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Long before there were vitamins and health supplements available in stores, long before there were even stores to sell them, even, people were using nature to make themselves get better and stay better. Herbal nutrition was figured out long before we were here, and since then, it is surprising that the advancing world moved away from the natural health benefits of living off the land’s offerings and instead began producing and consuming anything and everything not found in nature. To be certain, the most natural, base form of some people’s diets are chemicals produced in processing plants.

Over the centuries, as people’s health has declined and their weight increased, numerous professionals in medicine have tried to develop ways to get human beings healthy again. From this, vitamins, minerals, and various health supplements have been developed and enjoyed much success on the market, but it is no secret that some of these are not the best idea—why would one trying to live a clean lifestyle use factory-produced supplements?

Herbal nutrition has become a new fad, but truly, it is the most basic of ideas, and it existed long before it was “discovered.” For how long have people chosen plants and other naturally occurring elements for medicinal purposes? Forever, that is how long. In fact, many home remedies and other all natural ideas for cleanliness, health, and well being utilize herbs as the only ingredient, and millions of people swear by these choices. For example, green tea leaves are said to promote immune system function, and that is why so many medicines and supplements purport to use green tea as an ingredient.

Likewise, general malaise and fatigue has been known for a very long time to mean that the body is, for lack of a better term, dirty on the inside, and so cayenne pepper, lemons, or just plain water have been used as cleansing agents for the internal workings of the body. Lo and behold, cleanses that are sold in stores utilize these same ingredients. The same can be said for so many other maladies and corresponding remedies that are mass produced and sold in stores across the globe.

Herbal nutrition, then, is known by most and practiced by many, but not necessarily in the most natural form possible. Whether your herbal nutrition comes from your garden or from aisle ten of the supermarket, know that there is a reason that after all of the medicinal advances the world has seen, herbs are still being marketed as the way to make the body healthy. Herbal nutrition is the most natural way to get the human body, an organism that existed and was sustained by the earth for ages, back to nature and back to health.

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Steven Johnson is interested in maintaining a vital, active, and healthy lifestyle. For more info on herbal nutrition please visit Steven’s website

I love to swim. That’s why I swim 3 to 4x’s a week. Problem is I hate being cold. That’s why I dread – yes, every time – even the thought of getting into the pool at 5:45 AM. Even at 82 degrees – brrrrr – that water is cold to me. I know – I’m such a weenie.

I figure it like this. Swimmers fall into two categories: dippers and plungers.

Dippers slowly get used to the water. First one toe, then the other, one foot, then the other, one calf, then the other, up to the waist – you know the drill. Prolonged torture if you ask me. It takes courage to be a dipper. Nope – a dipper I’m not.

One cold toe and I’d skedaddle right back to the locker room with my shivering tail between my legs.

I’m a plunger. No forethought, one deep breath, one dive, one shock and whew – I made it one more time.

Maybe it has something to do with the farm pond we 6 Van Romer kids swam in all summer. It had a dock and a mud bottom, the home for little critters – frogs, turtles, snakes, and who knows what else, real and imagined.

What would you do? Jump from the dock, tucking up your feet so they don’t hit bottom, or sink into the slimy muck one squishy, scary step at a time – waiting for that creepy-crawly to zip up your leg?

Yep – I’m a confirmed plunger.

What are you? A dipper or a plunger? And I’m not talking about swimming now. I’m talking about eating – eating to lose weight, pep you up, and to just feel good about yourself.

And what could be more important than feeling good about you? If you feel good about you, then you can help others feel good about them. See how it goes?

My suggestions work and are simple – I’m a simple kind of girl. I hate cold, but worse than that, I hate complicated. Complicated confuses me.

One simple, uncomplicated suggestion: fill-up up on the “best-for-you” foods first.

And which foods are those? Well, which foods prevent cancer (not to mention diabetes, strokes, heart attacks, digestive problems, and the lingering of too much fat)?

One, two, three. All together now: “Fresh fruits and vegetables.”

