How to Design a Diet Food Plan

By Derek A. Smith  

When ever we go out to eat we're often stuck with one of two bad food choices. Either we are given too much food or the food we're given is extremely unhealthy for us. Even quick, easy to make, alternatives are similarly designed. And when we get the courage to even try to look at the so called "diet food", it is way overpriced. So how in the world can we make a diet food plan that fits who we are and our dieting goals?

The simple truth is it is right in front of our faces. We need to make our own meals. Many great foods that work to reduce fat are served fresh with basic ingredients.

Many restaurants serve excellent tasting food. This is because they tend to load up your dish with all the things that are fatty in nature. Prepackaged selections give you the food, but it's heavily saturated with preservatives and fat. By controlling what goes into your food, you know exactly how unhealthy it is.

When we think of a diet food plan, we are often reminded of bland food that is served in minuscule proportions. This is because the same people that feed us the fat filled dishes are the same people designing the health food. This means when you think of a diet food plan, you automatically have a negative reaction to it.

The truth is not every diet food plan will taste as bad as it sounds. Take for instance a chicken salad. A restaurant will hose what they call a salad in fatty dressing, mounds of cheese, and all manner of grilled chicken that may have been cooked in something unhealthy. Now if you make this same type of salad at home, you can maintain the taste and reduce most of the fat from the equation.

Cut up your vegetables, add a few spices, and grill a chicken strip without anything fancy. Lemon juice works wonderfully in keeping the chicken moist. Add it to your salad and toss. You'll be surprised how good something tastes when you prepare it yourself. And if there is something you don't like, you have the power to make adjustments and create your own personal dieting heaven.

A diet food plan does not even have to be limited by culture. Make your favorite ethnic dishes and substitute the unhealthiest ingredients with something better for you. There are dozens of guides on line to show you what to substitute. Chances are you won't even know anything changed.

Information that will help you have Permanent Weight Loss & Vibrant Health.

If you really want to learn diet secrets that will help you lose weight, then the diet secrets you're about to discover inside work so well that you can use them to lose weight quickly and easily!

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Did You Know Reading Food Label Can Be So Tricky?

By Ruth Tan  

I began to look out for nutrition information on food label when choosing honey. And when progressing from honey to other foods, the learning process didn't get any easier; in fact it only got more overwhelming. From your cabinet or refrigerator, pull out a few canned foods, bottled drinks, and packaged biscuits, and look at their labels and packaging. Are you able to make any sense out of what you read on the food label? Do you question how transparent food manufacturers are? How much is truth and how much is pure marketing tactics? You probably know what I mean by now.

Food label is an important touch-point for us consumers as it serves as a key source of nutrition information when looking for healthy food. A huge global study done by a marketing research agency ACNielsen revealed that the top six ingredients most likely checked by consumers were "Fat, Calories, Sugar, Preservatives, Colouring, and Additives". And because manufacturers recognise how powerful product claims can be, many have exploited them by being very creative in presenting of information on the food label to the consumers. Here, I have made a list of 8 simple pointers that I thought Benefits of Honey visitors could gain in one way or another.

1. Look Out for Hidden MSG!

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), "the miracle flavour enhancer" often associated with Chinese foods, is known to be neurotoxic or harmful to our brain cells. Packaging can claim "no MSG" yet still contain MSG, which can be hidden in fancy or confusing names like yeast extract, autolyzed yeast, sodium caseinate, hydrolyzed protein, yeast food, yeast nutrient, calcium caseinate, gelatine, glutamate, textured protein, and torula yeast. And as if this doesn't boggle our minds enough, there is also "No Added MSG", which seems to imply that there is already some. The truth is MSG is much more prevalent than many people realize. Many popular fast-foods have MSG, and in general, the more highly processed a food is (or the more ingredients listed on its label), the more likely it is to contain MSG.

