Total Wellbeing Blog

Eggs: No Longer Your Diet Enemy

For years eggs have been portrayed as a food that you should not eat for fear of raising your blood cholesterol levels. Recent studies have proven that this is not the case and in fact eggs have been found to be a nutritional goldmine. One large egg has 210 mgs. of cholesterol which seems like a lot, but a recent study from the University of Connecticut suggests that even after eating three eggs a day for 30 days, the ratio between HDL( good cholesterol) and LDL( bad cholesterol) did not change. The result is no increase or change in one’s risk of heart disease.

In another study very significant study of 120,000 men and women conducted in 1999 at Harvard University, they found no correlation between the consumption of eggs and heart disease. Nor did the study find an association between egg consumption and strokes.

There’s also evidence that eggs help to create a feeling of fullness due to the high protein content. The Journal of the American College of Nutrition in 2005, conducted a study of overweight women. In the study, those who had two eggs for breakfast felt fuller afterwards and ate fewer calories at lunch than women who had a bagel based breakfast with the same amount of calories resulting in more long term weight loss for the egg eaters.

The unsaturated fats and other nutrients including B vitamins may even be beneficial to heart health. It is the saturated fat-rich foods that are commonly consumed with eggs (bacon, sausage, cheese and biscuits) that can raise blood cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease. A large egg has only 1.5 grams of saturated fat and about 70 calories, so it is the perfect diet food…..just be sure to watch the side of bacon.

For those of you who commonly toss the vitamin rich egg yolks, take note that they are a rich source of lutein and zeaxanthin, relatives of beta carotene that keep eyes healthy and have been linked to a reduced risk of age related eye disease. A 2006 study in the Journal of Nutrition found that women eating six eggs a week for 12 weeks had increased macular pigment which is thought to protect the retina of the eye from the damaging effects of the light.

Other Eggs facts:

• Brown eggs are not more nutritious than white….they just come from brown chickens.
• Yolk color depends on what the chicken eats: wheat and barley produce light colored yolks, while corn produces a darker colored yolk.
• Organic eggs from chickens fed an organic diet do not have more nutrients than regular eggs; however some people may prefer them as a way to support organic farming.
• One large egg contains 6 grams of high-quality protein (in the yolk and white) and only 70 calories. The yolk is also a source of zinc, B vitamins( including riboflavin and folate), vitamin A, Iron and other nutrients
• Egg yolks provide choline an essential nutrient which is especially important for fetal brain development. There are also other elements recently identified in eggs that may have anti-cancer, anti hypertensive, immune boosting and antioxidant properties.
• Low Cholesterol eggs from chickens fed special diets rarely provide enough extra nutrients to be worth their higher cost.

So ladies and gents, the bottom-line is that eggs are good for you! Most people can eat one or two a day. Just remember to skip the side of sausage and biscuits. Try poached eggs, hard boiled eggs or scrambled eggs with chopped vegetables for a big nutritional boost to your diet.

Article by Anita Mahaffey
Website: www.cool-jams.com
Blog: http://coolnewsforwomen.blogspot.com

Erase Tension and Stress with a Balanced Diet

Its a well known fact that regular exercise is a great stress reliever but there is also something else we can do to help which is balancing our diet.  Ensuring we get a well balanced diet improves our immune system, our bodies natural defense mechanism and also keeps our blood sugar levels in check which helps us to avoid the physical and emotional peaks and troughs throughout the day.

When our immune system is out of balance, we are also more vulnerable to everyday stresses and tension.  However, if our daily diet consists of foods that strengthen the immune system, we are more able to survive the effects of stress and tension we face on a daily basis.

So how do we make sure we get a balanced diet?  It's a lot simpler that we often think and incorporating just a few changes into your day can make all the difference.

Have a good breakfast
Start by making sure you have a proper breakfast.  Steer clear of sugar and caffeine filled breakfasts and opt for breakfasts that release energy steadily and slowly such as oatmeal, wholegrain cereal or wholegrain toast.  If you life is fairly stressful, chamomile tea is a wonderful stress reducer and a great substitute for your usual caffeine fix.

If you don’t have time to sit down and have a nourishing breakfast, try a vegetable smoothie.  Packed with vitamins and nutrients, this is much better than coffee and toast.

