Your Weight! Your Health! Your Skin!

Unfortunately many people struggle with weight loss and in a world where we are constantly surrounded by unhealthy food choices we can struggle to find the balance between the foods that are readily available to us, and the foods that we need to eat to become and remain healthy. Well rest assured that there are a number of foods out there that we can consume, that are not only great for our health but that also taste great. One such food (or super food as some people might call it) is the potato.  Potatoes have a number of health benefits some of which will be explained here.

A Little About Potatoes History and Potatoes Nutrition

In the 19^th Century the Spanish and the English sailors would consume potatoes in order to fend off scurvy. For those readers who are unaware potatoes are surprisingly rich in the immune-boosting vitamin C. In fact it is recommended that you consume a medium potato with the skin, preferably organic, each day. Also if you are looking for a good source of vitamin B, folate and minerals such as potassium, iron and magnesium, then look no further than potatoes. In essence when you think of potatoes, think nutrition, as potatoes are loaded with goodness. There is a good reason it is the number one vegetable crop in the world.

Cooking Potatoes for Maximum Benefits

There are a number of different ways to cook potatoes and each with its own health benefits be it weight loss or otherwise.  Potatoes can be cooked in some of the following ways:

• Boiled
• Baked
• Roasted
• Fried (not recommended especially if you are trying to lose weight)

Whichever way you prefer to cook your potatoes, most people will agree that the best way to cook potatoes and retain most of its nutrients is to cook them with the skin left on. A single baked potato with the skin on will give you roughly 10% of the recommended fiber that we need on a daily basis.

The only method of cooking potatoes that is considered to be unhealthy is fried potatoes; and that is not surprising. We all know that most fried food are not good for our health. Occasionally though when I feel the need to have something a bit ‘junky’ I’ll cook a potato rosti (click here for more details) although I use olive oil instead of butter and sometimes I don’t precook the potatoes and it still works out just fine. Just cook the rosti a little longer and on a lower heat.  Rosti’s seem to help my cravings for fried potatoes.

Potatoes and Calories

100 grams of steamed or boiled new potatoes will give you around 75 calories. Therefore you can feel free to include potatoes in a healthy or weight reducing diet.

A Final Note on Potatoes

Apart from being a great food to eat when you are trying to lose weight and remain healthy, potatoes have many other benefits. Just remember try to buy organic and when possible keep the skin on and avoid deep frying when cooking.  Also limit the calorie dense extras like cheese, sour cream or butter.

So go ahead and enjoy this ‘comfort’ food that not only tastes great but is good for your health.

Kale is one vegetable whose nutritional value makes it a stand out among other vegetables. Kale is also known as borecole, a type of cabbage with a green or purple color. It belongs to the Brassica family which include broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts. It’s been cultivated for two thousand years and can be identified by its tightly curled leaves. A descendant of the wild cabbage, kale was a common vegetable from the time of the Romans until the end of the Middle Ages. There are different varieties, the curly kale, dinosaur or Tuscan kale and the ornamental kale. This vegetable is easy to grow and is known to taste sweeter when grown in cold temperatures and in areas where there’s a light frost.

Benefits of Kale

Kale is an excellent source of beta-carotene, an antioxidant believed to help prevent cancer and heart disease. It also has the carotenoid lutein which helps prevent the development of cataracts and stops UV rays from damaging the eyes. Kale also provides significant amounts of calcium, folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin C, manganese and potassium. It also plays a big role in helping the body detoxify. Kale is also known as a natural weight loss food. Its high fiber content helps a person bulk up and feel full longer. People who are dieting can benefit tremendously from kale’s amazing combination of minerals, calcium, vitamins and phytonutrients.

Preparing and Cooking Kale

When buying kale, choose one with firm and dark colored leaves. Avoid kale with wilted leaves and stalks that are bruised and woody. It’s better to choose kale that has smaller sized leaves as these have a milder flavor. The taste does become stronger the longer kale is stored so try to use it 1 to 2 days after buying.  Wash kale thoroughly before cooking as dirt and sand often lodges in the leaves. Kale can be cooked using any method but keep the cooking time to the bare minimum to keep the nutrients intact. Steaming for a few minutes till it’s wilted down is one of the best ways I have found to prepare it.

To store this vegetable, place it in a clear plastic storage bag and remove as much air as possible. Don’t wash kale before storing since exposure to water hastens spoilage.

Easy Kale Recipe

Wash kale in warm water and drain. Discard any tough stems and discolored leaves. Roll up the leaves and cut into ½ inch slices. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet, add the strips of kale and stir over medium heat for 2 to3 minutes until tender and wilted. Or you can simmer them in a soup stock for 10 to 30 minutes until tender. You can also use kale in stews and stir-fry dishes.

So don’t be shy, experiment with this ancient vegetable and reap the health benefits.

As we strive to lose weight and lead healthier lives through exercising and a proper diet, we discover the power of many foods that are often taken for granted or are overlooked. Foods that are not only good for your health but also good for weight loss. One such food is beetroot. If you are looking to include foods that are rich in calcium, vitamins A and C plus iron then incorporating beetroot into your diet is a smart choice.

Beets Nutrition Facts

Beetroot is a great source of folic acid. If you still need more reasons to include beetroot into your diet, like I did, then you will also be happy to know that beetroot and beet greens are an excellent source of vitamin B6, magnesium, phosphorous and iron.

