Happy Human Blog

Cancer Mothly reported today on new reseach that shows that a compund of curcumin (found in turmeric) and omega-3 fatty acids inhibits the growth of pancretic cancer cells in rats. Both curcumin and omega-3 seperately have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties with cancer-fighting properties. Combining the two substances have a cumultive effect that is greater than the sum of its parts. No side effects were noted from the treatment, and human clinical trials are in the works. Good news for a Monday!

Your Health Alternative health, Healthy living, spice

On my recent visit to a Farmer’s Market I picked up a spice recipe card from World Cuisine Institute.

Each spice recipe card contains a recipe for a delicious dish from some world cuisine - Indian, Mexican, Moroccan - with filled spice pouches with the pre-measured spices needed to make the recipe. All you have to do is pick up the main ingredients, follow the recipe and you have a tasty and exotic meal with no mess and no fuss. We tried the Chicken Curry and loved it. We especially loved all the wonderful spices that were used in the recipe - cumin, turmeric, coriander and chile powder all mix to create a delightful masala sauce. Give it a try and let is know how your dish turns out!

Cooking Tips, Recipes Meal planning, Recipes, spice

In honor of Inauguration Day we’ve compiled a list of our presidents’ favorite foods.  We generally like to write about healthy foods, but for this post we’re overlooking that theme (cheeseburger pizza? really?) in order to satisfy your curiosity about the leaders of our great nation, and their favorite consumables. Enjoy!

Barack Obama
Chili, protein bars, vegetables, milk chocolate, almonds, pistachios. Dislikes: mayo, asparagus, soft drinks, salt and vinegar chips

George W. Bush
Tex Mex, beef tenderloin, cheeseburger pizza, pralines and cream ice-cream, diet soda. Dislikes: greens

Bill Clinton
Burgers, onion rings, steak, chicken enchiladas, bananas, apples, McDonald’s Egg McMuffins, cream pies. Read more…

Fun Food Facts Favorite Foods, Obama

This past week my husband, suffering from a winter cold, made a delicious fresh batch of chicken soup. Chicken soup is a traditional go-to in our household during the cold and flu season and it got me thinking: is there any scientific evidence to support the notion that chicken soup has healing powers? Here’s what I found out:

Nutritious

If you make it right, chicken soup contains loads of good for you ingredients: carrots, onions, greens that are all high in cold-fighting vitamins and minerals. Immune -boosting spices that are added to the soup up the ante even more - garlic, pepper, fennel and ginger all have anti-oxidant and immune-boosting properties. Check out this spicy immune-boosting recipe from RecipeZaar.

Anti-Inflammatory

The University of Nebraska conducted a study that showed chicken soup has anti-inflammatory properties  - the soup  mobilizes the neutrophils ( inflammatory cells) making you feel a little less stuffy.

Read more…

Cooking Tips, Healthy living Alternative health, Healthy living, spice, Superfoods

Winter is upon us and with it the less than happy routine of waking up in darkness even with that little trick of daylight savings times. I am not a morning person at the best of times so winter mornings pose a real challenge. Those of us who are not morning people fall into the “can’t get out of bed” category for any one of a multitude of reasons: not enough hours of sleep, non-restful sleep or just plain genetics. For me it’s all about the light. On morning that are bright and sunny I wake up before my alarm clock and have no trouble getting out of bed. Not so on dark and dreary days. Enter my new fool-proof sunshine device: The BioBrite Dawn Simulator

Read more…

Healthy living Add new tag, Alternative health, Healthy living, Tips for happy living

The Food Bible by Judith Wells may be an oldie (it was originally published in 1998) but it’s a goodie. This is a great book for anyone who is looking for some basic nutritional guidelines for eating healthy on a daily basis. The book contains 6 chapters and started off with Food for a Balanced Diet, that lays out the building blocks of a healthy diet in an approachable and easy to understand manner. Starting in chapter 1, and throughout the book the author offers up daily meal plans that are quick and easy to prepare.

