How to eat and prepare your Dragon fruit.

Last time I already posted about dragon fruit, I just wanted to add some more information about this wonderful healthy fruit. But first let's have a little background check of this fruit. Dragon fruit is a native of Central America, where they call it pitaya, Which literally means the fruit of the cactus.

Dragon fruit is very popular in South East Asia, It comes from 3 different varieties, which are distinguished by the color of the flesh inside. These are white, pink and magenta. Now, there is really no way how to tell which is which from the outside. The white is the most common, its the least sweet of the three with magenta being the sweetest.

When selecting dragon fruit, look for hot pink skin, that's free of soft spot, the fruit will yield slightly to pressure, kind of like the tomato. At this ripeness it's best to use it in a fruit salad.If you like a softer, sweeter dragon fruit, Leave it on your counter for 3 or 4 days, and you can use it in your favorite smoothie, sorbet or dessert sauce. You don't have to worry about thorn and splinters because there aren't any, even though the spines may look like they might poke you, they are actually soft and flexible.

When preparing dragon fruit, cut the bloom end off first, then the stem, then slice from the bloom end to the stem. The skin peels right off, Now. it's ready to eat. For a nice presentation cut the dragon fruit in half and scoop out the flesh, Use the shell as the container to serve your fruit salad or sorbet. This fruit is a great fruit to liven up any type of salad or dish. Happy healthy eating!!

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Healthy Salad Secrets

There are many salads nowadays but how would you actually make the most of it. Here are pointers from the experts, It will change the way you make your salads.

1. For the citrus fruits, make sure they are firm and fragrant upon smelling.

2. For the meat, as long as it's vacuum packed. Or if buying pre-packed meat, it should be pink and to red in color.

3. For the prawns, go for those that are gray and firm.

4. For the salad greens, go for leaves and herbs that are fresh and crisp.

With salads it's nice to try out the different textures like crunchy and soft, This can also be something chewy, Having different textures, as well as different flavors gives dish some variety, Making it more enjoyable. Because usually if it is vinaigrette or a vinegar or a citrus-based dressing, you would want to balance the acidity to something sweet. So a balance of sweet and sour is nice, and if you can put a little bit of a bitter taste, a little bit of salty taste, even better.

Salads are a versatile type of dish, and aren't just measured by dressing and lettuce. Experimenting is a good way to spice things up. There are different ways to of doing the dressing, and not just the usual oil or vingar, fruits or vegetable purees are options. For starters try mango or raspberry puree.

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How to Start Healthy Eating

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If you currently do not eat a healthy diet, it can be difficult to start such a plan. However, healthy eating is important for maintaining bodily function and living a disease-free life. If you struggle with healthy eating, than you know that breaking unhealthy habits can be the most difficult part of the process. However, if you truly want to live the best lifestyle possible, it is important to follow tips in order to start eating a more healthy diet.

A good beginning step when you want to start eating more healthily is to rid you home of all founds that do not into healthy categories. Keep junk foods and beverages out of your house so that you will not be tempted to snack during the day. If you’re worried about getting hungry, keep healthy snacks like carrot sticks, yogurt, fresh fruit, or whole-wheat crackers on hand. If you find that you just cannot bear to toss out the sweets, try keeping something tiny on hand, like chocolate chips. Eating a few of these won’t ruin your diet but also will give you that little sugary fix you rave.

Another great step to healthy eating when you are first starting the process is to take a few moments to learn about what foods are the healthiest for you and how they work in the body. Most people understand that fruits, vegetables, and low-fat means and dairy products are good for you, but few people understand why. The key is learning about nutrients. When you understand how specific nutrients work in the body, you will be more likely to make these healthy choices for your body. Knowledge really is power!

When cleansing yourself to prepare for a new healthy diet, you should also take into consideration your schedule for meals. If you often eat in a rushed hurry at odd times of day, you probably are not getting the best foods possible. Plan ahead! Instead of grabbing a fast food lunch on the go, take a bagged lunch to work, complete with a healthy wrap and some fresh vegetables. Plan ahead for healthy meals in the evening as well by cooking ahead if you are not currently getting healthy dinners and have little time to cook when you get home every night.

Start with baby steps. Even if you only replace one soda a day with a glass of water, you are really improve your calorie intake. If you eat fast food every day for lunch, try replacing that even half of the time. When you start by taking small steps, it does not seem like you are cutting out all of the foods you love and you can take your time to learn about healthy foods which you can love equally as well.

