Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Diabetes Diet Menu - Select Your Combination

Most of the time, we normally say that we must adhere to the precise diet and in some way we are not able to follow it and submit to a portion of a scrumptious looking ice cream. If your diabetes is not that serious then you should not be anxious.

When we begin dieting, we normally tend to meticulously follow our diabetes diet menu for the first number of days until one day you see a tempting chocolate ice cream and finally forget everything about your diet. What actually happens is that you are inclined to take in the nutrients in a very unstable and unwarranted manner.

Below is a list of the common foods that you can include in your meals. You can associate various foods from various categories to create a meal and a menu plan that is suitable for a diabetic like you.

Grains

- A portion of tortilla
- One-third cup of past
- One-third cup of rice
- Three-fourth cup of dry cereal
- One-half cup of cooked cereal
- One-half cup of beans or starchy vegetables
- Small to medium sized portion of bread

Fruits

Various kinds of fruits are very expedient to eat with regard to a diabetes diet because of the reality that all kinds of fruits have sufficient amounts of fiber, minerals and other tiny nutrients that are important to the human body. Therefore, it is harmless and healthy to eat almost all kinds of fruits that although they must be consumed in suitable amounts. You can use any of the ways below in eating fruits.

- Dried fruits in little amounts
- One small fresh fruit
- 1 cup of chopped fruit
- One half cup of canned fruit

Vegetables

Majority of vegetables are healthy for the human body. Most of them are not able to give much quantity of blood sugar content. The suitable quantity of vegetables that must be consumed during each meal is a cup of raw veggie or at least one cup of cooked veggies. Below are vegetables that are suggested to include in a diabetes diet.

- Broccoli
- Brussel sprouts
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Cucumber
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Swiss chard
- Tomatoes

Milk and Dairy Products

Drinking huge amounts of milk regularly is very unhealthy. Therefore, if you love to drink milk, it is recommended to drink milk in the below listed amounts. In contrast, some of the dairy products such as yogurt when drunk in suitable amount prove to be really helpful.

- One cup of yogurt
- Three-fourth cup of whole or normal milk
- One-half cup of low fat milk

The list given above can be appropriately utilized to create a diabetes diet menu. These menu plans must be regularly and consistently followed. You can choose various choices from these categories depending on your choice and make four meals with similar gaps in between all over the day. If you are thinking about the recommenced serving for meat, it should be one ounce each meal and must be followed with a short rapid walk.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Organic Raw Food Provides Benefits Of More Nutritional Value

As more people become concerned with the number and types of chemicals they are consuming in commercially grown foods, they are turning to organic foods to eliminate those chemicals. To insure they are receiving all of the natural benefits, organic raw food recipes are being traded for those who want the best from their organic endeavors. Cooking any type of food is known to reduce the amount of vitamins and nutrients within the food and organic raw food is being touted as having the most value without the unwanted chemicals.

Organic is a process in which vegetables and fruits are grown using only natural processes for fertilizers and pesticides. It is also known that the nutritional values in any type of food is lessened through the cooking process with many of the nutrients, enzymes and vitamins being cooked out of the foods. By consuming only organic raw food, people are claiming to have the benefits of getting all of the natural benefits of the uncooked foods.

Many people who only eat a vegetarian diet do so because of their belief that their bodily systems were designed for vegetarian diets, consisting of unrefined and unprocessed whole foods. By eating organic raw food, they receive more vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients that are showing many benefits as a health aid.

Getting the Good Without Sacrificing the Quality

For many, organic raw food is where health concerns meet the natural food concerns and while some on a strictly raw vegetable diet are happy with their choice and those on a strictly organic food diet, have traded information to show the benefits of both areas by using organic raw food. By using only raw vegetables in their meal planning
and insuring they are from organic sources, they do not have to give up the quality of either vegetarian or organic diets.

With several hundreds of recipes available for using organic raw food to whip up some tasty meals and treats, those who choose to eat only vegetables and naturally grown food products, usually prefer to limit their food intake as well.

