Fruits that fight the flu

Fruit Fights the Flu

If you're not eating the recommended 5 fruits and vegetables a day, here's a new reason to head to the produce aisle
By: Amy Palanjian

Fruit fights the germs we're exposed to in the winter. "The vitamin load keeps your immune level high, allowing you to fend off colds and flu," says Amy Howell, Ph.D., a research scientist at Rutgers University. Fruits also reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. Try the five below to give your immune system a boost.

Apples
The most popular source of antioxidants in our diet, one apple has an antioxidant effect equivalent to 1,500 mg of vitamin C. Apples are loaded with protective flavonoids, which may prevent heart disease and cancer.

Papayas
With 250 percent of the RDA of vitamin C, a papaya can help kick a cold right out of your system. The beta-carotene and vitamins C and E in papayas reduce inflammation throughout the body, lessening the effects of asthma.

Cranberries
Cranberries have more antioxidants than other common fruits and veggies. One serving has five times the amount in broccoli. Cranberries are a natural probiotic, enhancing good bacteria levels in the gut and protecting it from foodborne illnesses.

Grapefruit
Loaded with vitamin C, grapefruit also contains natural compounds called limonoids, which can lower cholesterol. The red varieties are a potent source of the cancer-fighting substance lycopene.

Bananas
One of the top food sources of vitamin B6, bananas help reduce fatigue, depression, stress, and insomnia. Bananas are high in magnesium, which keeps bones strong, and potassium, which helps prevent heart disease and high blood pressure.

http://www.menshealth.com/spotlight/coldandflu/flu-fighting-fruits.php

Easy Raw Fruit Salad

Salsa Pinto Bean Recipe

This is a zippy alternative to refried beans. This easy side dish is so hearty. Top it off with a sprinkling of shredded cheese or a dollop of sour cream

Ingredients

* 1 small onion, chopped
* 2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro
* 1 tablespoon canola oil
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 2 cans (15 ounces each) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
* 2/3 cup salsa

Directions

* In a large skillet or saucepan, saute onion and cilantro in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the beans and salsa; heat through. Yield: 6 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1/2 cup) equals 96 calories, 3 g fat (trace saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 219 mg sodium, 13 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 4 g protein.

How to make an easy omelet

10 things that pack on the pounds!

Struggling with your fat-loss attempts? Or are you currently happy with the chiseled physique you have but fearful that you may start to pack on the pounds?

Whatever the situation, by learning about some of the fastest ways to gain weight, you can make sure to avoid them at all costs. If there's one thing we know for certain it's that staying ripped at all times does take hard work. Fortunately, by making sure the following 10 traps aren't in the picture, it'll be that much easier.


Here are the 10 fastest ways to get fat. Avoid them at all costs.

10. Down the fruit juice
If you’re looking for a quick way to put on weight, start downing glass after glass of fruit juice. While often thought to be a healthy beverage, it's really anything but. It contains far too many carbs to be on a fat-loss or weight-maintenance diet and what's worse is that a large portion of these carbs will be fructose, which gets converted to body fat much quicker since it can't be stored in the muscle cells. Solution? Opt for water, milk or green tea.

9. Binge drink
If you're the type to avoid drinking throughout the workweek and then go out for a night of partying on the weekend, you're going to get fat. It's quite easy to consume well over 1,000 calories on a good night of drinking, and if you add up all the chicken wings, pizza and peanuts you consume while you're at it, you could be looking at a full pound of fat gained over the course of the evening. As far as your waistline is concerned, limit alcohol consumption to one or two drinks a night, on occasion.

8. Eat carbs
If there's one thing that can make you fat quickly, carbohydrates would be it. High-carb foods, especially of the processed variety, are extremely dangerous in terms of fat gain, because they'll quickly cause your insulin levels to soar, which puts the body into a fat-storing state. With all these calories floating around in the blood with nowhere to go -- unless you've just done a very intense workout -- they're fated for fat storage. Always keep carbohydrate consumption to a moderate level and be sure to balance them out with a lean protein as well.

