Year of 2022
Christmas 2022
2- Eliminating Refined sugar from our diet
All over the world researches show any added refined sugar in our food is dangerous for our health. I know many people whose uncontrolled consumption of sugar in youth turned into a sugar addiction in the years to come.
I saw these people faced many health problems starting with, obesity, declining in memory, pancreatic diseases, liver damage, arterial inflammation, advanced diabetes; therefore, quality of their life decreased at an early age.
I read somewhere that men shouldn’t consume more than 9 teaspoon and women shouldn’t consume more than 6 teaspoon of added sugar a day. This is very hard to control in busy life, in my opinion since many natural foods have already has sugar in some form, we can avoid these health risks by eliminating food that contain refined sugar which is only an unnecessary calorie for the body and have no essential nutrition value.
Fresh fruit and vegetables, complex carbohydrates contain glucose, fructose along with fiber besides containing potassium and other vitamins. Dairy food naturally has lactose. Grain bread naturally has maltose besides protein, fiber and iron.
When we feel thirsty water is the best option. Apple is another good choice as it is both sweet and fiber containing, as well as meeting water needs.
But this is the only the first step.
I actually, suggest you cook/bake at home and use your healthier ingredients in your cooking or baking.
As a few examples, we can bake energy bars with figs or dates, make our own pudding with chia seed and milk, our salad dressings with olive oil, lemon- apple cider vinegar and herbs.
That is what I try to do in my cooking. You may find the recipe not sweet enough or a little different taste when you try one of my recipes. That is expected because I use brown sugar or honey in almost all my baking, or if recipe needs an absolute white sugar than I decrease the amount of sugar significantly.
Believe me, if you decrease your sweetening ingredient in your baking, and completely ignore the refine sugar added products for a while, you won’t be able to enjoy this type of food anymore because it will taste too sweet to you.
It is a Holiday season and we all deserve to satisfy our sweet tooth after a yearlong challenge of our routine life. In a way healthy living is a choice. Please be aware and Bake/ Cook at home with your preferred ingredients. I am sure you may create much healthier and enjoyable goods for you and for your family!
Happy Holidays 2022 To Every one of you and a Happy and a Healthy New Year 2023
I saw these people faced many health problems starting with, obesity, declining in memory, pancreatic diseases, liver damage, arterial inflammation, advanced diabetes; therefore, quality of their life decreased at an early age.
I read somewhere that men shouldn’t consume more than 9 teaspoon and women shouldn’t consume more than 6 teaspoon of added sugar a day. This is very hard to control in busy life, in my opinion since many natural foods have already has sugar in some form, we can avoid these health risks by eliminating food that contain refined sugar which is only an unnecessary calorie for the body and have no essential nutrition value.
Fresh fruit and vegetables, complex carbohydrates contain glucose, fructose along with fiber besides containing potassium and other vitamins. Dairy food naturally has lactose. Grain bread naturally has maltose besides protein, fiber and iron.
When we feel thirsty water is the best option. Apple is another good choice as it is both sweet and fiber containing, as well as meeting water needs.
But this is the only the first step.
I actually, suggest you cook/bake at home and use your healthier ingredients in your cooking or baking.
As a few examples, we can bake energy bars with figs or dates, make our own pudding with chia seed and milk, our salad dressings with olive oil, lemon- apple cider vinegar and herbs.
That is what I try to do in my cooking. You may find the recipe not sweet enough or a little different taste when you try one of my recipes. That is expected because I use brown sugar or honey in almost all my baking, or if recipe needs an absolute white sugar than I decrease the amount of sugar significantly.
Believe me, if you decrease your sweetening ingredient in your baking, and completely ignore the refine sugar added products for a while, you won’t be able to enjoy this type of food anymore because it will taste too sweet to you.
It is a Holiday season and we all deserve to satisfy our sweet tooth after a yearlong challenge of our routine life. In a way healthy living is a choice. Please be aware and Bake/ Cook at home with your preferred ingredients. I am sure you may create much healthier and enjoyable goods for you and for your family!
Happy Holidays 2022 To Every one of you and a Happy and a Healthy New Year 2023
Autumn 2022
1-What is a good fat and why do we need it?
We need to know the type of the fat that we consume everyday.
The -good fat- is monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. They are good for the heart, balancing Lipid panel (level of total cholesterol, lower LDL, increase HDL)
We can count, avocado, dark chocolate, nuts, olive oil, flax seed, chia seed, hemp seed, among vegetable good fat and fatty fishes, moderately consumed eggs among the animal good fat food sources.