2. Do You Perceive "Red and Vibrant" as "Fresh"?

I began to realise how much effort food manufacturers spent on food appearance when I learnt that most commercial honey was pasteurised or treated with high heat to prevent crystallisation, which makes it impossible to compete with honey that are smooth, creamy, and appealing. Similarly, "sodium nitrates" are added to meats to make them look fresh and red on the shelf. Without it, meat would be gray and too unappealing for consumers to buy. Many scientists believe that "nitrates" or "nitrates" found in processed meats like bacon, ham, sausage, pepperoni, salami are cancer-causing chemicals. Dyes are fed to egg-laying hens to make egg yolks turn bright orange, and also given to salmons to look orange-red. Bacon and ham get their red tint from sodium ascorbate, a colour stabilizer, to make them look fresh and vibrant.

3. Don't Expect All Ingredients to be Listed

Food companies can get away with using non-natural processes and chemical ingredients and claim all natural. For example, foods fried at high temperature, resulting in the formation of cancer-causing acrylamides. There is no requirement for food ingredients lists to include chemical contaminants or toxic substances found in food and manufacturers need not declare all of the ingredients they use. Additives which are used as processing aids or serve no technological function in the finished product also don't have to be listed.

4. Definition of "Natural" can be Ridiculously Loose

A food labelled "all natural" can contain pesticides, herbicides, heavy metal toxins, hidden MSG, synthetic chemical vitamins, and a host of other non-natural substances. "Natural" does not mean organic. As there is no official definition for "natural food", food producers and manufacturers have the liberty to call anything natural. Another trick is to pad the list with itsy-bitsy amounts of great sounding ingredients like natural berries and herbs. Having a tiny amount of a superfood appear at the end of the ingredients list often doesn't mean anything in terms of health value.

5. Beware of "Natural Coloring"!

Artificial colours like FD&C Red No.5, FD&C Yellow No. 5 (Tartrazine), FD&C Blue No. 1 (Brilliant Blue FCF) come from coal tar which is basically a petrochemical product. Found in ice cream, canned processed foods, sweets, drinks, soaps, shampoos, and cosmetic application, they have caused allergic reactions such as migraines, itching, rashes, anxiety, and general weakness in some people. Carmine, a well-known natural food, drug, and cosmetic additive found in "strawberry" yogurt, ice-cream, milk, fake crab, lipstick, eyeliners, nail polish sounds like an innocent pink food colouring but it's actually made from the smashed bodies of cochineal beetles (shocked?). Despite reports of severe allergic reactions, it's still been regarded as safe and imposing "no significant hazard" to the public.

6. Know that Sugar and Fat Have Many Names

One of the most common tricks is to distribute sugars such that they don't appear in the top three of the food label. For e.g, a manufacturer many use a combination of sucrose, high-fructose syrup, corn syrup, brown sugar, dextrose to make sure none of them are in large enough quantities to attain a top position on the ingredient list. The same goes for fat; "total fat" includes all kinds of fat: saturated, trans fat, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated. Many foods that claim to be "low-cholesterol" can be full of saturated fats.

7. Nutrition Claims Can Be Awfully Deceptive

The name of the food product has nothing to do with what's in it. For instance, a "cheese cracker" doesn't have to contain any cheese, or a "fruit juice" doesn't have to comprise any drop of real fruit juice. Nutrition labelling is required when a nutrition claim is made e.g "High in calcium", "High in Fibre", "Low in Sugar", "Zero Trans-fat". By the way, any food containing 0.5g or less of trans fat per serving is allowed to claim zero trans fat on the packaging. Hence companies arbitrarily reduce the serving sizes of their foods to ridiculously small amount (e.g 1 small cookie) to bring trans fat down to 0.5g per serving. If you take 30 cookies with 0.5g of trans fat each, you would have taken 15g of trans fat in total!

8. Think Twice When Laying Hands on "Sugar Free" and "Diet" Foods

Watch for hidden sugar in processed foods like bread, salad dressing, soups, and be careful with "fat-free" products, as sugar is often used to replace the flavour that is lost when fat is removed. Fat-free doesn't mean calorie-free. You think brown sugar is less refined and processed, and healthier than white sugar? Wrong, brown sugar is a gimmick to fool consumers into paying more; it's just white sugar with brown colouring and flavouring added. And don't be fooled by what artificial sweeteners can offer you. They mimic the taste of table sugar but have virtually no useful energy. In fact sugar substitutes like saccharin, aspartame and sucralose are toxic to the body. So be more sensitive to food label claims with words like "diet" "low calorie", and "sugar free".

