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Adverse Effects of Artificial Food Coloring on Children

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Have you noticed your kids losing their minds? Well I am not trying to suggest that you come from a family of the mentally deranged; but if you keep eating junk with all those artificial food coloring, you might be getting there!

Artificial food coloring agents or color additives, are substances that are put in food to offset color loss, have the correct natural color variation, improve the natural occurring colors or simply make the food more visually pleasing.  One thing you have to take note of, the different kinds of artificial food coloring you see in what you eat are NOT very colorful. These color additives have been regulated to ensure that they are safe for consumption. Having that said, many health professionals still believe that in whatever amount they come in, they still pose adverse effects, especially in children. Have you come across the phrase “sugar rush”? Whether you already have or you have not, this phrase describes a child’s behavior after consuming a large quantity of sweets. If you can see your children displaying out of control behavior, and bouncing off the walls, that is what is referred to as “sugar rush”.

The Side Effects of Artificial Food Coloring- No Joke

There has been no proof that artificial food coloring causes attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); nevertheless, a number of research has found a link color additives to hyperactivity in children.  So do not be surprised why are your kids are so revved up. You should know the answer to your question already. Although the existing research on these artificial food coloring is not that comprehensive, but it would still be better to avoid dyed foods and beverages from your diet. Many food selections contain artificial food coloring that can have the harmful effects on your children’s behavior like erratic impulse control, inability to focus and absorb,  and too elevated energy level.  Children are very vulnerable to the effects of dyed foods, especially those with ADHD and ADD. As per Dr. David Schad last 2004, “dyed foods will likely induce what he termed– neurobehavioral toxicity” which is responsible for behavioral problems. There is not a definite conclusion that food dyes definitely causes ADHD but many believe there is a link, especially for parents of children who have ADHD and other behavioral problems. Now, we would be able to say that “we are what we eat”.

It is high time, especially for parents, to ensure that they themselves and their children are eating the right food. You have to start turning away from food with artificial food coloring, fast food and processed food. Take time to cook for your children.  Home-cooked meals are always better. Aside from avoiding these foods, as much as we want to, we will not be able to eat according to the food guide. So it is very important to supplement our diet with good nutrition. Taking vitamins and good nutrition helps the body to ward off the impact of “junky” nutrition. We owe it to ourselves and especially our children, to eliminate as many artificial ingredients in our family’s diet and eat the most natural food possible and supplement with the right vitamins.[ad#afterpost]

List of Flowers You Can Eat and Their Health Benefits

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Moringa oleifera flower
Moringa oleifera flower

Did you know that flowers are not just for beautifying your house and garnishing the food? To add icing to the cake, you can eat flowers as well. People can eat every part of many plants including the flower. Flowers are also used in juices, teas, stir-fry dishes, desserts and the like.

Adding flowers to your food can be a great way to add color and flavor.  Some are spicy, some are herbaceous, and some are floral and fragrant.  You will be surprised with the wide range of taste flowers can offer. The culinary use of edible flowers goes way back, thousands of years ago. These are Greeks, Romans and Chinese, whose cultures use flowers in their traditional cooking.   Most edible flowers are best eaten raw.  Now, before picking up flowers in your garden and add it your dish, just remember that: not every flower is edible and avoid flowers that have been sprayed with insecticides, fungicides and /or herbicides. You just do not want to ingest all those harmful chemicals, do you?

Interesting Facts About Flowers

Adding edible flowers to your diet can rejuvenate your health and palate. These flowers contain a variety of nutrients.  Few varieties of flowers are known to support emotional well-being along with health.  The valerian flowers help to heal anxiety and insomnia. They also aid to heal migraines and tension headaches. Chamomiles are known to calm stress and boost the resistance of the immune system. The rose waters help our liver and digestive function while cooling anger. Begonias provide support to liver health and they eliminate toxins from our body.  Chrysanthemums are well regarded as a great tonic for healing colds and fevers. Wait, it does not end here. There’s more!

List of Flowers You Can Eat and Snippets of Their Health Benefits

Here are some more recommended edible flowers and their health benefits:
Violets decorate a fresh, grass-like flavor to desserts and garnishes. These delicate flowers supply rutin which have been believed to strengthen capillary structure.

Lavenders soothe the nervous system. They can be relished in Herb de Provence spice blend, which exude a savory and complex flavor to soup and potatoes.

Borages are used as tea or ingredients in salads. These beautiful blue beauties have a resemblance of subtle cucumber taste, and are pretty useful in balancing the hormones and helping to fight upper respiratory tract infections such as colds and coughs.

Roses are abundant in antioxidants that aid in the prevention and combating cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Roses are classic flowers that come in a variety of colors wherein each has its own distinct bioactive pigments with white having the least. Roses are well-loved flowers of all time.

Nasturtiums, lemon gem marigolds, and calendula petals provide a bright flamboyant contrast in salads, thus projecting an earthy, peppery flavor. The orange pigment possesses the important anti-cancer compound lycopene while yellow varieties are rich in nutrient called lutein, which is known for protecting our eyesight.