Ahhhhh…music to my ears…fruits and vegetables.

Have you ever (EVER) heard that beef, cheese, chicken, turkey, fish, dried-up cereals, eggs, bacon, hamburgers, pizza, pancakes, brown-colored white bread, cheese (oh, did I say that already?), sweets, salty snacks, yogurt, or milk prevent cancer?

No, of course not. So why were we taught as children to fill-up on these foods?

Why weren’t we taught to fill-up on fresh fruits and vegetables – our disease (and weight) warriors and health heroes?

The dippers do this with the fruit-and-vegetable
“ah-ha” moment. They think it and think about it and think about it some more. They read recipes, thumb through books, talk to their spouses, and think about it some more.

They question:

“How come I never knew this?”

“How come no one else ever told me this before?”

“Can this be too simple to be true?”

“Where would I get my protein?”

“Where would I get my calcium?”

“What about the good fats?”

“If I fill-up on fruits and vegetables, how would I have room left for my old, comfort favorites?”
(Bingo - that’s the whole point!)

“Can I really lose weight by eating like this?”

“Do I really want to eat like this?”

After a while, the dippers may venture into the store, buy a few more fruits and vegetables, and try working them into their day. But the details boggle their brains.

And the plungers – well, they just take one flying leap and plunge right in. One minor drawback: sometimes the shock of cold waters sucks the wind right out of them, and they end up scrambling their way out just to catch their breath.

They get too uncomfortable too fast and don’t hang around long enough to get comfortable.

Whether you are a dipper or a plunger or somewhere in between, the most important thing is to just start.

And keep it simple. We’re talking about fruits and vegetables here, not rocket science.

First suggestion: Go to the store. Buy enough fruit to last you a few days. Eat enough whole fruit throughout the morning to satisfy you and fill you up. And yes, you can eat two or three of the same fruits. Eat fruit for snacks as well.

Second suggestion: Go to the store. Buy enough vegetables to make salads with at least 10 different vegetables. Go home. Make a salad big enough to fill you up. Eat at least one big salad every day. Even
better – eat two. Make enough salad at lunch for dinner too.

Will you get hungry in 2 to 3 hours after eating salad for lunch? Absolutely. Real food goes in. Real waste goes out. It’s not supposed to stick around inside you.

So what should you do when you get hungry? Eat! What a novel idea. Staying full and satisfied is key to weight loss and health gain.

Third suggestion: Snack on whole, fresh fruits, vegetables, or raw, unsalted nuts and seeds.

One, two, three. How’s that for simple?

Okay, my friend, there’s the water. No more paralysis with analysis. Grab my hand and let’s go. The last one in is a rotten egg (or rotten carrot as the case may be).

“On your mark, get set, GO!”

Wash, open mouth, bite down, and chew! Repeat. Now admit it – what could be simpler, and better for you, than that?

Dr. Leslie Van Romer is a health motivational speaker, writer, and lifestyle coach. Visit http://www.DrLeslieVanRomer.com for more inspiration.

The sports nutrition that any athlete consumes is a very important aspect and a huge determinant of his health and in turn affects his performance. Everyone knows that in today’s competing world of sports, one must perform at his best to even qualify. And when it comes to winning, it’s not enough to give your best- you need to be better than the best.

To play any sport, an athlete must maintain a healthy lifestyle. It’s not only required to practice and polish the skills of the sport, but is also equally important to nourish the body so that there will be enough energy and strength to play that sport. Let’s take a look at how the right sports nutrition can help in this regard.

You, assuming that you are an athlete or thinking of becoming one, must, first and foremost, understand the principles of sports nutrition completely. What is the point of staying healthy when you do not even know what being healthy is all about?

Firstly, it’s important to avoid engaging yourself in false beliefs and misconceptions. Myths are completely different from facts, and your sports nutrition health is indeed a fact so do not, under any circumstances, mix unreal and unproven principles with facts. Compromising with your health based on misinterpretation of the facts can seriously jeopardize your career as an athlete.

