Some Great Tips Uses for Apples

Health & Beauty.
1. Improve Lung Health. Apples contain several phytochemcials that are thought to promote lung health. Studies have shown that apples help people suffering from allergies and asthma!
2. Treat Your Skin Right. Apples are a great way to give your skin that glow it deserves.
3. Boost Your Workout. Squeeze an apple between your thighs the next time you’re doing crunches to add extra challenge to your workout routine.
4. Get Rid of a Migrane. Take a whiff of a green apple the next time you feel a migrane coming on. Studies have shown that the smell of green apples helps ease the pain and shorten the time they last.

Food.
5. Ripen Other Fruits. It may sound strange, but there’s science to back it up! Apples can help other fruits ripen because they naturally emit a gas called ethylene, a hormone that speeds along the ripening process. If you’d like to ripen fruits like bananas, avocados, pears and tomatos, place them in a paper bag with an apple. It’s the same gas that many commercial growers use to ripen these fruits.
6. Keep Baked Goods Moist. Apples give off moisture, so when you’re storing cakes and other baked goods, store them in an airtight container with half an apple. No drying or refrigerating necessary!
7. Soften Brown Sugar. Has that brown sugar turned into a brick? Soften it back up by putting some of the brown sugar, along with an apple slice, into a sealable bag. Your brown sugar will be good as new in a few days.
8. Sweeten Food the Healthy Way. Apples are a great natural alternative to processed sugars. In baking, applesauce is a way to get the taste you love with fewer calories. You can also add some sliced apple to your morning (plain) yogurt or smoothie, and skip that sugar-sweetened stuff all together.

Projects.
9. Make Stamps. Watch this video for this clever craft project, making stamps out of apple halves!
10. Make Potpourri. Love the smell of apples? Make some potpourri! Click here for a recipe.
11. Make Candleholders. Easiest project ever! Make adorable candleholder by coring out the center of an apple and placing a tea candle in the hollowed out part.
12. Make an Easy & Chic Centerpiece. Flowers are so expensive! If you’re planning a wedding or even just having a dinner party, fill a clear vase with some bright green apples.

Pets & Garden.
13. Grow an Apple Tree! If you dry out apple seeds for a few weeks, you can plant them and, perhaps, have your own apple tree one day. There are a lot of caveats to that, though
14. Give Your Dog a Treat. Many dogs love apples, and they make a great nutritious snack. Just make sure that they don’t eat any of the seeds, and don’t feed them to dogs with kidney problems.
15. Feed the Birds. Apples draw many species of wild birds — put them in your bird feeder and enjoy the show!

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14 Health Benefits to Eat Kiwi

14 Health Benefits
1. Helps Your Digestions with Enzymes

Raw kiwi contains actinidain, a protein-dissolving enzyme that can help digest a meal much like the papain in papaya or bromelain in pineapple.
2. Helps Manage Blood Pressure
Kiwi’s high level of potassium helps keep our electrolytes in balance by counteracting the effects of sodium.
3. Protects from DNA Damage
A study by Collins, Horska and Hotten showed that the unique combination of antioxidants in Kiwi fruit helps protect the cell DNA from oxidative damage. Some experts conclude this can help prevent cancer.
4. Boosts Your Immunity
Kiwi’s high vitamin C content along with other antioxidant compounds has been proven to boost the immune system.
5. Smart Carb for Weight Loss
Kiwi’s low glycemic index and high fiber content means it will not create a strong insulin rush like other fruit with high sugar contents — so the body will not respond by storing fat.
6. Improves Digestive Health
Kiwis are a great source of fiber. This prevents constipation and other intestinal problems.
7. Helps Clean Out Toxins
The fuzzy fiber of Kiwi helps bind and move toxins from your intestinal tract.

