Have you every heard that coffee is good…but tea is even better!!

Tea, as you may have heard, also has benefits. People who drink three to six cups of tea a day have a 36 percent lower risk of heart disease compared to those who drank less than one cup per day, the study found. While I know my coffee, I get confused about tea. Turns out, each type has its own unique health benefits. Here are some deets to help you choose your ultimate brew:

Green Tea: Battles Cancer (and Eye Issues)
Green tea has loads of antioxidants and other disease-fighting properties, which may lower incidence of everything from glaucoma (and other eye issues) to cancer. I’ve been encouraging my mom to drink more green tea lately because studies have also shown that it can also improve bone health. Apparently it contains chemicals that both stimulate bone growth and slow its breakdown — key for anyone showing signs of bone loss or osteoporosis.

Tip: If you are shopping for a skin cream with green tea as a main ingredient, look for a lotion with a beige color. Because green tea’s polyphenols darken the cream, the hue signals yours has a high dose of the ingredient. Browner is better!

Black Tea: Cuts Risk of Ovarian Cancer
According to the Journal of Food Science, black tea may boost immunity, reduce hypertension, and cut your risk of ovarian cancer by nearly half (same goes for green tea), and help control diabetes. This type of tea contains polysaccharides, which may have glucose-inhibiting properties. Earl Grey, English Breakfast, and other common blends (you know, the ones fancy restaurants bring around in a box post-dinner) are made with black tea leaves.

White Tea: Promotes Weight Loss (and Fights Wrinkles)
In a 2009 study by German researchers, when white tea extracts were introduced to human fat cells, it reduced the expression of genes associated with new fat growth and broke down some of the existing fat.
It’s also a boon for beauty: Last year, U.K. scientists discovered that white tea can hit the pause button on the enzymes responsible for the breakdown of elastin and collagen, a process that causes those wrinkles that, you swear, just appeared overnight!

Tip: If you are sensitive to caffeine, opt for white tea, which has significantly less caffeine than other leaf varieties.

Oolong Tea: Boosts Metabolism, Lowers Bad Cholesterol
One study found that, when consumed post-meal, Oolong tea boosts your metabolism by 10 percent (compared to 4 percent for green tea). In addition, it may reduce absorption of fat during a meal, and help lower levels of bad cholesterol.

Tip: This can be the trickiest of the four to find at the store. It’s sometimes referred to as Wu-Long, so look for that when scanning the shelf.

What about all of these blends?
A lot of tea companies are now adding fancy ingredients (herbs and whatnot) to their teas to pile on additional health benefits. My fave is Partners Tea Co.’s Popeye blend. This green-tea based bag-o’-tricks includes yerba mate (shown to increase energy and focus), goji berries (believed to boost fertility), peppermint (a friend to your digestive track), ginger (another tummy pal, and may lower cholesterol), and lemongrass (relieves insomnia and stress). And it’s organic and free trade, which makes me feel doubly good.

Tip: According to Partners’ owner Sarah Scarborough (who’s seemingly part-chemist … and bartender!), it’s also great iced with lime, mint, and agave. And, if you add rum, it’s a healthy (or at least justifiable!) mojito. That’s my kind of tea, people.

Recipe courtesy of Whole Foods Market.

Tuscan Style Steak

SERVINGS
4

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup tightly packed fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, crushed
sea salt, to taste
ground black pepper, to taste
2 boneless rib eye steaks, about 3/4 -pound each

PREPARATION
1. In a blender, pulverize the rosemary, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour half the marinade on top of the steaks, turn, and coat the other side with remaining marinade. Allow the steaks to rest for anywhere from 2 hours to overnight.

2. When ready to cook, prepare the grill. Allow some of the excess marinade to drip off the steaks. Grill about 6 to 9 minutes per side, or until steaks are cooked to your liking.

NUTRITIONAL INFO
Based on individual servings.
650 calories
48g total fat
48g protein
135mg cholesterol
200mg sodium

coffee

These are just the easty steps to make the Starbucks caffe mocha at your own home.

1. In a small bowl, combine equal parts warm water and sweetened cocoa powder.

2. Stir until it forms a smooth syrup.

3. Pour 2 Tbsp. of the syrup into an 8 oz. cup.

4. Add a shot (1 oz.) of espresso or double-strength, dark-roasted coffee. (To brew double-strength coffee, use 4 Tbsp. of ground coffee for every 6 oz. of water.)