One thing is for certain, growing such flowers you can eat can be an enjoyable indoor project, and at the same time another addition to a healthy diet which provides a bounty of beauty and healthy well-being.

Resource Links:

  1. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8513.html
  2. http://homecooking.about.com/library/weekly/blflowers.htm

Tips on How to Boost Your Metabolism

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If you are in the verge of giving up because you cannot seem to find the right way to boost your metabolism, just do not shut that door yet. Boosting one’s metabolism is understandably something many of us are trying so hard to do, but just seems so hard to achieve. The main factors that often affect a person’s metabolism include hormonal changes, diet, age, weight, genetics, and the amount of exercise a person does from day to day.

Boosting your metabolism holds the key to successfully losing weight. But how is it done in the first place?

Here are Useful Tips to Help You Boost Your Metabolism

Skipping of breakfast is not advised.

Whenever you do not eat breakfast, you tend to pace down your metabolism and force the body into “hoard mode”, your brain would send an impression that your whole body is starving because you are going a long period of time without food.

Gobble your food earlier in the day.

It is important to have your dinner as the lightest meal of your day. Some experts advise that you do not eat anything after 6-8 pm. This is because your body has more ability to burn what you eat when you are awake and mobile.

Starving Is a Big No-No!

Dropping your calorie intake to below a thousand calories a day will send signal to your body that you are in starvation mode. That said, starving yourself will majorly slow down your metabolism. It will only make you gain more weight.

Consume Small and Frequent Meals.

Eating smaller meals frequently regulates your blood sugar effectively and offers a steady source of energy to boost your metabolism. Instead of consuming three large meals in a day, it would be very wise to break those huge meals into 5 smaller ones (e.g. adding light snacks in between each main meal).

Swing It To The Left, Then To The Right!
Exercising as much and as often as you can is really a big factor in boosting your metabolism. If you do your exercises in the morning, you will most likely raise your metabolism all day long. You see, exercise serves a good purpose again and again. Any health regimen will never be complete without it.

Load Your Body With Lots of Water.

Always see to it that you drink plenty of water every day: You probably have heard this for the nth time now, but it has never been a cliche. Other than keeping you hydrated, drinking lots of water boosts your metabolism process. So never underestimate this tip!

Although it was stated earlier in this article that your metabolism is mainly dependent on several factors, the ultimate secret in boosting it is to actually acquire a sense of commitment to do so. That is right; there cannot be any more effective way than being dedicated to do it. And such does not mean you have to stress yourself over each little thing, what I meant when I said “commitment” was just actually ensuring you eat and exercise regularly.

Top 5 Healthiest Types of Cooking Oil

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Olive oil
Olive oil

Do you want to know one of the secrets to a healthy diet? Biologically, our body needs fat so it has its place in a healthy diet. When we hear fat, we assume that it is not healthy. I am afraid that what you have been hearing is just a plain stereotype. As a matter of fact, fat is one source of energy, and it also helps our body absorb certain vitamins like A, D, E and K.  Fat aids as well in our satisfaction with the food that we eat and is a key nutrient for proper growth and metabolic function.

Somehow, people always assume that if the food is cooked with oil, it is already unhealthy, and that the words diet or healthy or oil does not blend together. No! Our body needs fat, specifically “the good fat”.  The best source of this type of fats is the oil that we use for our diet, and there are plenty of them, but let us just point out the top 5 healthiest types of cooking oil.  There are a number of oils that contain lower amounts of saturated fats (which we need to avoid) and higher amounts of unsaturated fats, which our body needs.

Olive oil

Olive oil is the most known with the highest amount of unsaturated fats.  It is the most flavorful oil that we can use for home-cooked meals and is very high in heart-healthy antioxidants.

Canola Oil

Canola oil is high in mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids and low in saturated fats.  This oil is made from the crushed seeds of the canola plant and is the great source of the omega-6 fatty acid (helps reduce the risk of coronary heart disease) and linoleic acid which our body is not capable to produce.

Peanut Oil

Peanut oil from the name itself is made from peanuts (which is known for a number of benefits).  This oil is monounsaturated and is mild in flavor. Peanut oil is known to help people with health issues relating to trans fat and saturated fats.

Rice Bran Oil

Rice bran oil is made from rice and is considered one of the world’s healthiest oils.  Some of this oil’s health benefits are lowering of cholesterol levels and fighting diseases.  This oil is extremely light and versatile.

Sesame oil

Sesame oil which is very popular in Asia comes in a variety of colors which is a result from the number of ways the seed is processed to make this oil.  Since it is packed with a great amount of vitamins and minerals, this oil is known to lower cholesterol level and lower the risks of heart diseases.

Now that you know that you can still use oil and be healthy, you can just choose one of the oils listed above to cook those healthy and nutritious foods.  Frying, although not recommended for your everyday diet plan, is not that bad as long as it is done in moderation.

Sources:

  • http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information
  • http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/cholesterol/cookingoi.html

The Best Exercises for an Apple Body Shape

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Large waist, big breasts, and a bulky midsection in symmetry to small backside, arms and legs: Does this description suit you? If so, then it looks like you are categorized as an apple-shaped figure. Do not worry, it does not imply that you are doomed to resemble an apple all throughout your life. You are just likely to carry unwanted pounds that you need to shed off.

