The Perfect SuperFood - A South American Grain for Health
Was a staple of the ancient Incas, who called it "the mother grain". It remains an important staple in South America cuisine, as it contains more protein than most other grains. Its delicious flavor makes it a great alternative to rice or couscous as a side dish, and can also be added to vegetables and meat as a main dish.
Quinoa cooks to a light fluffy texture, with a bit of a crunch from the grain's external germ, making this a wonderfully unique grain. Truly versatile, it can be used in soups, salads, breads, puddings or as a breakfast cereal. Most Quinoa today is produced and exported directly from the Bolivia, the smallest in population of all the South American countries.
Quinoa contains more protein than any other grain; an average of 16.2 percent, compared with 7.5 percent for rice, 9.9 percent for millet, and 14 percent for wheat. Some varieties of quinoa are more than 20 percent protein. Quinoa's protein is of an unusually high quality. It is a complete protein, with an essential amino acid balance close to the ideal ... similar to milk! Quinoa's protein is high in lysine, methionine and cystine.
This makes it an excellent food to combine with, and boost the protein value of, other grains (which are low in lysine), or soy (which is low in methionine and cystine). Rich & Balanced Source of Nutrients Besides its unique protein, quinoa also provides starch, sugars, oil (high in essential linoleic acid), fiber, minerals, and vitamins. Easy on the Stomach Quinoa is light, tasty, and easy to digest. It is not sticky or heavy like most other grains, and it has a delicious flavor all its own.
Quick and Simple to Prepare A whole-grain dish of quinoa takes just 15 minutes. Versatile Quinoa can be substituted for almost any grain in almost any recipe. It looks and tastes great on its own, or in any dish from soup to salad.
Perfect for Summertime Many people eat grains only during the colder months, but quinoa's lightness combined with its versatility in cold dishes like salads and desserts makes it an ideal source of good summertime nutrition.
Quinoa is 35 on the *Glycemic Index: A good source for people with wheat and gluten related food allergies as well as senior and diabetic diets. *(Taken from the Glycemic Index in the book ?Eat Yourself Slim' by Michel Montignac).
1. It's a VEGETARIAN solution, a balanced-amino-acid source of high quality protein.
2. It's a SENIOR solution, a high-iron food that raises the hematocrit, delivers more oxygen to the brain, fights senility.
3. It's a DIABETIC and Health Food solution, a very low-glycemic-index cereal type food. Great served with Fresh fruit and splenda and a little cinnamon as replacement to oatmeal.
4. It's a TASTE SOLUTION, quite delicious. It can be made into pilaf and cooked just like rice. In fact one way to add more flavor to the quinoa is to roast or toast the quinoa first in a fry pan with no oil and it makes it add a nut like taste to the grain itself.
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Robert Adams is a Nationally Recognized Personal Trainer as well as the Head Fitness Expert at: http://www.MyHomePersonalTrainer.com
Robert also provides outstanding resource content with his Online Personal Trainer website: http://www.body-perfect-fitness.com
Exercise and Stress
It is no secret that people who exercise regularly feel better, more energetic, and less stressed. . There is plenty of evidence to show that exercise provides stress-relieving benefits. Essentially, there are four ways exercise controls stress.
Exercise can help you relax. Although the actual exercise bout might be strenuous and difficult to execute, actual benefits such as stress reduction, body toning etc. actually occur after the session is over. The immediate post-exercise period helps flush out carbon dioxide and waste products from the various systems. Following a session of exercise, clinicians have measured a decrease in electrical activity of tensed muscles. People feel less jittery and hyperactive after an exercise session.
Exercise can help raise your mood. A good and well-supervised exercise session helps you relax for the next 90 to 120 minutes. This is called post-exercise euphoria or endorphin response, and these 'feel good' chemicals improve your mood and leave you relaxed.
Exercise can make you feel better about yourself. Think about those times when you were physically active. Did you not better about yourself? That feeling of self-worth contributes to stress relief. Physical fitness is a buffer against stress and fit subjects experience less stress than unfit subjects.
Exercise can make you eat better. People who exercise regularly tend to eat more nutritious food and stick to healthy eating habits; this helps your body manage stress better.
