Keep Your Health Tips

Impossible, you might say, especially if the vegetables you ate growing up were boiled into oblivion. Or maybe yours were embalmed as canned vegetables or cryogenically frozen. Treated with such disrespect, it’s easy to understand why many of us avoid vegetables, and lose out on the most life sustaining and disease preventing food available to us.

Vegetables (and fruits, too) are rich in special molecules called phytochemicals. Phyto simply means plant. Phytochemicals give plants their characteristic color, smell, taste and texture. They help the plant protect itself from disease and predators. We get the same benefit when we eat properly prepared vegetables and fruits. Food from animals, such as meat and milk, do not have this effect. The greatest benefit comes from a eating a variety of phytochemicals and is as simple as selecting vegetables and fruits of different colors. The array of colors will make your plate look more appetizing, too.

The easiest way to prepare vegetables is to eat them raw. One of my favorite simple meals is a bowl of soup with carrot sticks, celery sticks spread with pumpkin seed butter, sliced fruit and a piece of whole grain bread. Green salad is also easy. Visit your nearest organic farmers market and check out the bounty of baby greens available right now. Toss with some raw walnuts, fresh berries and balsamic vinaigrette.

Another way to prepare vegetables is to steam them. Add your vegetables to a saucepan, then add a small amount of water,

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Attitude. Let’s think about diet in general. The most basic attitudes are those expressed by the well-known statement, ‘Some people eat to live, and some live to eat.’

Eating is seen either as a means of self survival and a process that must be fulfilled in order to keep body and soul together, or eating is an exceptionally satisfying experience of the senses which must be indulged in at least 3 times a day and more often if possible, or eating is a necessary function of nature which is both pleasurable and functional and is therefore to be considered as part of our daily life and culture.

Depending upon your particular personal attitude, you will either follow the inclination to pay more mental attention to diet or you will prefer to remain in the present, but temporary, comfort of familiar tastes and habits, unconcerned as to your choice of food, its quality, good or bad, and its affect upon your health or your family’s.

If the sensory aspect of food is predominant then you will continue to eat and enjoy it with as little thought and consideration of the subject as possible. In fact you will find you will be more comfortable if you stop reading this article and resume what you were doing.

But ten to one you have found an interest in food has become focused because you realize it is not just sensory, but there are repercussions resulting from the type and quantity of food you eat. And in our affluent society the problem is more usually over indulgence rather than not enough food. In fact many people are so fat, yet instead of limiting their intake of food, are paying professionals to lose their weight for them! When there are people who are starving in other countries of the world we should never abuse our good fortune to replace our need with such greed.

If you can accept that in order to apply the natural rules for good health one must begin to consider that cutting down quantity is the first consideration, there is a chance that you will continue to read on.

Some Helpful Rules of Nutrition

1. The first discipline is to stop the habit in mid-stream. Cease reacting to habitual activity regarding your shopping for food and your preparation of food at mealtimes. This will bring about an opportunity for new interest in introducing new foods, re-thinking old habits, re-assessing what are necessities. Think about what you are purchasing and what you are eating. Decide to choose quality, not quantity.

2. We all know that our bodies require many vitamins, minerals, and natural substances to provide fuel for our physical and mental vitality; to build and maintain our body structure; and to sustain all the wonderful complexity of physiological function. We need lots of ingredients in the sense of a lot of variety in our food in order that our bodies have opportunity to select the ingredient they require.

3. Regarding balancing your selection of food, it is an interesting and reasonable premise that we must reduce the quantity of the foods we indulge in and eat most, because we like their tastes. Most nutritionists hear the common response to their advice to cut down on a particular food, for example, cheese - “Oh but I just love cheese!”

The other part of the discipline is to begin introducing the natural foods that we in the past have chosen to avoid. It is possible to apply this guideline to our advantage not only to increase our health and energy but in addition to extends our potential to enjoy a greater variety of food.

4. Quantity of food is often a problem in discipline. In developed countries, most of us eat far too much, so for some time we can reduce the quantity of our meals without losing any weight at all. The rule of one main meal a day may be different from our old habits, but will seem to be a luxury to those living in impoverished countries and circumstances. Try reducing your quantity as you improve the quality of your food.