Benefits of Beetroot

• Lowers Cholesterol – According to a study in the “Nutrition Research and Practice” 2008 Winter edition, it was noted that consuming beetroot even on a fatty diet can actually help to reduce high cholesterol. Additionally it will also lead to an increase in the good (HDL) cholesterol levels. Imagine that lowering bad cholesterol while increasing the good ones.
• Lowers Blood Pressure – Beetroot benefits also include its ability to lowering blood pressure. A study was conducted on people with normal levels of blood pressure and in roughly 3 hours after drinking the beetroot juice their blood pressure was significantly reduced. If this works so well for someone with normal blood pressure levels, imagine how well it would work for someone with high blood pressure.
• Increases Stamina – Another benefit that this healthy food has to offer you is an increase in stamina. The nitrate levels in the beetroot have been found to increase the body’s oxygen use, providing you with more energy and strength.  Essentially this means that the juice from the beetroot can assist you in maintaining a healthier cardiovascular system.

This leads me to my next exciting point, how beetroot helps you to lose weight.

Beetroot and Weight Loss

We all know that eating right and exercising is the best way to lose weight; however, the challenge most people have is keeping up with their exercise routine because they tend to get tired and winded quickly. In my research to understand how beetroot would help me to lose weight I stumbled on an interesting study that showed that people that drink beetroot juice as part of their exercise routine were able to exercise for longer periods of time.

The same study also revealed that those that drank beetroot juice were less winded than those that didn’t.  Or to be more precise consuming beetroot juice on a regular basis could actually help you to exercise up to 16% longer.

So if you are able to exercise for longer periods of time, then you can burn more calories leading to greater weight reduction.

Personally I make beet kvass and consume roughly 4oz a day. Unfortunately I don’t own a juicer so I regularly steam it for dinner and save and chill the liquid and consume it cold whenever I can.

Not only is beetroot great for you, it can be an aid to help you to lose weight.

One diet I’ve been toying with trying is the Macrobiotic Diet. Not necessarily as a lifestyle way of eating but more as a form of detox or using it intermittently.

I like ‘natural diets’ where the foods predominantly used are enjoyable, or that I like or already consume.

For example with the Mediterranean Diet, which is one of my favourite’s, I adore extra virgin olive oil, red wine, whole grains and citrus fruits anyway, so this makes it a lot easier to follow. I think the Mediterranean Diet along with the DASH Diet, is one of the safest and healthiest diets around.

With the Macrobiotic Diet the main food groups seem to be brown rice, vegetables, beans, miso and fruit, with a smidge of sesame oil.  These are all foods that I already use, except the miso and the oil. I haven’t had miso in years but looking forward to trying it again.

The Macrobiotic Diet’s primary task is not weight loss per se, more in helping the body to detox and restore itself from illness or disease. But being 90% plant based I can’t see how it would not help with dropping a few pounds.

Nutritionally this diet seems low in fat, high in fibre and unrefined carbohydrates. All good things in weight management.

The breakdown of foods consumed under a Macrobiotic Diet by percentages is something like this:

• Whole grain foods, especially brown rice – 50-60%
• Vegetables – 25-30%
• Beans – 5-10%
• Fish, nuts, seeds, fruits, and miso (fermented soy) – 5-10%
• Soups made from above ingredients – 1 to 2 cups per day

Unfortunately some vegetables are dissuaded, mainly the nightshade types, but as I have no problem consuming them, I probably wouldn’t drop them entirely.

Also I should say here there seems to be varying degrees to this diet. It can be taken to extremes especially as a short term detox, but for now that’s not my focus.

The drawbacks to this way of eating for me would be the low levels of Vitamin D, calcium and some would say B12 and protein levels. I think with a bit of planning and not sticking to the ‘classic’ version of this diet shouldn’t make this too much of a hurdle. Or again, using it short term wouldn’t make it an issue.

Any nutritional limitations aside, I think it has some merits and would be ideal for someone who wants to embrace a healthier lifestyle or incorporate more wholesome food choices.

As always though I believe any diet will “work” for you if it focuses on whole unprocessed foods, will fit easily into your particular lifestyle and is not just a short lived attempt to lose weight.

Just including some of the previously mentioned foods into your everyday eating I think will have excellent benefits for you.

If you could start your day with a miracle potion that helped a lot of medical ailments and increased your overall beauty and health, would you?  I thought so.  No matter what your morning routine consists of, adding a glass of water mixed with a freshly squeezed lemon can be a key factor in how well you tackle your tasks for the day.  Lemons have been a popular ingredient in recipes, cleaning supplies and other household uses since ancient times especially in Ayurvedic medicine, but most people overlook the health factor that a simple glass of water with a squeezed lemon or lime can bring to their daily routine.

When you wake in the morning, feeling refreshed from a good night sleep, most people reach for the coffee to start their morning, ignoring the most basic requirements of their body namely clean pure water.

A full 8 ounce glass of water is a great way to start one’s day, unless caffeine is in the morning mix. Then it should be two 8 ounce glasses, since caffeine further dehydrates the body.

Lemons and limes have amazing healing properties. They are known to detoxify the body of impurities. A glass of water with a lemon squeeze will not only replenish the needed fluids to your body, but assists in bring a youthful, clear appearance to the skin.

The digestive benefits of lemons are also an aid in weight loss and maintaining weight. Relieving heartburn, nausea, constipation, and increasing the amount of bile produced by the liver, are all digestive ailments that lemon and water can cure. The high levels of potassium in lemons nourish each cell of the brain and nervous system. Depression, anxiety, fogginess and forgetfulness can often be traced to low potassium blood levels. That same nervous system needs potassium to assure steady signals to the heart .

Maintaining proper alkaline levels in your body has a purifying effect on the body that also works with the vitamin C content in lemons to treat infections, increase wound healing, acne healing and even help in curing common allergies.

All of this in one morning glass of fresh-squeezed lemon or lime added to a glass of water. What more could you ask for to jump-start your day and start off on your best foot?  Bottoms up!