8. Helps Fight Heart Disease
Eating 2-3 kiwis a day has been shown to reduce the potential of blood clotting by 18% and reduce triglycerides by 15%. Many individuals take aspirin to reduce blood clotting, but this causes many side effects including inflammation and intestinal bleeding. Kiwi fruit has the same anti-clotting benefits with no side effects, just additional health benefits!
9. Suitable For Diabetics
Kiwi is in the ‘low’ category for glycemic index, meaning it does not raise your blood sugar quickly. It has a glycemic load of 4 which means it is safe for diabetics.
10. Protects Against Macular Degeneration and Other Eye Problems
Macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss in older adults. A study on over 110,000 men and women showed that eating 3 or more serving of fruit per day decreased macular degeneration by 36%. This is thought to be associated with the kiwi’s high levels of lutein and zeaxanthin — both of which are natural chemicals found in the human eye. Although both fruits and vegetables were studied, this same effect was not shown for vegetables.
11. Create Alkaline Balance
Kiwi is in the ‘most alkaline’ category for fruits, meaning it has a rich supply of minerals to replace the excess of acidic foods most individuals consume. A few of the benefits of a properly acid/alkaline balanced body are: youthful skin, deeper sleep, abundant physical energy, fewer colds, less arthritis, and reduced osteoporosis.
12. Great for the Skin

Kiwis are a good source of vitamin E, an antioxidant known to protect skin from degeneration.
13. Exotic Taste and Look for Food Variety
Kiwis look and taste great. Kids often love them because they are so different from most fruits.
For nutritional balance it is always good to eat a variety of foods. Each food has its own unique qualities and powers. The trouble with most people’s diet is that we eat such a limited number of foods. It increases our chances of not getting enough of important nutrients.
14. Naturally Organic
Kiwi fruit is on the list of foods that are generally safe from a lot of pesticide residues. For 2012 it came in with the top 10 safest foods. While it is always good to support organic when you can as a matter of principle, it’s also good to know whether there is a big danger if organic is not available or viable for you.
Interesting Facts

• Kiwi fruit was named after the New Zealand Kiwi bird – an unusual flightless bird- because they are both small, brown and furry.

• Not all kiwi fruit is fuzzy! The most popular species of kiwifruit is appropriately called Fuzzy Kiwifruit, but there is also Golden Kiwi with a smooth bronze skin. The Golden Kiwi is actually sweeter and more aromatic in flavor

• Although Kiwis have been native to China for centuries, practically no one in the North knew what they were 50 years ago. They were first introduced to the U.S. in 1962. They caught on fast!

• Although kiwifruit can grow in any temperate climate, most of the world’s kiwi are grown in Italy, New Zealand, and Chile. It is grown much like grapes.
• YES, you can eat the fuzz if you want.

How to Use:

• If a kiwi does not yield a bit to finger pressure, it can be ripened by storing it at room temperature away from the sun.
• This ripening can be hastened by putting it in a paper bag with a banana, apple, or pear.
• Once a kiwi fruit is ripe, keep away from other fruit (even in the refrigerator) since the kiwi is very sensitive to the ethylene gas given off by those other fruits and it will over ripen.
• The actinidain in raw kiwi makes them unsuitable for desserts and other dishes that are not eaten right away because it can make the dish too mushy or stop it from setting. This applies to proteins but also to other fruits.

Cautions:
Kiwifruit contain a measurable amount of oxalates, a naturally occurring substance in many plants and animals. When oxalates become too concentrated in body fluids, they can crystallize and cause health problems. People with kidney or gallbladder problems may therefore want to avoid eating kiwi. There is a lot of controversy about the amounts needed to be significant, particularly from plants.
Kiwis also contain enzyme substances associated with the latex-fruit allergy syndrome. If you have a latex allergy, you may be allergic to kiwi also. Since ripening the fruit with ethylene gas increases these substances; organic kiwi not treated with gas will have fewer allergy-causing compounds. Cooking also deactivates the enzymes.

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Popular Diet Plans Can Be Vegetarian Weight Loss Program

