Never Refrigerate These Foods

by

Never Refrigerate These Foods

Refrigeration is not meant for every piece of food item you have in your household. People tend to think that keeping things in the fridge will magically make all foods last longer. But the reality is that in some cases refrigeration can actually cause some foods to spoil faster. I’ve compiled a list of seven common items most people store in the fridge, but shouldn’t.

Fruits

1.Apples

Apples will actually lose their texture and flavor when refrigerated. If you prefer to eat your apples cold, just place them inside the fridge 30 minutes before eating.

2. Bananas

The fridge can easily disrupt the ripening process of bananas. Actually, once a banana is refrigerated a banana may never be able to resume its ripening even after being placed at room temperature again.

3. Tomatoes

Sure, you think refrigerating your tomatoes will keep them tasting like fresh. No! Similar to apples, tomatoes will lose their flavor and texture when refrigerated.

Vegetables

4. Sweet Potatoes

When you expose sweet potatoes to cold temperatures, the starches found inside the potatoes will turn into sugar. So not only will the sugar content inside the sweet potatoes increase, but their flavor and texture will also be disrupted. Unfortunately, you will end up with sweet potatoes that taste like nothing but will cause you to gain weight!

5. Onions

The number one reason why should not store onions in the refrigerator is because they will make anything and everything smell like onions! Also, refrigeration will turn your onions soggy. The best way to store onions is to place them in a paper bag in a dark, cool place in your kitchen; this will help them last longer.

6. Avocados

Similar to bananas, refrigeration interrupts the ripening enzymes in an avocado. This may work to your favor if you don’t want to eat the avocado right away. But if, for example, you want to make guacamole today, then storing your avocados in the fridge will not be a good move.

Grains

7. Coffee

Unlike what the majority of people thing, you should not store coffee in your fridge. Room temperature is actually necessary for coffee because it allows the natural oils in the coffee beans to release its aromatic scent. The only time you put coffee in the fridge is if you want to get rid of any odors inside your fridge (since coffee is known for absorbing other food odors). But unless you want to drink coffee that smells like nothing, don’t store it in the fridge!

Don’t Eat Vegetables Without Olive Oil!

by

We all know that veggies are awesome for your health, your waistline, and your dinner plate. Vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidant phytochemicals. However, it’s sometimes not enough to just crunch away at these vegetables without adding another very important nutrient. The good news is, it’s a delicious one.

A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed that participants who added olive oil to their salads and veggie dishes absorbed much greater amounts of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. Those who skipped adding the healthy fat (or chose a fat-free dressing) absorbed almost none.

Why does olive oil matter? Well, the phytochemicals are what help to fight off inflammation, defy aging and control appetite. If you’re not absorbing phytochemicals, you may as well not be eating vegetables at all, since you’d be throwing away the vast majority of what makes them healthy and nutrient.

Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats which have been shown definitively to increase veggie nutrient absorption. If you want to get the most out of your veggie intake, top off your salads with olive oil and vinegar. Also, add olive oil to your veggie side dishes and cook your vegetables in olive oil.

Olive oil has many other health benefits. For one, it can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Traditionally, a low-fat diet has been prescribed to prevent heart disease, diabetes and other risks associated with fat. However, more important than avoiding fat altogether is eating the right type of fat. A diet rich in monounsaturated fats such as those found in olive oil, nuts, and seeds actually protects from many of these chronic diseases.

Older individuals who consume olive oil every day can protect themselves from strokes, according to a study from France. The study looked at over 7,000 individuals with no history of stroke. After 5 years, they noticed that the participants who didn’t have strokes were also the individuals who used olive oil regularly for cooking and dressing food.

Olive oil has also been shown to slow down the aging of the heart. As we grow older, the heart goes through its own aging process. Arteries may not function as well as they once did, and that can lead to a host of other health problems. In a recent study, Spanish researchers found that an olive oil rich diet or other monounsaturated fats could improve the arterial function of elderly individuals.

 

How To Have a Healthier Thanksgiving

by

With Thanksgiving coming up, chances are food is on your mind. Not just any food either, food that’s high in calories, fat and, let’s face it – deliciousness. From stuffed turkey drenched in brown gravy to sweet potato casserole topped with roasted marshmallows the Thanksgiving dinner table is the best and easiest place in the world to overindulge yourself. If you’re watching your calorie intake or your waistline, Thanksgiving can be a dangerous time. However, with the right planning and willpower, you can manage to make Thanksgiving a healthy (or at least healthier) experience.

 

Before You Eat…

For one, you need to exercise some moderation. It can be tempting to scoop mountains of mashed potatoes and stuffing onto your plate, but that can be a real problem. If you serve yourself some small portions not only can you manage your calorie intake, but you get to try everything on the table!

Also keep in mind that Thanksgiving is supposed to be about indulgence. It’s okay to eat a little more than your fill during the holidays, but make sure you balance it out. On Thanksgiving for example, have some good, light meals for breakfast and lunch and try to get in some light exercise. That way you’ll feel healthier, and hungrier when the big meal rolls around.

