Low Carb Cooking

Anyone following any of the low carb lifestyle changes will have to learn a new way of eating and cooking. Unlike the low-fat kind of diets, these tend to offer more food choices that people love. These foods can be combined in hundreds of different ways. Though it might take some practice, anyone can learn low carb cooking for a better life all the way around. Though there are many who want to debunk this type of eating, the results speak for themselves. The problem is that eating higher portions of fat, as is recommended on a low carb diet, goes against everything anyone has ever learned.

Low carb cooking can have a higher amount of fat, but that does not mean someone should take this to extremes. It is okay to cook with butter and oils, but the oils should be those that are heart healthy. Olive oil is a good choice, and some say canola is good for this as well. Low carb cooking should include proteins. However, one common misconception is that the proteins should be extremely high. It should be a nice balance of proteins and fats that make up most of low carb cooking and menus.

When someone learns low carb cooking today, they have an advantage over those that tried it ten years ago. Though the Atkins diet has been around for decades, it enjoyed huge popularity in the early 1990s and throughout the rest of the decade. Though many are still on it, it is not as talked about as it use to be. It still works the same, but now, there are more recipes out there for those who want to learn low carb cooking. Because so many did and are still doing this lifestyle, there are many more recipes to be found.

Another benefit of learning low carb cooking today is that foods now have more nutritional information listed on the packaging than every before. Carbs use to be lumped together, but now they are separated into fiber, sugars, and other carbs. This is something that is very important to those learning low carb cooking and the lower sugar way to life. Sugars are to be avoided, but the fibers are essential for those who are low carbing. The difference is the type of carbs, and we all need them. The trick is knowing which ones are good and which should be avoided.

Low Carb Cooking

Around the world people are paying more attention to their bodies and their health than perhaps at any other time in history. One method that has shown great success in helping people quickly drop those unwanted pounds is through low carb cooking and dieting. This method of weight loss seems to have taken the world by storm promising quick results for the simple (or not so simple) lifestyle change of eliminating as many carbohydrates as possible from our diets.

The notion sounds simple on one hand and is appealing to not only women hoping to drop those vanity pounds but also men who welcome the idea of eating all the steaks they can handle throughout the year. Low card cooking is becoming a way of life for many families as a result though the idea of this particular lifestyle change and the reality of it do on occasion seriously collide with one another.

If you are interested in dropping those unwanted pounds and keeping them off, this is a doubt that without a doubt gets results. The problem is that you must stick to the diet in order for the results to remain consistent even after you’ve met your weight loss goals. This means that you are not really embarking on a diet so much as a complete overhaul in the way you eat.

The excellent thing about low carb cooking is that it is so widely popular. This means that you will have no trouble finding resources, tips, tricks, advice, and even amazing substitutes for those things you often miss most when engaging in the low carb lifestyle. Popular stores such as Whole Foods and Trader Joes are great places to go for specific foods that are low carb in nature and designed to meet the chocolate or breading needs of those who feel more than slightly deprived by the rigorous restrictions of a low carb lifestyle. Many mainstream grocery stores are also beginning to see the value of catering to this ‘high end’ market of consumers and offering a wider variety of low carb friendly foods to consumers.

You can find recipes that are low in carbs by the mouthful at your local libraries and bookstores around the world. You can also find many resources on the Internet to help assist and encourage you in your low carb lifestyle incorporation. In addition to the cookbooks, recipes, and encouragement you also need to weed out the fact from the fiction when it comes to low carb cooking. The best way to do this is to go straight to the source. If you are going to incorporate this lifestyle altering diet into your way of life, you want to make sure that you are following it to the letter and not some knock off version that may not be as effective.

When it comes to low carb cooking you have the perfect excuse to use your grill well and use your grill often. In fact, I highly recommend a George Foreman grill (or some similar knock off) for your home for those days when grilling outside simply isn’t an option. Around our house, those are the days when the snow reaches the bottom of the grill but we are the exception rather than the rule. Most importantly about low carb cooking you should keep your goal in mind. If you aren’t making progress, check what you are doing and adjust your cooking and eating accordingly.

Liver Foods That Make Your Liver Stronger And Useful

Most people don’t think about what foods are good for keeping their liver strong. But, if you have been discovering and using a diet that is good for your overall health, then, most likely you are helping your liver.