It’s easy to talk about managing your health than actually doing it. So to start with, you must take note of nutrition requirements that are related to your training program. Failure to recognize these said requirements would cause stress not only to your body, but also mentally. When you don’t know what are up against, how can you build energy to tackle it?

Taking experts’ advice on the sports nutrition is helpful too. You might be taking carbohydrates all right but not in the right amount or in the amount that is appropriate for you. So there will either be an excess or a lack, and neither is helpful for your health status.

Let’s make one point clear though. There is a lot of difference between having well balanced sports nutrition and dieting to lose fat. Do not, under any circumstances, mistake them to be the same thing or else your health will be compromised.

You may have an extremely busy schedule, being an athlete and all, but you must still consume appropriate amount of food. So you must manage your time well to have an adequate time for eating. Time management is definitely the key.

For starters, you may not be financially stable right away, but that is how it always is when you are just beginning. However, this scarcity of finances might be a factor for you not to be able to attain adequate food supplies.

For those who are already making it big, your sports nutrition health should always come first. This means you have to manage your money efficiently so that you can have the appropriate supply of food, and still have enough to spend for maintaining your lifestyle.

A usually ignored, but quite important nutrition and health impairing factor is frequent traveling. Besides from the fact that traveling is expensive, it comes with a huge tendency that you will be taking your food on the road which leaves you with very few healthy choices.

Or if you carry the food, it minimized the selection of your food items to those that are portable. That will leave out the food that is difficult for you to carry but is important for your sports nutrition health. The time for eating should also not be modified.

Sports nutrition experts break the nutrition into the basic three types that the food basically is made up of. That is protein, carbohydrates and fats. A correct balance of these components in your body is very important. Anything in excess or in deficiencies could be a cause of a nutritional downfall.

Proteins give energy to the body. Whereas fats are the things that you should be more concerned about since these are the ones that decide what kind of shape to give to your body. You must not lose more than one half pound of fat in a week because if this happens, your body will individually think that you are undergoing a fasting, trying to starve yourself. If this is the case, your metabolism slows down since there is a need to conserve calories that have been used and also since your muscles will be used as sources of energy.

To say the least, you need to carefully follow the guidance about sports nutrition and ponder over the tips given in this article. Remember, it’s possible to be a successful athlete provided you maintain your health well!

Discover the proper sports nutrition information and learn how to improve your nutritional diet and sporting performace by reading a free sport nutrition information book at sports nutrition books. More article on the various aspects to sports nutrition can be found at help on sport nutrition programs

These days, with the evolution of the whole extreme sports concept, the topic of sports nutrition has also gained a lot of importance and attention from the sportsmen as well as from the media. The professional sportsmen performing in extreme sports hold an elevated status in society and this realization has pushed lots of initiatives to produce the latest and most effective in sports nutrition.

During the old days, athletes have relied steadily on the carefree formula of fast-food fare and energy drinks. Not much of a research was carried out on the requirements of sport nutrition at that time.

Now that competition is growing more and more intense each day, athletes are now acquiring the expertise of sports science experts to make sure that they can maximize their physical and mental potentials to its outmost limits and perform at their best.

To illustrate the efficiency and significance of extreme sports nutrition, let’s take an example of the motorcycle sports, which is one of the most popular extreme sports around.

A motorcycle rider, among other skills, needs to exhibit a lot of courage as he takes in a lot of punishment in his body. Because of this, a rider must consider his overall physical fitness as much as his technical skills in competitions. Establishing adequate hydration levels and keeping the physical stamina is a must in order to keep up with the rigors of the motorcycle events.

Forget winning, it is not really easy even to participate and survive in a 20-30 minute contest under the most brutal conditions, such as shocks from the bumps and extreme heat. Managing and overcoming severe heat is one of the most difficult factors in any kind of sport.

In a typical motorcycle contest, if one monitors the vital signs of the athletes, one can easily observe that their heart-rates perform at the maximum level and their body tries its best to cope up with the demand of the situation.

