Tag Archives: diet

Banana Health Benefits

Banana health benefits are comparable to any other type of fruit.

In fact, bananas have several positive benefits that many other fruits do not have.

These yellow-skinned fruits are ideal for health because they have a sweet taste that most people enjoy.

Because of this, it is easy to implement bananas into a daily diet.

Bananas are also convenient because you can carry them with you whenever you are in a hurry.

Knowing the banana health benefits and the other positive things that bananas can be used for will likely give you a new appreciation for this popular fruit.

Instead of eating an apple each day for optimum health, the adage should state that a banana each day keeps the doctor away.

The banana health benefits far outweigh those of the apple because it has many more vitamins and nutrients than their round counterparts.

Bananas have two times as many carbohydrates as an apple, five times as much Vitamin A and iron and three times as much phosphorus. In addition, bananas are also rich in potassium and natural sugars.

All of these factors combined make the banana a “super food” that is an integral part of a healthy daily regimen.

Bananas Provide Energy

Because of the abundance of vitamins and minerals, bananas are a great source of natural energy.

Eating only two bananas will give you enough energy to exercise or workout for an hour and a half.

Bananas are also ideal for eating during that midday lull when you feel tired and sluggish.

Instead of drinking caffeine or having a sugary snack, bananas provide a level of energy that lasts longer without the dramatic crash caused by caffeine.

Potassium is Vital for Performance

Because they are rich in potassium, bananas help the body’s circulatory system deliver oxygen to the brain.

This also helps maintain a regular heartbeat and a proper balance of water in the body.

Potassium is also helpful for reducing strokes and regulating blood pressure because of the way it promotes circulatory health.

Bananas Promote Bowel Health

One of the banana health benefits is that they can help stop constipation.

Bananas have a certain type of fiber that helps to restore and maintain regular bowel functions.

Instead of using laxatives that might have chemicals or other synthetic substances, bananas are a natural source for lessening the effects of constipation without causing other bowel problems such as diarrhea.

Bananas have a chemical called tryptophan – the same chemical that turkey contains.

This mood regulating substance contains a level of protein that helps the mind relax so you feel happier.

According to Bananasaver.com, people suffering from depression often report feeling better after eating a banana.

Eat a Banana during Your Monthly Visitor

Instead of taking pills designed to reduce your menstrual pains, bananas can be a great help.

As stated on Bananasaver.com, bananas have a level of vitamin B6 that helps to regulate blood glucose level and help your overall mood.

Increase Your Brain Power with Bananas

In addition to banana health benefits, they can also help you with your mind.

Bananasaver.com discusses a study with 200 students who were asked to eat one banana three times a day – breakfast, recess and lunchtime – along with their normal meals.

Because of their calming properties, pregnant women often eat bananas to combat their morning sickness.

They also help to replenish the body and restore a healthy blood glucose level.

In addition, they also help regulate a pregnant woman’s temperature, although this is mostly used in other cultures that rely more heavily on natural cures.

Rub the Peel on Mosquito Bites

Before you throw those peels away, rubbing the inside of it along a mosquito bite will help reduce the itching and swelling that is normally associated with these types of bites.

You might even find that it works better than the creams or medications you find at the drugstore.

Bananas Help Soothe Ulcers

As a way to prevent and treat ulcers, bananas help to reduce the acidity that some foods can leave in the stomach.

Avacado Health Benefits

Avocados are a great source of lutein, a carotenoid that works as an antioxidant and helps protect against eye disease. They also contain the related carotenoids zeaxanthin, alpha-carotene and beta-carotene, as well as tocopherol (vitamin E).

But avocados aren’t just a rich source of carotenoids by themselves—they also help you get more of these nutrients from other foods. Carotenoids are lipophilic (soluble in fat, not water), so eating carotenoid-packed foods like fruits and vegetables along with monounsaturated-fat-rich avocados helps your body absorb the carotenoids. An easy way to do this is to add sliced avocado to a mixed salad.

Half an avocado contains 3.4 grams of fibre, including soluble and insoluble, both of which your body needs to keep the digestive system running smoothly. Plus, soluble fibre slows the breakdown of carbohydrates in your body, helping you feel full for longer.

Avocados also contain oleic acid, a fat that activates the part of your brain that makes you feel full. Healthier unsaturated fats containing oleic acid have been shown to produce a greater feeling of satiety than less-healthy saturated fats and trans fats found in processed foods.

Rich, creamy, and packed with beneficial monounsaturated fat, avocado slows digestion and helps keep blood sugar from spiking after a meal. A diet high in good fats may even help reverse insulin resistance, which translates tosteadier blood sugar long-term. Try putting mashed avocado on sandwiches instead of mayonnaise or on bread instead of butter. To keep what’s left over from turning brown, spritz the flesh with cooking spray or coat with lemon juice and wrap in plastic.

