What is Tofu and How is it made?
Tofu is soybean curd, made from soymilk in much the same way that cheese is made from cow's milk. Most large-scale maufacturers of tofu make their own soymilk, to which they then add an agent to cause coagulation, usually a salt or an acid.
When a coagulant is added to the hot-boiled soymilk, it causes curds (made of protein and fat) to form. The excess liquid is squeezed out and the remaining solid curds are presed into blocks. There are typically three main varieties of tofu. firm, soft and silken.
Firm Tofu
Firm tofu is dense and holds its shape easily. It's best for slicing, stir-frying, marinating and grilling. It has the highest protein, calcium and fat content of all tofu.
Soft Tofu
It is more gelatinous and it works well in soups and as an egg replacer, since its consistency is similar to that of a har-boiled egg-white.
Silken Tofu is curdled in its package and not drained, resulting in a creamy tofu with a high moisture content. Its great for blending and can be used in many recipes that require dairy products.
Benefits of Tofu
1. Cholesterol-free
2. High-quality protein
3. Has essential vitamins and minerals (iron, calcium and magnesium)
4. High in fibre
5. Good for people who are dieting
6. Contains omega-3 fatty acids.
7. Soy protein helps lower blood pressure
8. It has low glycaemic Indexes (GI) compared to other foods.
9. A phytochemicals called isoflavones have been linked to reduced risk of several cancers including colon, breast and prostate.
Monday, 24 March 2008
Monday, 17 March 2008
Eight Important factors
A Healthy body is freedom, a Sick body is a prison - Francis Bacon
To achieve health, there are several factors that we must consider and put into action.
Which are:
1. Nutrition:
- the benefits of good diet and nutrition will be enhanced when it is complemented with other healthy habits: Clean air, water, sunshine, exercise and a healthy state of mind. By putting all of them into action, living in this earth will almost be felt as living in the heaven.
Food and diet merely will not benefit us in its simple from, we must also consider how, when and our action when we eat.
2. Air:
-we may be able to survive for a few weeks without food; a few days without water, but we will never survive more than three to four minutes without air. Oxygen is needed to 'burn' our food in the cells to produce energy for life.
we must be able to breathe freely, in a clean air of course. The correct breathing posture must be maintained (upright chest) to ease breathing. And remember, when you breathe in a room with a smoker, you also smoke. It is a wise decision to begin our day by taking a deep breath in an open area. Make it a habit to always get the opportunity to go outside to take a breath
in clean air. Our brain will only function optimally in the state of enough oxygen.
3. Water
- water is a universal dilute. 60% of us is made from water. our kidneys need water to filter our blood and to excrete unwanted materials and toxins from our body, so does our digestive system.
Our skin needs water to keep it supple and tight, our bones need it to maintain its elasticity and hardness. We need water both for our inwards and our outwards. Try to drink at least 6 glasses of milk every day. 2 before breakfast - to clean the mucus that has been accumulated throughout the night while we were sleeping. 2 before lunch and 2 before dinner. Prioritize plain water more than any other drinks.
-water taken from outside proves a great benefits, if not why people go to saunas and hot water springs? in ancient times, hydroteraphy proves to be a great aid for curing or diminish the effect of sickness. At times, choose to take a bath with epsom salt and try to relax before sleeping.
4. Sunshine
-sunshine! how nice you are..have you ever thought why sun is always associated with smiley face? its because sunshine has the ability to do so. Solar ray is very important to maintain life and health. Sunshine will help our skin to synthesize Vitamin D. The Ultraviolet rays will kill the bacterias on our body. It also acts as a tonic to stimulate our body processes. Can you think why the winter gloomy and depress? its because during that period, there is less sunshine to enjoy with.
-Nevertheless, recently it has been found that excessive exposure to sunshine can lead to many skin conditions - due to the thinning of the ozone layer in our atmosphere. So moderation is the key!
5. Exercise
- Our body is designed to move! immobility will results in muscle wastage and organ inefficiency.
Try to exercise at least 4 times per week - 40 minutes each session. It will lower the risks of contracting cardiovascular diseases, heart attack, and circulation problems. The best exercise so far is -guess what? - Brisk walking.
6. Rest
A body without rest can be compared to a car that is driven without stop. The end result: Wreckage. The most likely period for someone to get heart attack is between 9 to 12 p.m. on a busy and stressful day -with lost of coffee and tobacco consumption. Why? A body is like a machine-it needs rest.