Good fat is essential as an energy source and to support the cell function, also they help absorbing certain nutrients in our body to produce hormones.
For brain health good fat plays a basic role too. Proper amount of omega 3 fatty acids are important learning and memory. However, consuming too much fat cause reduced amount of glucose reaches to brain hence brain might have a lack of glucose in certain parts and cause memory problem and have difficulty controlling the metabolism!
Approximately 30% of the calories (400 Cal) comes from the fatty food that we consume for a day. For example, if one person in 1200 cal. diet, then he/or can get only 40 gr fat per day to allow glucose absorption to avoid defects in brain function.
It is very important, if we don’t get enough good fat in our body we might have a weak immune system, vitamin deficiencies, skin problems hair loss and many other health issues.
Examples for animal products high in fat include red meat, poultry and high-fat dairy (ice cream, some cheese and butter.) Examples for vegetable products high in fat are liquid at room temperature, such as coconut and palm oils, avocado oil.
Coconut oil and butter both affect your cholesterol levels because of containing high level of saturated fat, However, while coconut oil increases HDL or high-density lipoprotein (good cholesterol), butter increases LDL or low-density lipoprotein (bad cholesterol)
Avocado Oil has lots of nutritional value as extra virgin olive oil, additionally with a higher smoking point, making it great for frying and sauteing compare to olive oil. Another words it is wise not using olive oil for high heat cooking.
In general, keep in mind that healthy foods contain proper amount of carbohydrates, proteins, calcium, vitamins, minerals, and fibers, however, unhealthy foods contain high amount of sugar and bad fat.
There are two types of bad fats — saturated fat and trans-fat — those are potentially harmful to your health. Most of the foods that contain these types of fats are solid at room temperature, such as butter (heavy cream of milk), lard, shortenings and margarine (which is originally made out of animal fat but in general hydrogenated vegetable oil). Hydrogenation is a process where manufacturers add hydrogen to a liquid fat, such as vegetable oil, to turn it into a solid fat at room temperature.
Actually, there are two types of hydrogenating process. Partial hydrogenation creates trans-fats, while fully hydrogenated, the oil returns to a “zero trans-fat”. Partially hydrogenated margarine is not sold in USA because containing high amount of trans-fat in it. Trans fats lower your good cholesterol (HDL) and increase bad cholesterol (LDL)
Unless you are vegan or vegetarian, I believe it is not practical to avoid bad fat completely from our diet because some foods contain bad fat besides good fat, also contains other good nutrition. For instance, one egg contains 5.15 gr. fat (3.45 gr unsaturated, 1.7 gr saturated fat.) Indeed, eggs are very nutritious food sources. Also, despite having mostly saturated fat, plain yogurt is one of the healthiest foods for good GI tract, bone health and being a good protein source. In this case being aware the amount of these kind of foods that we consume is essential.
After all, above information if One wants his/her weight under control then he/she must limit the amount of Fat and Cal consumption per day continually.
Here is our motto,
“Moderation and enjoying what you eat always lead you a better health”
We need to know the type of the fat that we consume everyday.
The -good fat- is monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. They are good for the heart, balancing Lipid panel (level of total cholesterol, lower LDL, increase HDL)
We can count, avocado, dark chocolate, nuts, olive oil, flax seed, chia seed, hemp seed, among vegetable good fat and fatty fishes, moderately consumed eggs among the animal good fat food sources.
Good fat is essential as an energy source and to support the cell function, also they help absorbing certain nutrients in our body to produce hormones.
For brain health good fat plays a basic role too. Proper amount of omega 3 fatty acids are important learning and memory. However, consuming too much fat cause reduced amount of glucose reaches to brain hence brain might have a lack of glucose in certain parts and cause memory problem and have difficulty controlling the metabolism!
Approximately 30% of the calories (400 Cal) comes from the fatty food that we consume for a day. For example, if one person in 1200 cal. diet, then he/or can get only 40 gr fat per day to allow glucose absorption to avoid defects in brain function.
It is very important, if we don’t get enough good fat in our body we might have a weak immune system, vitamin deficiencies, skin problems hair loss and many other health issues.
Examples for animal products high in fat include red meat, poultry and high-fat dairy (ice cream, some cheese and butter.) Examples for vegetable products high in fat are liquid at room temperature, such as coconut and palm oils, avocado oil.