Since motorcycling sport involves competing in adverse surroundings under very extreme temperatures, sports nutrition is a major concern for this sport. Thermoregulation and hydration naturally are the major concerns.

Riders are faced with almost no time to hydrate themselves because a typical motorcycle event lasts about only 20-45 minutes. It is very important then that motorcycle riders monitor their consumption of fluids closely days before the competition, paying close attention to those days when practices are held up to the qualifying rounds during the weekend before the main event.

Days before the competition itself, riders must take fluid, especially water, consistently in order to achieve and maintain a steady hydration level prior to the main event.

Besides water, it’s the sports drinks that must be used during competition. Sports drinks must come in handy and must be stocked to make them available all throughout the race weekend. Sports drinks with electrolytes like sodium and with carbohydrates are particularly recommended. Carbohydrates will aid greatly in putting off the occurrence of a rider’s fatigue.

Probably one of the most vital elements for the regimen is the amount of sodium present in the drinks. Those sports drinks which have a high percentage of sodium in them, can replenish the sodium that will be lost with the rider’s sweat during the competition. Another advantage of sodium is that, it enhances the thirst of the body and in turn makes the cyclist take more fluids during the course of the competition.

Motorcycle riders involved in heavy competition should strive to consume 20-40 ounces of liquid every hour during his time at the racetrack and must continue drinking about 20 ounces per hour after the track session. To effectively monitor hydration levels of a rider, he can weigh himself on the scales every morning and do so again after every session.

Two percent of the total body weight, and not more than that, should be eliminated, and it muse be replaced with 150 percent of the water reduced on that day in order to achieve maximum performance for next day’s session.

The human body is composed of up to sixty percent with water. A slight decrease in fluids can already have an effect on an athlete’s performance, specifically on the force capability of the muscles.

The stamina and hydration levels in the body form the basis for fine performance in any motocross championship. And the one, who strikes off a perfect balance of fluids, nutrition and water in his intake, can manipulate and maneuver his bike at very high levels, even at the most stressful of situations.

That’s why it’s extremely important for athletes to not to overlook the aspect of drinking water and other fluids in their sports nutrition. It is that crucial factor that can make or break a rider’s road to victory.

To find out more about sports nutrition and pick up a free book that will help you to learn more about having a proper sports nutritional diet visit: help on sports nutrition. Read more articles and get more resources on sports nutrition by visiting advice on bodybuilding supplements

Endurance sports are those type of sports in which sportsmen are required to produce prolonged athletic output over a long period of time. Usually such sports are very aerobic in nature.

Obviously, for such sports, you need right nutrition to match the athlete’s diet needs. This article provides you with nutrition information that is coupled with very useful details. Endurance sports nutrition together with customized eating plans ensure that the food that you choose will keep you going on before, during and after various competitions.

A remarkable and very well-known author, Suzanne Girard Eberle, MS, RD, is a registered dietician who has her specialty in sports nutrition. She too, understands the importance of endurance sports nutrition because she, herself, is an elite endurance athlete. She tells us all about how endurance sports nutrition works, and how it is supposed to be consumed in right amount during training and also during actual sports.

One of the most comprehensive books of its kind is the prescriptive book written by this endurance athlete, slash dietician. It includes tried and tested advice and suggestions from different endurance athletes who are at the top of their sports.

If you want to find more information and get advice, there are various websites where you can post your questions, if not directly talk to some of the best sportspersons.

For instance, you can avail assistance from Karen Smyers, a triathlete. She is a triathlete, so she knows facts about endurance thrice better than what others do.

Another famous sportsman is the marathon runner Keith Brantly. Everybody knows running for long hours is tough. But you will know that it’s actually the easier part. Compared to sustaining the pain that grows in your legs that is not.

You can also try to have your questions answered by the world-known marathon swimmer Tobie Smith. Having endurance sports nutrition during swimming is very important because in swimming, you need to exhibit a lot of energy to overcome two different pressures, pressure under the water and the atmospheric pressure.

