Why Organic Food?

Organic food is Special and different from regular food because:


First of all, organic foods meet the same quality and safety standards as conventional foods. The difference lies in how the food is produced, processed and handled. Organic food is produced using no synthetic material other than a small list of less than 10 exceptions described in legislation. Production of ocean seafood can and does meet this definition.
Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge, bioengineering or ionizing radiation. Before a product can be labeled "organic," a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Organic foods are safe and provide nutritional and taste benefits to the people who eat them. Besides being grown and processed according to organic certification requirements, organic products must also meet all applicable food safety and labeling requirements, just like any other food.
Organic foods are produced without synthetic inputs. For crops, this means production without synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, or fungicides on land that has been free of synthetic chemicals for at least three years. Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations.
Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Conventional wisdom says that we should avoid food that's been drenched in herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides. Half a century ago, there was some truth in this: Sprays were primitive and left behind chemical deposits that often survived all the way to the dinner table. Conventional-food proponents also claim that rigorous safety assessments show that pesticide residues are no threat to human health. Yet consumers intuitively know this is a false assurance.
Conventionally grown fruit and vegetables contain more water and fewer vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants than organically grown produce. Even processed organic food is better for you, as manufacturers are banned from using many of the most harmful additives such as hydrogenated fat, MSG and artificial flavorings and colorings. 

Organic food is generally more expensive, anywhere from 50-100% more in most cases. For those who place a high value on the purity and healthfulness of what they consume, it may well be worth the difference. But is organic food actually purer or healthier?
Unfortunately, there is no single correct answer that applies to all organic (or non-organic) food available on the market today. 
In my opinion if you want to live a healthier, Switch to organic food, although a bit expensive but worth it, if we think health is expensive, taste the pain.

The Many Benefits Of Nuts

Eating nuts helps your heart. Discover how walnuts, almonds and other nuts help lower your cholesterol when eaten as part of a balanced diet.

Eating nuts as part of a healthy diet can be good for your heart. Nuts, which contain unsaturated fatty acids and other nutrients, are a great snack food, too. They're inexpensive, easy to store and easy to take with you to work or school.
The type of nut you eat isn't that important, although some nuts have more heart-healthy nutrients and fats than do others. Walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts — you name it — almost every type of nut has a lot of nutrition packed into a tiny package. If you have heart disease, eating nuts instead of a less healthy snack can help you more easily follow a heart-healthy diet.

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.

Cooking Oil

Finding A Healthy Cooking Oil

 

Even when cooking as healthful as possible, it's still sometimes needed to make use of cooking oil. Most people realize that healthful cooking is often a necessity today in a world filled with fast meals, TV dinners, frozen foods and boxed meals. Men and women need to cook their own meals from scratch in order to ensure that it's wholesome. Therefore, many are frustrated by the claims of every cooking-oil manufacturer that their oil is the healthiest and best cooking oil around. How can you decipher which cooking oil is a healthy cooking oil? You can find a number of key fat that will clue you in as to no matter if or not a specific cooking-oil is wholesome cooking oil.
You can find two types of fatty acids: fantastic fat and poor fatty acids. These are classified as to no matter whether or not they have the capability to boost very good cholesterol and reduce bad cholesterol. The two bad fat are saturated fat and trans-fats. Saturated fats improve total ldl cholesterol too as poor cholesterol. Trans-fats elevate bad cholesterol and reduced good ldl cholesterol. Thee two fantastic fat discovered in healthful cooking oil are monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. The monounsaturated fat identified in healthy cooking-oil reduced the bad cholesterol and improve the excellent cholesterol although the polyunsaturated fatty acids in wholesome cooking oil also reduced the poor ldl cholesterol and improve the very good cholesterol. Based on this, the greatest and most healthy and balanced cooking-oil will include both monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fats even though steering clear of saturated fatty acids and trans fats.
That said, as long as that you are utilizing these oils sparingly in your cooking, it ought to not make a large distinction whether or not or not you use the healthy cooking-oil. Whilst every little bit does assist, if you're only utilizing a teaspoon now and then, the difference is minute. Even so, in the event you use cooking-oil frequently, it may be on small step towards a healthful lifestyle to stop employing the unhealthy cooking-oils and stick to a healthy cooking-oil.
Even with the above facts, it might be hard to pick nutritious cooking-oil. A few healthful choices are canola oil, extra virgin olive oil, macadamia nut oil, sesame oil, soybean oil and walnut oil. The obvious downside for some of these oils is that in case you are allergic to nuts, a lot of of them include nuts and are not a viable alternative for wholesome cooking oil. Another thing to note about these healthy oils is that some have a larger smoke temperature than others, so should you be going to fry with them, try to use one with a greater smoke temperature like canola oil.

