Vegetable Juicing For Health

It's no surprise that in an effort to live healthier, vegetable juicing has become so popular with countertop juicers in many kitchens. But before you join the juicing for health craze, it's important to understand what these drinks can, and can't, do for your overall health.

If you don't like to eat fruits and veggies as whole foods, juicing is one way to help you get your 5 a day, helping you to meet the daily recommendations for intake in a single, tasty drink.

But, experts warn, don't rely on juicing as the only way to eat good-for-you fruits and veggies. You're not off the hook for eating these foods just because you're choosing healthier beverages. You still want to try for two servings fruits and three or four of veggies a day, opting for a range of colors, as each brings varying vitamins and minerals to the body, in addition to what you drink.

If you go online you'll find lots of juicing fans, as well as claims about what juicing can do for you. You might hear that juicing can increase your immune system and lower the risk of cancer. And while it is true that consuming a mainly plant-based diet is associated with reduced risk of heart disease and cancer, there's not much research on juicing.

What studies have been done on juicing and the immune system find benefits, but these are likely due to the consumption of fruits and veggies, in juice or in solid form.

Some use juicing to encourage extreme weight loss. Trouble is you can't keep it up for long, and it's unlikely you're getting enough fiber to give you a sensation of fullness. Juice only diets leave you far more tempted to give into eating unhealthy foods because of the restriction. Protein too is likely limited, and this causes you to lose muscle instead of fat, which is not the way to go - research has consistently shown that protein is vital to preserving muscle mass while trying to shift unwanted pounds.

In terms of cleansing the body, experts contend that the liver and kidneys do that just fine on their own, whether you're juicing or not. There's no research or paper that supports the idea of cleansing happening because you're drinking juice.

Fans also claim that juicing is superior to eating whole fruits or veggies because the body absorbs the nutrients more easily, giving the digestive tract a rest from fiber. However, the juice, having been processed by the juicer, won't have the same nutrients as the whole food.

You see juicing machines remove the juice from fruits or veggies, a process that reduces the number of nutrients because the skin is taken off. Juicing also takes away the pulp, a source of beneficial fiber. Although, you can always add some of this back to the juice, or use it for cooking by adding it to muffins or cakes, or using it as broth for soup, rice or pasta.

Another thing, juicing machines aren't cheap - ranging in price from $50 to as much as $400. Some of the more expensive models do break down more of the items you put in by grinding up the core, rind or even the seeds of a fruit or veggie. But, you don't need the fancy juicing machine to make your own juice; your household blender will work great for the majority of whole fruits or veggies, keeping the fiber in the mix. Just add water if the mixture gets too thick, and remove some seeds, rinds and certain skins.

When juicing, you need to think about the calories and sugar you're taking in. A mid sized piece of fruit has almost 60 calories, a cup of veggies only about 25. Each 60 calories of fruit works out to almost 4 ounces of liquid... and a typical serving of juice is 12 - 16 ounces. The calories can add up, especially if you're using lots of fruits in your juices.

To add more protein to juices consider almond milk, yogurt, flaxseed or even peanut butter.

When you juice, be sure to follow some common sense safety guidance...

- Wash you hands before preparing the fruits, veggies.

- Thoroughly wash the produce by gently rubbing it under running water.

- Wash the juicer unit in hot, soapy water and let all parts dry completely before putting away. If it's dishwasher safe, use the sanitize cycle.

- Drink juice the same day, as it isn't pasteurized, and it's not recommended to keep juice for longer than 1 week.

If you decide to give vegetable juicing for health try, talk to your healthcare provider about your plans. Large volumes of foods that are rich in vitamin K (kale and spinach for example) might change how a drug you're taking now works.

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Portion Control Tips

If you're struggling to lose weight you know you must eat less. One of the common portion control tips is to use a smaller plate so that you won't feel deprived but will end up eating less at a meal. It sounds logical - except that a new study issues a strong challenge to this bit of weight loss wisdom.

Researchers have conducted an intriguing study that disputes the idea of plate size affecting how much you eat.

The study conducted involved 10 overweight and/or obese female subjects and 10 women of normal weight who were assigned randomly to eat a meal using an 8.5 inch (small) or 10.8 inch (large) plate. The experiment was conducted on different days, with a different plate size on each occasion.

The meal was spaghetti and tomato sauce and was presented in an individual serving dish. The participants were all instructed to help themselves and keep on eating until they felt satisfied. They ate alone.

Even when the women consumed the same number of calories, the overweight and obese group of women reported lower hunger levels and anticipated consumption before they ate, and did not feel as full after they finished compared to the subjects of normal weight - even though both ate the same amount of food. It may be that being overweight or obese reduces your ability to sense feelings of hunger and feelings of fullness than those of normal weight.

The researchers speculate that it may be that people eat until feeling full, no matter what size plate or type of utensil they are using at the time. So if you don't use the small plate strategy to help with your weight, what can you do? Here are some smart suggestions that will help you drop the pounds...

- Don't eat in front of the TV or while doing something else - you need to pay close attention to what you're eating, enjoy chewing and tasting and smelling what you're eating.

- Eat slowly so you have time to enjoy what you're eating, and your brain has time to register both enjoyment and fullness, before you eat too much.

- Eat at regular intervals - every two to three hours if possible, alternating larger meals with healthy snacks of 200-300 calories.

- Take larger servings of veggies and salads rather than starches, desserts or anything with a heavy (typically calorie laden) sauce.