Do not pull a long face. There are a lot of exercises for people with apple  body shape like you. Here they are:

Groove It!

Aerobics Exercises: Engaging in appropriate exercises is the most effective way to build some muscles and mold that apple body shape. Focus on aerobic training to burn fat especially on your midsection. With at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercises daily, you can set a goal to lose those ugly spare tires on your waist. Plus, you can reduce your health risks by as much as 50 percent when performing aerobic exercises. Sweat it out, baby! While you will never be an hour glass figure, you can become a healthier apple by saying goodbye to your love handles forever!

Shape It Up!

Front Planks- Strengthen and condition your core muscles with abdominal exercises.

  • Start it by lying on your back with a mat on the floor. Put your palms down and position your hands forward. Place your elbows close to your sides right under your shoulders. Then, stretch your legs, grab your toes unto your shins and contract your core muscles.
  • Slowly lift your body off the mat, keep your midsection and legs stiff — your weight should rely on your arms and toes. Do not bend your lower back, raise your hips up nor bend your knees. Just keep your shoulders over your elbows and keep your palms faced down.
  • Breathe deeply and hold the position for five seconds or so. After that, gently lower your body on to the mat while ensuring your torso is stiff and your knees are extended.

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Move That Body!

Crunches- Begin this apple shape busting exercise by resting on your back on a mat, bending your knees, and keeping your feet flat on the floor and positioning your heels 12 to 18 inches from your tailbone.

  • After that, you can place your hands at the back of your head, then keep your shoulder blades together and pull your elbows behind.
  • Exhale and contract your abdomen while flexing your chin a little bit toward your chest, and slowly curl your torso toward your thighs.
  • Place your feet, tailbone and lower back directly on the mat all the time. Curl your whole body up till your upper back is off the mat. Then, hold this position quickly. As you breathe in, slowly lower your body back on to the mat.

At the end of the day, it does not really matter what your body shape is, what is truly important is how healthy you are and how comfortable you are of yourself. These exercise tips are aimed at guiding you to look your best by merely removing any body confidence and self-esteem issues you may be having.[ad#afterpost]

Resource Link:

Beyonce’s Workout Secrets for a Sexy Physique

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Beyonce Knowles
Beyonce Knowles (Wikimedia Image)

Beyonce Knowles is the epitome of a vogue goddess. She is one of the sexiest female celebrities of all time who has a gorgeous body that goes with a phenomenal voice.  She is a recording artist (who started getting famous for her song “Independent Women”), actress and fashion designer.  She has inspired a lot of youth with her success story.  One of the most amazing traits of Beyonce is her untiring drive to succeed with everything she puts her mind to.  All throughout her career, she has kept her curvy figure and she has inspired women like you that you do not need to be super skinny to be sexy.  And so, people are wondering what her secret is to maintaining her voluptuous figure.

Beyonce’s General Rule of Thumb

Use a diet plan that complements your exercise program.   All of your hard work will only go to waste if you have a poor diet. Consult a dietitian for a diet menu that would suit your lifestyle while exercising.  Beyonce says, “I eat a lot of boring things like green vegetables. I do not eat red meat or bread and I do not drink alchohol – I just do not like the taste.” Well, boring things could do you a lot sometimes!  She eats a lot of vegetables every day and her overall diet consists of low-fat, low-carbohydrate and low-calorie intake.

Featuring The Lemonade Diet

She was able to lose weight rapidly when she went on the “Lemonade Diet” to quickly drop 20 pounds for her role as Deena in Dreamgirls.  The lemonade diet, also labeled to as the Master Cleanser, helps ward off the toxins in the body.  You prepare the drink with lemons, purified water, maple syrup and cayenne pepper.  This diet is actually more like a fast one because it does not let you crave for any actual food and is only followed for about 10 days only. You drink the lemonade during daytime and drink laxative tea at night.  It’s known to be very effective to lose weight but only temporarily.
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Beyonce’s Insights Into How She Keeps her Sexy Physique

Workout five days per week, change routine regularly.
-Starts off with a bowl of cereal, waiting about 30 minutes to let it digest and then doing a cardio for 30 minutes followed by a  45 minute  of dumbbell workout to keep her body toned, and Beyonce changes her exercise plan from time to time because it helps her not to get bored with the routine.

Do yoga.
– Yoga not only tones her legs and thighs but helps Beyonce relax and meditate, letting her mind rest.

Dancing makes it a whole lot better.
– Dancing is the best exercise, as per Beyonce.  Dancing gives the actress the opportunity to have fun while her body burns calories.

Beyonce’s workout secrets are just like other Hollywood workout secrets.  Eating low-fat, low-calorie and low-carbo diet can give you the best results faster. By eating at most six meals a day, you can fasten your metabolism which would aid you to replace your belly fat with well-toned muscles. Voila!  And just with constant exercise, you can always achieve your goal. What your mind and heart can conceive, your body can surely achieve, just like Beyonce Knowles.[ad#afterpost]