Oats and health: pros and cons
Oats don't contain uric acid. What they do contain are substances called purines that are being broken down forming the uric acid. People with kidney problems or gout should be careful about eating excess oat meals.
However, if you don't have these problems, don't neglect this wonderful food! Oat is officially included into not so long list of functional foods (foods proved to have beneficial health effects) just one cup of cooked oatmeal gives you 4 grams of soluble fiber that may help maintain healthy blood sugar levels, reduce blood pressure and cholesterol, reduce risk of colon, breast, and prostate cancer. Plus, oats are one of the best amino acid sources of all grains. Amino acids are building blocks for proteins needed for tissues to grow and repair.
GL and Beans
Chickpeas (Garbanzo beans)are quite healthy a food because they are high in "good" carbs - their glycemic load is low.
The glycemic load (GL) describes ow many carb grams enter your bloodstream after you eat a standard serving.
Comparing different beans, the origin matter a lot. Take a look at these figures -- the digits are GL for a 150-g (0.3 lbs) serving:
* Chickpeas:
Philippines 3
Canada 9
* Kidney beans:
India 5
USA 6
France 6
Sweden 6
Canada 7
* White beans:
Philippines 3
*Black bean
Philippines 5
How are calories in food being measured?
The simplest way to know about calories in a particular food is by reading its label. If you want to know how labels are being prepared consider this:
One calorie is the amount of heat it takes to increase the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you will burn a food to heat a certain amount of water and measure water temperature, you'll be able to assess how many calories this food contained.
But you don't have to because it's been done for you in labs. They know that 1 gram of carbohydrates has 4 calories, 1 gram of protein has 4 calories and 1 gram of fat has 9 calories, so the food labels are being created accordingly.
The Cabbage Soup diet and Russian cabbage soup recipes
The cabbage soup diet consists of weekly cycles and each day of every cycle different foods are allowed, the majority of which are low calorie density foods. This means that ounce for ounce, they contain less calories than, say, meats or sweets. This favorably influences the amount of calories a dieter eats during every meal because the body registers the volume of food rather than its caloric content.
There are many cabbage soup recipes but for this diet, only those that very low in fat and protein are suitable.
On the other hand, the authentic Russian cabbage soup recipe is high in fat and rather low in carbohydrates, which makes it good for low carb diets. You can tell it from the list of ingredients (the recipe can be found at dietandbody.com/article1016.html)
Ingredients:
1 1/2lb. beef
1 1/2lb. sauerkraut
3 oz dried mushrooms
1/2 c pickled mushrooms (optional)
1/2 carrot, shredded
1 potato, cubed
1 onion, chopped
1/2c celery root, chopped
1/2 c celery stalk and leaf, chopped
1 T dill herb
3 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 T sunflower oil
1 T heavy cream
1/2 c sour cream
8 peppercorns, whole
1 t dried marjoram
Eating Lean for Nutrition
An easy way to reduce your fat intake for a successful low fat diet is to slim down some of the foods that you eat. You don't have to give up eating meat, but you should try to opt for leaner meats. Eat leaner cuts of beef, skinless chicken breasts, and fish. Substitute eggs with egg whites to reduce fat and cholesterol. Switch to nonfat milk and avoid greasy foods.
Low carb pastas - what are they made of?
Usually, low carb pastas have below 10 Net carb grams (total minus fibers) per serving and are based on soy protein and fibers that manufacturers call "protected carbohydrates" meaning that they are not digestable. Though generally low in some of the vitamins and minerals, this pastas can be high in another. For example, Dreamfields Low-Digestible Pasta, Linguine (http://www.netrition.com/cgi/goto.cgi?aid=339&url=bella_vita_pasta_page.html) contains per 2-oz serving (% of Daily value):
Thiamin (B1) 30%
Riboflavin (B2) 15%
Niacin (B3) 20%
Folic Acid 25%
How to de-carb a recipe
De-fatting recipes for low fat diets were based on substitutions. For example, you could use a cup of apple sauce instead of a cup of butter, or take low fat varieties of just about any product - sour cream, butter, etc.
Reducing carbohydrates in recipes is possible first of all by using artificial sweeteners, nut flours instead of white flours, or, again, buying ready low carb products.
But how can one reduce carbohydrates in dairy, fruits or carb-rich vegetables like red beets? It is possible to do by fermenting the foods. For example, milk can have 11 carb grams in 1/2 cup but being turned into yogurt, same milk has only 4 carb grams.
