Knowing and Understanding Iron Rich Foods

Hemoglobin is a protein that red blood cells require, and if you are lacking iron rich foods in your diet, you maybe lacking hemoglobin and be anemic. Hemoglobin carries oxygen from your lungs to all of your cells. If you are low in iron, you are lacking hemoglobin and your red blood cells are not able to do their job.

You may not even know you are lacking iron or have anemia. You may feel tired and have little energy. If you let these symptoms go checked without a blood test, you may go on feeling tired for months, even years. The best way to insure you do not have anemia is by learning about iron rich foods.

Children and young women are more likely to have anemia and need iron rich foods than men or older women. Children are growing, and maybe are picky eaters, and women loose blood frequently. If you are not in this group of people, it does not mean you can live your life without eating iron rich foods, but you will feel better if you include iron in your diet.

During pregnancy, women need two and a half times more iron than men. Women also loose blood during their period. There are many other ways to loose blood that may include all of us. Internal bleeding can be in the digestive tract, with a bleeding ulcer, ulcerated colitis, cancer or while taking aspirin for long periods. Bleeding can occur in the stomach and intestines without a person even knowing. These are conditions that should not be ignored. In addition to eating iron rich foods, it would be wise to consult a physician or medical professional, if you suspect you are loosing blood in any way.

You don’t have to eat boring foods to be sure you have iron rich foods in your diet. You can even feed picky kids without them knowing they are eating iron rich foods. By knowing a few secrets to help you, you will be able to eat what you like by just adding a few foods that are high in iron. One secret I will pass along is, drinking tea with your meal will cause your body to absorb less iron. You can substitute the tea with milk, which we all know is high in iron, or a glass of juice high in Vitamin C. It is also important that you take iron supplements with water, not milk. Waiting an hour before eating milk based products, such as pudding, will allow your body to absorb the iron supplement.

There are so many iron rich foods, it is easy to plan meals around them. Eggs are rich in iron and can be included in meals all during the day, not just for breakfast. Fish can be included in a meal in so many different ways. Oily fish are best, but you can work with tuna, sardines, pilchards, cockles and mussels. The kidney, liver, and heart of poultry are high in iron. Now don’t get disgusted. I know many people don’t like the insides of poultry. By cutting the kidney, liver, and heart into tiny pieces, you can make delicious gravy. Beef is considered one of the best iron rich foods. Knowledge of how to cook beef must be followed.

While you are shopping at the grocery store, read labels along the isles to discover iron rich foods. Many cereals include bran, bran flakes and weetabix that can be eaten at breakfast. Beans like lentils, chick peas, haricot, kidney, pinto, baked, butter, and peas can be used in soups and casseroles. Nuts like almonds, cashews, Brazils, and walnuts can be eaten raw or added to baked goods that everyone loves. Green vegetables that are rich in iron are watercress, spinach, and dark leaf lettuce. When shopping, remember the darker the leaf, the higher the food value. Among the spices that are iron rich are gingerbread, that children love, ginger biscuits, and curry power. Iron rich foods happily include Cocoa and chocolate which are every ones favorite, especially the kids.

Bran can be baked into delicious muffins. .Here is a recipe that will help you include iron rich foods into your morning meal.

Bran Muffins (You don’t have to tell the kids)

1-1/2 cups wheat bran
1 cup milk or buttermilk
½ cup vegetable oil
1 egg
½ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon each baking soda, baking power, salt
½ cup walnuts (you may substitute with dates or raisins)

Preheat over to 375 degrees Grease muffin cups or line with paper liners.
Mix bran with milk and let stand
Mix oil egg, sugar and vanilla. Add bran and milk until blended. Fold in remaining ingredients.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and eat.

Improving your Memory with Natural Memory Boosters

The most frustrating part of life is when you start to say something and forget the words; or you go to another part of the house and have to stand there for several minutes before you remember what you intended to do. This has happened to all of us. It seems to happen more often the older you get. If you are wise with your food selections, you can eliminate most of these problems with memory boosters. The foods you eat can help your memory.

When someone tells you that just eating better will help your memory, it sounds so easy. It can be easy if you are familiar with foods that are memory boosters. There are a number of foods to choose from, so you can eat the foods you like and still improve your memory.

Your brain needs choline and DMAE to build cetylcholine, pyroglutamate, phosphatidylserine, and omega-3 fats, acetl-L-carnitine and glutamine, ginkgo, and other vitamins and minerals that we will talk about. Don’t let the words scare you away from reading this article. In order to provide your brain with memory boosters, we will explain what you can do.

The substances mentioned above are contained in your brain but need to be replenished for the brain to function normally. If you are lacking in any of these memory boosters, your brain will start letting you down. These substances are found in everyday food. When you become familiar with food labels, in your grocery store and health food store, it will be easy for you to select foods that not only taste great, but feed your brain.

Choline has the chemical called acetylcholine and is the main building block for your memory. If you are lacking this chemical, you will have noticeable memory loss. Let’s call “acetylcholine” the main memory booster. This is your main building block for a good memory. Fish are a great source of acetylcholine along with eggs, liver, soy beans, peanuts, and all the other nuts you like.

