Foods and Migraines

Have you sometimes felt awful or felt a migraine coming on after eating certain foodstuff? Can foods trigger migraines? Can allergies to certain foods trigger migraines? What about food additives like MSG? Here's an interesting Q&A from NY Times on food and migraines... Can Foods Trigger Migraines?

Fat-burning foods

Did you know there are foods that can make you lose weight? It is true. They are fat-burning foods which require more calories to digest than what they contain. Each bite will literally melt away the fat! If you pick fruits and vegetables, you are on the right track.

Study Finds Eating Nuts Helps Cholesterol

NY Times reported that eating about two and a half airplane snacks’ worth of nuts every day helps lower total cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol, and improves the ratio of total cholesterol to “good” HDL cholesterol, a study reports.

Eating Right for A Healthy You

Oftentimes, we take our health for granted, not eating correctly nor getting adequate exercise and sleep. It is when we fall ill or suffer a condition that we get the wake-up call to correct our ways.

A healthy body is just like a functioning machine. If one of a machine or equipment's spring plungers break down, for instance, the equipment breaks down as a result or performs at less than optimal levels. Likewise, if one of our body parts does not function as well, the entire body or health suffers. So, do take extra care with your health - eat right, get adequate rest and exercise.

Fatty Foods Affect Memory and Exercise Performance

If you are a fan of high-fat food, you may want to go easy on it from now on. Research has shown that fatty foods affect short-term memory and exercise performance.

It’s already known that long-term consumption of a high-fat diet is associated with weight gain, heart disease and declines in cognitive function. But the new research shows how indulging in fatty foods over the course of a few days can affect the brain and body long before the extra pounds show up.

Even though exercise is a good way of burning off the excess fat, but in terms of actually trying to put in a good time if you’re running, it will limit your performance.

Source: Fatty Foods Affect Memory and Exercise - NY Times

Organic Food is No Healthier

If you think organic food has more nutritional content instead of conventional food, you may be in for a shock. Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a major study published Wednesday.

A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no significant difference.

Eating Fish May Ward Off Dementia

I read with interest this article in the NY Times about the advantage of eating fish. It says that there is new evidence that a diet rich in fish may ward off dementia and the more fish you eat, the less likely you will get dementia. However, the opposite is true for meat because the more meat you eat, the more likely you are to have dementia. There have been other studies indicating that red meat may be bad for the brain.

Health Tip - Food Pyramid

Here is a fitness tip:

Hang a Food Pyramid chart on your wall to remind you to eat accordingly.





















Source of image

The 10 most hazardous foods

MSN compiled a list of the 10 most hazardous foods and how to eat them healthfully. Here they are as reproduced from the site:

1. Alfalfa sprouts

The danger: "Sprouts are at the top of the list when it comes to potential problem because the conditions for producing sprouts promote the growth of harmful bacteria. In order to grow sprouts, the seeds are soaked and kept moist—a prime breeding ground for bacteria. (Salmonella is the most common illness associated with sprouts).

2. Eggs
The danger: The good news about eggs is that it's the rare egg that will make you sick.About one in every 10,000 eggs has salmonella. It's a very low risk, but you never know when it'll be your egg. And since the bacteria can be inside the egg, the only way to eradicate it is to thoroughly cook your eggs.

3. Rare burgers
The danger: Eating raw or very rare beef is always a bit risky. Beef has the potential for carrying salmonella or E. coli contamination. And even when the meat is produced under the most ideal conditions, there is still a risk that it can harbor bacteria. The only way to fully guarantee that it is bacteria-free is to buy meat that has been irradiated. And ground beef is more risky than, say, a steak, because it is handled more, and after being ground it has greater surface area on which to harbor bacteria.

4. Packaged greens
The danger: Leafy greens—including cut lettuces and spinach—have been responsible for several outbreaks of disease and product recalls in recent years. There are many ways that bacteria like E. coli or salmonella can infect produce—from infected animal feces that infiltrate the water or soil or from handling procedures during the picking or packaging. In most situations, washing the produce will not wash away the risk.

5. Sushi
The danger: The primary cause for concern with sushi is the presence of parasites—tapeworms, flatworms and roundworms, for example—in the raw fish. To minimize risk, eat sashimi (sushi made with raw fish) at restaurants where the chefs not only know how to purchase the best fish, but also know how to identify and remove parasites during preparation. While no raw fish can be guaranteed safe, dipping it in soy sauce and wasabi may have a mildly antimicrobial effect.

6. Chicken
The danger: Raw chicken is a notorious carrier of salmonella and campylobacter bacteria. It's fairly easy not to serve chicken that's contaminated—just make sure you cook it thoroughly with no pink showing when you cut it open (no one wants their chicken served rare anyway!). The biggest risk factors for getting sick is not from eating the chicken, but from cross-contamination during your prep and cooking.