Which oils support a healthy heart?Oils high in mono- and poly-unsaturated fat help to lower blood cholesterol and are associated with a reduced risk of heart disease. Here are my five favorite hearth-healthy oils:

• Walnut oil is a polyunsaturated fat and an excellent source of omega 3s. It has a smoke point of 400 degrees F, so it is great for baking, sauteing at low-to-medium heats, or simply drizzled on bread! (Think bruschetta.)
• Flaxseed oil is also a polyunsaturated fat and good source of omega 3s. However, it has a much lower smoke point of 225 degrees F, so it should not be cooked. Try it stirred into linguine and in salad dressings.
• Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat with a smoke point of 325 degrees F. Use it for cooking at a medium heat. Olive oil is also a great source of oleic acid, which has been linked to better insulin function and lower blood sugar, both of which are always important for diabetics. When buying olive oil, try to look for extra-virgin olive oil, which is less processed than the other types.
• Avocado oil is a monounsaturated fat with a high smoke point of 510 degrees F, so it is great for high heat cooking, like sautéing or frying.
• Grapeseed oil is a polyunsaturated fat with a low saturated fat level. It has a high smoke point of 420 degrees F, so it's excellent for baking.

Poor cooking oil.

It contains trans fat and saturated fat. but there is some kind of oil below contains more saturated fat than animal products.

• Hard Margarine
• Butter
• Palm Oil
• Oil Kernel
• Vegetable Fat

Chocolate and your health

Eating Chocolate makes us calm


Nothing beats a good piece of chocolate. It’s rich, smooth, creamy and makes us feel good, until the guilt sets in. Chocolate’s mood-enhancing qualities are an obvious reason why it is so strongly associated with Valentine’s Day, as a gift for lovers and loved ones.

The product of the cacao tree has been winning fans since Aztec leader Montezuma introduced the beverage (chocolate candy as we know it didn't appear until the 1800's) to the Spanish conqueror Cortez, who subsequently took it home to Spain. (While the original drink was rather bitter, the Spanish made a few creative innovations - using sugar instead of chilies, and adding cinnamon and vanilla).
What is it that makes chocolate so irresistible? A large part of chocolate's allure, of course, lies in the taste - a deliciously rich concoction that satisfies the most intense craving. But several chemical reactions are also at work. For one thing, chocolate stimulates the secretion of endorphins, producing a pleasureable sensation similar to the "runner's high" a jogger feels after running several miles.
Chocolate also contains a neurotransmitter, serotonin, that acts as an anti-depressant. Other substances, such as theobromine and phenylethylamine, have a stimulating effect. However, the truth is that scientists are still not positive how the over three-hundred chemicals contained in chocolate make us feel so good.  


With so much going for it, it's unfortunate that chocolate has developed a bad reputation on the health front. Confirmed chocoholics often worry that indulging their craving will lead to everything from rotting teeth to acne, not to mention the need to lose a few pounds.
Fortunately, scientists are beginning to disprove some common myths about the dangers of eating too much chocolate. For example, it is not true that eating chocolate can cause acne or make it worse. Nor is chocolate the threat to healthy teeth that it was once thought to be. While both cocoa and chocolate contain sugar, they also have properties that work against sugar's tendency to produce the oral bacteria that eventually leads to dental decay. In fact, researchers at the Eastman Dental Center in Rochester, New York, have concluded that milk chocolate is one of the snack foods that is least likely to contribute to tooth decay, since it contains phosphate and other minerals.
Furthermore, while chocolate may not be the most healthy snack around, it does contain a number of nutrients. High in potassium and magnesium, chocolate also provides us with several vitamins - including B1, B2, D, and E. As for calories, no one is going to claim chocolate is the quintessential diet food. Still, the average chocolate bar contains approximately 250 calories - low enough for a dieter to enjoy one as an occasional treat. Besides, indulging your chocolate craving from time to time can help prevent the bingeing that is a dieter's worst enemy.

Dark Chocolate


First, and most importantly, true dark chocolate is usually considered anything at or above 65% cacao.Dark chocolate, depending on its quality, is less calorie-laden. It typically contains much less cocoa butter than light chocolate. So score one for dark chocolate on this count.Light chocolate, also called milk chocolate, as its name implies, contains milk which lightens its color and makes it taste smoother. The chief health benefit of chocolate is from flavanoids which have antioxidant qualities. They are said to help improve or relax blood pressure by producing nitric oxide. It may also help to reduce bad cholesterol levels. Research shows that the addition of milk destroys the antioxidants. So score two for dark chocolate over light or milk chocolate on this count.
Other benefits of chocolate, not restricted, I think, to the dark variety, is that it leads to feelings of pleasure due to the production of endorphin. It also contains serotonin, which is an anti-depressant. But some researchers say that the protein in the chocolate will counteract the serotonin. At the same time, there are stimulants like theobromine and caffeine. All these ingredients, in combination, tend to produce, I suppose, a sense of pleasure, a happy mood and yet a slightly sharpened alertness.
But the taste? That depends on individuals. Most people find the bitterness in dark chocolate not so appetizing, which, it might be said, is also its virtue. But if you want to take it like a medicine, there is nothing wrong with that! There are, however, those who actually prefer its taste to the more sugary and sweeter light chocolate. They are the lucky ones. It can also be an acquired taste, boosted by the thought of its goodness.

5 Benefits of Dark Chocolate

1. Studies have shown dark chocolate to lower blood pressure
2. Studies have also shown dark chocolate to lower bad cholesterol (LDL)
3. It turns women on more than a passionate kissing session (no wonder they want it for Valentine's Day!)
4. Contains serotonin, a natural mood-boosting anti-depressant
5. Stimulates pleasure-inducing endorphin production