Hot summer sweat more, eat a little vinegar, can increase the stomach acid concentration, help digestion and absorption, and increase appetite. Vinegar have very strong ability to inhibit the bacteria, typhoid, dysentery and other intestinal infectious diseases prevention. Summer were fatigue, drowsiness discomfort, eat a little vinegar, soon to relieve fatigue, to keep plenty of energy.

2) The best vegetables – Bitter Vegetables

High humidity and temperatures in summer , too often the spirit of listless, fatigue weakness, loss of appetite. At this point, eat bitter vegetables are very good. Bitter vegetables, contain with cooling, refreshing and stomach function of alkaloids, amino acids, bitter elements, vitamins and minerals. Bitter gourd, bitter herbs, lettuce, celery, dandelion, lotus seeds, lily are all high quality goods to choose from.

3) The best soup meat dish – Tomato Soup

Summer drink tomato soup can get nourishment, but also add water, do both. Tomato soup contains lycopene, a certain degree of protection against prostate cancer and the effectiveness of the heart. The most suitable for middle-aged men.

4) The best meat – Duck Meat

Duck meat is not only rich in protein, also has benefit of the stomach, spleen tonic, the role of dampness.

5) The best drinks – Tea

Summer drinks should be a very common choice for the hot tea. Black tea is rich in potassium, both reduce thirst and recover from fatigue.

6) The best nutrients – Vitamin E

Vitamin E can be intense sunlight, ozone and fatigue damage to a minimum. Wheat germ, bran bread, walnut paste, dairy products and other foods rich content Vitamin E.

Suggestions for healthy eating

Avoid getting too many calories from coconut, olives and avocados as Coconut is high in saturated fat. Olives and avocados are high in monounsaturated fat and calories

After cooking vegetables, grains and legumes gains saturated fats or cholesterol.

• In some people too much of sodium or salt can lead to high blood pressure. Canned, processed and preserved vegetables also may contain added sodium. Look for the companies which offer food with either no salt added or with less salt. Fresh and frozen vegetables remain to be the best choice.
• Nuts and seeds don’t have cholesterol and are good sources of protein. Nuts like walnuts, almonds, pecans have polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fat. Varieties like macadamia nuts are high in saturated fat so look for the label before eating.
• Canola, corn, olive, safflower, sesame, soybean and sunflower oils are good to use in limited amounts for cooking or dressings as they are low in saturated fatty acids.
• Peanut oil can be used for flavoring but it has slightly more saturated fatty acids so don’t use it as cooking oil.
• Vegetable oils are hydrogenated so as to use in margarines or shortenings. Hydrogenation may partly offset few benefits of using polyunsaturated or monounsaturated vegetable oils.

Cholesterol, fiber and oat bran

Dietary fiber is the term used for several materials that make up the parts of plants that your body can’t digest. Fiber can be soluble or insoluble. Soluble fiber has been shown to help lower blood cholesterol, when regularly eaten as a part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol. It reduces the risk of coronary heart disease. A high-fiber diet also helps in reducing the risk of rectal cancer and diabetes.

Some of good source of dietary fibers are Fruits, vegetables, whole-grain foods, beans and legumes.

You should read the labels on all packaged foods mainly oat bran and wheat bran products as some of these muffins, chips, waffles contain very little bran. They can also be high in sodium, total and saturated fat.

Adding fibers to your diet……. not a big deal

• Substituting high-fiber foods like whole-grain bread, brown rice, fruits and vegetables with low-fiber foods like white bread, white rice, candy and chips.
• Include more and more raw vegetables and fresh fruit, including the skins in your diet as cooking reduces their fiber content.
• Try to eat high fiber food in every meal. Bran cereal can be there in breakfast but some fruits, vegetables, whole-grains and beans are also recommended.
• You can take a dietary fiber if food is not enough.
• Drink at least 8 glass of water everyday.
• Increase your fiber intake gradually and give time to your body to adjust.
• Soluble fiber food Oatmeal, oat bran beans, peas, rice bran, barley, citrus fruits, strawberries and apple pulp.
• Insoluble fiber food Wheat breads, wheat cereals, wheat bran, cabbage, beets, carrots, Brussels sprouts, turnips, cauliflower and apple skin.

Look for foods with heart check marks on their label, they are ideal to be a part of healthy diet. So remember these tips always and forget YOUR OBESITY

Are you the one rushing out of the door in the morning without eating anything?

If yes, it turns out you are doing wrong!!

In past years, more and more scientific discoveries and researches have revealed the importance of breakfast on health. Breakfast – The first meal in the morning has a distinctive role for the entire day. Food consumed during breakfast not only helps in the glucose metabolism, but it also keeps a check on blood sugar level in your body. The meal you consume during breakfast helps in breaking the fast from last night dinner to the next morning. This is the only meal which breaks the longest gap of food consumption. Prolonged fasting may lead to food craving and you will fill yourself more than required to satisfy your hunger. This excess food intake later results in the sudden rise of blood glucose level, and can lead to serious health problems.

