Possibly the best fruit on earth

I haven’t eaten any banana for a while since my mom suffers from diabetes. But yesterday I stumbled upon a good read about Chiquita bananas and it went off to a research-spree on banana nutrition facts. I know I’m obsessed with facts & statistic. I think being a former math teacher (for kindergarten🙂) I somehow acquired the habit of researching whatever I find. The afternoon turned out to be quite productive as I discovered many things new about bananas.

Reduce pain from menstrual cramps

As a matter of fact, bananas reduce pain from cramps as it’s rich in vitamin B6. This particular element also helps regulate blood glucose level. Now think about it I have to ask the doctor why my mom shouldn’t eat bananas.

Make you calm

This is probably why all the tennis players eat bananas during their break (I love tennis btw). Containing tryptophan, serotonin and norepinephrine, bananas help fight depression and balance your mood.

Protection from HIV!!!

This comes as a surprise to me. But apparently

, a lectin protein called BanLec can bind HIV-infected cells and help prevent them from replicating and transmitting. Awesome!

Baby Food

Bananas are considered the perfect food for your baby when he/she started eating solid food.

You are eating hands & finger (Ewh!)

When you eat bananas you are eating hands & fingers of a berry. Fact: bananas don’t grow on trees, they are classified as tree-like perennial herb. A single banana is a finger while a bunch of them is a hand. Pretty funny though.

Smokers’ best friend

Since bananas are high in potassium and magnesium, bananas help smokers recovering from nicotine withdrawal.

Those are the pretty interesting stuff I found about bananas. You can actually find the aforementioned info and more HERE. I will probably start eating more bananas from now on! It’s Paleo too.

Paleo Criticism

Indeed, there has been number of criticism towards Paleo. Some even go the extent of calling this diet a “scam” or “fear mongering”. So is there any truth towards these claims? I can give you a firm “NO” for the answer. Those who started these claims are often ignorant about the benefits and underlying concept of Paleo, or just try the diet for 2 weeks and declare that it’s useless.

Here are some of the common criticism that you will likely come across:

Cavemen only lives half as long as modern people. So Paleo is nonsense.

Yes, it’s true that cavemen only short-lived. But they died mostly because of external causes like extreme weather condition, predatory threats, natural disaster and such. They don’t die because of diabetes, cancer and many other chronic diseases. Modern people wouldn’t live half as long in the same condition. Secondly, medical advancement has been able to keep our lifespan longer. That doesn’t necessarily mean that our quality of life has improved.

Paleo is just another low-carb diet which will be harmful to your health in long term.

Essentially, Paleo is not a low or zero-carb diet like Atkins. Carb counting is not part of this diet. It focuses on removing the harmful carb in excessive amount. You still get enough carb from veggies and fruits. The aim of Paleo diet is to adjust our diet to how our body is supposed to eat for over 100,000 years. It will increase the overall energy level and improve immune system which will be beneficial in long term.

There are many other claims that critic the Paleo way, but trust me, you don’t want to believe those. And what’s better than try it yourself and see the actual result. I was able to get awesome result for this with this diet and so many people, it could be your turn now. Oh, and in case you want to convince someone to go Paleo this discussion offers some good tips

Paleo Recipe Book

My friend Mary introduced me to Paleo Recipe Book by Sebastien Noel when I asked her about what’s sort of Paleo diet she was following. Mary is a fitness trainer and had some great success with Paleo.

I went to the website to the website and I was hooked. It has 370 recipes for god sake. That’s a lot to play around with. I did further research and found this awesome Paleo Recipe Book Review. I then went ahead and bought it last night at $27 and here’s the breakdown:

– 370 Recipes with Full Photos. I just love recipes as I know what’s my end result gonna be.

– A 8 Week Plan + Herb & Spices Guide: perfect for those who just started Paleo. You can follow along the plan without having to go through all the recipes to see which ones are fit for you.

– Another 30 quick & simple Paleo Meal Cookbook

– Paleo Dessert Cookbook. I think my daughter will love this stuff when she’s … old enough J There are all sort of things like dark-chocolate, pies, muffin. All made from raw materials.

Another thing I like is that I can download the whole thing immediately after purchase versus having to wait for it to show up in my mailbox. My husband just bought me an iPad for my birthday for my blogging. So here goes another way I can utilize this little device, as I know full well that I don’t use it that much due to my limitation in technical stuff.

