African Mango

Quinoa, long-praised for the fact that it’s a gluten-free food rich in protein and manganese, may have to share some of the nutritional spotlight with teff. Of course quinoa still remains an outstanding health food. But teff, which has likely been available from your supermarket and health food store for quite a while now, is fast becoming another gluten-free favorite that can be used for meal preparation similarly to quinoa (baking, for example).

Teff, a grain that comes from the seed of Ethiopian grass, has a mildly nutty flavor and is typically used ground as a flour substitute. It is often also used raw to add flavor and texture to certain foods.

But did you know that teff boasts significantly more manganese, copper and iron than quinoa? It also has fewer calories from fat (21 calories compared to quinoa’s 55 calories) and has nearly four times as much calcium.

Let’s take a closer look at some comparisons between the two, all based on a 3.5 oz. uncooked portion.

Teff versus quinoa: a breakdown

Manganese, known to support bone and tissue production and play a role in sex hormones, is higher in teff than it is in quinoa. Teff comes in at 9.24 mg (462 percent RDI), while quinoa has a 2.033 mg manganese content. [RDI is the Recommended Daily Intake levels of a nutrient and is used to determined the DV (Daily Value) of foods as printed on nutrition facts labels in the US and Canada.]

Concerned with slow-healing wounds, vision changes or low energy? Copper helps regulate the body’s connective tissue growth, plays a role in improving eyesight and can boost energy. At 0.59 mg of copper, quinoa certainly isn’t lacking, but teff’s 0.81 mg of copper makes it a better option for those seeking more of this mineral. Copper also has cholesterol-lowering benefits, can help regulate heart rhythm and even reduces thyroid problems.

Need more iron? Teff comes in at 7.63 mg, while quinoa has 4.57. So if you suffer from low energy and fatigue from anemia, want improved brain health and better cell-to-cell oxygen distribution, teff is the way to go.

When it comes to calcium, teff once again steals the spotlight. With 180 mg versus quinoa’s mere 47 mg, teff’s a great go-to superfood for building strong bones and possibly providing diabetes and blood pressure management.

This news isn’t to say that quinoa should be abandoned. It’s still an incredible, gluten-free food that packs a powerful nutritional punch. In fact, it has more protein, potassium and omega-3 fatty acids than teff. So, it’s more of a matter of what nutrients you personally require. In some cases, quinoa will be your better option; in other instances, you’ll want teff. As with any healthy diet, balance and variety is key. So why not incorporate both into your diet?

… and aid your weight management strategy

A surprising number of people avoid eating nuts as they retain the false stigma that the calories derived from a handful of nuts contribute to weight gain. Nuts also deliver a higher percentage of fat calories per ounce than many nutritionally deficient processed foods and are thus considered to be unhealthy. As the incidence of metabolic syndrome (six health metrics that increase risk of diabetes, heart disease and many other potentially fatal chronic conditions) continues to skyrocket in many unsuspecting individuals, a wealth of scientific evidence now shows that eating a variety of tree nuts is not only beneficial to our health, but also helps lower obesity prevalence in the adult population and aids weight management as part of a natural food diet.

A research team from Loma Linda University in California studied 803 Seventh-day Adventist adults to establish an association between tree nuts (almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts), metabolic syndrome (MetS) and obesity in a population with a wide range of nut intake ranging from never to daily. Publishing the results of their work in the journal PLOS ONE, the scientists were able to determine that the amount of tree nuts consumed daily correlated directly to the prevalence of obesity in the adult participants.

Tree nuts improve metabolic profile to lower MetS abnormalities and improve weight loss efforts

The researchers used a validated food frequency questionnaire to determine the daily intake of tree nuts and peanuts, both together and separately. The participants were then rated as to high tree nut consumption, averaging 16 grams per day, to low consumption with an average intake of 5 grams per day. Lead study author, Dr. Karen Jaceldo-Siegl noted “Our results showed that one serving (28g or 1 ounce) of tree nuts per week was significantly associated with 7 percent less MetS… doubling this consumption could potentially reduce MetS risk by 14 percent.”

MetS (consisting of increased abdominal obesity, elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure and hyperglycemia) signals metabolic deterioration as the body is forced to deal with a cascade of physical abnormalities that ultimately lead to cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia and drastically lowered quality of life.

Regular consumption of tree nuts can lower the risks associated with MetS as they help to balance oxidized cholesterol ratios and improve vascular function, largely due to the quality, monounsaturated fat content and wealth of minerals supplied in a handful of the small tasty gems.

