Health Benefits of Spinach

As one of my friends paid visit to our humble home, she noticed the green leafy plant on our yard that most people treat as unwanted plant. She said, “Convince me, how essential that plant is to our health and site some of its advantages why you guys grow it in your yard.” Of course, she does not know yet that time that the plant she was pointing at is the powerful spinach plant.

I really love to eat green leafy vegetables and spinach is one of my favorites. We grow spinach in our yard so as some of vegetables that do not take large space to grow. As for those who do not know its nutrient dense value, spinach plant is just one of wild plants that manage to survive on its own in our front yard because they easily grow like other unwanted grasses. Me and my friends use its leaves as our “sipa” for our playtime during our childhood days. But, to those who know the health benefits of spinach, they are so precious. In fact, my mom not just waters those precious plants we grow in our yard but cultivate and take care of it.

Who could not remember cartoon character Popeye the sailor man? By consuming spinach, old Popeye could transform himself to a super strong man. We may not feel literally strong like Popeye after we consume spinach, but if you’ll know that it is rich in vitamins (A, B, C, E, K), minerals (calcium, manganese, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, copper), fibers and protein you will feel the energy Popeye has experienced upon consuming it, right?

It is not just because of the essential nutrients that spinach could boost good health but its phytochemical contents to that could give us protection against heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, skin cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, almost all kinds of cancer and other diseases. Flavanoid contents of spinach could protect us against memory loss and any type of cancer, while its lutein content could promote good eyesight and protect us against cataract and Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

Consuming more or less half kilo of spinach a day could produce satiety advantage thus promoting weight loss and talkyloid content in spinach is responsible for this. It may sound not possible for you to consume that much of spinach daily for you to lose weight but incorporating spinach as much as you can and take it raw as much as possible could help, right?

Spinach is so easy to grow, it is wide in distribution. Growing spinach on your yard could not eat much of your time. So, why not let the small space in your yard stays vacant if you can grow a power-boosting plant like spinach? If you have no space to grow or no time to take care a plant, it is very affordable in the market.

The Difference In Nutritional Needs Between Men And Women

“Is there really a difference in nutritional needs between men and women?” My cousin asked that to me awhile ago. Though all of us need same essential elements for our body to function well, quantity of such essential nutrients differ, so I answered to him a big YES. I asked my cousin how come he asked such question to me. He said that as he browse the internet, he came in contact with the best multivitamin for men site. I am happy to know that at his young age he shows concern about health.

CARBOHYDRATES
Because of their body weight, men need more calories and fibers than women. Complex carbohydrates high in fibers from unrefined foods, fruits, and vegetables are the best source of it. Both men and women needs 45-65% carbohydrates of  total daily calories.

PROTEIN
High body weight of men make them to require more protein than women. Too much of protein could deplete calcium level in women making them prone to osteoporosis. But, men have no excuse of consuming too much of protein too because kidney stones and crystallization of fluids in joints could result due to excessive intake of protein. Better check out URIC ACID CRYSTALS in Google for more info about the said stones due to excessive intake of protein.

FATS
Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are good for our body, especially for our heart and blood vessels since it help sweep away the bad cholesterol out of our system and lowers triglyceride level. But, two studies in Harvard showed that omega-3 from vegetable source is not good for men. High intake of ALA from vegetable source by men could make them prone to prostate cancer.

CALCIUM
Calcium and vitamin D are good for our bones and in regulating our blood pressure. But, women need more calcium than men. For menstruating women like me, we need to have 1,000mg of calcium daily while menopause women need to take 1,200mg per day. As I have said earlier, men need less calcium. Their daily requirement (for all ages) is just 800mg per day. Too much of calcium intake for men could make them prone to prostate cancer.

IRON
Menstruation could lower our hemoglobin level due to lose of blood. As we all know iron is one of the important component of hemoglobin in Red Blood Cells thus menstruating women need more iron than men and menopause women. Pregnant women need extra iron too for the baby for its development.

But, it does not mean that non-menopause women need more iron that we have to take excess of it. Taking iron supplements is not recommended  unless you are diagnosed of certain type of anemia. Iron supplementation needs doctors advise.

As most people say: Men are from Mars while women are from Venus. That is why we have different nutritional body needs. You need not to scrutinize all the essential nutrients how much you need to take more for you to be healthy. As for me, the best rule is  BALANCE DIET. Too much of good things could be harmful to our health while lacking of it could result to failure in functioning well of our body. BALANCE IS THE KEY.

Nutrients We Should Not Take in Excess

Too much of good things is bad. This saying is true especially if we talk about vitamins and other nutrients that could harm if taken in excess.

Harmful level of certain vitamins and minerals is impossible to attain if such nutrients are taken only by eating nutritious foods, and is very possible when it is taken in supplement form. Thus, the right way to get our body’s needed nutrients is by eating various nutritious foods than taking them as supplement.

Here are some of the supplements that you must not take in excess:

IRON. Too much of iron stored in the body could cause headache, fatigue, low blood sugar, liver problems, accumulation of fluid in the lungs, testicular problem in men, or even coma.

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA):
men: 8 mg/day
women: 18 mg/day
women 51 y.o. and over: 8 mg/day
Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL): 45 mg/day

VITAMIN A. Too much of vitamin A in the body could lessen bone mineral density (could lead to osteoporosis), liver damage, disorders in central nervous system and risk of birth defects.

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA):
men: 3,000 IU/day
women: 2,310 IU/day
Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL):
10,000 IU/day

VITAMIN C. Too much of vitamin C could upset the gastrointestinal tract and could even cause diarrhea.