Be an intelligent shopper; fill your carts with lots of fresh raw foods like vegetables and fruits. Don't get fooled by deceptive food packaging, see through the marketing hype on food packaging, be sceptical about claims such as "less", "natural", "reduced", "free", "light", ask if the serving size indicated is the amount you would usually eat as one portion; be an avid food label reader.

Source: http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/food-label.html

R. Tan is the owner of the website http://www.benefits-of-honey.com which is a rich honey resource community specially built for all the honey lovers and fans in this world. She has packed this website with a wide range of quality contents on honey based on her knowledge and experience with honey, so as to promote its invaluable benefits which she believes could bring many positive spin-offs in everyone's daily life.

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Benefits of Strawberries - A Natural Fat Burning Food

By Steve O'Connor  

Discover the incredible weight loss benefits of strawberries, how to best prepare them and how much you should eat to get maximum benefit from strawberries - one of nature's amazing fat burning foods.

The number one berry in the United States, strawberries have been known and enjoyed for many thousands of years all around the globe. Actually, they were eaten in ancient Greece and Rome. This plant has been sown and harvested dating back to the early 17th century. The East Coast is where they were first planted, sometime during the 1800s. Strawberries traveled Westward with our forefathers.

In the West today, strawberries maintain their dominance, with a high concentration of strawberries grown in California (although Florida contributes a lot to the crop as well). At present, over 70 different type of strawberry specimens exist.

Strawberries, which are really part of the rose family, are the earliest fruit to become ripe in the spring.

While they're not technically a berry because they grow from the plant's base rather than from a flower's ovary, they're called a berry for nutritional purposes -- and to please consumers.

The strawberry is a tiny fruit that grows on the ground level. Unlike any other fruit, their seeds are found on the outside of the skin. A single strawberry typically has about 200 seeds.

Try to find berries with a vibrant red shade. Make certain that the berry caps appear fresh and bright green. Green, yellow or pale pink strawberries are insufficiently ripened. Consumed like this, they will be quite tart.

Because they are naturally sweet and a beautiful red color when ripe, strawberries are liked by everyone -- no matter their age. Strawberry fairs and festivals have helped make this yummy fruit even more popular. Nearly every American family eats these berries, and more than half of the kids between 7 and 9 years old pick strawberries when they get to choose from different fruits.

Fat Burning Benefits of Strawberries

Strawberries have no fat, are low in calories, and are high in fiber and folic acid. They are also rich in Vitamin C and potassium. Vitamin C boosts metabolic rate and potassium aids in BP regulation. There is more ascorbic acid in strawberries than in any other kind of berry. Moreover, they contain no sodium or cholesterol. Fructose contained in berries give them their sweet flavor and also help suppress appetite.

One serving (approximately 8 medium-sized strawberries or one cup) has a mere 50 calories and absolutely zero grams of fat.

The pectin contained in strawberries provides fiber, which prevents you from overeating, because the fiber makes you feel full.

Strawberries also have phytonutrient anthocyanine, which is responsible for its rich, dark red appearance. Furthermore, your body reaps the benefits of anthocyanine, which assists the liver in breaking down toxins and flushing them out of your system.

Strawberries are rich in phenylalanine, an amino acid that releases cholecystokinin (CCK), a hormone people have that helps suppress the appetite. When CCK is released into the system, it curbs cravings for food. Tryptophan, which helps curb cravings for sugar, is also an essential component of strawberries.

Glycine, another important amino acid found in strawberries, assists in the production of bile salts. The body requires these to aid in digestion, particularly digesting fats. Glycine assists insulin in regulating blood glucose in the system.

Isoleucine, leucein and valine (considered the branch chain amino acids or BCAAs) are three more amino acids strawberries have that assist with low blood sugar. In addition, they play a major role in maintaining muscle bulk.

Threonine aids in digestion and prevents digestive problems. Methionine works to regulate fluid levels in our system.