We must make it a practice to make sure our body gets enough rest. While we are sleeping, our neurons will by themselves clean all the metabolic toxic accumulated throughout the day. Cells need enough time to recover - minimum 7 hours for adults.
Apart from daily rests, our body also needs periodical rests, weekly and yearly. We must have at least one day per week to rest. The French Revolution do the talking: they tried to make a 10-day working week but it is unsuccessful - why? more and more people getting sick at the end of the 'week'and production dropped drastically. Rest is always a good habit.
7. Stay away from toxins
-Toxins here are caffeine, alcoholic drinks, tobacco and drugs. If having a healthy and energetic mind is our aim, then we must stay away from all this toxins. Artificial stimulants (caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, cocaine etc) will put our body into stress and then will destroy our world and the world itself.
-According to WHO, Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of diseaseor infirmity. The usage of drugs initially will cause the consumer to fell healthy, but in the long term the dependence to the substance is greatly enhanced to the point that the consumer will unable to maintain daily life without a heavier
dose of the particular substance.
8. Good mental condition
- Make it a habit to accept all things calmly: not overly worried about ourselves, not keeping revenge among others and ourselves, smile with confidence when you face problems in life.
It is shown that well-balanced mental habit is a prerequisite towards good health. Do you know that cancer can affect more to those who
are easily angered and stressed? It is not an easy task to achieve a well-balanced state of mental in this rude and harsh world but it is, on the other hand, not unattainable.
- most people seek freedom and refuge in reading the Holy Scriptures, Bibles and enhanced with
prayers and meditation. Confidence and Faith contributes a lot to a good mental state - not only mentally though but physically as well. This occurs because people who believes for a good future and the confidence and faith in that there is Someone who cares, understand and loves him or her.
- a good mental state and a calm and serene soul will surely enhance our body to function with greater effiency and optimally.
To achieve health, there are several factors that we must consider and put into action.
Which are:
1. Nutrition:
- the benefits of good diet and nutrition will be enhanced when it is complemented with other healthy habits: Clean air, water, sunshine, exercise and a healthy state of mind. By putting all of them into action, living in this earth will almost be felt as living in the heaven.
Food and diet merely will not benefit us in its simple from, we must also consider how, when and our action when we eat.
2. Air:
-we may be able to survive for a few weeks without food; a few days without water, but we will never survive more than three to four minutes without air. Oxygen is needed to 'burn' our food in the cells to produce energy for life.
we must be able to breathe freely, in a clean air of course. The correct breathing posture must be maintained (upright chest) to ease breathing. And remember, when you breathe in a room with a smoker, you also smoke. It is a wise decision to begin our day by taking a deep breath in an open area. Make it a habit to always get the opportunity to go outside to take a breath
in clean air. Our brain will only function optimally in the state of enough oxygen.
3. Water
- water is a universal dilute. 60% of us is made from water. our kidneys need water to filter our blood and to excrete unwanted materials and toxins from our body, so does our digestive system.
Our skin needs water to keep it supple and tight, our bones need it to maintain its elasticity and hardness. We need water both for our inwards and our outwards. Try to drink at least 6 glasses of milk every day. 2 before breakfast - to clean the mucus that has been accumulated throughout the night while we were sleeping. 2 before lunch and 2 before dinner. Prioritize plain water more than any other drinks.
-water taken from outside proves a great benefits, if not why people go to saunas and hot water springs? in ancient times, hydroteraphy proves to be a great aid for curing or diminish the effect of sickness. At times, choose to take a bath with epsom salt and try to relax before sleeping.
4. Sunshine
-sunshine! how nice you are..have you ever thought why sun is always associated with smiley face? its because sunshine has the ability to do so. Solar ray is very important to maintain life and health. Sunshine will help our skin to synthesize Vitamin D. The Ultraviolet rays will kill the bacterias on our body. It also acts as a tonic to stimulate our body processes. Can you think why the winter gloomy and depress? its because during that period, there is less sunshine to enjoy with.
-Nevertheless, recently it has been found that excessive exposure to sunshine can lead to many skin conditions - due to the thinning of the ozone layer in our atmosphere. So moderation is the key!