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Health benefits of Lutein

There are so many health supplement nowadays and people just can't get enough of it. There is this one eye supplement that has been trying make a name in my country, I'm not going to tell the brand, but what is important to me is to know exactly what makes this supplement, different from the other ones, What is it that make it work? and does it have any side effects? and stuff like that. So, What is Lutein?

Lutein is another antioxidant that is one of the caretenoids these are pigments that are usually found in different types of vegetables and fruits, such as squash, carrots, mangoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, corn and dark, leafy vegetables like those of kale, collards, bok choy and spicnach. but what exactly does lutein does to help us?

Studies indicate that lutein plays a vital role in reducing the risk of AMD or also known as Age-related Macular Degeneration and can also help slow down the progression of the disease. Lutein deposits in the macula - the part of the eye that controls accurate vision - and helps filter out harmful blue light which stops it from reaching and damaging the sensitive back tissue of the retina, effectively acting as natural sunglasses.

A lot of people may not need to take any supplements like Lutein, especially if they have well balanced diet and a higher intake of lutein-rich foods, but for those people with serious eye problems, a supplement wouldn't hurt. but better chekc your doctor first.

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Why fruit juice? And not soda.

Many people nowadays love different types of drinks, soda's, soft and hard drinks and a lot more, But ill give you reasons why you should stick to your fruit juice.!

Orange fruit. Orange trees are evergreen trees that grow to the heights of between 8 and 15 meters when fully mature. They are supposed to have originated from south and Indo-China and are acknowledged to have been in cultivation for thousands of years. The fruit is round, thick-skinned with a reddish-yellow color when ripe. One orange contains about 50 milligrams of Vitamin C, or about two thirds of an average person's daily need. It is deliciously edible and juicy fruit when squeezed-whether to be drank immediately or packed, canned bottled at the factory for later consumption.

Lemon, which alleged originated form Burma or Northern India, The fruit itself is yellow and oval with an acidic, detoxifying juice that is often made into lemonade mixed with water and dome sugar. Lime, on the other hand, is one of the most cultivated citrus fruits in the tropics and is much like a lemon but is much smaller and more acidic.

Not all fruit juices are created equal. Products labeled "fruit or juice cocktails" are in all probability primarily a water-sugar mix and only five to ten percent juice. Also an important distinction: orange, grape and other fruit-flavored soft drinks contains no juice. In cases where you have 100 percent juice, a 3/4 cup unfortified serving of grape juice give you 0 percent Vitamin C of the recommended daily allowance (RDA_. Pineapple 33 percent, grapefruit 90 percent and orange juice a full 100%.

Many juices and the fruits they're from have vaunted healing and medical powers, and welcome role as preventers of uncalled-for visits to the doctor. Relief of skin ailments, stomach aches, headaches, indigestion and fevers plus counteractions of colds, cough and bronchial disease are just few of the positive effects known to be elicited from regular consumption of a wide variety of them.

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How to lose the holiday weight gain.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, New year. So many holidays and of course........ feast! who doesn't love to eat right? especially when everybody is enjoying eating and having fun. But of course sometimes we tend to forget our diet, counting calories, food portions. etc. I'm sometimes guilty of this too.

Here are some tips that hope to help you lose some holiday weight gain.

1. Eat fruits and vegetables. They'll give you more food and less calories. You just came out of holiday feast so better start eating healthy foods and gain power not fat.

2. Spice things up. A little salsa can add a lot of flavor to a baked potato-and for few calories. I know, many people may not like to eat boring or bland healthy foods. So spice up your food a little.

3. For sweets. just grab low-fat yogurt instead of ice cream. There are many low fat yogurts around nowadays. You might thought of grabbing a low fat ice cream, but better not.

4. Besides cutting calories, a high fiber diet help prevent cancer, heart disease and digestive illness. So wake up with an oatmeal breakfast or just get a high fiber lunch and your off to lose weight.

5. Exercise everyday. Oh yes! You ate a lot last holiday, so lose that fat!

Everything may seem to be very hard, but i still think that if you put your heart to it. I mean discipline is one major key to lose weight! We still have few more holiday feasts to come so if you think you are having a hard time to lose weight. Then control yourself.

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