Food Intolerance Testing: Food For Thought

Having a food intolerance is not the same as having a food allergy. If you have a food allergy, your body identifies problem food as a “toxic invader” and goes into anaphylactic shock when it is ingested.
Food intolerance is also linked to your body’s sensitivity to certain foods however it is not immune mediated. Food intolerance is sometimes caused by intestinal lining damage. In a perfectly healthy person, the intestinal lining which contains small holes, acts as a filter by preventing undigested particles of food and toxins from entering the bloodstream and allowing nutrients through.
However, if these small holes become enlarged then the intestinal lining’s ability to act as an effective filter is reduced. This is called “Leaky Gut” and it can cause a number of food intolerances. Recent research has shown that Leaky Gut can cause eczema and asthma.
However, there are plenty of other food intolerances that are not caused by Leaky Gut and are instead just to do with the fact that your body finds it difficult to cope with certain types of food.

Food Intolerance Testing
If you find that you suffer regularly from migraines, bloating and abdominal pains or any other on going physical complaint, then you might have a food intolerance.
The only way to identify this is through food intolerance testing. There are a number of ways to conduct food intolerance testing. We recommend the food intolerance indicator test as a first step. This is a simple blood test that identifies whether or not you actually have a food intolerance.
If the result comes back positive, then you can arrange to have further in-depth food intolerance testing to find out exactly which foods are causing you problems. Since the second test is more expensive than the first, it is better to start off with the food intolerance indicator test. That way, if you don’t have a food intolerance you won’t have wasted money on the second test.
Food intolerance testing is a simple, quick and affordable way to getting on the path to good health and a sense of well being.

About the Author

Elizabeth Harfleet, is a leading a UK based nutritional therapist who sells food intolerance testing kits via her website: http://www.wellbeing-nutrition.com/ food-intolerance-testing.htm
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Article published on April 19, 2006 at Isnare.com

Filipino Food Alternatives To Junk Food

You’re starving after a long day at work, but there’s nothing in the fridge. So you run to the nearest store and grab something to eat—a bag of chips, a candy bar, or a can of soda. This is what a typical afternoon is like for a lot of kids and young adults. Unfortunately, it can hardly be called healthy eating. Junk food is loaded with empty calories—calories that have no corresponding nutritional value. Basically, they make you fat but don’t make you any healthier. Before you know it, it can take its toll on your health.
If you need to munch in between meals, Filipino food is a much better way to fill up. Native snacks are a lot cheaper than store-bought foods, and they can satisfy those cravings without piling on the pounds. Here are some Filipino food recipes you can try in place of your favorite junk foods.
Junk: Burgers
Better: Spring rolls
Many parents argue that burgers aren’t all bad. After all, they’re basically a one-dish meal: you’ve got your starch, protein and vitamins in one bite. But you also get an unhealthy dose of trans fat, the leading cause of heart disease, obesity, and a host of other conditions. A lot of Filipino cooking recipes are also one-dish meals, but few of them have as much trans fat. With fresh lumpia, you can throw in your choice of meat and vegetables and control your serving portions. Cut off even more fat by going vegetarian or choosing regular flour instead of egg wrappers.
Junk: Candy bars
Better: Banana cue
The average candy bar has 300 to 500 calories; a two-piece banana cue has 250 or less. That’s because chocolate bars are loaded with high-fat ingredients such as nuts, caramel, sugar, and of course, chocolate. The sugar will give you an energy boost, but you’re not likely to burn all those calories before you’re tired again. Bananas are sweet, but its main ingredient is starch, a much better source of energy. Before eating, blot out some of the oil to further reduce the fat content.

Junk: Soft drinks
Better: Sagot’ Gulaman
A glass of soda contains the equivalent of 12 tablespoons of sugar—that’s more than you consume in one whole day! Soft drinks are a major cause of obesity in developed countries. Even diet sodas aren’t completely safe; the aspartame used in place of sugar is linked to a number of health problems, including cancer. If you need to freshen up, get a glass of sagot’ gulaman—a banana-flavored beverage with bits of gelatin and tapioca balls. It goes well with banana cue, turon, and other light Filipino recipes.
Junk: Doughnuts
Better: Puto/Kutsinta
It’s nice to have something sweet to go with your morning coffee, but there are healthy wys to get that sugar fix. Instead of those fat jelly-filled doughnuts, have a double treat of puto and kutsinta instead. These little cakes are made from rice flour, which is infinitely healthier than the white flour used in commercial breads and pastries. Because they are steamed, they retain most of their moisture, making them more filling as well. To maximize your calorie savings, skip the cheese and salted egg toppings.

