Friday, August 27, 2010

Black Rice - The Ancient Chinese “Forbidden Rice” Secret Exposed.

Modern science reveals the intriguing facts about the rice forbidden to commoners in ancient China. The article from the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society published by EurekAlert reports the immense health benefits of black rice compared with brown rice or white rice that is refined brown rice.

The article states: "Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, but with less sugar and more fiber and vitamin E antioxidants," said Zhimin Xu, Associate Professor at the Department of Food Science at Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in Baton Rouge, La., who reported on the research.

"If berries are used to boost health, why not black rice and black rice bran? Especially, black rice bran would be a unique and economical material to increase consumption of health promoting antioxidants."

Like fruits, "black rice" is rich in anthocyanin antioxidants, substances that show promise for fighting heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. Food manufacturers could potentially use black rice bran or the bran extracts to boost the health value of breakfast cereals, beverages, cakes, cookies, and other foods, Xu and colleagues suggested, reports EurekAlert press release.

Once again the ancient wisdom has proved to be valid. Black rice, the exclusive health treat of ancient Royal Court of China, has more antioxidants with less sugar than blueberries. In addition to that vitamin E and fibers provides the black rice more of the natural healthy properties than many of the so-called modern super foods.

This makes it an ideal Easy Healthy Diet Food that can be mixed into Mediterranean Diet for additional benefits.

Composed 4U by Olga
Information sources: EurekAlert & Wikipedia

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Is The Mediterranean Diet Healthy?

Think of the nice Creek Dinner consisting of:
1. Virgin Olive Oil - high level source of monounsaturated fats, which reduces coronary heart disease risk. The antioxidants in olive oil improve cholesterol regulation and LDL cholesterol reduction, and that it has other anti-inflammatory and anti-hypertensive effects.
2. Fresh Fruits and Vegetables- fiber rich supplier of vitamins, minerals that increases the body's ability to help to prevent the disease.
3. Fresh and Dried Legumes - rich in vegetable protein together with fibers that promote the feeling of full stomach. From healthy diet prospect the fibers improve food absorption and lower the level of blood cholesterol.
4. Cereal and Unrefined Wheat Bread [also Pasta]- provides body with carbohydrates in the form of starch as well with the necessary B-group vitamins. This food group is also effective blood sugar regulator.
5. Oily Fish- Mediterranean diet is in addition a good balance of fats, plenty of fatty fish dishes provide polyunsaturated Omega-3 fatty acids. Although those who wish to reduce weight, however, could limit the initial fat consumption but don not exclude this completely as body also needs fats.
6. Yogurt and Fresh Goat Cheese - Yoghurt and cheese is nutritionally rich in protein, calcium, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. It has nutritional benefits beyond those of milk. People who are moderately lactose-intolerant can consume yoghurt and without ill effects, because much of the lactose in the milk precursor is converted to lactic acid by the bacterial culture. Goat milk is often used by those who have a low tolerance to cows' milk, as goat milk is more similar to human milk than that of the cow. Due to high calcium content low-fat yoghurt and goat cheese helps to lose weight.
7. One or two moderate Glasses of Red Wine- Beneficial effects associated with wine come from grape agents and the compounds resulting from fermentation. Red wine contains flavonoids with powerful antioxidant properties, which protects the body from aging and helps to prevent cardiovascular disease.
8. Eat Mediterranean Way-  slowly to enjoy the food, the wine and the company. Health benefits of this type of eating needs no further explanation.

It is evident that such easy healthy diet combined with sound eating/drinking habits helps to strengthen health, increase vitality and as a result reduce overweight. So Enjoy these foods often and live a long healthy life.

Composed 4U by Olga
Information sources: Wikipedia & Internet