Month: July 2014

Truth about the Vegan Diet

Veganism is a special type of vegetarian diet in which people completely exclude eggs, meats, dairy products and all those ingredients which are derived from the animals. In veganism, people completely boycott the processed foods such as the white sugar and wines as well. Those people who follow such diet as called as vegans. Vegans generally give several arguments so as to why you should stop eating the animal foods. There are many myths in the mind of the people regarding the vegan diets. Some believe that the vegan diet is the best way a person can lose weight and fight the life threatening diseases. Every now and then you will be inspired to follow the vegan diet as it is highly beneficial for the human body. But the reality is completely different from what is presented in front of you. Vegan diet has in fact lots of side effects as well on which people don’t pay much attention and these side effects deteriorate the health of the individual. Here we will be talking about such lies and myths people have regarding the vegan diets.

People generally believe that since the vegan diet is completely free from animal foods, they offer several health benefits and are in fact healthy compared to the other food items that we eat in our daily life. The proponents of the vegan diets have whole foods in them. Vegan diet completely boycotts refined sugar, refined grains, Trans fats, vegetable oils and other processed foods. Consequently many food items which offers fewer nutrients and have chemicals that are harmful for the human body gets eliminated. The health benefits of the vegan diet is due to the fact that they consume only the whole food and eliminates the processed food items as they have harmful ingredients in them. It is nothing to do with the elimination of the animal foods from the diet. None of the studies have been able to prove that animal food is bad for the human health.

The other reason which people give for you to encourage in joining the vegan diet club is that the animal foods have huge amount of fats in them which is extremely harmful and is the root cause of the heart disease. The truth is that the cholesterol and the saturated fats which are present in the animal foods improves the blood cholesterol profile and offer several health benefits. They both give rise to the HDL and not the LDL which consequently helps in protecting the heart from diseases. Some of the recent advanced studies conducted in this field have proved that there is absolutely no connection among the heart disease and the consumption of the saturated fats and cholesterol. Vegan people use this myth to attract people but this myth has now been completely debunked.

People believe that the vegan diet is the only way one can reverse the heart disease. There is a huge contradiction on this fact. Till date no major prove is present which can support this fact. While this is true that a diet which has low fat content in it can be helpful in reversing the heart diseases but it is not necessary for you to completely adopt the veganism.

There is a very famous China Study associated with the vegan diet. China Study is in fact a world famous book written by the veteran biochemist T. Colin Campbell. In this book the author has claimed that the animal protein is the reason people suffer from the cancer and various heart diseases and lose their precious life. He stated the facts by examining the results of the survey conducted in the Cornell Oxford Project in China. But many researchers and biochemists from around the world have expressed their unhappiness over the content written in the book and have contradicted the facts given by T. Colin Campbell. They believe that the book China Study is in fact a science fiction and there is not enough evidence to accept the claims made by T. Colin Campbell.

People opt for the vegan diet as they believe that the animal protein is bad for their health. But this is not true. The animal protein is in fact useful for the human body. Several researches made in this regard confirm the same. The diet which has high protein in it acts as a wonderful appetite suppressant and this eventually helps you in losing weight. If you want to shed some kilos from your body then you must opt for the animal proteins instead of ignoring them. Further the animal protein also lowers the blood pressure and helps in building muscles.

The vegans argue that the human body is naturally herbivore and so people should not eat the animal flesh of any type. This is rather contradictory. We people are consuming animal flesh from generations and our body is well adapted to consume and digest the animal flesh. The humans on the other hand are omnivores. There are lots of nutrients and minerals obtained from the animal foods which are good for us. Moreover the claim that the person opting for the vegan diet live longer is also not true. No study has been able to prove that vegan diet is superior and is more beneficial for health.