7. Eat out
Another thing you should avoid doing is eating out frequently at restaurants. Many people do a great job at avoiding fast-food fare, but what most don't realize is that dine-in restaurants are almost twice as bad. The average entree can easily pack in well over 1,000 calories and is often processed, so if you want to prevent fat gain, cook at home as often as possible.

6. Take the car
As much as you might focus on getting in the most intense workout sessions possible, failing to look at the everyday ways you can be active will really cost you. If you hit the gym regularly but then drive everywhere (and are all-around quite lazy), this will significantly lower your overall calorie burn for the day. Just by getting out of the car and walking around more often, you can easily burn off 200 to 500 calories per day. Easy, right?

5. Eat greasy food
If you are going to cheat on your diet, the worst foods to do so with is high-carb, greasy fare. When you consume foods that are both high in carbs and high in fat (such as pizza, doughnuts or burgers), you're really hitting the body hard with excess calories that will lead to weight gain. Now you'll have raised insulin levels from the high-carb intake, and with those insulin levels high and your body in prime fat-storing mode, you'll quickly take the fat up and store it. If you're going to cheat, do so with lower fat, higher carb foods. This way, with the raised insulin, all the excess carbs can go toward the muscle cells to refill muscle glycogen, thus reducing the chances that you gain body fat.

4. Use commercial weight gainers
If you're someone who's trying to pack on lean muscle mass, you might be considering the use of a weight-gain product. If you want to stay lean, however, you'll want to rethink this. While you may require a high-calorie intake to build muscle, some of these commercial weight gainers pack in well over 1,000 calories, which is too much for even the biggest weight lifter. Plus, these commercial weight gainers are often filled with simple sugars, which will wreak havoc on your body and set you up for diabetes. Instead, create your own weight gainer using protein powder, raw oats and flaxseeds.

3. Load up on the wrong proteins
You're aware you need protein to build muscle, and you take this information to heart. Day after day you're loading up on all the high-protein foods you can find and don't feel ashamed to indulge in a juicy 12 oz steak when the opportunity presents itself. If this describes you, you may very well be on your way to gaining body fat. Remember that many protein-rich foods do contain high amounts of saturated fat and calories, so consuming too many of them will put you on the quick road to obesity. Instead, choose leaner sources of protein, and consume them in moderation. Men naturally gravitate toward protein-rich foods whenever they have a craving, but remember that you can get too much of a good thing.

2. Move back home
In today's tight financial times, more and more adults are choosing to move back in with their parents. If you're looking to maintain a lean body, though, this may be the last thing that you want to do. Surrounding yourself with all of your mom's high-fat, high-calorie cooking will likely lead to excess calorie consumption. With someone else doing the cooking and you strictly focused on the eating, you're headed for a bad situation as far as your belly fat is concerned.

1. Forgo your weight-lifting workout
Do not not skip your weight-lifting workouts. Even if you can get to the gym and do one set of each exercise, that will be far better than skipping it entirely. What some men fail to realize is just how much of a boost they will get in their metabolism after weight training, and this could mean the difference between you staying lean at the end of the day and you gaining body fat by night's end. You can burn up to 200 calories over and above your usual expenditure after a very intense workout, so don't ever underestimate the power of lifting weights.

By Shannon Clark

Published March 09, 2011

Dr. Oz's Weight-Loss Commandments

1. Thou Shalt Not Wear Pants that Stretch

Your clothing is an early-warning system for weight gain. When it's getting hard to snap your jeans, you know it's time to be vigilant. Wearing stretchy clothes allows you to live in ignorance of how your body is growing, making it easier to pack on pounds without knowing it.

2. Thou Shalt Not Keep Fat Clothes in Your Closet

When you keep the clothes you wore at an unhealthy weight, it gives you a back-up plan if the pounds don't come off. Instead, force yourself to stay on track by 86ing your "fat pants."

