Showing posts with label diet and nutrition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diet and nutrition. Show all posts

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Steps to a Gluten-Free Diet for Improved Mental Health

For people with gluten intolerance, good physical and mental health requires a complete diet change. At first it can seem impossible because so many foods contain gluten.

But the popularity of the gluten-free diet is now making life just a little simpler for people with celiac disease and gluten sensitivities.

The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness website includes a plethora of information about gluten-free foods. They even have some recipes for people who can’t consume gluten, ranging from coconut chicken soup to spinach pesto, to chicken and asparagus pizza.

The website celiac.com also has a “safe gluten-free food list,” which includes items like corn, eggs, fruit and milk. Some oats are acceptable to eat, but it depends on whether or not they’ve been contaminated with gluten in processing.

For people who don’t know if they’re gluten intolerant or not, it might be time to try a trial gluten-elimination diet.

“Eliminate it from your diet for no less than four weeks and then reintroduce it,” said Heather Schrock, a nutritional therapy practitioner.

“If your symptoms return, you are sensitive. It is very important that you completely eliminate it though and that is where the difficulty may lie. Gluten is hidden in thousands of food and personal care products. That's right, even gluten in your lotion can affect someone with gluten sensitivity.”

Marie-Nathalie Beaudoin, a training director at Bay Area Family Therapy & Training Associates, said in an email that there are numerous gluten-free grains that people can consume as part of a healthy diet.

For example, in order to bake bread, cookies, cakes and pizzas, people can use gluten-free flour such as tapioca, coconut, rice and corn. She added that people can now choose from some gluten-free noodles now as well.

“Changing diet may seem like a daunting task, but really, everything is out there ready to be used as substitute,” Beaudoin said.

“The main challenge is the first step: figuring out what you’ll eat at every meal. Once that transition is accomplished, the dietary change can be completely enjoyable and easy to follow.”
By Rheyanne Weaver

Read more here: http://www.empowher.com/celiac-disease/content/steps-gluten-free-diet-improved-mental-health

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Eat a Lot of Rice? The Risk of Arsenic is Real, So Cook Your Rice THIS Way to Stay Safe

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by Sarah Jio,

I know, we have enough things to worry about these days, don't we? And now, health experts are taking aim at rice. But, as disturbing as it is to think that the rice we love could be contaminated with a cancer-causing substance, it still pays to be protect yourself, and here's how...

I've been following the news about arsenic in rice with interest. Arsenic is found in soil with high pesticide and industrial run-off, and it's also naturally occurring int he environment, but either way, too much of it is a bad thing for our health, obviously. The problem is, it's showing up in our rice, sometimes at scary levels, say government food experts.
This is the type of news you might shrug off because, what can you do, really? Well, there is something you can do to reduce the amount of arsenic that could be in your rice, and it's really easy: Boil your rice in a lot of water (as in, six parts water to one part rice), then drain the excess water off when you're ready to eat. "Evidence suggests that can lower arsenic levels," notes the Environmental Working Group.
Read More http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2012/09/eat-a-lot-of-rice-the-risk-of.html#ixzz27e9cDLed 
. source="pic.jpg" alt="brown rice, rice."