The claim is that healthy living requires a three-prong approach in eating only living vegetables that are grown in strict organic conditions and only consuming as much as the body needs to provide a healthier body. By limiting the intake of organic raw food a lot of the work is taken from the digestive track allowing it to do its job more completely and efficiently.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Raw Food Breakfast

A raw food breakfast is a great way to start your day. You will find that you can make delicious morning meals from a wide variety of these fruits and vegetables. You will get not only a great tasting breakfast but a great boost to your health as well with living foods.

Living Foods

The reasons behind a this breakfast are important. Living foods, also known as raw foods, contain nutrients your body needs. Once these foods have been cooked all the nutritional value is destroyed.

Raw foodists, people who make these foods 75%f their daily diet, see massive improvements in their health once they begin eating these foods. A few of the changes immediately noticeable include weight loss, less neck and back pain, arthritis relief, and an improved mood. Over time more and more health benefits will become readily apparent.

What is For Breakfast?

Whether you eat raw or cooked food, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You are literally 'breaking your fast' of the night before. You body has gone for the longest period of the day between meals and needs to be recharged.

Why not super-charge your body? This breakfast is healthier than a cooked breakfast. These foods give you a huge supply of energy and the vitamins and minerals you need to face your day.

Can you imagine waking each day with more energy than you have ever had and a great mood? This is what will happen when you make a this diet part of your normal routine. In addition, you will no longer be as susceptible to viruses and diseases. The illnesses you are currently experiencing may be cured and will definitely be lessened.

There are unlimited choices for a living foods breakfast. For those of you in a hurry you can grab several pieces of filling fruit such as apples or bananas. If you have a little more time, or are able to prepare your breakfast the night before, you have even more choices. You can combine various raw foods for different flavors.

* Breads are a normal part of the traditional breakfast. Unfortunately, breads require cooking and have little or no nutritional value. Instead, you can make a scrumptious living foods bread using cinnamon and dates. Soft wheat that has been sprouted for one day can be combined with fresh dates, cinnamon, and raisins. Once mixed together form into a loaf. Next, place the loaf in a dehydrator to create a 'bread-y' texture.

* A raw food buckwheat breakfast can be filling. A breakfast drink can be created using raw foods that will fill you up and prepare you for your day. Soak buckwheat and add to it fresh dates, an apple, shredded coconut, and cinnamon and nutmeg to taste. This mixture can be pureed in a blender. Once you have the consistency you desire add a banana or your favorite dried fruit to give the breakfast drink power.

* Muesli is very popular on the raw food breakfast menu. Apples, rolled oats, raisins, almonds, cinnamon, and fresh apple juice can be combined to create this heart healthy breakfast dish. Soak the mixture overnight in your refrigerator and add fresh fruits before eating.

The best raw food breakfast is a part of the 811 diet. Throughout the day proponents of this diet get 80 percent of their calories from carbohydrates, 10 percent from fats, and 10 percent from proteins.

The raw food breakfast menu is anything but boring. It is exciting, colorful, healthy, and a fabulous way to start your day.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Easy Raw Food Diet Plans

Changing your diet to a raw food diet could just be the answer to help you boost your overall health. Nowadays, we're all so busy and dropping to the local takeaway on the way home from work is often the quickest and easiest option for dinner. You may think it's really difficult finding the time and making the effort to eat better for your health. but if you break down the time it takes to prepare everyday meals, you may be quite surprised to learn just how quick and easy it is to prepare meals if you have some easy raw food diet plans.

Breakfast:

Simply grab a handful of green vegetables (spinach, broccoli, lettuce should all work here) perhaps left over from last evening's salad. Place them in the blender; add a squeeze of lemon or lime and a sliced pear. Mix for twenty seconds, pour and enjoy. This is a delicious green smoothie that will give you a great lift of energy every day, as well as providing plenty important nutrients. Time frame all up - about 5 minutes to prepare and drink!

