In this article I will focus your attention to garlic, which is not included in the above mentioned article. Everybody knows what garlic is and how it is used, but if you think it is used only in culinary then you will be surprised to find out that it is also used in medicine. Medical and health benefits of garlic are surprisingly too many, but I will try to describe them in short, as well as will emphasize on how it can help you stay healthy during this year’s flu pandemic.

Benefits of garlic

+ Antibacterial, antiviral, antimicrobical, antiseptic and antifungal properties
+ Prevents heart disease (atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, high blood pressure) and even cancer.
+ Early human studies suggest possible cardiovascular benefits
+ Another beneficial property of garlic is preventing and fighting the common cold.

Cold and coughs are in fact the main reasons why I chose to write about garlic during this flu pandemic. This is not a joke, garlic has solid backing during the long years of usage in herbal medicine. It’s the herbal medicine that proves garlic is great for hoarseness and coughs (The Cherokee also used it for coughs).

+ Garlic could regulate blood sugar levels after regular prolonged use of therapeutic amounts of garlic extract, but that doesn’t mean that people on insulin should start taking it right away (even in small amounts) without consulting their physician first.

+ High protein diet combined with garlic could boost testosterone.

To gain any of those benefits you need to actually consume the garlic (except probably for a few cases where you need to crush and rub with garlic – for example for fungal infection (such as thrush) you need to rub the infected area with the garlic clove).

In cases like cold or coughs you can consume the garlic while you eat your regular meals, or you can prepare garlic tea. I myself prefer to eat it with other food. Despite the unpleasant taste and bad breath if leaves, I am sure garlic works to protect me and my family from colds and flu, because we’ve been eating it since the beginning of the flu season this year and we are healthy like never before.

However most of those benefits are not proven scientifically on humans. Most trials are done with animals and do not have the credibility to be recommended for humans. For example the test for testosterone boost is done with rats; the test for lowering cholesterol is done with rabbits and so on…

Possible Side Effects of garlic

- Halitosis is one of the bad side effects of garlic and probably this is one of the most common reasons why people avoid eating it.

You should know that raw garlic is much more potent compared to the cooked one, so if you really want to experience any benefit of eating garlic – eat it raw.

Even if it is rear there are people allergic to plants from the same family where garlic belongs to. It is possible even the tiniest amount of garlic to cause allergic reaction such as diarrhea, nausea, breathing difficulty, irritable bowel.

Garlic Properties

Raw Garlic is rich in vitamins — Vit B1, Vit B2, Vit B3, Vit B6, Vit C; calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium.
All garlic properties are due to its potent compounds:

- Allicin is a strong antibiotic compound in garlic that is released when you crush a clove. It is perfect for strep throat recovery at home.
- Garlic also contains sulfur containing compounds, as well as non-sulfur compounds (such as allixin, which has antioxidant, anti microbial and anti tumor promoting effect).

I searched a lot and found out that Wonderlife offer similar protein powder supplements to the one I used. Judging from their supplement facts they also taste great.

Whey Protein Powder

It offers you two different flavors – chocolate and vanilla. There is no way not to like one of them. Mine is chocolate

Whey protein is one of the best and most valuable proteins for human body. It is isolated from whey and is very easily digested and absorbed. Whey protein powders contain all of the essential amino acids in biologically significant amounts, which make them one of the best and most complete sources of proteins and amino acids you can find.

Whey proteins have three main forms: concentrate, isolate and hydrolysate. Wonderlife Whey Protein Powder contains all of them. Here are its ingredients in short: whey protein concentrate, partially predigested (hydrolyzed) whey protein concentrate, micro-filtered and ion-exchanged whey protein isolate.

Egg Protein Powder

If you love vanilla flavor then this egg protein powder is just for you.

Egg white protein is very high valued and very important for our bodies. It scores 1.0 at PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score), which is the most relevant measure of the quality of proteins for humans and by the way that is the official rating system used by the World Health Organization.

This egg white protein powder contains 23 g of proteins and 113 calories per serving. No sugar, no cholesterol and completely fat free.

The lower carb alternatives you gonna use should have identical taste as the original high carb foods. You will be very nicely surprised to find out that many of them actually taste better than the original high carb dishes.

Sandwich

You can substitute Chinese and Napa cabbage for bread. This way you eliminate 29 grams of carbs per sandwich.

Use one leaf of the cabbage and roll it up with your favorite filling and if you like you can dip it in low-fat mayo. Delicious.

