food safety information

Food Safety Information... Food safety has become one of the most sensitive issues of 21st century day to day living. Consumers are becoming more aware of the hazards of careless food handling every day. Many concern groups and organizations have made great efforts in educating the public of these dangers. According to published information, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), foodborne diseases cause and estimated: 325,000 serious illnesses 76 million cases of gastrointestinal illness 5,000 deaths each year Consumer Reports, in their March 1999 issue, addressed pesticide levels found on most domestic produce. They found the levels of some to be unacceptable, especially toxic pesticides. Their findings are especially pertinent to children, who eat far more produce per pound of body weight than adults and who are more sensitive to some effects of pesticides. With some fruits and vegetables, kids who eat just on single serving can exceed the safe daily limit of certain pesticides. Parents have to be concerned about all of these issues. Some are turning to organically grown produce, which is becoming more readily available, but sometimes prohibitively expensive. Organic may reduce the pesticide fears, but quality and yield sometimes suffer and the nature of the process, (organic fertilizers, etc.) creates an atmosphere that requires an especially attentive cleaning process.

Daily Foods for a Healthy Heart In this article I talk about some natural herbal foods that are excellent for the heart and help decrease the possibility of heart damage. Of course, these foods need to be combined with daily exercise, moderate drinking and reduced ( zero) smoking. There are many foods available in nature which help decrease bad cholesterol, reduce blood pressure and keep arteries healthy. I give below some of the foods that are helpful. It is recommended that a person include these foods in one's diet slowly and tries to ingest at least two out of the below mentioned foods daily to stay healthy and fit. First let me give some general life style tips which help in reducing heart related problems. Stop smoking and kick this bad habit to lower heart damage and lung damage. Try brisk walking for 20 minutes at a time and find long term benefits. Try cutting down on sugar and salt intake. A reduced intake of common salt is also recommended for people with blood pressure problems. It also important to reduce weight if overweight. The heart of an overweight person has to work harder and over weight people tend to have fat deposits and bad cholesterol which clogs up arteries. Avoid junk food. Reduce intake to once in a month. This kind of food contains harmful trans fats which clog up the arteries. The following foods help fight heart problems. They might just be the thing for you. So try them out by incorporating them in your diet. Soya lowers bad cholesterol, provides health proteins and helps fight heart disease. Try mixing 50 / 60 grams of Soya to your daily food and find a marked difference to your energy levels. Bengal Gram can be prepared in the form of a soup and ingested everyday. It is delicious and provides significant nutrients which help fight bad cholesterol and triglycerides. 40/50 grams of this lentil ingested every other day provides health benefits which lead directly to a better heart and lowers the risk of an heart attack by up to 20%. Garlic is a wonder herb. It helps fight against cough, cold, minor infections and also helps boost immunity levels. Ingesting just 2-3 cloves daily helps reduce fat deposits in the arteries and lower heart threatening homocystenine/homocysteine levels in the blood. Psyllium Husk , just 2- 3 small spoons (10-15 grams) a day , taken with water daily helps with digestion, lowers blood cholesterol and also aids in reducing blood sugar levels in type II diabetes. So go for this herb on a daily basis and let your body feel the difference. Fenugreek is a well known herb used worldwide for treatment of type II diabetes and is well known for it's anti inflammatory properties. This specific characteristic helps in prevention of narrowing of arteries, helps control blood pressure and blood sugar levels and cuts the risk of a stroke in some cases by up to 30%. Do incorporate 20/30 grams of this herb in your daily diet to significantly reduce stroke risk over the longer term. Just two pieces of Indian Gooseberry a day significantly cut the risk of an heart stroke by up to 15%. This fruits contains powerful anti oxidants and vitamin C which help boost immunity levels in the body and lower bad cholesterol formation. Enjoy this fruit raw or preserved and enjoy the benefits of the natural herb over the whole day.

11 best foods

The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating
Maybe you should be eating more beets, left, or chopped cabbage.

Nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden has created several lists of healthful foods people should be eating but aren’t. But some of his favorites, like purslane, guava and goji berries, aren’t always available at regular grocery stores. I asked Dr. Bowden, author of “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth,” to update his list with some favorite foods that are easy to find but don’t always find their way into our shopping carts. Here’s his advice.
Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters.How to eat: Fresh, raw and grated to make a salad. Heating decreases the antioxidant power.
Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches.
Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.How to eat it: Chop and saute in olive oil.
Cinnamon: May help control blood sugar and cholesterol.How to eat it: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal.
Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants.How to eat: Just drink it.
Dried plums: Okay, so they are really prunes, but they are packed with antioxidants.How to eat: Wrapped in prosciutto and baked.
Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death.How to eat: Roasted as a snack, or sprinkled on salad.
Sardines: Dr. Bowden calls them “health food in a can.'’ They are high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins.How to eat: Choose sardines packed in olive or sardine oil. Eat plain, mixed with salad, on toast, or mashed with dijon mustard and onions as a spread.
Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,'’ it may have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.How to eat: Mix with scrambled eggs or in any vegetable dish.
Frozen blueberries: Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, frozen blueberries are available year-round and don’t spoil; associated with better memory in animal studies.How to eat: Blended with yogurt or chocolate soy milk and sprinkled with crushed almonds.
Canned pumpkin: A low-calorie vegetable that is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories.How to eat: Mix with a little butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.

worlds longevity secrets

The World's Longevity Secrets It may have seemed like good news when federal officials announced last month that U.S. life expectancy had jumped four months and, for the first time, surpassed 78 years.But forget about 78. What if someone said that you--not some future generation--should be able to live into your 90s in relatively good health? That's the premise behind a new National Geographic book, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest. Partially funded by the National Institute on Aging, explorer Dan Buettner and a team of researchers identified four geographic regions where small groups of people are living particularly long, healthy lives. Blue zones refer to the concentric circles Buettner and his team drew on a world map in blue ink to demarcate the areas with the highest life expectancies, including the Barbagia region of Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; the community of Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda, Calif.; and the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. While many of the factors that appear to have contributed to the longer life expectancies of these populations appear to be common sense, such as eating more plant-based foods, being active and cutting stress, Buettner says that's not necessarily true today. Americans are bombarded with reports of often conflicting health data (e.g., don't eat carbs, eat carbs, eat only certain carbs), causing them to lose sight of the importance of making smart, subtle lifestyle changes. "There are so many confusing messages out there," Buettner says. "What the blue zones have to teach us is a very clear, consistent message of what measures demographic populations have done to get more good years out of life." Buettner is far from the first to travel the globe in search of the fountain of youth. In fact, a National Geographic article in the 1970s identified parts of Ecuador and Pakistan as having some of the longest-living populations. These claims were later debunked when it was determined that people lied about their ages or presented their ancestors' birth certificates as their own. (Birth records were more carefully checked this time around.) Skepticism aside, it makes some sense that certain populations would live longer than others, says Dr. James Goodwin, director of the Sealy Center on Aging at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Studies have shown, for example, that residents of rural communities tend to live longer than those based in urban areas; married couples live longer than single or divorced people; and women regularly outlive men by about six years (though the gap is getting smaller due to advances in awareness and the treatment of heart disease). Much of what Buettner found is also supported by scientific and medical research. In Sardinia, for instance, he spent time with centenarians who walked a minimum of six miles a day or who, by 10 a.m., had pastured sheep, cut wood, trimmed olive trees and fed and eviscerated a cow. In other words, they incorporated activity into their daily routines. Along those lines, a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in March showed that maintaining aerobic fitness through middle age could, alone, delay biological aging by 12 years. In Okinawa, Buettner met a woman in her 70s who whispers "hara hachi bu" before she eats, a reminder to consume only 80% of what's on her plate. While scientists have known for decades that animals can live longer when they eat less, researchers are just beginning to determine the extent of the impact caloric restriction can have on humans. A study published in 2006 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, for instance, found that the hearts of people who followed a low-calorie, Mediterranean diet resembled those of younger people. Researchers compared 25 people who consumed 1,400 to 2,000 calories per day for six years to 25 similar control subjects eating typical Western diets of 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day, concluding that the Mediterranean diet could delay aging and increase longevity. Have you or someone you know reached a much older age than average? What, do you believe, was the secret? Talk about it in the Reader Comments section below. Many of the Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda, Calif., also appear to have added years of life due to their regular participation in a spiritual community. Their involvement not only connects them with a supportive social network, but it also forces them to set aside time each week that tends to be stress-relieving. Similarly, in 1999 researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Texas at Austin and Florida State University found that people who go to church once or more each week may live seven years longer than those who never attend. Of course, adopting all of these habits over the long haul isn't as easy as it may sound, especially given our fast-food culture, super-sized portions and the fact that most of us spend our days chained to a desk rather than working the fields.The blue zones currently are in danger of disappearing due to the forces of globalization, which tend to level food culture and social mores. But if people do manage to adopt even just a couple of the lessons gleaned from these populations, they're likely to see at least one benefit. "A balanced life," Goodwin says, "is its own reward."

