Ginger is a very popular ingredient and has been used for a long time in Asian dishes and cuisine. Alongside its taste, ginger provides a lot of healing and health related benefits. According to some studies carried out, reports said that ginger helps the body’s rate of digestion, metabolism, alleviate some pain and most notable burn up excess fat in the body. The rate of metabolism is increased by up to 2-3% and this is very beneficial if you plan on losing weight effectively.

Ginger and its Fat Burning Benefits

To increase the body’s metabolism, it is suggested that you add ginger to the usual common foods and recipes. When ingested, ginger expands the blood vessels and that in turn increases the amount of blood flow and transportation of oxygen in the body. It also increases the body’s temperature and heat emission. Ginger causes a process called a thermogenic process to take place. This process is the body’s ability to burn excess fat in the body in order to increase the energy levels in the body and in that getting you to enhance your metabolic rate and use up calories in a much quicker and efficient way.

Additional Benefits of Ginger

The consuming of ginger does not only kill of extra fat in the body and increase your weight loss ambitions, but this natural ingredient has additional benefits that include:

1. Consuming ginger increases the body’s temperature in order to prevent coldness and chilliness. It also increases blood circulation in the body and increases the feeling of being comfortable.

2. Ginger deals away with symptoms such as heartburn and disease and it deals away with pain.

3. Ginger helps in the prevention of morning sickness, nausea and motion sickness. In a study once carried out, it was concluded that ginger actually heals morning sickness more efficiently and effectively than a number of common drugs. Taking beverages that contain ginger such as Ginger Ale and Ginger Beer are common antidotes for colds and stomach aches. Because of these benefits, a lot of cruise chefs are now adding ginger to a lot of their recipes.

Adding ginger to popular dishes that contain meat, chicken, pork is not only tasty, but very beneficial health wise.

David Grisaffi majored in physical education and holds multiple certifications including 3 from the prestigious CHEK Institute: Level II High Performance Exercise Kinesiologist, Golf Biomechanics, and Health and Lifestyle Coach. He’s also certified by the ISSA as a personal trainer and specialist in performance nutrition. David has been a high school wrestling, football and baseball coach and is currently an independent trainer and strength coach. He has been sought after by some of the top athletes in professional sports including world champion boxer Greg Haugen and professional golfer Michael Putnam. David’s eBook, Firm And Flatten Your Abs is an online best seller which teaches you how develop “six pack abs” while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. Find out more on the home page at: www.FlattenYourAbs.net

Bookmark It

Filed under: Nutrition by admin
1 Comment »

The blood vessels of obese children have stiffness normally seen in much older adults with cardiovascular disease, Dr. Kevin Harris today told the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2010, co-hosted by the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. The clock is ticking and the shape of the 13 year-old-heart is changing – for the worse.

“We were surprised to find that these obese children already have stiff blood vessels,” says Dr. Harris from B.C. Children’s Hospital. “Aortic stiffness is an early indicator of cardiovascular disease in obese children.” He says it is as if the aging process has been accelerated in their aorta.

The aorta is the largest artery in the human body. It carries and distributes oxygen-rich blood to all the other arteries and normally acts as a buffer to the pumping action of the heart. Increased stiffness of the aorta is typically associated with aging and is a strong predictor of future cardiac events and mortality in adults.

“The normal aorta has elastic qualities that buffer the flow of blood. When that elasticity is lost, aortic stiffness results – a sign of developing cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Harris told the meeting. “Aortic stiffness is associated with cardiovascular events and early death.”

The mean age of the children in Dr. Harris’s study was 13 years.

More of Obese kids have heart disease signs of middle-aged adults

Bookmark It

Filed under: Nutrition by admin
No Comments »

Sleep disturbances increase the risk of work disability and may slow the return to work process. This is especially true in cases where work disability is due to mental disorders or musculoskeletal diseases. These results come from a recent study conducted by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in collaboration with the universities of Turku and London.

The research is being conducted as part of two major research projects on social capital in the workplace (Kunta10) and on well-being in the hospital workplace. The follow-up study is part of the Academy of Finland Research Programme on The Future of Work and Well-being (WORK) and the Responding to Public Health Challenges Research Programme (SALVE).

Sleep disturbances include difficulties initiating sleep, intermittent and non-restorative sleep, and waking up too early. The occurrence of these disturbances was studied in 56,732 public sector employees in Finland. During the three-year follow-up, 7 per cent of them were incapacitated for work. Data on work disability and sickness absences lasting 90 days or longer, disability pensions and deaths were obtained from national registers. The associations of sleep disturbances with returning to work were studied in employees who were on long-term sickness leave or retired on disability pension.

Just over one-fifth or 22 per cent of the employees studied reported sleep disturbances on at least five nights a week. A further 26 per cent reported sleep disturbances on 2

Bookmark It

Filed under: Welcome by admin
1 Comment »

Hypothyroidism – Your Diet Is The Boss

By David Grisaffi, Author Firm and Flatten Your Abs

Hypothyroidism is a dangerous condition that should be taken seriously. It can have a major impact on every aspect of your life; however, controlling your diet can help you curtail the effects of the condition. This article will inform you on what hypothyroidism is, how it affects the body, and ways to help control its affects through diet.