Pizza

You can substitute Portobello mushroom for pizza crust. This way you eliminate 20 grams of carbs per pizza slice.

Cut the mushroom gills out and place the mushroom on an oiled cookie sheet and bake until it dries out a little. Add you favorite pizza topping (my favorite is tomato sauce, ham and sweet corn). Mmm, I got hungry

Pancakes

You can substitute Oatmeal and cottage cheese for pancake mix. This way you eliminate 45 grams of carbs per pancake.

Mix 2 eggs, ¼ cup of the cottage cheese and ½ cup of the oatmeal. Add vanilla, nutmeg or cinnamon
(you know the benefits of cinnamon). Make the mixture smooth and cook it like you do with the regular pancakes. I am going to try this immediately.

Then I thought… What if you could have your favorite fruit drink or smoothie ready in about 1 to 3 minutes? I’d be great!

This is possible if you use WonderSlim Protein Smoothies and Fruit Diet Drinks and it gets even better for you to know that those protein diet drinks are actually WonderSlim Diet meal replacements.

WonderSlim Diet Smoothies are high in protein, low in fat, and full of essential vitamins and minerals. You can enjoy their rich and creamy taste all year long, anywhere you like. As they are well balanced and nutritious you can take them instead of your regular meals or just as a quick and healthy snack.

These protein diet smoothies are the perfect solution for any busy dieter on the go who doesn’t want to sacrifice taste or nutrition and yet gets everything they need to lose weight healthy way or maintain your lost weight.
They are the ideal supplement to your WonderSlim Diet plan.

Preparation is easy – poor the contents of one packet (100 calories) into a glass, shaker cup or blender. Add 8 ounces of cold water and stir or shake vigorously until dissolved…

…Or you can use both the Berry and Strawberry Smoothies to make a frozen pudding pops like Liz (one of the many happy users of these wonderfully flavored protein diet smoothies):
She combines fresh or frozen fruits, adds plain yogurt and blends. Delicious and nutritious these could be great frozen snacks for the hot summer days.

First of all let’s remind us the number of calories contained in fats, proteins and carbohydrates:

1 gram of fat = 9 kilocalories ~ 37 kilojoules

1 gram of protein = 4 kilocalories ~ 16 kilojoules

1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 kilocalories ~ 16 kilojoules

And some more calorie values:

1 gram of alcohol = 7 kilocalories

1 gram of dietary fiber = 3 kilocalories

Having all these values in mind you can easily calculate the number of calories in food you eat every day. And how much calories you need a day is another question:

How to estimate your daily caloric needs

You can estimate your daily caloric intake with the Harris-Benedict formula. It helps you calculate your basal metabolic rate (BMR), i.e. the optimum amount of energy your body needs to function.

Let’s calculate your BMR

To do that you need to use your current weight, height and age in step ONE. It’s easy:

Harris-Benedict formula for Women:

655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)

Harris-Benedict formula for Men:

66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)

Take your daily activities into account in step TWO:

• Add 20% of your BMR to your current BMR if you are sedentary: (0.2*BMR) + BMR

Means you spend all day sitting in a chair: for example working with a computer in a bank, home, office, etc.

• Add 30% of your BMR to your current BMR if you are lightly active: (0.3*BMR) + BMR

For example if you exercise 2-3 times a week.

• Add 40% of your BMR to your current BMR if you are moderately active: (0.4*BMR) + BMR

For example if you exercise 4-5 times a week.

• Add 50% of your BMR to your current BMR if you are very active: (0.5*BMR) + BMR

If you exercise every day of the week or for prolonged periods of time. For example if you are a fitness trainer.

• Add 60% of your BMR to your current BMR if you are extra active: (0.6*BMR) + BMR

If you are a professional athlete or if you work hard labor job.

How knowing your BMR will help you lose weight?

Knowing your BMR means you are aware of how much calories you need a day to keep your current weight. However, if you want to lose weight you need to cut your daily caloric intake (eat fewer calories) or burn the extra calories (through some activities). As a result you should keep your daily calorie intake lower than your BMR. How much lower? That’s the question: But before that you need to know:

Some more nutrition facts from Wikipedia:

Because human adipose (fat) tissue contains about 87% lipids, one kilogram of it stores the caloric energy of roughly 870 grams of pure fat, or 7800 kcal. In principle one has to create a 7800 kcal deficit or surplus between energy intake and use to lose or gain 1 kg of body fat, respectively, or 3500 kcal per pound. However, if one eats 7800 kcal more than the body needs, one won’t necessarily gain 1 kg of fat, since muscle and other tissues may be built. In the same way, if one eats 7800 kcal less than their maintenance level, they may not lose 1 kg of fat, since muscle and sugars may be metabolized to generate energy.