When it does though, there are some simple ways to keep yourself from overeating. Try taking a sip of water between bites to stop from simply stuffing food in your mouth continuously. Also, wait at least 20 minutes before going in for round two. Chances are, your body doesn’t know it’s full until then. After 20 minutes you might find that you don’t have room.

If you’re the one doing the cooking, then it’s that much easier to control how healthy the meal is. Using low-fat meats and dairy products is a simple way to lower the overall calorie load of your meal. If you use them in stuffing, pies and desserts for example, your guests won’t even notice the difference.

 

Burning Thanksgiving Calories

Even with the strongest of resolves, chances are you’ll still need to do some activity to break even calorie wise. Consider even doing some exercise on Thanksgiving. If you jog for just 60 minutes you’ll burn about 500 calories. That’s a slice of pecan pie! If you do an hour of Zumba, you can manage to have an extra piece of that sweet potato casserole.

There are even some activities you can do throughout the day that don’t require putting on your running shoes. Clearing and washing the dishes can burn about 100 calories, and helping clean up the kitchen can burn another 100. Pretty good if you had a little too much green bean casserole.

If there’s kids at your party consider this: An hour of carrying or playing around with small children can burn up to 200 calories. Shopping for 30 minutes can burn up to 80 calories. That’s enough for your mashed potatoes or dinner rolls.

 

8 Foods You Shouldn’t Store in the Refrigerator

by

Modern technology allows us to conserve our food supply for far longer than our ancestors did. Something as simple as a refrigerator can help keep something that might spoil by nightfall good to eat for days. But, did you know that refrigeration can actually cause certain foods to spoil faster? Did you know that your refrigerator could be changing the flavor of your food? This is a started list of foods you should keep out of your refrigerator next time you bring home fresh groceries:

1. Bananas – Refrigeration actually disrupts the ripening process of bananas. Even worse, once refrigerated, a banana may never be able to resume the ripening process, even if returned to room temperature.

Foods Out of the Fridge 2. Potatoes – When exposed to cold temperatures, the starches found in potatoes go through a chemical reaction that turns those starches into sugar. This affects their flavor and texture, not to mention making them less healthy to eat because of their increased sugar content. Instead, store your potatoes in a paper bag in dark place like your pantry. The paper bag will allow the potatoes to receive more air, which will slow the deterioration process.

3. Tomatoes – The best tomatoes you’ve ever had probably didn’t come out of your veggie drawer in the refrigerator. That’s because tomatoes lose their flavor and become mushy when refrigerated. In the same way bananas are affected by refrigeration, so are tomatoes. The cold air stops their ripening process. It also affects the texture of tomatoes as it breaks down the membranes inside the tomatoes and turns them mealy. Instead, keep them in a basket or a glass bowl on the kitchen counter.

4. Apples – Similar to tomatoes, apples lose their texture and flavor in the fridge. If you prefer your apples cold, place it in the fridge about 30 minutes before eating.

5. Onions – Onions not only get soggy, they cause the rest of your food to taste and smell like onions. Try storing them in a paper bag (within a cool, dark cabinet) for maximum shelf-life. However, make sure to keep your potatoes and onions separate; when stored together, they speed up each others deterioration processes.

6.  Avocados – This one isn’t a hard and fast rule. Like bananas, refrigeration shuts down an avocado’s ripening enzymes. Sometimes that’s a good thing, and sometimes that’s bad. If the avocado is as ripe as you want it, and you’re not planning on using it right away, go ahead and keep it in the fridge. If it’s still a bit hard when you squeeze it, you’re going to want to let it ripen outside of the refrigerator for a few days.

7. Coffee – This one might surprise you, but coffee is best stored at room temperature, otherwise not only is it going to lose its natural scent, but it will absorb odors from other foods in your fridge (remember those onions we were talking about? Gross.)

8. Basil –  Basil absorb all the smells surrounding food very easily. To store properly, keep it on the counter in a cup of fresh water.

There’s a lot we could cover about proper storage of your fresh foods, but for now, this is a great place to start. Head over to your fridge, pull out anything you now know shouldn’t be kept there, and make sure your next round of groceries gets properly sorted. If you do, you’ll notice your ingredients, and your meals, will start tasting a heck of a lot fresher. If you want to learn more nutrition tips, be sure to follow the official Josh Bezoni Twitter.

Where do Americans Get the Most Sodium?

by

Companies behind highly processed packaged foods that are in the way of you and that thinner waistline you are working for may want you to think that issues with sodium come from how many times you shake that salt shaker. But, this may come to a surprise to many of you, that is far from the truth.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has published a breakdown of where Americans take in sodium from, the real source of high sodium diets is:

Josh Bezoni Fitness Sodium Breakdown

77% from processed foods

12% from naturally occurring sources

6% added at the table

5% added during cooking

Now it might start to make sense why many companies want you to think that high sodium intake stems from others and not their processed foods.

