Before today's article, I'd like to take some time to vent about a rather unpleasant experience. I travel often in Europe and while this info will not really have much interest for my American followers, Europeans will know what I'm talking about.
EASYJET, is by far the worst airline I have ever used. It bills itself as a lowcost airline, but in fact after you add all the little extras, the cost if often more enpensive than other airlines. I recently flew from Lisbon to Paris and to me this airline is more a flying bus than an airline. Their customer service is vertually non-existent. Although in Lisbon the staff was a bit more accomodating and friendly, the Paris staff is totally incompetent and rude, but then everyone knows that customer service in France is a foreign word. Aside from their usual French arrogance, the assistance from Easyjet staff did not exist.
So, for my fellow travelers, I recommend you boycott Easyjet if you travel in Europe. You'll arrive at your destination a much happier person with a lot less stress.Bitter Fruit for Better Weight Loss
Are the rumors true? Could grapefruit -- touted for years as a weight loss wonder -- actually work?
Possibly. In one 12-week study, obese people who ate half a grapefruit before each of three daily meals shed more pounds than their counterparts did.
Show Me the Grapefruit
In the study, whole grapefruit also took a bite out of insulin resistance in folks with metabolic syndrome -- a constellation of conditions that can raise the risk for several serious health problems, including diabetes.
Go Whole
Although grapefruit juice and grapefruit capsules also may have pound-shedding potential, whole fruit was clearly the winner in the study -- probably because the whole fruit has appetite-controlling fiber as well. The scent of grapefruit may help you, too.
Combine Your Efforts
Exercise and a calorie-controlled diet remain the true cornerstones of weight loss, but if grapefruit helps, great! However, if you're taking medications of any kind, talk to your doctor before adding grapefruit to the mix; it interacts with several meds. Try these other fat-blasting tips, too:
Possibly. In one 12-week study, obese people who ate half a grapefruit before each of three daily meals shed more pounds than their counterparts did.
Show Me the Grapefruit
In the study, whole grapefruit also took a bite out of insulin resistance in folks with metabolic syndrome -- a constellation of conditions that can raise the risk for several serious health problems, including diabetes.
Go Whole
Although grapefruit juice and grapefruit capsules also may have pound-shedding potential, whole fruit was clearly the winner in the study -- probably because the whole fruit has appetite-controlling fiber as well. The scent of grapefruit may help you, too.
Combine Your Efforts
Exercise and a calorie-controlled diet remain the true cornerstones of weight loss, but if grapefruit helps, great! However, if you're taking medications of any kind, talk to your doctor before adding grapefruit to the mix; it interacts with several meds. Try these other fat-blasting tips, too:
- Walk with me. Walking has the highest stick-to-it rate of any exercise. And a walking buddy can help even more.
- Be sane. Fad diets, like the famous but extreme 600-calories-or-so-a-day grapefruit diet, may help some people lose weight temporarily, but most gain it all back in the long run.
- Get a grip. Do you eat when you're bored? Stressed? Sad?
Our ancestors ate to survive. They ate because they were hungry, or maybe to celebrate a victory over a warring tribe. Us? We eat because we're angry, bored, stressed, frustrated, depressed, watching a movie, too busy, not busy enough, getting together with friends, or ticked off because the Lions lost.
And when eating is the result of an emotional reaction -- where we substitute chocolate for a conversation, ice cream for a relaxing bath, or chips for a punching bag -- it isn't as much about character as it is about chemistry.
Brain chemicals not only influence your emotions but also provide the foundation for why you eat at certain times. Here are a few examples:
Now, the real question is what do all these chemicals have to do with whether you snack on a Hershey bar or a plum? Read on.
But when you lose the ball down the chute (that is, when cells in the brain take the serotonin and break it down), that love-the-world feeling you've just been experiencing is lost. So what does your brain want to do? Put another quarter in the machine and get another ball. For many of us, the next ball comes in the form of foods that naturally (and quickly) make us feel good and counteract the drop in serotonin that we're feeling.
An example? Sugar. A rush can come with a jolt of sugar. Sugar stimulates the release of serotonin. Insulin stimulates serotonin production in the brain, which, in turn, boosts your mood, makes you feel better, or masks the stress, pain, boredom, anger, or frustration that you may be feeling.
And serotonin is only one ball in play. You have all of these other chemicals fighting to send your appetite and cravings from bumper to bumper.
Knowing how your emotions can steer your desire to eat will help you resist your cravings and, ideally, avoid them altogether. Your goal: Keep your feel-good hormones level, so you're in a steady state of satisfaction and never experience huge hormonal highs and lows that make you search for good-for-your-brain-but-bad-for-your-waist foods.
Here are three tricks to try:
1. Use foods to your advantage. All foods have different effects on your stomach, your blood, and your brain. Choose turkey to cut carb cravings. Turkey contains tryptophan, which increases serotonin to improve your mood and combat depression and helps you resist cravings for simple carbs. Choose salmon to curb blue moods. Omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in certain fish (including salmon, canned tuna, halibut, and mahimahi), have long been known as brain boosters and cholesterol clearers, but they've also convincingly been shown to help with depression in pregnant women. Depression contributes to hedonistic and emotional eating.
2. Savor the flavor. If you're going to eat something that's bad for you, enjoy it, savor it, roll it around in your mouth. We suggest taking a piece of dark (70% cocoa) chocolate and meditating -- as a healthy stress reliever and as a way to reward yourself with something sweet. It's OK to eat bad foods -- every once in a while.