So here again is a list of healthy eating that will result in a strong useful liver.

Oils – use mostly olive oil for your food preparation. This oil can be heated to a relative medium level without causing free radicals. Use flax seed oil or fish oil every day.

Avoid margarine or any other artificial butter since their processing creates chemicals the liver cannot recognize as food. Use Ghee, which doesn’t require refrigeration, or raw butter,

Sunflower, safflower, and other seed oils should be kept in the refrigerator to keep them from becoming rancid.

When you eat too much fat, the fat accumulates in the liver. The liver is responsible for breaking down the fat and using it for energy. Accumulated fat in the liver can become rancid producing free radicals that damage liver cells.

Food – try to buy and eat good organic food. Food that has been sprayed with pesticides is difficult to clean and these chemicals will get into your body as free radicals.

Protein – Cut down on the amount of protein that you eat. Most of us only need about 2-3 ounces of protein, but if you do physical labor you need plenty more. The problem with more is some of this protein may not completely digest in our stomach and move into the colon. There this undigested protein is decomposed by bad bacteria creating toxic matter. These toxins can be absorbed into the blood and cause the liver extra work in detoxifying them.

Sulfur Foods – Since the liver produces enzymes, which are used in every body chemical reaction, you can support this activity by eating foods such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli cabbage, seeds and nuts.

Vitamins – minerals – nutrients – The liver, just like all parts of the body, needs vitamins and minerals. Get these from fruits and vegetables or even fruit and vegetable juices. Ionic minerals, easily absorbed, can be purchased in bottles from WaterOZ and other brands. These ionic minerals can then be easily added to your juices without adding any unusual taste.

Sugar – Limit, reduce or eliminate the use of sugar since it interferes with enzyme activity throughout your body. Use fruits, whole grains, barley malt, rice syrup, dates, dried fruit, and honey

Lecithin – use lecithin every day for the Phosphatidyl choline, PC that it provides. PC helps build the liver cell membranes creating a healthier liver. Use lecithin in granules by adding them to salads and other liquid food preparations including smoothies.

There you have it, a small list of foods to eat to help your liver give you long life. Most likely you are already eating some of these foods and if so, then, it will be easy to add just one more good healthy eating habit.

Light Calorie Cooking: How To Cook Low Calorie Foods Which Still Taste Fantastic

Many people these days want to control their diets so they are eating low calorie foods, but low calorie foods that still taste great. The way to get low calorie foods that taste great is through light calorie cooking. There are a few tips to consider when embarking on light calorie cooking adventures where the calories are low but the taste is high.

Margarine As Opposed to Butter

When following recipes when preparing a meal, there are many recipes that now list a choice between using butter as an ingredient or margarine. By using margarine in the recipe instead of butter the cook cuts the caloric content significantly yet still keeps a good taste overall. It is very hard to tell the difference between margarine and butter that is used in cooked foods and since margarine is lower in calories it is a great substitute. So, the next time you are cooking and run across a choice between butter or margarine as an ingredient make the healthy and low calorie choice by using margarine. The taste will remain great and it won’t affect your waistline!

Splenda as Opposed to Sugar

Another great way in which to save on the caloric intake is to use Splenda in one’s recipes as opposed to sugar. Splenda consists of sucralose, which was approved for sale on the market in the late 1990s. Not only is this ingredient low in calories but it is great tasting as well. Splenda is also a wonderful ingredient to use in baked foods as it is heat stable and there is no real loss of the substance during cooking. For these reasons, Splenda is a great ingredient to use when cooking using those recipes which call for sugar. You won’t notice a difference, but you will enjoy great foods and beverages with considerably less calories!

These are two ways in which a calorie-conscious individual can make fantastic light calorie meals that are abundant in the taste department and easy on the waistline as well.

Learning The Ropes Of Home Cooking

It is said that the therapeutic aspect of cooking brings relaxation to both body and mind. Today’s world is hectic and it is very vital that we engross ourselves into preparing dishes rich in nutrition value and balanced to keep ourselves hale and healthy. So just prepare whatever you feel comfortable. It is not necessary to be grand and rich in taste but it should be satisfying and rich in basic nutritional content. You need to adjust the measurements according to your taste and flavor requirements.