And last, but certainly not the least, is the cyclist Kerry Ryan. Cycling is similar to running in regards to the movement of the legs and the endurance of the pain that grow in your legs.

However, you have to be a master of balance to be able to pull cycling off. All of these world-class athletes will happily and obligingly share their knowledge with absolute right because of their many years of training and competing against the world’s best.

There are many kinds of sports where endurance sports nutrition can help you maximize your performance. Endurance sports nutrition can help you a great deal in running. As mentioned above, running is the easy part; it is enduring the pain that is constantly present in your lower extremities that you need to endure.

In triathlons, you have to take note of sustaining through the three stages of sport. So endurance sports nutrition is definitely handy if you want to be able to move on to the next stage and not faint in one of the first stages.

The endurance in swimming is not like any other. Why? It is because, like told before, there are two kinds of pressure that you need to think about. There is, first, the pressure that you experience under the water, plus the atmospheric water. So whether you put your face under water or you turn your head out of the water to breathe in some air, the cramps and the pain caused by the pressure should be endured.

In case of rowing, all that matters is the upper body strength. Off course, it also involves coordination with your teammates, especially mind and arms coordination, but if you are weak with your upper body, then rowing is definitely not the right sport for you. Your hands will probably just suffer bruises from your firm grips on the oars, but you arms are the ones that should have high endurance. Endurance sports nutrition can definitely help you survive the boat ride.

Cycling, as we know, is not much different from running. Your legs experience most of the pain, and you have to endure the pain that is constant on your lower extremities. But this time, there is also the balance to think of. And for those who have a hard time balancing, enduring cycling is very hard. So this is where endurance sports nutrition comes in.

Endurance sports nutrition is there to help athletes like you, to become more energetic and resourceful during endurance sports. Remember, more than skills, it’s your endurance that can improve your performance after a certain time. So, stop thinking and get moving with the endurance sports nutrition!

Get your free book on sports nutrition and discover what you can be doing right now to improve your sporting performance. Get it now at: help for sports nutritionist education. To read more articles on sports nutrition visit about sports nutrition

If you’re rushing to eat your meals, there is a good chance you are making it easier to consume extra calories and making it more difficult to lose weight.

Eat slowly from start to finish. Take at least 20 minutes to enjoy your meals and you will avoid the speed-eating trap that’s been your ticket to overeating and weight gain.

The following tips will help you avoid speed-eating:

Rate your hunger: Ask yourself if you want to eat because you’re hungry. If your not hungry, keep your self busy, go for a walk, drink a glass of water, journal your thoughts why you want to overeat or do all the above.

Sit when you eat: When you sit down for a meal it helps you focus, relax and slow down your eating.

Use a smaller plate: Always eat from a small plate. When serving yourself on a smaller plate, fill half with vegetables and fruit, and the remainder with whole grains and lean protein foods if you’re still hungry after your meal eat a 2nd serving of vegetables or fruits.

Chew your food thoroughly: Chewing your food well (chew each bite at least 20 times) and enjoy the flavors, sensations and texture it brings you. When you savor your food you’ll get more satiety and satisfaction from each meal.

Beware the sabotage: If you have friends and relatives who make you feel uncomfortable when you eat slowly in their presence. Feel good about what you are doing to take care of yourself, and don’t let them make you feel anxious or you’ll end up overeating like they do. Set a good example and soon they will follow your lead but don’t become the Food Police to them.

Don’t get caught speeding. By slowing down and focusing on your meal, you will give your body time to sense that it’s full before you overeat.

Eat slowly and you’ll find that you eat less and enjoy your meals and the bonus is you will manage your weight easier.

Nelson Roque is a Fitness/Body Mind Weight Loss Mentor who has lost 75 lbs; he is also a sports nutritionist who focuses on total body well-being.

