How To-78: "How to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables"

How to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Have you ever wanted to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your diet? Ever felt like it would be too difficult? Believe it or not, it is actually quite easy.

Steps

1. Keep plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables on hand.
2. Buy organic produce when possible; it often tastes better.
3. Place fruit in a bowl on the kitchen counter where you will see it and be reminded to eat it.
4. Develop the habit of eating a salad with lunch or dinner.
5. Incorporate fruits and vegetables into your favorite recipes. For instance, add diced apples and chopped celery to chicken salad.
6. Substitute fruits and vegetables for junk food.
7. Use dips to make fruits and vegetables more flavorful. Dip carrots in ranch dressing or apples in peanut butter.
8. Take a fruit or vegetable when you leave your house to avoid using vending machines.
9. Develop the habit of eating certain fruits and vegetables at certain times of day. For instance, an orange for a mid-morning snack and an apple for an afternoon snack.
10. When hosting or attending a social get-together, prepare a vegetable tray to eat before the meal.
11. Eat fruit for dessert.

Tips

• The more fruits and vegetables you eat, the easier it becomes.
• By eliminating high-fat and high-sugar foods from your diet, it will be easier to acquire a taste for fruits and vegetables.
• Eat organic fruits and vegetables as much as possible to avoid pesticides, herbicides, and genetically modified food.
• The USDA recommends eating 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
• If you have difficulty eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables, consider taking fruits and vegetables in capsule form.

Warnings

• Always eat a variety of fruits and vegetables for the maximum health benefits. If you only eat one type of fruit or vegetable, your body will not get all the vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and phytonutrients it needs.

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Sources and Citations

• http://www.mypyramid.gov
• <a class=”external free” title=”http://www.eatingforvitality.com

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Foods That Heal-5: "Bitter Gourd Juice"

Bitter gourd juice purifies blood. It is an excellent appetiser. It eliminates the worms thriving in the intestine. It gives relief in piles. As it is a diuretic, it relieves the burning in the kidneys. It dissolves kidney stones. Bitter gourd could be effectively used in diabetes. A glass of bitter gourd juice taken on empty stomach is beneficial to patients suffering from arthritis and jaundice.

Health Tips-11: "How to beat the Clock inside you – The Independent"

Deep in your brain, lodged just behind your eyes, there is a literal body clock. All humans have one: the clock is called suprachiasmatic nucleus, and scientists can isolate it, plug it up to electrodes, and convert the ticking into a regular, electronic beep. The clock can govern anything subject to our 24-hour routine: body temperature, hormone cycle, patterns of alertness and tiredness. Because it influences the day-by-day, it has a knock-on effect for the longer term, probably prompting the body’s menstruation and reproductive cycles and helping our adjustment to seasonal changes.

The trouble, researchers are now warning, is that this sensitive piece of biological timekeeping is being skewed by our unnatural lifestyles. International travel across different time zones, more shift work and late-night leisure pursuits take no heed of that little nucleus. Increasingly the body clock is being masked by caffeine or amphetamines or simply ignored.

“I think we should be very concerned about our 24-hour society,” says Jo Arendt, Professor of Endocrinology, University of Surrey. Her conclusion is that if you mess with your natural tick-tock, you may be inviting trouble… How do scientists suggest you can best adapt your body? The main cue for the clock, the factor which adjusts it to 24 hours – its natural cycle is actually 24 hours and 20 minutes – is light. (Our ‘clock’ is particularly close to the retina, which is why blind people, their natural timekeeping unprompted by daylight, have a much higher incidence of sleeping disorders.) So the best way to adapt your body to unusual hours is by providing it with an intensity of light which might otherwise be absent. NASA, for instance, uses strong light to shift its astronauts.

Another, closely related way of adapting the clock is using melatonin. It is a naturally occurring “chrono-biotic”; a hormone-like secretion from the pineal gland, melatonin’s basic function is to tell your body “when the dark happens”. It also reduces the length of night to determine reproduction or sleep cycles.

Courtesy: The Independent.

Grateful thanks to The Independent.

Health Tips-6: ‘Mighty Mushrooms’ – Health, Supplement to The New Indian Express

Mushrooms have health benefits that many people are unaware of. They contain natural ingredients to naturally help prevent certain types of cancer and other life-threatening medical conditions.

Mushrooms have been used for thousands of years both as food and for medicinal purposes. They are often classified as a vegetable or a herb, but they are actually fungi. While there are over 14,000 mushrooms, only about 3,000 are edible, about 700 have known medicinal properties, and fewer than one percent are recognized as poisonous.

Mushroom extracts are increasingly being used in nutraceutical products and sports drinks. Mushrooms contain about 80 to 90% water, and are very low in calories (only 100 cal/oz). They have very little sodium and fat, and eight to ten percent of the dry weight is fibre. Hence, they are an ideal food for persons following a weight management program or a diet for hypertensives.

Mushrooms are an excellent source of potassium, a mineral that helps lower elevated blood pressure and reduces the risk of stroke. One medium portabella mushroom has even more potassium than a banana or a glass of orange juice. One serving of mushrooms also provides about 20 to 40% of the daily value of copper, a mineral that has cardioprotective properties.

Mushrooms are a rich source of riboflavin, niacin, and selenium. Selenium is an antioxidant that works with vitamin E to protect cells from the damaging effects of free radicals.

According to studies, consuming just three and a half ounces of the white button variety each day, can decrease the risk of developing prostate cancer and breast cancer.

Shitake mushrooms are also said to inhibit tumour growth. They are natural disease fighters, and like other natural foods, mushrooms can help keep the body healthy for many years to come.

(Courtesy: Health, Supplement to The New Indian Express, Madurai, Aug.28, 2007)

Foods that Heal-4: Cucumber

Cucumber is a diuretic. It improves digestion, gives relief from constipation, allays bile and burning sensation and checks fainting. According to recent studies, cucumber-juice plays a valuable part in the treatment of rheumatic conditions, especially arthritis. Those who suffer from diabetes and those who want to lose weight should make liberal use of cucumber. (From “Juice Diet for Perfect Health” – Pub. by Gala Publications, Mumbai)

Foods that Heal-3: Cabbage

Cabbage combats cancer; Prevents constipation; Promotes weightloss; Protects your heart; Helps Hemorrhoids.