On the left: regular green tea. On the right: microwave boosted. Not that you can tell from the picture.
It�s been a rough news week, and it�s only Wednesday. Fortunately, though, today�s raging controversy is about tea. Is it okay to microwave it? Is it better to microwave it? Australian research says yes, while tea aficionados worldwide recoil in horror.
�The claim, broadcast on ABC Radio Sydney, is that you can extract slightly more antioxidants (specifically catechins) if you pop the tea in the microwave while it�s steeping. Quan Vuong and his team at the University of Newcastle in Australia have been comparing different ways of steeping green tea, and in a 2012 paper they describe a method that gets you more of the good stuff than your typical method, but is still practical to do at home. The news article gets the procedure a little mixed up, but here is what the scientific paper describes:
Boil water, and pour it over your tea bag. Steep at least 30 seconds.
Put the cup (with teabag) into the microwave for one minute at half power, or whatever power setting will get you 500 watts.
When you remove the tea bag, dunk it up and down ten times and then squeeze it out.
The idea is to help people get the health benefits of green tea, without having to guzzle five or more cups a day. Regular brewing can extract 62 percent of the tea leaves� catechins and 76 percent of the caffeine. The microwave boost gets you up to 80 and 92 percent. That�s not a huge difference, but hey, it�s something.
So how does it taste? I brewed two cups of plain green tea, letting one steep for three minutes and doing the microwave protocol, which took about three minutes anyway. I dunked and squeezed both tea bags as I removed them.
They tasted almost identical, although I could detect a little more of a bitter and astringent taste in the one that had been microwaved. Vuong and crew write in their paper that tea brewed this way can be a little stronger, so you may want to use a flavored green tea instead of a plain one, to cover up any tastes you don�t like.
One problem: I don�t love green tea. And a lot of the British outlets reporting on this study are probably with me on that. Black tea is probably what they�re thinking of. So I brewed some more tea for science, this time a mango-chili flavored black tea. Again, they were similar but the microwaved tea was slightly more bitter and astringent. It also had more of the chili flavoring, which was nice.
If you are fussy about how you prepare your black tea, you probably know that steeping it too long can make it bitter. Flavor-wise, this technique is just a quicker way to steep it too long. That said, it�s not bad. If you�re already the kind of person who steeps a teabag for more than five minutes, or who might even use the same teabag more than once (which my favorite fancy caf� actually recommends, so spare me the �how dare you�), you�ll like this just fine.
While most of us know that good nutrition is vital in assisting us reach our optimum health and feel our best; finding time to eat a balanced diet on a daily basis seems a formidable job in this fast paced, affluent society. Though your life may be frantic, there are still many good tasting, healthful alternatives which can assist you to lose weight and enhance your health. This information is designed to be a practical guide in finding those alternatives whether you are at a friend’s home, on the job, on the road, or at home. The good news is that by taking charge of your diet plan, you can improve your well-being while reducing your own risk of “lifestyle” diseases including heart disease or cancer.
A nice spot to start is defining what constitutes a “healthy” diet. The “Four Food Group” Plan of yesteryear meant that foods in the Meat, Dairy Product, Breads and Vegetable Fruit group were identical in their contribution to a healthy diet. Today, researchers show that diets rich in complex carbohydrates and low in saturated fats may reduce our risk of chronic disease. Health professionals designed the “Food Pyramid” guide to translate these recommendations into a food strategy for daily living.
Complex Carbohydrates
Complex carbohydrates are present in cereals, whole grain breads, starches and fruits and vegetables. These foods are not just rich in B vitamins and trace minerals, but they also contribute dietary fiber that has been shown to reduce risk for helping in weight control, lowering cholesterol levels and developing specific cancers.
Six to twelve servings of cereals, breads and starches may seem like a lot of food, but if you consider one cup of rice is three servings of cereal, you can see that fulfilling these guidelines isn’t that difficult.
Fruits & Vegetables
Similarly for vegetables and fruits. The majority of people gag in the thought of eating four to seven servings daily until they find one medium piece of fruit is two servings.
Proteins
Proteins are observed in the meat and dairy group.
Foods in the dairy group not only provide protein, nevertheless they also bring other essential nutrients needed for synthesizing teeth and healthy bones, Vitamin D and calcium. They could be a significant source of saturated fat, so picked two to three helpings of the low-fat (1% fat or less) milks, yogurts and cheeses.