3. Go to sleep. Getting enough sleep can help with appetite control. That's because when your body doesn't get the 7 to 8 hours of sleep it needs every night to get rejuvenated, it has to find ways to compensate for neurons not secreting the normal amounts of serotonin or dopamine. It typically does that by craving sugary foods that will give you an immediate release of serotonin and dopamine.
WHAT'S FOR DINNER?!
And when eating is the result of an emotional reaction -- where we substitute chocolate for a conversation, ice cream for a relaxing bath, or chips for a punching bag -- it isn't as much about character as it is about chemistry.
Brain chemicals not only influence your emotions but also provide the foundation for why you eat at certain times. Here are a few examples:
- Norepinephrine: This is the caveman fight-or-flight chemical. It's what tells you to tangle with a saber-toothed tiger or hightail it to the safety of your hut.
- Serotonin: This is the James Brown of neurotransmitters. It makes you feel good (Hey!) and is a major target of antidepressants.
- Dopamine: This is the brain's fun house. It's a pleasure and reward system and is particularly sensitive to addictions. It's also the one that helps you feel no pain.
- GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid): This one is the English Patient of amino acids. It makes you feel like a zombie and is one of the ways that anesthesia may work to reduce your responsiveness to the outside world.
- Nitric oxide: This is your meditation-like chemical. It helps calm you. This powerful neuropeptide is usually a very short-lived gas that also relaxes the blood vessels of the body.
Now, the real question is what do all these chemicals have to do with whether you snack on a Hershey bar or a plum? Read on.
The Brain Chemical/Food Relationship
Let's use serotonin as an example of this relationship. Picture your brain as a small pinball machine. You have millions of neurotransmitters that are sending messages to and from one another. When your serotonin transmitters fire the signals, they send the message throughout your brain that you feel good; this message is strongest when that feel-good pinball is frenetically bouncing around in your brain, racking up tons of yeah-baby points along the way.But when you lose the ball down the chute (that is, when cells in the brain take the serotonin and break it down), that love-the-world feeling you've just been experiencing is lost. So what does your brain want to do? Put another quarter in the machine and get another ball. For many of us, the next ball comes in the form of foods that naturally (and quickly) make us feel good and counteract the drop in serotonin that we're feeling.
An example? Sugar. A rush can come with a jolt of sugar. Sugar stimulates the release of serotonin. Insulin stimulates serotonin production in the brain, which, in turn, boosts your mood, makes you feel better, or masks the stress, pain, boredom, anger, or frustration that you may be feeling.
And serotonin is only one ball in play. You have all of these other chemicals fighting to send your appetite and cravings from bumper to bumper.
Knowing how your emotions can steer your desire to eat will help you resist your cravings and, ideally, avoid them altogether. Your goal: Keep your feel-good hormones level, so you're in a steady state of satisfaction and never experience huge hormonal highs and lows that make you search for good-for-your-brain-but-bad-for-your-waist foods.
Here are three tricks to try:
1. Use foods to your advantage. All foods have different effects on your stomach, your blood, and your brain. Choose turkey to cut carb cravings. Turkey contains tryptophan, which increases serotonin to improve your mood and combat depression and helps you resist cravings for simple carbs. Choose salmon to curb blue moods. Omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in certain fish (including salmon, canned tuna, halibut, and mahimahi), have long been known as brain boosters and cholesterol clearers, but they've also convincingly been shown to help with depression in pregnant women. Depression contributes to hedonistic and emotional eating.
2. Savor the flavor. If you're going to eat something that's bad for you, enjoy it, savor it, roll it around in your mouth. We suggest taking a piece of dark (70% cocoa) chocolate and meditating -- as a healthy stress reliever and as a way to reward yourself with something sweet. It's OK to eat bad foods -- every once in a while.
3. Go to sleep. Getting enough sleep can help with appetite control. That's because when your body doesn't get the 7 to 8 hours of sleep it needs every night to get rejuvenated, it has to find ways to compensate for neurons not secreting the normal amounts of serotonin or dopamine. It typically does that by craving sugary foods that will give you an immediate release of serotonin and dopamine.
WHAT'S FOR DINNER?!
Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Cheese Tortellini
Bring the flavors of the Mediterranean to your dinner table with this 20-minute recipe.
- 1 8- to9-ounce bag dried cheese tortelloni
- 1 12-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
- 2 6-ounce jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup chopped basil
Directions
Cook tortelloni in a pasta pot of boiling salted water according to package instructions.
While tortelloni boils, sauté red peppers, artichoke hearts, and ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper in butter in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer sauce to a large bowl.
Reserve ½ cup pasta-cooking water, then drain tortelloni and add to red pepper-artichoke sauce along with some of reserved cooking water and basil. Toss well and season with salt and pepper. Thin with additional pasta-cooking water, if desired.
about this recipe
Bring the flavors of the Mediterranean to your dinner table any night of the week. This recipe is such a breeze, you'll almost feel guilty about how good it tastes. Almost, but not quite.
3 comments:
Good website. Enjoyed the articles. The photos are also awesome...
Woodlands Garage Door Service by Sears
Good website and great photos
Woodlands Garage Door by Sears garage Doors
The Bitter Fruit for Weight Loss article was verify informative and provides another means of the ongoing battle to reduce High LDL Cholesterol Levels.
Post a Comment