Archive for category Food

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 »

Dry Roasted Edamame Beans and Nutrition

All soy foods are made from soybeans. There are many different types of soy-based snacks that are good for you such as dry roasted edamame. Nutrition wise, dry roasted edamame is a healthy and convenient snack that you can take with you everywhere you go.

Soybeans, unlike most other legumes, are a fantastic way to get your body’s need for high quality protein. This is a great way for those following a strict diet plan, such as vegans and vegetarians; to get the much needed protein for their bodies.

There are many benefits in having soy a part of your continuous dietary habits.

  • Soy is an especially good way to increase the amount of protein that comes from plants in your diet. Studies show that including more proteins from plants in your diet can lower your blood pressure as well as other benefits. Read the rest of this entry »