Avoid sugar slumps
Avoid sugary snacks throughout the day.  You may notice that a while after eating a sugary snack or a bar of chocolate, you feel fatigued.  While the sugar may help in the short term, you are just making your energy and stress levels worse.  Snacking on protein is much healthier for you and helps to maintain blood sugar levels as well.  Popcorn is another snack which can get you through the 3 o’clock yearning for something sweet.

Reduce salt intake
It's a good idea to avoid salt as it can increase blood pressure which, when confronted with a stressful situation, can increase the tension twofold.  A lot of fast or processed food contains much higher levels of salt so it's worth preparing your own food where possible. 

Instead of going out to lunch, you can make lunch at home and bring it to the office.  Cut up some carrots, celery, and add some cottage cheese or tuna in water.  Or, you can make a nutritious salad with pieces of chicken and lemon vinaigrette. 

Up the antioxidants
Get plenty of nutrients by including vegetables, fruits, lean meats, fish, chicken, beans, and leafy green vegetables.  These are not only healthy for you, but contain antioxidants that are beneficial in reducing free radicals in your body. 

Stay hydrated
When we are dehydrated, we feel irritable and have trouble concentrating.  Make sure you drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.  If possible, keep a glass of water nearby at all times and sip it regularly - it soon becomes a habit. 

Balancing your diet to improve tension stress is as important as exercise.  You will not only feel good, but your energy level will be constant, your concentration so much better and you will achieve far more whilst keeping the tension and stress at bay.

Miracle Superfoods
Discover the world's 23 healthiest superfoods and key nutrition insights guaranteed to radically improve your life

Restless Leg Syndrome Remedies

As an occasional sufferer of restless leg syndrome (RLS) myself, I know how frustrating it can be. The symptoms can only be described as a constant crawling sensation in your legs and the only relief is to keep moving them which can cause great discomfort and loss of sleep if it continues for any period of time.

For some people, the condition is more serious and can cause them a lot of pain and because the symptoms usually worsen when relaxing in the evening or in bed at night, RLS is often misdiagnosed as insomnia or stress meaning that the treatment is not always appropriate.

Whilst most sufferers just see RLS as annoying, its long term effects through lack of sleep can be detrimental. Sleep is essential for our bodies to function properly and waking several times in the night due to RLS can cause you to feel tired, stressed and irritable. Long term sufferers are so used to having RLS, they may not remember how good it feels to have a full night of sleep.

Sometimes lifestyle changes can help. You might find that certain food or drink makes the symptoms worse so it is worth avoiding those that you know aggravate the restlessness. Avoiding stimulants such as coffee, alcohol and tobacco can help some people. It might be useful for you to keep a brief diary of your food and drink and times when your RLS started so that you can see if there are any links.

Iron deficiency, anaemia and diabetes are also linked to RLS and the best thing to do if you think you have RLS is to talk to your doctor and ensure there are no underlying causes or more serious conditions causing your discomfort.

Natural supplements such as iron or good multi-vitamin may also help. 5-HTP is also reported to ease the symptoms and is my choice when I occasionally suffer. I find it works effectively to help relax you when RLS is present.

Whatever the severity of your symptoms, the best option is always to have it checked with your doctor. Whilst RLS isn’t always curable, it is often treatable so there is no need to suffer unnecessarily.

Useful resources:

No more restless nights with one simple, self-help relief technique

The Benefits of Pomegranate in Your Daily Diet

Many of us have heard of the pomegranate; it has been written about in famous literature and even in mythology.  The problem is that far fewer people have ever eaten pomegranate or even seen it.  Pomegranate has tons of wonderful benefits that you should know about.  Once you know everything it can do for you, you may want to include it in your diet on a regular basis. 

Pomegranates help promote heart health and proper circulation.  They contain three times the antioxidants of wine or green tea which, among other things, promote a healthy heart.  Regular consumption of pomegranate juice has been shown not only to stop hardening of artery walls and build-up of plaque; it has actually been shown to reverse these problems. 

Having clear soft arteries helps reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.  If your concern is cholesterol levels, pomegranate has also been shown to lower levels of bad cholesterol and raise your good cholesterol levels.  Another benefit of this improved circulation is that its can help cure impotence. 

