Archive for October, 2011

The Healthy Benefits Of Green Tea

Millions of people throughout the world drink green tea on a daily basis. And now science is proving that there are significant benefits to drinking this healthy and popular beverage. The Asians have known the health benefits of green tea for thousands of years. In fact they have used it in Eastern medicine for a variety of ailments such as heart health, indigestion and urinary tract infections. It has been shown through various scientific studies to be beneficial to several medical conditions. These include cancer, cardiovascular disease and arthritis.

Green Tea and Cancer: Numerous scientific studies have been conducted showing the health benefits for cancer. Results of these studies have shown that the tea may inhibit the growth of cancer cells. In countries where it is consumed on a daily basis such as Japan, there are much lower rates of cancer. Although not conclusive, it may be that the polyphenols that are found in green tea have an affect on slowing down or destroying cancerous cells within the body. Studies have been conducted on the relationship between this beverage and several different types of cancer.

Breast cancer.A study involving over 400 women with breast cancer was conducted by researchers. The women all had various stages of breast cancer. The researchers assessed how the consumption of green tea affected these women and their cancerous condition. The results found that the women who consumed the most had a slower rate of the cancer spreading than those who did not. Additionally early stage breast cancer participants were found to have a lower rate of breast cancer recurrence. Although this and other similar studies are not entirely conclusive it appears that drinking tea may in fact reduce the risk of breast cancer for women Read the rest of this entry »

American Diet – More Processed Foods, Less Natural Foods

The impact of refinement and food processing is a nutritionally poor diet.

Changes in our food habits took place over history, more so in the past 100 years. Processing has now become wide spread. It’s a sign of changing times and economic prosperity as Americans look for more and more foods that are quick and easy, and minimize the needs for home cooking. Many traditional and time tried balanced and health food habits were lost. Organ meats have taken a back seat to muscle meats that are relatively lower in several minerals, vitamins and essential fatty acids. After the domestication of wild animals, changes have occurred through breading and feeding. Commercialization of a limited range of stocks results in limitations in diversity, quantity, and quality of fats in animal foods. This implies a reduction in the essential fats and the possible increase in saturated fats.

The way the American food industry is set up, all foods undergo more processing than foods in other parts of the world, which strips the nutrients and dissociates food from its natural state. The dependence on canned and preserved foods is high, which results in nutritionally inferior foods.

For example, canned tomatoes and tomato puree will not contain as many phytonutrients and vitamin C as a regular, fresh tomato. Read the rest of this entry »

Junk Food Junkie – Time to Get Healthy!

We are a junk food nation. Just look at the number of aisles in the grocery store devoted just to junk food. We are a nation of pizza, chips and fries. It is these types of foods that are at the heart of our propensity toward obesity and poor health. Junk food is a slang word for foods with limited nutritional value. Every person has their own list of foods that they call junk foods. It usually includes foods that are high in salt, sugar, fat or calories and low nutrient content. Salted snack foods, candy, gum, most sweet desserts, fried fast food and carbonated beverages are some of the most popular junk foods. They generally offer little in terms of protein, vitamins or minerals and lots of calories from sugar or fat. The term “empty calories” refers to the lack of nutrients in these foods.

Rather than banning all but the simplest foods, try to judge each food based on the list of ingredients and nutrition labels found on packages. When reading the list of ingredients, look for sugar, fat or salt as one of the first three ingredients mentioned. If this is the case, you can probably consider that particular food to be very high in sugar, fat or salt.

A look at the nutritional information on a package label will list the number of calories per serving, grams of fat, as well as the food’s sodium, cholesterol, fiber and sugar content. This nutritional information will make you more knowledgeable in selecting foods that will contribute to a healthy lifestyle. Read the rest of this entry »