Coconut oil and butter both affect your cholesterol levels because of containing high level of saturated fat, However, while coconut oil increases HDL or high-density lipoprotein (good cholesterol), butter increases LDL or low-density lipoprotein (bad cholesterol)
Avocado Oil has lots of nutritional value as extra virgin olive oil, additionally with a higher smoking point, making it great for frying and sauteing compare to olive oil. Another words it is wise not using olive oil for high heat cooking.
In general, keep in mind that healthy foods contain proper amount of carbohydrates, proteins, calcium, vitamins, minerals, and fibers, however, unhealthy foods contain high amount of sugar and bad fat.
There are two types of bad fats — saturated fat and trans-fat — those are potentially harmful to your health. Most of the foods that contain these types of fats are solid at room temperature, such as butter (heavy cream of milk), lard, shortenings and margarine (which is originally made out of animal fat but in general hydrogenated vegetable oil). Hydrogenation is a process where manufacturers add hydrogen to a liquid fat, such as vegetable oil, to turn it into a solid fat at room temperature.
Actually, there are two types of hydrogenating process. Partial hydrogenation creates trans-fats, while fully hydrogenated, the oil returns to a “zero trans-fat”. Partially hydrogenated margarine is not sold in USA because containing high amount of trans-fat in it. Trans fats lower your good cholesterol (HDL) and increase bad cholesterol (LDL)
Unless you are vegan or vegetarian, I believe it is not practical to avoid bad fat completely from our diet because some foods contain bad fat besides good fat, also contains other good nutrition. For instance, one egg contains 5.15 gr. fat (3.45 gr unsaturated, 1.7 gr saturated fat.) Indeed, eggs are very nutritious food sources. Also, despite having mostly saturated fat, plain yogurt is one of the healthiest foods for good GI tract, bone health and being a good protein source. In this case being aware the amount of these kind of foods that we consume is essential.
After all, above information if One wants his/her weight under control then he/she must limit the amount of Fat and Cal consumption per day continually.
Here is our motto,
“Moderation and enjoying what you eat always lead you a better health”
Road to no inflammation, no pain life
Summer 2022
You may find plenty information about Inflammation on the web to understand better and heal ourselves faster from this painful process.
“Inflammation” is our body’s healing response to internal or external injuries. For instance, when bacteria get in the body or we have a skin burn, inflammatory cells attack the bacteria or burned area to heal the injured tissue.
However, if inflammation occurs without any injury or continue prolonged time, it is called chronic inflammation and that could be symptoms of more serious health issue.
Foremost Inflammation causes are following;
1- Leptin resistance, (leptin is a hormone tells your brain that you are full when eating food or hungry if you didn’t eat for a while) leptin resistance cause weight gains due to eating unnecessarily. Indeed, more weight gain means more fat cells which leads to inflammation.
2-Insulin resistance, which leads to type 2 diabetes are cause of inflammation. Eventually more serious health issues can be seen down to road.
3-Last but not least inflammation also cause joint tissue breakdown and eventually cause to osteoarthritis which means unhealthy bones, also this is mostly a weight issue too.
What I understand from my research and own experience over all that healing our body from inflammation is not only about what we eat, but also get our dietary in order, combined with our life styles.
The most effective way to fight inflammation can be by understanding our body needs first, then learn about how to adjust our life style and eating habits according to the available food sources, our daily schedule and our environmental causes.
I am not an expert, but during the aging process, when I examine what I eat, when I eat, how I respond everyday challenges mentally and spiritually, my exercise type and routines, I see many wrong doings!
With a little research aligned with my age, food sources and environmental conditions, here is what I came up with a plan. And no matter where you live, your life conditions, food sources may be; you can alter this plan into your life routine more or less. And you may see the positive improvements in your health.
You need to understand that you come first no matter what! If you are not healthy you can’t help others!
“Inflammation” is our body’s healing response to internal or external injuries. For instance, when bacteria get in the body or we have a skin burn, inflammatory cells attack the bacteria or burned area to heal the injured tissue.
However, if inflammation occurs without any injury or continue prolonged time, it is called chronic inflammation and that could be symptoms of more serious health issue.
Foremost Inflammation causes are following;
1- Leptin resistance, (leptin is a hormone tells your brain that you are full when eating food or hungry if you didn’t eat for a while) leptin resistance cause weight gains due to eating unnecessarily. Indeed, more weight gain means more fat cells which leads to inflammation.
2-Insulin resistance, which leads to type 2 diabetes are cause of inflammation. Eventually more serious health issues can be seen down to road.
