The world belongs to those with the most
energy. - Alexis de Tocqueville
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Featured Headline: Snack
Attack There's no denying that everyone, at one
time or another, has had a snack attack. Views on snacking differ.
Some of us feel that snacking is bad and that eating between meals
leads to weight gain. Others believe that eating many small meals
and snacks throughout the day is healthy for maintaining energy
levels and optimal weight. If there were one way of snacking that
was right for everyone, we would all be doing it!
To alleviate snack attack guilt, try to understand why you are
snacking and what snacks work best for your body. Perhaps you snack
because your daily diet is missing nutrition, or because you are
eating too little at meals. You might be snacking to soothe jangled
nerves when you are emotional, or to entertain yourself when you
are bored. Whatever your reason, acknowledge it and start thinking
about how to create a life that is nourishing and truly
satisfying.
Although snacks are no substitute for loving your life, they can be
great energy boosters. Many convenient snack foods are highly
processed and full of chemicals, additives, damaging fats and
refined sugars. When a snack attack hits you, try foods that are
filling and satisfying, but also nutritious. Snack on things that
don't come in a plastic wrapper or a box, like fresh fruit,
leftover vegetables or rice cakes with almond butter and fruit
spread. Make your own signature trail mix, organic hot chocolate
made with almond milk sweetened with agave nectar, or blue corn
chips with hummus.
You can also try "upgrading". If you are craving
something crunchy, upgrade from potato chips to raw carrots, apples
or whole grain crackers; if you are craving a candy bar, upgrade to
a handful of nuts and dried fruit; instead of a cup of coffee,
upgrade to green tea; instead of ice cream, upgrade to applesauce
with cinnamon. Upgraded snacks are high in nutrition and give you a
greater sense of satiety and satisfaction; you won't feel
physically or psychologically deprived, and you'll have plenty
of energy to sustain your activities for hours.
Snacking is enjoyable and there is a wide variety of healthful
goodies forwhatever you're craving, be it sweet, crunchy,
salty, creamy or spicy. Dive in, be creative and enjoy your snack
attack.
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Food Focus: Fruit
A healthy lifestyle is the key to longevity, optimum weight,
abundant energy and balance. By using fruit to satisfy our taste
for sweetness, we can leave behind the use of chemical, processed
and refined sweeteners. Fruits are easy to digest, are cleansing
and cooling and are great for those who are overstressed and
overheated from excessive mental strain or hot climates. Fruits are
filled with fiber and liver stimulants, which act as natural,
gentle laxatives. Whenever possible, buy fresh, locally grown fruit
as opposed to imported fruits shipped from far-off places. This
keeps you eating in season, and more in harmony with your
environment and climate.
Eating raw fruit in summer months is highly cooling, while baking
it in the winter months neutralizes the cooling effect. Fruit in
the form of juice is a great choice for cleansing the body, but be
aware that juice rapidly raises blood sugar levels, leading to an
energy crash soon after. Frozen, whole, puréed or juiced fruit can
make great summertime cool-down treats. Try frozen grapes,
banana-coconut smoothie popsicles or lime juice ice-cubes in iced
tea!
Whether you are having fresh fruit for a light early morning
breakfast, a midday snack or evening treat, enjoy nature's
sweetness and whenever possible buy organic. Here are a few summer
fruits and their health benefits:
Apricots: Great for lung conditions and asthma; used to help treat
anemia due to their high copper and cobalt content.
Bananas: Help to lubricate the intestines, treat
ulcers, detoxify the body and manage sugar cravings; are rich in
potassium (which helps hypertension).
Cherries: Slightly warming in nature; increase
overall body energy, remedy arthritis and rheumatism and are rich
in iron, which improves the blood.
Grapefruits: Treat poor digestion, increase
appetite during pregnancy, alleviate intestinal gas and reduce
mucus conditions of the lungs.
Papayas: Tone the stomach, act as digestive aid,
moisten the lungs and alleviate coughing; contain carpaine, an
anti-tumor compound.
Raspberries: Benefit the liver and kidneys,
cleanse blood of toxins, regulate menstrual cycles, treat anemia
and can promote labor at childbirth.
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Ag Corner: Black
Widows
Insects are all about with the warmer weather. Be aware of
the poisonous kind, such as the "Black Widow."
Most of my life I lived in upstate New York not having to encounter
poisonous creepy, crawlies. My biggest fear in the insect
world is dealing with mosquitoes bites during the summer. But
a few years back I visited my sister in AZ and with the dry, warm
heat there are lots for poisonous creepy crawlies. That is
where I saw a black widow spider for the first time. Smaller
then I thought, she was a glossy beauty, she was under a board I
picked up and quickly put down after noticing she was there.
Widows are web spiders. There are several species which
are all poisonous, and found throughout much of the US and southern
Europe. Depending on the species an adult female can range in
color from brown-black to jet-black with a red, orange or yellow
double-triangle (hour glass) marking on the underside of their
large abdomens. Females are about 12-16mm long; males much
smaller and with longer legs. They spin their ragged webs in
sheltered, dimly lit places such as barns, garages, basements,
attics, stored cardboards boxes, outhouses, wood piles, hollow
stumps, brush and under rocks.
These spiders carry a bad rap, and there are some things to know in
case you encounter in your neck of the woods.
- A female black
widow spider can live up to five years. She'll produce
four to nine egg sacs each summer, each sac containing 100 to 400
eggs.
- Adult males
wander in search of females but do not feed or bite; females rarely
leave their web.
- Black widows are
nonaggressive and bite only in self-defense, but the female's
venom is 15-timesmore poisonous than rattlesnake venom. Bites
may initially go unnoticed but later produce intense pain, severe
muscle aches, tremors, nausea and a paralysis of the diaphragm that
makes breathing difficult. Prior to the development of
antivenom, about 5 percent of bites resulted in death; nowadays
fatalities are rare; however, anyone bitten should seek medical
treatment.
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Recipe of the Month: Fruit
Nut Smoothie
Prep time: 5 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients:
1 banana
1 cup nut milk or rice milk
1 cup berries
1 cup diced melon
1/2 cup almonds
2-4 ice cubes
Directions:
1. Mix in blender for 1-2 minutes and serve.
Note: You can add other ingredients for added nutrition such as
a spoonful of bee pollen, coconut oil, flax seed oil, spirulina
powder or a scoop of protein powder. |
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Posted by Sat Oct 17, 2009 2:14pm PDT