Have you ever asked yourself what it would take to keep your bag of bones fit and healthy? ‘Au naturel’ is best. Pure unadulterated foods.
Do you remember the ‘grown-ups’ telling you to eat your veggies and fruit because “it’s good for you”. Well, strange as it may seem, fresh scientific findings have shown the significance of those utterances of yesteryear.
Quality nutrition plays an impressive role in the amelioration of a number of medical conditions such as cancer, general ailments, malady, and infections.
Also, that the pharmacological matter found in a large number of food plants can be just as effective as man-made medication.
Exercise & Nutrition
It’s quite simple really, in order to keep the old physique mobile, toned and well preserved it comes down to two things – exercise and nutrition. They go hand in glove.
Over the last decade, natural foodstuffs have gone under the microscope and scientists continue to find a wide spectrum of multipurpose medicinal properties, from antiseptics, antivirals, antispasmodics, to cardiac tonics, vasodilators and stimulants, and sedatives.
Life has not always been a bed of roses, or should I say a patch of cabbages. Marcus Cato 234-149 BC a Roman Statesman and Consul hailed from very early roots.
He was the son of a farmer. Cato claimed that the common cabbage held astonishing medical properties, particular for the healing of wounds, and had helped to keep the roman townfolk in good health over the past 600 years.
Old Wives’ Tales Still Ring True!
Today’s findings include the common cabbage as a potent treatment for alcoholism. Scientific research has and continues to prove the many old wives’ tales to bear a lot of truth.
Such stories as the juice of onions aid the body in the elimination of excess cholesterol and the uncomfortable feeling of ‘wheezing’ lungs.
Carrots and spinach can help reduce your chances of contracting cancers of the bowel, lung, mouth, stomach, and throat. That the chemical produced to form a juicy, savory artichoke will activate the gall bladder to constrict, thus pumping bile into the stomach, which in turn assists the digestion to deal with fats.
Pumpkin seeds can supply a rich source of zinc necessary for sexual potency and fertility problems.
Science goes one step further and says that effective nutrition can raise a child’s IQ.
Balanced eating is nutritious eating, steer clear of fads. Avoid heavy, rich foods, they only overload the liver and make digestion difficult. So you have been warned, fool around with nutrition and you could leave yourself open to bodily function decay.
Five Fit Rules
Each and every one of us has an instinctive feeling about food combinations. Good old fashioned ‘gut feeling’. So why not go with the flow. Follow your feelings as closely as you can when it comes to diet. Just be aware of what you are dumping in your stomach.
Here are Five Fit Rules which you should find useful to guide you along the path of choosing and eating fit foods.
1. All food stuffs should be of the freshest variety possible and of not too large a serving. Enjoy your food but eat moderately and regularly. Eating regularly causes your metabolic rate to rise by about 10%, which is good for weight maintenance.
2. Nutritional experts advise us to eat at least five servings of vegetables a day; they go on to recommend a minimum of five servings of fruit a day as well. They also recommend that we should drink at least 8 glasses of liquid a day preferably water, but never attempt to drink several glasses all at once, this will only distend the stomach.
Remember too that water should not be drunk during meals. Of course, the occasional glass of wine during the meal is allowed – it should not become a habit though.
3. Roughage is important for, how should I put it, ‘the destination’. Fiber adds bulk to food and helps reduce hunger pangs.
Choose whole-grain bread, mix grain bread such as rye and pumpernickel; oats, buckwheat, barley, maize, and millet; rice, pasta; fruit peel and potato skins; dried fruit such as apricots, dates, figs, and raisins. Aim to eat 5-11 portions daily.
4. Eat red meat in moderation.
5. Serve your food in a natural state as possible. Avoid the use of rich creamy sauces, lashings of butter, pools of oil and too rich cheese dressings. If you insist on these fats coating your taste buds, let alone your arteries, go for less.
Or, better still, develop the nouvelle cuisine method of cooking, which cuts out thickening agents such as flour and sauces and concentrates more on beautifully presented steamed vegetables. A very clever cooking technique indeed.
Healthy Recipies – Warm Pasta Salad
300g of red and green pasta shapes, 2 sticks of celery, 1 small red onion, few black olives pitted, few stuffed green olives, 1 small broccoli, divided into florets, 25g fresh basil chopped, salt and ground black pepper to taste, 2 tsp olive oil for cooking and 4 tbsp cold water.
1. Cook pasta in boiling salt water until al dente. Add a drop of olive oil to the boiling water. This will bring out the flavor of the pasta. Drain and rinse with cold water. Keep warm.
2. Slice red onion and celery finely, Saute in a little olive oil. Add raw broccoli florets. Stir fry for one minute. Add water to a hot pan, stir lightly until sizzling stops. Remove from heat.
3. Arrange cooked pasta in a serving bowl. Pour stir fry ingredients onto the pasta. Mix a little. Add selection of black and green olives, sprinkle of chopped basil and season to taste.
Serve this tasty and unusual warm pasta salad with a tomato and dill salad, boiled potatoes and crusty French-style bread. Wash it all down with a glass of red wine followed by a piece of in-season fresh fruit.
References & Acknowledgments
Excerpts taken from the excellent article ‘Au Natural Pure is Always Best’, Author – Partricia Ann FitBody Magaizene