Although cutting meat from your diet is often promoted as a good weight-loss strategy, it’s no guarantee of dropping pounds. After all, sugar is both vegetarian and vegan, and the explosion of vegan cupcake cookbooks is proof that you can cut all animal products out of your diet and still eat a lot of dessert.
We all know that vegetables make up the basis of a healthy diet, but finding a plan that you can stick to may be a challenge. Vegetarians who want to lose weight may turn to the structure and support of a commercial diet plan. And while it’s not openly promoted, a variety of popular weight-loss plans do accommodate the vegetarian lifestyle.
Weight Watchers
As most people know, Weight Watchers is organized around PointsPlus values instead of calories. There are no foods that are forbidden on Weight Watchers, as long as you stay within your PointsPlus limit for the day. The way points are assigned to foods incentivizes participants in the program to eat foods that are less dense in calories and more high in fiber. This makes Weight Watchers an extremely flexible plan, and it easily accommodates a range of health and lifestyle needs, including vegetarians. No matter if you choose to follow the program online or sign up for meetings in your area, Weight Watchers has lots of recipes for vegetarians, and also provides information on how to stay well-nourished while losing weight on a plant-based diet.
Nutrisystem
Nurtrisystem is a meal delivery weight-loss program, which means that low-calorie, nutritionally-balanced meals will be delivered right to your home. Nutrisystem offers vegetarian plans for both men and women. There are over 90 meatless meals that feature foods that have a low-glycemic index to help you feel full longer and won’t cause your blood sugar to spike.
If you’re looking for a meal delivery diet that specializes in vegan meals, you may also want to consider Gobble Green. This meal delivery service features foods that are entirely free of animal products.
South Beach Diet
The South Beach Diet is a three-phase weight-loss program created by Dr. Arthur Agatston, a cardiologist. It’s often referred to as a low-carb diet, because the first phase eliminates all refined starches and sugars. The diet emphasizes lean protein, which means that vegetarians can expect to eat plenty of tofu, beans and other meat-substitutes, in addition to high-fiber vegetables, low-fat dairy and unsaturated fats such as avocados, nuts and olives. Your options may be a little more limited than on Weight Watchers, but South Beach certainly has lots of ways to accommodate a meat-free lifestyle.
17 Day Diet
Launched last winter, The 17 Day Diet, by Dr. Mike Moreno, is one of the most popular new diets of this year. The diet features four 17-day cycles, which are designed to give users a quick start to their weight loss followed by steady progression towards a goal weight. Of course, with any diet this popular, people want to know if there are vegetarian-friendly options. Like the South Beach Diet, The 17 Day Diet places a lot of importance on sources of lean protein. For vegetarians, this will mean tofu, low-fat cheese, egg whites, beans, legumes and low-fat dairy. Veggie burgers and black bean burgers are also great options for people who don’t eat meat and are interested in this diet. In the first cycle, which is the most strict, some vegetarians may feel their options are somewhat limited, but as more foods are introduced in later cycles this is less of a problem.
Dukan Diet
The controversial Dukan Diet gained much attention after rumor spread that it was favored by Kate Middleton before her wedding. This ultra-low carb diet is one plan that would be extremely challenging for vegetarians. It not only excludes most kinds of fruit and grains, but also starchy vegetables. On the FAQ section of the UK Dukan Diet site, the answer to the question regarding vegetarianism begins: “First of all, are you really sure you refuse meat and fish?” Although there are guidelines for soy-based meat substitutes, eggs, and dairy products, more vegetarians would find this diet way too restrictive.

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Vegetarians Gives a Chance for Popular Diet Plan And Health Fitness

Medifast has gained credibility for being a legitimate, clinically-proven method of losing weight. Meanwhile, vegetarianism is seeing an increase in popularity as well. As Medifast becomes more popular, vegetarians wanting to lose weight may seek the meal-delivery system as a viable weight loss option.
Though individuals on any specialized diet may have concerns about the usability of a program like Medifast, the Medifast program does support a variety of diet needs including Kosher, lactose free, and vegetarian. There are enough options available to allow a certain amount of customization for an individual’s diet. According to information from Medifast, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has suggested that fortified foods like the meals from Medifast are valuable for meat-free weight loss and maintenance.
A big challenge vegetarians following the Medifast program will face is the number of carbohydrates they will consume while on the program. Many vegetarians eat a diet high in carbohydrates and could have a difficult time adjusting to the low-carb foods provided in the delivered meals and snacks.
Vegetarians who are thinking about starting Medifast should be sure to check out the vegetarian guide on the program’s website. In recent years Medifast has made an effort to become a realistic weight loss option for these individuals. Vegetarian-friendly changes that have been made include introducing new vegetarian meal options. The guide lists foods that are not only meatless, but also outlines which foods contain no milk, no eggs, or neither. Also included is a list of low-carb alternatives to meat that can be part of the Lean and Green meal prepared by the dieter.