5. Fill the rest of your cup with steamed milk. (If you don’t have a milk steamer, heat milk on the stove to between 140 and 160 degrees.)

6. Top with whipped cream and enjoy!

eating healthy

Today’s research shows that the health of our skin is in our hands, or more specifically, what our hands put into our mouths.

“Our skin is fed from the inside,” says Dr. James Ntambi, a professor of biochemistry and nutritional science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. According to research done by both Ntambi and his team, and other institutions, the commonly held and largely dermatologist-promoted belief that what we eat does not affect our skin is not entirely true.

Along with Dr. Ntambi, top dermatologists like Dr. Nicholas Perricone, author of The Clear Skin Prescription, and Dr. Alan Logan, who wrote The Clear Skin Diet, believe that eating antioxidant-rich, healthy foods will lead to improved, smooth skin. Like other body parts, our skin, which happens to be our largest organ, is at its best when we feed it well.

Below, we break down the most beneficial and harmful foods for the skin, and put to rest some untrue beliefs about the linkage between what we eat and the state of our faces.

The Myth
Eating fatty foods is bad for your skin

The Truth
This is true of saturated fats, but not all fats. Too much saturated fat, commonly found in many processed foods and junk food, can lead to an increase in sebum production, and therefore acne. Unsaturated fats, like those in olive oil and the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, walnuts, and avocados, are good for the skin and help it to absorb vital nutrients like vitamins A, D, E, and K.

The Myth
Milk causes pimples.

The Truth
It depends. Many naturopaths are quick to call milk out as a “chemical stew” that contributes to unhealthy skin. While the hormones found in much of the milk we drink are unappealing, people who notice milk makes their skin break out may be lactose intolerant. If drinking cow’s milk gives you pimples, there are always alternatives, such as goat, almond, rice, or soy milk.

The Myth
A low glycemic index diet will improve acne.

The Truth
A study by the American Journal of Nutrition found that a diet that has a low glycemic index, which means more whole grains, beans, and vegetables, and less white pasta, rice, bread, and sugar, significantly reduced acne lesions in participants. If you eat a diet with a high glycemic index, your body will create more sebum, which can block pores and cause acne, so a diet with a low glycemic index does the opposite by maintaining an healthy overall complexion.

The Myth
Chocolate causes pimples.

The Truth
This is half true, unfortunately. It’s not necessarily the chocolate, which in its darkest, purest form has antioxidant properties that are actually quite good for our bodies, it’s the sugar and fat in most chocolate bars that contribute to a spotted, wrinkled complexion. Not only do high levels of sugar and saturated fats found in chocolate bars and other candy contribute to excess lipid production in our sebaceous glands (a.k.a. pimples), but they can also decrease collagen and elastin in our skin, robbing it of vitality and youth, and causing wrinkles.

The Myth
Drinking 8 glasses of water is good for your skin.

The Truth
Some docs, such as celebrity derm Dr. Perricone, suggest drinking as many as 10 pure glasses of water each day to keep skin fully hydrated. When skin gets too dry, it not only loses important vitamins and becomes more vulnerable to the elements, but it also starts producing more oil to make up for the dehydration, which can lead to clogged pores and pimples. If you find it hard to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water throughout the day, try starting in the morning before breakfast and carrying a water bottle with you throughout the day.

The Myth
Vitamin A prevents acne.

The Truth
Vitamin A is an important part of skin health. Basically, if you don’t have enough Vitamin A in your system, your sebaceous glands produce excess lipids, causing pimples, but if you have too much vitamin A, while your pimples might not be the issue, other parts of your body, like your liver, may be negatively affected. The optimal daily intake with food and supplementation is about 15,000 IU.

The Myth
Tomatoes are nature’s sunscreen.

The Truth
Although tomatoes contain high levels of vitamins A, C, and lycopene, a carotene antioxidant that can help protect the skin against the sun, even eating an abundance of tomatoes will only give you an SPF of about 3, which is not nearly enough. You still need to wear sunscreen. Tomatoes will help protect, nourish, and make the skin more resilient, but because lycopene isn’t dietary soluble unless it is cooked, try to eat foods that contain cooked tomato pastes and sauces to get the maximum benefits.

The Myth
Vitamin supplements are OK for skin health in lieu of a nutritious diet.

The Truth
While supplements certainly help, there’s nothing like the real thing. Dr. Ntambi was recently involved in one of the National Institutes of Health panels and says they “came up with the conclusion that vitamin supplements don’t hurt us or do any harm, but you cannot rely on them entirely for full beneficial effects.” Eating a nutritious diet combined with the supplements you need is your safest bet for optimal skin health.

