Why Should We Observe Cleanliness in Food?

Why Should We Observe Cleanliness in Food?

If food is not fresh or is contaminated due to some outside reasons it can cause us harm, even if it is nutritionally good. Health can be seriously affected if we do not guard ourselves in this respect. We need to follow cleanliness drive with respect to: purity of drinking water, personal cleanliness & kitchen garbage.

Over time, all food stuffs change. Green fruits become ripe, eggs go bad. Enzymes which are naturally present in the food stuff cause complex chemical changes in the food stuff that lead to ripening and then rotting.

Quite often very tiny forms of plant life called microorganisms present in the food stuff naturally bring about these changes. These are three types in nature -- Bacteria, yeasts & moulds. The changes can be both -- desirable and undesirable for our health & wellness.

Some facts about moulds & bacteria:

1 Change of milk to curds due to bacteria
2 Fermentation of various types of flour due to bacteria ( yeast is added to the dough for bread making )
3 Moulds that grow on wet leather shoes as greenish or yellow spots. Moulds on food items are ugly to look at but are not necessarily harmful.
4 Anti-biotic penicillin is made by a certain kind of mould.
5 Moulds are present everywhere in the air; soil & we can not eliminate them.

How do we save our food from going bad / rotting?

Enzymes, bacteria, yeasts & moulds require air, moisture & temperature -- usually somewhere near body temperature of about 37 degrees centigrade to be active.

If one of these three is absent undesirable effects of bacteria, yeasts & moulds can be reduced or eliminated.

All microorganisms can be killed by heat sterilization. This means we can kill microorganisms by boiling our food at high enough temperatures or by deep or shallow frying, roasting or baking. Milk can be sterilized by pasteurizing. After such sterilisations food can be kept in air tight containers or tin & then it can last for a long time.

Certain water content is necessary for microorganisms to be active. Drying in the sun is a simple way to reduce moisture content in the food. This prevents activities of enzymes and micro-organisms in the food material. Mild roasting of food items before storing is another way of preserving food.

Some chemicals also can reduce / eliminate undesirable activities. The addition of salt, acidic substances like vinegar, oil and certain spices or use of sugar syrup are other ways of keeping food from going bad and preserving for a long time.

Heating kills and cold inactivates or freezes the enzymes and micro-organisms. This is what happens in a refrigerator in which fruits, milk, vegetables etc can be kept for a fairly long time.

For meat & fish even lower temperatures, below freezing are required. All foods which are kept at lower temperatures are subjected to spoilage and rotting once they are taken out of refrigerator.

If food is affected by bacteria & micro-organisms, it is better to discard that food. Such a food can be harmful to your body.

Infectious diseases are transferable and hence are more dangerous. Infectious diseases are caused by micro-organisms like bacteria & viruses. These are carried by food, water and milk.

Food contaminations can be prevented with the use of cooking practices like -- drying, canning, pickling etc or devices like refrigerator etc. These are used to prevent or suppress undesirable changes in food. These procedures also destroy most of the undesirable changes in the food stuff.

Milk is a common food item one uses. It requires boiling to keep it sterile. Boiling also helps milk to last longer. Pasteurised milk is sterile in theory but it is a good practice to boil this milk and use it, because of various uncertainties.

Water is another common food item which needs attention. Water should be boiled to ensure that it is devoid of any micro-organisms. One can use water filter also. But filters need to be cleaned / replaced after a certain period. When away from home one can drink bottled water or bottled soft drinks which are safe to drink.

Camping, Hiking and Knowing What Foods to Eat to Keep You Energized

Camping, Hiking and Knowing What Foods to Eat to Keep You Energized

If you're out in the wild on a great camping trip I hope that means that you are leaving the confines of the camp site and making a day of hiking, swimming, fishing, climbing, etc. Camping is a great fitness trip but like all fitness activities your body needs energy to keep going, especially on long activities that your body may not be used to.

That is where food comes in to play. Believe it or not... not all food is created equal, even if calories are.

For example the benefits that come from eating a peanut butter sandwich (on wheat) completely differs from eating a piece of chocolate cake. The cake is called empty calories, you get the calories but get no healthy benefits and though your energy may quickly rise, it will also quickly fall... and all you'll be left with is extra stored fat.

Now for camping and your outdoor fitness activities... there are 3 important times to eat and I will of course start with the first:

What should you eat before exercise?

You want food that are slowly absorbed to give lasting energy that won't spike and quickly fall like the cake example. Foods should combine these three big groups:

* Complex carbs (whole wheat, fruits, veggies)

* Protein (nuts, meats, beans)

* Fiber

Food like: peanut butter sandwich, turkey wrap, nuts, apple and peanut butter just to name a few.

What to eat during activities

Foods that are easily digested, absorbed and easy on the stomach. Energy gels, drinks, and energy bars are great ideas, or homemade trailmix.

Recovery, what to eat when the workout is over?

Your body and muscles are fatigued and need to recovery. The magic muscle recovery food is: Protein, protein and protein. You'll be carving a good hearty meal after your long day out away from the campsite so your body will remind you of its need for rich quality protein. So what are good protein options? Turkey burgers (here's a great camping recipe), grilled chicken, fish, seafood, lean beef, bison, nuts, etc.

When packing food just keep in mind the 3 factors:
portability (apples, bananas and other fruit is great), shelf life, and convenience (are you able to pack it, fix and enjoy it?)

My Person Power Foods, straight from the fitness trainer's mouth:

Whey protein, Powerbars, energy bars, Cliff gels, rice cakes and peanut butter, almonds, apples and pears, whole wheat bread, water, grilled chicken and sweet potatoes, ostrich jerky and energy cubes.

