Food - The Best and Worst Breakfasts for Your Health

Yahoo Health had a nice article, The Best and Worst Breakfasts for your health.

As we all know, eating breakfast is important for jump-starting your metabolism. When you skip breakfast, your body doesn't have the fuel it needs to be at its peak until your next meal. People who are not used to skipping breakfast tend to munch-out until lunch adding not only calories but unhealthy calories.

On the other hand, eating breakfast foods which are dripping in grease or full of fats are not benefitial either as they will contribute to heart disease and/or diabetes.

In this article, a study was performed to reveal the risks of eating different types of breakfast. They analyzed healthy participants before and after they ate breakfast sandwiches loaded with egg and cheese (the sandwich contained about 900 calories and 50 grams of fat). Two hours after they ate the breakfast sandwiches, their blood flow showed significant reduction to the heart - that's from one sandwich. Imagine if they ate that type of greasy food all the time. The blood's inability to reach the organs eventually leads to organ failure (including heart attacks).

Food - Oprah - Hidden Fat Traps on Restaurant Menus

Oprah's website has a great article this week on Hidden Fat Traps on Restaurant Menus. Learn to decode those advertising-slick words.

Salads - Ordering the dressing on the side can actually make you use more than the chef would drizzle over the top. Avoid empty calorie toppings such as crunchy noodles, croutons, sunflower seeds, and walnuts.

Avoid "crispy" because it indicates food fried in oil. "Crusted" means the item was covered in butter or oil and covered with breadcrumbs. "Sizzling" contains lots of oil.

Stay away from Miso soup which is high in sodium and Tempura which is deep fried.

Some vegetable puree soups contain lots of cream or sour cream, actually making them fattening.

Just because dessert has fruit on it, doesn't make it healthy. This article pointed out a chocolate cake slice which had less calories than a bigger slice of pear tart. Disappointing!

Food - Ending Your Sugar Cravings

One of my biggest weaknesses - and most people's - is sugar. It's an endless craving that happens all the time and any time - in coffee, for breakfast, for snack, for dessert, for afternoon snack, before dinner, for dinner dessert, etc. In time, it becomes habit, an addiction, and it's difficult to stop. I've read articles that compare soda with cocaine addictions. Sugar definitely affects the brain. So now what?

Once sugar or caffeine becomes an addiction, there could be withdrawl symptoms when trying to quit cold turkey. Your body has become used to these flavors/chemicals. When you take them away, your body freaks out. But, never fear, they eventually go away!

First, in order to break the sugar addiction, one must stop the every day habit completely and you must want to stop.

Second, be cautious of substitutes. Aspartame (Equal, Nutrasweet, etc) can have undesirable side-effects and will not teach you to avoid sugar. Sometimes we use more sugar substitute than we should because we can't reach the level of sweetness we crave. So instead of one packet in our coffee, we use two or three.

Third, improve your diet. If you feel satisfied (and full), you are less likely to turn to sweets.

Fourth, stop buying sweets/sodas. If you don't have access to them, you won't eat/drink them. It will take time to get over the cravings, but it will be worth it to your health and your body.

Have a craving attack in the middle of the day? Try going for a short walk. Get your mind off the craving.

Maybe you simply have an urge to chew - try some sugar-free gum.

References: Sugar Addiction by L. Wilson, MD. WebMd - 13 Ways to Fight Sugar Cravings Nourished Health - End the 3pm Slump Cravings Dr. Mark Hyman - How to Rewire Your Brain to End Food Cravings

Healthy Living - 50 Ways to Lose Weight

Reader's Digest has this great article - 50 Ways to Lose Weight - which lists some tips to reduce calories and improve health overall.

Tips include:
• Once a week, indulge in a high-calorie-tasting, but low-calorie, treat
• Treat high-calorie foods as jewels in the crown
• After breakfast, make water your primary drink.
• Carry a palm-size notebook everywhere you go for one week - to make note of what you are eating.
• Buy a pedometer
• Add 10 percent to the amount of daily calories you think you’re eating, then adjust your eating habits accordingly
• Eat five or six small meals or snacks a day instead of three large meals.
• Walk for 45 minutes a day.
• Find an online weight-loss buddy.
• Bring the color blue into your life more often
• Clean your closet of the “fat” clothes
• Downsize your dinner plates.

Food - The 15 Most Pointless Foods in Your Supermarket

What I love about the 15 Most Pointless Foods in Your Supermarket article from Rodale News is how many items I actually purchased from the list! If only I'd read this sooner...

Media is brilliant in how they hype up new products including those wonderful packages and trick consumers into buying things that are not healthy. It's a real lesson in reading those ingredient lists!

Some of the examples include:
• Mio Water Enhancer
• Uncrustables
• Bagel-Fuls
• Splenda Essentials with Antioxidants
• Yoplait Low-Fat Yogurt
• Lucky Charms Cereal
• Special K Cereal Bars
• VitaMuffin Vitatops
• WhoNu? Nutrition Rich Cookies
• Chocolate Milk with Omega-3s
• Pediasure Shakes

Food - 7 Food Swaps That Will Make You Skinny

Rodale News has a great article, Seven Healthy Food Swaps That Will Make You Skinny that has a slideshow with some really easy changes you can make to start saving calories and eating healthier today. Each slide also includes the benefit of the swap as well as healthy perk or tip.

Swaps include:
• Cabbage or Collard Greens Instead of Bread
• Summer Squash Instead of Hash Browns
• Spaghetti Squash Instead of Pasta
• Cauliflower Instead of Potatoes
• Lettuce Instead of Hot Dog Buns
• Oatmeal Pancakes Instead of Flour Pancakes
• Portobello Instead of Pizza Crust

Health - Boosting the Immune System - The Cold and Flu Season

Ask Dr. Mao, the website for author and doctor Mao Shing Ni, is an informative Natural Health Search Engine filled with articles aimed at healing your body naturally and taking care of your health in a natural or more holistic way.

One of the articles I found on Ask Dr. Mao's blog was Boosting the Immune System - The Cold and Flu Season.

We are in the midst of fall, which means cold and flu season is upon us. If you have kids, then you are probably already enjoying an onslaught of back-to-school germs!

Some suggestions for building up your immune system include:
• Simple Strategies for a Stronger Immune System
• Maintain a positive attitude.
• Eat lots of garlic, ginger, cilantro, oregano and other herbs and spices.
• Get enough rest—eight hours a night.
• Keep stress low with meditation, tai chi or yoga.

There is also a recipe for Immunity-Boosting Cream of Mushroom and Cauliflower Soup