O well health was a good idea while it lasted

On the news the other day I heard a story that said due to the bad economy companies are putting soil bean oil in olive and sugar in honey. this basically eliminates he two greatest tools we have in eating healthfully. You can compensate for the oil by eating nuts and avocados and fish. You can learn to drink unsweetened drinks. But now it begins to resemble work and sacrifice and bad stuff like that.

Fiber

Fiber is extrmely important. It lends to weight loss and fights cancer. you need about 25-35 grams a day.


my short list of the best sources of fiber, easy to remember, easy to provide on a daily basis:


Black Berries.................1cup.............8grams

Green beans (crunchy).........1cup.............15grams

egg plant.....................?................12-14grams

carrots (raw).................1 carrot.........14grams

Pinto beans
(cooked or canned).............1cup............18.8 grams

black beans (turtle)...........1 cup...........19 grams

Kidney beans...................1/4 cup.........19.7 grams





* See related topics: Brainy breakfasts and School-ade.

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BEST FIBER FOODS

FOOD SERVING SIZE TOTAL FIBER (grams)*
AllBran cereal 1/2 cup 10-13
Psyllium husks 2 tbsp. (1 ounce) 16
Wheat bran 1/4 cup 7
High fiber cereals 1 ounce (1/2 cup) 10-14
Flax meal 1/4 cup 8
Apple (with skin) 1 medium 3.5
Oat bran 1/4 cup 4
Prunes 3 medium 3
Kidney beans 1/2 cup 7.3
Lima beans 1/2 cup 4.5
Navy beans 1/2 cup 6
Lentils (such as in soup) 1/2 cup 3.7
Peas 1/2 cup 3.6
Spaghetti (whole wheat) 1 cup 3.9
Apricots (dried) 5 halves 1.4
Banana 1 medium 2.4
Blueberries 1/2 cup 2.0
Grapefruit (with membrane) half 1.6
Pear 1 medium 3.2
Bread (whole wheat) 1 slice 1.4
Figs (dried) 3 medium 5.3
Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) 1/2 cup 7
Potatoes (with skin) 1 medium 2.5
Broccoli 1/2 cup 2.3
Sweet potato 1/2 cup 3
Orange (with membrane) 1 2.6
Spinach 1/2 cup 2.1
Pita bread (whole wheat) 1 piece 5
Corn 1 ear 5
Barley 1/2 cup 8


Fiber content of various foods: This is an extremely extensive chart



List of high fiber foods



• Bananas, 3 grams - medium 8" long

• Beans, 6-10 grams - baked beans, black beans, great northern beans, kidney beans, garbanzos, pinto beans, white beans

• Berries, 4-5 grams - blackberries, raspberries

• Bran Cereals, 5-10 grams - All-Bran, Bran Buds, 100% Bran, Raisin Bran

• Bread, 4-7 grams - 2 slices whole wheat, pumpernickel, seven-grain

• Broccoli, 4-5 grams

• Brussels Sprouts, 2 grams

• Carrots, 3-4 grams

• Dried Figs, 10 grams - 3 figs

• Fruit, 4 grams - medium apple, medium pear

• Green Beans, 2 grams - broad beans, pole beans, snap beans

• Greens, 4-6 grams - beet greens, collards, kale, spinach, turnip greens

• Lentils, 6 grams

• Lima Beans - 4-6 grams

• Peas, 7-9 grams - black-eyed peas, green peas

• Potatoes, 4-5 grams - medium baked Idaho or sweet potato

• Sweet Corn, 5 grams

Using the list of high fiber foods and including more of the foods from the list can help increase daily fiber consumption so important for normal bowel function. Also important is that adequate liquid be present for good bowel function. Each fiber particle will actually absorb liquid in the colon and help facilitate the desired regular movement along in the bowels.