Lunch:

A suggestion for a raw food lunch could be lettuce wraps stuffed with carrot slices, banana and avocado; a small bag of mixed unsalted nuts; as well as a healthy tomato veggie juice. You could probably make the juice yourself at home or else buy it on the way to work at a good juice takeaway. Time frame all up (including eating) - around 25 minutes

Dinner:

For dinner, a typical raw food menu could be a hassle-free tossed salad to start, raw zucchini pasta together with homemade pesto, accompanied by a side dish made of almond flour garlic bread, and then for dessert, banana ice cream. For the zucchini pasta, simply peel the zucchini and mix in with your noodles. The pesto is usually a quick mix of garlic, pine nuts and extra virgin olive oil. Some people prefer to use a dehydrator instead of an stove for the almond flour bread. As easy way to make banana ice cream is to freeze a couple of bananas then peel them and puree through the blender. This, surprisingly gives you very much the same consistency as ice cream. Time frame all up (including eating) - about 1 hour, not counting the time it would take to freeze the bananas and dehydrate the bread.

With the right eating plans, you will find a raw food diet that can easily work for you. It's really just a small change to your current eating and living habits but will mean a huge change to your life. You'll be amazed at how healthy and energetic you'll feel!

Raw Food Diet - An Option For Effective Fast Weight Loss

The increasing popularity of a raw food diet is contributed to its benefit - effective but natural and swift weight loss. On top of that, it is known to boost the energy level and to prevent illness such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and so on.

This type of diet is no doubt beneficial to your health because you are consuming foods in its purest condition possible. It means the nutrients of the green leafy vegetables and fruits are still intact.

All raw and living foods contain enzymes which aid the digestion and absorption of the food nutrients in your body. These enzymes are responsible also for securing the vitamins and nutrients content of the food. Unfortunately, enzymes are destroyed in any cooking process that has a temperature of 116 degrees Fahrenheit and above that leads to its degradation. More so, further cooking procedures can break the original molecular structure of the food and in return can be toxic to your body.

So, imagine the food you are eating every day. It is fried, baked, steamed, grilled or broiled, right? These cooking methods involve heat which definitely depletes not only the nutrients but the enzymes content of the food. If you wish that your body will get the maximum health-giving benefits in what you eat, then opt for raw food diet.

Not only that you gain the health benefits of adapting this lifestyle, you are also being kind to animals because most of the raw foods are vegan. The diet is mainly comprised of fresh vegetables, fruits, unprocessed nuts and seeds, sea vegetable like seaweeds, and natural oils such as olive oil.

Therefore, there are no alcohol, caffeine and sugar products which are also beneficial to your health.

It is no doubt that raw food diet is good to your health and an effective way to lose weight however it is not an easy journey to embark also. You live in a modern world where you are bombarded with processed foods items and wide range of dining options offering delectable dishes. Hence, adapting this kind of diet will be a real challenge.

The best way to get started is to slowly incorporating raw food menu in your day to day life. Then progress gradually by increasing from 20% to 40% the ratio of raw food in your meals until you get used to eating totally on raw food diet.

Remember that if others did it, why can't you?

A Raw Food Menu Often Brings Healing

Can a diet that is based on a raw food menu actually reverse disease? The premise behind eating a diet that consists of mostly raw vegetables and fruits is fairly simple. Consuming the right kinds of foods -- and shunning the wrong ones -- can pave the way to health and possibly even help the body heal itself from chronic, severe or debilitating diseases.

Holding to this notion doesn't mean food itself brings direct healing. It means the right foods offer your body the materials it needs for incredible self-healing properties to function at peak performance.

Many people would probably say this idea, in and of itself, sounds reasonable to some extent. But most people have no idea how powerful this concept actually is. Nor do most individuals know the full extent to which thousands of people have applied it to find relief from pain, suffering, debilitating conditions and even escape the clutches of physical death itself.