For more information please visit the following website for daily inspiration and motivation to get your journey of a healthy active lifestyle started.

http://www.theweightingroom.com

If you have any questions, concerns or need help with getting motivated / inspired you may contact me at nelson@theweightingroom.com

It’s almost impossible anymore to pick up an item in the grocery store and not find some form of corn syrup listed among the ingredients. Corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, corn syrup solids, glucose syrup, and fructose are all forms of corn syrup or its derivatives. What is this love affair manufacturers have with corn syrup? Is it just a sweetener or does it serve other purposes as well?

Answers.com describes the many places you will find corn syrup: “Corn syrup is one of several natural sweeteners derived from corn starch. It is used in a wide variety of food products including cookies, crackers, catsups, cereals, flavored yogurts, ice cream, preserved meats, canned fruits and vegetables, soups, beers, and many others. It is also used to provide an acceptable taste to sealable envelopes, stamps, and aspirins. One derivative of corn syrup is high fructose corn syrup, which is as sweet as sugar and is often used in soft drinks. Corn syrup may be shipped and used as a thick liquid or it may be dried to form a crystalline powder.”

Corn syrup consists mainly of glucose. It is only about 75% as sweet as table sugar (sucrose), which is about a 50-50 mix of glucose and fructose. Because corn syrup lacks the full sweetness of sugar, it is often paired with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which has a fructose-to-glucose ratio that is almost identical to sugar. Often HFCS is used alone as a sugar substitute.

What other roles does corn syrup play besides that of a sweetener? One purpose is as a thickening agent, such as in relishes. Another is as a humectant (moistener), extending the freshness and shelf life of baked goods and other products. Additionally, it does not crystallize as easily as sugar, making it preferable over sugar for frostings and jams. It also helps keep the ice crystals off ice cream and other frozen desserts, makes jam taste fresher, and provides a sweet balance to sour ingredients.

All of these reasons are great for food manufacturers-they are able to manufacture foods that taste fresher, last longer, and are cheaper to make than foods with sugar in them. Why? Because corn is cheaper than sugar in the United States. (Perhaps you’ve noticed just how expensive sugar is on a recent trip to the grocery store.)

Why is corn cheaper than sugar? Government subsidies and tariffs. The U.S. government has placed high tariffs on imported sugar and massively subsidizes the U.S. corn industry. There is no free market economy at work here; it has been highly tampered with. Guess who benefits? The big guys in the corn industry, who just happen to make massive campaign contributions, but that is another story.

Many people are quick to blame the current obesity epidemic on the prevalence of corn syrup and HFCS in the American diet. This is in part due to a scientific paper written in 2004 by Barry M. Popkin, a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and George A. Bray, a professor of medicine at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Lousiana, which noted a remarkable surge in obesity in Americans that paralleled an increased use of HFCS by food manufacturers. However, in a July 2, 2006 NY Times article entitled “A Sweetener with a Bad Rap” Popkin was quoted as saying “It was a theory meant to spur science, but it’s quite possible that it may be found out not to be true. …I don’t think there should be a perception that high-fructose corn syrup has caused obesity until we know more.”

It is more accurate to say that Americans are consuming much more “sugar” (including corn syrup and HFCS) than a generation ago. Soft drink consumption alone has quintupled since 1980, and it is difficult to find a soft drink in America that is not sweetened with HFCS. Most consumers are likely unaware of how much corn syrup they really consume. As Americans continue to cook less at home and eat more prepared food, they are consuming more foods that even a generation ago did not contain any or at least as much corn syrup and HFCS. A manufacturer may add corn syrup to its product for a reason other than sweetening, but the result is still higher amounts of sugar and calories, and that is what fuels obesity.

For a more thorough discussion of the history and manufacturing of corn syrup, see www.answers.com/topic/corn-syrup. Other websites with more information about corn syrup include www.karosyrup.com/faq.asp and www.ochef.com/362.htm. For more information about tariffs and subsidies see www.answers.com/topic/agricultural-subsidy. To read the NY Times article see www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/business/yourmoney/02syrup.html?ex=1309492800&en=49fdce8d3bd886c5&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss.

