Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Only a Few Days Left for This Special...The Great Health Debate

If you didn't listen to The Great Health Debate, you really missed out!

All last week, over 14 health experts presented their case for the healthiest diet and what you can do to get the best health possible.

Some of the experts included were:

- Dr. Joseph Mercola
- Dr. Gabriel Cousens
- Dr. Joel Fuhrman
- Jonny Bowden
- Dr. Robert O. Young
- Donna Gates
- David Wolfe
- T. Colin Campbell
- Sally Fallon
- And more!

As you can see, many of them have different opinions on health and the idea of the event was to bring them all together to come to a more specific understanding of what works and what doesn't!

If you'd like to hear these lectures, there is still a chance for you to get all 14 hours or so of great content at a really good discount here...

http://bit.ly/fhEoOP

The price will remain at $49.95 (a real steal) until Friday February 18th at 11:59 PM PST.  After that it will go up to it's original price.

Some of the topics that were covered were:

- Is meat nutritionally good or bad?

- Can you eat vegan or raw and still be healthy?

- Are dairy products incredible elixirs or heart clogging sludge?

- What diet did our ancestors really eat?

- Are we able to live on a vegan or raw food diet based on the technology we have today?

- What fat soluable vitamins and nutrition are in animal products that are essential to life? (And if you're a vegan, how to get them...)

- Are fermented foods good for you, or do they break down the body even more?

- Why is there so much mis-information and disagreement between health and diet experts?

- What about carbs, or fruit, or any other food... what is OK to eat and what is not?

- Plus, many, many more!

I hope you take advantage of this wealth of knowledge now while it's still at a great price!

Here's where you can read more...

http://bit.ly/fhEoOP

Remember, this deal lasts until Friday, February 18th at 11:59 PM PST!

Healthy Crock Pot Cooking – Make The Right Ingredient Choices

Crock pot cooking can be a real time saver when it comes to preparing a hearty meal for your family. Set the temperature and it basically cooks for you. You can go out and run your errands instead of watching over a simmering pot. Although your crock pot is the ultimate in convenience, oftentimes you'll see recipes that use too many prepacked ingredients, purported to make the meal faster and easier. However, you don't have to sacrifice eating healthy for quick meal preparation. Here are a few ideas for ingredients to add, and some to eliminate, in order to keep your crock pot cooking as healthy as possible:

Add This

Kick up the flavor with herbs and spices instead of prepackaged flavorings. Either snip a few fresh herbs or sprinkle in some dried herbs to boost the flavor of your crock pot creation. Dried herbs are a good choice because they stand up well to the long cooking. If you use fresh herbs it's normally best to wait for the last half hour or so to add them to the crock pot. Mix and match a variety of herbs and seasonings like black pepper, garlic, and onion, to give your crock pot meal layers of flavor without using preservative and additive packed ready mixes.

Use fresh meats and vegetables rather than canned or other prepackaged food. With a little prep work, you can have a crock pot meal that is nutritious and delicious without relying on processed ingredients. You can control the amount of salt and completely remove the preservatives from your family meals by using fresh meats, vegetables, and even fruit. If you're used to canned and frozen food, this may taste a little different than you are used to. But, it won't be long before you learn the pleasures of digging into a meal that's closer to what your grandparents used to enjoy.

Lean meats, when cooked in the oven, can dry out. You have to be watchful, perhaps basting with drippings or butter to keep the meat moist. This is not only tedious, but covering meat in butter to keep it juicy defeats the purpose of eating lean meat for your health. The crock pot's unique cooking method keeps the moisture in the meat, recycling the juices over and over with the lid's condensation. Surround some skinless chicken breasts with fresh cut veggies and a sprinkle of herbs, put on the lid, and you'll have the juiciest lean chicken possible.

Eliminate That

The 'Cream Of' soups are often a staple of crock pot recipes. You'll find many crock pot dishes call for cream of mushroom, chicken, or celery soup to make a dish thick and creamy. Canned soups are often loaded with additives you can't pronounce and don't want to feed your family. These chemical additives are avoidable when you learn a few simple methods to whip up an alternative for the creamy base. A quick whisk of flour, butter or oil, and milk or broth in a saucepan will produce the same ingredient without the additives.

Most serious cooks know that salted butter is another thing you can do without. Unsalted butter is the best way to go, giving you the creamy flavor while still allowing you to control what goes into your crock pot. Using unsalted butter keeps your food from sticking better than salted butter and also keeps your sodium content at your discretion, not the food manufacturer's.

