The combination of olive oil and leafy salad or vegetables is what gives the Mediterranean diet its healthy edge, say scientists.
When these two food groups come together they form nitro fatty acids which lower blood pressure, they told PNAS journal.
The unsaturated fat in olive oil joins forces with the nitrite in the vegetables, the study of mice suggests.
Most organic shoppers choose the produce aisle first when it comes to organic food. It’s much more tangible to smell a luscious organic strawberry and know it’s not listed on the Environmental Working Group’s dirty dozen list. We all have to start somewhere, and the visual appeal, along with incredible taste of organic produce is a good place to commence when buying healthy food for children. Organic food offers earthly delights as well as principles, practices and government-backed rules that produce cleaner and healthier food.
Yet some folks think otherwise.
An article in Slate titled, “Organic Shmorganic,” does its best to question many assumptions about the benefits of organic food. The author of the Slate piece notes “… there is little evidence that the differences [between organic and conventional] translate into actual health benefits.” Those of us who have been enjoying organic food for years know the benefits, but for many consumers, stories like the one in Slate sow confusion and raise unnecessary barriers to exploring the organic produce aisle.
Environmental Working Group (EWG) posted a blog by Alex Formuzis, “The Case for Organic Fruits and Veggies,” which offers a broad view on the issue. Chemical agriculture has enormous effects on other vital resources that every American relies on, such as drinking water, air and soil, and well-documented harm that pesticide exposure does to farm workers and their families. Dr. Philip Landrigan, Dean of Global Health and Director of the Children’s Environmental Health Center at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, is quoted as saying, “Strong and well-conducted studies published in leading peer-reviewed journals have shown that families who consume an organic diet have 90 percent lower levels of pesticides in their bodies than families who consistently consume ‘conventional’ pesticide-treated foods.”
Back in 1993, The National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a report on the effect of pesticides in the diets of infants and children. This historic report concluded that many of “the pesticides applied to food crops in this country are present in foods and may pose risks to human health.” The report demonstrated that infants and children have special sensitivities to these toxic inputs. Children consume notably more of certain foods relative to their body weight than do adults. Thus, their ingestion of pesticide residues on these foods may be proportionately higher than that of adults. Certain chronic toxic effects such as cancer, exposures occurring early in life may pose greater risks than those occurring later in life. For these reasons, risk assessment methods that have traditionally been used for adults may require modification when applied to infants and children.
In short, the NAS committee stated bluntly that EPA-set pesticide tolerances governing allowable levels in food were set to protect adults, based on laboratory data collected from experiments with healthy, adult mice and rats, and that infants are not just “little adults.” The Committee emphasized that pregnant women and unborn children, as well as infants and children, are much more vulnerable to possibly life-long adverse impacts from even very low pesticide exposures. This is true for several reasons, including: Read more
We tend to eat what’s on our plate. Most of us have a hard time stopping at satiety or assessing caloric count; we therefore rely on outside cues and eat the unit offered, believing that that unit is what normal people eat.
So restaurants influence how much we’ll eat just by deciding the serving sizes, and those are unpredictable and range from petite to colossal. A study published last year surveyed 245 restaurant chains and found that entrees averaged 674 calories, appetizers 813 calories, sides 260 calories, salads 496 calories, drinks 419 calories, and desserts 429 calories. Combine just two portions and you’re way over the Institute of Medicine’s recommended 640 per meal, and these calorie counts are averages — Olive Garden’s Chicken Alfredo has 1,540 calories a plate.
A new commentary by Deborah Cohen and Mary Story in the American Journal of Public Health has an interesting suggestion: Let’s standardize portion sizes in restaurants.
Portion distortion
There are standards for screws, nuts and bolts, argue the authors. Portion sizes are established for packaged foods. Alcohol is standardized: A standard drink contains about 0.6 ounces of ethanol in the U.S. (the U.S. alcohol unit is more generous than the U.K. one), and would therefore amount to a large 12-ounce glass of beer, 5-ounce or half a glass of wine or a tiny 1.5-ounce shot of vodka. This enables people to gauge their alcohol consumption, knowing that it takes about an hour to metabolize each unit of alcohol. Most states outlaw all-you-can-drink sales of alcohol — you’re free to order as many drinks as you wish, but it’s illegal to automatically refill your glass.
Yet when it comes to restaurant food serving sizes are all over the place, making it very difficult to practice portion control unless you can consult calorie charts and bring along measuring cups and scales. Palm-of-your-hand tricks for estimating the meat portion hardly work for amorphous foods that take the shape of a deep plate. Portion control relies totally on consumer education, but why not enlist the provider — who after all has much better access to measuring cups — for assistance?
