Tag: Omega 3

Sports Nutrition and Quick Food Fixes

Athletes are busy people. They try to balance training with work, school, family and other activities. With all these responsibilities, athletes consume a lot of energy each day. Food preparation can become a challenge but it is a challenge that athletes need to face since good sports nutrition help to adequately fuel work-outs and improve performance and recovery.

Eating well should be a part of an athletes overall training plan. But buying well is a requirement for eating well.

Nutritious meals begin at the grocery store. If you purchase the right ingredients, its a cinch to whip up a nutritious and flavorful meal. Stocking up with healthy staples is critical to good sports nutrition and will give you many options when you get home from a workout. Here are some foods busy athletes must be armed with.

Freeze Health

Frozen foods are time-savers. Many prepackaged frozen items let you use the exact amount you need thus cutting cleaning up time. Leftovers are also instant meals on a busy night.

Freezing is an important method of preserving most nutrients. Frozen vegetables are a lot of help because they require no washing, chopping, or peeling. Serve vegetables as a side dish, or incorporate into soups, sauces, or pasta dishes.

Frozen fruit has longer shelf-life and are easily available if supply of fresh ones is low. Frozen blueberries, mixed berries, and mangoes can be blended into a smoothie with fruit juice and milk or yogurt or used as cereal topping.

Chicken breasts or fish fillets that are frozen in individual packing are a good protein source for your meals. Frozen meatballs provide variation and can be easily mixed with pasta.

Pantry Staples

Canned products dont compromise nutrition. Upon being harvested fruits and vegetables are processed to keep nutrients locked in.

Beans that are canned are nutrient dense, and will load you with the important fuel for maximum growth and sports performance.

Canned tuna and salmon are rich in protein and omega-3 fats, which have been shown to help conditions of cancer, heart disease, arthritis and mental health. Pasta dishes, salads and sandwiches can be given another character by including these in the recipe.

Peanut Butter is a good source of calories, and for busy athletes, an easy fill. Use this as sandwich spread and top with a banana or enjoy with carrot strips. Peanut butter is packed with healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats and vitamin E.

Popular among athletes is the use of tomato sauce. Processed tomatoes are concentrated with protective compounds. One half-cup of tomato sauce, for instance, contains six times more of the antioxidant lycopene than a medium fresh tomato.

Tomato sauce is usually cooked with pasta which is a staple of many athletes sports nutrition diet. If available, use the whole grain variety because refined pasta has been stripped off of its vitamins, fiber and other nutrients. Frozen bell peppers and tuna can boost protein content of meals with tomato sauce.

A wide variety of whole grains must be explored, examples of which are brown rice and red rice. Whole grains take a little longer to cook so cook in medium batches just enough to have leftovers for the next day.

In the Fridge

Fridge wonders include prewashed and ready-to-eat salad greens and carrots, cheese, eggs, milk, and yogurt.

What Do We Get Out Of Organic Farming and Gardening

What Do We Get Out Of Organic Farming and Gardening

Organic farming and gardening usually refers to techniques that do not use any fertilizers or chemical pesticides. This is because although they will help the plant grow, they are harmful to our health.

To give you an idea on how effective it is one study showed that organic milk from cows has more anti-oxidants, CLA, Omega 3 and vitamins compared to the cows that could produce the same amount of milk using hormones, antibiotics and the remains of other animals.

Another shows that organically grown fruits and vegetables have 50% more nutrients and vitamins that will drastically decrease your chances of suffering from a number of health problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and certain cancers.

If this was the case, why didnt we did we have to use it in the first place? Believe it or not, those who decided to use such things had the best of intentions but realized later on that this was a mistake.

Yes, more vegetables, fruits and meat products are needed to answer the demand of the market but it does not have to be at the expense of the lives that grow and eat it. Here are some reasons for it.

First, eating products made organically have shown that it people will be able to live healthier lives. Why? This is because items bought from the store, which are washed and heated does not always eliminate the fertilizers or chemicals that were used in making it grow.

Second, organically grown food tastes much better than inorganic ones. The reason is because antibiotics and pesticides take away essential vitamins and nutrients which your body desperately needs.

Third, you have to remember that fertilizers and pesticides also harm the environment. It makes the soil less fertile and also damages the environment.

Lastly, this will give animals the right to live even for a short while instead of being caged then slaughtered.

When you look for organic farming or gardening products at the grocery, you will notice that they are placed in a separate area and they are a bit more expensive. Maybe it is because the demand for such goods has not increased yet but if you are concerned about your health and those you care about, it is never too late to go organic.

The government for its part is doing its share by offering incentives and subsidies to farmers to engage in organic farming and gardening. How? By encouraging those who work the land for a living to cease genetic engineering, irradiation and sewage sludge and instead replace this with crop rotation. Since the shift is quite expensive for farmers to do themselves, the Department of Agriculture is the sole body tasked to shoulder some of the cost.

In fact, since organic farming and gardening is so simple, you can even do this in your own backyard. You just have to prepare the soil, buy the seeds and then following the proper guidelines so they can grow.

Although they are organic, dont forget to wash them thoroughly before you get home. This is because some farmers use compost and manure and you wouldnt want to serve that to whoever eats at the table.

Organic farming and gardening is the in thing today. It keeps us healthy and at the same time is environment friendly.