You are here: Home / Archives for Diet

4 Foods to Avoid Before Bedtime

April 29, 2016 by

If you’re the type of person who loves a good midnight snack, you may be wreaking havoc on your quality of sleep without even realizing it. While some foods are okay to eat right before bed, others will make it much more difficult to drift off into a dream state. Here are a few foods to avoid before hitting the hay!

  1. Potato chips. Foods that are filled with grease and fat, such as potato chips or French fries, take quite a bit more effort to digest. With your stomach working overtime, it is much more difficult to fall asleep.
  2. Ice cream. Think twice before having that bowl of ice cream while watching late night TV. Fatty foods like this are also more difficult to digest, which could lead to you lying awake with cramps and discomfort.
  3. Candy. Sugar-packed candies will cause your blood sugar levels to spike, leaving you feeling too restless for rest.
  4. Red meat. If you grab a fast food burger on your drive home after a late night, you may not be able to fall asleep once you actually crawl into bed. Red meats like this sit in your stomach much longer than other types of foods, and your body uses a lot more effort to digest them.

9 Things Your Should Never Eat or Drink After 9PM [Bodybuilding.com]
The 5 Worst Types of Foods to Eat Late at Night [Prevention]
The 10 Best and Worst Foods to Eat for Sleep [Fitness]
10 Foods to Avoid Before Bed [Fox News Health]

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , ,

Eat These Two Foods for More Vitamin A

July 23, 2015 by

Vitamin A is a vital nutrient that keeps our eyesight sharp and promotes healthy cell growth. Getting enough of this antioxidant is easy if you know where to look for it. Here are two surprising sources of vitamin A for you to add to your diet if it's lacking.

  1. Dark, leafy greens. The bigger the bunch, the better! Enjoy a variety of greens in a salad or choose your favorite to add to a sandwich. Pick up kale, spinach, or Swiss chard to get more than 200 percent of your daily vitamin A needs in just one cup.
  2. Dried apricots. This sweet, bright orange fruit is a delicious way to get your vitamin A. Snack on these instead of candy in between meals. Half a cup delivers 151 percent of your daily value.

Top 10 Foods Highest in Vitamin A [Healthaliciousness]
Vitamin A [National Institute of Health]
26 Vitamin A Foods [Bembu]

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , ,

Cooking Without Eggs? Bookmark These 2 Webpages

June 6, 2014 by

Eggs are a staple in just about every recipe, but many people can’t consume eggs due to food allergies or a vegan diet. If you want to cook the delicious foods that you love without eggs, these websites offer simple tips and clever substitutions that can help.

Chef In You
The Chef In You Egg Substitutions page features just about everything you need to maintain an egg-free kitchen. A detailed chart describes things that you can substitute for eggs in a variety of dishes, including products like tofu, bananas, and commercial egg substitutes. There are even recipes that show you how to make desserts, breakfasts, and entrees without using eggs.

Kids With Food Allergies
Whether you have a child with a food allergy or not, this informative website will show you how to cook without eggs. The detailed articles describe alternatives for using eggs as a binder, a leavening agent, or a glaze, and there’s even a list that tells you some uncommon foods to avoid if you have an egg allergy. If you want to make an egg-free dish at home, Kids With Food Allergies also provides a few free recipes for baked goods without eggs.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , ,

Learn to Balance Calories for a Healthier Lifestyle

January 10, 2014 by

Counting calories is one of the most frustrating things about any diet, but it’s a necessary step for losing weight. If you want to learn how to properly balance the calories you consume without feeling like you’re constantly scrutinizing the foods you eat, these simple tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can help.

Carbohydrates, fats and proteins all contain calories, and they’re all necessary parts of a balanced diet. A calorie is a unit of energy supplied by food, but unfortunately it is also what can cause you to gain weight if you consume too many. Once you balance the number of calories you eat with your physical activity level, that’s when you’ll start to lose weight.

Being in “caloric balance” means that you’re eating the same number of calories that your body is using, and it is a desirable state once you meet your goal weight. This online guide can show you how to determine if you’re in caloric balance, and it can also show you how much physical activity you should get each day based on this scale. Visit the CDC's Balancing Calories website to learn more!

Balancing Calories [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]

Public Domain/Freeimagescollection
Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , ,

Farm-To-Table: Understanding Community Supported Agriculture

October 3, 2013 by

The movement towards locally grown food means only good things for the American table. The shorter the distance a food item has to travel to your plate, the more nutrients and favor it retains. Many people now buy much of their produce at the local farm stand or market, which supports the community as well. But if you prefer convenience or don't have the time to get to the farm market, why not have the harvest shipped right to your door?

CSA, which stands for “Community Supported Agriculture,” is a great way to support local farmers while still getting a fabulous deal on your grocery items. The idea is simple: you, the consumer, pay a fee to the farmer at the start of the season, and in exchange, you get a delivery of fresh produce every week for the entirety of the season. If you look into it, keep in mind that most CSAs offer both summer and fall seasons.

The benefits of signing up for a CSA are great, for both farmers and consumers alike. First off, the prices are extremely reasonable, and the convenience of having the food delivered can be a real time saver. For the farmer, getting the money up-front allows them to invest in their business, which helps them to grow, and it also makes for easier bookkeeping.

The one and only disadvantage is that you do not get to choose what veggies and fruit you get each week — but for foodies, this can be a fun challenge.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Facts About MSG

September 19, 2013 by

We've probably all heard something about MSG, but do you really know what it is? Is it safe for us to eat? There are labels that proudly boast no MSG but is that necessary?

Here are some facts about MSG from the Food and Drug Administration:

  • MSG stands for monosodium glutamate. It is the salt of a common amino acid called glutamic acid. Basically it's a flavor enhancer for foods to add a savory flavor. 
  • MSG can be found naturally occurring in nature in foods such as tomatoes and cheeses. Added MSG today is made from the fermentation of starch, sugar cane, molasses, or sugar beets. 
  • Is MSG safe to eat? The FDA says yes. While scientists have hypothesized that some people may have a sensitivity or allergy to MSG, it is rare. Reactions to MSG may include headache and nausea. 
  • If you would like to stay away from MSG just look for it on the label. The FDA requires any food with MSG to be listed as monosodium glutamate. Be aware that some foods naturally contain MSG like hydrolyzed vegetable protein, autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed yeast, yeast extract, soy extracts, and protein isolate. 

For more information on MSG, visit the FDA website. 

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , , , ,

Pin It on Pinterest