Arginine, an amino acid that helps prevent weight gain, is found in strawberries. Arginine plays an important part in keeping cell energy levels steady.

In addition, strawberries have an abundance of ellagic acid, which provides many benefits, among them -- protecting your cells against cancer.

How To Prepare Strawberries

Serve them just as they are, raw, to get the most nutritional value and fat-burning capabilities. The healthiest ones are those raised organically.

Because they don't last long on the shelf, you should only purchase quantities that you can consume within a few days if you want to enjoy them at their peak of freshness. You can also choose to keep some in the freezer.

Do not rinse them until it's time to eat them. Don't let them sit in the water. Keep the stems on and the berries can be stored for longer periods than strawberries without stems. Start by throwing away the smashed ones and ones with bruises. Put the unwashed berries in a storage container with a paper towel or paper napkin over the top to cover them. Invert the covered container and refrigerate the berries until ready to use. This will keep the strawberries fresh for a number of days. When freezing, use the technique recommended for blueberries.

Strawberries are delicious all by themselves, but for a special treat, you might consider topping your yogurt with them. Prepare a smoothie drink using strawberries blended with soy milk. Put them into a protein shake for an additional jolt of energy. Toss a few berries into your salad recipes for a pleasant flavor surprise!

You can also juice them, bake them in pies, make jellies and jams with them, or even use them to marinate organic meats and poultry. They are good dehydrated, or toss them into granola for a tasty treat.

What Constitutes a Serving?

For strawberries, a portion fills an 8-ounce measuring cup.

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Best Natural Medicines For Arthritis

By Dr. Sudeep K Khurana

Arthritis has become very common nowadays what with the changing lifestyle and fast-pace life with little left in the form of exercise and healthy living. People want to be in charge of their life and look for healthy alternatives or natural remedies for all the ailments so as to not be affected by the many side effects of the drugs used for arthritis. Here, I will sum up some of the best natural treatments for arthritis.

Minerals and vitamins:
Minerals and vitamins are the building blocks of the body and can be obtained from many natural resources such as plants. Other than that, gold, MSM, Glucosamine, Chondroitin, Calcium, and silver have always been used for cure of arthritis.

Juices:
Black cherry juice two glasses twice a day helps in relieving pain; however, you should stop this after the attack has subsided. You can include carrot juice, cucumber juice, beetroot juice to your diet to help relieve pain. One or two glasses of pineapple juice daily helps in rheumatoid arthritis. One has to avoid citrus juices as some studies have shown them to precipitate arthritis problems.

Cold and hot compression:
Cooling the joint that is inflamed always helps. You can apply ice packs to the joint to help inflammation but do not overdo it. It is advised to use cold compression for a maximum of 15 minutes at a time and there should be adequate interval between sessions.

Other than cool compression, heat also helps by relaxing body and stimulating blood flowing into the joints. You can use heating pads that are easily available in the market or can make a hot pack at home with warm towels. You can put some rice in a small bag and microwave it and use it as a heating pad also. A hot shower or a hot tub will also help in relaxing muscles and uplifting your mood.

Magnets:
Magnets are also commonly used as an alternative therapy though it is not yet established how they help in arthritis but are easily available in the market for curing the arthritis in elderly.

Relaxation techniques:
Muscle relaxation with exercises as well as mind relaxation with deep breathing techniques helps calm arthritis in the long run. Meditation is now gaining popularity with its properties of stress reduction and relaxation.

Alternative techniques:
Tai chi, acupuncture, and biofeedback are some of the alternative therapies that have now been widely accepted as helping arthritis patients.

Oiling:
Warm mustard oil applied to the joint soothes muscle and relieves the pain. You can also use essential oils mixed with almond oil and massage the painful part.

Herbal supplements:
Certain herbal supplements like Boswelia, Thunder god vine, cherries, Dandelion leaves, and Desert devil have also been highly effective in arthritis patients.

There are numerous natural treatments that one can use for arthritis but always consult your physician first before going ahead with any of the treatments mentioned above. Most of all, a healthy lifestyle always is encouraged to avoid arthritis and live a happy and active life.

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