3/26/10
EARTH HOUR
Earth Hour is tomorrow (03/27/10) at 8:30pm. The request is that everyone turn off their lights for an hour. Please consider taking part in this endeavor: http://www.myearthhour.org/
3/25/10
The Miracle of Green Tea
"Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one." (Ancient Chinese Proverb)
Is any food or drink reported to have as many health benefits as green tea? The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea since ancient times, using it to treat everything from headaches to depression. In her book Green Tea: The Natural Secret for a Healthier Life, Nadine Taylor states that green tea has been used as a medicine in China for at least 4,000 years.
Today, scientific research in both Asia and the west is providing hard evidence for the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea. For example, in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent. University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. There is also research indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol.
What makes green tea so special?
The secret of green tea lies in the fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. The latter takes on added importance when you consider that thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.
Links are being made between the effects of drinking green tea and the "French Paradox." For years, researchers were puzzled by the fact that, despite consuming a diet rich in fat, the French have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans. The answer was found to lie in red wine, which contains resveratrol, a polyphenol that limits the negative effects of smoking and a fatty diet. In a 1997 study, researchers from the University of Kansas determined that EGCG is twice as powerful as resveratrol, which may explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is quite low, even though approximately seventy-five percent are smokers.
Why don't other Chinese teas have similar health-giving properties? Green, oolong, and black teas all come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. What sets green tea apart is the way it is processed. Green tea leaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized. By contrast, black and oolong tea leaves are made from fermented leaves, which results in the EGCG being converted into other compounds that are not nearly as effective in preventing and fighting various diseases.
Other Benefits
New evidence is emerging that green tea can even help dieters. In November, 1999, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of a study at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Researchers found that men who were given a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those given only caffeine or a placebo.
Green tea can even help prevent tooth decay! Just as its bacteria-destroying abilities can help prevent food poisoning, it can also kill the bacteria that causes dental plaque. Meanwhile, skin preparations containing green tea - from deodorants to creams - are starting to appear on the market.
http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa011400a.htm
Is any food or drink reported to have as many health benefits as green tea? The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea since ancient times, using it to treat everything from headaches to depression. In her book Green Tea: The Natural Secret for a Healthier Life, Nadine Taylor states that green tea has been used as a medicine in China for at least 4,000 years.
Today, scientific research in both Asia and the west is providing hard evidence for the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea. For example, in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent. University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. There is also research indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol.
What makes green tea so special?
The secret of green tea lies in the fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. The latter takes on added importance when you consider that thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.
Links are being made between the effects of drinking green tea and the "French Paradox." For years, researchers were puzzled by the fact that, despite consuming a diet rich in fat, the French have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans. The answer was found to lie in red wine, which contains resveratrol, a polyphenol that limits the negative effects of smoking and a fatty diet. In a 1997 study, researchers from the University of Kansas determined that EGCG is twice as powerful as resveratrol, which may explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is quite low, even though approximately seventy-five percent are smokers.
Why don't other Chinese teas have similar health-giving properties? Green, oolong, and black teas all come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. What sets green tea apart is the way it is processed. Green tea leaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized. By contrast, black and oolong tea leaves are made from fermented leaves, which results in the EGCG being converted into other compounds that are not nearly as effective in preventing and fighting various diseases.
Other Benefits
New evidence is emerging that green tea can even help dieters. In November, 1999, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of a study at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Researchers found that men who were given a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those given only caffeine or a placebo.
Green tea can even help prevent tooth decay! Just as its bacteria-destroying abilities can help prevent food poisoning, it can also kill the bacteria that causes dental plaque. Meanwhile, skin preparations containing green tea - from deodorants to creams - are starting to appear on the market.
http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa011400a.htm
3/15/10
Recently I've been experiencing stomach pain and assumed it was related to my food. My doc ran a few tests and found nothing. Then I tried a lactose free diet and didn't notice improvement. Finally, I decided to see a GI doc and guess what....he decided the cause was stress! It's a common joke that docs blame everything on stress and I must say, I did not believe him at first. I was convinced that the pain was directly related to the food I eat. The doc didn't believe me and was convinced it was stress. I mentioned that come to think of it, I had experienced a few stressful situations recently and he had that "aha...I was right" look on his face. The docs formula for stress was: 3 fruits/day, 3 veggies/day, 8 glasses of water and exercise at least 4 times a week.
A few days after seeing the doc I was having a discussion with someone and the person shared news about something that really upset me. Almost immediately after I started experiencing stomach pain and my shoulder started aching (which often happens when I'm under distress). At that moment I realized the doc was right - it was stress that was causing my stomach pain. After reflecting further, I remembered that I almost always get this pain when I'm traveling alone with my kids (very stressful!).