The Myth
Omega-3 fatty acids are good for skin.

The Truth
Omega-3 fatty acids inhibit the production of leukotreine B4, which causes inflammatory acne. Because many people don’t enjoy the taste of fish, and a diet high in fish is required to get the optimal levels of omega-3 in our systems, Dr. Ntambi suggests taking a daily omega-3 supplement. However, he also urges us to try to acquire a taste for fish because it has so many other nutrients in it. You can also get your omega-3 fatty acids from walnuts, avocados, flaxseed oil, and some leafy green vegetables.

There always seems to be a girl “going vegetarian” because she just can’t bare to eat something that used to be so cute (and breathing), wants to do her bit to help the environment, or would just like to feel healthier and maybe lose some weight. She rarely has any kind of nutritional knowledge on her side, so she sticks to the non-meat program for a while, gradually becoming weaker and more anaemic.

Then, one day, the smell of bacon frying at a barbecue transforms her into a carnivorous beast and, several burgers later, she’s guilt-ridden over the lapse.

Dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner can  relate to these girls who agonise over their meat slip-ups. “I pushed myself for years to be vegetarian, but I was always sneaking in meat,” she admits. This behaviour isn’t unusual – two out of three vegos have confessed to the same thing.

Meet the flexitarians

It wasn’t until 2003 that Blatner learnt about flexitarians – people who minimise the amount of meat in their diets and maximise nutrient-rich vegetables. “People who eat a plant-based diet tend to weigh 15 per cent less than the average,” Blatner explains.

So, just say a girl is 75kg, and she adjusts her diet to be predominantly vego, she’s going to drop around 11kg before she’s even started thinking about exercise – and she can still enjoy Mum’s lasagne when she feels like it. Enticing, no?

Meat-eating vego

These days, while we’re all very intellectually advanced, our bodies are still basically cavewomen-like (perhaps not in quantity of body hair, but definitely when it comes to metabolism). Cavewomen ate lots of vegies and only a little bit of meat, and we really haven’t evolved past that.

By eating like our ancestors, ie flexitarians, we don’t miss out on animal proteins. We also get all the health benefits of a plant-based diet, including the disease-preventing phytochemicals contained in fruits and vegetables.

Other benefits of consuming lots of fresh produce are that it’s far cheaper than purchasing meat or packaged foods, and farming them is better for the environment.

Dodgy swivel chairs, bitchy co-workers, tight jeans cutting off circulation … just some of the dangers you’re facing every day.

Fatal Fit-outs

Repetitive strain injuries can lead to disability. Prevent it by checking out ergonomenon.com for great tips on adjusting your equipment, taking breaks, stretching and correct seating methods. Prefer something tailored to your office?

See your OH&S rep. Next, take care of your skin. Honorary Secretary of the Australasian College of Dermatologists, Stephen Shumack, says concrete buildings can reflect sunlight into open office windows and cause skin damage, so wear
an SPF face cream indoors.

The Colleague Challenge

Some are bitchy, others are loud and distracting, and then there’s the matter of the lazy ones. Sally O’Keeffe, director of CareerGirl and author of CareerGirl: Get The Job You Love! (Pluto Press, $26.95), argues that it’s your right to express the need for professionalism in the workplace.

“Respectfully request for excessive chat to be taken elsewhere, say no to those who ask you to do a bit of their job for them without good reason, and stay professional at all times around people who are bitchy. It takes away some of their ammunition!”

Chained-To-Your-Work Syndrome

Sick of taking it home? For some, like Jane*, 28, long hours and impossible workloads are taking their toll on her stress levels and relationships. O’Keeffe says this needn’t be the case. “Structure your working day so you have a couple of breaks,” she says.

“Plan your week, and simplify work processes in order to get more out of them. And work [with colleagues] to get projects done.” If you’re pressured by tasks that are not reflective of your role or salary, she says to take it up with your manager, but approach it with possible solutions to show you care about your firm’s bottom line.

Dressing for the occasion

Looking the part of a high-flying executive could really pay off when you’re wooing the boss for that promotion, but when the cost is blisters and back pain, is it really worth it?

Tight clothing is just as bad, with research showing that it can cause rashes and/or itchiness of the vulva, tingling sensations in the thigh area due to heightened nerve sensitivities, and poor circulation around the hips.

