Coconut Water, Best Rehydration Drink?

So, the sports drink market is a multiple billion dollar business everything from energy drinks to rehydration drinks, from Gatorade to Red Bull. They are all looking to get your money, but a drink that's not well know is coconut water.  I'm sure the reason you have not heard about it is because it has to compete with the likes of Coke and Pepsi Co and their multimillion dollar marketing campaign. If you do some easy research you can find a great natural drink as opposed the aforementioned.  When looking for an effective rehydration/energy drink I like to use the "kiss" term, keep it simple stupid. The best rehydration drink should basically be composed of the same thing you lose when you exercise, which is sweat, I know gross, but hear me out. Sweat is composed of water, sodium (0.9 gram/liter), potassium (0.2 g/l), calcium (0.015 g/l), magnesium (0.0013 g/l), all of which need to be replace to rehydrate. Coconut water contains all of these in a high ratio, is naturally produced, with natural sugar as opposed to high fructose corn syrup, without harmful dyes, and with twice the recommeded dose of vitamin c (the importance of vitamin c can be referred to my past article).  Coconut water has 15 percent of the daily recommended dose for potassium as opposed to Gatorade's one percent.  Of course, the most important thing with coconut water is it taste great!

The Coolest Name of Any Food...Quinoa

Quinoa is a grain like cereal that is know for it's edible seeds, it is most related species-wise to the beet, spinach or tumbleweed.  Quinoa originated in the Andean region of Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, where it was successfully domesticated 3,000 to 4,000 years ago for human consumption, though archeological evidence shows a non-domesticated association with pastoral herding some 5,200 to 7,000 years ago. Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in Inca civilizations, secondary only to the potato.  In modern times quinoa is noted for great nutritional value, as it very high in protein. The seeds have so much protein  that it can be a complete source of one's daily protein. Furthermore, it is a good source of dietary fiber (gluten free) and high magnesium and iron. If you remember my previous article on, "Ok, Milk What's Your Deal", we talked about quinoa being an excellent source of calcium for people who are vegans or lactose sensitive. There are many great preparation of quinoa, you can swap it in for the boring rice or potato dish. All you have to do is simply boil it until the seeds are soft and add some salt if you like the natural way. I prefer to make my quinoa into a main dish, boil until seeds are soft and fluffy, add marinated artichoke hearts, sundries tomatoes, olive oil, and cucumbers. Season as needed and you have a healthy vegetarian dish.     

Ah...The Power of Avacados

The wonderful green fruit from Latin America strikes again. Who knew that a food could be that mushy and green at the same time. Love it or hate it, avocados pack a great punch of nutrition. Avocados or the alligator pear were originated in central Mexico and is know all over the Americas, Asia, and Europe.  It has also been known to be called the fertility fruit as it's shape is testicular like. Avocados are one of the few fruits that actually have a high fat content. I know what you're thinking, high fat, no way, before you freak out understand that fat is essential to your daily diet and without fat you would not be able to store energy. It's all about what type of fat you eat, saturated fat is the worst, and polyunsaturated and monounsaturated are the best, and 75 percent of the calories from fat in avocados come from monounsaturated fat. Why is saturated fat the worst? Well that is going to be in another article in the short future. Want potassium, which is an essential element and especially important in runners and exercise enthusiast? Well avocados have 35 percent more potassium than bananas, so next time you're running and cramping up, eat an avocado instead of a banana. The great fruit is also high in important vitamins like B, E, and K, and a great source of fiber.  In recent research a high avocado diet was shown in one preliminary study to lower blood cholesterol levels. Specifically, after a seven-day diet rich in avocados, mild hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol) patients showed a 17% decrease in total cholesterol levels. These subjects also showed a 22% decrease in both LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglyceride levels and 11% increase in HDL (good cholesterol) levels.  Some research has been ongoing as using some of the compounds in avocados as anti-cancer and anti-bacterial. Words of wisdom "always get the guacamole."   

