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Healthy Side Dish
Recipes
From
Thom's Recipe File
Eating healthy means that your recipes should be lower in calories, fat,
saturated fat and sodium than their traditional counterparts.
Diabetics not only have to be judicious about the amount of carbs in foods
they eat, but they're also at a higher risk for heart disease, which means
limiting fat and sodium is even more important. However, what is even
more important is to use only natural or organic foods in all your cooking.
These are wonderful times for the person interested in natural and organic
food. Why is this true? For several reasons. First, never
before have we had such a wide variety of brands and flavors of natural food
available. Next, along with the natural healthy product boom, comes a
lot more of information. It is easy to find resources to teach you how
to choose and prepare natural and organic food. And finally, with the
higher interest in natural and organic food, we now find many a natural
health food store at which to purchase our natural food.
But along with all these choices can come another problem: information
overload. We walk into a natural food store, see all the products, some of
them unfamiliar, and wonder where to begin. How does one go about
switching over to the consumption of natural and organic food? Here
are a few tips:
- Start slowly. Don’t try to change every habit
at once. Begin by adding one natural food item to your diet, or
perhaps a couple. You might start by setting a goal of buying one
or two organic fruits or vegetables, for instance, working toward a goal
to gradually replace all of your produce with organic selections.
- Spend time at your local natural healthy food store.
Wander the produce section and view the variety of fruits and
vegetables. Another good place to do this is at your local
farmer’s market. Talk to your grocer. Ask questions.
Take time to walk aisle by aisle and make notes about food choices you
might want to try. Don’t worry about trying everything at once!
There are a huge number of natural food choices. Be adventurous,
but don’t feel you have to change your diet overnight.
- Don't forget the internet. You'll not only
find a wealth of information on natural and organic foods on the
internet, you’ll also find resources for hard-to-find products and rare
organic ingredients. It is a great, cheap place to begin mastering
the subject of natural foods.
Choosing, preparing, and enjoying natural and organic food is one of life’s
great delights. The health and welfare of both you and your family
will benefit from educating yourself about natural food and choosing to make
it a regular part of your life. Set a goal to change one aspect of
your diet to natural and organic food today—before you know it, you’ll be
basing your entire diet on healthy natural choices.
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| Lactic
Fermentation? |
Lactic fermentation is a proven traditional
of preserving foods. This kind of preservation is the only
one that preserves all the natural substances of the vegetable.
By lactic fermentation you preserve the food and at the same
time improve its quality. It allows the flavors to fully
develop.
Nutritionists recommend this kind of fermented vegetable.
Thanks to fermentation it cannot only be preserved for a long
time and has a delicious taste, but it also prevents a number of
illnesses typical of an industrialized society.
Fermented vegetables are essential for a healthy diet.
Natural fermentation is one of the oldest known preservation
methods. Lactic acid bacteria ferment the vegetables and
they preserve longer, have a pleasant acidic taste and a rich
contents of vitamins and minerals.
Sauerkraut is probably one of the healthiest foods, "writes
vicar Sebastian Kneipp. James Cook introduced sauerkraut
for ship crews. Thanks to its high contents of vitamin C,
this fermented vegetable protected quite a number of sailors
against the plague of the seas--scurvy.
The latest scientific studies confirm the age-old experience of
natural and popular medicine fibers keep a healthy digestion
going and lower the cholesterol level. Lactic bacteria are
important for the build-up and maintenance of a healthy
intestinal flora. Secondary plant substances prevent
cancer, protect the body against infection and inhibit the
growth and reproduction of fungi. The anti-ulcer factor
protects the digestive system against stomach and intestinal
ulcers. And then there is also a natural anti-depressant
named acetylcholine. |
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