Herbal Green Tea

We all know that green tea is beneficial to our health. One of its benefit is to increase the enzymes which belong to the glutathione S-transferase (GST) family (our internal antioxidants). These enzymes are responsible for modifying cancer causing molecules and render them inactive.

To get the full benefit of green tea, you must drink more than 3 cups daily and that would mean more caffeine intake. Some experts even recommend 8 to 10 cups.

Caffeine and the polyphenols in tea has some contrasting effects. One of which is that the polyphenols in tea may prevent heart disease but caffeine may increase the risk of it. I'll make a post on this later.

There are some products which extract the polyphenols in green tea and eliminates the caffeine content like this herbal green tea extract. Check it out and read more benefits from this caffeine free green tea.

I hope this would be a good tip for you.

---

Related Posts:

Adrenaline and Caffeine
Adrenal Fatigue Caused by Caffeine
Caffeine Intake and Pregnancy
How Much Caffeine Do You Take?
Caffeine Can Elevate Your Stress Hormones
Can Caffeine Make Your Heart Stop?
How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your Body?
Decaffeinated Tea
Caffeine and Tea
Meditation Can Give You a Lift
Caffeine and Meditation

Caffeine Free Tea:

Herbal Green Tea Extract

---

Technorati tags
herbal green tea antioxidants caffeine polyphenols

---

Body Mass Index (BMI)

Do you think you're overweight?

Find out using this body mass calculator.

To calculate your body mass index(BMI), which is a measure of your body fat, just enter your height and weight in the fields provided.

If the result indicates that you are overweight, maybe you should consider changing your eating habits and preferences. Try drinking tea - you can lose weight with it and at the same time gain beneficial doses of antioxidants.

---

Technorati tags
bmi antioxidants bmi calculator

---

Life Expectancy in New York is Higher Than in Other States

A recent study has shown that the life expectancy of New Yorkers are higher than in other states.

Some conclusions derived from the statistical data focused on medical innovation/technology and medicare programs may be the big contributors for this fact.

On another angle - Snapple, a producer in premium beverage has hinted on its products of black tea, green tea, decaffeinated tea and iced tea beverages may also contribute to the fact of higher longevity because it originated in New York. Beverages are widely available - restaurants, snack bars or any other eating places - which makes it possible that a large majority does indeed have plenty of doses of this nutritional beverages.

Antioxidants has been associated with anti-aging and tea has plenty of these substances.

Is it safe to assume that tea may be a factor to these life expectancy statistics?

---

Technorati tags
longevity antioxidants life expectancy New York nutritional beverages green tea black tea decaffeinated tea iced tea snapple

---

Functional Foods

An anonymous commentator on my post 'ORAC' shared this very good resource for taking antioxidants and nutrients: This could benefit everybody so I decided to make a separate post to make it more visible.

Aristo Wellness Bars and Drinks

Their products are 'functional foods' with wellness for the consumers in mind. Their delicious wellness bars are all packed with omega 3, plant sterols and antioxidants.

These products can be an alternative to fruits, vegetables or pills to get those needed antioxidants and nutrients in your body.

---

Technorati tags
plant sterols antioxidants functional foods omega 3 nutrients wellness

---

ORAC

ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. It is a measure of the antioxidant capacity of food or other organic substances.

How the measurement is done

A comparison is made between two mixtures.

The first mixture is a substance (fluorescein) combined with a free radical (peroxyl radical). The oxidation of the fluorescein is checked every minute for several minutes after the two are combined. From this, the rate of oxidation is known.

The second mixture is the same as the first but with the addition of an antioxidant substance to be measured. The oxidation of the fluorescein is then checked at the same frequency as the first mixture.

Different results from different antioxidants are observed. The introduction of an antioxidant substance significantly slows the oxidation of the fluorescein.

A list of top scoring ORAC units of fruits and vegetables can be found here.

How much daily ORAC units do we need?