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Organic 17 Essential Reasons to Eat Food

Organic food was the only option for thousands of years.  Now, with pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and genetically-modified foods, organic is still the best option.  Here are 17 reasons to eat organic food:
1.  Genetically-modified foods were unleashed on the environment and the public by corporations like Monsanto without prior testing to determine their safety.  In other words, eating genetically-modified foods (which most people in in large amounts) is participating in a long-term, uncontrolled experiment. Choose organic to avoid participating in this experiment.
2.  More and more research is coming in about the health threat of genetically-modified food.  The results range from intestinal damage, allergies, liver or pancreatic problems, testicular cellular changes, tumors, and even death in the experimental animals. For more information, read the excellent books by Jeffrey M. Smith Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette. I’ll discuss more of the problems linked with GMOs in upcoming blogs. Eating third-party certified organic foods or those that are guaranteed to be grown from organic seed helps protect you from the health consequences of GMOs.
4 Potential Health Risks of Eating GMO Foods
3.  Fruits and vegetables are real food, not pesticide factories. Eighteen percent of all genetically-modified seeds (and therefore foods that grow from them) are engineered to produce their own pesticides.  Research shows that these seeds continue producing pesticides inside your body once you’ve eaten the food grown from them! Foods that are actually pesticide factories…no thanks.
4.  They’re free of neurotoxins—toxins that are damaging to brain and nerve cells. A commonly-used class of pesticides called organophosphates was originally developed as a toxic nerve agent during World War I. When there was no longer a need for them in warfare, industry adapted them to kill pests on foods. Many pesticides are still considered neurotoxins.  Learn more about pesticides in The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan.
5.  They’re supportive of growing children’s brains and bodies.  Children’s growing brains and bodies are far more susceptible to toxins than adults.  Choosing organic helps feed their bodies without the exposure to pesticides and genetically-modified organisms, both of which have a relatively short history of use (and therefore safety).
6.  In study after study, research from independent organizations consistently shows organic food is higher in nutrients than traditional foods.  Research shows that organic produce is higher in vitamin C, antioxidants, and the minerals calcium, iron, chromium, and magnesium.

7.  The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that pesticides pollute the primary drinking source for half the American population. Organic farming is the best solution to the problem. Buying organic helps reduce pollution in our drinking water.
8.  Organic food is earth-supportive (when big business keeps their hands out of it). Organic food production has been around for thousands of years and is the sustainable choice for the future.  Compare that to modern agricultural practices that are destructive of the environment through widespread use of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizers and have resulted in drastic environmental damage in many parts of the world.
9.  Organic food choices grown on small-scale organic farms help ensure independent family farmers can create a livelihood. Consider it the domestic version of fair trade.
10. Most organic food simply tastes better than the pesticide-grown counterparts.
11. Organic food is not exposed to gas-ripening like some non-organic fruits and vegetables (like bananas).
12.  Organic farms are safer for farm workers. Research at the Harvard School of Public Health found a 70% increase in Parkinson’s disease among people exposed to pesticides. Choosing organic foods means that more people will be able to work on farms without incurring the higher potential health risk of Parkinson’s or other illnesses.
13.  Organic food supports wildlife habitats. Even with commonly used amounts of pesticides, wildlife is being harmed by exposure to pesticides.
14.  Eating organic may reduce your cancer risk.  The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers 60% of herbicides, 90% of fungicides, and 30% of insecticides potentially cancer-causing.  It is reasonable to think that the rapidly increasing rates of cancer are at least partly linked to the use of these carcinogenic pesticides.
15.  Choosing organic meat lessens your exposure to antibiotics, synthetic hormones, and drugs that find their way into the animals and ultimately into you.
16.  Organic food is tried and tested. By some estimates genetically-modified food makes up 80% of the average person’s food consumption. Genetic modification of food is still experimental. Avoid being part of this wide scale and uncontrolled experiment.
17.  Organic food supports greater biodiversity.  Diversity is fundamental to life on this planet. Genetically-modified and non-organic food is focused on high yield monoculture and is destroying biodiversity.

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