I recommend drinking a protein shake after each big fitness activity you do. It energizes you and feeds the muscle. This is not just a guys drink, even women should have one. Don't worry they wont bulk you up.

For camping, I hope that you are as active as possible and not simply sitting around the fire all day. Hit the trails and burn off some calories, use this time as fitness time for you and you camping group. Just stay energized!

Fruit and Great Health

Fruit and Great Health

While there is life--and fruit--there is hope. When this truth is realised by the laity nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand professors of the healing art will be obliged to abandon their profession and take to fruit-growing for a living.

Many people have heard vaguely of the "grape cure" for diseases arising from over-feeding, and the lemon cure for rheumatism, but for the most part these "cures" remain mere names. Nevertheless it is almost incredible to the uninitiated what may be accomplished by the abandonment for a time of every kind of food in favour of fruit. Of course, such a proceeding should not be entered upon in a careless or random fashion. Too sudden changes of habit are apt to be attended with disturbances that discourage the patient, and cause him to lose patience and abandon the treatment without giving it a fair trial. In countries where the "grape cure" is practised the patient starts by taking one pound of grapes each day, which quantity is gradually increased until he can consume six pounds. As the quantity of grapes is increased that of the ordinary food is decreased, until at last the patient lives on nothing but grapes. I have not visited a "grape cure" centre in person, but I have read that it is not only persons suffering from the effects of over-feeding who find salvation in the "grape cure," but that consumptive patients thrive and even put on weight under it.

The Herald of Health stated, some few years back, that in the South of France where the "grape cure" is practised consumptive patients are fed on grapes alone, and become quite strong and well in a year or two. And I have myself known wonderful cures to follow on the adoption of a fruitarian dietary in cases of cancer, tumour, gout, eczema, all kinds of inflammatory complaints, and wounds that refused to heal.

H. Benjafield, M.B., writing in the Herald of Health, says: "Garrod, the great London authority on gout, advises his patients to take oranges, lemons, strawberries, grapes, apples, pears, etc. Tardieu, the great French authority, maintains that the salts of potash found so plentifully in fruits are the chief agents in purifying the blood from these rheumatic and gouty poisons.... Dr. Buzzard advises the scorbutic to take fruit morning, noon, and night. Fresh lemon juice in the form of lemonade is to be his ordinary drink; the existence of diarrhoea should be no reason for withholding it." The writer goes on to show that headache, indigestion, constipation, and all other complaints that result from the sluggish action of bowels and liver can never be cured by the use of artificial fruit salts and drugs.

Salts and acids as found in organised forms are quite different in their effects to the products of the laboratory, notwithstanding that the chemical composition may be shown to be the same. The chemist may be able to manufacture a "fruit juice," but he cannot, as yet, manufacture the actual fruit. The mysterious life force always evades him. Fruit is a vital food, it supplies the body with something over and above the mere elements that the chemist succeeds in isolating by analysis. The vegetable kingdom possesses the power of directly utilising minerals, and it is only in this "live" form that they are fit for the consumption of man. In the consumption of sodium chloride (common table salt), baking powders, and the whole army of mineral drugs and essences, we violate that decree of Nature which ordains that the animal kingdom shall feed upon the vegetable and the vegetable upon the mineral.

Fruit is a Food.

Until quite recently the majority of English-speaking people have been accustomed to look upon fruit not as a food, but rather as a sweetmeat, to be eaten merely for pleasure, and therefore very sparingly. It has consequently been banished from its rightful place at the beginning of meals. But fruit is not a "goody," it is a food, and, moreover, a complete food. All vegetable foods (in their natural state) contain all the elements necessary to form a complete food. At a pinch human life might be supported on any one of them. I say "at a pinch" because if the nuts cereals and pulses were ruled out of the dietary it would, for most people, be deficient in fat and protein (the flesh and muscle-forming element). Nevertheless, fruit alone will sustain life if taken in large quantities with small output of energy on the part of the person living upon it, as witness the "grape cure." The percentage of proteid in grapes is particularly high for fruit.

Those people who desire to make a fruitarian dietary their daily régime cannot do better than take the advice of O. Hashnu Hara, an American writer. He says: "Every adult requires from twelve to sixteen ounces of dry food,free from water, daily. To supply this a quarter of a pound of shelled nuts and three-quarters of a pound of any dried fruit must be used. In addition to this, from two to three pounds of any fresh fruit in season goes to complete the day's allowance. These quantities should be weighed out ... and will sustain a full-grown man in perfect health and vitality. The quantity of ripe fresh fruit may be slightly increased in summer, with a corresponding decrease in the dried fruit."

Cottage Cheese, a Fitness Food

Cottage Cheese, a Fitness Food

Cottage cheese doesn't seem very palatable to many people. While it is runny and lumpy it's also a great food for both weight loss and building muscle due to it's low fat and high protein content.

Cottage cheese can be made in to recipes as a cheese and dairy substitute like in lasagna, dips, on baked potatoes and in salads. It can also be added in to an egg white omelette, whole grain pasta and low fat desserts, like cottage cheesecake.

If you like the taste (many do!) then eating cottage cheese on its own is an incredibly healthy snack. Add some yogurt for a a more a creamy taste and some fruit for a nutritious but decadent snack.

Nutritional Content

per 4 oz or 113g
Calories- 120 g
Protein- 14g
Fat-5g
Carbohydrates- 3g

There are also low fat and no fat varieties which bring the fat down to 0-1.5g. However, be aware that sugar is added in some low fat varieties to add sweetness to the cheese.

A fantastic lifting site is Stumptuous.com I always find myself going back for the "cottage cheese shrine." Check out the easy and delicious recipes. There is even a recipe to make your own cottage cheese from scratch! The site is geared toward women but like The Men's Health Home Workout Bible, has valuable information for everyone.