The first step is to keep your kitchen ready for a good start. Then plan for the kind of dish you are going to prepare. Make sure you know the process before starting. Ensure that you have all the major ingredients ready in hand to prevent the cooking time to cross its limits. Light the gas and start your cooking process. Suppose you are in need of a dish which is low in fat. Just purchase a non stick cookware of affordable cost and low fat books which contains such recipes. You should cut on your spicy taste and reduce the use of fat rich oils for cooking. Use olive oil instead as it improves the taste and is also healthier. Use only a teaspoon of oil for sautéing.

Cooking at home can be interesting and satisfying since we are aware of the major ingredients used for the preparation. Unlike outside foods we are deprived of what is being mixed and adulterated. Outside foods can be appealing but might also be dangerous to health by means of lack of nutrition and hygiene. Cooking should be done with clean hands and if required with a gloves worn over. Hygiene should be maintained and during preparation one should ensure that the place is free from harmful detritus.

Home cooking is considered the best since the preparation involves lot of concentration and planning with ingredients rich in nutritional value required for a healthy living. One of the effective ways to change our food habits and diversify our diet is to eat fewer cereals and include such substitutes as are rich in nutritive value. There are several of these: potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams and bananas to mention a few. What is more, these substitutes are filling and nutritious and are as tasty as cereals. Have regular exercise for good appetite and enjoy cooking at home for a healthier life.

Learn What Foods Will Infuse Your Body With Energy

Do you want to know how to feel good? Do you want to be vibrant for a long time? Take care of your body and it will take care of you.

Digestion takes probably more energy than anything else. The average meal takes 3 hours and 30 minutes to digest if combined properly. Incorrectly combined food can sometimes take up to 14 hours to digest. This is a very powerful way to conserve energy.

Take note: Recall the last time you had a huge meal…a huge meal when you felt so full you could hardly move. That doesn’t make you feel like going out and running a marathon, does it? How often do you feel like going out and running a marathon after eating a huge steak?

How would you like to learn something interesting? Starches and proteins require different mediums to digest in the stomach. One requires acid in the stomach to digest and the other alkaline. Now anyone with even a basic knowledge of chemistry knows that acids and alkalines cancel each other out.

If you want to have more energy you need to learn to properly combine your foods.

You’ve probably heard people say you need to eat more vegetables. I heard that too for a long time. It didn’t motivate me to go out and eat it. It wasn’t until I understood that food is literally the building blocks of all the substances of your body that I understood the importance of it. What you eat literally becomes your brain, your liver, your kidneys, your skin and your eyes. This is powerful. What you put in to yourself becomes part of your body.

If 70-80% of your body is water, what does it make sense to eat? Foods which have a 70-80% water content. Vegetables are the most important food you will feed yourself in your lifetime. Vegetables will cause your energy to increase, your skin to look brighter, your eyes to sparkle, your energy to rise and your libido to increase. Vegetables are high in almost every substance known to be essential to the building of the body and life.

For the next 7 days eat a salad with every meal.

See, would you take a green shiny apple, spray it with fly spray, then eat it? You know how ridiculous that sounds. Would you eat it? Of course not. Yet that’s what’s happening to our food every day. Our fruits and vegetables are now being treated with pesticides and industrial strength sprays that are poisonous to the delicate insides of our body. Some foods are now being treated with radiation. It’s now proven conclusively that radiation contributes to cancer.

If you tried describing sex to an alien, they probably wouldn’t understand it until they experienced it. They wouldn’t understand it until they did it. You won’t understand the power of making at least 50% of your diet vegetables until you take this and do it. Vegetables are around for a reason, and for the same reason there are no hamburger trees!

Organic food contains up to 3 times the amount of nutrients of conventional fruit and vegetables. How would you like to eat spinach and have the nutrients of 3 times the amount? I certainly would. As food grows, it’s draws nutrients from the ground. The better the quality of soil, the more nutrients can be drawn into the food. Research reports many of our foods are missing vitamins, minerals, enzymes etc because of depleted soils. Buy organic food wherever possible.

The brain knows when you are full, because the stomach sends a signal to a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is 12 minutes “behind” the stomach. There is literally a 12 minute delay between being full, and your body knowing you are full. When you stop eating before you are full, you give your body a chance to recover energy.