Knowing the importance of breakfast meal is essential, for a healthy beginning of the day. Nutrition experts say, the practice of consuming breakfast within 2 hours of waking up is best. It helps you feel good and makes you refreshed entire day. It also keeps the sugar level in control and let the glucose pass into the cells for generation of energy, the energy produced is required by our body to carry on various functions.

Now, since you all know the importance of breakfast, try to add a wholesome bowl of nutrients for your morning bite. Remember your breakfast meal should combine good carbs, good fibers with the addition of some proteins.

After knowing the importance of breakfast meal, the main question popping up in every brain right now is…

WHAT ARE HEALTHY AND READY TO MAKE FOODS FOR BREAKFAST?

Well, here is a list of food you can have in the morning for a well-nourished beginning of the day.

1. Whole wheat bread– Consumption of carbohydrate is important, but the type of carbohydrate you are eating plays a major role in the diet. Whole grains are best for health. Consuming bread made of whole wheat is beneficial for your body. There are a variety of other breakfast cereals available in the market made up of whole grain like muffins, crackers, toast, rusk etc. try to add them in your breakfast. They are healthy as well as providing bulk in the diet.
2. Eggs-They are filled with protein. Recent studies have shown that eggs do not contribute in elevating the cholesterol level, rather the protein present in it holds high biological value. Have it them boiled or make an omelette or a half fry with some added vegetables, eggs are good in all ways. Poached egg with stir fry vegetables is one best breakfast recipe.
3. Milk– You all must have heard about the saying Milk is a complete food, milk not only gives you calcium, but it also provides phosphorous, magnesium, protein and vitamin B12. The plenty of carbohydrates, lipids (fat) present in milk makes it complete. A glass of milk in the breakfast with 2 slices of whole wheat bread can be a whole some meal. For those who don’t like milk, Greek yogurt is a healthy approach to include milk in the diet. This tangy, creamy form of milk is amazing in taste and totally filled with nutrients.
4. Banana-We call banana as a wonder. They are a good source of resistance starch and are filled with healthy carbs. Potassium presents in banana help natural lowering of the blood pressure. Slice it, blend it or add them in your cereal bowl bananas are good in all way.
5. Oats– Oats are full of micro nutrients. They contain a good amount of potassium and folate. They are rich in omega-3 fatty acid. Several studies have shown the content of beta- glucan in oats. Continuous consumption of Beta- glucan (a type of fibre) helps in lowering the cholesterol level. Try to consume plain oats with the addition of almond flakes and fruits. Raisins or honey can be added to get the sweet taste.
6. Cereals– These days’ markets are flooded with a variety of cereals- Corn flakes, all bran cereals, muesli to name some. Try to opt for cereals with no flavour added, unsweetened one. Make it healthy and flavours by adding honey, nuts and fruits according to your taste.

If in all these years you were not concerned about your breakfast, now is the time when you need to think about it. Try to opt for healthy life style. Set a schedule for every day. Eat right to live healthily. Don’t skip meals .

Stay happy Stay fit!!

Surprisingly, you don’t really know the food we are consuming is healthy or not. Most of you consider junk food as healthy and nutrient dense.

What are Junk foods?

Junk foods include those pre-processed or packed foods that contribute lots of calories with very little nutritional value. Sometimes it’s our way of making certain food which make it land into the category of Junk Food. For an example, depending upon the way of preparation a pizza can be categorised as Junk or a healthy food.If the base of a pizza is made of refined flour filled with cheese toppings and fat fried meat, it obviously comes under the category of junk food. But if that same pizza is replaced by a thin crust made of whole cereal flour, with a single cheese and tomato sauce topping having lot of veggies, it will exit from the category of Junk food.

Major problem with junk foods are their low satiety value (feeling of fullness). Even after consuming a large portion size the feeling of hunger persists within and this results in overeating of the food. One another problem with junk foods is its addiction. This addiction towards junk food make you replace other more nutritional dense foods from your diet. For an example: Over consumption of cheese burgers and aerated drinks make you away from plenty of low-fat dairy or other healthful beverages like fruit juices or milk drinks (tea, coffee).

Remember when you gorge on high calorie snacks or fatty chips, you forget about the nutrient dense fruits and vegetables

Here is the information provided about the intake of calories from various easily available junk foods, based on different international joints

1. If you consume one single Mac Donald’s Burger (Big MAC), you will ingest the total of 229.0 kcal calorie, 19 g of carbohydrate, 13 g of protein, 12.0 g of Fat and only 2 grams of fibre.
2. If you feel like grabbing a Cheese burger from Burger King it gives you 260 kcal with 25.0 gram of carbohydrate, 13 gram of protein, 11-gram fat and only 1 gram of fibre. If we calculate the total calorie in a cheese burger (123 g) it turns out to be 319.8 kcal.
3. You all feel the craving for Chicken Drumsticks from Kentucky Fried Chicken. Let’s have a look at its calorie load. Chicken drumstick provide 170.0 kcal, 9.1 gram of carbohydrate, 11.9-gram protein, 10.0 gram of fat and 1.4 gram of fibre. To be specific one drumstick (95 g) gives us 161.5 kcal.