What Hypothyroidism Is

Hypothyroidism is due to an abnormally low production of thyroid hormone by the thyroid gland which is controlled by the pituitary gland. The low levels of thyroid hormone are known to affect cellular processes and metabolism and growth and development. The thyroid creates its hormones from the amounts of iodine in food and released when triggered by the pituitary gland. Hypothyroidism is rather common and is often caused by medication, low iodine levels, a malfunctioning thyroid or pituitary gland, radiation, or associated with another disease such as Lymphocytic thyroiditis and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

Effects of Hypothyroidism

Individuals with hypothyroidism can have devastating effects on the human body and as the disease furthers without treatment the signs and symptoms worsen. Hypothyroidism can affect just about every part of the human body; here are a few examples: can cause thinning and change the texture of your hair, dehydrate your skin, puffy eyes and face, cause constipation, inability to tolerate colder temperatures, fatigue and sleepiness, depression, leg swelling and all around aches and pain, increased cholesterol levels, and weight gain due to a slow metabolism. Know that if the condition is not properly treated coma and death can result.

Although hypothyroidism can be treated, areas that will more difficult to regain control of would include weight gain. Medication can control the effects of hypothyroidism rather quickly but there will still be the issues of the weight that was gained while the condition was out of control. It’s imperative that weight gain is controlled to better the condition; diet and exercise can help.

Hypothyroidism and Diet

Your diet directly affects hyperthyroidism and therefore must be addressed and controlled. As with just about any medical condition there are foods that help and hinder. Now, you will still need to exercise with dealing with hypothyroidism. Remember, exercise increases your metabolism, helps you lose weight, makes you feel healthier, lessens stress levels, and makes your body function better.

To better control hypothyroidism via diet, increase foods that have high doses of tyrosine such as lima beans, pumpkin and sesame seeds, fish and lean meat, poultry, bananas, lentils, avocados, low-fat milk and yogurt, spinach and carrots. Each of these foods will help increase your thyroid production and will help your thyroid function better. Now, these may not be your favorite foods, but you can get them past your lips to better the quality of your life.

Now, if there is a ying than there is a yang; thus, to control your hypothyroidism you will have to avoid some foods as well – even if they are your favorites. Remember, the goal is to control hypothyroidism and to better your quality of life. Avoid tofu, soy beans, strawberries, radishes, peaches, broccoli and cauliflower, turnips, peanuts, and everyone’s beloved carbohydrates which will increase insulin levels and lead your body to resist weight loss.

As few other tips for dealing with hypothyroidism and diet: avoid stimulants like coffee, soda, and alcohol and control your salt intake. Additionally, try eating several small meals throughout the day instead of three heavy meals. Add fiber to you diet if you are not getting enough and lessen its intake if you are getting too much. Fiber can be tricky when dealing with hypothyroidism; too much fiber, prevents nutrition from being absorbed and too little leaves waste and water weight gain in your body. Keep a healthy balance. Exercise and add some weight training to your workout to help boost your metabolism. Focus on being healthy, exercising, and especially keeping your daily eating habit in check and your body will keep your thyroid in check.

Bookmark It

Filed under: Nutrition by admin
4 Comments »

Raw food is gaining popularity with many individuals rightfully seeking better ways to increase health through food, while promoting greater harmony and sustainability among all people and the Earth. While this is a noble goal, one I aspire to participate in, this article points out some common misconceptions of raw food nutrition to assist in expanding your thinking and allow for more objectivity.

Raw foods are alive; however, many health educators and most nutritionist claim this is so because of the bioactive enzymes. While there is some truth to that statement, it is at best only half-truth. Raw foods not only contain bioactive enzymes but also bacteria. Most people are unaware of the fact that enzymes do not reproduce, breath, or eat. Therefore, enzymes are not alive! This is an important misconception. Raw foods are alive mainly because of the activity of bacteria.

Enzymes essentially are protein structures that act as keys to unlock nutrients by disassembling food into smaller particles for digestion to take place by trillions of bacteria. Imagine placing your car key in the ignition and the engine turns on. Just because the engine is now “alive” doesn’t mean the key is alive. Processing food by heat, freezing, dehydration and chemicals changes the shape and structure of enzymes. The enzymes are no longer able to fit properly into the ignition situated on cell membranes. Therefore the enzymes are not able to perform their digestive task of disassembling food molecules into the microscopic particles that feed the bacteria in our gut; bacteria that perform the final stages of actual digestion. Because of this fewer nutrients are available for absorption primarily in the small intestine. Living foods such as sauerkraut, kefir, yogurt, kimchee, and miso, are “alive” because they are loaded with bacteria. And ironically we are a bacteria-phobic culture!

If you eat your unwashed vegetation you will be eating more “aliveness” because of the micro-organisms, not because of the enzymes. If you choose to consume raw fish, meat, dairy or eggs then you are taking in millions of bacteria to aid in the efficient digestive process. Just a little food for thought, according to bio-energy nutritional expert and author, Mark Mincolla, PhD he says “in every teaspoon of saliva there are at least 10,000,000 bacteria and 99.99% are necessary to enhance digestion.” Read more…

Bookmark It

Filed under: Nutrition by admin
7 Comments »