The meat group includes nuts, fish, chicken and beans or legumes. A three ounce serving is around approximated by a deck of cards and also you need at least two portions a day. These foods provide magnesium, zinc and iron which, along with protein, are used by the body in creating hemoglobin and slender body tissue. These foods may also contribute to a raised intake of saturated fat, so picked lean cuts of meat like round or flank steak, pork tenderloin, ham and leg of lamb. Jump the skin on chicken or turkey and you’ll miss much of the fat and cholesterol.
Fats & Sugar
Sugars, fats and alcohol have the least amount of surface area on the pyramid for a reason. They bring more than calories to the dietary plan and they will be squeezed by your body into a fat cell. Yet, your body will really create another fat cell until they may be burned off, to harbor them,
Many health organizations, like the American Heart Association and also the American Cancer Society, agree that limiting your fat intake to less than 30% of calories goes a ways to protect you from life threatening ailments. That isn’t much fat, as a gram of fat has nine calories. You are better off to avoid adding fat to your food as there’s some fat in dairy products and meat, chicken and fish. Fortunately, there are numerous good tasting low-fat or nonfat salad and sandwich spreads which make the task of averting added fat a lot easier.
Yes, certain fats are essential to good nutrition (like linoleic acid), but these are seen in ample numbers in whole grain breads, cereals and vegetables. Corn, for instance, is where mother nature initially set corn oil. Why don’t you bypass the margarine and merely eat corn?
Overview
In a nutshell, good nutrition means eating a wide selection of foods from each of the five food groups. The Food Pyramid reveals us that by eating more complex carbohydrates and not as total fat and saturated fat, we can become empowered by the good life and not fall victim to it.
Have you ever wondered why the endless diet plans never work? Find out whether it is a fact or fiction before you follow them religiously!
Hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. Rounding up the view shared by weight loss experts, we zeroed on the top 5 dieting myths, that have been making a fool out of you for a very long time.
1. Gluten Free is The Way to Go:
Whoever got you believing gluten-free products are all you need to lose weight- fooled you big. The products almost always use rice flour that has a tendency to increase the sugar content of the food. The result is altering blood sugar level that leaves you with hunger pangs, reported Women’s Health.
2. Dairy is Not For Diet:
Here’s research that will leave you happy. Full-fat dairy products have shown better weight loss benefits than that glass of skimmed milk you hold. Dairy products are high in protein and are your best bet for weight loss diet. So, next time somebody asks you to ditch the glass of full-fat milk, ditch them instead.
3. Cut Fat to Lose Fat:
Suddenly cutting down on your fat intake will do you no good. There is a good fat and a bad fat. Natural fat and dairy fats are healthy. Avoid processed foods these come with the bad fat.
4. Consuming Food After 8 PM is Bad:
According to The Health Site, this is another dieting myth, which apparently makes no sense. If you are with your friends gorging on oily food, it is bad irrespective of the time. If you can keep your midnight hunger pangs satiated with a healthy snack then, by all means, go for it.
5. Green Tea is Mandatory For Losing Weight:
Have to agree that green tea is good for health but mind you, it is no superfood for your weight loss program. The amount of green tea you have to consume to lose a proper weight is just way too much. Buying expensive green tea weight loss supplements was a marketing technique that got you good.
After opening his first Tropical Smoothie Café location in East El Paso, local businessman and law enforcement officer Kaleb Warnock is set to open his second location.
The second location for Warnock’s Tropical Smoothie Café is set to host a special VIP event Thursday afternoon at the Fountains at Farah, ahead of his grand opening on Saturday. His original location, at 1513 North Zaragoza continues to be popular with thousands of El Pasoans every week.
Warnock’s career often calls upon a shift from a law enforcement officer to an emergency first-responder, assisting local, state and federal agencies. The demands of the job require physical fitness and good health; meaning that eating and living healthy are essential requirements to Kaleb’s lifestyle.
Kaleb’s appetite for that healthy lifestyle has given him the opportunity to provide healthier options his fellow El Pasoans via Tropical Smoothie Café.
“I’ve always been a health enthusiast with an appetite. Yearning for a delicious smoothie (especially after a workout) has helped me maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle for my job and my family.”
Warnock adds that his cafés offers “bold, flavorful food and smoothies with a “healthy” appeal, all made to order from the freshest ingredients.”
The café features real-fruit smoothies, toasted wraps, sandwiches, flatbreads, and salads are the healthier food options needed for active lifestyles.
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