So, the choice is all yours … always think before purchasing any Junk, how much calories it is going to load you with.

Taking the ‘Junk’ out of Junk Food

Now that you are aware about the nutrient facts of junk food, the big questions appear…

How can you make a wise decision in this Junk food world?

1. Try to look for those food joints that offer healthier food choices. Remember where ever you go, always look for those packed foods and drinks which provide calories along with nutrients. Try to incorporate fresh juice in your daily practice. Buy a pizza topped with veggies and less cheeses, wholegrain bun sandwich stuffed with grilled chicken or a bean burrito instead of going for fries, chips topped with mayonnaise, frozen pizza rolls; fries rolls, fried chicken pieces. Avoid sweetened beverages and candies, they are nothing but plain sugars. For sweet products look for high-fructose corn syrup. Try to add fruits in diet, they provide natural sweetness in the diet.
2. Avoid watching those advertisements and shows on TV which talking about high calorie foods because it helps to enhance the desire for eating. Stop believing on anything and everything you read or see. There are various catchy advertisements available on social media. Remember not every nutritional data you come across gives you right information.

Although a lot of people are aware that we need a sufficient amount of these nutrients on a daily basis through a balanced diet, a lot still fail to make sure that they are eating right.

This is because with the busy lives that most people lead today, getting the proper nourishment or maintaining a healthy diet can be quite difficult. However, with the right amount of information, we could all eat our way to a healthier body and a healthier lifestyle. Here are some tips on how to ensure proper nutrition.

1. First off, make sure that you do not skip any meals. Make sure that no matter how busy your daily routine gets, you are eating your breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you skip meals, your body would not have the right amount of food and calories that it can convert into the energy that you need. Your body could then switch to survival mode, which would mean that your metabolic rate would be slowed down in order to conserve the food that you do eat. Excess food would then be stored as fat. On the other hand, if you eat your meals on time, your body’s metabolic rate would speed up, ensuring proper conversion of food into energy, storing a minimal amount of fat.
2. Another tip to make sure that you would be properly nourished would be to drink a lot of water. Remember that water is very essential to make sure that your body would be functioning well. Instead of drinking soda and other sweetened drinks, choose plain water. The recommended daily water intake would be three liters for men and two liters for women.
3. Try to eat lean protein. Second to water, protein would be the next most common material in the human body. There have also been a lot of research done that indicated increased intake of dietary protein significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes, as it reduces bad cholesterol and raises  good cholesterol. Protein also helps in keeping the muscles strong and in speeding up the body’s metabolism. Some of the good sources of lean protein would include soy products, dairy products meat, poultry and fish.
4. Choose to eat whole grains. Through choosing to add whole grains such as high-fiber cereals and whole wheat breads into your diet, you would be able to ensure that your body in consuming the right amount of fiber that it needs. By consuming enough fiber, the risk of certain diseases such as heart diseases and colon cancer can significantly be lessened. Fiber can also help in lowering your cholesterol and blood sugar levels and aids in weight loss as it keeps the body feel fuller longer.
5. Make sure that you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. Every healthy diet should have five servings or more of fruits and vegetables every day. This is because they are naturally high in the nutrients that the body requires such as vitamins and minerals, fiber, while having a low caloric content.
6. Lastly, a good diet with all your nutritional requirements should be complemented with a good amount of exercise and physical activity. Regular exercise would decrease the risk of heart disease, diabetes and even prolong your life. It would also be good for your mind as exercise is a great way to get rid of stress. Some good exercises would include walking, jogging, swimming, weight lifting, biking and aerobics.

When most people think about fat burning, they tend to immediately consider either reducing their food intake or increasing their energy expenditure. For the most part, these are the two primary well-known ways to make weight loss happen.

And, they work, that much is true.

But both do take their toll on the body.  Decreasing your food intake means you’ll be taking in fewer nutrients throughout the day, which could in turn, in time, set you up for nutritional deficiency.

Adding too much additional exercise could also put you at risk for overuse injuries burnout, or over training, so again, it’s less than ideal.

So what’s the solution to all of this?

While I’m not saying don’t decrease your food intake slightly and make sure that you are using a smart exercise program, what I am saying is that there’s a third factor to consider: your resting metabolic rate.

Your resting metabolic rate accounts for how many calories you burn each day just sitting there. Basically, with no exercise at all, this is your total daily calorie burn. If you can do something to increase this number, it will be the most effective and least painful way to see accelerated fat burning taking place.

And the good news is there is many ways that you can go about doing just that.  Today we’re going to talk about the nutritional ways that you can boost your metabolism.  By eating the right types of foods, you can see enhanced fat burning all day long.

Let’s go over the specific foods that may help boost your metabolic rate.

Coconut

The first of the metabolic boosting foods to know about is coconut.  Coconut is a medium chain triglyceride, which is a type of fatty acid that tends to have thermal effects when you consume it.