Living foods enable your body's God-given immune system to function at an incredibly high level. They also provide the building blocks required for healthy new cells to replace diseased or dying ones in the body's constant cell-regeneration process.

Nutritional cure or healing isn't direct -- it's indirect. Food isn't medicine per se. But it may be better than conventional medicine at certain times.

While the exact proportions of how these foods are consumed may be a little different among those who've experienced dramatic health recovery, the general rule is that the more food consumed in raw form the better. Foods taken ripe from the garden always offer higher nutritional content than processed foods. And raw foods that were grown organically are best.

If you're open to this idea then it's not hard to understand why many raw-foodists have experienced miraculous healing in their bodies simply by changing their diet. It also becomes easy to understand why many people in the "whole foods" and "macrobiotic" food communities have experienced similar health results.

The biggest key to approaching diet as a vehicle for health seems to be the avoidance of animal-based products in favor of plant-based food products. When plant-based foods are consumed in a state that is as unprocessed, or "natural" as possible, then incredible things can happen if either a sick person is trying to get well or a healthy person is trying to enjoy optimal health.

This is often the case even when an individual doesn't embrace 100% veganism. Many practitioners of a macrobiotic diet approach, for example, consume very few animal-based products in favor of mostly whole foods and high quantities of a raw vegetables and fruits. That is often enough to enable recovery from serious illness.

The point here is that there are common "raw food factors" associated with diet and healing. They reflect what I currently think is the "best" nutritional approach to health and wellness. This understanding of things is also based upon sound research by many leaders in the field of science and medicine.

Friday, August 6, 2010

How A Raw Food Diet Can Improve Your Health

In the age of fast food take outs and food on the go, we are taking risks with our health because of what we eat. Actually it is not always what we eat that is the problem; it is how we prepare our food. It is though that twenty five percent of people are over weight, and many are obese. Maintaining an active lifestyle is very important to your general health, but what you eat is extremely important to keeping your body healthy. Even thought many people do not regularly include raw food in their diet.

When raw food is mentioned, people tend to think of meat, fish and other foods that you would not normally eat raw. Fresh and dried fruit, vegetables, nuts etc, are raw foods, basically anything that is can be consumed without being cooked. If you give it some thought and add some Creativity you will be surprised what you can come up with.

This however does not mean that a well prepared home cooked meal is not nutritious; meals made with the right ingredients can be healthy, especially if they are prepared and cooked correctly.

It is a well known fact that if people ate more uncooked foods in their diets, their well being and overall health and fitness would be greatly improved. They are many people who do not think about eating food that has not been cooked first, and they do not realize the many benefits this could have.

One good thing about uncooked food, you can generally eat as much as your want without weight gain. This is because it is low in calories, and you will probably eat less than you would cooked food, and it helps increase metabolism. Uncooked foods are full of fibers called cellulose which helps the body lose weight. Eating raw foods also increases the energy levels in the body making you feel more lively and active.

When fresh plant foods are cooked in a temperature above 115 degrees they lose much needed nutrients and enzymes that are important in digestion and general health. The heat applied to cook food removes many vitamins and proteins that the body needs to stay healthy.

Another great benefit of eating uncooked food is the reduction of saturated fats. Uncooked foods contain high levels of fiber, vitamins and potassium. Phytochemical also found in raw products are thought to help keep the risk of heart disease at a low. There are also high levels of antioxidants in uncooked foods, these antioxidants help your body keep its youthful, and are also known to inhibit the formation of plaque, a cause of heart disease.

If you include more raw food into your daily diet, you will feel the benefit in a surprisingly short time. Your skin will look and feel healthier, if you are over weight you will soon start to notice weight loss. Your general health will improve and you will feel much fit than before. The toxins in your body from eating a diet full of cooked food will disperse, and your risk of heart problems and other related health issues will be drastically reduced.

Raw Diet Program: Will You Lose 10 Pounds?

As all of know that eating a lot of vegetables is a very good way to go for a healthy food. Its gives benefits to our bodies, our skin and our overall health. But the proponents of the raw food diet take one step further. That is the reason why most of the people are choosing the proponents of the raw diet program.

