Showing posts with label Food and Related Products. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food and Related Products. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

To Organic or not to

When you head to the grocery store, shopping for products like eggs, meat, fish, milk, and produce can be very tricky. Signs are posted everywhere labeling food as natural, organic, and a number of other things—but what’s the difference, really? Learning what specific names mean can help you decide if you should shell out extra money on a product of it is simply a marketing ploy.

Natural is a turn associated with a number of fruit and vegetable product. Typically, this is simple a marketing ploy to convince you to buy the product. After all, all fruits and vegetables are natural, right? Unless it’s a new kind of food that has been developed and processed, the product is natural. What you really probably want is organic. Organic foods are grown without chemical pesticides and fertilizers. There are two main benefits to organic foods. First, you are helping the environment because those chemicals are not being introduced into nature. Secondly, you are avoiding ingesting chemicals and are therefore healthy more healthy foods. However, organic products are usually more expensive. If you’re on a budget, skip over organic fruits and vegetables that you can peel, like oranges and bananas. After all, once you’ve discarded the peel, you’ve also discarded the chemicals. Instead, opt for organic items like apples, where you eat the peel. No matter what you buy, however, make sure that you rinse off the food when you get home.

Another tricky label you will see is “no hormones.” This is usually in regards to milk or meat products and is false, since all animals naturally produce hormones. Hormones are what helps an animal (even a human) regulate body organs, have young, and otherwise function. All meat products have hormones. What the labels really mean is that no hormones were unnaturally given to the animal, which is sometimes done to increase milk production. Regardless of hormones, however, the milk and meat is safe for a person and not a violation of an animal’s rights.

Lastly, a label on eggs and meat can indicate if the animal was caged or penned. This does not make a difference in the quality or nutritional value of the meat, but is simply a matter of animal rights. These products may be a bit more expensive, but if you want to make human decisions, that is the way to go. Reading the label and making healthy choices can sometimes be difficult, but learning how to do so can help you make the best choices for you diet.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Sugar: Cancer suspect food

Macro photograph of a pile of sugar (saccharose)Image via WikipediaEverybody needs a little bit of sweetness specially in some of our foods, but too much sugar are link to cancer, diabetes,heart conditions and other life threatening conditions. When we eat food (carbohydrates), it is true that the body sorts out all the elements and eventually breaks down the constituents into simple sugars (glucose and fructose). Glucose is the major sugar present in blood and body tissues. This is a essential sugar because all cells, specially brain cells, depend on glucose. But there is no RDA or recommended daily allowance for any kind of sugar , including glucose. We are not required to eat a measure of glucose everyday. The specialized enzymes of the digestive tract are equipped to convert carbohydrates into the basic glucose slowly into blood stream during the metabolic process, along with other needed nutrients.

One of the most common misconceptions today is that a white sugar (which is not glucose, but sucrose) provides quick energy and is a good food. The catch is that sugar is not absorbed and metabolized in the body in the same efficient way as the complex carbohydrates are. When we eat sugar, it is rapidly absorbed and passed on the liver where it is converted to triglycerides. The triglycerides are released onto the bloodstream and end up being stored as fats deposits in the veins and tissues and it means high cholesterol build up. High cholesterol and triglycerides are implicated in the development of cancer and other life threatening conditions.

Cancer is fearful disease because terminal patients die so slowly and painfully. It is the most common cause of death. Nutrition, lifestyle and everyday environments create the most common cancer risks. This risk can be reduced by dietary and lifestyle changes
So think twice before you put sugar and sweets in your mouth, Taking care of yourself is like living in a sweet life.

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