This means that your body is going to burn a good number of calories simply breaking the fat found in coconut oil down, releasing this as energy. Meaning, you net fewer calories overall.

While most dietary fat is not thermal at all (it requires hardly any energy to break down), coconut fat comes in at around 15%.

Meaning, for every 100 calories of coconut fat you take in, you’ll burn up around 15 of those just breaking it down.  Over time, this can really add up.

Add to this the fact that coconut oil is also a heart-healthy form of fat that can help lower cholesterol and also helps boost your immune system and it’s one fat that you’ll want to be getting in.

Plus, unlike other forms of fat that take a long time to break down and digest in the body, releasing their energy, coconut fat breaks down rapidly, so provides energy more like a carbohydrate source would.

For those who happen to be using lower carb diet plans, adding coconut fat into their diet may just help do the trick of keeping energy levels up.

Chili Peppers

Next, another important ingredient you’ll want to be incorporating into your diet plan on a regular basis is chili pepper. Or, if you prefer, cayenne pepper can also work well here.

Both of these contain capsaicin, which is a compound that stimulates the metabolic rate, causing you to burn more calories for a few hours after you consume it.

Add to this that those who eat spicy foods tend to consume fewer calories overall and you have a winning combination of fat burning.

Chili peppers are also great for improving your immune system, clearing congestion and may also help to lower your risk for prostate cancer if you’re a man.

All in all, they’re a great, very low calorie way to stroke your metabolic rate.

Lean Meat Of All Types

The next ingredient is not one ingredient per say, but rather, a whole bunch of ingredients – lean meat.  Just like coconut oil has a higher thermal effect of food as noted above, so does all lean meat.

Protein, in general, is very energy costly for the body to break down.  By eating lean protein in your diet, you can see a metabolic boost of upwards of 25%.  This is even more powerful than coconut fat is.

Those who consume diets that are higher in lean protein on average do tend to see greater total body fat loss rates and also maintain their lean body weight better as well.

This is, in part due to the fact that since they get this metabolic boost, they net fewer calories total at the end of the day.

Add to this fact that protein does not spike blood glucose levels and takes a while to digest in your body and you have a great recipe for optimal hunger control. If you want to combat hunger on your fat loss plan, protein is how to do it.

Getting enough lean protein into your meal plan is also important for maintaining your lean muscle mass tissue, and that again also helps keep your metabolic rate higher.  Lean muscle mass is highly metabolically active, meaning it burns a number of calories each day just existing on your body, so the more if it you have, the more calories you can consume.

By preserving that lean muscle mass, you keep your metabolic rate revved as high as possible.  Most people typically tend to lose muscle mass when they go on a reduced calorie diet plan, but by getting enough protein in, you can make sure you don’t have this problem.

Green Tea

Moving along, another good ingredient you’ll want to be adding to your diet plan regularly is green tea.  This beverage is not only great for fat burning, but will also help boost your health as well.

Green tea contains a wealth of antioxidants that can help combat free radical damage, keeping you feeling your healthiest and preventing the develop of diseases such as cancer.

In addition to that, green tea will also help elevate your metabolic rate, especially when consumed on a daily basis.  Drinking two to three cups per day could help give you that extra edge on fat burning that you need.

As an added benefit, the hot liquid also tends to calm hunger pains, so it could also help you reduce how much you’re eating on a day to day basis.

Just remember to serve your green tea without added sugar or fat (from cream). Serve it plain with a little stevia if needed.  This will help prevent you from taking in any unwanted calories.

Low Fat Greek Yogurt

The next good food to get into your diet plan that can help boost your metabolic rate is low fat Greek yogurt.  Greek yogurt is another food that’s very rich in protein, so has that thermic effect of food factor to help you expend more energy breaking the food down.

In addition to this however, those who consume lower fat dairy products as part of their fat loss diet tend to notice greater fat loss especially from the abdominal region as well. Subjects consistently eating dairy see better weight loss overall and gain a more attractive and healthy body because of it.

This is important to note because many people, when dieting, start eliminating dairy from their diet entirely. They think dairy will only cause them to gain weight, when the opposite is true.

Dairy will cause weight gain if you feast on ice cream, high fat cheese, or whole milk, but if you choose wisely – and opt for something like low fat Greek yogurt, you’ll be helping, not hurting yourself.

Furthermore, dairy will also help to combat hunger nicely and provide a good dose of calcium to your day, which helps promote strong bones and regular muscular contractions.

If you’ve recently cut dairy from your plan, it’s time to bring it back.

Coffee

Finally, the last thing that you should be adding to your diet on a regular basis is coffee.  Whether you choose to simply drink your coffee or you prefer to add it to other foods (such as adding ground coffee beans into muffins for enhanced flavor), coffee can help stimulate your metabolic rate.

This is thanks to the caffeine it contains, which is a central nervous system stimulant. Obviously you do have to be careful how much coffee you consume (as too much caffeine can be harmful), but one or two cups of regular coffee per day can definitely be a part of a healthy weight loss diet plan.

