Pharma Effects

Posts Tagged ‘cooking’

Healthy heart awareness is coming up in February. Do you really know if you have a healthy heart? How do we know? We only know after something happens. We always think it can’t happen to us.

Having a healthy body gives you a healthy heart. So here are some tips to keep your body healthy.

1. You need to take a really good vitamin. What does that mean? Expensive? No. I mean a vitamin that does dissolve in your body so your body benefits the vitamins in it. I only know of one vitamin that is fructose compounded that benefits our bodies by absorbing 95% of the vitamins, instead of just passing through our bodies.

What is fructose compounding? Fructose is a natural fruit sugar your cells crave and it is easily absorbed in the bloodstream. This process is designed to pre-bind a fructose molecule to a mineral so the mineral won’t bind with nutrients in the digestive system. The fructose compounded mineral are designed to be absorbed more easily into the bloodstream and delivered to your cells and thus to your tissues, organs and the rest of your body. Thus making you body healthy.

2. Exercise – You need to keep your body moving. We are suppose to walk at least 10,000 steps a day. The best way to monitor that is to have a walking monitor that can be clipped to your belt or pants. Then keep track of how many steps you take and then if they are aerobic. Which will get you heart pumping. When you get your heart pumping you are getting your body moving and getting your body in better shape all around.

3. Food – We need to eat more vegetables and less processed foods. We need to get back to making dinners instead of using processed foods that are easy and quick. I fall into that category. I’m in the process of retraining myself in making better choices for my family. Life is busy and it’s just easier to use pre-made meals. Tip: On Sunday make it family cooking day. Get everyone in the kitchen and make 5 dinners for the week. Put in the freeze when cooled. Then during the week pull out dinner from the freezer and leave in fridge to thaw while at work. It is something to get used to but it makes Sundays very memorable.

These are simple changes but they could save you or someone you love from something very serious. It only takes a few good changes and you can have a better healthier life.

Do I think that bread machine mixes are useful? Yes, some of them are, but the snag with all bread machine mixes is that they place limitations on your choice and do not encourage your creative talents. That may sound odd, but think about it for a while. If you depend on bread machine mixes you can only make the bread for which you can buy a bread machine mix and you can only tip the bread machine mix into the bowl and switch on the bread making machine. You are definitely not likely to alter the bread machine mix for fear that it won’t work.

OK, what is the alternative? Well, the old-fashioned recipe book, of course! Not just any old recipe book, but a special bread making machine recipe book. Bread making is a very easy, but very tiresome process. The ingredients are ubiquitous, everyday, household items: water, flour, yeast, salt, sugar and oil. You most certainly have those items in your kitchen with the possible exception of yeast, which can be bought in any super store for very little money and it keeps for ages.

And you know what happens when you follow a recipe, don’t you? You’ve read the recipe through and you know you have everything in the kitchen, but when the recipe calls for, say, currants, you open the cupboard door and see that you don’t have any currants – they were sultanas! Oh, well you think, they’ll do. You make do. You experiment. You are developing your skills and creativity. Bread making mixes cannot do that for you.

A good bread making machine cookbook will have well over 100 recipes coming from several countries and you will get really enthusiastic about trying out the different ones. Have you ever tasted Welsh bread – Bara Brith? Or Amish bread? Cajun bread or onion bread? Cranberry bread is lovely too, but one of my all time favourites is Brazil Nut Bread – absolutely scrumptious.

The fact is that you may not find recipes for all these breads in one recipe book, but if you have a safe starting point, like a bread recipe cookbook, you can begin by using previously tried and tested gourmet bread recipes and gradually develop your own – oftentimes because you have to.

I once made a fantastic loaf by adding all the left-over vegetables from my Sunday lunch. It was lovely, but I could never quite reproduce it, because I did not write down the weights and measures. I could only remember that it had green beans, potatoes and sweet corn in it!

Bread machine mixes will never ever provide that, will they? Furthermore, bread machine mixes are fairly expensive compared to the cost of 10 pounds of flour. I usually vary the ingredients too: honey instead of sugar, milk instead of water, olive oil or butter instead of just corn oil. Rock salt instead of sea salt or visa versa. I’m sure you see what I mean.

Bread machine mixes are not only limited but limiting too. Furthermore, a bread making machine is a great way to use up leftovers. I have added meat and fruit in my gourmet bread many times. My guiding principle is: if it’ll go in a sandwich it’ll go in the dough – like an Indian stuffed paratha or stuffed naan bread.

Stop buying bread machine mixes – they are a waste of money. Instead be creative with a bread machine recipes cookbook.

Red Bull energy drinks, I think most of us have at least tried them.  Maybe you have one before you go to work, or before you have a workout. I have even had them mixed with alcohol for a tastey drink at my local bar.Well here is a thought, are they good for you? Do they have any side effects you should be worried about? Red Bull for starters is not a healthy drink for you, in fact it is one of the worst things you can put into your body.  Now I’m not saying if you have the occasional Red bull you’re at risk.  Most things are ok in moderation.  I’m talking to the people that rely on them every day or even a few times a week just to get through a day of work.

It’s really no different than smoking, you can get addicted to Red Bull.  As a side effect from Red Bull you could notice a rapid heart rate, upset stomach, or even ulcers.  Some people can even notice a mood change as a side effect from Red Bull.

If you’re a parent, and any of your children are drinking any of these energy drinks that are on the market, you may want to keep a close eye on them.  Don’t let them drink these things like Red Bull every day.  One a week at most.  Show them that there are plenty of ways to get a boost of energy.  A glass of orange juice in the morning is a great way to kick start the day, and even a glass at lunch time will do wonders to get through the rest of the day.

Remember most things are ok in moderation.  Red Bull is no different.  If you’re having any side effects from Red Bull please leave a comment to let other readers know.

Thanks to everyone who has left a short message.  Lay off the Red Bull!

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