Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Yesterday, I tried a recipe I got from FitnessRx magazine August 2009 edition. I chose this recipe because my family likes spicy foods. This recipe uses spaghetti as a main ingredient, but I replace it with regular noodles.This recipe is claimed healthy in the original version (with spaghetti), but the composition of nutrients should be recalculated because I change the spaghetti with noodles. Do it (recalculated) if you feel you really need or easily use the original version.
The following ingredients and how to cook it according to the original version :
Ingredients:
1 pound spaghettini or thin spaghetti
3-4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
¼ c. low-sodium soy sauce
¼ c. distilled water, vegetable broth, or chicken broth
4 green onions cut in ½-inch pieces
1 (1-inch) piece ginger root, pared and quartered
1/3 c. peanut butter (plain or chunky)
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon rice or white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar or sugar substitute
Cook spaghetti as directed; drain and set aside.
Toss with 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil; drain off excess.
In food processor, finely chop garlic, green onions and ginger.
Add remaining dark sesame oil and all ingredients.
Process until thoroughly mixed.
Top each serving of spaghettini or spaghetti with sauce as desired.
Serves 6.
Nutritional Breakdown
Protein: 13.3%; Carbohydrate: 55.9%; Fat: 30.8%
Totals Per Serving
Calories: 431; Protein: 14.4g; Carbohydrate: 60.6g; Fat: 14.9g; Sodium: 417mg; Cholesterol: 0mg
Finally, this recipe tastes good and my family loved it. I'll make it again next week
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, and the problem has gotten worse every year since the 1980s. More than 50 percent of people fail to meet the minimum exercise recommendation of 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity. Physical inactivity is most prevalent in overweight people. Many feel uncomfortable exercising, which makes it difficult for them to control bodyweight. Weight training is an effective mode of exercise for overweight people because they naturally have more muscle mass, which makes them more successful in the activity.
Researchers from Southern Illinois University, led by Eric Kirk, showed that a modest weight training program increased 24-hour energy expenditure by 126 calories per day in 39 college-aged overweight men and women. The program consisted of 1 set of nine exercises at a moderate weight, three times per week. While recreational-level weight training causes a small increase in daily energy expenditure, it won’t have much of an impact in reducing excess body fat in overweight people. However, it is better than nothing.
Medicine Science Sports Exercise, 41:1122-1129, 2009
Researchers from Southern Illinois University, led by Eric Kirk, showed that a modest weight training program increased 24-hour energy expenditure by 126 calories per day in 39 college-aged overweight men and women. The program consisted of 1 set of nine exercises at a moderate weight, three times per week. While recreational-level weight training causes a small increase in daily energy expenditure, it won’t have much of an impact in reducing excess body fat in overweight people. However, it is better than nothing.
Medicine Science Sports Exercise, 41:1122-1129, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
For humans, the brain is a very important part. Because this organ is the central nervous system regulator. What would happen if something bad happens in our brains? I don’t want to say about it here, just think about it.
Many things that can damage or reduce the ability of our brain. This time I will discuss only one cause, namely obesity.
This will add an additional point in a long list of health consequences that must be borne by the people who are obese.
Just another proof
If people who are obese are lucky enough to live long, maybe they will suffer permanent amnesia. Horrible things.
So I remind all of you to do all the way (the natural way of course) to fight obesity.
Many things that can damage or reduce the ability of our brain. This time I will discuss only one cause, namely obesity.
"The brains of obese people looked 16 years older than their healthy counterparts while [those of] overweight people looked eight years older," said UCLA neuroscientist Paul Thompson, senior author of a study published online in Human Brain Mapping via Health.com.
This will add an additional point in a long list of health consequences that must be borne by the people who are obese.
Being overweight or obese was associated with lower levels of biochemical markers of brain health, particularly in brain tissue involved in thinking and perception, according to a study of 50 otherwise healthy middle-aged adults conducted by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.
Just another proof
The researchers also informed that the brain tissue was lost in key areas that included;
- Frontal and temporal lobes: Critical for planning and memory
- Hippocampus: Important for long-term memory
- Anterior cingulate gyrus: Responsible for executive functions and attention
- Basal ganglia: Essential for proper movement and coordination
If people who are obese are lucky enough to live long, maybe they will suffer permanent amnesia. Horrible things.
So I remind all of you to do all the way (the natural way of course) to fight obesity.
Friday, December 04, 2009
For some women, trans fats could be deadly
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For women with heart disease, eating too many artery-clogging trans fats may increase their risk of dying suddenly from cardiac arrest, a new study suggests.
Trans fats, found largely in commercially prepared baked and fried foods, have become notorious in recent years because they not only raise "bad" LDL cholesterol -- as the saturated fats in meat and butter do -- but also lower levels of heart-healthy HDL cholesterol.
High trans-fat intake has been linked to coronary heart disease, in which fatty plaques build up in the heart arteries, sometimes leading to a heart attack.
But whether trans fats raise a person's risk of dying suddenly from cardiac arrest has not been clear.