Even further, those who consume moderate amounts of coffee may also have lower risk factors for diabetes, Alzheimer’s, along with some types of cancer.

Here again, just make sure the coffee you are drinking is black and not laden with sugar and fat additives.

So keep these quick tips in mind if you want to boost your metabolic rate and see optimal rates of fat loss taking place. Don’t be too quick to slash your calorie consumption or spend hours in the gym.  Instead, be smart. Focus on boosting your metabolism and you’ll see fat loss happening without all that much effort on your part.

Near fat and protein, carbohydrates are the main components in your weight loss diet. Carbohydrates can be good and bad carbohydrates and are consumed in different ways. Without carbohydrates you cannot build up a balanced diet, because they are the fuel of your brain and muscles. Carbohydrates, because they are fast-acting fuels and readily available are used by our vital organs and working muscles; they are broken down into glucose, which is needed for our brain to work properly, having no other type of fuel.

Our body prefers carbohydrates as primary fuel sources, because they break down into glucose easier and faster than other sources of energy like protein and fats. There are simple and complex carbohydrates; while simple carbohydrates take less time to break down and give less fuel, complex carbohydrates break down harder but are that primary energy source our body needs. Complex carbohydrates are simple sugars bound in a chain broken down by digestive enzymes and absorbed through the intestines. Because of their simple state, they are faster acting sources of energy. The best sources of carbohydrates needed to be included into our everyday diet are bread, shredded wheat, pasta, yams and corn.

Simple sugars from complex carbs are consumed as fructose, glucose and galactose by the body. As a primary fuel source for our brain, muscles and vital organs so near fats and protein, vitamins and minerals, sources of carbohydrates are essential to be included into our balanced diet for a healthy and energy full lifestyle.

TRUE. Eggs are one of the healthiest foods on earth. It contains about 13 vitamins and minerals. Eggs are actually a body builder’s best friend. It not only contains protein but also contains thiamine and zinc which are nutrients that help in breaking protein down for the body to absorb better. There is no other well-balanced food in the natural world as eggs are.
But there is a danger in eating too many eggs, especially if you consume the parts of the egg separately. Eating egg whites only, which is where protein is mostly stored, will make your body have a difficult time in digesting large amounts of protein. Minerals that aid in the digestion of protein are found in the egg yolk. And eating too much of the egg yolks only will become a factor in increasing your blood pressure. Sulphur is highly concentrated in the egg yolk and the body needs a certain amount of potassium to break it into molecules that the body can easily absorb and potassium is mostly found in the egg white. In order to make most of the vitamins and minerals you can get from eggs, it is best to consume the entire egg.

High Blood Pressure Risk

FALSE. Eggs were labeled to be food that contains plenty of cholesterol. It’s true that eggs have a considerable amount of cholesterol but it is the healthier kind of cholesterol that we’re talking about. A large egg has as much cholesterol as the dash of melted butter used to cook your morning scrambled egg in.
Eggs barely contain cholesterol and trans-fat. In fact, it contains more nutrients that would help your body lower
your high blood pressure. Eating too much egg YOLKS can aid in raising your blood pressure but not enough to make you sick. But eating eggs as a whole is completely healthy. Egg whites and egg yolks supplement each other. High protein content is found in egg yolks but thiamine (Vitamin B6) and zinc are more concentrated on the whites. Thiamine and zinc helps your stomach in producing an enzyme called pepsin. Pepsin is responsible for breaking down protein found in your body.

Best Hangover Cure

FALSE. Although it’s true that packing up on protein and healthy food before going out on a party night will help reduce the chances of your getting a hangover, it doesn’t necessarily apply that raw eggs will cure your hangover.

You might actually be putting yourself in danger of food poisoning by consuming raw eggs in the morning. Eggs contaminated with Salmonella might end up kicking the bucket sooner than you think. As the saying goes, ‘Prevention is cure’ applies well in this scenario. When you’re planning on going out for a buzz at the night club or just chilling out in a bar, pack up on protein and energize yourself. You better add eggs to your meal before consuming alcohol to lower the possibility of you suffering from a horrible hangover.

Dirty egg is organic egg

FALSE. The notion that buying a dirty egg makes the egg organic or the fact that the egg is more natural is a complete myth. An egg left uncleansed – with dirt or chicken poop in it – doesn’t make the egg more natural. In reality, it makes the egg even dirty inside. An eggshell is semi-porous so letting the chicken poop stay on the egg will make the chicken dung enter the egg itself.

Washing an egg and storing it in either the fridge or the pantry will increase the risk of your raw egg being contaminated not only with salmonella but with other bacteria as well. Getting an egg wet makes its shell more porous and it makes it more susceptible for various bacteria to enter the shell and settle in.

HELPFUL TIP: Grab an old clean cloth and spray some vinegar on it to make it mildly wet. Use the slightly damp cloth to wipe the dirt off the eggshells. Vinegar is acidic and it serves as a disinfectant to remove the bacteria that are attached to the eggshell. You may opt to wash the egg before cooking it. If you are going to boil some eggs, makes sure you wash them well before boiling them.