Processed canned foods; vegetables, fruit, and meat, can be over-processed and may contain extra ingredients that just don't do well in the crock pot. This leads to disaster, both in terms of nutrition and texture. In order to get the healthiest meal possible in your crock pot, ban food items that have been processed and canned in oil, sugary syrups or, even worse, artificial additives to keep the colors bright. There is no room for these kinds of foods in your healthy crock pot cooking.

Start Cooking Healthy Today

Controlling what goes into a meal is key to healthy crock pot cooking. You have the ability to keep the flavors high and the artificial preservatives low just by choosing the right ingredients. Once you get used to cooking with healthy ingredients, you'll find there is not much of a difference in time or trouble between a stew made with fresh wholesome ingredients, and stew made by opening cans and other packages and dumping it all in the crock pot.

Use fresh ingredients and leave out the processed foods to make the most of your crock pot meals. Slow cooking was designed for fresh food; picture your grandparents patiently stirring a pot full of fresh ingredients to feed the family a healthy meal. Follow their lead to bring back the joys of your grandparent's time around the dinner table.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Kids Eating Healthy

Fast food is a big part of modern life these days, making it very hard to teach a child how he or she should eat healthy.  The cheapest and easiest foods are those that are normally the least healthy.  If  you give your child the choice between healthy food and junk food, you normally won't like the results.

Even though it isn't possible to get a child to like all healthy foods, there are some ways to get your child to try and hopefully like at least a few of them.  You can be as creative as you like, as getting  kids to eat healthy foods can be a little harder than you may think.

-  Sneak the healthy food in.  Even though it would  be great if your kid understood the importance of  fruits and vegetables, this isn't always possible. If you can't get them to eat good food willingly,  there are ways to sneak them in, such as making  muffins out of bananas or apples, or pizza with spinach on it.

-  Call fruits and vegetables by funny names.  You can refer to broccoli as "trees", making them  more fun to eat.  There are many different names you can call fruits and vegetables, even making up your own if you prefer.  Most kids prefer to eat foods that sound fun.

-  Make the foods taste better. Ranch dressing is great for broccoli, while peanut butter is a great topping for celery.  There are several combinations for vegetables that can make them taste much better.  You can let your child pick a topping for a vegetable, even if it's something you wouldn't normally like yourself.

-  Dress the vegetables up.  Just as much as calling them names help kids eat healthy foods, making them look funny also helps.  You can do this by making  funny designs on the plate, or setting them up to look like people.  Although some parents don't like their kids playing with their food, sometimes it helps to get them to eat healthier.

There are several ways to make your kids eat healthier, but to make them enjoy it also has to be fun as well.  This isn't always an easy task,  because kids normally don't like foods that are good for them.  It can however, be done with a bit of creativity.  Hopefully, doing this will help your child develop a love of healthy foods for the rest of their lives.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Changing How You Eat

As you may know, not fueling up with the right  nutrients can affect how well your body performs  and your overall fitness benefits.  Even though  healthy eating is important, there are myths that hinder your performance if you listen to them.

Below, you'll find some myth busters on healthy eating.

1.  Working out on an empty stomach. If you hear a rumbling noise in your stomach, the rumbling is trying to tell you something.  Without listening to them, you are forcing your body to run without any fuel.  Before you exercise or do any physical activity, always eat a light snack such as an apple.

2.  Relying on energy bars and drinks. Although they are fine every once in a while, they don't deliver the antioxidants you need to prevent cancer.  Fruits and vegetables are your best bets, as they are loaded in vitamins, minerals, fluid, and fiber.

3.  Skipping breakfast. Skipping breakfast is never a good idea, as breakfast starts the day.  Your body needs fuel as soon as possible, and without it, you'll be hungry throughout the day.

4.  Low carb diets. Your body needs carbohydrates for your muscles and the storing of energy. 

5.  Eating what you want. Eating healthy and exercising doesn't give you an all access pass to eat anything you want.  Everyone needs the same nutrients whether they exercise or not, as well as fruits and vegetables.

6.  Not enough calories Although losing weight involves calories, losing it too quickly is never safe.  What you should do, is aim for 1 - 2 pounds a week.  Always make sure that you are getting enough calories to keep your body operating smoothly.  If you start dropping weight too fast, eat a bit more food.

7.  Skip soda and alcohol. Water, milk, and juice is the best to drink for active people.  You should drink often, and not require on thirst to be an indicator.  By the time you get thirsty, your body is already running a bit too low.

Changing how you eat is always a great step towards healthy eating and it will affect how your body performs.  The healthier you eat, you better you'll feel.  No matter how old you may be, healthy eating is something you should strive for.  Once you give it a chance, you'll see in no time at all just how much it can change your life - for the better.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Are we killing ourselves with the food we eat?

Are we killing ourselves with the food we eat?