3-Last but not least inflammation also cause joint tissue breakdown and eventually cause to osteoarthritis which means unhealthy bones, also this is mostly a weight issue too.
What I understand from my research and own experience over all that healing our body from inflammation is not only about what we eat, but also get our dietary in order, combined with our life styles.
The most effective way to fight inflammation can be by understanding our body needs first, then learn about how to adjust our life style and eating habits according to the available food sources, our daily schedule and our environmental causes.
I am not an expert, but during the aging process, when I examine what I eat, when I eat, how I respond everyday challenges mentally and spiritually, my exercise type and routines, I see many wrong doings!
With a little research aligned with my age, food sources and environmental conditions, here is what I came up with a plan. And no matter where you live, your life conditions, food sources may be; you can alter this plan into your life routine more or less. And you may see the positive improvements in your health.
You need to understand that you come first no matter what! If you are not healthy you can’t help others!
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So, Let’s see how can we improve our health,
Start a day with a healthy drink; Lemon ginger cucumber. This combination has an excellent health benefit if it becomes part of your daily routine. Drinking water already promotes our health yet adding Cucumber can provide more hydration and vitamin B which helps skin health. Ginger helps digestion, decrease inflammation and reduce swelling and pain, Lemon adds antioxidants also works as an anti-inflammatory component. More Vitamin C means more collagen production which leads to healthier skin, and nutrients those helps weight loss, and aids positive changes in the intestinal environment also improve immune system. By the way preparing lemon ginger water takes only couple minutes before you start a day. If you want to make an easy breakfast, chocolate smoothie is a quick recipe to go. It also takes couple minutes to prepare and pour in to your travel mug and hit the road to work. Breakfast- Ginger lemon drink – Chocolate smoothie Low carbs diet leads to low inflammation. Therefore, in general I try to replace high-carbs food with good fat food sources which is the essential nutrients for body health. Good fat helps to have stronger joints, effective source for brain power, cause to strength metabolism and helps to release more fat burning hormones. This combination keeps you full pretty long time so you may feel hungry again late morning. having a brunch pizza is an excellent idea to bring together breakfast and lunch. Enjoy thin crust breakfast pizza . |
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WHAT IS A GOOD FAT? Here some examples,
Avocados, loaded almost 80% of fat, very rich in fiber and potassium.
Cheese, unlikely its reputation cheese is very nutritious fat source also great as a Calcium source, Vitamin B12, protein.
Dark chocolate, is very delicious high fat food also rich in fiber, mg and iron. You need to choose at least 70% cocoa chocolate. To avoid sugar content.
Eggs, are greatly nutrition dense brain food. They are high in protein and help feeling full long time.
Fish, especially fatty ones are most nutritional food as an animal protein, they are rich in omega-3, regulate blood sugar, help cognitive health.
Nuts, are very healthy fats rich in fiber and very good plant-based source of protein. Almonds, macadamias, walnuts are only few of them.
Chia seeds, filled with fat consist omega -3fatty acid. Chia seed is very effective lowering blood pressure and have anti-inflammatory
Whole milk yogurt, is one of the best high fat foods. Alone or when mixed with mint also good source of Calcium for bone health as well as digestive health.
Lunch: celery/carrot bites, green lentil soup
Another effective method for anti inflammation is adjusting food types and times. Body needs time to process goods(nutrition) in the food we consume and cleanse the body for the next meal. Therefore, giving time to rejuvenate the body cells, I stop eating any food after 8:00 p.m. until next day breakfast time between 9:00 a.m. or !0:00 a.m.
I do not force my body and don’t like to put it in unnecessary stress by extending these fasting hours nor keeping very strict time frame. Actually, life routine may not be identical one day to another, these are principals that I try to follow. I feel better in mind if I give some flexibility to my eating times and types.
Also unlikely to traditional believe, my choice is consuming carbohydrates at dinner. If I feel like to eat bread, rice or pasta, these foods are on my dinner table. Carbs not only helps releasing serotonin hormones therefore relaxing body, but also helps to regulate sleeping cycle for a day. This method helps me to enjoy evening gatherings without worrying about eating carbohydrates. In fact, I feel less hungry when I wake up in the morning.
Avocados, loaded almost 80% of fat, very rich in fiber and potassium.
Cheese, unlikely its reputation cheese is very nutritious fat source also great as a Calcium source, Vitamin B12, protein.
Dark chocolate, is very delicious high fat food also rich in fiber, mg and iron. You need to choose at least 70% cocoa chocolate. To avoid sugar content.