All eggs are fine and healthy

FALSE. With the advent of modern technology, anything natural under the sun can be reproduced. Now there are what we call fake eggs or synthetic eggs. These eggs are literally products of laboratories. They look exactly like the natural egg inside-out. Here are ways to identify a synthetic egg.

1. A fake egg’s shell is relatively shinier than a real egg. This isn’t an exact way of identifying a fake egg from a real egg since some real eggs have shiny eggshells.
2. Though it looks shiny, the actual feel of a fake egg is quite rough. Imagine a ‘textile’ tile; it looks shiny but feels rough.
3. When you shake a fake egg, it makes a splashing sound within. Unlike a real egg, a fake one doesn’t have a film that holds the egg together. It’s simply a liquid inside a shell.
4. Whisking egg in a bowl will make the egg look milky; but when whisking a fake egg, the color of the egg is bright yellow.
5. When opening an egg, a real egg has a certain meaty smell. Even the smell sticks to your skin after touching a real egg.
6. When cracking an egg to a bowl, the egg yolk and egg white immediately mix. They are made of the same chemicals – just different colors – and the egg feel more watery than the real one.
7. When making a sunny side up with a fake egg, the yolk spread evenly with the egg white. A fake egg bubbles like boiling water. Stinky egg is bad egg relatively true. A stinky egg only applies to the freshness of an egg. You can only tell if an egg is rotten by the smell. Smell isn’t the only indicator to tell if your egg went bad or not.

There are different ways to identify if an egg is fresh, older or just plain bad. Here are three ways to do it:

Water Test

Drop an egg in a bowl of water and watch. If your egg sinks and lays flat at the bottom of the bowl then your egg is less than a week old. If your egg stands at the bottom of the bowl then the egg is about a week or two. If the egg floats then your egg is still edible but is already more than two weeks old.

As the egg gets older, the air pocket inside the egg gets bigger. This air pocket makes the egg lighter and makes the egg float.

Shake Test

You can’t really drop an egg into a bowl of water when you’re in the supermarket. The simplest and easiest way for you to find out is an egg is fresh is by shaking the egg. If it makes no sound then the egg is edible. Unlike dropping it into a bowl of water, you can’t tell if the egg is fresh or a bit older. If the egg makes a sloshing sound then don’t even think that it can be eaten.

An older egg has a bigger air pocket but it still keeps the egg intact. When the egg goes bad, the air pocket breaks making the egg slosh inside the shell. If you end up getting a noisy egg, then throw it out immediately.

Thickness Test

Crack an egg into a bowl or a plate. Check if the egg white is thick or runny. If the egg white is runny and is thin like water then the egg has definitely gone bad or it is about to.

The Rawer the better

FALSE. Although a raw egg has its highlights in nutrition and has multiple health benefits, raw eggs aren’t as safe as you might think it may be. Raw eggs are breeding grounds for salmonella. The only way to kill salmonella is by cooking the egg.

It is believed that when a person is sick, egg served raw is best for them. FALSE. A sick person might end up being in a worse state of health after consuming a raw egg. Half cooking an egg is far better than not cooking the egg at all. The best way to fry an egg is by frying it until the yolk thickens.

On the other hand, cooking an egg too much doesn’t pose as much threat either. Only that some of the nutrients found in the egg will be lost. When an egg is cooked too much, Hydrogen sulphide – a deadly gas – is formed. Hydrogen sulphide makes its way into the egg yolk but it doesn’t end there. Because the egg yolk is rich in iron, the iron serves as a shield. It chemically reacts with the hydrogen sulphide turning it into nothing less than a greenish part of the egg yolk.

Eggs are highly nutritious and having them in your daily diet will give you more than you ask for in healthy eating.

Don’t be so afraid of your boobs sagging in the process. Breastfeeding is actually a real weight loss process that you should make sure to add in your health regimen; so, all you need is to invest in a good pull-up bra to hold your breasts properly. Your body is burning more calories when you’re breastfeeding. With your body adjusting to continuously producing milk for your baby, it increases your metabolism. The milk production process makes your body burn calories faster.

There are other benefits to breastfeeding as well. It also boosts up your immune system, how? Since your body has to take care of two different entities the body, your immune system is heightened to protect your body to produce sterile milk. Other than that, your body produces oxytocin. This hormone is a diet hormone that helps in keeping your metabolism running.

Spice things up

Literally! Add more spices to the food you’re eating. You may wonder why Indians are pretty slim. There are only 6 out of a hundred adult Indians who are obese compared to the 6 out of 10 adult Americans who are obese.

Adding cinnamon, turmeric, garlic and curry to your daily diet. These spices, among others, help you in your healing process. It prevents your body from infection and helps you heal faster. Unlike most American foods, which are mostly salty, Indian food packed with spices and less salt helps your body reach its natural state. It means that your body won’t be hard up in consuming chemicals found in salty foods.