They argue that eating foods that are unprocessed and in their natural state is the best and clearest way to health and vitality. Actually most of them are not know that it is give more side effects in future.

Most of them who really follow a raw food diet program always aim to get at least 90% of their food the raw way, that is, uncooked and unprocessed. A little percentage of food can be thirsty or dried, as long as it was never heated above about 116 degrees Fahrenheit. Put in mind that you must always aware when you are under this type of diet program.

Even though it might seem that a raw food diet would be limited to fruit and vegetable salads to be eat every day, the reality is menu for raw food advocates have changed a lot in recent years and you must take that in a consideration. Because the association has taken off in recent years, more and more books are promoting about the raw food diet that features a variety of foods and recipes.

For an example, raw foods might create spaghetti using julienned zucchini method. Even the sauce might be made from fresh tomatoes and peppers, with some imagination and time, interesting recipes can be produced. So be alert with this type of recopies and also collect information from other outsources.

In this generation there are very rare people choosing a raw food diet when they simply want to lose weight. Because now they are more alert with their health often, there are other health benefits they seek. Proponents may say that the uncooked food diet has many benefits, including:

1. There is healing of diseases like eye problems, skin diseases, and diabetes.

2. There is a sense of increased energy and vitality.

3. There is weight loss, or easy weight management once an ideal weight is reached.

4. There is shiny hair and youthful, supple skin.

5. There is better digestion and a reduction in digestive problems.

6. Lastly there is reduced risk of heart disease.

Even though people have their own, personal reasons for joining the raw food crusade, many are already at a perfect weight and don not seek to lose more. In my point of view they are instead after the advantage of a younger body and younger-looking skin.

The raw food diet promotes eating an abundance of fruits and vegetables, raw nuts and seeds and other unprocessed food, so people are report that their skin looks more vital, that they notice a decrease in any skin problem they might previously have had.

Perhaps the best one by far, would be applicable to those who follow a raw food diet get - in spades - all the mentioned and usual benefits of consuming a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. From antioxidants, which help your skin combat the signs of aging, to vitamins and minerals that nourish, keeps the skin healthy and protects the skin, there is enough healthy eating methods here to give the dieter a wide range of vitamins and minerals in order for the average person to live a healthy lifestyle.

Eating a raw food diet ensures that the all of these benefits are discovered and enjoyed by the dieter.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

The Raw Food Plan - The Best Way To Lose Weight, Feel Energised And Look Younger

So you've tried just about every diet? Found they're just not practical or so very boring? Lost a bit of weight - but then put back on even more?
Convinced "Diets" don't work and - guess what? - You're right!. They don't.
They give you the idea that it's only "till you lose weight" so when you return to your old way of eating you regain all you lost.
It could be time to consider a new approach - a whole new way of eating and living? A Raw Food Plan

* Not a restricted way with less to eat.

* Not a boring repetitive menu each day.

* Not expensive and time consuming.

But actually easier to prepare, more delicious, no more expensive and just the way food was meant to be!

Did you know that the usual Western diet is "dead"?

* That cooked food is devoid of nutrients, enzymes and life energy?

* That many people are actually allergic to cooked food?

* When you cook food above 180f you destroy enzymes that are there to help us digest our food. This means your body has to work harder to extract nutrients. This makes us tired and our immune system compromised. Heat causes unfavourable changes in food and your body was not designed to metabolise these. By cooking food above this temperature a pathogenic response in the body called Leucytosis takes place whereby the white blood cells ( immune cells ) are actually used to digest foods much as they would attack foreign substances.

* Only Humans cook food - have you noticed!

By eating more raw food you leave these enzymes intact so you can digest food easily and well and extract, absorb and benefit from all the nutrients and vitamins that your body needs.