5. Quality of food improves to the extent you stop and consider each purchase at the markets and to the extent that you can grow your own food organically, to complement the commercial supplies. What is the origin of the lettuce that your select, the fish, the fruits and nuts, the loin chops, the milk? There is nothing better than a variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and produce as nature offers. Manufacturing and processing foods is always to the detriment of their food value. In other words, we are not buying the best quality unless we remember that rule.

6. Fresh food contains the vital nutrients. Cooking of any kind will affect these elements so cooking should be reduced to a minimum and salads, fruit and fresh food increased. One should not use aluminum cookware. Stainless steel is best.

Once anyone begins to think before eating, one is halfway towards solving the problem of diet - that is, by becoming discriminating. We have to intelligently choose to build our bodies of the chosen material. We know that whatever we eat today, to a large extent determines our health tomorrow. This is surely the simplest and best health insurance we could have. It does not rely upon chance but upon natural laws, which we can learn to live by.

To undertake responsibility for your health and others demands skill and serious recognition of the importance of your role. It is likely that your work will continue for many years so it is best to seek ways to enjoy food and its preparation as an art form. It requires skill and ability from the purchasing of good quality fruit and vegetables to the presentation of food at mealtimes.

And it does not stop here, without a reminder of the need for good digestion and to take the traditional health advice of 32 chews to every mouthful of food. Not only will this improve your digestion but increase your enjoyment through happier taste buds.

So, improve your own health and that of the whole family by taking a serious interest in food that will lead to many benefits, not only in better health for all, but it may help you to conserve your dollars also.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Nutrition

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Want to throw a party for extraordinary event, and then barbecue party is the one of the type that will make the whole event a memorable one! As eating outdoors is a much loved activity liked by everyone and planning the event can help make it more memorable and tranquil for the host. A barbecue party requires an adequate amount of planning and preparation to ensure that everything is laid out properly whether big or small.
The very first thing that you should plan about is the theme of the party that could range from Hawaiian motif, nostalgic seventies get-together, or, if you are near the sea, opt for a beach barbecue party and then plan all aspects of the party such as the food, games and decorations can be fashioned around a central theme.

The other important aspect of the party is planning the menu, as most guests will be looking forward to an array of lip-smacking roasted meats dripping in barbecue sauce, it should be inline with the theme of the party.

Barbecue on the Beach Anyone?

Barbecue bash on the beach could be one memorable event that your guests will be looking for from you in future as well. The whole process of grilling and barbecuing as a cooking technique is that it’s fun, exciting and very rewarding and if done on beach, it is certainly going to double the enjoyment, as the beach pretty much radiates the same atmosphere. You can also plan some interesting games and add extra fun and exciting to the activities that you do at the beach. It’s a place where people can be themselves in their ‘bare essentials’ and the relaxation factor is definitely rewarding. Putting these two brilliant concepts together, a barbecue on the beach is pretty much a recipe for a great time!

Make before you pack your stuff, gear up your grill and hit the sand for one hell of a barbecue on the beach party sure that you are aware of the various safety procedures and other rules governing beach areas and if not so it would be best to consult authorities and secure the proper permissions before you even think about organizing a beach barbecue party.

Once you have finalized on the venue the next step in line would be preparing for your barbecue on the beach. There are various grill types that you may use for barbecuing on the beach - you have the wood or charcoal grill, gas grill or you may also use a campfire tripod. Be sure to station your grill in a stable spot, away from any flammable material and secure from people probably knocking into it.

Bring your marinated meat, poultry or seafood in a cooler and take them out only when you’re ready to start barbecuing to avoid spoilage. Further, the last seasoning you would want on your barbecue on the beach is sand right? So keep them covered!

And of course, don’t forget to pack those barbecue sauces and hot sauces to spice up your barbecue dishes. Treat yourself and your friends’ taste buds to their line of extremely hot products; they would definitely go well with a good beer. Now that’s what I call one unforgettable barbecue on the beach party!

Jakob Culver is founder of the website - Nutritional Food Info and has a solid background in health and nutrition education.
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