Hello and welcome to another new edition of Low-Carb Mag
Since making the magazine free last month we have been absolutely astounded at the amount of people who are now downloading it.
Our daily download rates have gone up by nearly 10 times which is phenomenal. I am really, really pleased that we have managed to get to the free download stage of our evolution sooner than expected as that means so many more people who want this information will
be able to get it.
Also – this month we’ve taken away the need to give your email address or anything like that in order to download the magazine – it is totally free and open for everybody to download from anywhere you want.
If you have a website please feel free to use the embed code on your website. And if you’d like us to make you an official partner just send me an email and we’ll put you on our official partners list – with a link back to your website. There are some serious advantages
of becoming an official partner.
Our next great piece of news is the Low-Carb Paleo Show has finally started. This is a light hearted look at the world of Low-Carb and Paleo – but with some seriously useful information all mixed into the format.
You won’t want to miss it!
A recent article in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) puts to rest a decades-old myth: Saturated fat is NOT bad for the heart. This is news I’ve long suspected! And we now have science to support it. Fat is not the enemy when it comes to cardiovascular disease, weight gain, brain health, and so many other issues. It turns out that sugar — in all its many guises — is the real culprit for making you fat. What it also means is that because sugar causes inflammation throughout the body, it increases your risk of cardiovascular disease — and just about everything else!
We’ve all been sold a bill of goods about so-called healthy low-fat foods like cookies and muffins. When you begin to read labels, you’ll quickly see how much sugar is added to just about everything, especially to low-fat foods. When the fat is removed, so is the flavor. To make it more palatable, sugar, sugar substitutes, and salt are added in its place. And as you continue to read labels, I think you’ll be surprised by how much sugar is also in so-called healthy foods, like yogurt, tomato sauce, many fruit juices — even some salad dressings.
I can tell you without a doubt, it’s the sugar that so many of us struggle with, not the fat. Think about it. It’s NOT the burger with cheese and bacon that’s the issue. It’s the ketchup, the bun, and the fries. These are all carbs that instantly raise your blood sugar, because they are higher on the glycemic index than plain old table sugar. This is what I mean by sugar in all its guises.
Foods with little fat and loaded with sugar don’t leave you satiated after a meal — at least not for long. We need the fat to feel sated. Without it, we crave more sugary foods — until we learn to switch to or at least incorporate better food choices. It’s like being on a blood sugar roller coaster. Your body is subjected to the blood sugar highs and lows, and you literally NEED the sugar to feel OK when you’re in one of the lows.
So let’s not kid ourselves anymore about what’s really making us fat. Sugar is the leading culprit today in causing inflammation. Here are some specific stats from an article printed in February 2014 in the Journal of the American Medical Association [JAMA], which are worth sharing: Read more
Humans have come a long way in terms of most things – be it medical science, language, space exploration or even food options. However, believers of the Paleo diet think that all the progress made in terms of food isn’t desirable, and we should go back to eating like our ancestors did thousands of years ago. Commonly referred to as the ‘caveman diet’ – paleo diet consists of food products that were available back in the days when cavemen used to live. Followers give up all forms of processed food that is usually unhealthy along with all forms of legumes and grains. Though the diet has come under some criticism from dieticians and fitness experts, one cannot deny that it has several health benefits.
1. It is healthy for your heart
Most cases of heart disease is caused due to unhealthy lifestyle and bad eating habits. Followers of the paleo diet stay away from most unhealthy foods and consume fruits and vegetables that cut risk of heart disease.
2. Good for gluten-intolerant people
Nowadays, more and more people are gluten intolerant including Novak Djokovic who was the No. 1 tennis player in the world until some time ago. In simple words, gluten is a protein composite found in wheat, barley and rye products. People following the Paleo diet keep away from such grains, which is why it is good for gluten-intolerant people.
3. Helps in weight loss
People following the Paleo diet do not keep a count of their calories. However, some experts say that it can help people lose weight without trying. The fruits which are high in fibre combined with lean meats high in protein makes it good for those looking to lose weight. If you are following this diet for losing weight, make sure you don’t ignore your carbohydrate intake as it can leave you feeling low and lacking energy through the day. People looking to lose weight can also follow this sample weight loss diet plan.
4. Healthy for diabetics
Since the paleo diet contains foods with a low glycemic index, and eliminates foods like refined sugar and grains, it is great for diabetics. Diabetics really need to keep their blood-sugar levels in check since their body cannot process or produce insulin which helps in the absorption of glucose. Find out more about glycaemic index and how it is helping people.