Eggs, are greatly nutrition dense brain food. They are high in protein and help feeling full long time.
Fish, especially fatty ones are most nutritional food as an animal protein, they are rich in omega-3, regulate blood sugar, help cognitive health.
Nuts, are very healthy fats rich in fiber and very good plant-based source of protein. Almonds, macadamias, walnuts are only few of them.
Chia seeds, filled with fat consist omega -3fatty acid. Chia seed is very effective lowering blood pressure and have anti-inflammatory
Whole milk yogurt, is one of the best high fat foods. Alone or when mixed with mint also good source of Calcium for bone health as well as digestive health.
Lunch: celery/carrot bites, green lentil soup
Another effective method for anti inflammation is adjusting food types and times. Body needs time to process goods(nutrition) in the food we consume and cleanse the body for the next meal. Therefore, giving time to rejuvenate the body cells, I stop eating any food after 8:00 p.m. until next day breakfast time between 9:00 a.m. or !0:00 a.m.
I do not force my body and don’t like to put it in unnecessary stress by extending these fasting hours nor keeping very strict time frame. Actually, life routine may not be identical one day to another, these are principals that I try to follow. I feel better in mind if I give some flexibility to my eating times and types.
Also unlikely to traditional believe, my choice is consuming carbohydrates at dinner. If I feel like to eat bread, rice or pasta, these foods are on my dinner table. Carbs not only helps releasing serotonin hormones therefore relaxing body, but also helps to regulate sleeping cycle for a day. This method helps me to enjoy evening gatherings without worrying about eating carbohydrates. In fact, I feel less hungry when I wake up in the morning.
Enjoy high protein and balanced carbs DINNER choice of yours,
So, let’s sum it up! High fat food for breakfast, so I feel energetic and more focused, high fat and high protein diet for lunch so I maintain my energy and keep sugar levels on the control, high protein and carbohydrates for dinner to improve my sleep, control sugar level and hunger hormones.
My main goal is breaking the inflammation cycle (weight gain-inflammation/pain/weight gain inflammation- pain). Therefore, to minimize my pains, I keep my weight (another words fat cells) on the control (not too less not too much!) as well keeping my energy level high and sugar level on the control too.
There is no clear-cut cure, again everybody’s life style and body needs are different, and as I told before I am not an expert but my personal research led me to this program and I feel good about it. So, I recommend please learn about your body and do what is necessary to get rid of your pains, keep your weight ideal, have your energy levels high!
It is essential that “ Cook2b healthy”, enjoy what you eat and enjoy living!
Enjoy Summer 2022 everyone!
So, let’s sum it up! High fat food for breakfast, so I feel energetic and more focused, high fat and high protein diet for lunch so I maintain my energy and keep sugar levels on the control, high protein and carbohydrates for dinner to improve my sleep, control sugar level and hunger hormones.
My main goal is breaking the inflammation cycle (weight gain-inflammation/pain/weight gain inflammation- pain). Therefore, to minimize my pains, I keep my weight (another words fat cells) on the control (not too less not too much!) as well keeping my energy level high and sugar level on the control too.
There is no clear-cut cure, again everybody’s life style and body needs are different, and as I told before I am not an expert but my personal research led me to this program and I feel good about it. So, I recommend please learn about your body and do what is necessary to get rid of your pains, keep your weight ideal, have your energy levels high!
It is essential that “ Cook2b healthy”, enjoy what you eat and enjoy living!
Enjoy Summer 2022 everyone!
Brighter-Happier-Healthier
Spring 2022
While we are excited to come out of the misery of last two years of pandemic and welcome a New Year with a hope, there are many unfortunate events happening around the world, what make us unhappy and we cannot fit them into our hearts.
While many people live with the flow of life, many others are trying to hold on to life and try so hard to overcome the difficulties they encounter.
With our appreciation, countless individuals also try to help to needed ones as much as they can reach out to one another, financially and spiritually!
Indeed, this world and this life is ours, our aim is to live in peace, and our only hope for this is to learn and willing to protect each other’s rights, respect and love for one another!
March 2022
While many people live with the flow of life, many others are trying to hold on to life and try so hard to overcome the difficulties they encounter.
With our appreciation, countless individuals also try to help to needed ones as much as they can reach out to one another, financially and spiritually!
Indeed, this world and this life is ours, our aim is to live in peace, and our only hope for this is to learn and willing to protect each other’s rights, respect and love for one another!
March 2022
