Sunday, May 22, 2011

Super Foods: The Health Benefits Of Bananas

14 Banana Health Benefits You Might Not Know About

A professor at CCNY for a physiological psych class told his class about bananas. He said the expression 'going bananas' is from the effects of bananas on the brain. Read on:

Never, put your banana in the refrigerator or take on a fishing boat!!!

This is interesting.

After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again.

The Health Benefits Of Bananas Are NumerousBy Chad Hagy

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.

A Banana a Day…
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.
Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.

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 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 Can Lift Your Spirits
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. What they found was that the potassium in the bananas boosted their brainpower and made them more alert during their classes while they followed the regimen.

Eat Bananas after a Night of Partying
The natural ingredients in bananas and their ability to replenish the body’s vitamins make them an ideal way to reduce the effects of a hangover. Put a couple bananas in the blender with some plain yogurt and add some honey to sweeten the taste. The fruit tends to calm the stomach and the honey helps to restore the blood sugar levels to normal.

Similarly, bananas can help people who are trying to quit smoking. The B vitamins and other minerals that they contain reduce the physical and psychological effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Bananas are Great for Pregnant Women
Because of their calming properties, pregnant women often eat bananas to combat their morning sickness. In addition, 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. They help reduce the irritation of the digestive system by leaving a protective coating around the inner walls, making it a natural way to promote intestinal health as well.

Since they help to neutralize acidity, they are also a great way to get rid of heartburn. They act as a natural antacid and they quickly soothe the burn.

Bananas are Rich in Iron
For people suffering from a deficiency in iron, bananas help to give your body the iron that it needs. As a result, they help promote hemoglobin production so your blood can clot faster in case of a cut or serious injury.

Banana Peels are Good Fertilizer
Bananas can also benefit your garden. Instead of throwing the peels away, banana peels are ideal fertilizer for gardens and soils. Rose bushes benefit a great deal from the peels. If you have a certain plant that you want to blossom, simply bury a few peels next to it by the roots. In a few weeks, the plant will be huge.

Peels Can Be Used to Treat Warts
The outside of the banana peel also has healing and beneficial properties for the human body. If you have a wart on your foot, wrapping a banana peel around your foot so that the exterior of the peel rubs against the wart will help it go away in a matter of time. To keep the peel in place, you can wrap tape around it for better results.

With all of the banana health benefits, it is easy to see why they are such a popular fruit. In many ways, their benefits are far greater than that of other fruits. They not only have more vitamins and minerals than some other choices, they also taste great and are easy to eat.

However, having a diet that consists of only bananas as your fruit each day is not healthy and it can even be harmful to your health. Try to include several of your favorite fruits throughout the week because each of them has different advantages for your body. If you do not normally include bananas or any other fruit in your daily routine, find some ways to include fruit in your diet in order to improve your health and overall well-being.

What's Your Food Cures IQ?
Food is medicine. That's the message from renowned nutritionist Joy Bauer. In her groundbreaking new book “Food Cures”, she reveals the foods that manage, treat and even cure common health concerns such as arthritis, heart disease, diabetes and more. Do you have the prescription for better health?

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe it’s time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, 'A banana a day keeps the doctor away!'

PASS IT ON TO YOUR FRIENDS
PS: Bananas must be the reason monkeys are so happy all the time! I will add one here; want a quick shine on our shoes?? Take the INSIDE of the banana skin, and rub directly on the shoe....polish with dry cloth. Amazing fruit !!!


Thursday, May 19, 2011

The #1 super food

You are what you eat!

As I mentioned my focus is on excellent nutrition, natural foods, foods that make you look better and feel better. The following article is from the "Acai Berry Review and Facts, Get the Truth." This may be the #1 super food on the planet.Acai Berry Antioxidants
Antioxidants

Apr
062011
Acai Berry Antioxidant Fighting a Free Radical
Acai Berry Antioxidants Attack Free Radicals