Our advice: ditch the skinnies and invest in basic work wear, like pencil skirts, man-style pants and dresses, and alternate between heel-wearing days.

Foodie Faults and Function Overload

There’s a stash of chocolate in your desk drawer, you eat junk regularly and you never refuse after-work drinks.

Sharon Natoli, accredited practising dietitian and director of Food & Nutrition Australia, advises you keep canned tuna, salmon and legumes at
work and combine them with wholegrain crackers or simple salads for lunch.

To help you say no to fried finger foods at work functions, she recommends you have a light meal beforehand. “And choose low-alcohol options such as wine spritzers,” she says.

Thai food is certainly the world’s famous these days. It has been estimated that there are now Thai restaurants over 13,000 locations around the world. These range from fast-food take-aways to up-market restaurants. Many of them have been set up by Thai expatriates living abroad. But there are also many restaurants run by foreigners who have fallen in love with Thai food while on holiday in Thailand.

Whether chilli-hot or comparatively blands, harmony is the main principle blended to each dish. Thai cuisine is essentially a marriage of centuries-old Eastern and Western influences harmoniously combined into something uniquely Thai.

The characteristics of Thai food depend on who cooks it, for whom it is cooked, for what occasion, and where it is cooked to suit all plates. Originally, Thai cooking reflected the characteristics of a waterborne lifestyle. Aquatic animals, plants and herbs were major ingredients. Large chunks of meat were avoided.

With their Buddhist background, Thais shunned the use of large animals in big chunks. Big cuts of meat were shredded and laced with herbs and spices. Traditional Thai cooking methods were stewing and baking, or grilling. Chinese influences saw the introduction of frying, stir frying and deep-frying. Culinary influences from the 17th century onwards included Portuguese, Dutch, French and Japanese. Chillies were introduced to Thai cooking during the late 1600s by Portuguese missionaries who had acquired a taste for them while serving in South America.

Thais were very adapt at ‘Siamese-icing’ foreign cooking methods, and substituting ingredients. The ghee used in Indian cooking was replaced by coconut oil, and coconut milk substituted for other daily products. Overpowering pure spices were toned down and enhanced by fresh herbs such as lemon grass and galanga. Eventually, fewer and less spices were used in Thai curries, while the use of fresh herbs increased. It is generally acknowledged that Thai curries burn intensely, but briefly, whereas other curries, with strong spices, burn for longer periods. Instead of serving dishes in courses, a Thai meal is served all at once, permitting dinners to enjoy complementary combinations of different tastes.

A proper Thai meal should consist of a soup, a curry dish with condiments, a dip with accompanying fish and vegetables. A spiced salad may replace the curry dish. The soup can also be spicy, but the curry should be replaced by non spiced items. There must be a harmony of tastes and textures within individual dishes and the entire meal.

chocolate

Study adds to evidence that chocolate has many health benefits

Yet another health benefit has been linked to eating chocolate: It may decrease your risk of stroke, a new study suggests.

The analysis, which will be presented in April at the American Academy of Neurology’s 62nd Annual Meeting, reviewed the results of three previous studies. One study with more than 44,000 participants found that those who ate a weekly serving of chocolate were 22 percent less likely to suffer a stroke than those who ate no chocolate.

Still, the results add to a growing list of potential advantages to eating chocolate, including a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. But this doesn’t mean you should gorge yourself on the candy this Valentine’s Day either.

Among the pros and cons of chocolate:

Chocolate can be good for you
Many previous studies have linked eating chocolate with health benefits, including:

• A 2008 study found that people who ate a small amount of dark chocolate a day (about 6.7 grams) had lower levels of a protein that is associated with inflammation in their blood.
• Other recent studies have found that blood platelets clump together more slowly in chocolate eaters. Clumping platelets can lead to the formation of blood clots, which in turn can cause a heart attack. Chocolate consumption may lower blood pressure, help prevent formation of artery plaques and improve blood flow, according to other research.
• Eating chocolate may even help with math, or at least counting. A study reported in 2009 showed that people did a better job of counting backwards in groups of three after they had consumed a hot cocoa drink containing large amounts of a compound found in chocolate. These compounds, called flavonoids, which we’ll get to later, may increase blood flow to the brain.
• Chocolate may also have anti-cancer benefits because flavonoids may help reduce the cell damage that can spur tumor growth.