A traditional diet contains much meat, dairy and wheat and is very acid forming. This is a dangerous state for your body. Some members of the medical profession are convinced that cancer thrives in an acid environment. A Raw Diet, rich in whole fruit and vegetables does exactly the opposite and creates an alkaline environment where nasties cannot survive.

Other benefits of following a Raw Food Plan rich in organic wholefoods, fresh fruit and veg, nuts, seeds and sprouted seeds and grains is that it means you will

* Quickly reach your optimum weight and shed fat faster.

* Gain lots of energy and need less sleep.

* Have more glowing and healthy skin tone.

* Have lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

* No longer suffer constipation - with the high levels of fibre some eminent medics believe this can help prevent some forms of cancer.

* You won't be hungry as you can actually eat more! It just means you are eating foods that satisfy you more and pound for pound contain less calories.

It also happens to be a very ethical eating plan. Buying lots of local fruit and veg helps the local farmers and producers.

It will take a little time to get used to. No more ready meals straight from the freezer popped into the microwave! No more "fast food" of the burger & fries variety but plenty of the even faster food you don't even have to cook! What a variety too - foods you may never have considered trying before.

A Raw Food Plan that has been well thought out and researched can prevent you from making mistakes and guide you through potential pitfalls like eating out and dealing with well meaning friends who don't understand etc. It's good to be guided until the new way of eating ( Not diet! ) becomes a habit - your new "normal" way! This takes, usually, about twelve weeks. A good plan also needs lots of recipes for meals as well as delicious juices and smoothies else you can get in a bit of a salad rut and get bored!
Following such a plan could well leave you feeling more energised and lively than you have felt for years and rather slimmer too. Why delay any longer!

Raw Food Diet Recipes For A Healthy Meal Plan

There are many proven benefits to using raw food diet recipes. When you consume fruits and veggies in a raw state, you are getting all of the nutrients that the food has to offer. There are many food ideas that can have you carefully planning out your meals and snacks. Discover what kind of food choices sound appealing to your taste buds.

Using smoothies as a snack choice or along with a healthy meal is a great way to consume lots of nutrients. These shakes are fairly simple to make. All you need is a few different fruit choices and a blender. When you learn what combos of fruit you like, it will help you make a variety of smoothie options.

The best way to make a healthy smoothie is to start with the main fruit and then add some additional ones. If you crave a banana smoothie, try adding a few melon wedges or grapes to a handful of bananas. The smoothie will have a strong banana flavor with a hint of the secondary fruits. Another great choice for smoothies is a papaya based drink. For this recipe, you can try adding some tangerines and green chard. The flavors have a great way of blending together for the perfect mixture.

With the variety of salads available for lunches and dinners, there is enough to fill a few weeks with delicious choices. The trick to making a salad taste good, is to try a mixture of fruit and vegetable choices. Mandarins and tangerines can compliment a salad quite well, as the fruits seem to add a little dressing to the lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Topping a salad with fruit can create a flavor explosion for your taste buds. The combo of soft fruit and crunchy veggies can make a great meal for anyone trying to eat healthier. Not only can you add tossed fruit to a salad, but you may also try shredding up your favorite veggies and adding them to the top. This works well for carrots, as they can be shaved and put over the salad. Diced cucumber and peppers can also create an exciting salad topper.

To make a salad different, playing around with the fruits and veggies is just the beginning. There are many different varieties of lettuce to pick from that will give your salad a new flavor. Popular ones to try are; rapini and romaine. The varying texture that lettuce can bring will help you change the menu of your salads during the week.

When you plan your meals for the week, try to make each day a little different so that your taste buds have a variety of flavors. Salads can be combined with a smoothie for the ultimate lunch or dinner. Smoothies can also be so filling that they make a breakfast for someone on the move. A side dish of raw veggies or sliced fruit can make a nice snack between meals.

As you discover the many fruit and vegetable varieties that you can create, you will be on your way to eating healthier and feeling better. There are lots of raw food diet recipes to select from. When you do some research into popular recipes and experiment with what you like to eat the possibilities are endless.