Junk: Milkshakes
Better: Taho
Next to soda and beer, milkshakes are one of the unhealthiest drinks invented in our time. The combination of milk, sugar, artificial flavoring, and whipped cream topping pack a dose of fat and calories that will take three hours of exercise to burn off. Instead, help yourself to a cup of taho—a warm drink made from soft tofu, sweetened with sugar syrup and garnished with sago (tapioca balls). It’s a little heavy, but several times healthier. It’s also a lot cheaper—10 pesos will get you a large cup, while a regular milk shake can cost over 100.
Junk: Ice cream
Better: Tropical fruits
Often, when you’ve topped off a great meal with a bowl of ice cream, you find yourself craving again in less than an hour. That’s how this sweet treat works: it sends a handful of fat down your system, and makes you hungry so that you’ll want even more. It’s great at children’s parties, but on regular days, it only works up your appetite. If you’re craving an after-meal treat, grab a mango, pineapple or some other fruit instead. Mix them together to make your own Filipino desserts recipes. Fresh fruits fill you up fast, so you can curb your cravings for more than half the day.

About the Author

Carlo Villamayor is the owner and co-author of the Filipino food blog, http://Kusina.ph at http://www.kusina.ph. A devoted cook, he makes it his personal mission to spread the joy of some of his Filipino Cuisine on the Streets at http://www.kusina.ph/filipino-cuisine-on-the-streets/ with food lovers the w
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Article Tags: fat, filipino, sugar
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Article published on January 29, 2008 at Isnare.com

Wedding Music Tips: Why Your Wedding Day Music Is So Important

Many couple like to enjoy music at their wedding; the music can be played throughout the ceremony as well as the reception so you have to think about that as well. Many couples play the traditional "here comes the bride" on the organs or the piano at the ceremony as the bride is walking down the aisle with the man that is going to give her away which is usually the bride’s father but any important male in her life can be nominated as the person who gives her away! Music can be traditional, jazzy, and funky or indeed anything you want it to be.
During the ceremony wedding music is allowed to be played but only at the start you need silence for the exchange of the vows and making the marriage legal, after the ceremony when you are leaving the church or garden or office, in fact anywhere that you have been married, many newly weds play a lively happy song to guide them out of their venue and on to their wedding reception.
At the wedding reception entertainment and music is a must, whether this comes in the form of a DJ, live band or even a comedian there should be great music and good food, with lots of people dancing. It is traditional for the newly weds to have their first dance as a newly married couple before any one else has a dance on the floor, this is where you usually pick a favourite meaningful song that has a lot of significance to you and your partner as it serves as a memory reminder, whenever you hear that song from now on your mind will flash back to your first wedding dance with each other and your first day as a married couple.

Wedding music is important, it helps people to be happy. Music is an aphrodisiac and makes people feel good. And to be honest it will bring lots of laughs and happy memories as when the guests and family start to have their drinks their dancing becomes more frequent and enjoyable. A wedding brings families of the bride and groom closer so they could even dance together to help it along, making sure that everyone has a great time and a good dance is imperative to your wedding. Not only your guests of course, you and your new husband or wife got to be sure they are having the best day of their life!

About the Author

For a free course on planning discount weddings and where to find the best discount wedding invitations, visit http://www.discountweddingguide.com/ today.
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Article Tags: dance, music, wedding
Read more articles by: Melissa Burton
Article published on May 27, 2006 at Isnare.com

Music For Mp3 Players

Music for mp3 players is probably the easiest product to find on the internet. Music is and always will be a part of our lives every day. The MP3 format has managed to fuel further the online public’s music craze.
The main reason for this is that MP3 music is cheaper than offline sources and some sites even offer it for free, after a small one time membership fee. These music download sites are numerous online and you can feel secure in knowing that you can download MP3 music without the fear of breaking the law. It is a good idea when you download mp3 files from online music services, that know what your download membership allows you to do.

