Browse Category: Nutrition
Because caffeine acts like a stimulant, most people feel it has a positive impact on their lives. Heightened alertness, improved focus, better coordination, and a faster thought process have all been reported by individuals who have ingested high quantities of caffeine. However, self discipline and moderation must also be required if someone is to continually consume caffeine. Keep reading for a scientific look at caffeine's benefits, as well as its drawbacks, due to its ability to inhibit phosphodiesterases within a cell.
You may have never heard of Salba, but you have certainly heard of a different variety of the product that comes from the same plant family: chia seed. That’s right those goofy looking Chia Pets that you find all over during the Holiday season. Fortunately, the Salba chia seed has many more benefits than serving as an unwanted holiday gift!
A look at the negative effects that stem from caffeine overdose.
Are you a breakfast eater? Not everyone is, and for different reasons. Unfortunately, there’s no getting around it: breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day! And, even if you are on the breakfast wagon, it can be challenging to feed a diverse group of tastes and interests first thing in the morning. How can you make sure everyone in your family is getting the nutrients they need? Keep reading for some healthy breakfast suggestions.
Bacteria is a funny thing. It makes people ill and yet it exists, in less severe amounts, all over the body: the skin, the intestinal and urinary tracts, and a whole host of other places. Some of it helps to keep the body safe from serious illnesses – yet too much bacteria causes a person to get sick. Probiotics are the bacteria which naturally occur naturally in food, or are added to it, and can be beneficial to one's health and overall wellness . . . particularly when it comes to protecting the body against certain illnesses. And as these friendly bacteria gain popularity in both the eyes of scientists and doctors, more options are being introduced to allow you to get the probiotics you need to stay healthy.
You might say it's about time to jolt the federal government into taking action on energy drinks. For the second time, dozens of the nation's top nutrition researchers, medical doctors and public health officials recently petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about the alarming amount of caffeine in many energy drinks. The following is an excerpt of what those professionals wrote as a research review document in their first communication to the FDA in 2009, including clear action steps for addressing a health consumer issue that affects a significant amount of pre-teens, teens and adults. Why has nothing been done?
We’ve talked about prisons who give their inmates meals consisting almost entirely of soy solely for the purpose of saving money, despite the overwhelming evidence showing that excessive soy intake is dangerous for the human body. What if the opposite took place and prisons developed an extraordinary vegan diet for their inmates in hopes of improving their lives and minimizing aggression?
If you’re diet and nutrition savvy and spend time browsing related blogs and forums, you may be familiar with the Paleolithic Diet. It’s also called the Caveman Diet, Warrior Diet, and sometimes the Paleo Diet for short. One thing you can call it with a great amount of certainty, however, is controversial.
The Mediterranean diet is in the news again. This specific diet incorporates healthy eating habits with the fun, flavorful cooking styles of the sunny Mediterranean. Better yet, a recent study has shown that the Mediterranean diet can prevent approximately a third of strokes, heart attacks and deaths from heart disease in people with a high risk of heart disease.
Fish oil can have a significant, positive and quick impact on your mental health and well being. Don’t believe it? Take a look at this study conducted by researchers at Radboud University in the Netherlands, in which participants experienced a decrease in aggression and violence by over 34%.
The media always enjoys writing funny, punny or even sunny headlines about the latest chocolate-for-health studies. Yet a recent Italy study about the benefits of eating dark chocolate suggests taking the cocoa plant quite seriously because it appears to be capable of lowering inflammation in the body. Inflammation has been increasingly associated with heart disease by constricting circulation in the blood vessels. The Italian researchers showed that dark chocolate can lower C-reactive protein in the blood. C-reactive protein or CRP is an accepted biomarker of heart disease and hypertension. Dark chocolate appears to contain several antioxidant substances called polyphenol and flavanols that disrupt the production of CRP. That’s a delicious thought.
Of the ten outbreaks listed on the CDC Current OutBreak List for the United States in early summer of 2013, six are caused by different strains of salmonella, a foodbourne illness or food poisoning. According to the CDC, every year approximately 1 in 6 Americans get sick from food poisoning; that's 48 million people.
We don’t need a National Week to convince us that School Lunch is important, but it is a great reminder that the conversation must continue. In recent years, individuals and federal agencies alike have been examining our
public lunch programs, calling into question the efficacy of this long-established convention. While it’s widely accepted that lunch-- and nutrition in general-- is crucial to healthy adolescent development, many wonder whether school menus provide more of a help or a hindrance. So, in honor of National School Lunch Week, we take a look at the program from soup to nuts.
Simply put, leafy greens are some of the healthiest foods available. Packed with vitamins, these plants are a valuable and necessary part of a normal healthy diet. For preventing disease and restoring an ailing body to health, leafy greens are a natural choice that can’t be beaten!
The concept of super foods is something that has hit the health world like a meteor hits the earth. They have had a huge impact on the way that naturopathic doctors and medical doctors look to treat patients. And, they have an effect on consumers as well: some prefer to choose the healthiest way to introduce natural disease fighting antioxidants into their system while others are simply following the latest trend. One super food that has received a lot of attention is acai. Let’s take a closer look at this fruit and its many benefits . . .
You may have heard the term “super foods” -- foods that are naturally jam-packed full of nutrients and have been found to help treat a variety of health issues. One element of the super foods “empire” is the superfruits. So what exactly is a superfruit and what makes it so powerful? Could you tell the difference between a regular fruit and a superfruit? Let’s take a closer look at what’s so super about superfruits . . .
Ah, the Olympics. It’s that special time when all of the finest athletes the world has to offer compete against one another in a stunning display of the utmost limit our bodies can exceed. These individuals represent the epitome of fitness, and many of us would love to achieve even a
fraction of the record speeds, jumps, or throws. While their rigorous workouts are always well documented, few people have a grasp of what an
Olympian diet would look like. So . . . do you have the stomach to chow down with Michael Phelps and other gold medalists?
Read on to see why it might be best to order just a salad.
June is National Dairy Month, and while this observance has been celebrated with fervor in the past is that still the case? Just exactly what
is the view of the dairy industry these days?
As we continue our new diet trend series, we take a look at “Diet #3” that was covered at the 9th Annual Nutrition and Health Conference, held in Boston, MA, and outlined by Benjamin Kligler, MD, MPH: The Alkaline Diet.
Organic gardening can be a great way to relieve stress, beautify your home, and most importantly, enjoy health foods that were grown and harvested by your very own hands. Before starting up a new organic garden, however, there are a few things you should know.