7. Mayonnaise
The danger: Old wives' tales aside, it appears that mayonnaise really isn't all that risky. But because myths abound about food poisoning at family picnics caused by mayonnaise-laced salads, slaws and sandwiches, the condiment still made our list—if for no other reason than to debunk those myths. "The FDA standards for commercially prepared mayonnaise mean it has to have a certain pH and acidity [which were chosen] based on studies to kill salmonella."So putting mayonnaise into a salad can actually have an anti-microbial effect.

8. Cantaloupe
The danger: A recall of cantaloupe imported from Honduras because of salmonella contamination has focused attention on the melon. The rind that encases the fruit may harbor the bacteria, but it's easily transferred to the edible flesh inside once it's cut up.

9. Unpasteurized cheese
The danger: Unless you're getting your milk fresh from the cow, chances are it has been pasteurized—a heat treatment process designed to kill bacteria (including salmonella, listeria and E. coli) present in the milk. But even those who wouldn't think of drinking unpasteurized milk may be unknowingly eating cheese made from that same untreated milk. Many soft cheeses—including brie, feta and goat cheese—are unpasteurized. Although federal regulation requires that domestic and imported unpasteurized cheeses be aged for at least 60 days, cheeses made from raw milk still carry some risk of contamination. Because of that risk, it's recommended that pregnant women, children, the elderly and anyone else with a compromised immune system avoid eating them.

10. Salad bar fixings
The danger: It may be the ultimate in convenience to swing by the salad bar and choose from a wide array of ingredients that are all chopped up and ready to mix into a customized meal. But letting someone else do all the prep work can result in some unhealthy surprises. "The biggest factors contributing to potentially unsafe salad-bar food are foods that aren't kept hot or cold enough, handling of food by workers with poor hygiene, and refilling partially used containers of perishable food with fresh food.

Refer to Eat at Your Own Risk on msn.com to find out how to eat these foods healthfully.

Popcorn is a good snack

These days, you can get all types of snacks readily available. The good old-fashioned popcorn is still a popular snack especially at cinemas and funfairs. Those popcorn machines never are idle for long.

Did you know that air-popped popcorn is naturally high in fiber, low in calories and fat, contains no sodium, and is sugar free? This can make it an attractive snack for people with dietary restrictions on the intake of calories, fat and/or sodium.

Calories behind Fast Food

MSN discovered through their investigations scrambling behind counters, digging under drive-thrus, and lunging into deep fryers to find out what's really going into our meals. And they found out some pretty startling discoveries compiling them in their 16 Secrets The Restaurant Industry Doesn't Want You to Know.

If you and your family are fond of fast-food, you may want to read what secrets MSN found in the 16 Secrets that The Restaurant Industry Doesn't Want You to Know and be in the know as to what you and your family are eating.

Balance Your Moods With Food

Did you know that we can balance our moods with food?

(NC)-Here are some helpful hints on the nutrients you need
to stay "emotionally fit" and help prevent mood-swings. These
foods help keep you "hormonally" healthy - see Canada's Food
Guide to Healthy Eating to ensure that you get all of the
nutrients needed to maintain a well-balanced diet for optimal
overall health.

Before breakfast:
Start your day with greens+™, a balanced formula of 23
herbs, vitamins, minerals, organic and nutrient-rich foods to
help boost motivation and energy levels.

Breakfast:
This should include about one-third of foods that are high in
lean protein such as eggs, grains or low-fat yogurt and two-
thirds of low-density complex carbohydrates such as
vegetables, fruits and whole grains.

Mid-morning snack:
Reach for some raw, very low-density complex carbohydrates
such as carrots, celery or zucchini.

Lunch:
Eat a balanced lunch including lean protein such as chicken or
fish with complex carbohydrates from veggies and leafy greens.

Mid-afternoon snack:
Choose fresh fruit as a low-density complex carbohydrate snack
to increase the level of serotonin in the body and help curb that
3 o'clock sugar craving.

Dinner:
This should be high in complex carbohydrates and low in
protein to provide enough serotonin to help calm hormones
during the evening for a good night's sleep.

About The Author
News Canada provides a wide selection of current, ready-to-use
copyright free news stories and ideas for Television, Print,
Radio, and the Web. News Canada is a niche service in public
relations, offering access to print, radio, television, and now
the Internet media, with ready-to-use, editorial "fill" items.
Monitoring and analysis are two more of our primary services.
The service supplies access to the national media for marketers
in the private, the public, and the not-for-profit sectors. Your
corporate and product news, consumer tips and information are
packaged in a variety of ready-to-use formats and are made
available to every Canadian media organization including
weekly and daily newspapers, cable and commercial television
stations, radio stations, as well as the Web sites Canadians visit
most often. Visit News Canada and learn more about the NC
services.