Sudden cardiac death is usually caused by rhythm disturbances in the heart's upper chambers that render the organ incapable of pumping blood to the rest of the body. Some research suggests that trans fats could promote heart-rhythm abnormalities, but there is only limited evidence that they raise the odds of sudden cardiac death.
In the new study, researchers found that among nearly 87,000 U.S. women followed for 26 years, trans fat intake was not linked to the risk of sudden cardiac death across the whole study group.
However, when they looked only at women who had underlying coronary heart disease, there was evidence of an increased risk.
In this group, women who ate the most trans fats -- typically getting 2.5 percent of their daily calories from the fats -- were three times more likely to die of cardiac arrest than those who ate the least -- getting less than 1 percent of daily calories in the form of trans fat.
Still, so few women with coronary heart disease died of sudden cardiac death during the study -- 100 over 26 years -- that the study lacked the statistical weight to clearly show that trans fats were a risk factor.
Researchers led by Dr. Stephanie Chiuve, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, report their findings in the American Heart Journal.
Trans fats are formed during food processing when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to make it solidify; foods that list so-called partially hydrogenated vegetable oil on the label contain trans fat.
Traditionally, that has included most commercially prepared baked and fried foods -- including cookies, crackers, chips, breads and french fries -- though, in recent years, manufacturers and restaurants have been increasingly reducing trans fats in their products.
The current study included 86,762 U.S. women involved in a long-running Nurses' Health Study. Beginning in 1980 and every two to four years thereafter, the women completed detailed dietary questionnaires. Over 26 years of follow-up, 317 women died of cardiac arrest.
Among women who had not been diagnosed with coronary heart disease, there was no evidence linking trans-fat intake to sudden cardiac death once the researchers accounted for heart disease risk factors -- like smoking, high blood pressure and excess weight.
When it came to women with coronary heart disease, however, the link between trans fats and sudden death held up even after other heart risk factors were weighed. The findings, according to Chiuve's team, suggest that trans-fat intake "plays a greater role" in the risk of sudden cardiac death when coronary heart disease is already present.
The American Heart Association advises all adults to get less than 1 percent of their daily calories from trans fat -- which amounts to about 2 grams for the typical American.
SOURCE: American Heart Journal, November 2009.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For women with heart disease, eating too many artery-clogging trans fats may increase their risk of dying suddenly from cardiac arrest, a new study suggests.
Trans fats, found largely in commercially prepared baked and fried foods, have become notorious in recent years because they not only raise "bad" LDL cholesterol -- as the saturated fats in meat and butter do -- but also lower levels of heart-healthy HDL cholesterol.
High trans-fat intake has been linked to coronary heart disease, in which fatty plaques build up in the heart arteries, sometimes leading to a heart attack.
But whether trans fats raise a person's risk of dying suddenly from cardiac arrest has not been clear.
Sudden cardiac death is usually caused by rhythm disturbances in the heart's upper chambers that render the organ incapable of pumping blood to the rest of the body. Some research suggests that trans fats could promote heart-rhythm abnormalities, but there is only limited evidence that they raise the odds of sudden cardiac death.
In the new study, researchers found that among nearly 87,000 U.S. women followed for 26 years, trans fat intake was not linked to the risk of sudden cardiac death across the whole study group.
However, when they looked only at women who had underlying coronary heart disease, there was evidence of an increased risk.
In this group, women who ate the most trans fats -- typically getting 2.5 percent of their daily calories from the fats -- were three times more likely to die of cardiac arrest than those who ate the least -- getting less than 1 percent of daily calories in the form of trans fat.
Still, so few women with coronary heart disease died of sudden cardiac death during the study -- 100 over 26 years -- that the study lacked the statistical weight to clearly show that trans fats were a risk factor.
Researchers led by Dr. Stephanie Chiuve, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, report their findings in the American Heart Journal.
Trans fats are formed during food processing when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to make it solidify; foods that list so-called partially hydrogenated vegetable oil on the label contain trans fat.
Traditionally, that has included most commercially prepared baked and fried foods -- including cookies, crackers, chips, breads and french fries -- though, in recent years, manufacturers and restaurants have been increasingly reducing trans fats in their products.
The current study included 86,762 U.S. women involved in a long-running Nurses' Health Study. Beginning in 1980 and every two to four years thereafter, the women completed detailed dietary questionnaires. Over 26 years of follow-up, 317 women died of cardiac arrest.
Among women who had not been diagnosed with coronary heart disease, there was no evidence linking trans-fat intake to sudden cardiac death once the researchers accounted for heart disease risk factors -- like smoking, high blood pressure and excess weight.
When it came to women with coronary heart disease, however, the link between trans fats and sudden death held up even after other heart risk factors were weighed. The findings, according to Chiuve's team, suggest that trans-fat intake "plays a greater role" in the risk of sudden cardiac death when coronary heart disease is already present.
The American Heart Association advises all adults to get less than 1 percent of their daily calories from trans fat -- which amounts to about 2 grams for the typical American.
SOURCE: American Heart Journal, November 2009.