If you are the type of person who like to take control of the music that you listen to, then a music download site will be the perfect place for you to download MP3 music. It would seem that the digital music download is becoming the preferred way to get our music. This gives you the opportunity to be able to listen to your favorite mp3 music quicker than ever.
As was stated earlier, there are literally tons of websites in various sizes and shapes that are offering free legal mp3 music, and they are just waiting for you to start to download your favorite tunes. One thing that you might like to know is that legal music download sites must give a portion of their fees back to the recording industry. Music for mp3 players will give you thousands of free mp3 songs and numerous hours of listening enjoyment for many years to come.

Bessie Johns
Are you trying to find a good website online to get music for mp3 players? Check this out! http://bewj-freeunlimitedmp3downloads.blogspot.com
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Author Bessie Johns

Music with Surgery: Why?

Why would you want music during surgery?
As I travel the country talking with people about the importance of music during surgery, there is one question that arises over and over. The question is a good one: why would you want music during surgery if you’re going to be asleep? Very logical question and luckily, the answer is very logical too.
Music during surgery is not about entertainment; it is not about soothing a person or even comforting them. The whole point of using music during surgery is to relax the body so that less anesthesia is needed. Secondarily, when you have music coming through headphones, the music enters the brain through the eighth cranial nerve and entrains or synchronizes the heartbeat and breathing with the tempo of the music.

For this reason, you want to choose music with the tempo of the healthy restingheartbeat. You also want to choose
music that is purely instrumental, i.e., nothing with lyrics.
The third and final reason to use music through head-
phones during surgery is to block out comments and
conversation of the medical staff that might be negative
or pessimistic and influence you subconsciously.
Please feel free to contact me for more information at
www.HealingMusicEnterprises.com or call me at 502-419-1698.

Dr. Alice H. Cash is a clinical musicologist based in Louisville, KY. She consults with patients preparing for surgery and with clients who suffer from depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia and many other health challenges. Her use of music as medicine has garnered her an international reputation as a leader in this emerging field.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Alice_Cash

Author Dr. Alice Cash

Food Safety: What Is Hiding In Your Food?

As we head into the summer season, the number of barbeques and picnics increases. But this means more foods sitting out and shared by multiple people. This is the time that we all need to pay particular attention to the fact that food safety is NOT something to be taken lightly. Although just the thought of suffering from nausea, vomiting and severe diarrhea should be enough to motivate people to take food safety seriously, often people don’t think about it until it’s too late.
Over 250 organisms are known to cause foodborne illnesses. The causes of foodborne illness include viruses, bacteria, parasites, toxins, metals, and prions, and the symptoms of foodborne illness range from mild gastroenteritis to life-threatening neurologic, hepatic, and renal syndromes. In the United States, foodborne diseases have been estimated to cause 6 million to 81 million illnesses and up to 9,000 deaths each year.
Keeping track of people who actually suffer from foodborne illness is complicated by several factors. The first is that many cases are not ever reported. If you are sick, but not sick enough to see your doctor or be hospitalized, it’s unlikely you would report it to the CDC. However, the CDC requests that you do report it if you do suspect you suffered from food illness after eating at a restaurant. There are many cases where this reporting helped stop a potential serious outbreak.

A foodborne disease outbreak is defined as a group of people developing the same illnesses after ingesting the same food. If you think you or others became ill from eating the same food, please report this outbreak to your local (city or county) health department. By investigating outbreaks, public health officials learn about problems in food production that lead to illness. Applying what is learned in the investigation of one outbreak can help to prevent many future illnesses.
Second, many pathogens transmitted through food are also spread through water or from person to person, thus obscuring the role of foodborne transmission. Finally, some proportion of foodborne illness is caused by pathogens or agents that have not yet been identified and thus cannot be diagnosed. The importance of this final factor cannot be overstated. Many of the pathogens of greatest concern today (e.g., Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Cyclospora cayetanensis) were not recognized as causes of foodborne illness just 20 years ago.
Do you know how long that potato salad has sat out? Do you know what may have stopped by to ‘visit’ your container of mayo salad dressing topping that’s on the table, next to the hot dogs? Never take food safety lightly. Just to emphasize the point, spend some time on this site from a mother who lost her daughter to food poisoning: http://www.geocities.com/tysca66/kelly.html.
Here are some tips how you can practice food safety at your summer barbeques and picnics:
Wash hands.