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA):
men: 90 mg/day
women: 75 mg/day
Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL): 2,000 mg/day

CALCIUM. High level of calcium in the body could interfer the absorption of other important minerals like iron, magnesium, zinc and phosphorus, and could impair the functioning of our kidneys.

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA):
adults 19-50 y.o.: 1,000 mg/day
adults 51 y.o. and over: 1,200 mg/day
Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL): 2,500 mg/day

VITAMIN E. Vitamin E is a natural anticoagulant thus too much of it in the body put the individual at risk of bleeding problems.

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 22.5 IU/day
Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL): 1,500 IU/day
NOTE: 400 IU/day or more increase the risk of death

VITAMIN D. High level of vitamin D in the blood could raise blood calcium level too that may cause changes like confusion. Poor appetite, constipation, weakness, nausea, vomiting and weight loss are some of the symptoms of high level of vitamin D.

Adequate Daily Intake (AI):
70 y.o and below: 400 IU/day
71 y.o. and over: 600 IU/day
Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL): 2,000 IU/day

ZINC. Too much of zinc in the body could weaken the immune system and lower the good cholesterol (HDL) level and alter iron function and copper levels.

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA):
men: 11 mg/day
women: 8 mg/day
Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL): 40 mg/day

SELENIUM. Too much of selenium in the body exhibits symptoms like hair loss, gastrointestinal upset, fatigue, white blotchy nails, irritability, garlic breath odor, and mild nerve damage.

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 55ug/day
Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL): 400ug/day

VITAMIN B6. If it is taken at high doses but lower than 500mg/day, it could cause nerve damage to the legs as well as on arms.

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA):
19-50y.o.: 1.3 mg/day
men 51 y.o. and over: 1.7 mg/day
women 51 y.o. and over: 1.5 mg/day
Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL): 100 mg/day

COPPER. Too much of copper could damage the liver and kidneys, and could cause neurologic problems. The following are symptoms of too much copper in the body: abdominal pain, weakness, insomnia, diminished concentration, learning disabilities, memory lapses, stuttering, hyperactivity, seizure, and delirium.

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): 900mcg/day
Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL): 10,000mcg/day

Iron Supplements and Iron Deficiency Anemia

You and your family are taking iron supplements? Did you know that too much iron in your body is harmful? Yes, our body needs iron, it is important for red blood cell production but too much of it is harmful to the body. There is a theory that extra stored iron in your body release harmful free radicals that may put you to risk for heart problems, liver damage, cancer,iron overdose in children and other illnesses. Medically speaking when there is an excessive amount of iron accumulated in the blood and tissues is is called hemosiderosis if the accumulated iron in the macrophages causes parenchymal cell injury. If the extra iron accumulates in the parenchymal cells and injures the tissue it is called hemochromatosis.

Because of iron side effects, most doctors agree that it is not necessary to take iron supplements unless your blood test shows that you need it. If the person is anemic, with low hemoglobin and, or hematocrit level in the blood, it does not mean automatically that he is suffering from iron deficiency and need to take iron supplements, always bear in mind that anemia has lots of causes and iron deficiency is just one of them. To confirm that the person is suffering from iron deficiency, the person will undergo a special laboratory test called serum ferritin test.

Again, taking iron supplements are not recommended unless prescribed by your doctor. If you want to make sure that your family family is getting enough iron for their body needsgo for good food sources of iron. Fish, poultry, red meat, shellfish, tofu, potatos, peas, beans, pumpkin seeds and dried apricots are rich in iron, some cereals and other processed foods are fortified with iron too thus, you need not to take iron supplements unless prescribed by your physician.

The English Toffee Crunch Cake

My mom will celebrate her  birthday tomorrow. And, we are all excited for that day. We are used to celebrating our birthdays with no guests and lots of food to eat but we make sure it would be very special, a great family bonding time.

My mom loves chocolate cake so I baked a cake for her tonight (just finished it 10 minutes ago). Yes, I did it as early as now to avoid stress, LOL. I want to share to you the recipe of chocolate cake I baked – ENGLISH TOFFEE CRUNCH CAKE. It is so easy to do. A stress-free recipe for non-bakers. Thanks to Pillsbury. Mind you, you  can get protein, vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, calcium and iron from this cake.

INGREDIENTS:

for CAKE:

• 1 pack Pillsbury Plus German chocolate cake mix
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup oil
• 3 eggs

for FROSTING:

• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1/4 tsp instant coffee
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp chocolate flavored flavored liqueur (optional)
• 6 pcs toffee candy bars

PROCEDURE:

CAKE:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Grease and flour two 8 or 9-inch round cake pans.
• Combine all cake ingredients in a large bowl at low speed until moistened. Then, beat 2 minutes at the highest speed.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared pans.
• Bake it for 25 to 35 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Let it cool for 15 minutes before removing in the pan. Then, cool completely.

FROSTING:

• In a large bowl, beat whipping cream and instant coffee until slightly thickened. Add brown sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Fold in liqueur.

THE  PLAYFUL COMBINATION TIME:

• Split each cake layer in half horizontally to form four layers.
• Place 1 cake layer cut side up on serving plate.
• Spread with half cup of frosting.
• Crush 1 toffee candy bar and sprinkle over frosting.
• Top with a second cake layer.
• Spread with another half cup of frosting.
• Crush another toffee candy bar and sprinkle over frosting.
• Repeat with remaining layers.
• Frost top and sides with remaining frosting.
• Coarsely chop the remaining toffee candy bars and sprinkle on top and sides of cake.
• Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• This makes 12 servings.

Note: Store the cake in refrigerator, not at room temperature.