A few years ago, someone, who will remain nameless, told the public that eggs were not good for us. When the public heard this, many of us refrained from eating eggs and millions started having memory loss. I am sure most of us did not make the connection to eggs. By putting eggs back in the diet, we are adding back one of the most important memory boosters. Eating eggs is important, but your need to include other Vitamins such as Vitamin B5, (pantothenic acid), B1, B12 and C. A combination of eggs, along with these vitamins, will build acetylcholine that the body needs.

Researchers have gone on to find that supplementing choline during pregnancy can improve brain development in infants. Higher doses were shown to boost memory in adults by building nerve cells and receptor sites for neurotransmitters and raising levels of dopamine.

Further research with choline taken from soy lecithin has found it improves athletic abilities, may improve the human growth hormone, and may slow aging. Very few side effects were reported during the testing of these memory boosters.

The Wonderful World of Breakfast Recipes

Many of us have heard “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” That is a phrase that many of us choose to forget, especially if we are trying to take off a little weight. It is so easy to just skip breakfast. We tell ourselves, “Oh I’ll just grab something later”. Your body only knows it needs breakfast. If you take time to learn about breakfast recipes, breakfast will become a meal you will never skip again.
That big yellow banana is the most popular food in North America. If it is sitting in your fruit bowl, it is calling your name. The banana is unique in itself. Bananas are derivatives of an herb called Musa sapientium that is related to the orchid family. There are probably a million breakfast recipes that include the banana. Dermatologists, psychologists, and researchers agree the banana is one of the most valuable fruits in your fruit bowl. The banana is acclaimed as the food that can cure whatever ails you, when eaten alone or added to a good breakfast.
Muffins are great for breakfast. To include bananas in your breakfast muffin recipe is a way to take advantage of bananas, whole wheat flour, and bran all in just a few bites. The following recipe is a wonderful breakfast recipe that will also respect your waistline.

Banana Bran Crumb Muffins
1-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking power
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup bran
3 ripe bananas, mashed
¾ cup white sugar or ¾ cup sugar substitute (Splenda®) or ¾ cup (Sweet and Low®)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease 10 muffin cups or line with paper.

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking power, salt and bran. In another bowl, beat bananas with sugar (or sweetener) egg, and melted butter. Stir mixture with flour mixture until moist. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
In a small bow, mix brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated over for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean. Reduce baking time if sugar substitute is used.

The University of California at Davis and Harvard Medical School conducted a study regarding depression in children and adults. The conclusion, if adults and children eat breakfast, on a regular basis, depression can be greatly alleviated. Millions of Americans suffer from depression. The study concluded that breakfast, using one of many breakfast recipes, is the most important meal to rid a person of depression.
The brain is complicated. Think of your brain as a big bowl that needs filling each day. The bowl needs to be filled with ingredients, for making neurotransmitters, to tell your body how to function. In the morning, your bowl is empty and it is telling your body you need breakfast. If you choose not to fill the bowl, or select the wrong items to put in the bowl, your brain will tell your body things like. “I don’t feel good”, or “I’m sad”, or I just can’t function”.  Adding breakfast to your morning with one of many breakfast recipes will enable your brain to transmit the messages your body needs.

The key to having the right foods to put in your bowl starts while you are shopping at the market. The ingredients you buy, or pick from your garden, are the items you will have on hand to fill your bowl. It is important to prepare food from breakfast recipes that will enable your brain to send good neurotransmitters, or messages, to your body. By becoming familiar with food labels, you will take home foods with vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids and other nutrients that will enable your brain to send positive messages to your body.
The food you select needs to provide serotonin and dopamine that will contribute to your well being and mood. The suggested items that you can include in your breakfast recipes are – banana fruit toast; oatmeal with a banana; pancakes, but whole wheat is important; or a whole wheat turkey breakfast muffin; oatmeal pancakes with flaxseed; bran and flaxseed muffins. Bran and flaxseed are essential fatty acids that can alleviate depression. People with chronic depression are found to have low levels of essential fatty acids.

Belgian Waffles with Flaxseed
1-1/2 cup flaxseed (if you don’t find it in your grocery store, look in the health food stores.)
2 teaspoons baking power
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs, separated
1-1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat and lightly grease a Belgian wall iron according to directions. Mix flour, flaxseed, baking soda and salt. Beat egg white until stiff peaks form. Fold in batter, being careful not to over mix. Spread ¼ cup or amount according to manufacturer’s directions. Top waffle with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

If you start your day with a good breakfast, you will improve you memory and just feel better overall. Eating breakfast using breakfast recipes means you are less likely to eat the wrong foods at during the day. When you start eating a good breakfast, along with eating good foods all day, you may not feel better right away. Your body will go through a learning process. It may even seem like withdrawals. After you have eaten nutritious foods using your new breakfast recipes for awhile, you will find your mind is sharper, your memory is better, your mood will improve, and you may even start sleeping better.

Visit the internet for breakfast recipes and other recipes using nutritious foods. Fill the bowl in your brain with nutrients so the messages your brain sends will be, “boy, do I feel better.” If you get tired of eating a particular food, seek out new breakfast recipes. There are too many foods and recipes to choose from for you to get in a rut. When you start feeling better, thank yourself for a job well done. And remember, a banana is your best friend.