For centuries, Asian wise men and doctors have traditionally treated illnesses of the human body by first examining the diet of the patient. Chinese Emperors devoted immense resources for these experts to study the Asian Diet due to the huge benefits of health and long life attained from eating the right foods. Is this 4000 year old history of treating people with proper nutrition actually responsible for the lack of obesity and chronic disease in Asian countries? Read on to find out!

The Asian Diet – 4000 years of research without the benefit of modern science.

Ancient Asian Physicians did not have the benefit of modern technology to break down the chemical structures and processes of the human body to reveal the exact causes of illnesses and disease. But they did have over 4000 years to prove which methods of eating did result in the best health and longest life. For the ancient Asian doctors, the patient’s diet was the most obvious factor to control the healthiness of the individual and was always considered first before resorting to more drastic measures of concocting medicines or performing surgical procedures. Their success of treating people with proper diet is more than evident today when we realize that the Asian culture rarely suffers from obesity, heart disease, diabetes, or cancer. This success is darkly contrasted when we compare Asian culture with Western culture. In the West, 61% of us are over weight and 27% of us are clinically obese. Chronic disease is increasing in Western culture at an alarming rate!

The Asian Diet – Did They Get It Right?

Obviously yes. None of the plagues that we suffer from in the West are as prominent in Asia as they are in the West. However, there is one piece of evidence that we must consider – this is changing in Asia – but why?

To understand this, we must look at the differences in the Asian Diet compared to the Western diet. The Asian Diet is traditionally plant-based foods with only small portions of meat and virtually few dairy products. But Asians have traditionally not suffered from lack of protein or calcium as evidenced by few if any occurrences of osteoporosis. The range of foods they consume provide ample amounts of the macro and micro nutrients they need for excellent health.

Over the last 100 years or so, the West has become heavily commercialized and industrialized. Our foods have become highly processed and we have been addicted to large portions of red meats and deep fried foods. We generally only eat vegetables as a side dish if we eat them at all! We preserve our foods with chemicals and reconstruct them so they do not spoil – allowing us to produce copious stockpiles of food. We eat on the run at fast food restaurants and we dump our quick meals from bags and boxes into boiling water for the “at home” meal.

So what is the evidence that is now changing Asia into unhealthy and obese people? Normally, if you tour Asia, the first thing you notice is that people are slender and healthy looking. But the younger set in Asia are falling in love with the fast food restaurants. The busy mothers are now starting to buy all the “meals in a box” in the rush to keep up with the fast paced lifestyle in the modern cities. Asia is beginning to see the effects of the change in diet and how it is making people fat while increasing chronic disease.

Since this is a relatively new development in Asia and because Asia has traditionally believed that the diet is largely responsible for health – Asia is more aware of the evils of the Western diet. Even the young people are starting to shy away as they recognize the effects – unfortunately, not enough as they are bombarded by commercials daily which entice them.

The Asian Diet Revolution – Getting Back to Our Roots

If we look back in Western civilization just a mere 100 years ago, we will see that our diets have shifted from plant-based to mostly meats, deep fried foods and dairy products. Modern processed foods have taken the place of natural organic foods and it is within this 100 year period that we have noticed the rise in chronic disease and obesity in the West. In her book, “Asian Diet Revolution,” Dina Zain Smith has used her 14 year study of her Asian heritage to compile an ebook which contains the differences between the traditional Asian Diet and the dining styles prominent in the West. With the benefit of modern science, she has revealed how ancient Asian physicians actually “got it right” by using modern research results from the West. Using these modern research results, she has identified the basic components of the Western diet which are responsible for the increase in obesity and chronic disease in the West. The same basic components which are also slowly creeping into the East.

The Asian Diet Revolution – A complete Blueprint for Losing Weight and Improving health

In the “Asian Diet Revolution,” you will find out the benefits of the traditional Asian Diet. You will also find out what parts of the Western diet are responsible for the increase in chronic disease and obesity. A proven method of feeding yourself correctly is detailed in an easy plan which will allow you to toss those expensive and useless diet pills, insane exercise plans, diet supplements, and “Fad” diets in the trash. Common sense traditional Asian Diet preparations that are both healthy and delicious which will never leave you hungry are included. A delicious recipe section which highlights the proper Asian Diet is included as well as a section on efficient exercise that allows you to get fast results by working out only 3 days a week for 20 minutes each day.

So don’t sign up for another “Fad” diet or Weight Loss Program until you read “Asian Diet Revolution.” You will be disappointed in any of these after you read this book. For the price of a lunch for two, you can have this wealth of information and a plan that will get you slender faster and keep you there during your healthier and longer life. Go now to AsianDietRevolution.com so you can get started on a new life of excellent health and a sexy figure today!