Sugar is widely considered to be one of the most dangerous substances for the body. Avoid it at all costs. There are a few other ingredients to keep away from if you are serious about your health and energy. Salt dehydrates the body. It’s not widely known that black pepper is 17 more times irritating to the liver than alcohol.

That brings us to the next point, caffeine. I understand people love their coffee. I was once a coffee drinker, before I became interested in health. Caffeine gives us energy because it opens up the capillaries in the brain. The same effect can be had by deep breathing. The challenge comes when the effect of caffeine wears off. The capillaries in the brain restrict causing us to feel lethargic. Caffeine works because the body has to “speed up” to cope with the dose of poison it’s been given.

Unfortunately, while alcohol has perceived benefits, it is pure fermentation and decay, rotting sugar. It is absolutely toxic. There are other things you also need to be aware of. White rice is treated with bleach. It starts out brown and is bleached to become white. What about white flour? It’s also bleached. What about sugar or pasta? They too have been bleached to give a false sense of purity. Would you go to your laundry cupboard and drink bleach? That’s preposterous, yet most of us eat food treated with bleach. Bleach has the effect of ripping the stomach lining – an effect that is similar to the drug ecstasy. A report out of Germany states “they’re putting fine pieces of cracked glass now in ecstasy, those pieces have the effect of putting finite tears in the stomach lining enabling the substance to enter the bloodstream more quickly”.

Do you like food? Amazingly, most people I interview say “Yes”. What’s the purpose of eating food? While it tastes good and feels good, physiologically eating is the building blocks of the body. Skin, eyes, internal organs, joints, white and red blood cells, they are all built out of the food and liquid that goes into our body. So logically, what’s one of the most powerful ways to change the appearance your eyes, skin and strength of the organs?

Change the building blocks that you choose to take in. Literally improve the food you eat. There’s an old saying that goes “There was no hamburger in the garden of Eden”. Religion aside, when your body starts getting the food it wants and needs, it will start to desire healthy foods. Try it; you’ll literally make new food choices.

Due to the common diet, most people’s bodies are full of bacteria; these bacteria are what are responsible for cravings for terrible food. It’s not the built in mechanism of the body to crave these substances, it’s the bacteria! No one smokes a cigarette for the first time and says “Oh boy, this tastes great!” Over time, the body learns to adapt to the poisons put in.

As you give your body more and more wholesome food and treat yourself with respect, you will naturally crave better and better food. There are plenty of delicious recipes around, recipes that will leave you with energy for hours rather than tired and bloated. It’s just that very few people know about them.

Eating natural food will also return your body to a more wholesome weight. Have you ever had the case of eating a big meal and immediately afterwards having to go and raid the cupboard? Why is that? The brain has a built in survival mechanism that when it senses the body is lacking nutrients, it tells us to get hungry. That is the sense of hunger is the body telling us it needs nutrients. If you suffer from the problem of being frequently hungry, it’s because the hunger mechanism is literally turned on all the time, the body is in a constant state of asking for nutrients. Due to our poor diets and low nutrients in most of our foods now, many people find themselves living in a case of constant hunger.

Ideally, you should invest in a “juicer”. A juicer takes all the nutrients in food and releases it for the body to absorb readily and quickly. A glass of vegetable juice is more filling than an entire pizza because of the concentrated amount of nutrients.

Keep Away From the Foods That Cause Gout

Gout is a form of arthritis that causes inflammation, pain, sourness and swelling of the joints, also reducing their mobility. It mostly it affects the joints of the lower body limbs, such as toes, heels, ankles and knees, but it can also affect the joints of the upper body. Gout sometimes affects skin and soft tissue like muscles and tendons, causing swelling and rigidity. There are many factors that contribute to the occurrence and the development of gout, such as genetic predisposition to the disease, renal insufficiency, inappropriate diet and lack of proper exercise. Among all these triggers of gout, the quantity and the type of food consumed seem to play a very important role.

In the past, gout was referred to as “the disease of kings”, as it mostly affected rich people. The high incidence of gout among the rich, noble families in the past is explained by the fact that they had better access to expensive, exotic foods that in present are known to facilitate the development of the disease. Today, many people are still confronted with gout as a result of improper diet, unaware of the damage that some foods cause to the organism. Apart from foods that cause gout, another important factor in the development of the disease is obesity.