You are the protector of everything you hold dear with your family as your first priority. Unfortunately, we live in a toxic landscape.
Oxidation and free radicals are a constant threat to our families promoting illness, disease, and rapid deterioration of our bodies.
Mother Nature, in all of her wisdom, has provided us with a “super food” that is a free radical fighting machine!
The Acai Berry is that super food and making it a regular part of your diet can help you and your loved ones beat the odds by living longer and healthier lives.
Oxidation
Oxidation can be described in broad terms as “deterioration.” A freshly cut apple turns brown within minutes, a bike fender rusts over time and a penny turns green. In biological systems oxidation is the breakdown of healthy molecules. When a molecule loses an electron it has become oxidized. The oxidized molecule is broken, highly reactive, and unstable. It is this process that speeds up the aging process and is often an associated link to cancer.
Free Radicals
A molecule is a tiny particle made up of atoms. Molecules have unique shapes and interact like puzzle pieces with other molecules to form cells, the building blocks of all living things. Oxidation breaks the bonding of molecules by stripping away electrons leaving behind an imbalanced molecule that suddenly needs an electron to stabilize itself.
This broken molecule is called a “Free Radical” goes on a rampage and attacks other molecules trying to steal an electron and stabilize itself. If the attacked molecule loses its electron it becomes a free radical creating a chain reaction.
Once this destructive process has started, if not stopped can result in the disruption of a living cell and cause damage to your body.
Our Toxic Landscape
In an attempt to make our lives easier with convenience technologies, we have inadvertently created a toxic environment (a breeding ground for free radicals) with man made pollutions, chemicals, drugs, alcohol and processed foods filled with additives and preservatives.
No matter where we work, play, or live we are subjecting our body to poisons. The air we breathe is saturated with pollutants from cars, paints, and resins. Even everyday health products like soaps, shampoos, lotions, make-up and sunscreens contain chemicals that are toxic and in some cases, carcinogenic.
Studies have shown that many of these pollutants are directly associated with chronic degenerative diseases and cancer. We live in a toxic landscape but the Acai Berry can help us win in the battle against it!
Antioxidants
Fortunately, we can eat foods and take supplements with high concentrations of antioxidants to counterbalance the toxic landscape. Antioxidants are phytochemicals, vitamins and other nutrients that protect cells by scavenging free radicals. Antioxidants minimize the effects of aging by binding to free radicals and decreasing their path of destruction. They can even repair damage.
Acai Berry Antioxidant Power
Antioxidants Fight Disease by Destroying Free Radicals
The Acai Berry’s high concentration of antioxidants plays an important role in fighting diseases. The berry is a natural way to help protect against macular degeneration, various cancers and brain cell loss.
In fact, research indicates antioxidants in the Acai have been found to kill leukemia cells without damage to healthy ones. It is the ability to fight free radicals that deserves attention and acts as a line of defense from disease.
The Acai Berry Difference
The Acai Berry is known as one of nature’s super foods; a fruit that actually improves how a person looks, feels and performs. The berry contains large amounts of antioxidants which are vitamins, minerals and enzymes known to fight cancer and slow the ageing process.
Acai contains massive doses of anti-oxidants and is considered one of nature’s richest resources in the battle against free radicals. In an independent ORAC study (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity is a unit of measurement for antioxidants developed by the National Institute of Ageing) the super-food outclassed it competition scoring a stunning 472 ORAC units/g of edible fruit. Its closest competitors were the cranberry (scoring 95), the blueberry (scoring a 62) and the blackberry (scoring a 53).
Acai is one of if not the healthiest food on the planet and well deserves its classification as a “super food“. In order to understand the benefits of antioxidants you must know a little about oxidation and free radicals.
Knowledge is power and understanding the threat of the toxic landscape is vital in our families living longer and healthier lives. Proper diet and supplementation is critical and the power of the Acai can be an important part of their daily nutrition.
Make sure you know exactly where to buy the highest premium Acai Berry.

Put the sand back in your hour glass...



Put the sand back in your hour glass...
Welcome! I am delighted you have stopped by to find the fountain of youth through nature. I hold the fundamental belief: age is inevitable, aging is not.
We all wish to stay young forever or remain young at heart while we grow older. As science improves we learn that the body needs proper nutrition, fruits and vegetables, to stay healthy longer. In my opinion the whole country is in a crisis of obesity, we are all overweight but nutritionally starved. We all lead very fast paced lives and either skip meals or grab something "fast food" on the fly with tons of calories and little, if any real nutritional value (one of my friends eats 2 vegetables every day... if you count french fries and ketchup) and if you really think about it how many servings of fruit do you eat? How many servings of vegetables?
I am here to have fun and offer articles and products for good health, no great health, concentrating on nature's super foods that will help our immune system, fight free radicals and oxidative stress and provide excellent weight management (who doesn't want to be skinny???). Great health is my passion and I will hopefully encourage people to understand what they eat is so profoundly important to good health and a youthful longevity.... and maintain a proper weight their doctor would be proud of.
So wish no longer, together we will achieve great health, nutritionally, physically, mentally, spiritually and financially.