Experts suggest that we ingest at least 5,000 ORAC units in a day to have a significant effect on our body's antioxidant levels. This amount could raise your antioxidant levels by 10% to 25%. To achieve this level, you need to eat 8 to 10 servings of different fruits and vegetables.

Can antioxidant pills achieve the same results?

Fruits and vegetables does not only contain antioxidants but a mix of many different nutrients. Go for fruits and vegetables if you can. Only take antioxidant pills if your daily schedule prohibits you from eating that much fruits and vegetables.

---

Related Posts:

Australia May Join the Market for Superfruits
Black currant is no. 1 superfruit
Watermelon has more Lycopene than Tomatoes
Alcohol Can Boost Antioxidants in Fruit
Antioxidant Lycopene Can Treat Many Diseases
Antioxidants in Juices

---

antioxidant

Children Should Be Taught Not To Eat Junk Foods.

Those colorful and attractive packaging of junk foods combined with its flavorful content makes it hard for children to resist the urge to eat junk foods. It really could be very addictive.

Most junk foods nowadays claim that it contains vitamins and antioxidants as printed on their labels but the amounts are negligible compared to fruits and vegetables.

Many times have I seen parents ask their children what they want to eat. The children automatically scans the junk foods area of the store and point their favorites. Parents who are concerned with their kids' nutrition says discouraging remarks and suggests other foods that are best for them. The children frown of course. Others insist and others obey but with disgust in their hearts.

Junks foods are a regular snack for most children and concerned parents find it hard to encourage them to eat nutritious substitutes for their hunger. Often times, the intake of these snack foods are large enough that their stomach are still full when the regular meal comes.

Some parents though are happy to treat their children with these junk foods not knowing that the effects for the poor nutrition will be evident only in later years. One effect for improper nutrition which has been observed is macular degeneration which could possibly lead to blindness. We don't want our children to lose their eyesight when they get older, do we?

Another ill effect is getting overweight. This has been observed in India where overweight children are growing at an alarming rate. The government of India has responded to this by giving guidelines to both public and private schools for the proper nutrition of children. They are also extending the guidelines to the parents of the schoolchildren as well. The schools were also requested to ban junk foods in their cafeteria..

If children can be taught on proper nutrition, the more productive their life can be. Eating fruits and vegetables must be encouraged because it contains natural nutrients, vitamins and antioxidants to keep them in top shape. It's up to the parents and the schools to find ways of getting the idea into the minds of the children.

How about you? Do you have any ideas or ways that can make the children turn away from junk foods? If you have, you can share them and post them here as comments.

---

Related Posts:

Eating Junk Foods Can Make You Blind
Skippy and Oaf: The Battle Against Oxygen Radicals
Quit Eating Junk Foods

These posts may interest you:

Meditation Can Give You a Lift
Caffeine and Meditation

---

Technorati tags:
junk foods antioxidants vitamins

Aging - Antioxidants and Cognitive Brain Function

"Pedro can do it better because he's younger"

As I'm getting older, in my late 40's now, I often hear that statement. My age group seem to accept the fact that the younger ones are better in their cognitive abilities. Solving puzzles, learning musical instruments or whatever challenges there are that involves brain function.

Brain cells communicate with each other

Our billions of brain cells communicate with each other through chemical neurotransmitters. If these neurotransmitters and the chemical transporters where the signals are carried become damaged, loss of mental agility may occur. The more we age, the more of these cells become damaged. This is one reason for the loss of cognitive skills.

Loss of brain cells which also occurs normally may also be a reason for degrading cognitive skills but scientists have put more weight in loss of communication between brain cells.

Nutrition connection

Scientists believe that oxidative stress plays a major role in damages done to brain cell communication. The food we eat, especially those rich in antioxidants, can help protect our brain cells from oxidative damage.

The antioxidant capacity of food is measured in ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity).

With lesser damage, our cognitive cells may be in top shape even as we grow older. That equates to a more productive life.