5. Exercise
- Our body is designed to move! immobility will results in muscle wastage and organ inefficiency.
Try to exercise at least 4 times per week - 40 minutes each session. It will lower the risks of contracting cardiovascular diseases, heart attack, and circulation problems. The best exercise so far is -guess what? - Brisk walking.
6. Rest
A body without rest can be compared to a car that is driven without stop. The end result: Wreckage. The most likely period for someone to get heart attack is between 9 to 12 p.m. on a busy and stressful day -with lost of coffee and tobacco consumption. Why? A body is like a machine-it needs rest.
We must make it a practice to make sure our body gets enough rest. While we are sleeping, our neurons will by themselves clean all the metabolic toxic accumulated throughout the day. Cells need enough time to recover - minimum 7 hours for adults.
Apart from daily rests, our body also needs periodical rests, weekly and yearly. We must have at least one day per week to rest. The French Revolution do the talking: they tried to make a 10-day working week but it is unsuccessful - why? more and more people getting sick at the end of the 'week'and production dropped drastically. Rest is always a good habit.
7. Stay away from toxins
-Toxins here are caffeine, alcoholic drinks, tobacco and drugs. If having a healthy and energetic mind is our aim, then we must stay away from all this toxins. Artificial stimulants (caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, cocaine etc) will put our body into stress and then will destroy our world and the world itself.
-According to WHO, Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of diseaseor infirmity. The usage of drugs initially will cause the consumer to fell healthy, but in the long term the dependence to the substance is greatly enhanced to the point that the consumer will unable to maintain daily life without a heavier
dose of the particular substance.
8. Good mental condition
- Make it a habit to accept all things calmly: not overly worried about ourselves, not keeping revenge among others and ourselves, smile with confidence when you face problems in life.
It is shown that well-balanced mental habit is a prerequisite towards good health. Do you know that cancer can affect more to those who
are easily angered and stressed? It is not an easy task to achieve a well-balanced state of mental in this rude and harsh world but it is, on the other hand, not unattainable.
- most people seek freedom and refuge in reading the Holy Scriptures, Bibles and enhanced with
prayers and meditation. Confidence and Faith contributes a lot to a good mental state - not only mentally though but physically as well. This occurs because people who believes for a good future and the confidence and faith in that there is Someone who cares, understand and loves him or her.
- a good mental state and a calm and serene soul will surely enhance our body to function with greater effiency and optimally.
Friday, 7 March 2008
Bedtime Snacks that Help You Sleep
By Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., C.D.N.
One of the best natural sedatives is tryptophan, an amino acid component of many plant and animal proteins.
Tryptophan is one of the ingredients necessary for the body to make serotonin, the neurotransmitter best known for creating feelings of calm, and for making you sleepy.
However, the trick is to combine foods that have some tryptophan with ample carbohydrate. That’s because in order for insomnia-busting tryptophan to work, it has to make its way to the brain.
Unfortunately, all amino acids compete for transport to the brain. When you add carbs, they cause the release of insulin, which takes the competing amino acids and incorporates them into muscle…but leaves tryptophan alone, so it can make its way to the brain, be converted to serotonin, and cause sleepiness.
Serotonin-producing bedtime snacks should be no more than 200 calories and should be eaten at least 30 minutes prior to bed.
Here are a few great ideas:
Bedtime Snacks for Adults
--6-8 oz container of non-fat, flavored yogurt topped with 2 tablespoons low-fat granola cereal
--Sliced apple with 1-2 teaspoons natural peanut butter
--3 cups low-fat popcorn – sprinkled with optional 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
Bedtime Snacks for Teens
--One cup healthy cereal with skim milk
--Low-fat granola bar
--Scoop of vanilla or strawberry low-fat ice cream
Bedtime Snacks for Children
--1/2 cup low-fat vanilla pudding
--1/2 banana with 1-2 teaspoons peanut butter
--One cup skim milk with a bunch of grapes (or other fruit)
I found that this article is helpful..it can be found here
Happy Sleeping!
One of the best natural sedatives is tryptophan, an amino acid component of many plant and animal proteins.
Tryptophan is one of the ingredients necessary for the body to make serotonin, the neurotransmitter best known for creating feelings of calm, and for making you sleepy.
However, the trick is to combine foods that have some tryptophan with ample carbohydrate. That’s because in order for insomnia-busting tryptophan to work, it has to make its way to the brain.