Dr. Phil on Chiropractic

Great information on Dr. Phil about the benefits of chiropractic and how it works

How Much Vitamin C Do You Need?

   There has been some controversy over the year of amount of how much vitamin C we need. We have know for a long that vitamin C is essential.  Vitamin C has been paramount in combating against scurvy, which is a disease of lack vitamin C, which symptoms include malaise and lethargy, followed by formation of spots on the skin, spongy gums, and bleeding from the mucous membranes. When British sailors went out sea they always carried limes to help fight the disease which is why British sailors are called "limeys".  Vitamin C was not linked to scurvy until 1932, it was understood before this time that limes stopped scurvy, so the rolled with it. Function of vitamin C is quite important for life on a cellular and molecular level. Vitamin C functions in the synthesis of collagen, which is found in all connective tissue, it has been show to be a potent antioxidant, and is vital in many enzymatic and chemical reactions in the body. It has been shown the  be a natural antihistamine, which decreases and allergic reaction, and important in the immunological response.  


     The current recommend does (RDA) for adults has in the U.S. has been 90mg a day, which in my opinion is a lower standard since other western societies recommend and use more, for instance, in 2004, a Canadian Community health survey reported that Canadians of 19 years and above have intakes of vitamin C from food of 133 mg/d for males and 120 mg/d for females;these are higher than the RDA recommendations. Why not take more than the recommended dose since moderately higher blood levels of vitamin C measured in healthy persons have been found to be prospectively correlated with decreased risk of cardiovascular disease and heart disease, and an increase life expectancy. The same study found an inverse relationship between blood vitamin C levels and cancer risk in men. Some radical, and I believe revolutionary thinking came from Linus Pauling whom won the Nobel prize that asserted that chronic long term low blood levels of vitamin C ("chronic scurvy") is a cause of atherosclerosis, Mr. Pauling recommended vitamin C mega-doses up to 10 grams a day as a cure for cancer, he himself took 2-3grams a day. Many studies done by him and his counterpart show some promise but the results were quickly recanted, sabotaged, and ridiculed by other medical doctors as false.  A natural cure for cancer, mainstream medicine could not let this be so easy and simple. Mr. Pauling did live to be 93 so maybe he was on to something with mega-dose. So what's the harm of taking a more than the recommended dose, mild nausea or diarrhea, benefits, perhaps cancer fighter, living longer.

Medical Inc. Trailer

This video is great content of how medicine is a multi-billion business, and completely over used in this country and explain how our medical model is broken. Please enjoy.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZUXA6mz_JA&feature=share

Who Wants Java?

So who is sick of other people telling them they need to stop drinking coffee? I am too. Next time you're getting ready to down your favorite Starbucks coffee or premium organic hazelnut and your wife or a friend complains, hit them with some knowledge. Coffee knowledge I like to call it. You can tell other people for instance that if you are a male, coffee can increase your sperm motility. I get it to much information, but this is a fact that many people do not know just like these other facts. Coffee has been linked to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia, formation of gallstones, and Parkinson's disease. It has been shown to improve cognitive performance(memory), work as a pain killer, be anti-diabetic, protect the liver, decrease occurrences of mouth and throat cancer, a potent natural laxative, reduce dental bacteria, reduce gout, and maybe decrease blood pressure. The benefits can be obtained by drinking as little as one or two cups a day.    I will leave you with this as the ultimate one up, a May 2012 study by the New England Journal of Medicine found that, during the course of their study, coffee drinkers "who drank at least two or three cups a day were about 10 percent or 15 percent less likely to die for any reason during the 13 years of the study. Next time somebody tries to lecture, tell them "I am less likely to die!"

 

Weed or Medicine?