July 1, 2014
Bloody Mary: One of the Most Popular Cocktails

Bloody Mary is of the very popular cocktail among the alcohol lovers. Both men and women love to have a sip of this popular cocktail occasionally. Bloody Mary is prepared by mixing vodka along with tomato juice, cayenne pepper, olives, celery salt, black pepper, lemon juice, horseradish, piri piri sauce, celery, Tabasco sauce, beef consommé and Worcestershire sauce. There are so many ingredients and they must be mixed at right time to get the best variety of Bloody Mary. It is so considered as one of the most complex cocktail drink. The final drink which is presented is marvelous in taste and the pleasure that one gets by drink Bloody Mary is simply amazing. Bloody Mary’s lovers term this drink as the most refreshing alcoholic beverage. The reason is that it not gives you the much desired buzz but also offers healthy serving of the various juices added to it.

The ingredient in the Bloody Mary together makes it an excellent restorative beverage and so it is an excellent drink using which you can get rid of your hangovers. People generally prefer this alcoholic drink in the morning or during the afternoon hours. It is mostly preferred with the brunches. Bloody Mary can be prepared in various manners by the varying the ingredients that are added to it. There are dozens of Bloody Mary variants today and different people have their different choices. Some of those methods have been described below.

Simple Bloody Mary: To prepare a simple Bloody Mary take the ingredients in the following quantify. 4 oz. vodka, Worcestershire sauce, 1/16 cup oz. tomato sauce, 2 oz. dill pickle juice, 3 tablespoon lemon juice, Tabasco sauce, ½ tablespoon each of celery salt and horseradish sauce and lastly 2 tablespoon of coarse salt. Mix the sauces along with the salts in the highball glass and then add all the other ingredients. Gently stir the mixture for about 25 seconds so that all the ingredients get mixed properly. Cover the rim of the glass in which the drink will be served with the lime juice and then apply coarse salt over it. Pour the drink in it and serve it with ice cubes.

Spicy Bloody Mary: Spicy Bloody Mary is different from the Simple Bloody Mary as the quantity of the ingredients in this variety is completely different. To prepare this drink take the following ingredients in the following quantity. 1 ½ oz. of vodka, 1 large lime wedge, 4 oz. tomato sauce, coarse salt as per taste, a very little fresh pepper, celery salt, 8 shakes of Worcestershire sauce, 2 dashes of hot sauce, 1/8 teaspoon of horseradish, green olive and spicy pickled asparagus. Mix them well with the crushed ice and then add the toppings. Squeeze a lime wedge and apply salt on the top of the glass along with coarse salt. The final drink will have a spicy taste. If you want to make it extra spicy then you can also add green beans to it.

White Bloody Mary: It is yet another popular version of Bloody Mary. The quantity of the ingredients in White Bloody Mary is 3 oz. vodka, 4 chopped tomatoes, 1 chopped cucumber, 2 cups green grapes, seeded jalapeno, 2 peeled celery, 2 lime wedges and 1 tablespoon each of salt, fine sugar, horseradish and pepper. You can also add cucumber spears to it. First of all take the chopped tomato, celery, cucumber, grapes and jalapeno in a blender and crush them completely. Then finely take out the juice prepared in a bowl and keep it in a refrigerator till it stains. Now in a pitcher add this prepared juice along with the vodka, ice and various other mentioned salts. Gently stir the mixture obtained and then finally pour it into a glass whose top is again rubbed with the lime wedge. You can now garnish the drink as per your choice and then serve it.

People believe that Bloody Mary drink was first prepared by a bartender named as Fernand Pete Petiot while working in the very famous New York Bar which is located in Paris. Just with the motive of creating a unique drink and to keep the clients interested, he prepared Bloody Mary for the first time. The drink was highly appreciated and everybody who got chance to drink it were highly impressed. His colleagues named it as Bloody Mary. Some people also believe that this alcoholic drink was invented by the veteran comedian George Jessel during his stay in the 21 Club. In one of the life magazine published in the year 1942, this drink was also named as the “Red Hammer”. The IBA claims that name Bloody Mary is nowhere related to the Queen Mary I of England and has also not been named after the waitress who used to work at the Chicago Bar. It was named as per the suggestion of the Petiot colleagues. Whatever may be the story behind this drink, just try this drink and I bet you will surely like it.