Unfortunately, all amino acids compete for transport to the brain. When you add carbs, they cause the release of insulin, which takes the competing amino acids and incorporates them into muscle…but leaves tryptophan alone, so it can make its way to the brain, be converted to serotonin, and cause sleepiness.
Serotonin-producing bedtime snacks should be no more than 200 calories and should be eaten at least 30 minutes prior to bed.
Here are a few great ideas:
Bedtime Snacks for Adults
--6-8 oz container of non-fat, flavored yogurt topped with 2 tablespoons low-fat granola cereal
--Sliced apple with 1-2 teaspoons natural peanut butter
--3 cups low-fat popcorn – sprinkled with optional 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
Bedtime Snacks for Teens
--One cup healthy cereal with skim milk
--Low-fat granola bar
--Scoop of vanilla or strawberry low-fat ice cream
Bedtime Snacks for Children
--1/2 cup low-fat vanilla pudding
--1/2 banana with 1-2 teaspoons peanut butter
--One cup skim milk with a bunch of grapes (or other fruit)
I found that this article is helpful..it can be found here
Happy Sleeping!
Bedtime Snacks that Help You Sleep
By Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., C.D.N.
One of the best natural sedatives is tryptophan, an amino acid component of many plant and animal proteins.
Tryptophan is one of the ingredients necessary for the body to make serotonin, the neurotransmitter best known for creating feelings of calm, and for making you sleepy.
However, the trick is to combine foods that have some tryptophan with ample carbohydrate. That’s because in order for insomnia-busting tryptophan to work, it has to make its way to the brain.
Unfortunately, all amino acids compete for transport to the brain. When you add carbs, they cause the release of insulin, which takes the competing amino acids and incorporates them into muscle…but leaves tryptophan alone, so it can make its way to the brain, be converted to serotonin, and cause sleepiness.
Serotonin-producing bedtime snacks should be no more than 200 calories and should be eaten at least 30 minutes prior to bed.
Here are a few great ideas:
Bedtime Snacks for Adults
--6-8 oz container of non-fat, flavored yogurt topped with 2 tablespoons low-fat granola cereal
--Sliced apple with 1-2 teaspoons natural peanut butter
--3 cups low-fat popcorn – sprinkled with optional 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
Bedtime Snacks for Teens
--One cup healthy cereal with skim milk
--Low-fat granola bar
--Scoop of vanilla or strawberry low-fat ice cream
Bedtime Snacks for Children
--1/2 cup low-fat vanilla pudding
--1/2 banana with 1-2 teaspoons peanut butter
--One cup skim milk with a bunch of grapes (or other fruit)
I found that this article is helpful..it can be found here
Happy Sleeping!
One of the best natural sedatives is tryptophan, an amino acid component of many plant and animal proteins.
Tryptophan is one of the ingredients necessary for the body to make serotonin, the neurotransmitter best known for creating feelings of calm, and for making you sleepy.
However, the trick is to combine foods that have some tryptophan with ample carbohydrate. That’s because in order for insomnia-busting tryptophan to work, it has to make its way to the brain.
Unfortunately, all amino acids compete for transport to the brain. When you add carbs, they cause the release of insulin, which takes the competing amino acids and incorporates them into muscle…but leaves tryptophan alone, so it can make its way to the brain, be converted to serotonin, and cause sleepiness.
Serotonin-producing bedtime snacks should be no more than 200 calories and should be eaten at least 30 minutes prior to bed.
Here are a few great ideas:
Bedtime Snacks for Adults
--6-8 oz container of non-fat, flavored yogurt topped with 2 tablespoons low-fat granola cereal
--Sliced apple with 1-2 teaspoons natural peanut butter
--3 cups low-fat popcorn – sprinkled with optional 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
Bedtime Snacks for Teens
--One cup healthy cereal with skim milk
--Low-fat granola bar
--Scoop of vanilla or strawberry low-fat ice cream
Bedtime Snacks for Children
--1/2 cup low-fat vanilla pudding
--1/2 banana with 1-2 teaspoons peanut butter
--One cup skim milk with a bunch of grapes (or other fruit)
I found that this article is helpful..it can be found here
Happy Sleeping!
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By Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., C.D.N. One of the best natural sedatives is tryptophan, an amino acid component of many plant and animal proteins....