3. Thou Shalt Not Eat Meat That Walks on Four Legs More Than Once a Week

Meat that comes from an animal with 4 legs is higher in saturated fat (the unhealthy kind) than that which comes from 2-legged animals such as chickens, or animals with no legs, like fish. Plus: women who eat large amounts of red meat more than once a week have a 50% higher chance of dying from heart disease and have higher cancer rates.

4. Thou Shalt Not Graze

Plan your meal before you open the refrigerator, get what you need, and close the door. Opening it throughout the day leads to impulsive choices and overeating.

5. Thou Shalt Not Eat After 7:30pm

When you eat late at night you are more likely to be eating in front of the TV (when you won't pay attention to how much you're putting in your mouth) and you're more likely to pick high-calorie snacks.

6. Thou Shalt Not Pile Food More than 1 Inch High or Within 2 Inches of the Plate Edge

Larger portions equal more calories. 'Nuff said.

7. Thou Shalt Not Chew Food Less than 20 Times Per Bite

Chewing allows your body to realize that you are eating food, prompting it to create a sensation of fullness at the appropriate time. When you don't chew enough, you get ahead of that process, eating well past when you are actually satisfied.

8. Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Plate

Spend your day nibbling bites on someone else's sandwich or afternoon snack, and you will add on 1,000 calories easy.

9. Thou Shalt Not Carry Small Bills

Nothing loves a small bill better than a vending machine. When you have them at the ready, you are one step closer to an impulsive, calorie-loaded afternoon slip up.

10. Thou Shalt Not Eat While Standing Up

Eating sitting down enables you to be aware of what you're eating and eat it slowly so that your body can tell you your full before it's too late.

Clean and Healthy Produce Spray

Try this spray solution for a cost-effective way to remove pesticides from your produce.

The vinegar in this spray has natural anti-bacterial properties, while the lemon juice is a natural astringent. The solution works to both breakdown and clean off pesticides.

Ingredients

1 cup water

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tbsp baking soda

1/2 of a lemon

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large container. Transfer to a spray bottle with a pump. Spray mixture on produce and let sit for 5 minutes. Scrub and rinse.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers

Black Bean Sweet Potato Burgers:
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 small onion, small dice
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed or 2 teaspoons minced garlic from jar
• 2 tablespoons diced spicy pepper (like jalapenos) (15 rings from jar)
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 cups grated raw sweet potato
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup plain dried bread crumbs

1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook onions until softened, about 1 minute. Stir in garlic, 2 diced jalapenos, and cumin; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
2. Transfer contents of skillet to a large bowl. Stir in black beans, and mash with a fork. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix in sweet potatoes, egg, and bread crumbs. Use medium ice cream scoop to shape them into even portions, than flatten into patties.
Place bean patties on sprayed wax paper on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

They are SO good!!!! I put mine on a Garden Spinach Wrap and sprinkle a little shredded cheese and lettuce! Delicious!!!!!!!!!!!

Health risks from sugar

Learn the top 4 reasons why sugar should get the boot from your diet.

1. High Blood Pressure - Normal nitric oxide levels keep blood vessels healthy and open. Too much sugar in your diet decreases nitric oxide levels, causing blood vessels to become narrow, which causes high blood pressure and an increased risk for cardiac disease.

2. High Cholesterol - People who consume too much sugar are more likely to have lower levels of HDL, or good cholesterol, higher levels of LDL, or bad cholesterol, and higher levels of triglycerides, or blood fats. This clogs up arteries and blood vessels, leading to heart disease.

3. Liver Disease - A diet high in sugar is believed to exacerbate fatty liver disease. Too much sugar spikes insulin and drives fat into the liver cells, which causes inflammation and scarring, eventually causing the liver to become cirrhotic.

4. Insulin Resistance - When sugar enters the body, insulin opens the door to allow sugar into the cells. However, when there are continuous sugar spikes, insulin becomes less effective. Sugar can’t get into the cells and become “stuck” in the body, producing toxic effects that lead to obesity and the threat of diabetes.

Skinny Taste

Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

http://www.skinnytaste.com/