Sunday, February 3, 2013

3 Spices And 3 Fruits For Fat Burning And Longevity!

This article is a bit long and so far is my longest article, I will advise you find 10 minutes to read it to the end because you will learn a lot from it. Enjoy. Today, I’m going to discuss on 3 fruits and 3 spices that I get questions from a lot of my readers. On careful research and study, I have discovered that some of the fruits and vegetables we take for granted or are misinformed about can actually help us live longer and possibly add an extra 5 – 20 years to our life if we form the habit of eating them. Here are the first 3 spices under consideration.
 1. Onions: Incredible food and spice… Should be eaten daily if you can.
Before making my discoveries about onions, I love eating eating onions with nearly all my foods especially sliced raw onions on my rice. Not long ago, I came across a study that took a survey of huge number of people who have lived over 100 years from several countries, one of the most interesting and common comments coming from the participants is that each of them ate a lot of onions during their lifetime. I have also studied some other sources about onions that reported that onions (and Garlic) contain some unique and powerful anti-oxidant that are rare in other foods. These components help in very impressive reduction in cancer. Among other value to health that onions give is help in protection against cardiovascular diseases, stomach ulcer or cancer, and reduction of tumors growing in the body amongst several other curative benefits. What would life be like without onions? In eating onions, it will be good if you can eat it raw the way I do, and add it in your salads, vegetables, early morning fried eggs, and in your lunch as well as your supper.
 2. Garlic: Enhances Blood Flow and Burns LDL Cholesterol In Blood Vessels!
For many centuries, Garlic has been one of the most sought after spice used in medicine. A recent study shows that Garlic contains a compound called “Allicin”. This is a powerful anti-oxidant which helps to protect the body from damage resulting from the movement of free radicals produced from the acidic environment of the body caused by the decomposition of unhealthy processed food in our body. Another study from University of Alabama at Birmingham by Gloria Benavides, also shows that eating of Garlic, helps in the increase in blood flow and relaxes the blood vessels, thus reducing the risk of a heart disease, this is made possible because of the release of a compound called Hydrogen sulphide. Research evidence has shown that Garlic is the only spice that can provide Hydrogen Sulphide in our diets unlike other plants which are processed as drugs. In my own case, I regularly buy grinded garlic in bottles and add it to nearly all my meals especially when cooking my Turkey or Chicken or Fish. If you are not eating Garlic, add it to your menu from your next meal.
 3. Ginger: Known to increase metabolic rate and promote circulation of energy.
Ginger has been used for over a period of 2500 years by the Chinese herbalists for medicinal purposes and for flavouring foods. In fact because Ginger has so many health benefits as a spice, it has been said by some people to be the plant taken directly from the Garden of Eden in Bible times. One of the beliefs of many people who travel a lot and have used Ginger while traveling by air is that, it prevents motion sickness and can be added to nearly all food recipe. Below are some of the health benefits of eating Ginger; Stimulation of blood circulation Relaxes the blood vessels It is an anti-clotting agent It protects the body from fungus attack It prevents Inflammation in the body It has antiseptic properties It is anti-bacterial in nature It can be used as an analgesic Minimizes respiratory, colds, and allergies symptoms Prevents nausea, digestive problems and Arthritis. With all the listed benefits of Ginger, it is becoming one of the world’s most sought after recipe for producing drugs for treating many maladies.
 Now let’s move on to the 3 fruits that are very healthy and fat burning and that you can also eat as much as you want without any guilt whatsoever that you will gain fat while eating them.
 1. Bananas
Oh… how I love eating Bananas, I simply can’t get enough of it, especially when I take it with Groundnuts. It is so filling that after eating this fruit meal, I don’t feel like eating any real or cooked food. However, I have been getting questions most times from my readers and the main question I get is this; Are Ripe Bananas Fattening? Well, here is my answer. The simple truth is, there is no fruit eaten in its natural form that is going to help you gain fat when taken in its raw form. You are free to eat Bananas to your heart’s desire without any guilt feeling because it’s natural and very healthy. Here are few reasons why Bananas are not fattening; Banana is never stored in your body as fat because it digest easily. No fruit in its natural state is fattening, ripe or unripe. Bananas generally take about 45 minutes to digest while other fruits take 15 minutes, that explains why people who eat banana say they feel heavy, but you are okay after 45 minutes. If you take a breakfast of bananas and other fruits, you will notice a drastic change in weight loss in one week. Bananas are rich in minerals like potassium,zinc and vitamin A, Vitamin C, and these components don’t make people fat, but healthy. Bananas are detoxifiers because it is a source of fiber and helps in constipation, hence it helps in losing weight and not in gaining fat. For best results, it is best to eat Bananas on empty stomach and it is pertinent you follow this each time you consume your banana because of the following reason. It takes 45 minutes for Bananas to digest, Cooked food take about 3 hours, therefore when you take Banana with cooked food, it will take the same 3 hours for the Banana to digest because it is taken the same time with the real food. So it is always better to wait 45 minutes after eating Banana before you can eat any other cooked food. That way, you will never experience any weight gain.
 2. Watermelon.
Watermelon, a fruit drink I can’t simply do without. I enjoy it when very cold and refrigerated. Now let me put your mind at ease, Watermelon is very good for you and doesn’t make one fat. I call Watermelon a fruit drink because it is a fruit rich in water content (about 90% water). Apart from the nutritious water content, it is very rich in Vitamin A and C. It also provides energy to the body in the form of natural fructose. Fructose in plants are non fattening. And above all watermelon washes away toxins in the body, a good detoxifier. Now, I want you to know one fact, Watermelon has very high calories. You may wonder, but doesn’t food that has high calorie make one fat? The answer is a capital NO! The thing is, calories have nothing to do with weight gain, that is why you should not count calorie when eating. In fact, I call counting calorie the foolishness of modern day misinformed dietitian. Your focus should be at looking at food types, but not calories in food. Here is the criteria to gauge any food that is fattening. Is the food processed? (bakery, soft drinks, snacks) Is the food cooked with vegetable oil? (Fried food is a no go area) Is the food non vegetarian? (high fat content, low fiber) Is the food boiled? (less toxic but still healthy) All fruits and raw foods are healthy and are non fattening.
 3. Mangoes.
Mangoes are also healthy and good. Mangoes according to studies have 28g carbohydrates per serving and 3g dietary fiber and 24g natural sugar. Here is the nutrition analysis of mangoes from a study I came across online. Mangoes gets its sweetness from carbohydrate contents and there are several varieties of mangoes all of which are healthy. Mango does not have any significant effect in increase blood sugar levels, so it does not promote fat storage and due to the medium glycemic index, mangoes are okay for diabetics. So, does eating mangoes promote fat gain? No, mangoes do not promote weight gain. What can promote weight gain are sugar loaded processed mango drinks. To recap, you can start using the 3 spices and the 3 fruits mentioned in this long article as part of the diet you need to confidently lose weight without any guilt feeling when consuming them. If you love this article and wish to share it, kindly use the button below to share.

2 comments:

  1. some fruits with great health values we ignore most times.

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  2. onions are really great and I do love them cos of their cleansing properties. Pls try them out. what a great piece.

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