The antioxidants in pomegranate give it power to help prevent and even treat cancer.  While pomegranate has been indicated for breast and skin cancer, the most promising research is with prostate cancer in men.  Regular consumption of pomegranate juice can significantly lower PSA levels in the body.  These chemicals are not only an indicator of your risk level for prostate cancer and other problems; they also indicate how well a man will respond to can treatment, radiation and chemotherapy.

In case this isn’t enough of a reason for you to start consuming more pomegranates, there are still more benefits from the amazing fruit.  We already know it’s brimming with antioxidants.  These powerful chemicals have been shown to reduce the affects of aging and prevent Alzheimer’s.  Pomegranate has also been shown in studies to prevent cartilage damage and protect babies from brain damage during birth.  While many of its uses have not been studied, pomegranate has traditionally been used to clear skin, reduce inflammation, and help with sore throats.

So, if this fruit is so wonderful, why don’t we see it to often?  Pomegranates have a short season and don’t keep well.  It’s almost impossible to find fresh pomegranate out of season.  Many areas haven’t grown them until recently, and they had to be shipped from the Mediterranean. 

Now you have several options for getting the benefits of pomegranate all year round.  You can find several brands of pomegranate juice in your local grocery store.  If you’re not a big fan of the taste, you can also find pomegranate mixed with other familiar juices to give it a more pleasant flavor.  Just make sure the product you get is 100% juice and doesn’t have added sugars and fillers.   

Benefits of Antioxidants

You’ve probably heard a lot about antioxidants in newspapers, magazines and on T.V.  While many supplements and nutrients have been talked about for as long as you can remember, antioxidants are a more recent topic. This doesn't mean that they are less important,  in fact they are a vital part of staying young and healthy.

What is an antioxidant
During normal processes, molecules called free radicals are produced in the body. These are basically unstable atoms or molecules that desperately want to become stable. They do this by stealing electrons from healthy cells, making them unstable and less healthy. Antioxidants reverse this reaction, helping to keep the cells of our body healthy and functioning properly.

Anti Aging
One of the most talked about effects of antioxidants is their anti aging properties. As we age, we constantly copy our cells to replace them when they die. Errors in copying occur and build up to form the aging process. Free radicals can also interfere and have been shown to promote wrinkles, memory problems, weakness of the immune system, and reduced elasticity of tissue; all of which are associated with the aging process. We can’t completely stop aging, but proper amounts of antioxidants can slow the process considerably - now if that isn't good enough reason for the looks-conscious among us...

Help Prevent Cancer
Damage caused by these free radicals is also considered to be a cause of certain cancers. Getting more antioxidants can reduce our risk for certain types of cancer, including cancer of the: stomach, prostate, colon, breast, bladder esophagus, pancreas, and possibly many more. Besides cancer, antioxidants have been shown to help prevent other serious problems, such as: cardiovascular diseases, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and vision problems. It is likely that antioxidants can help prevent other diseases and disorders, but their full effects simply haven’t been studied yet.

Control Cholesterol
Antioxidants prevent the oxidation of bad cholesterol. When this type of cholesterol oxidizes, it can attach to the walls of blood vessels causing heart disease. This increases the risk for heart attack and stroke. Oxidized cholesterol also contributes to the hardening of blood vessel walls increasing the risk of high blood pressure. Antioxidants can help keep your heart and the rest of your circulatory system healthy.

Immune System Benefits
Another great benefit of antioxidants is that they help boost the immune system. If you get sufficient levels of antioxidants, you’re not only less likely to get sick; it’s also easier for you to fight off diseases you may get. Along these lines, antioxidants can also help you heal faster when you have an injury; large or small.

Best sources
Eating a variety of healthy foods will provide you with many antioxidants and according to recent sudies, according to a study by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) here are the top 20 sources with the most antioxidant-rich source first:

1. Dried small red beans

2. Wild blueberries

3. Red kidney beans

4. Pinto beans

5. Cultivated blueberries

6. Cranberries

7. Cooked artichokes

8. Blackberries

9. Strawberries

10. Prunes

11. Raspberries

12. Red delicious apples

13. Granny Smith apples

14. Pecans

15. Sweet cherries

16. Black plums

17. Cooked russet potatos

18. Black beans

19. Plums

20. Gala apples

As well as including the above, ensuring you have a good variety of fruit and vegetables in general will provide you with a good supply so it's worth including these in your diet everyday.