Back to the Recipe book. If you read my previous post, that’s the recipe from this cookbook, Crockpot Beef and Sweet Potato Stew, and it was delicious. (I have checked with them that this recipe is part of the preview that they allow users to post.) My husband loved it! I think Lucy (my daughter’s name) could smell it, that’s why she looked so funny

I think this was a far better start than I expected. Will give it another go for dinner tomorrow, as I will be having lunch outside while Lucy is taken care of by Grandma.

Crock pot Beef and sweet potato stew

A nice and healthy beef stew that will cook for about 8 hours in your crock pot, leaving a wonderful scent in the kitchen 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1 lb beef chuck or other stewing cut, cut into 1-inch cubes;
• 3 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes;
• 2 garlic cloves, minced;
• A pinch of all spices;
• 1 cinnamon stick;
• 1 large onion, cut into chunks;
• 1 bay leaf;
• 1 can (28 oz) tomatoes;
• 8 dried apricots; cut in half;
• Chopped parsley for garnishing;
• Cooking fat;
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste;

Preparation:

1. Heat a skillet over a medium heat, season the beef cubes to taste with salt and pepper and brown them on all sides with some cooking fat in the hot skillet

2. Place the browned beef, sweet potatoes, garlic, cinnamon stick, onion, tomatoes, garlic and all-spice in a crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours, until the beef is fork tender.

3. Add the dried apricots, if using, and cook, covered, for another 20 minutes, until the apricots are soft.

4. Remove the bay leave and the cinnamon stick and serve, sprinkled with chopped parsley

ENJOY 🙂

What is Paleo Diet and How does it benefit you?

Many consider Paleo diet is the healthiest way to stay strong, lean and energetic. But what is exactly a Paleo diet and how does it benefit you?  In this article, I will attempt to give you a concrete answer to that answer and the best way you can go about Paleo diet.

What is Paleo Diet?

The Paleo diet has been called caveman or cavewoman diet, and for good reason. Another common name for Paleo is hunter gatherer meal.

It bases on the notion that we should eat the way our ancestors eat. The theory is that human body is not genetically designed for and/or has not changed to adapt to stuff like whole grain, dairy, sugar, added salt, artificial drinks and whole lots of other processed foods. In fact, these things did not even exist until the introduction of agriculture.

Our ancestors had the same dietary approach for thousands of years – foods that are available and provided by nature. The obtained food through hunting and gathered fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds which available over the course of the year. Research indicates that they were very healthy, were taller, more active and had bigger brains. Although their life span is generally shorter, but it’s mostly due to the external causes like extreme weather, infections and predatory animals.

Chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, obesity, heard disease and many other conditions that we suffer today did not exist back then. These sicknesses are direct consequences of civilization and agriculture revolution: Our lifestyle has messed up our genetic makeup.  We consume way too much carbohydrates and fast, while the level of protein is not enough. Our dietary also has four times less omega-3 fatty acids compared to our ancestor. Take a look at the below table:

Bottom line, Paleo diet concept may seem new to us, but has existed throughout the course of humanity. It’s the eating pattern of our ancestors, the ancient hunter gatherer.

The Benefits of Paleo Diet

Here is a quick list of health benefits of a Paleo lifestyle:

• Increased energy throughout the day
• Improved sleep quality
• More efficient workouts
• Reduced allergies
• Clearer and smoother skin
• Anti-inflammatory
• Burn off stored fats
• Stronger immune system

… and whole lot more. All these will contribute to a healthier lifestyle and reduced risk of diseases.

Paleo diet is also very effective on weight loss, since it reduces the amount of carbohydrate intake while supplying the boy with only healthy fat. Furthermore, Paleo is also proven to reduce blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels. So most of the health problems that we are struggling with are caused by the way we have been eating. Paleo tackles the root cause of these issues and restore the balance of your lifestyle.

How to go about Paleo diet

The problem you might be facing with a Paleo diet is that we are so used to eating grains and dairy products; we don’t know how to cook a healthy meal that tastes good. People often say that what can I cook if I can’t eat grain?

Fortunately, there are many good cookbook out there giving you detail instruction on how to cook a tasty yet healthy diet that’s strictly comply to Paleo. For instance, the Paleo Recipe Book by Sebastien is packed with 370 recipes and other informative material like the 8 week plan for Paleo newbie.

It really comes down to whether you really want to make a positive change to your lifestyle and perhaps your family’s lifestyle. I do, and I think you do too. So the best thing is to make the commitment and take action.