Chapter 2 - Food as Medicine - is my favorite chapter. The author lists various common ailments in alphabetical order with a brief description on the origin of the condition and a suggestion on natural solutions that may provide relief. You will find some of the solutions sound familiar as they may already be part of your repertoire, , but it is helpful to see all of them in one place and without a heavy reliance on pharmaceutical drugs. As an example, she lists the following solutions for PMS - cut salt intake, eat foods rich in Vit B, eat more essential fatty acids and drink plenty of fluids; Additional solutions are available if you are prone to fatigue, iron deficiency or constipation. This chapter also includes meal plans for particular conditions (anti-athritis diet, anti-candida diet, anti-cancer diet, healthy heart diet etc) and contains a summary of food supplements and popular herbs. Read more…

Book review Alternative health, Book review, Eating Healthy, Superfoods

A good way to make sure you are sticking to your healthy eating plan it to prep for the week ahead. Set aside a half hour on Sunday evening to create a meal plan for your coming week.

Start small - plan on 3 dinners and 3 lunches for the first week.  Shop on Monday so you can cook fresh Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Have leftovers on Thursday and do take-out on Friday.

There are plenty paid meal planning services out there that will create meal plans and grocery lists for you, but why pay when there is a great free alternative at Meals Matter. You will need to register to use the site but once you have an account all their features are free.

To create your meal plan, click on Meal Planning and add your meals to each day. When adding meals you can choose from a database of  recipes that allows you to search by meal type or ingredient. Some recipes have user reviews.  If you want to use your own recipe you can start an online cookbook and add your personal recipes to it. You can share your recipes with others or choose to keep them private.

Once you’ve set up your meal plan for the week, you can generate a grocery list so you know exactly what ingredients to buy for your week of healthy eating ahead.

So simple yet so fabulous!

Cooking Tips, Healthy living Eating Healthy, Healthy living, Meal planning

One of the easiest and most delicious ways to eat healthy is to incorporate spices into your meals. Spices have a rich tradition of being used to enhance health and remedy ailments. Most of us use salt and pepper on a daily basis, but if that’s all we stuck to, we would be missing out. The great thing about spices is that although research is still underway in scientifically proving their health benefits, we are certain that there are no negative side effects.

Here are 3 spices we love to get you started… Read more…

Cooking Tips, Healthy living Add new tag, Eating Healthy, Healthy living, spice

We’ve all been there. You’re having a good healthy eating week and suddenly you find yourself in a situation where you’re hungry with no prepared meal in sight. Enter the vending machine, the drive-thru, the plate of communal cookies, and before you know it you’ve killed your week-long good eating karma in a fast-food minute.

When we are hungry the instinct to eat whatever we can find the quickest is almost impossible to fight. Trying to resist the urge to eat when you are hungry is never going to work as a healthy eating strategy, nor is it a kind to you and your fabulous body.

So, as our Healthy Eating How - To number 3 we are going to recommend that you start carrying healthy snacks with you as you go about your daily routine. Now, when hunger strikes you will have a snack handy to tide you over while you prepare or buy a nutritious meal.

Fruits and veggies make great snacks, as do nuts and beans.  To get started check out this great visual guide to 15 healthy snacks.

Appearances may be deceiving when it comes to which packaged snacks are really good for you so read this quick article from Newsweek to weed out the baddies in disguise.

On the “lighter” side The Onion has some breaking news on Frito-Lay’s New Line of Healthy Snacks

Healthy living Fruit, Healthy snacks, Veggies

If you are not already buying organic now is a good time to start including organic foods in your grocery purchases. Organic foods have two main advantages over their non-organic counterparts: 1) They do not contain conventional pesticides and additives and 2) They do not contain growth hormones.

Given that organic foods tend to be more expensive than non-organic foods, it is challenging to shop 100% organic. However, there are certain categories of foods where it’s worth paying a little extra. Read more…

Healthy living, Organic Organic, organic food, pesticide, produce