Nutrition

The Nutrition And Effects Of Different Kinds Of Fruits

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As we all know, fruits are very beneficial to human body. However, different fruits not only have different nutrition, but also have different effects on human body. As a result, the following section will give a detailed introduction of the nutrition and effects of different kinds of fruits.

1. Banana
Banana can help the sentimental people dispel the pessimistic and irritable emotion, and keep a calm and happy mood. This is mainly because banana contains a large number of 5-hydroxy tryptamine, which can bring people great pleasure. Study has found out that, for those patients with depression, they contain less 5-hydroxy tryptamine than other average people.

2. Pear
Pear is a kind of fruit which can make people dynamic and energetic. It contains sufficient water, and is rich in vitamins A, vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E and trace element iodine, which can maintain the health of cells and tissues, promote the detoxification and purification of human organs. What’s more, it can also soften the blood vessels, promote the blood to transport more calcium to the bones.

3. Grapefruit
Grapefruit can ensure human health and promote the healthy functioning of the cardiovascular system. It contains pectin, which can lower the level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in the body, reduce the damage on artery walls, maintain the function of blood vessels, and prevent atherosclerosis and heart disease. The researchers also have found out that, eating grapefruits can significantly promote the recovery of injured tissues and organs in the exercise.

4. Apple
Research shows that, eating an apple every day not only can prevent many kinds of diseases, but also can give people a sense of satiety. It is indeed the most practical fruit. American Cancer Research Center recommends people to eat apples for the prevention of cancer, because the rich content of natural antioxidants contained in apple can effectively eliminate the free radicals in human body and reduce the incidence of cancer.

5. Watermelon
Watermelon contains a large number of water, fructose, and a variety of vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Watermelon is the best fruit in the hot summer. It can improve the symptoms of sunstroke, fever, sweating, thirst, and so on. In addition, those who suffer from stomatitis, hematochezia, alcoholism can eat more watermelon, which can help them relieve the diseases.

6. Kiwifruit
Kiwi fruit not only supplies a lot of nutrients to human body, but also can prevent the formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines in the body. What’s more, it also has the effect of lowering the level of cholesterol and triglycerides in human body.

Good Nutrition Can Lower The Risk Of Alzheimer’s Disease

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I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease,” Ronald Reagan, former president of the United States, announced in November 1994. “I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this Earth doing the things I have always done,” he declared. “Unfortunately, as Alzheimer’s disease progresses, the family often bears a heavy burden. I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience.”

In his message, Reagan summed up the tragedy of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Those suffering from AD face the reality of losing touch with their old lives. Family and friends are forced to watch a loved one slowly fall victim to the dreadful condition.

Scientists aren’t sure exactly what’s behind AD. Some suspect a certain gene – apolipoprotein E 4 allele (Apo E4) – plays a major part in your brain’s decline. Other experts believe years of oxidative stress also are at the root of the problem.

Whatever causes Alzheimer’s disease attacks the part of your brain that controls speech, thoughts, and memory. You gradually lose the power to recall the past and the ability to carry out your daily life. AD usually hits around age 65 and older, and your risk goes up each year after that.

Through this dark cloud, however, there is a ray of hope. According to AD experts like Dr. Grace Petot, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, people can change their lifestyles to lower their risk. Boost your fruit and vegetable intake for a start.

From her research, Petot discovered that many AD sufferers ate fewer fruits and veggies as adults.

Science, she suggests, also points to a connection between heart disease and Alzheimer’s. So eating a heart-healthy diet might protect you, too. That means a lot of high-fiber, low-fat foods. It’s also a good idea to exercise both your mind and your muscles. “Keeping the brain active and the body active,” Petot says, “is beneficial in many ways.”

Nutritional blockbusters that fight AD

Antioxidants.

Thanks to cutting-edge research, experts now hope AD can one day be prevented. Antioxidants, those powerful substances that fend off cancer and heart disease, might also safeguard your brain against free radicals. Antioxidants appear to slow – and even reverse – the memory loss caused by free-radical damage.

Supplements usually only contain one antioxidant, so eat a variety of fruits and vegetables to get the most benefit. Fruits and vegetables are rich in many antioxidants – not just beta carotene or vitamin C, but flavonoids, too. Flavonoids make memory-saving marvels out of snacks like blueberries, strawberries, and spinach.

B vitamins.

You also need foods rich in B vitamins to help protect your brain from AD. At least two studies show Alzheimer’s sufferers have lower levels of folate and B12 than their non-AD peers. Low B-vitamin levels, according to several other studies, appear to lead to lower scores on IQ and memory tests.

Vitamin B 12 helps your body make neurotransmitters, chemicals that help carry messages between your nerves and brain. Another B vitamin, thiamin, helps nerve signals travel from your brain to different parts of your body. These important tasks could be why a lack of B vitamins might affect your brain’s health.