In short and still roughly speaking – in order to lose 1 pound a week you need to eat 500 calories less a day or burn those calories through exercising or other activities. For optimal results you should combine the two methods – eat 250 calories less and burn the rest 250 exercising.

Gradual weight loss is the healthiest way to achieve your desired weight

More than 2 pounds a week is not very healthy and the lost weight is not permanent. 1 to 2 pounds a week is natural weight loss – good for you and your body. You will be loosing weight with a smile on your face and won’t even notice you are dieting, because you will be dieting naturally.

Small calorie (aka gram calorie) is the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 g (gram) of water by 1 degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit).
1 cal equals to 4.184 joules (cal is the symbol for gram calorie)

Large calorie (aka kilogram calorie) is the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kg (kilogram) of water with 1 degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit).
1 kcal equals to 4.184 kilojoules = 4184 joules = 1000 cals (kcal is the symbol for kilogram calorie)

Although not a SI unit kilocalories are still the most common measurements for food energy. Hence the most common misconception that occurs when we talk about calories in food – despite we read calories or cals on food packages, the labeling actually refers to kilocalories when we talk about food.

For example: If a pack of crackers has 400 calories (or cals), it turns out that the calories (or cals) marked on the crackers package are actually kilocalories (or kcals), so it would be correct if written 400 kilocalories (or 400 kcals), but usually it’s not.

Often the word “calorie” (referring to kilocalorie) is capitalized (Calorie) in order to be distinguished from the small (gram) calorie, but this is not effective outside the specific context, so it’s practically useless.

The name “calorie” (referring to kilocalorie) is often used in medical sciences and non-scientific contexts. Whereas, the name “calorie” (referring strictly to the gram calorie) is used in scientific contexts such as chemistry and physics. Here’s why it is needed to be inferred from the context whether the gram calorie or the kilogram calorie is intended.

When we talk about exercises the same rule as in non-scientific context applies.

For example: If you normally burn 100 Calories (or cals) on the treadmill technically that refers to 100 kilocalories (or kcals).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie

The research was conducted by a team of scientists from Purdue University in USA and was published in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience.

In the experiment were used two groups of rats – each fed with yoghurt. The first group was fed with artificial sweetened yoghurt and the second one with crystal sugar sweetened yoghurt. After that each group was given food – plenty of it. The results were amazing:

The group of rats fed with yoghurt sweetened with artificial sweetener gained more weight and put on more fat compared to the other group.

Imagine if you drink your favorite morning coffee sweetened with saccharin and then eat up a lot of the chocolates and sweets from the local vending machine. Eventually you gain weight, whereas your closest coworker drinks her coffee with sugar and stays the same weight. Sound terrible, but it could be true…

It is all explained by the theory for sweet expectations:

Normally the sweet taste in the mouth primes the metabolism for the arrival of more high caloric or sweet meal. When that meal does not arrive, according to the theory, the body might get confused and have problems to regulate its appetite when other food is present around.

If this theory is true the low-calorie artificial sweeteners could have a similar effect.

My opinion

Do not forget that artificial sweeteners have helped so many people to lose weight when eating foods sweetened with them. This is still a very solid fact and one single (although very interesting) study conducted using rats does not prove for sure anything and cannot overrule the many health benefits of using artificial sweeteners all at once.

I will try this theory myself and see if I feel the same way. Currently I am a sugar lover and I will be happy if all this turns out to be true, so I wouldn’t need to switch to sweeteners in order to lose weight.

Source: BBC News (February 2008)

Cinnamon Oranges

This is a very simple dessert that can be prepared easily any time of the year. Takes only 10 minutes to prepare and serve. As you might be guessing oranges taste best in the winter when they are at their peak, hence the cinnamon orange dessert will have better flavor if prepared in the winter. Lucky you, cause you can try it immediately and it will taste best.

Ingredients:
4 servings

4 navel oranges
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar or (1-2) tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation:

Peel the oranges and remove the white pith from them. Use sharp knife to cut each orange into 5 or 6 slices and arrange them on 4 plates. Mix the orange and lemon juices, add the sugar and cinnamon and whisk. Poor 1 spoon over each orange slice pile and you are ready to serve.