One cup of avocado provides almost a quarter of your recommended daily intake of folate, a vitamin which cuts the risk of birth defects. If you’re pregnant—or planning to be—avocados will help protect your unborn baby.

A high folate intake is also associated with a lower risk of heart attacks and heart disease. Does your family have a history of heart problems, or do you have risk factors (such as being overweight or smoking) for heart disease? Avocados could help keep your heart healthy.

As well as increasing feelings of fullness, the oleic acid in avocados can help reduce cholesterol levels. In one study, individuals eating an avocado-rich diet had a significant decrease in total cholesterol levels, including a decrease in LDL cholesterol. Their levels of HDL cholesterol (the healthy type) increased by 11 percent.

High Cholesterol is one of the main risk factors for heart disease. The cholesterol-lowering properties of avocado, along with its folate content, help keep your heart healthy.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Over the centuries, vinegar has been used for many purposes: making pickles, killing weeds, cleaning coffee makers, polishing armor, and dressing salads. It’s also an ancient folk remedy, touted to relieve just about any ailment you can think of.

In recent years, apple cider vinegar has been singled out as an especially helpful health tonic. So it’s now sold in both the condiment and the health supplement aisles of your grocery store. While many of the folk medicine uses of vinegar are unproven (or were disproved), a few do have medical research backing them up. Some small studies have hinted that apple cider vinegar could help with several conditions, including diabetes and obesity.

So does consuming apple cider vinegar make sense for your health? Or is vinegar best used for cleaning stains and dyeing Easter eggs? Here’s a rundown of the facts.

Vinegar is a product of fermentation. This is a process in which sugars in a food are broken down by bacteria and yeast. In the first stage of fermentation, the sugars are turned into alcohol. Then, if the alcohol ferments further, you get vinegar. The word comes from the French, meaning “sour wine.” While vinegar can be made from all sorts of things — like many fruits, vegetables, and grains — apple cider vinegar comes from pulverized apples.

The main ingredient of apple cider vinegar, or any vinegar, is acetic acid. However, vinegars also have other acids, vitamins, mineral salts, and amino acids.

While long used as a folk remedy, apple cider vinegar became well known in the U.S. in the late 1950s, when it was promoted in the best-selling book Folk Medicine: A Vermont Doctor’s Guide to Good Health by D. C. Jarvis. During thealternative medicine boom of recent years, apple cider vinegar and apple cider vinegar pills have become a popular dietary supplement.

Look on the back of a box of supplements — or on the Internet or in the pages of any one of the many books on vinegar and health — and you’ll find some amazing claims. Apple cider vinegar is purported to treat numerous diseases, health conditions, and annoyances. To name a few, it’s supposed to kill head lice, reverse aging, ease digestion, and wash toxins from the body.

Most of these claims have no evidence backing them up. Some — like vinegar’s supposed ability to treat lice or warts — have been studied, and researchers turned up nothing to support their use. Other claims have been backed up by studies, but with a catch: vinegar may work, but not as well as other treatments. For instance, while vinegar is a disinfectant, it doesn’t kill as many germs as common cleaners. And while vinegar does seem to help with jelly fish stings — an old folk remedy — hot water works better.

Health Benefits of Raspberries

These are small, tightly-packed red berries found during summer or autumn. They are used to make jams, jellies, pies, and ice creams. They have a high vitamin C and manganese content. They also contain vitamin K and magnesium.

Wonderfully delicious, bright red-colored raspberry is among the most popular berries grown all over the world. They are rich source of health promoting plant-derived nutrients, minerals, and vitamins that are essential for optimum health.

Botanically, the plant is a small shrub belonging to the family Rosaceae, of the genus: Rubus. It grows very well in temperate regions. The exotic berry is native to Europe but now widely cultivated in many temperate regions all over the world. Chief producers of raspberries are Poland, United States, Germany, and Chile.

Several subspecies of raspberries are grown; however, the most important modern commercial red-raspberry cultivars derive from hybrids between R. idaeus (European raspberry) and R. strigosus (American raspberry).

Technically, the whole berry is an aggregate of small drupe-lets, which are arranged in circular fashion around a hollow central cavity. Each tiny drupelet features small juicy pulp with a single whitish-yellow seed. Raspberries have a taste that varies by cultivar, and ranges from sweet to acidic, a feature quite similar to strawberries.

Raspberry has a conical shape, weighs about 3-4 g and contains 80-100 drupelets arranged in circular layers. While the most common type of raspberry (Rubus idaeus) is red-pink in color, hybrids actually come in a range of colors, including black, purple, orange, yellow and white.