It feels good to know the cause of my problem but the downside is, it's difficult to fix "stress" since stress is a part of life. The doc said that while I cannot necessarily eliminate stress from my life, I could learn how to manage it buy eating right and blowing off steam regularly through exercise. I'm thankful to have a doc who took the time to really understand me and what I have been going through rather than medicate me as a quick fix.
I am still supposed to go in for further testing since my doc wants to make sure that nothing else is wrong. In the meantime, I will try to follow the docs orders. I hope that those of you reading this will gain some insight on the potential negative effects stress can have on an individual. I never imagined stress could be related to my stomach pain and completed denied it at first - I wasn't stressed...I was just fine! Lesson learned...don't underestimate the effects of stress and take a break once in a while to take care of myself and my body....do more yoga, get a massage, meditate...whatever it takes to relax.
A few days after seeing the doc I was having a discussion with someone and the person shared news about something that really upset me. Almost immediately after I started experiencing stomach pain and my shoulder started aching (which often happens when I'm under distress). At that moment I realized the doc was right - it was stress that was causing my stomach pain. After reflecting further, I remembered that I almost always get this pain when I'm traveling alone with my kids (very stressful!).
It feels good to know the cause of my problem but the downside is, it's difficult to fix "stress" since stress is a part of life. The doc said that while I cannot necessarily eliminate stress from my life, I could learn how to manage it buy eating right and blowing off steam regularly through exercise. I'm thankful to have a doc who took the time to really understand me and what I have been going through rather than medicate me as a quick fix.
I am still supposed to go in for further testing since my doc wants to make sure that nothing else is wrong. In the meantime, I will try to follow the docs orders. I hope that those of you reading this will gain some insight on the potential negative effects stress can have on an individual. I never imagined stress could be related to my stomach pain and completed denied it at first - I wasn't stressed...I was just fine! Lesson learned...don't underestimate the effects of stress and take a break once in a while to take care of myself and my body....do more yoga, get a massage, meditate...whatever it takes to relax.
3/6/10
Let's Talk Eggs
There are so may egg options out there it's hard to figure out what everything means! Many eggs are advertised as "cage free" or "vegetarian". These labels are often deceiving and don't say much about the quality of the egg. For example, "vegetarian" chickens are almost definitely raised in cooped up cages since the average free range chicken will have a diet that contains insects - a nutritious snack for chickens. The following is a break down of some of the labels and what they mean (www.lowcarbdiets.about.com):
What is a cage-free egg?
This simply means that the hens are not kept in cages, though there are no regulations to govern care beyond that.What is a free-range egg?
Free-range chickens are (according to voluntary regulations) supposed to have "access to the outdoors" -- however, by many reports, the care of many of these hens is structured so that they are very unlikely to go outside. The doors are not opened until the hens are of an age where they are likely to keep doing what they are used to doing, and when the (usually small) doors are opened, they usually don't go outside. Michael Pollan, in his best-selling book The Omnivore's Dilemma, describes one farm producing organic, free-range chickens for meat. He says that the chickens are "given outside access" at 5 weeks, then killed at 7 weeks. He never saw a chicken go outside during his visit.What are organic eggs?
There are regulations to govern what can be called organic. The chickens must be fed organic feed (grown without commercial fertilizers or pesticides), and not given hormones or antibiotics. This has nothing to do with how the animals are kept, however. The sad truth is, birds can still be crowded into a warehouse, and still made to endure “forced molting,” the practice of denying hens food and water to “shock” their bodies into a new egg-laying cycle... and be labeled 'organic.'
What is "humanely-raised"?
This is a totally unregulated definition, although organizations are springing up to try to come up with common definitions. The most prominent organization, Humane Farm Animal Care, has a certification process, which includes no cages, and hens having at least 1.5 square feet of floor space. Free-range hens must have outside access, and doors to the outside "must allow more than one hen at a time to exit". De-beaking is allowed, but some of the more barbaric practices common to traditionally-raised hens (such as "forced moulting" where hens nearly at the end of their laying are deprived to food, water, and light for days to weeks to produce one more bout of egg-laying) are not.What are "pastured" or "pasture-raised" hens?
According to the USDA Trade Descriptions, "birds are raised outdoors using movable enclosures located on grass and fed an organic diet (without hormones or non-organic additives) and/or raised without antibiotics (drugs that are intended to prevent or treat animal illnesses)".The advantage to pasture-raised eggs is that the hens are able to eat a wide variety of the natural food of chickens -- greens, grubs, etc. Not only do many people find these eggs to be much tastier, but there is accumulating evidence that the eggs from these hens have better nutritional profiles -- less cholesterol, less fat but more healthy Omega-3 fat, and more of other nutrients such as Vitamin A, lutein, vitamin E, and beta-carotene.
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In conclusion, it appears "pastured" eggs are the way to go! Chickens that are pastured are generally more nutritious, much tastier and over all have the best of all the egg categories.
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