Friday, September 17, 2010

Coconut Oil's Nutritional Value Reveals Its True Superfood Properties

Coconut oil has a reputation for being unhealthy because it's mostly saturated fat. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Coconut oil is made up of mostly medium-chain fatty acids, which are actually healthier than the long-chain fats common in vegetable oils.
Dietary fats actually have many benefits! Fats from animal and vegetable sources serve as a concentrated source of energy from your diet; they also provide the building blocks for cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone-like substances.
Saturated fats are the preferred foods for your heart, which is why the fat around the heart muscle is highly saturated. They also protect your liver from alcohol and other toxins, and strengthen your immune system.
Fats slow down digestion of your meals so that you can go longer without feeling hungry. In addition, they act as carriers for fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E and K. Dietary fats are also needed for the conversion of carotene to vitamin A and for absorption of calcium and other minerals. and for a host of other essential bodily processes.
Saturated and Unsaturated Fats
All fats and oils, whether of vegetable or animal origin, are some combination of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. In general, animal fats such as butter and lard contain about 40-60% saturated fat and are solid at room temperature.
Vegetable oils from northern climates contain mostly polyunsaturated fats and are liquid at room temperature. Vegetable oils from the tropics are highly saturated. Coconut oil, for example, is 92% saturated.
Saturated fats have gained an undeserved reputation as being bad for your health, but this just isn't so. There is really only one type of "bad" fat, and that's trans fat, which is an artificially-made, unhealthy fat.
Long-Chain Fats vs. Short and Medium-Chain Fats
Researchers classify fats not only according to their degree of saturation, but also by their length.
Short-chain fats are always saturated. These fatty acids have antimicrobial properties; that is, they protect us from viruses, yeasts and pathogenic bacteria in the gut.
Medium-chain fats have also have antimicrobial properties. They are absorbed directly for quick energy; and contribute to the health of your immune system.
Long-chain fats can be either saturated, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated.
The unique health benefits of coconut oil are directly related to its chemical structure, or more precisely, the length of its fatty acid chains. Coconut oil is comprised primarily of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs). It is nature's richest source of these. Most significant among them is lauric acid, something not found in any other source but mother's milk. In addition, coconut oil contains antioxidant properties of vitamin E, vitamin K, and minerals.
By contrast, most common vegetable or seed oils are comprised of long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs).
Benefits of Medium-Chain Fatty Acids
The MCFAs in coconut oil are healthier than the LCFAs common in vegetable oils, for several reasons:
  • MCFAs are smaller, and more easily digested. They penetrate cell membranes easily and are utilized more effectively by your body.
  • MCFAs go directly to your liver, where they are converted into energy rather than being stored as fat.
  • MCFAs in coconut oil help stimulate your body's metabolism, helping with weight loss.
Disadvantages of Long-Chain Fatty Acids
On the other hand, long chain fatty acids have several disadvantages:
  • LCFAs are difficult for the body to break down - they require special enzymes for digestion. LCFAs put more strain on the pancreas, the liver and the entire digestive system.
  • LCFAs are predominantly stored in the body as fat
  • LCFAs can be deposited in your arteries in lipid forms such as cholesterol.
As this clearly demonstrates, saturated fats aren't worse for you than unsaturated fats. So don't avoid coconut oil because you've heard that it's bad for you. Discover more of the Health Benefits of Coconut Oil and start using it today!
Stan Mrak has had a passion for antiaging nutrition for over 30 years. Visit his website at www.antioxidants-for-health-and-longevity.com for the most practical and useful information on antioxidants anywhere. Discover how antioxidants hold the secret for staying young and avoiding degenerative diseases.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Food to Feed Your Heart and Soul

The Chinese view food as medicine that you get to eat three times a day. Food can nourish, heal, and give you energy.
Simple, right? Well, maybe not so simple if you are trying to lose weight, maintain your weight, cut out carbs, ditch the fats, or restrict your diet in ways that are unhealthy. If this is the case, then for you food may feel a little bit like the enemy.
So much has been written about how to lose weight, how to eat healthfully, what foods to choose and what foods to avoid. The bestseller list is regularly populated with books on diets and innovative new ways to eat. However, the truth about eating is pretty simple: How you approach food and eating is a mirror to how you approach life.
In the clinic, I see busy professional women who only have time for a quick bite on the run, often from the nearest fast food place and eaten in the car or standing up. I see people who are depressed and unhappy eating out of control as a way to fill the void in their lives. I also see joyless clients who restrict their diets to within an inch of their lives-no carbs, no fats, no sugar, no this, no that.
Food is medicine that you get to eat three times a day. It also feeds your soul. In Chinese medicine, your heart is the home to your Shen, which is your mind, memory, consciousness, and spirit. While these activities are attributed to your brain in Western medicine, we intuitively know that your heart is also an organ of feeling and spirituality. In fact much of our language about the heart refers to it as an organ of feeling. Terms such as someone "tugging on your heartstrings," "knowing things in your heart", or having a "broken heart" are speaking to an emotional and spiritual organ.
So what about eating to feed your heart and soul?
  • As the home to your soul, your Chinese heart is all about connection-to the divine (however you perceive it), to yourself, and to loved ones. Sitting down and sharing a meal with people that you love is heart-nourishing.
  • Preparing a meal with love honors your heart. It's not about the ingredients, but the preparation. However, choosing tasty recipes and fresh ingredients are also part of the process.
  • Eat out hunger, celebration, love, or sharing, not boredom, restriction, or stress.
  • Be thankful for the food you're eating and the company you're sharing it with. Remember food is nourishing and life-sustaining-not your enemy.
  • While ingredients are secondary to feeding your heart, there are foods that are not life-sustaining. These are "dead" foods that have been overly processed and contain chemicals that you body doesn't recognize as nutrients. Avoid them like the plague.
  • In Chinese medicine, the color red is associated with your heart. Red wine and cooked tomatoes have been shown to benefit the physical heart. Also good are berries, red peppers, and apples.
  • Celebrating the seasons through food is also heart nourishing. The freshest foods of summer eaten outdoors or a sitting down to a hearty winter stew by a crackling fire are ways of connecting with food, loved ones, and creation.
  • Finally, the emotion related to your Chinese heart is joy. If you eat with joy, you will live your life with joy.
Lynn Jaffee is a licensed acupuncturist practicing in St. Louis Park, MN. She is also the author of the book, Simple Steps: The Chinese Way to Better Health. For more information and articles, check out her clinic site at http://acupunctureinthepark.com/ or her blog, Acupuncture Health Insights at http://acupuncturetwincities.com/.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Tips How to Stop Eating Junk Food Now

Junk food is the main problem for people and children getting obese. And you will need to overcome this problem now before it gets too late, as you do not want to regret it later in life when you are lined up with so many diseases and illness. So you should make sure that you start sorting out this problem now before it is too late.
The most obese people and children are in the Unites States Of America. The reason being the streets are filled with shops selling fries and pizza. So if you are the victim of the fast food industry then you should make sure that you do not even go past the shops.
The steps to stop eating junk food
The first step- What you will need to do first is to admit that you have got a problem with eating food. And face up to the facts that you could get seriously ill and sick if not stopped.
The second step- Do not just simply stop eat anything at all, as that could damage your health a lot. So make sure that you replace the foods will healthy foods and organic foods which still fill up your stomach.
The third step- So you should slowly start to throw out all the junk food into the dustbin. And make sure that at least for two to three weeks you try not to even look at junk food.
The fourth step- You will need to consult a doctor if you have any worries about this topic as then they will help you out as much as they can.
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