To get more folate into your diet, try dark leafy greens, broccoli, beets, beans, and okra. Meats, eggs, and dairy products are good sources of B12. For older adults, who might have trouble absorbing B12, experts suggest eating fortified breakfast cereals. Wheat germ, nuts, beans, and rice will give you your full day’s supply of thiamin.

Omega-3s.

Look to the sea to find help against Alzheimer’s. Fish are the greatest source of omega-3 fatty acids. These fat molecules protect against heart disease and inflammation and may lead the attack against Alzheimer’s as well. One of AD’S possible causes is beta-amyloid plaque, clumps of protein that build up in the victim’s brain. Experts believe beta amyloid might be connected with inflammation of the brain’s blood vessels. So it makes sense that anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids could help.

It’s a good idea to eat as much fish as you can net. Experts recommend at least two servings of salmon, tuna, mackerel, or other cold-water fish per week. For you landlubbers who think fish are for the birds, get your omega-3 from flaxseed, walnuts, and dark leafy greens. And while you punch up omega-3, limit your intake of omega-6 fatty acids. They compete with omega-3 and can cause inflammation. Foods high in omega-6 include fried and fast foods, salad dressings, and baked goods.

Milking Chocolate for Healthy Benefits

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I’m making a confession. I am one of the stealth chocoholics. That is bad news and good news-the bad news is that like you, it can be tough for me to turn down a sample of the creamy confection. On the good side, chocolate has health benefits.

Now I am not saying you can have all the chocolate you want. I want to share with you how chocolate can help with your goals to include foods that are good for you as ingredients in your diet. Chocolate begins with the cacao beans. It’s the cacao beans that are the key in creating the good-for-you factor. These beans are rich in plant nutrients called flavonoids, which protect the cocoa plant. The primary type of flavonoids found in cocoa and chocolate are flavanols which have antioxidant properties. Research has shown that these flavonals have positive affects on health. Antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E help protect healthy cells from substances called free radicals which can attack health cells. These nutrients are also found in red wine and green tea.

There are several types of chocolate which contain varying amounts of cacao beans and flavanols. Bittersweet or dark chocolate contains the most generous amounts from higher cacao content chocolate. The higher the percentage of cacao in the chocolate, the greater the benefits and nutritional value. For example, an average 65% dark chocolate serving would look something like this (these are estimates, as actual numbers will vary, depending on brand, size, etc.):

Total Fat 15 g, Sat. Fat 9 g, Sugars 16g, Protein 3g.

In comparison, an average 99% dark chocolate serving would look something like this (these are estimates, as actual numbers will vary, depending on brand, size, etc.):

Total Fat 22 g, Sat. Fat 14 g, Sugars 2g, Protein 5g.

As the percentage goes up on the cacao content, the less sugar and more protein you’ll find.

You may also notice the higher fat content -don’t worry, most of it comes from healthy fats. (yes, you can find healthy fats in chocolate!)

Benefits of dark chocolate include:

-High antioxidant content—it is an antioxidant powerhouse.

-It can have positive affects on maintaining heart health

-It can help lower blood pressure

-It can aid in maintaining healthy arteries that are relaxed and flexible, thus increasing blood flow.

-It may reduce insulin insensitivity and lower the risk of diabetes.

-A greater feeling of fullness or satiety which can reduce cravings for sweet and salty foods.

Consumption of chocolate and other flavanol rich foods like red wine and tea can also reduce stress and increase performance on cognitive tests.

This sweet indulgence can also tip your scale toward the heavy side. Choose a dark chocolate with cocoa content of 65 percent or higher. Limit yourself to 2 or 3 ounces (56 to 85 grams) a day, this will add between 300 to 450 calories to your diet. You may want to cut back on calories from some other food or boost your exercise to make sure you can add the chocolate and maintain a healthy weight.

A little chocolate goes a long way and it’s health benefits can soothe your conscience if you’re you are reluctant to fess up to enjoying this guilty pleasure.

TAKE AWAY: It’s a good thing to be able to enjoy foods that give you pleasure. The caveat is to remember too much of a good thing can easily become less enjoyable and that is true of chocolate. It contains calories and overindulgence with pack the pounds on.

Stemtech Product Review- Stem Cells

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Maybe it’s the first time you hear of Stem Cell Nutrition or Stem Cell Enhancers before, you’re not alone. This is so new, that many health professionals don’t know of it yet. But countless people’s lives have already been enhanced thanks to this rapidly emerging new industry. Whether you are an entrepreneur looking for the next break or a savvy consumer who wants to stay healthy, you’d be smart to get yourself up to speed.

The tale of STEMTech Health Sciences, the world’s first Stem Cell Nutrition company and global leader of this exciting field, is interesting one.