Less known is the technique of fermenting fruits and vegetables though sour kraut is an example of a common food. Historically, the Russians fermented foods a lot in order to preserve them for long, cold winters. They fermented cabbage, red beets, mushrooms, apples, watermelons - you name it, they did it. In the process of fermentation, the friendly bacteria eat carbohydrates and release specific acids preserving the food and giving it a very special flavor, different for different products, temperatures, even the wood type used for barrels where the fermentation took place.
Tracking Nutrition With a Food Diary
A great way to track your nutrition is through keeping a food diary. A food diary is a record of what and how much you eat at each meal, and the calories involved. You should also keep track of your liquid intake, especially the amount of water you drink each day. Keep track of your activities relative to your eating each day. The food diary will help you to control your calorie intake, and also to pin down the activities that may trigger your eating.
Nutrients supporting learning
Here is the list of nutrients suggested by the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine
The strongest effect had magesium, vitamins B1 and B6, Zn, and folic acid, followed by vitamin C, L-glutamine, and primrose oil. Manganese was found to have mild adverse effects.
Nutrition and Red Wine
A recent dieting trend turned to the benefits of red wine. The Mediterranean group of traditional diets have red wine on their staple food list, along with olive oil and fish. Research showed that having a glass of red wine daily can prevent heart disease.
Calorie vs. kilocalorie
The so called 'small calorie' is the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 gram of water from 14 ˇăC to 15 ˇăC.
The 'large calorie' is the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 kilogrma of water from 14 ˇăC to 15 ˇăC. This is exactly 1000 small calories.
In nutrition, they used large calories but write them with tha capital C - not calories but Calories, meaning 1000 small calories. For example, 1 gram of sugar has about 3.95 kilocalories but on the labels, you'll see 3.95 Cal.
1 Joule is approximately 0.239 small calories.
Nutrients in foods resources
One of the best free sites offering nutritional analysis of foods and meals is the fitday.com.
Another serious source of very detailed information on caloric, protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, microelemznts, and many other food ingredients can be found at http://www17.netrition.com/cgi/foods.cgi
The power of broccoli
Broccoli is considered a power food because of its exceptional nutritional value. As an article published in September 2004 issue of the Journal of Nutrition revealed, it contains plant chemicals with significant cancer-preventive effects.
Broccoli is one of the small number of vegetables and fruits that significantly reduced the risk of heart disease, as showed research reported in May 4, 2004 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Here's an almost full list of nutrients in 1 cup of broccoli (first figure is amount; % is for Daily Values):
Calories 24.64
Calories from Fat 2.77
Total Fat 0.308g 0%
Saturated Fat 0.0475g 0%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.147g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0211g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 23.76mg 1%
Potassium 286mg 8%
Total Carbohydrate 4.61g 2%
Dietary Fiber 2.64g 11%
Protein 2.62g 5%
=====
Vitamin A 27 %
Vitamin C 137 %
Calcium 4 %
Iron 4 %
Vitamin D 0 %
Vitamin E 3 %
Thiamin 3 %
Riboflavin 5 %
Niacin 3 %
Folate 16 %
Vitamin B-6 7 %
Vitamin B-12 0 %
Phosphorus 6 %
Magnesium 6 %
Zinc 2 %
Copper 2 %
Reading food labels - calorie count and fiber grams
Nutirional information on food labels shows total calories, which are the sum of calories from fat, carbohydrates, and protein - 9 Cal. for every gram of fat, 4 Cal. for 1 gram of carbs, and 4 Cal. for 1 gram of protein.
However, when they write 'carbohydrates' on a label, they mean so called Net carbs meaning total carb grams minus fiber grams.
This is a good news because it means less total calories. The bad news is 'hidden carbs' such as maltodextrin or dextrose, which are starch products and are in fact carbohydrates. Another group to be ware of are sugar alcohols or or polyols. If you see them an a label, count their grams as carbohydrate grams.
What are power foods?
'Power foods' is a term introduced by Sonoma Diet's author Connie Guttersen. Sonoma diet basics are close to those of the Mediterranean diet. The list of power foods include:
Almonds
Bell peppers
Blueberries
Broccoli
Grapes (also wine)
Olive oil
Spinach
Strawberries
Tomatoes
Whole grains
Functional foods are a different story. The term Functional Foods is used to describe foods capable to produce certain health benefits. So called probiotics is a good example. Probiotics are friendly bacteria, for example, those making yogurts like Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium. They help to improve immune system, digestion, etc. Recently, research showed that yogurt help losing weight.
Functional foods with proved health benefits are also soy, Psyllium, whole oat products, fatty fish, garlic, black and green tea, dark green vegetables, and many others.