These spices help your blood sugar levels and are highly sensitive to insulin making your body burn fats faster. In cooking, lessen the amount of salt you’re putting and sprinkle either turmeric or curry powder. When eating yogurt or oatmeal, or when drinking chocolate, milk or coffee sprinkle cinnamon or just dump a cinnamon stick and enjoy.

Meat meat meat!

Meat is definitely the largest source of protein. But don’t get too excited, you should pick which type of meat is healthiest to help you maintain a good diet. In order to help you keep track of your steady weight loss after childbirth, you have to invest in protein.

Your body just experienced a major trauma when you gave birth and you need to strengthen the foundations of your body (i.e. your bones and muscles). That is why meat is crucial in your diet. You might be surprised with the top 3 most delicious protein-packed foods:

Eggs: You must have seen plenty of body builders who drink raw egg whites every morning. That’s because protein is concentrated most in egg whites. Having a sunny side up every morning may give you a healthy dose of protein but it would be better if your egg is half done. Don’t cook your egg too much because you might lose half of the protein it contains especially when the egg whites are done well.

Tip: When making a child-friendly non-alcoholic punch, mix in a raw organic egg in iced tea. Top the bowl with slices of apples and oranges and voila! A delicious protein drink! Make sure you keep the drink cool and consume the drink within 24 hours, if there’s more left, throw it away.

Chicken Breasts: The most popular protein-rich food is the chicken breast. In cooking chicken breasts though, some of the protein is often lost. The best way of keeping the protein within the chicken is by cooking chicken breasts in the oven.

Tip: In cooking chicken breasts, add a pinch of turmeric with salt and pepper to taste. Turmeric helps soften your chicken and keep the fine juices intact.

Almonds: Not only are almonds rich in protein they’re rich in vitamin E. Vitamin E is incredibly helpful in keeping a good-looking skin. It makes your skin more youthful and tighter. The next time you’re planning on going somewhere, go to the groceries and have almonds as the preferred snack to munch on.

Water isn’t the only liquid

Adding more liquids to your diet is extremely beneficial to help your body produce milk. Not only that but it also aids your body’s cleaning process. Adding more liquid intake promotes better internal organ functions. This way, your body will work more efficiently including better body metabolism.

Tip: Drink about 700 to 1000 mL of water a day. Sometimes it’s hard to count when drinking from a glass or cup, so have a water bottle with you at all times.

Stick to drinking natural juices, invest in a juicer. Naturally juiced fruits and veggies extract the most potent health tonics. You are breaking down the contents of a fruit or vegetable in a more digestible form making your body absorb the nutrients better.

Tone down in drinking coffee, tea and sodas. These are highly caffeinated. Caffeine helps in the fat burning process and helps in increasing your metabolic rate ONLY in controlled amounts. Too much intake of caffeine will affect not just you but your child as well. You may handle quite an amount of caffeine in your system but your baby’s body is incapable of digesting it. Limit your caffeine intake to a morning cup of coffee or just an afternoon cup of tea. Once a day is good enough, don’t go too far and have three cups of these drinks within 24 hours.

Snack up!

If you’re the type of person who loves eating snacks, don’t fear. You don’t have to give it up just so you can regain your pre-pregnancy waistline. As the matter of fact, eating snacks is a must. You should expect that you would be eating twice the amount of food you’ve been consuming when you were pregnant. You are feeding yourself and a continuously growing baby.

Chips and cookies are definitely a favorite among moms who just gave birth. You’ve been restricting yourself from eating these treats since day one and for months you’ve been trying your best to control yourself from downing any of these. Just because you’ve given birth to your baby, it doesn’t mean that you should go back and stock up on chips.

Processed foods are always a threat to everyone. Even if you are getting a healthy processed snack, the fact that it has been processed and packed still includes chemicals that keep these snacks preserved. Check your snack packs and reduce potato chips for the meantime, choose a healthier alternative by getting dried nuts and fruits.

Tip: Choose a snack whose expiration date is only a couple of months away from the date you are purchasing on. The shorter the expiration period is the lesser amount of preservatives put in your food.

Snack up on fruits, grab a bowl and toss in finger fruits like grapes and all sorts of berries. You may also want to mash up some avocados and add some slightly sweetened cream or milk and enjoy the healthy snack.

Calories ain’t all that

Don’t think too much about the amount of calories you should be taking in. What you should know about a breastfeeding mom is that, when you are breastfeeding, your body is regulating everything that goes into your body. If you think you are eating too much, don’t worry too much because your body is speeding up on the production of milk. It means that because of the milk production process, your body can manage a higher amount of calorie intake and distributes it well across your body as well as the amount of calories that goes into your baby’s milk.

Think about it! No matter how much and how often a baby drinks milk, they never get obese unless of course if it’s congenital. You have to be careful with the type of food you should be eating and not the amount of food. Be more concerned about what goes into your mouth. If possible, avoid things that are processed.

The Food Plan

If you used to have a list of calorie intake a day, resort to a modified version of your food journal. Develop your own food plan. Create a list of healthy food you should be consuming in a day like a checklist. This way you can distribute the consumption of different types of food in a day. This way you’d be counting nutrients instead of calories.