If you make changes to your diet to include more of the foods from the list of high fiber foods and still are not having a daily bowel movement, you may wish to add a fiber supplement. The best fiber supplements are rice bran or psyllium made from ground-up psyllium seeds. Don't expect to notice better bowel movements overnight as it may take several weeks for your body and elimination system to improve. The payoff will be that wastes are eliminated along with the toxins from your system instead of your body reabsorbing them.

Copyright 2005 InfoSearch Publishing

another good chart

Dinner menu

Four dishes for dinner

as with all my recipes this assumes microwave cooking.

be sure and sprinkle olive oil and lemon juice on all the veg dishes when they come out of the micro.

(1) Egg Plant Parmesan


Chinese Egg plant



Use Indian or Chinese Egg plant. Indian is the original verity. With that you can see why it is called "egg plant." The plants are about the size of an egg or really a bit larger, like a hand grenade but shaped like an egg. It is the same color as our American version. But the Chinese egg plant is longer and thiner and lighter purple. Both I think are a little more tasty, but you can use any of the three (there is also Japanese they are all about the same).



Indian egg plant

Ingredients
eggplant
red bell pepper
purple onion
mushroom
spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce

slice into disks. place purple onions and mushrooms on top. dice red bell pepper and sprinkle over it. I do not put the red sauce on until after it cooks. Otherwise it breaks down and becomes watery. Cook in micro seven or eight minutes. then put on red sauce. I sue classico, any flavor, but any kind will do. this dish is a meal in itself for about two people. you can make side dishes if you want more food. Such as cottage cheese, chicken strips (white, no skin) or whatever. salad is good. Don't forget to sprinkle powdered cheese on after the red sauce.

Red bell peppers have the most nutritional value. Because they are at a more mature stage.


(2) Spinach and Winter Squash

Ingredients:

Spinach
winter squash
shallots
red bell pepper
mushrooms
white bass
Thyme
Basil
sage


Winter squash is much more nutritious than summer. Winter Squashes are harder with a tough skin. You cook the whole squash in the micro about seven t9 10 minutes, then cut open and scoop out the content.

Winter Squash is super food. that is it has huge amounts of potassium, vitamins, cancer righting and a full range of things you need.




My favorite Squash is Kabacho (above), it has a dark nutty flavor that somehow reminds me of coffee. Calabza is also great. Flavor with honey and cinnamon. there are many verities if you can't find one use another.

Kabocha (Also known as a Ebisu, Delica, Hoka, Hokkaido, or Japanese Pumpkin) - Kabocha is the generic Japanese word for squash, but refers most commonly to a squash of the buttercup type.

Kobocha Squash may be cooked whole or split lengthwise (removing seeds). It has a rich sweet flavor, and often dry and flaky when cooked. Use in any dish in which buttercup squash would work

cook Spinach seven minutes in the micro. Put in with it red bell Pepper, diced, shallots (which are little baby purple onions, they have a subtle flavor), mush rooms and after sprinkle with powder cheese. I prefer Romano. but olive oil (keep in refrigerator) and lemon juice on the it.

Cook white bass in the micro about seven minutes. I put the Spinach in with it.Season the fish with Basil, Thyme, sage. Of course cover with lemon juice. Sometimes I make tartar sauce with low fact mayo and lemon juice. just mix to taste.



red bell pepper




(3) Vege casserole


Ingredients

red bell peppers
spinach
broccoli
sugar snap peas
purple onion (or any color)
mushrooms
rice
cream of mushroom soup
canned tuna

use white rice, less sugar than brown. after cooking vegetables about five minutes, and steaming the rice, mix them and cook for a few more minutes (three or four) with creme of mushroom soup. mix it all in. one can substitute top roman noodles for rice.

I mix canned tuna. sea food is very important for omega three. tuna is an excellent source. Cook the vegitables, rice and soup with the tuna all mixed in.



(4) chicken and Veg medley


Chicken made as above. mix the vegetables in previous recipe but without soup and use olive oil and lemon juice on them instead.