Eric Thorn, a successful businessman, highly recommends the all natural Zija Moringa Beverage, 100% organic with vitamins, minerals & essential amino acids. Learn more about Zija visit http://www.zijapower.com

A by-no-means-exhaustive search on the internet regarding “processed food” turns up some very divergent and controversial information and opinions on the subject. One camp eschews any kind of processed food; the other touts the safety and convenience of it.

What is processed food? Wikipedia describes “processed food” as any food that is changed from its natural, raw state. Did you peel your banana before you ate it? Cut your apple into slices? Stir-fry your dinner vegetables? Scramble your egg? You just processed your food by that definition. Following are common food processing techniques listed in the Wikipedia entry:

* “Removal of unwanted outer layers, such as potato peeling or the skinning of peaches

* Chopping or slicing, of which examples include potato chips, diced carrot, or candied peel.

* Mincing and macerating

* Liquefaction, such as to produce fruit juice

* Emulsification

* Cooking, such as boiling, broiling, frying, steaming or grilling

* Mixing

* Addition of gas such as air entrainment for bread or gasification of soft drinks

* Proofing

* Spray drying”

Under that broad of a definition, nearly every food we eat is processed. However, most of us tend to define processed food in a much narrower sense. For us, “processed food” is food which has been chemically altered through additives such as flavors, flavor enhancers, binders, colors, fillers, preservatives, stabilizers, emulsifiers, etc., or which has been manufactured through combination or other methods. Generally speaking, if the ingredients aren’t “natural”, then we consider it to be processed.

If you want to make yourself totally paranoid about your food (and that’s not too hard to do), there is plenty of information out there spelling out all the horrors that await you from eating processed food: the cancers and diseases you will get from the dioxins and thousands of other toxic chemicals; the shorter life span you will have; the damage you personally are inflicting upon our planet through your consumption of processed food, etc. There is no shortage of Chicken Littles running around squawking about the sky falling. And, to some extent, they’re right. The chemicals in our food and our environment are certainly not doing us any favors.

But are things really as bad as they make them out to be? The truth is, processing has made the world’s food supply much safer to eat, and has made the storage of food a much healthier and more viable option. Processing kills pathogens, and extends the shelf life of food. Were there to be a food shortage or even a famine, shelf items are going to keep you alive a lot longer than raw food, which will be rotten within a few days. Processing had made it possible to transport food to famine-stricken areas, thus helping to relieve suffering worldwide. Processing even increases the bioavailability of some nutrients, such as lycopene, found in tomatoes.

Despite these benefits, a diet exclusive in processed foods will almost certainly lead to disease. Our bodies are designed to eat natural, raw foods; there’s no doubt about that. Raw foods contain beneficial enzymes and nutrients that are destroyed through processing. Just because a pill contains the “nutrients” of a whole shopping list of vegetables doesn’t mean our bodies get the same benefit as eating the vegetables themselves. Nutrients, enzymes, and other components of the foods we eat work synergistically. We really don’t know how well they work when they’re isolated from each other, or when we ingest synthetic versions.

We should eat as many raw foods as we can daily. Adding fresh fruits and vegetables to our meals and snacks is an easy way to accomplish this. However, a totally vegan diet is just not feasible for most people. Time and resources are often strong opponents to good health. Additionally, there is not enough raw food for everybody to suddenly adopt veganism, nor would everybody want to. We must each find the proper balance that works for us.

Eliminating all processed food is probably not going to happen for most of us. But we can make better food choices and supplement our diets with missing components. We can opt for the apple over the apple juice. We can choose a baked potato or salad over french fries. We can choose whole-grain bread over the white fluff that is passed off as bread. We can take the time to read food labels. Chances are, if you can’t pronounce it, you shouldn’t be eating it. We can choose processed foods with a very short list of ingredients; the longer the list, the more processing involved, and the more nutrition lost.