Although a calorie calendar is helpful, you would have to consult with your healthcare provider to check the total amount of calories you should be eating in a day. They would have the need to check your weight, your metabolism and level of activity.

The organic philosophy and regulation
While each country has their own standards and regulations that they impose (or at least strongly suggest) on food labeled organic, there is an international philosophy out of which the international standards for arise. Organic philosophy arises largely out of a broad respect for and commitment to both social and ecological responsibility.

The first tenet of the philosophy is the ecological one. Organic production standards are based on managing a farming system built on biological cycles (for example, rotating crops to reduce soil erosion and maintain the long term fertility of the soil) and non-chemical treatment. For example, instead of using chemical pesticides, pests are treated with insect predators, natural repellants, and other non-chemical methods. Weeds are controlled by mulching, mowing, hand weeding or mechanical cultivation, and fertilizers are not chemical or sewage based.

The ecological benefits of this type of natural agriculture not only protects the fertility of the soil, it also protects our air and water supply from being contaminated by run-off chemicals that enters the soil and water supply and is blown through the air and into our environment.

In using ecological and biological cycles in nature, there is also a consideration of the balance between crop production and animal management. In raising organic livestock, one must take into consideration the natural behaviors of the animals, such as freedom of movement and suitably natural nutrition. Animals that are raised to be sold as organic animal products should not be given growth hormones or antibiotics.

Finally, organic farming should be committed to social responsibility within the industry, including providing the workers in the organic farming industry with a safe working environment and a quality of life that meets their basic needs.

Regulations and the extent to which they are enforced differ from one country to another. For instance, as of fall 2002, Canada’s organic food standards are voluntary and no punishment exists for food that is mislabeled as “organic,” while a failure to meet the organic food regulations in the United States can result in a fine of up to $10,000.

Be aware as well that organic food should be labeled as such, and pseudonyms such as “natural” or “free-range” do not necessarily mean organic. If a product is made up of largely organic foods, the label should contain a list of ingredients that indicates which are organic and which are not.

The benefits of organic food
As mentioned above, there are many environmental benefits to buying organic food, including soil and water health. Aside from the environmental dangers associated with the use of chemical pesticides, fertilizers and pharmaceuticals, there are health benefits for the individual. Since the aim of pesticides is to kill living organisms, it isn’t a far leap to realize that they are probably not terribly healthy for the human body either. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States considers 60% of all herbicides (kills weeds), 90% of all fungicides (kills mold), and 30% of all insecticides (kills insects) as potentially carcenogenic (cancer-causing). This is not only a concern for those of us consuming these chemicals in our food, but it can be devastating for those who work on these farms, inhaling harmful chemicals and absorbing them into their skin. Buying organic is really the only way in which to ensure you are not supporting these kinds of operations.

Buying organic animal products not only contributes to the humane treatment of animals, it protects the consumer against ingesting chemically and pharmaceutically laden food. Animals who are raised under organic regulations are not given growth hormones or food that is lced with antibiotics. Non-organically raised animals often feed on the remains of other animals, increasing the amount of chemicals they consume, and that we, in turn, consume. The use of antibiotics in animal feed is thought to contribute to a reduction in the benefits of antibiotics through the creation of antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

Nutrition and taste are also important factors to take into consideration when considering buying organic food. Compare the taste of your own garden-grown tomatoes to those offered in your average grocery store. Pesticides, preservatives, and waxes alter the natural taste and texture of your food. This seems especially acute in fruits and vegetables. The priorities for many conventional farming operations lie in the uniformity of shape and colour, the ease of shipping and the cosmetic appearance, with taste coming in a distant fourth. We do shop with our eyes in the store, after all, and cosmetic appearance often gets the food into our shopping carts, as we cannot very well taste the product before purchase.

There have been conflicting studies on the nutritional superiority of the organic food. Some studies have found that organic foods contain “up to” 60% more vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, other studies are inconclusive. It is important to point out, however that although organic food may not be scientifically proven to be more nutritious, it seems logical the organic foods are certainly more healthful. While they may not contain more nutrients, there is certainly something to be said for the chemicals that they lack.

It must be said that the two primary roadblocks to buying organic foods are the availability and the price tag. While specialty organic store and organic food sections in health stores are more prevalent, real diversity in organic product options still hard to find outside of large urban centers. Many mainstream grocery chains have started to offer organic food sections, but these are often quite paltry when compared to the non-organic alternatives. This situation will only change with a demand for the product, however.

The other primary consideration is the price of organic food, which runs an average of about 20-25% above the price of non-organic alternatives. The reason for this lies in better subsidies for non-organic farms in some areas as well as the reduced yield of organic farms, of which up to 25% of the soil may not be used due to crop rotation and other considerations. When you take into account the cost of cleaning up the environment, the cost to the healthcare system and the money you pay in taxes to subsidize intensively farmed foods, however, you are saving both economically and ecologically when you buy organic. It is certainly worth considering.