Frequently wash your hands – before and after eating. If you anticipate no running water available where you are, be sure to pack a waterless hand sanitizer in your bag. Remind family members to do the same.
Check that cold foods are cold.
Be certain that foods you are eating are as cold as they should be. Be sure bowls of cold food are nesting in bowls filled with ice.
Check how the meats are cooked.
Before biting into a burger – break it open to be sure it looks thoroughly cooked – brown in the middle. Be sure you do not eat chicken that has pink inside.
Pay attention to how food is served.
Check that each salad or plate of food has its own serving utensils.
Eat once food is served.
Eating once food is brought out lessens the chance of bacteria growing as it sits out.

Ask your host.
Finally – if you have any questions about how the food was prepared or how long something has been out – ASK. Chances are your host or hostess will want to assure you that she has taken appropriate food-safety precautions as she prepared for the barbecue.
Summer is a great time to get together with friends and family and enjoy some summer foods – just be sure to take those necessary precautions.

About the Author

Marjorie Geiser helps people overcome the confusion and distress they may feel when trying to add healthy eating and fitness into their busy lives. She offers a free, monthly newsletter on various topics of health. She is a Registered Dietitian, Personal Trainer and Life Coach. To learn more, visit http://www.marjoriegeiser.com or e-mail margie@megfit.com
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Article Tags: food, foodborne, illness
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Article published on August 02, 2006 at Isnare.com

Food Is A Need, But Good Cooked Food Is A Want!

The other day, I went to the famous restaurant that had opened recently in my locality. I sat opposite to the couple who were in their mid 40’s. The waiter came & I placed my order. As is the human nature, after placing my order, I started peeking at other tables around me. Just then, my eyes caught this waiter, who had in his hand a large serving dish filled with small & medium sized dishes. There was something in the fragrance & fumes that were coming out that my eyes got fixed onto it. As the waiter came nearer, I realized that the dishes landed one by one on the table directly opposite to me.
Without even waiting for a second, the couple started to gorge at the food as if they had never eaten before. I thought “how indecent”, but then the fragrance was so tempting that I had to peek onto their table & to my surprise I saw that all the preparations were without any exception, baked. Such was my state of amazement that I ordered one item from the list of baked preparations for myself. To my delight, after the first spoon that went into my mouth, there was no stopping it. I was also gorging at the dish just as the couple opposite to me was doing. Thus started my quest to find out more about what we call as baked food.

In non-technical terms, baking is a technique to cook food in an oven or microwave. However, there is much to this definition. The modus operandi of cooking baked food is to apply dry heat evenly throughout the vessel containing the mixture of uncooked food. The important aspect here is that for properly baking the food you need to apply the heat from all sides including the bottom, this is the primary reason that oven is provided with two heating elements; One at the bottom & the other at the top or sides to give all round heating.
Whenever baking or bakery comes to your mind, it flashes to breads, cakes, pies, desserts, tarts & the list is endless until your mouth starts watering & you order any one of the above. The physics in dry heating is that when you dry heat, you are actually changing the structure of starch that is present in the food in such a manner that it presents itself as the brown cover that the food shows. What happens in the baking process is that the moisture present in the uncooked food is sealed inside thus providing that aroma & taste to your buds.
The most common baked preparation is bread, Variations in type of ovens, the ingredients, and recipes used in baking of a bread results in the wide variety of breads produced around the world. It is the nature of people & environment that decides the type of food that is cooked or liked but the most common baked food items that are made all over the world include baked vegetables & cakes.
So next time, you want to try something different at a restaurant or you get into the mood of cooking at home, try Baked food.

About the Author

Vuctor Nunn writes about Cookware Coupons, KItchen Etc CouponCodes
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Article Tags: baked, baking, food
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Article published on September 20, 2006 at Isnare.com