Another benefit found by the researchers is lowered body weight. Although nuts are relatively high in calories, they squelch appetite by providing a solid source on non-animal protein and have little to no impact on blood glucose levels. Additionally, there is some evidence to suggest that the monounsaturated fats are conserved by the body for cellular metabolism and are not readily burned as a source of fuel by the body.

Dr. Jaceldo-Siegl concluded “We found that high tree nut consumers had significantly lower prevalence of obesity compared to the low tree nut consumers… and, high consumers of tree nuts had the lowest prevalence of obesity when compared to the low peanut/tree nut groups.” Nutrition experts recommend eating 1.5 ounces of tree nuts each day, the amount in a good size handful, to ward off chronic disease processes and help keep weight in check.

It’s a place we’ve all been. You are working hard to lose weight and you feel like you have been doing pretty well, but sooner or later your will power fades and you start to plateau or even gain weight. This is pretty common and the truth is that living a healthy, lean life is tough.

But as luck would have it, there are a few particular things that most people do which can make life unnecessarily hard.

See if you’re doing any of these things, and if you are, try to stop:

Habitual Snacking Times

You probably have some times of day or routines which inevitably lead to eating bad foods in spite of your will power not to. These little eating patterns can be tough to break because they can be almost subconscious. I’m talking about things like:

Eating a biscuit or two in the break room
Stealing some of the kids potato chips
Having a chocolate bar after a workout
Whatever your routine you need to spot these vices and either break them or break the routine. For example, don’t take any more cash to the gym than you need. Don’t go in the break room when you’re hungry or feeling weak willed. Those little calories add up, but they’re easy to forget about.

A False Sense of Calories

If you exercise regularly (and you should) then it is all too easy to trick yourself into overeating. The truth is that although exercise does burn calories, it is very easy to over compensate by eating too much.

This is why many people who start going to the gym actually gain weight. The effect is still positive of course, because some of that weight is muscle – but even so, you need to be realistic about how many calories you are burning.

Boredom Eating

There are certain times of day when naughty foods seem to become more tempting and any occasion when you are bored or not doing very much is likely to be such a time.

This is why many people find that they eat more during the evenings when they are not busy at work…

If this seems like you then you need to break the cycle:

• Go out in the evenings
• Get into the habit of being more active
• Do something that engages your brain so that you don’t think about food
• You don’t have to do exercise every evening, just avoid too much time watching the TV or otherwise being mentally inactive

Thinking That You Have To Eat

The myth that you have to eat regularly in order to keep your metabolism going is a big one and a damaging one. The truth is that you would have to stop eating for many days before your metabolism actually slowed down.

So from now on, realize that you don’t HAVE TO eat as soon as you feel hungry…

Hunger is mostly habitual anyway

If there is no healthy food available, don’t eat. Skip a meal if you need to and wait until it is practical to eat something more suitable.

Focusing On The Scales

Weight loss is a long term game and it is entirely normal to occasionally plateau. In fact, you may lose no weight for 2 weeks and then lose several pounds in a few days.

For this reason, focusing on the scales can be dangerous for your motivation

Instead, try to focus on the things which happen sooner:

• You will feel healthier
• You will have more energy
• Your clothes will start to look better
• You will look better in the mirror
• If you measure your progress by these criteria instead of the amount of force that you exert on the ground you will find that you stay motivated more easily

Dehydration

Don’t get dehydrated – it’s that easy. Being dehydrated can make you feel hungry, which is obviously not going to be good for your will power or your judgement.

But aside from that, when you are hungry, a big drink of water (or cordial) will make you feel less hungry, which can either help you to abstain a little longer – particularly helpful when there is no healthy food available.

Studies have shown that women are more at risk of suffering a stroke than men, and for the first time, women and their physicians are now armed with evidence-based guidelines on how best to reduce those risks.

“The take-home here is really about starting prevention earlier,” Dr. Cheryl Bushnell, an associate professor at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., told National Public Radio. Bushnell is the lead author of the guidelines published recently in Stroke, a journal of the American Heart Association.

“For the most part the focus of our guideline is for women who are thinking about getting pregnant,” said Bushnell, who added that that includes women who are actively trying to avoid pregnancy with birth control pills and women who are trying to become pregnant.

“The only controversy for us is that we are recommending blood pressure treatment [with medication] during pregnancy,” Bushnell says. “That’s something the obstetricians may disagree with.”

Dr. Diana Greene-Chandos, M.D., Director of Neuroscience Critical Care and Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and Neurology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, added that women should be evaluated a little differently for stroke risk than men.

“Evaluation and management of stroke in women has some nuances that are unique to women. In particular, a woman may present with sudden pain in her face and limb, sudden nausea or sudden hiccups rather than the more common stroke symptoms seen in both sexes,” she told Natural News. “When evaluating a woman, particular attention needs to be paid to her headache history; whether she is pregnant, on oral contraceptives or on hormone replacement therapy; and if she has a history of autoimmune diseases such a lupus.”