“More and more research is showing that [eating chocolate] is really more beneficial than we ever imagined,” said Katherine Tallmadge, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

However, she notes that the advantages you get still appear to be quite small. “It’s not anything major, but it’s still an advantage, and even slight advantages can make a difference for some people,” she said.

Not all chocolate is created equal
Certain forms of chocolate are better for your health than others, and it comes down to one key component of the rich snack: flavonoids.

These compounds, which are found in the seeds of cacao plants (from which chocolate is made), are antioxidants that are thought to help protect cells against damage that might come from environmental toxins, or simply byproducts of vital processes in the body.

Consuming flavonoids has been linked to heart benefits. But since flavonoids are bitter, most commercial chocolate goes through processing steps that remove these compounds. Less processed, or darker chocolates, will tend to have higher levels of flavonoids. Your best choice in terms of healthiness is to go with natural, unsweetened cocoa powder, Tallmadge said.

“You can have mounds of it,” because it is low in calories and full of flavonoids, Tallmadge told LiveScience.

Runners-up for health benefits are bittersweet and semisweet chocolate with a high cocoa percentage, she said. Unfortunately for milk-chocolate lovers, this type of chocolate has lower levels of flavonoids.

Chocolate can be bad for you
The underlying health benefits don’t give you an excuse to eat chocolate by the pound.

“Because we mainly eat it as a candy with sugar added, it’s going to be high in calories and not necessarily good for you in high quantities, because it will take the place of more nutritious foods,” Tallmadge said.

For instance, if you gorge on chocolate, you might skimp out on fruits and vegetables, which are also important for heart health and disease prevention.

Tallmadge advises that people who want to eat chocolate limit themselves to one ounce per day. “Any more than that and you’re probably going to take in too many calories for weight control,” she said.

Other foods and beverages can also provide flavonoids, including citrus fruits, onions, green tea and red wine.

eating

If you want to reduce weight to the morning hours of the morning is the best diet. Instant results, and most every morning after wake up then.

You should take about 30-40 minutes for exercise, as bold and appropriate for you. Such as swimming , walking, running or other to do with the stomach to empty after while awake. Do not lie to yourself by eating before. Exercise in the morning that will burn fat is best. This means that you reduce weight quickly and not lose health course

from  : Ladytip

Photo : woman.happymass.com

How to stop stress eating

As anyone who’s watching their weight will tell you, hunger is just one of many reasons that people eat. Those with a tendency toward emotional eating are especially vulnerable to making poor diet choices for reasons outlined in this article. If you’re an emotional eater, you may find yourself eating to deal with uncomfortable emotions, using food as a reward when you’re happy, and craving sweets or unhealthy snacks when stressed. (Don’t worry; you’re not alone!) The following ideas can help you to cut down emotional eating and develop healthier eating habits—even whenstressed!

• Find Relaxation Techniques: When you’re under stress, your body is likely producing higher levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that tends to make people crave sweet and salty food—the stuff that’s generally not good for us. If you’re experiencing stress on a regular basis and aren’t finding ways to relax your body relatively quickly, cortisol could be creating these cravings, as well as contributing to other health problems. The following stress relievers for busy people can help, or you can find stress relievers that fit with your specific situation with the Stress Reliever Personality Tool.
• Cope In Healthy Ways: Many people use food to deal with uncomfortable emotions like anger, frustration, fear, and other feelings. While we need food for survival, there are healthier ways to cope with emotions:
  • Talk To A Friend. Social support can go a long way toward helping you process your feelings, gain support if needed, and move on. (Just don’t meet your friend at The Cheesecake Factory!)
  • Try Journaling. Processing one’s feelings in a journal has been found to have many health benefits beyond mere stress management. When you feel like reaching for unhealthy food, reach for a pen instead.
  • Exercise. Getting your body moving is a great way to blow off steam and get your endorphins going, and is a much healthier option than overeating.
• Face Your Problems: If you’re using food to muffle your feelings in a difficult relationship, try assertiveness instead. If food is your only treat at a job you hate, try techniques for finding satisfaction at your job, or get a different one. Cut down on the stress in your life and you won’t need food to help you cope.
• Try Healthy Alternatives: If these techniques don’t completely eliminate your emotional eating urges, go ahead and indulge—but use healthier fare. Drink Perrier instead of soda; munch on veggies or healthy snacks instead of chips; savor one small piece of dark chocolate instead of binging on a whole chocolate muffin from the coffee shop (it’ll help you live longer!). All of these things can be good for you, so you’ll still come out ahead without feeling completely deprived.