health tips

First aid for superficial heat burns
Hold under cold running water for at least 10 minutes or immerse in cold water. Never apply cotton wool, dressings, ointments, fats or lotions or attempt to rupture blisters or remove anything from wound. If burns are not small or superficial, call a doctor.
First aid for chemical burns
Hold under cold running water for at least 10 minutes so that contaminated water drains away freely. Remove all clothing soiled by the chemical and protect your hands from contact with it.
Fish is good for your baby
Introduce your baby between the first and second year to a variety of fresh fish but check that they are easily chewable and low in fat and sodium. Check very very carefully for bones.
Reducing salt in high blood pressure
Add very little salt during food preparation. Do not add salt to food on the table. Read labels carefully and choose food having less salt and sodium content. Avoid pickles, ketchups, chutneys, fast-food and restaurant food.
Baby's first shoes
Your baby's first shoes should be lightweight, made of leather or cloth (breathable material), definitely not plastic with soles so flexible that you can feel the baby's toes through them. Hard soles are out.
If you are sick and have diabetes
Check your blood sugar more often, keep taking your medication, drink plenty of liquids and always mention all the medicines you are taking to your doctor, as some can affect your blood glucose.
Prevent dehydration in your child
If your child has diarrhoea and vomiting, you can prevent dehydration by giving small sips of cold sugar and salt solution available in ORS (Oral rehydration solution) packets at any medical store.
If your baby is having antibiotics
If your baby is having antibiotics for any reason and develops loose motions within the first few days it is most likely a reaction to the antibiotic known as a 'drug - diarrhoea'. Stop the antibiotic immediately and inform your doctor. While you are waiting give your baby 'oral rehydration solution' which is easily available with any good chemist. You should always keep a few packets at home.
Foods that can trigger Migraine
Avoid chocolate, cheese, citrus fruits, fried foods, onions, tomatoes, spinach, beans, nuts, alcohol (particularly red wine), beverages with aspartame and foods containing monosodium glutamate (MSG).
If you are acne-prone
Avoid oil-based make-up, hair gels and sprays, stress, squeezing or picking at the pimples and hard scrubbing of skin.
Reduce dust and dust mites - common causes of allergies
Avoid soft toys, drapes, feather pillows and carpets. Vacuum regularly and use a damp cloth for mopping and dusting.
Proper length for baby's shoes
For your baby's first shoes press down on the toe of each shoe with your thumb. If there is a full thumb's width between your baby's longest toe and the end of the shoe then it is the right one. The shoes should be soft and made of leather or cloth not plastic.
Your mole looks suspicious
If it has an irregular shape and border, is increasing in size and changing colour. An excision biopsy is strongly recommended to rule out cancer.
How to avoid snoring?
Sleep on your side, keeping your neck straight. Avoid alcohol and smoking 2-3 hours before bedtime. And lose excess weight.