A high sodium diet can have a very negative impact on your health by increasing your blood pressure which can lead to several problems down the line. It can also ruin an otherwise good diet, which is why the consumption of processed foods should be reduced if not completely avoided.

One issue with packaged foods is that it may be harder to control the portions, further increasing the amount of sodium you consume. Take eating a bowl of cereal as an example. How many people actually stop to look at the Nutrition Facts panel and attempt to stick to the actual suggested serving size? Probably less than you think and that means that a lot of people are consuming more than they should of these packaged and processed foods that are high in sodium, calories and carbohydrates.

The information provided on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging. You should not use the information on this site for diagnosis or treatment of any health problem or for prescription of any medication or other treatment. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem. You should not stop taking any medication without first consulting your physician.

What You Must Avoid When Having Breakfast

by

Many people are mislead about what a “healthy” breakfast consists of. Breakfast is a very important meal, especially when you have established certain body transformation goals that you are working very hard to achieve. But making bad choices when it comes to your first meal of the day can significantly slow down your progress or keep you from reaching those goals entirely.

For those of us looking to get or stay healthy, the challenge is knowing what breakfast options are good for your body. Cereal is seen as excellent breakfast – it’s fast to prepare and can be very delicious. But did you know that choosing the wrong type of cereal could be what is keeping you from your body transformation goals? If you decide to have cereal often, one thing you must avoid are GMO cereals.

GMO, or Genetically Modified Organisms, are becoming increasingly harder to avoid for people who are not actively looking out for it. Although biotechnology corporations will be the first to support the so-called great benefits of GMOs, keep in mind that they have a financial stake in the rest of us believing their claims.

The heavily processed ingredients found in GMO cereals can be very bad for that waistline you are working to reduce but they also have some even scarier risks that you must be aware of in your trek toward a healthy, fit lifestyle. Studies have repeatedly shown that consumption of GM foods leads to an increase in the potential for:

  • Accelerated aging
  • Allergies
  • Altered genes associated with cholesterol synthesis, insulin regulation, and protein formation
  • Changes in liver, kidney, and spleen function
  • Infertility
  • Immune system compromise

Taking note of these potential risks to our health, there have already been many countries that have banned the use and sale of genetically modified crops used to make many of the foods we eat.

The information provided on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging. You should not use the information on this site for diagnosis or treatment of any health problem or for prescription of any medication or other treatment. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem. You should not stop taking any medication without first consulting your physician.

#1 WORST Ingredient (Do NOT Eat)

by

You know, we’re surprised that there’s still a LOT of folks out there who don’t know that this stuff is pure poison. Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils.

image of trans fat

This ingredient is the code name for “trans fats” and it runs rampant in fried foods and packaged goods…it also has been closely linked to these conditions:

Heart Disease…

High Cholesterol…

Alzheimer Disease…

High Blood Pressure…

Stroke…

And how about this one? DEATH.

And that’s even by consuming just a small amount daily.

What foods contain trans fats? Here are some of the most common:

French Fries – 14.5 grams of trans fat in the average medium sized order of french fries! Eat that every day and you won’t be living long. Go with baked sweet potato fries instead.

Margarine and Vegetable Shortening – Anywhere from 30 – 40% trans fat… no thank you! Go with organic butter instead.

Fast Food – An original chicken dinner at KFC will reward you with 7 grams of trans fat, but it’s not just the fried foods… it’s even in the desserts! You’ll find trans fat in almost all heavily processed foods, and there’s very few foods more processed than fast food!

If you want a quick meal on the go that isn’t full of trans fats, go with our favorite “quick service” joint as of late, Chipotle. A full meal including hormone-free meats, fiber-rich legumes, and a bunch of tasty, low-calorie topping choices… all for less than $7. Can’t go wrong with that!

Donuts and other baked goods – BAD. Trans fats are often in the batter and dough—not to mention many times fried on top! This includes cookies, pastries, muffins, brownies, and just about every other baked good you can think of. Instead, go with true “baked” baked goods (not fried) and try some of the gluten-free varieties to avoid the wheat on top of it. We just tried a gluten-free brownie mix made with rice flour and a relatively healthy ingredient profile… not bad for a sweet treat every so often!

Cereal (even most “healthy” varieties) – For example, Post Selects “Great Grains” contains 2 grams of trans fat per cup. NOT so healthy. Go with old-fashioned oatmeal instead, or a true sprouted grain cereal that doesn’t contain processed wheat.

Salad Dressings – Notorious for containing loads of partially hydrogenated oils and trans fat, steer clear of most store-bought salad dressings. Instead go with a homemade recipe that calls for extra virgin olive oil as the base.

And there are a bunch of others, but those are some of the biggest culprits. Again, read your labels and make sure you avoid partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated oils like the plague.