Our bodies are amazing organisms, capable of extraordinary things. They are designed to filter out toxins at an astounding rate. They have a highly sophisticated defense system. They have an amazing ability to recover from serious damage. The key lies in providing our bodies with the necessary building blocks to accomplish what they were designed to do-to keep us alive!

Eric Thorn, a successful businessman, highly recommends the all natural Zija Moringa Beverage, 100% organic with vitamins, minerals & essential amino acids. Learn more about Zija visit http://www.zijapower.com

The USDA reports that Americans ingest an average of 20 teaspoons of sugar (caloric sweeteners such as table sugar and corn syrup) per day-twice the suggested limit. Huge increases in sugar consumption in recent decades can likely be linked to the proliferation of corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup as sweeteners. (Nearly all processed foods contain at least one of these, largely due to their cheaper cost than table sugar and their ease of use in the food manufacturing processes.)

As public awareness of the harmful effects of sugar and corn syrup has increased, we have begun to look for ways to cut back on the sugar and corn syrup. However, we are a culture that loves our sweets. We still want to have our cake and eat it too, so to speak. Artificial sweeteners enjoyed popularity for awhile, but as evidence has mounted regarding their dangers, consumers are looking for healthier natural sweeteners.

Health-minded people often turn to fruit juice-sweetened products (such as juices, jams, and cookies) as a “healthier” alternative to those sweetened with sugar or corn syrup. It is generally assumed that if it’s from fruit juice, it must be healthier, and that’s an image food manufacturers aren’t likely to argue with. However, what you see on the ingredient list is not necessarily what you get. In fact, much of the commercially used fruit juice concentrate (apple, pear, and white grape being the most popular) should hardly qualify as such.

Fruit juice concentrates come in different forms. Most people are familiar with frozen juice concentrates that people buy for reconstitution at home. Additionally, most juices you find on the shelves are reconstituted from concentrate. Juice concentration involves evaporating most of the water out of the juice, leaving most of the flavor, color and nutrients behind. Water is then added back in to reconstitute the juice. Concentrated juices are easier to store and have a longer shelf life as well. Not much to argue with there.

However, to make fruit juice concentrate into a production-friendly sweetener, it has to go through a lengthy and expensive process called “stripping”. As the name implies, everything is stripped out of the juice: vitamins, minerals, color, flavor, etc. Then it goes through a deionization process similar to the one that turns cornstarch into corn syrup.

What’s left is essentially glucose syrup-sugar water that looks and behaves a lot like corn syrup. It is sweet, but it is colorless, flavorless, and doesn’t alter the pH of whatever is being sweetened, all of which are highly desirable in the manufacturing process. Although it no longer resembles anything close to a fruit juice concentrate, thanks to loopholes in the FDA’s guidelines it is still considered a fruit juice concentrate. Marketers can still put “100% juice” or “no sugar added” on the package.

How can you tell if the product you buy has stripped juice concentrate or not? Manufacturers are not required to disclose how much of their juice concentrates are stripped, so there really is no effective way to know. However, a good rule of thumb is this-if you can’t taste the fruit it has been concentrated from, then the concentrate has probably been stripped. The next time you reach for that raspberry juice blend, whose primary ingredient is pear juice from concentrate, you can pretty much guarantee that the pear juice has been stripped to remove the pear flavor.

If you buy fruit juice-sweetened products thinking that they won’t affect blood sugar like table sugar does you are wrong. Stripped concentrates are nothing more than sugar syrup and have the same effect. They are absorbed just as quickly into the bloodstream and metabolized the same way. Add to that the complete lack of nutritional value and you’ve leveled the playing field with table sugar.

Are you really doing yourself a favor by choosing fruit juice concentrates over other sweeteners? Probably not. Sugar is still sugar, even if it goes by a healthier name.

Eric Thorn, a successful businessman, highly recommends the Zija Moringa Beverage as an all-natural healthy beverage. Visit http://www.zijapower.com to learn more about Zija.