Although the company itself was founded in 2005, the STEMTech story actually began several decades before that, it was when a school teacher started experimenting with a green botanical growing so thickly on the surface of a nearby lake, that it made the water look like pea soup. He started sharing this new green food, then he noticed, the health benefits people experienced were a far cry from those of pea soup- in fact, they went far beyond what anyone had ever expected.

It was not so long ago, that scientific studies begun unearthing the full extent of the fascinating hidden role of adult stem cells in the body. The result: a powerful new, never-before-seen way to support your body’s ability to maintain vibrant health! Adult stem cells literally constitute the natural renewal system of the body, making Stem Cells Enhancers- proven to support the release of adult stem cells from the bone bone marrow-the new revolution on health and wellness.

In case you were wondering, Stem Cell Nutrition has nothing to do with consuming actual stem cells! And don’t worry it has nothing to do with the highly controversial topic of embryonic stem cells either.

Stem Cell Nutrition is quite simple it’s the concept of consuming nutritional substances that have been shown to support the release and activity of your body’s own adult stem cells.

The benefits can be extremely powerful! That’s because, to quote the U.S. Government’s National Institutes for Health, The primary roles of adult stem cell in a living organism are to maintain and repair the tissue…

In other words, adult stem cells act as your body’s natural renewal system. In fact results of many scientific studies indicate that increasing the number of circulating adult stem cells is probably the most important thing you can do to preserve optimal health.

What’s really exciting is that adult stem cells can become virtually any type of cell in your body, as recent studies have found they can become heart cells, liver cells, pancreatic cells, brain cells, eye cells, the joint and more.

You probably wonder by now, will it work for you? Nobody can tell, but at very attractive price even at retail level, I will continue to take it. I noticed higher energy and stamina in first 2 weeks of using it.

Products, that company offers are for the whole family, even pets.

They feature: Stem Enhance- World’s first Stem Cell Enhancer, StemFLO- Triple Action Circulation Enhancer, StemSport – Focus-Performance-Recovery, StemPets & StemEQUINE- for dogs and horses.

The future is bright for STEMTech and it’s distributors, as evidenced by booming sales and the company extension around the globe. And each purchase of STEMTech product by distributors and their customers helps fund the StemTech Global Fundation, dedicated to support of worth-while children’s and animal causes around the word.

If you interested in building a better future and like helping people, the StemTech oportunity may be just what you’re looking for.

Making Sure Your Elderly Loved One Is Eating Right

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Getting the proper nutrition is important for people of all ages but eating right often becomes difficult for seniors. The elderly, who are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, may have a hard time getting all the nutrients required for a balanced diet. Malnutrition often presents itself as weight loss, disorientation, and lightheadedness and is often mistaken for illness or disease. If you take care of an elderly parent or grandparent there are plenty of steps you can take to help them get adequate nutrition as they get older.

The best way to find out why your loved one is not eating well is to pay attention and ask them questions. Be encouraging of honesty and openness and reassure them that they are not a burden to you or anyone else in your family. Remind them that they are important to you and that you are there to take care of them. Some of the possible causes of poor nutrition include a decrease in sensitivity of the senses of smell and taste. This affects their ability to taste and enjoy food making them less likely to eat food.

Another cause is side effects of medications which sometimes reduce appetite, make food taste strangely, or cause nausea. Many seniors are also on fixed or limited incomes and out of worry for money, they may cut back on grocery expenses or eat less-nutritious foods in favor of expensive nutritious food. Seniors also experience physical difficulties as they become frailer with age and deal with arthritis and fibromyalgia. Simple tasks like peeling fruit or standing for a long time to cook a meal become too challenging.

Here are some practical tips to ensure that your elderly senior is getting proper nutrition. Offer them nutritionally dense foods because many seniors don’t eat as much as they should. The food they do eat should be as nutritious as possible:

Offer whole and unprocessed foods that are high in calories like healthy fats like nut butters, nuts, and olive oil, whole grains like brown rice, whole wheat bread, and whole grain cereals, fresh fruits and vegetables, and protein-rich beans, legumes, and dairy products.

Make food that is aromatic and flavorful. As elderly people’s senses become dulled with age, it is important to make foods that smell strongly delicious in order to stimulate their appetite. You can intensity flavors with herbs, marinades, dressings, and sauces. Combine textures such as yogurt with granola and switch between a variety of foods during one meal to keep food interesting.

Make eating a family occasion. Depressed seniors who feel lonely and isolated are less likely to take the time to sit down to eat a healthy meal. Sit down with the whole family or invite them over on a regular basis. When mealtime becomes an interesting and fun occasion, seniors are more likely to eat and more likely to enjoy what they are eating.

Promote healthy snacks in between meals. Many seniors don’t enjoy large meals so an alternative solution is to plan for several mini-meals throughout the day. Make the meals nutritionally dense with many fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Cut back on high sodium meals and food with high saturated fat content.