Health benefits of raspberries

Delicious raspberries are low in calories and saturated fats but are rich source of dietary fiber and antioxidants. 100 g berries contain just 52 calories but provide 6.5 g of fiber (16% of daily recommended intake).

Raspberries have significantly high levels of phenolic flavonoid phytochemicals such as anthocyanins, ellagic acid (tannin), quercetin, gallic acid, cyanidins, pelargonidins, catechins, kaempferol and salicylic acid. Scientific studies show that these antioxidant compounds in these berries have potential health benefits against cancer, aging, inflammation, and neuro-degenerative diseases.

Xylitol is a low-calorie sugar substitute extracted from raspberries. A teaspoonful of xylitol contains just 9.6 calories as compared to that of sugar, which has 15 calories. Xylitol absorbs more slowly in the intestines than sugar and does not contribute to high glycemic index, and thus, can be helpful in diabetics.

Fresh raspberries are an excellent source of vitamin-C, which is also a powerful natural antioxidant. 100 g berries provide 26.2 mg or about 47% of DRI of vitamin C. Consumption of fruits rich in vitamin C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents, counter inflammation, and scavenge harmful free radicals.

Raspberry contains anti-oxidant vitamins like vitamin A, and vitamin E. In addition to the above-mentioned antioxidants, is also rich in several other health promoting flavonoid poly phenolic antioxidants such as lutein, zea-xanthin, and ß-carotene in small amounts. Altogether, these compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging and various disease processes.

Raspberry has an ORAC value (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) of about 4900 per 100 grams, crediting it among the top-ranked ORAC fruits.

Raspberries contain a good amount of minerals like potassium, manganese, copper, iron and magnesium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Copper is required in the production of red blood cells.

They are rich in B-complex group of vitamins and vitamin K. The berries contain very good amounts of vitamin B-6, niacin, riboflavin, and folic acid. These vitamins are function as co-factors and help body in the metabolism of carbohydrates, protein and fats.

One of the most fascinating new areas of raspberry research involves the potential for raspberries to improve management of obesity. Although this research is in its early stages, scientists now know that metabolism in our fat cells can be increased by phytonutrients found in raspberries, especially rheosmin (also called raspberry ketone). By increasing enzyme activity, oxygen consumption, and heat production in certain types of fat cells, raspberry phytonutrients like rheosmin may be able to decrease risk of obesity as well as risk of fatty liver. In addition to these benefits, rheosmin can decrease activity of a fat-digesting enzyme released by our pancreas called pancreatic lipase. This decrease in enzyme activity may result in less digestion and absorption of fat.

Recent research on organic raspberries has now shown organic raspberries to be significantly higher in total antioxidant capacity than non-organic raspberries. Raspberries in the study were grown on farms in Maryland that had been previously certified as organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A series of tests involving free radical scavenging all provided the same results: organic raspberries outperformed their non-organic counterparts in terms of their antioxidant activity. This greater antioxidant capacity was associated with the greater levels of total phenols and total anthocyanins found in organic versus non-organic raspberries. While there are many good reasons to purchase organic versus non-organic foods of all kinds, this study makes it clear that these reasons specifically hold true for raspberries in a profound way.

You’ll get significantly more antioxidant support by purchasing raspberries that are fully ripe. Recent studies have measured the total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, and anthocyanin content of raspberries harvested at varying stages of ripeness (from 50% to 100% maturity) and greatest overall antioxidant benefits were associated with full ripeness of the berries. Although it’s possible for raspberries to ripen after harvest, this fruit can be highly perishable and can mold quite easily at room temperature. So your most risk-free approach for getting optimal antioxidant benefits from raspberries is to purchase them at full maturity, keep them refrigerated at all times at temperatures between 35-39°F (2°-4°C), and consume them very quickly (within 1 to 2 days after purchase).

Anti-cancer benefits of raspberries have long been attributed to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phytonutrients. In animal studies involving breast, cervical, colon, esophageal, and prostate cancers, raspberry phytonutrients have been shown to play an important role in lowering oxidative stress, reducing inflammation, and thereby altering the development or reproduction of cancer cells. But new research in this area has shown that the anti-cancer benefits of raspberries may extend beyond their basic antioxidant and anti-inflammatory aspects. Phytonutrients in raspberries may also be able to change the signals that are sent to potential or existing cancer cells. In the case of existing cancer cells, phytonutrients like ellagitannins in raspberries may be able to decrease cancer cell numbers by sending signals that encourage the cancer cells to being a cycle of programmed cell death (apoptosis). In the case of potentially but not yet cancerous cells, phytonutrients in raspberries may be able to trigger signals that encourage the non-cancerous cells to remain non-cancerous.