Recipies for Lunch

I have been distracted by debates in which I am involved. But I will get to nutritional research soon. In the mean time I promised by niece I'd give recipes.

Lunch!

The point is small meals high in fiber and whole calories.

I always center lunch around three things:


(1) Beans

(2) Salad

(3) Sandwiches.

Not that I have these at the same time, but one of them is uusally the center of the meal. The meals should be more like snacks.


Beans:and sardines







Excellent resource for fiber. I sometimes eat just a can of beans for lunch. I mostly like Pinto ranch style with sweet onion or jalepino. To round it out I add a can sardines and bowl of soup. I use canned beans a lot. You still get the fiber. Other kinds of beans that are good are kidney and butter beans, aka "Lima." Kidney beans are actually a kind of Lima bean. Beans and sardines are often my meal. A quite snack you can either mush the sardines in the beans or just have them on the side.

I sprinkle white powder cheese (Romano) on them with crushed garlic and red bell pepper. Melt Mexican cheese made with skim milk. You can use any kind chili pepper, chopotle or anything spicy. spicy chili pepper, especially red ones, are very good for weight loss; they speed up the metabolism.

one of the greatest tastes of my life is to put cyote squash into pinto beans with cheese and peppers. Cyote squash looks like a small green pear, with a wired wrenckle in it. It's not very nutricious because it's summer squash. But in pinto beans it tastes wonderful!




You can also buy a bag of dried beans. These are great because they are extremely cheap. You can fix them up any way. I've bean soup out of them. I put into a huge vat of pintos carrots, onions, scallions (those long green stemmed small onions) mush rooms and tomato paste. biol in water for a couple hours, follow directions on the bag. Dont' foget to washt he beans first. Add to that cyote squash and maybe some broccoli and chard; the chard is to get green leafy nutrition (important for fighting Alzheimer's)


Salad

there are a million salads. I'm a great believer in simple meals. I make one salad all the time. I very the kind of lattice. But usually I use ice berg (not pc).

Tomato, purple onion, black olives, olive oil, crutons, power cheese and shavings of Mexican cheese. I use either lemon juice and olive oil as dressing, or sneak in some low fat ranch or butter milk.

Bens, sardines and a salad makes a good filling lunch. Or soup and salad.


Sandwishes

Tomarrow and cheese. I use flour tortia and make it a wrap rather than actual bread, that's a bit less fattening, i you don't cover it with melted caso. add some Green chilis like from New Mexico and its' wonderful! Pita bread is good as a substitute for bread as well.

Beatkfat!

we have always heard the cleche that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It is very important for losing weight. According to You On a Diet (which, as far as I am concerned is one of the most authoritative sources) 97% of people who lose weight eat breakfast, and only 4% of those who do not eat breakfast lose weight. Yet most people in America eat cholesterol filled egg yokes, others eat poison such as donuts, sticky buns, bear claws and the like. Here's my approach to breakfast.

I eat the same stuff every time. that way you don't have to wrack your brain about what to to have. I have three or four dishes and alternate so I don't get tired of the same thing. They are all stuff that's very good for you.


Blue Berries





Blue Berries are a must. I try to have them every time, either as a topping for my oat meal or on the side. Other berries are also good, strawberries are good for cancer fighting and blackberries are also, they are probably the second best. But Blueberries have all the goodies, they are known as a "super food;" good cancer righting, excellent source of fiber, loads of vitamins an good for your mind. Blueberries have the most good mental support stuff.

Nutrition

Blueberries are rich in Vitamins A, C, E and beta-carotene as well as rich in the minerals potassium, manganese, magnesium. They are very high in fiber and low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. But this is just the tip of the nutritional iceberg, for recent studies tell us that of all fresh fruits and vegetables, blueberries provide the most health-protecting antioxidants, those valuable elements which prevent cancer-causing cell damage and may limit the changes wrought by age related diseases.

The properties of blueberries cross the blood brain barrier to effect these benefits.Antioxidants help to stop the production of free radicals. Free radicals are groups of atoms that impair the cells and the immune system which leads to disease. Anti-oxidants bind the the free electrons in free radicals.