Gout is mainly caused by the crystallization of a substance called uric acid in the bloodstream, causing arteries to block. In normal quantities, uric acid is neutral to the organism. However, when in excess, it may cause a lot of damage. Uric acid is a residual product formed in the synthesis of purine. Purine is a substance that resides in fat meats, fish, some dairy products and vegetables. Foods that cause gout are rich in saturated fats and purines, therefore contributing to the excessive secretion of uric acid. Among the foods that cause gout, the most dangerous are considered to be red meats and some fish. Beef, pork, lamb and seafood should be avoided when suffering from gout. Furthermore, healthy people should control their intake of such foods in order to prevent the acquiring of gout. Other foods like chicken meat, low dairy, grains, green vegetables and fruits are well tolerated among people who suffer from gout.

In order to ameliorate the symptoms of gout, foods that cause gout should be excluded from the diet in favor of healthy food. Also, the consumption of alcohol should be reduced, as it increases the amount of uric acid produced by the organism. Smoking can aggravate the symptoms of gout too, slowing the natural process of healing and interfering in the right circulation of the blood.

By drinking plenty of water you will help the body in eliminating the excess of uric acid. It is strongly recommended to drink at least 2 liters of water a day. Also, try to reduce the amount of saturated fats from your diet and eat more carbohydrate rich foods such as cereal, pasta and bread. Consume plenty of fruits, as they contain lots of important vitamins and minerals. Fruits like apples, oranges, nectarines and lemons should be a part of your daily menu.

Italian Cuisine: Diverse and Delicious

Italy, a nation of 58 million people, is a patchwork quilt of 20 distinct regions subdivided into 103 provinces. All Italian cooking relies on olive oil, grains and fresh, seasonal produce, but each region has its own preferences and specialties.

Northern Italy, which boasts the country’s highest standard of living and the richest diet, also produces one-third of Italy’s best wines. Its eight regions lean toward risotto, polenta and gnocchi, and hearty soups and fish chowders are a feature of the region. The North’s real claim to fame, though, is as a paradise for cheese lovers. Parmigiano, Gorgonzola and Asiago cheeses, accompanied by salamis and sausages made from goat, goose and even chamois, make a simple meal divine.

Central Italy, in contrast, tends to favor artichokes, peas and black and white truffles. These six central regions prefer pasta and lamb over the rice and beef associated with the North. One of the best-known regional dishes is porchetta, a whole, roasted pig stuffed with fresh garlic, fennel, rock salt and peppercorns.

Historically, the six regions that comprise Southern Italy were known as the Garden of the Greeks and Romans. Later, during the Middle Ages, the Arabs established a pasta industry in Sicily. Varieties of pasta have since proliferated, from “short” pasta generically known as macaroni to the “long” types such as spaghetti and vermicelli.

No other sector of Italy boasts such a splendid heritage of sweets and ices. Many desserts bespeak the Arab and Greek influences in Sicily, with its almond pastes, candied fruits, ricotta, honey, raisins and nuts.

The South also accounts for 75 percent of the produce raised organically in Italy. With almost 2.5 million acres cultivated without chemicals, Italy is a leader in organic farming.

Is Your Food Stressing You Out?

I’m in a continual state of alert regarding so-called cures for stress, depression and anxiety. I want to be aware of any new breakthroughs that happen and I also want to be equally aware of new solutions that simply offer false hope. Snake oils and magic bullets are offered to sufferers by the dozen, offering plenty of hope but little in terms of a permanent cure.

Snake oils and magic bullets are always associated with forms of quackery. More often than not it will be dietary supplements, potions, mysticism or new age remedies such as ayurvedic medicine, acupuncture, crystals, magnets and such like. However, snake oils and magic bullets can be provided by more trusted sources such as the medical community. An antidepressant drug being the main magic bullet that is anything but.

Another far less obvious magic bullet is provided by the ubiquitous food police. In our society, it is very difficult to go through a single day without experiencing interference from these well-meaning but misguided people who bang on and on about diet and how your eating habits are at the root of all of your ailments.

When it comes to excess weight then as we all know, over-eating will have a huge impact on your physical well-being. But can food really have an impact on your mental health and can it cure stress, depression and anxiety?