- Buy snacks in single serve packages, or choose low calorie varieties. Buying large bags or boxes temps you to eat more without realizing it. If you must buy larger packages, split the item into single servings (per Nutrition Facts) packages.

- Take an amount equal to one serving and eat it on a plate (small or large) rather than right form the box or bag - you'll be better able to keep track of how much you ate by doing this.

When it comes to portion control tips and figuring out how much to eat, you need to understand the difference between a portion (how much you choose to eat) and the serving size given in the Nutrition Facts area on a package. Serving size isn't a recommendation on how much to eat, but rather a way to understand how many calories and other nutrients are in a set amount of food. Most packaged foods you buy contain more than one serving - check the servings per container to see how many servings a package has inside.

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Reduce Blood Pressure With The Health Benefits Of Black Tea

Need a reason to enjoy a cup of tea? How about this... an ability to reduce blood pressure might just be one of many health benefits gained from drinking black tea according to a recent study.

The work finds that those who drank 3 cups of tea a day reduced their blood pressure by around 2-3 points. That might not sound a lot, but even small drops in blood pressure numbers can have a big impact on your levels and your chances of developing of heart disease.

Tea is a well-loved, full flavored drink enjoyed the world over, and is often the main source of flavonoid intake for most people, providing half of the daily total. You can drink it either hot or cold, and it is considered safe for just about everybody. And while green tea has gotten lots of accolades in terms of health, black tea also has some respectable health benefits. Still the effects of regular tea drinking on blood pressure remain a mystery.

So the team examined the effect of drinking tea on hypertension for just under 100 people who drank tea on a regular basis. The systolic (top number, when the heart pumps) blood pressure was 115-150 when the study started. Half the study subjects had three cups of tea a day for a six-month period, the other half consumed a placebo drink that tasted the same and did have caffeine. Both study groups were matched for sex, age and weight.

When the research ended, those who were drinking black tea saw an average 2-3 point reduction in the 24 hour average systolic (upper number) blood pressure level, with around 2 points in the diastolic (lower number, when the heart is resting) number.

The difference in the numbers seen in the research would result in a reduction of 10% in the occurrence of hypertension, a 7-10% reduction in risk of both heart disease and stroke. This is the first time a long term study on black tea has been found to bring down blood pressure in those with either normal or high normal readings.

Why? Researchers have a number of explanations.

Recent research has shown that black tea can boost the workings of endothelial cells that line the inside of blood vessels. Dysfunction in these cells is an early sign of changes in blood pressure. Other work has suggested that flavonoids in tea can increase the blood vessel's tone as well as help with reducing body weight and belly fat.

The health benefits of black tea are important to recognize, especially considering the high numbers of people suffering with hypertension the world over. About 1 in 3 U.S. adults has high blood pressure, though many may not know it because the condition has no outward symptoms and you can have it for years without seeing the damage being done to your heart, blood vessels, kidneys and other systems of the body.

This is why knowing your blood pressure numbers, even if you feel just fine, is so important. If your numbers are normal, you can work to keep them that way. If they aren't, you'll be able to start treatment that will help reduce blood pressure, thereby preventing more damage to your body.

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Eating Fried Food Without Heart Disease Risk

Good news for people who enjoy eating fried food and who also happen to be worried about their heart health. Having foods fried in oils like sunflower or olive has not been linked to either heart disease or early death according to new Spanish research..

Eating lots of fried foods has been associated in the past with high blood pressure, lower HDL (good) cholesterol and obesity - all risk factors for heart disease. This latest work puts a different spin on things.

The study followed over 40,000 adults (aged 29-69) who did not have heart disease at the beginning of the work, collecting diet information including details on what they'd eaten (and how it was cooked) in a normal week - there were a total of 668 different foods, with just over 200 that were fried, for them to choose.

Frying methods were also captured and included deep-frying, pan frying or sautéed. Most people fried in olive oil, known to have antioxidants that help keep the heart working properly.

Important to understand is that most meals study participants ate were prepared and eaten at home... unlike the U.S. where we eat out so much it's hard to know what type of oil might be used in a dish. The subjects in this study were not eating anything close to a typical Western diet, but rather the Mediterranean eating style. Lots of fish... olive and sunflower oils.

The researchers divided the study participants up into four groups, based on how much fried foods they ate - the group who ate the least had 1.6 ounces a day, the highest intake was 8.8 ounces per day. On average the subjects ate a little under 5 ounces per day of fried foods using just half an ounce of oil in which to prepare them.

During the study period, 606 heart attacks (or other heart "events") happened and 1,135 subjects died from all causes. The team saw no link between either heart disease or deaths and fried food, no matter how high the intake. This finding may be because the fried food was cooked with oils that are rich in heart healthy mono and polyunsaturated fats. Also of note, the Spanish have one of the world's lowest levels of heart disease.

When looking at this work, you need to understand that in Spain, where the study was done, olive oil is less expensive than anywhere else in the world, and there aren't the other options that you'll find in the U.S. Most of us are used to olive oil being the more costly alternative.

In an accompanying editorial to the study it is pointed out that the evidence defies the myth that fried foods are so bad for your heart. This isn't to suggest that you go all out and order whatever fried indulgence you like... but it does suggest that frying might not be all bad.

Other experts agree that while there's something to consider here, it should not encourage you to be eating fried food all the time and expect benefits for your heart. You need to remember that what matters is how your entire diet balances out - if you're making something fried, try to make sure the rest of the meal is cooked another way to balance things out.

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