Funny what you find in your own backyard. My friends were helping me whack away at some pretty tall weeds when Pat remarked about some of these not-so-friendly-looking plants. He pointed to the one I was attacking with my shovel. "That's a milk thistle," he said. "I believe it's got some therapeutic value."
I commented how very interesting that was and kept whacking. But the next day I dug into some references materials. Sure enough, this spiny, purple-flowered plant has been used for thousands of years as a remedy for a variety of ailments, according to a National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

According to Rational Phytotherapy, a classic, science-based guide to herbal medicine, that milk thistle I chopped to the ground is considered one of the few plant-based medicines to have undergone "state-of-the-art pharmacologic testing" and well-controlled research studies.

Milk thistle is a prickly member of the daisy family named for the whitish fluid that comes out of the leaves when crushed. Its fruit (which obviously comes from the seed, Pat reminded me) contains silymarin — a group of active compounds named from milk thistle's Latin name, Silybum marianum.
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The Power of Nuts

Nuts can be your best friend or your worst enemy, only if you're allergic though. If you're not allergic they have great health benefits. Some types of nuts are cashews, almonds, pecan, pistachios and walnuts. Actually one of the most common nuts, peanuts, are actually not a nut at all they are a legume, which is in the bean family.  Nuts are an excellent source of protein and supply a lot of the protein in people with vegetarian diets. The best fact in my opinion is that nuts are a natural appetite suppressor, which means a mid-morning or afternoon snack of nuts can keep you from starving until your next meal. Can eating nuts help your heart? It has been shown that people who eat nuts lower the LDL (bad cholesterol), having high LDL is one cause of heart disease. Eating nuts also reduces your risk of developing blood clots that can cause a heart attack. There has been evidence that nuts can also help in the strengthening of the lining in your arteries. Below is a list of the compounds in nuts that are beneficial, courtesy of the Mayo Clinic. 

Although it varies by nut, most nuts contain at least some of these heart-healthy substances:
 Unsaturated fats. It's not entirely clear why, but it's thought that the "good" fats in nuts — both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats — lower bad cholesterol levels.
 Omega-3 fatty acids. Many nuts are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s are a healthy form of fatty acids that seem to help your heart by, among other things, preventing dangerous heart rhythms that can lead to heart attacks. Omega-3 fatty acids are also found in many kinds of fish, but nuts are one of the best plant-based sources of omega-3 fatty acids.
 Fiber. All nuts contain fiber, which helps lower your cholesterol. Fiber also makes you feel full, so you eat less. Fiber is also thought to play a role in preventing diabetes.
 Vitamin E. Vitamin E may help stop the development of plaques in your arteries, which can narrow them. Plaque development in your arteries can lead to chest pain, coronary artery disease or a heart attack.
 Plant sterols. Some nuts contain plant sterols, a substance that can help lower your cholesterol. Plant sterols are often added to products like margarine and orange juice for additional health benefits, but sterols occur naturally in nuts.
 L-arginine. Nuts are also a source of l-arginine, which is a substance that may help improve the health of your artery walls by making them more flexible and less prone to blood clots that can block blood flow   

Okay Milk, What's Your Deal?

So imaging that you're sitting down, and you just got done making an awesome PB and J and take one bit and realize something is missing. Where is the cold glass of milk?  Perfect to top it off, right? I am not so sure. So think about milk for a second, now where does it come from? Well that's easy, a cow
dummy-head. A better question is "why are we drinking the milk of another animal?" That is a great question,  let me elaborate on why we drink any milk at all. We are considered mammals, a characteristic of being a mammal is drinking milk from your mother. We are the only species that actually drink milk from another species, would you drink milk from a monkey, horse or giraffe? I hope your answer is no, but you have to realize that is just outrageous as drinking milk from a cow and have the same correlation, which is none.  I know I'm the bad guy, raining on your milk parade.  Here is another fun fact about mammals, we can only effectively break down lactose, commonly known as the sugar in milk, while we are babies. This fact mean at some point after you stop drinking milk from your mother, we stop producing lactase, the enzyme to break down that milk sugar. Based on these two facts it means, every single person is lactose intolerant to some point. Interesting? I think so.