Pat Wilson writes for wieght loss resources:

Blueberries may be a potent weapon in the battle to reduce cholesterol. Studies and experimentation by the US Department of Agriculture have found that the antioxidant, Pterostilbene, found in blueberries, was the most potent ingredient when it came to activating a cell's PPAR-alpha receptor which plays a role in reducing cholesterol.



Working with rat liver cells, the US team found that Pterostilbene working in a similar way to Ciprofibrate, a commercial drug that lowers bad cholesterol. However, Pterostilbene does not carry the possible negative side effects of Ciprofibrate, such as muscle pain and nausea.



More research and studies in humans are needed but these latest results add to the health benefits of the blueberry. A good source of vitamin C and dietary fibre, the blueberry is one of the riches sources of antioxidants. These antioxidants keep us healthy and young and fight cell damaging free radicals, helping us to ward off cancer, strokes and other age-related diseases.



The Blueberry is readily available in markets and supermarkets and can be used to make jams, sauces, relishes, desserts and puddings.

Of course fresh is always the best. but frozen berries retain a lot of the nutrients and taste fine.



Oat Meal








Use steel cut oats. Or at least Quaker quick oats that say "100% whole grain" do not use pre packages stuff, instant, or flavor enhanced like cinnamon apple. That means they took the nutrition out of the oats. they are processed. Put apple butter in it and sprinkle your own cinnamon on it. top it off with blue berries. Here's how I make it.

Just put some water in the oats, just cover the top, micro for 2 minutes. Then put in a teapspoon of olive oil. Sprinkle cinnamon and then liberal amount of blue berries. I eat that almost every day. You can have a great amount of variety and still be faithful to the basic principles. Put in some honey, instead of blue use black, straw, or raspberries. use peach pieces, apple butter, orange chucks, banana, whatever. I sometimes put yogurt over it (plain, unsweetened).

You can use oat bran muffins rather than oat meal.

Egg Whites


Get tired of oatmeal or oats in general, have an egg white omelet. Really a lot of nutritionists say one egg a day wont hurt. I think not but I would rather work on the discipline of doing without. I give the egg yoke to the dog, to make his coat shiny, since one wont hurt. He's loves them. With the white I put picante sauce on it, or green chilies, with mushrooms, onions and white powdered cheese (such as Romano or Parmison--not as fat as yellow cheese). There is a Mexican cheese made with skim milk, It's very bland but only 7g in a serving. It usually has peppers embedded in it to give it some zing.

I sometimes eat Sardines for breakfast. That may sound crazy but (yech fish for breakfast!) But an Old Jewish tradition is eating lox (which are fish) and beagles. That's a good alternative, since they are made with water not too fattening. fish for breakfast is not so odd.

Fruit, berries, toast, apple butter all from delicious side dishes, with orange juice or grapefruit halves.

Welcome

I originally did this for my niece Jeannia and Great Nephew Zak. I have not promoted it at all, but somehow people have found it. I have a reader in Paris, one in Japan, and several around the U.S. and Canada. So welcome, I was going publicize it eventually anyway.

I am not expert on nutrition, but i did lose a hundred pounds just by learning to eat right. I will also be using research and studies which I will find on the net and share. I hope you all enjoy it.

I would attempt to say bon apatite but I can't spell. the Fench guy would say "qi et imbecile?"

something like that. btw I like comments. share tip and dishes and stuff. let us hear from you.

snacking

I am starting with snacks because that's the real enemy. Most weight is gained from snacking with tv. Your pallet is jaded because you eat so much pre processed pre packaged food that you can't taste real food. I am betting that if you were like I was, you find fresh fruit boring. You probably can only taste sweet, sour, and grease. You crave sweet and can't stand apples. But apples are the best snacks.

You need to unjade your pallet so you can taste how good fresh stuff is. To do that you have to cold turkey, but there are some things that will help ease the pain.