To help you get started, here are three types of activities you can choose from. A combination of all 3 is ideal for best results.
1. Aerobic activity. All it takes is 20 minutes' worth, six to seven days a week. Twenty minutes won't carve a big chunk out of your day, but it will improve your ability to control stress significantly. These are good aerobic studios in almost every town. Look for information in local newspapers for spring specials and other discounts.
2. Yoga. In yoga or yoga-type activities, your mind relaxes progressively as your body increases its amount of muscular work. Recent studies have shown that when large muscle groups repeatedly contract and relax, the brain receives a signal to release specific neurotransmitters, which in turn make you feel relaxed and more alert.
3. Recreational sports. Play cricket, football tennis, or badminton on weekends. Cycling and swimming also work well. These games require the kind of vigorous activity that rids your body of stress-causing adrenaline and other hormones.
In addition to the above 'long term solutions', you can also try several techniques to 'calm down' when you feel overly stressed. The following 'short cut stress busters' should be very helpful.
If you are sitting in one position for a prolonged period of time, stand up from the desk and stretch your arms and legs at regular intervals. Shut your eyes and take 20 slow deep breaths.
Listen to soothing music.
Squeeze and release a towel or a rubber ball a few times.
Visualize yourself petting your children, sitting by the balcony watching the sunset, spending the weekend relaxing with family, walking on grass etc
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For more information about these exercises and to get free full color exercise routines, diet plans and grocery lists, visit Best Weight Loss Programs and Toning For Women. You can train with Nitin at the Phone Fitness Trainer website
Strapless Heart Rate Monitor - All the Gain, None of the Pain!
There are pros and cons you must consider when purchasing a
strapless heart rate monitor. As you know, ¡°traditional" heart rate
monitors use a chest strap to take real time heart rate readings and
transmit them to a watch or other recording/display device.
Strapless heart rate monitors, on the other hand, are just what they
say. They did not require the use of a chest strap to give you heart
rate information. They use sensitive electrodes on the face of the
watch upon which the user places his or her fingers to take a
reading.
Wearing a chest strap can be somewhat cumbersome,
uncomfortable, and can slip out of position, leaving you no longer
get any heart rate readings. It is also usually necessary to voice of
the electrodes with something like an electrode cream, water, or
saliva. The main benefit of using a heart rate monitor with a chest
strap is that the readings that you are getting are constant and
immediate.
When using a strapless heart rate monitor, the user has to take
action in order to get a reading. That means if the person is
running, for example, they may need to slow down or stop to place
their fingers on the electrode buttons. Doing that means they have
already lost some of their maximum heart rate as the heart begins
to recover from the effort.
Despite that, the benefits of a strapless heart rate monitor are
many. You don't have the discomfort of wearing a strap (which are
normally made of hard plastic), you don't have to continually
moisten anything, it is easier to get started with your exercise.
You can also wear the unit just as a sports watch or irregular watch,
with the added advantage that you can take your heart rate
measurement at any time throughout the day. If you're sitting in a
meeting, you can quietly monitor your heart rate to ensure you're
not getting too stressed.
Our choice for the best strapless heart rate monitor is the Reebok
Impulse. It's a reasonably priced unit packed with features. Those
features include heart rate measurement, heart rate memory and
recall, and lowest/highest heart rate readings. It also has sports
watch functionality including chronograph, 42 lap memory,
countdown timer, and a pacer mode. You can even use it as a
normal watch because it includes time of day, a daily alarm, the
dual time zone functions.
When making the decision of what type of heart rate monitor to
purchase, consider how you will use it throughout the day. The
benefit of a strapless heart rate monitor is that if you are already
wearing a watch, no extra equipment is necessary to measure your
heart rate. You will find yourself using it more often, because it is
simpler and easier to use than a traditional heart rate monitor with
chest strap.
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Matt Ream is the product manager for strapless heart rate monitors at RYP Sports Inc. He has had a heart beat nearly his entire life.
A strapless heart rate monitor will set you free. You can exercise anywhere and everywhere without the cumbersome hassle of carrying or wearing an uncomfortable strap across your chest. Learn more at http://www.rypsports.com.