So your next question is even if I wanted to give up milk, how am I going to get my calcium? First, let's talk about calcium, calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the recommended intake is 1,000 mg a day for adults. Ninety-nine percent of the body's calcium is stored in bones and teeth for structural support. While dairy products are the most obvious source of calcium, there are other foods that can provide your daily dose, according to the USDA. Here is a great list of foods that actually have more calcium than milk and are more beneficial overall 


1)  Soy or almond milk.
2)  Sardines which have high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. But the little fish also give you 325 mg of calcium.
3)  One half cup of firm tofu contains 253 mg of calcium and only 88 calories.
4)  Salmon offers 181 mg of calcium per three ounces.
5)  Collard Greens, a half cup of collard greens has 178 mg of calcium and 31 calories.
6)   Fortified ready-to-eat cereals can provide from 236 to 1043 mg of calcium. 


Incorporate the list into your diet, but please done cry over spilled milk. 







  

Lose weight the easy way?

Pills? According to the Food and Drug administration, yes pills. On Tuesday the FDA approved a new weight-loss drug from Vivus Inc, that may be considered the most effective to date. Why not take a chance on pills and the great side effects, now please turn off your sarcasm detectors. Yes the same govt. agency that approved wonderful drugs like Vioxx, Avandia, and Yaz. Now they want to break in the weight loss game and replace good old exercise and a healthly diet. The FDA cleared the pill's name as Qsymia which are for adults who are obese or overweight and have at least one weight-related condition such as high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol. Patients taking Qsymia for a year lost 6.7 percent of their body weight in one study and 8.9 percent in another study, the FDA said.  Hold up, did they just say 8.9 percent of their body weight? So a 300lb person will at most only lose about 27lb after taking the pill for a YEAR? So let me get this right a "pill" is going to do the same thing cutting you calorie intake in half and doing cardiovascular exercise for 30 minutes a day/ 3times a week is going to do?

If you only take the pill the only beneficial side is weight loss, the harmful side effects are unknown, but based on the FDA there will be some public ones in the short future. Let me point out the pill will not alter blood chemistry, so cholesterol will still be high, blood sugar will still be running wild, and inflammation will be rampant.  The benefits of exercise and a balance diet far outweigh the use of an FDA approved pill. The benefit of exercise and a balance diet are numerous, just to name a few, weight loss (hello), builds muscle, prevents osteoporosis, neutralizes blood sugar, levels LDL cholesterol, increases HLD cholesterol (the good kind), promotes healthly function of every organ system, increases metabolism and improves sleep cycles. One is free and proven and the other is I'm sure costly and dangerous, a long line of prescription diet pills has been associated with dangerous side effects, particularly heart problems. Please make the healthy choice if you are given an option.

The incredible edible..mushroom?

Yes indeed, the gross, slimy, and science fiction looking fungus serves great benefit. For a long time mushrooms have been associated with magic, spiritual power and mystical powers. Mushrooms have been used as foods, medicine, poisons, artifacts, and of course, hallucinogens.  Some people lump mushrooms in the vegetable part of the food pyramid, but they don't really fit in just like their odd characteristics. The trait that interests me the most regarding mushrooms are that they are made of chitin, which is a polysaccharide forming the principal component of arthropod exoskeletons, bug or crab skeleton, to the non-science people.

Some mushrooms, like Shiitake, contains valuable sterols, glycosides, amino acids, enzymes, polysaccharides, vitamins, and other minerals. Research shows that mushrooms help fight breast cancer cells, skin cancer cells, and have some promise in AIDS therapy.  The compounds  appear to increase the immune response by the increasing macrophages, killer T-cells, T lymphocytes, and natural killer cells. Specifically, Maitake mushrooms can also combat against high blood pressure, and to neutralize blood sugar levels.

You can eat them from fried to dried, and from fresh to cooked, just remember next time you get a pizza say, "mushrooms please, just not the poisonous ones!"

Strawberries!!!

 

Game, set and match to strawberries: The superfruit: Strawberries, the traditional summer treat associated with Wimbledon could be serving up some unexpected health benefits.