contrary to popular belief, our bodies are not designed to ingest meat, certainly not in the quantities that a lot of people are jamming it down. For a start our colon is shaped in such a way that really does not lend itself to meat being processed. When compared to a natural carnivore in the wilderness, like a lion for example, who have short and smooth colons, ours are much longer and shaped in such a way that inhibits the transition of meat through our colon effectively. But even if we take that factor away, let’s look at some more evidence… ‘I get my iron from meat, what would I do if I stop eating meat?’ Let’s get straight passed this one with simple facts. The flesh of animals and dairy products provide very small amounts of iron compared to vegetables! Of all the meats, studies show beef, steak in particular, has the highest concentration of iron that the animal world has to offer. In a 100 calorie serving of sirloin steak you could expect to find 1.9 milligrams of iron. Contrast this to the following list of 100 calorie servings of vegetables and fruits: Spinach = 11.3 Beet greens = 11.2 Cucumber = 6.0 Iceburg lettuce = 3.8 Broccoli = 3.1 Courgette/zucchini = 2.7 Strawberries = 2.7 Tomatoes = 2.4 Lemons = 2.0 These are only some of the fruits and vegetables that have more iron content than the highest provider from the meat and dairy side. So if you think you need meat for it’s iron content, please think again!! To achieve health goals you need simply eat your vegetables and you’ll have all the protein your body needs. Not only do meat and dairy products provide inadequate nutrition, they also have a whole host of nastiness within them which people tend to know a little about but seem reluctant to do anything about. Part 2 of ‘achieve health goals?’ will be posted soon. Tim Beynon works with people who are suffering from no energy, excess weight, bad skin, digestive problems, through to cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, to help them regain control of their health through simple healthy living principles. To find out more and get a copy of his ’7 Steps To Transform Your Health Forvever’ e-book, visit