Research

So far, researches have been done in mice. Eight weeks of a mice's lifespan is equivalent to ten years in humans making the results to be observed and examined in a shorter period of time.

Mice fed with antioxidant rich foods far exceeded the mice fed with normal diet in terms of their cognitive abilities.

Hopefully, the results of their studies will also apply to humans.

What foods contain high in antioxidants?

Fruits and vegetables of course. The general guide is - the darker the fruit color, the more antioxidants it contain. Some of these are acai, blueberries, black currant, grapes, watermelon, etc.

To slow down the degradation of our cognitive abilities, we need an antioxidant rich diet - that is if the mice study can be applied to humans.

Maintaining our cognitive abilities could help us meet life's challenges more efficiently.

---

You may also want to read:

Antioxidants and Exposure to Radiation
Antioxidants and Secondhand Smoke
Antioxidant Lycopene Can Treat Many Diseases
Meditation Can Give You a Lift

---

Vitamins C, E, and A Has No Effect on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention?

Confusing stories are spreading around basing from a 9 year study done on more than 8,000 people taking the antioxidants vitamin c, vitamin e and beta carotene. These stories states that these antioxidant vitamins does not prevent cardiovascular disease.

I believe that antioxidants promotes health. Preventing cardiovascular disease is just one of the many diseases which antioxidants can help prevent. It saddens me to know that stories discrediting antioxidants over pharmaceuticals are making the headlines.

Pharmaceutical drugs are made from synthetic materials and as such, it is not a 'natural' substance inside our body. I'm not saying that it's no good - many diseases have been treated with these drugs.

Antioxidants and vitamins like vitamin c, vitamin e and beta carotene - which the study focused on - can be found in fruits and vegetables meaning they are natural substances. Before the invention of drugs, people relied on fruits and vegetables for their nutrition and health needs. They utilized the natural defenses of herbs like black tea, green tea, oolong tea and herbal green tea which contain vitamin c and bioflavonoids

So why the stories on drugs over natural nutrients and antioxidants? Why confuse the public? Why the intellectual dishonesty?

Click the link below and find out.. The article clears the confusion. A must read

Unraveling the lies about the antioxidant study on vitamins E and C

A side note: Pharmaceutical drugs treats diseases which have already began. Antioxidants and vitamins however, prevents diseases from happening and even accelerating the recuperation process once the disease has began.

---

Coffee with more Antioxidants

There are approximately 108 million coffee drinkers in America, making it the no. source of antioxidants.

Since a lot of people are drinking coffee, why not include antioxidants from other sources like fruits and 'inject' it in the coffee beans? Many can surely benefit from this as the statistics for coffee drinkers have shown.

Antioxidants mainly prevents the onset of many diseases It stops free radical chain reactions which could harm our cells. Cardiovascular diseases, cancer and arthritis are some examples of what antioxidants can prevent.

Different antioxidants can be found from different sources. Coffee contains chlorogenic acid or caffeic acid and tea contains catechins. Other fruits contain other forms of antioxidants as well, mainly flavonoids.

Combining the antioxidants in coffee with the antioxidants in tea, pomegranate, blueberry and grape seed could mean extra antioxidant power. That's what they did at The Healthy Bean.

How's that for a healthful drink?

Coping with Stress for Bloggers

Bloggers too are subject to psychological stress. Blogging could use a lot of time and requires concentration. Stress may come from the following:

-Distraction from kids.
-Household chores.
-Obligation to your partner - you wouldn't want to keep her waiting would you...lol
-Deadlines which bloggers impose upon themselves like posting daily.

The most affected part in our body that is affected by psychological stress is our brain. Free radical generation in our brain occurs and without ample supply of antioxidants, the situation could result to oxidative damage.

There are ways to relieve the stress and thereby reversing the harmful effects to your brain.

If I'm feeling stressed out, I visit sites which can remove my stress like:
http://markeff.blogspot.com/2007/08/cutest-images-ever.html

How about you? How do you relieve yourself of stress? Would you like to share it so that other bloggers may know?