How to reduce women’s risk of stroke

There are several ways that women can mitigate their risk of stroke, experts say. Michale J. (Mickey) Barber, M.D., an anesthesiologist and academic, as well as an age management expert who works primarily with women on heart disease/stroke prevention, offered the following measures in particular:

— Control that blood pressure. Like other experts, such as Bushnell, Barber says she believes that keeping blood pressure under control is vital. “Many women tend to ignore or are undertreated for hypertension. The first step in many cases is to improve body composition as a drop in weight of 10 pounds can translate to a drop in systolic BP by 10 mm mercury,” she told Natural News.

— Watch low folate and vitamin B12 levels. “These levels are reflected by high homocysteine levels,” she said. “It is common in women over the age of 45 to become less and less efficient at absorbing B-12 from the gut. High levels of homocysteine increase thrombosis (clot), impair microcirculatory function and increase inflammation.”

— Diet is, as always, very important. Barber recommends a diet rich in fruits and vegetables “to provide adequate antioxidants to counter oxidative stress (inflammation).” As reported by Natural News, some of the best antioxidant foods include berries (tropical acai berries rank the highest, followed by blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, raspberries, pomegranates and strawberries); veggies like kale, spinach and broccoli; legumes like black beans and kidney beans; nuts and grains like pecans, walnuts and steel-cut oats; and chocolate (in moderation) [http://www.naturalnews.com].

— Eat like a Greek. Barber recommends a Mediterranean-style diet consisting of higher intake of olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, fruits and vegetables, as well as moderate-to-higher consumption of fish and limited animal fats. Obesity is a huge stroke factor.

— Exercise. Making time for vigorous physical exercise “like your life depends on it” is vital, says Barber. This is especially true as we age; a sedentary lifestyle is not conducive to a long, productive life.

— Limit alcohol and stop smoking. Some alcohol — like red wines — has been found to be beneficial for the heart, in limited amounts, but there is nothing good that comes from smoking. Besides increasing your risk of cancer, smoking is devastating to your heart and cardiovascular system, and this can be especially true for women.

Some other things that women can do to reduce their risk, Barber said, is to consider a low-dose aspirin per day (after discussing this with your health professional), eliminating toxic stress, increasing your meditation and controlling diabetes or pre-diabetic conditions “with a low glycemic diet and exercise.”

 

The incidence of gluten intolerance, celiac disease and other health problems linked to the consumption of wheat and gluten are on the rise world wide and seem to be reaching epidemic proportions. But while wheat, and more specifically gluten, have traditionally been blamed for this modern epidemic, new evidence points to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, as being a probable cause or contributor to this rapidly increasing health crisis.

It would seem that in recent times gluten has been blamed for more and more chronic health problems. In fact it’s got to the point where gluten has commonly become the first suspect when trying to resolve many health issues and removing it from the diet often helps.

But the question is why? Why after thousands of years of eating wheat, are humans suddenly becoming intolerant to it? Why is it causing all these diseases and health problems that used to be rare or non-existent?

It is because of the breeding? Has wheat been changed from what it used to be? Maybe. Or maybe it’s the glyphosate.

What is glyphosate and how does it affect my health?

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Monsanto’s number one selling herbicide Roundup. Roundup is used worldwide on many crops for both weed control and harvesting. Billions of liters of Glyphosate are used on crops around the world every year and use of the herbicide is increasing dramatically with the largest amounts by far being used on Roundup resistant GM crops.

Since its inception, the effects on human health of glyphosate have been studied with many such studies pointing to severe consequences to human health resulting from exposure or ingestion. Consequences such as cancer and endocrine disruption have been shown to be common.

However more recent studies show that as glyphosate use has risen, so has gluten intolerance and researchers have discovered that glyphosate disrupts and damages the digestive system causing Celiac disease, gluten intolerance and IBS. Some of these studies have found that not only is our food supply commonly contaminated with glyphosate, but water supplies are also being contaminated.

Glyphosate has been shown to damage liver cells, break down junctions in the gut wall leading to leaky gut syndrome, kill enzymes and disrupt gut flora leading to diseases of the digestive system and thereby impacting the rest of the body.

For those affected by gluten intolerance, removing gluten from the diet is often the obvious answer to distressing symptoms. However in light of the recent studies it may be likened to shutting the gate after the horse has bolted. With prevention in mind, these studies provide a good case for eating organic food, avoiding GM foods and removing foods that are likely to have been sprayed with glyphosate from our diet.