In short, no! The foods you eat and the fluids you drink CANNOT cause you to become stressed, anxious or depressed and they certainly cannot cure any of them and I’ll explain why right now.

The three main foods you are continually advised to restrict or even avoid are saturated fat, refined sugar and salt. And for your weight and your physical well-being, restricting your intake of these foods will provide a huge boost.

But, let’s ask a question: Does everybody who eats a poor diet with high levels of fat, sugar and salt enter into stress, depression or anxiety? The answer is a clear and absolute no! And conversely, does it follow that everyone who eats a good diet with low levels of the sinful foods and high levels of fresh fruit and vegetables lean meat, fish and chicken never enter into these illnesses?

Ah, that’s an interesting one isn’t it? Surely if healthy eating could help conquer these problems then anyone who eats a healthy diet would never experience stress, depression or anxiety. But it is blatantly obvious that such people aren’t immune from these problems.

Here’s another fact to realize about foods: In modern society, we are very lucky. There is an abundance of fresh food and it’s easily and cheaply available. But what about our forefathers? Go back to the pre-war years and you’ll see that life for most of them was very hard and food wasn’t anywhere near as plentiful as it is today. So did they all suffer from stress, depression and anxiety? Of course not!

Eating a healthy diet will not cure stress depression and anxiety and eating a poor diet won’t cause them either. This is because the cause of these problems lies totally beyond the foods that you eat and it should be quite clear to you that if you’re going to conquer stress, depression and anxiety then you can only do so by addressing and treating the root cause.

This is the reason why all of the snake oils and magic bullet solutions simply don’t work. They address everything else other than the root cause and apart from giving you a brief lift and lighter wallet, they will only provide temporary and illusory comfort.

See you soon.

How To Find Organic Food Recipes

Are you interested in eating organic foods? If you are, you may be looking for organic food recipes. Unfortunately, there are many new organic food eaters who do not know where to look. The good news is that you do have a number of different options, a few of which are outlined below.

The internet is a great way to find organic food recipes. When using the internet to do so, a standard internet search should be performed. If you are looking for something in particular, incorporate that into your search. For example, if you are looking for recipes for breakfast, your search phrase could be “organic food breakfast recipes.” The internet, as you can see, is one of the quickest and easiest ways to search for organic food recipes.

As for what you will find online, you will see that it varies. Your standard internet search is likely to produce a number of different results. You may find websites that specialize in organic food recipes, websites that specialize in recipes in general, as well as online message boards where organic foods are being discussed and where recipes are traded. In fact, there are a number of benefits to joining an online community or an online message board if you are looking to learn more about eating organically.

You can also use the internet to examine the online websites of organic food stores and organic food makers. These websites can easily be found with a standard internet search. In addition to special offers, recipes are also commonly found online. This is great if you actually use the products from the company in question, as most of their products are what is featured in an organic food recipe.

You can also find and learn more organic food recipes by speaking with those that you do. Do you know of any organic food eaters? If you do, ask them for recipes. In fact, if you have already developed a small collection of your own organic food recipes, ask to trade. If you do not know any other organic food eaters, consider meeting some. You may be surprised just how easy it is to do so. Did you know that some cities and towns have groups that are designed for natural and organic food eaters? Many have meetings where they talk about organic foods, trade recipes, try out those recipes, and do so much more.

Printed recipe books are another great way to find organic food recipes. Although most recipe books are for “traditional,” foods, organic foods are increasing in popularity, as more people become concerned with their health and the foods that they consume. For that reason, more organic food books are hitting the market. If you are interested in buying an organic food recipe book, you will find that you have a number of different options.

When looking to buy an organic food book, many book stores carry a limited selection of books. With that being said, you are likely to find the best success locally when shopping with an organic food store. Although most specialize in selling food products only, recipe books are also commonly offered for sale. The internet can also be used to find organic recipes in the form of cookbooks. What is nice about using the internet to shop is that it is easy to compare prices and books. In fact, you are provided with the largest selection of all when using the internet. As a reminder, free organic food recipes can also be found online.

As outlined above, there are a number of different ways that you can go about finding organic food recipes to cook for yourself or your family. Although using the internet to find free recipes is a nice approach, you may also want to purchase your own organic recipe cookbooks. This is because cookbooks are filled with a large number of recipes, some of which readers may have never though of making before.

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