The best news is you can have chocolate!






Yes, even milk chocolate. We often hear that it's the dark that has the health benefits of fighting depression. But Milk Chocolate has some of that too, plus cancer fighting ingredients. The thing is chocolate has sugar. If you eat processed candy bars only have one table spoon of Chocolate, or two squares of a Hershey's. But the thing is, you can make chocolate syrup that will be much less fattening. I would not eat any kind of chocolate candy with goo in it. solid blocks, just a couple of squares a day, or the honey chocolate I describe below. It's good to use dark because it has more stuff for health in it and it isn't as addictive because it tastes too strong.

Sweet Snacks

Honey takes longer to digest. Remember, the slower foods enter blood stream more slowly and are used as nutrients and not stored as fat. So honey takes longer than sugar because it has the nutrition, it is not removed. So Honey, even though it is almost the same calories as sugar (remember, don't bother with calories) is less fattening. So take chocolate powder, coca, and you can get it in dark, or baking chocolate. Either melt it, if it is in bar form, or if powder, just mix with honey and a few drops of milk and stir until it's a thick syrup, then you can put it on lots of things. It's really good on frozen bandanna. Put it in plain yogart and put that over straw berries. Pour it over strawberries directly.

There's another major staple of snaking: plain yogurt, no sugar, honey, and mix that in with blackberries. You can use anything, blue berry, straw berry, peach pieces, anything you like It tastes like ice cream. Use frozen berries and its real cold. Graham crackers are an excellent snake and perfect for the chocolate syrup bit, or crumble them in your yogurt and berries. Graham's are not as fattening as a lot of things, they are ok.

Use apple butter instead of jelly and put that on Grahams.

apples are great and are a main staple. Apples really helped me in the beginning because they always game me something to munch on, they have fiber (although not a major amount) and lots of nutrition. They are not very fattening. Apples are perfect and you can slather a bunch of peanut butter on them they taste wonderful. Keep them in the fridge. they are great cold. Learn to like them. Just forzen berries in a bowl. It is really important to take the place of sweets with things like this. Grapes, bananas, apples, berries, cherries things that are naturally sweet and have lots of nutrition so they enter the blood stream slowly, and very important in learning to replace sugary poison with good stuff.

Sugar is poison. It is. Sugar will kill a dog.

What about the urge for crunchy salty snacks?

that was a hard one for me for a long time. Then I found crutons. Little preices of toast you put on salads. Crutons are great. You need to read the labels because some have more salt and fat than others. don't be fooled by the measurements because a serving size is very small, still, they are a fine replacement for chips. Don't eat a whole bag. But look for those that have 1 gram of fat and about 60 mgs of salt. That's fairly low although it's not officially low sodium. Some have as much as 10g fat and 1000mg sodium. Now they make some pre packaged stuff with over 1000 mgs of sodium that's crazy. So 60mgs is not that much. I love the garlic and cheese flavor.

Peanuts and peanut butter is good. nuts are good, they are good fat! Cashews have been linked to hart problems but walnuts have cancer fighting ingredients and good for your heart. pecans, peanuts are very good. Peanuts have fiber. Fiber is real essential for weight loss. I'll get to that latter. peanuts and peanut butter are both excellent.

Don't just gorge on this stuff all the time. But you should make a habit of having a apple every day, and bowl of black berries or blue berries. those are very important because they increase brain power, fight cancer and are good sources of fiber. They are major sources of fiber, about 8 grams of fiber in a cup. Macadamia nuts are excellent because unlike other nuts they are not fattening they are good fat but they don't have many calories. they are expensive, but be sure to by whole ones not roated. Raosted lack most of the benifit. Strawberries are very good and all berries have those same benifits but blue are the best.

apples
berries
nuts
crutons
palin yogurt, honey and any fresh fruit or berries
chocolate sauce made with honey and no sugar in it
peanuts
Peanut butter

more latter.