Variation:

Instead of 1 tablespoon of sugar you can use (1-2) tablespoons of honey.

Nutrition Facts:

This dessert is low in calories, sodium, and cholesterol with 86 calories, 2 mg sodium, no cholesterol, no fat, 1 g protein, 3 g fiber, and 258 mg potassium per serving.
Rich in Vitamin C – you get 150% of you daily value. Good for the heart.

Bon Appetit!

Every time I was looking for cinnamon recipes I turned out that almost all cinnamon recipe also needed honey. Strange isn’t it, but having in mind the great weight loss mixture they make, it is not so surprising after all.

Well, this is exactly what happened the last time I was searching for cinnamon recipes, in particularly for cinnamon baked apples:

I found a few very similar recipes all with the same ingredients but with different preparation methods. Anyway, I just though finally I found a recipe with cinnamon and no honey, when all of a sudden it turned out that the last recipe needed a honey topping just before serving. It sounded so tempting and easy that I not only had great time preparing them, but also had an amazing experience eating them

The great news for all dieting people is that you get a nutrition bonus with every baked apple you eat  20% of your average daily fiber intake. This makes this delicious side dish a great source of fibers. But that’s not all – you also get the cinnamon and honey mixture (not as a drink this time). Well, the amounts of honey and cinnamon here are way lower than the amounts in the drink, but yet they work the same way, after all the cinnamon, honey and apple are all healthy, right

Here is the cinnamon honey apple recipe:

Ingredients
4 servings

4 apples (large red ones would be great)
4 tablespoons brown sugar
Ground cinnamon for sprinkle
Water – small amount

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 350F ~ 180C.

Wash the apples and cut a hole in top of each apple (remove the core with a knife or an apple corer and leave the bottom intact). Clean out the hole and fill each one with 1 tbsp of brown sugar.

Transfer the apples to a baking dish and sprinkle the cinnamon on top of each apple. Poor small amount of water in the baking dish – this will keep apples from drying up during the baking process. Do not cover the top of the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes or until apples get soft.

Serving

Remove from oven. Let them cool for a while and then drop a teaspoon of honey on top of each apple just before serving. Enjoy!

Variation

You can use wine instead of water. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 1 hour.

My opinion

I think one hour for covered with foil pan is too much time, but after all I haven’t tried this one. 30 minutes in non-covered pan were just enough for my cinnamon baked apples to get soft and ready to eat.

And what is your opinion? Are you willing to try this recipe?

Its most popular and effective meal plan is the Medifast 5 & 1 weight loss plan that helps you lose weight quickly and safely – up to 20 lbs. in 30 days.

Read more about Medifast benefits in Medifast Diet Review

Let’s reveal the secrets of Medifast Diet meal plan to successful weight loss:

5 & 1 diet meal plan

Typical weight loss of 2 to 5 pounds per week while on 5 and 1 diet meal plan. The calorie count varies between 800 to 1000 per day and is recommended for most people who really want to lose weight.

Each day you eat 5 Medifast meals plus 1 “lean and green” meal. It is better to plan them 2 to 3 hours apart throughout the whole day – do not left all for the evening.

You can use any of the Medifast products to plan your own diet meals. However, the Medifast team offers you a list of example 5 & 1 meal plans, which you can download from their download section.

The “lean and green” meal includes lean meat and salad (or vegetables). The vegetables you can eat if you don’t want the salad are 1 to 1 1/2 cups of any low-starch vegetables such as asparagus, green beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, zucchini, or tomatoes.

For the full list of recommended vegetables you can visit the free downloads section on Medifast Official Website.

How long should you stay on Medifast?

You can stay on the Medifast 5 & 1 meal plan until you reach your goal weight. It could take more than a month or two, or if you need to lose a lot of weight, you may stay on the program even longer.

If you want to speed up the Medifast weight loss process you can do some moderate exercises from the third week. Your body needs the first couple of weeks to adapt to the new diet meal plan.

Why is Medifast diet meal plan so popular?

Aren’t there any other similar diet meal plans that recommend moderate exercising and help you lose weight?

Of course there are, but with Medifast you won’t be hungry, you will be eating every 2-3 hours and you will be totally satisfied.

Medifast meals and products easily fit your busy life as all meals are quick and easy to prepare. You will be on a healthy diet while losing weight and living your life in fun.

If you are ready, you can order your Medifast 5 & 1 weight loss program package today and start your successful weight loss journey now.