July 1, 2014
Foods that can actually kill you

We have several food items in the market which people believe are very healthy and essential for the human body. But there are not aware that these food items can cause serious damage to their body. The result of which can even lead to death of the person. You must be aware of the side effects of such food items so that you can stay protected. Here we are mentioning some of those foods and you should stop eating immediately as they can kill you.

Sports Drink:

Today we have several sports drink in the market and people believe that they are highly beneficial for the body. These types of drinks are specially designed for the people who get involved into the training sessions or play different sports. Due to the intense workout and physical labor they sweat a lot and the level of glycogen in their body goes down. The sports drink contains water, sugar and electrolytes which compensates for the loss of fluid, energy and the electrolytes. If you are not getting involved in any intense workout sessions then this drink can be highly dangerous for your body as you don’t need any additional sugar, fluid and electrolytes. So please avoid drinking it.

Heart Healthy Vegetable Oils:

People are so much influenced with the heart healthy vegetable oils that are present in the supermarkets. They believe that with its consumption, they can protect their heart and keep it healthy. But it is not necessarily true. The methods performed in their extractions are quite complex and involves several processes such as bleaching and addition of hexane which are very much harmful for the human body. As a result these oils have a large amount of Omega 6 fatty acid and trans fats in them which are not at all beneficial. There are chances that you may get diagnosed with the chronic diseases if you consume these types of oils.

Agave Nectar:

You must have seen several advertisements in which the manufacturers claim that their product is sugar free. It is because it contains Agave Nectar and it gives the sweetened taste. While people prefer it as Agave Nectar has low glycemic index and it acts as a wonderful replacement to the actual sugar, they are not aware that it contains unnatural fructose which cause several damages to the human body. Those people who are not very much active or say don’t exercise much, high fructose can lead them to serious diseases which are life threatening. Agave Nectar has 40 % more fructose in it than the actual sugar. So it is better to avoid them.

Energy Bars:

Energy bars are not for such people who have a normal routine. They are very much similar to the sports drink. The ingredients that they have are required only by the specific peoples and if you are not among them, then you should avoid it so that you remain protected. The sports personalities need extra protein intake so as to make them fitter and gain energy. So they eat it in 2-3 hours intervals. If you don’t have such work then there is no need for you to eat these energy bars. They have a lot of ingredients which are harmful for a normal person.

Fat Free Foods:

Today people love to eat those food items which have less fat or absolutely no fat in them as they believe that it is the best way they can keep a check on their health. But this is not at all a wise decision. The absence of fat in the body also leads to several diseases. The fat free foods have several disadvantages. Since they are highly processed and several chemicals and sweeteners are added so as to get rid of the fat contents, they are extremely dangerous for the human body. It is advised that you stay from such food items as their adverse effects can take your precious life from you as well.

Foods Having Low Carbohydrates:

People generally believe that it is good to eat those food items which offer low carbohydrates as they offer several health benefits. The market today is full of such food. For the companies which manufacture such food items, they find it a perfect opportunity to make some cash as people prefer them without knowing that such foods harm them and make them prone to the diseases. The artificial ingredients added in them can cause some serious damage and you can eventually get yourself killed because of its side effects.

Gluten Free Foods:

People today have started to eliminate gluten from their diet completely as they find it one such ingredient which causes them serious trouble. Gluten is found in wheat and barley. So the food items in the markets today are gluten free. But the point which needs attention here is that gluten free foods are not at all healthy. They contain starch and other artificial chemicals which causes several adverse effects on the health. Moreover they also have large sugar content. So you should understand that gluten containing food items are much healthier and the complete absence of gluten can deteriorate your health and cause you trouble.

July 1, 2014