 

Blueberries Health Benefits

The highest antioxidant capacity of all fresh fruit: Blue Berries, being very rich in anti oxidants like Anthocyanin, vitamin C, B complex, vitamin E, vitamin A, copper (a very effective immune builder and anti-bacterial), selenium, zinc, iron (promotes immunity by raising haemoglobin and oxygen concentration in blood) etc. boost up your immune system and prevent infections. Once your immunity is strong, you won’t catch colds, fever, pox and all such nasty viral and bacterial communicable diseases.

Neutralizes free radicals which can affect disease and aging in the body: Blue Berries bring you the brightest ray of hope, for they are laden with anti oxidants and rank number 1 in the world of anti oxidants. This is mainly due to presence of Anthocyanin, a pigment responsible for the blue color of the blue berries. The abundance of vitamin-C is also a big factor for this as well.

Aid in reducing Belly Fat: A new University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center study suggests that blueberries may help reduce belly fat and risk factors for cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. So far, we know that the fruit works on rats, which were the test subjects. A blueberry-enriched powder was mixed into the rats’ diet, which was either low-fat or high-fat rat chow. After 90 days, the rats with the blueberry-enriched diet had less abdominal fat, lower triglycerides, lower cholesterol and improved fasting glucose and insulin sensitivity. And their health was even better when combined with the low-fat diet. That group had lower body weight, lower total fat mass and reduced liver mass than the rats on the high-fat diet. An enlarged liver is linked to obesity and insulin resistance, a hallmark of diabetes. Although more research is needed to confirm these results in humans, a related study presented at the same conference showed that men with risk factors for heart disease who drank wild blueberry juice for three weeks seemed to experience slight improvements in glucose and insulin control.

Helps promote urinary tract health: The building of colonies of certain bacteria like b-coli along the lining of the inner walls of urinary tract is responsible for this infection, resulting in inflammation, burning sensation during in passage of urine and other complications. Here, Blue Berries can be surprisingly beneficial. It has a compound formed of big polymer like heavy molecules which inhibits the growth of such bacteria. It also has some anti biotic properties which adds to this effect. These heavy and big molecules almost wash-off these bacteria along the tract, thereby preventing the infection.

Been proved to preserve vision: Blueberry extract, high in compounds called anthocyanosides, has been found in clinical studies to slow down visual loss. They can prevent or delay all age related ocular problems like macular degeneration, cataract, myopia and hypermetropia, dryness and infections, particularly those pertaining to retina, due to their anti-oxidant properties. Blue Berries contain a special group of anti oxidants called Carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin etc.), Flavonoids (like rutin, resveritrol, quercetin etc.), in addition to others such as vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin A, selenium, zinc and phosphorus, which are very beneficial and essential for the ocular health. Data reported in a study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology indicates that eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older adults, by 36%, compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.

Brain Health: The anthocyanin, the selenium, the vitamins A, B-complex, C and E, the zinc, sodium, potassium, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese etc., among others, can prevent and heal neurotic disorders by preventing degeneration and death of neurons, brain-cells and also by restoring health of the central nervous system. It is hard to believe that these berries can also cure serious problems like Alzheimer’s disease to a great extent. They even heal damaged brain cells and neuron tissues and keep your memory sharp for a long-long time. Researchers found that diets rich in blueberries significantly improved both the learning capacity and motor skills of aging animals, making them mentally equivalent to much younger ones.

Heart Disease: The high fiber content, those brilliant anti oxidants and the ability to dissolve the ‘bad cholesterol’ make the Blue Berry an ideal dietary supplement to cure many heart diseases. It also strengthens the cardiac muscles. In this study, published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, researchers found that a moderate drink (about 4 ounces) of white wine contained .47 mmol of free radical absorbing antioxidants, red wine provided 2.04 mmol, and a wine made from highbush blueberries delivered 2.42 mmol of these protective plant compounds.

Constipation & Digestion: While roughage (fiber) in Blue Berries keep away constipation (Of course, a single piece alone will not do. You need to eat a big handful of them), the vitamins, sodium, copper, fructose and acids improve digestion.

Cancer: Blue Berries can prove to be bliss for the cancer patients, for they contain certain compounds like Pterostilbene (excellent remedy for colon and liver cancer) and Ellagic Acid which, in harmony with Anthocyanin and other anti oxidants like vitamin-C and copper, can do miracles to prevent and cure cancer. Laboratory studies published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry show that phenolic compounds in blueberries can inhibit colon cancer cell proliferation and induce apoptosis (programmed cell death). A significant 34% reduction in ovarian cancer risk was also seen in women with the highest intake of the flavone luteolin (found in citrus).

Other benefits & facts: They keep you fresh, active, fit, sharp, close to nature and in a good mood, as they are very good anti depressants. You also need not spend a lot on medicines, neither are there any side effects. Remember, the deeper the color of the Blue Berries, the more they are rich in anti oxidants and other medicinal values.