Tuesday

How to Tenderize Beef

 

How to Tenderize Beef


One of the most important quality aspects of meat, in particular beef, is tenderness. Recent findings demonstrate that the tenderness of beef does not increase during storage in the commonly used atmospheres with 70–80% oxygen, as in contrast to vacuum or anaerobic gas storage. The causes for the lack of tenderization in high-oxygen atmospheres are not known, but protein oxidation or reduced enzymatic activities could explain insufficient tenderness. As a consequence of the findings, meat should be sufficiently tenderized before being packaged in high-oxygen atmospheres. To avoid unacceptable tough meat, the meat should preferably be packaged in vacuum or anaerobic low-carbon monoxide atmospheres.


Gas vs. Electric Stoves: Which is really more efficient? Know more at Gas Cooktops are Better than Electric

Friday

Gas Cooktops are Better than Electric

 

gas cooktop burners


Gas vs. Electric Stoves: Which is really more efficient?

It's been a long-standing legend that "real" cooks use gas-powered stoves. But before you go empty your appliance budget on a new one, you might want to consider if an electric stove better suits your needs.

It’s become almost an article of faith that gas cooktops are better than electric, and that any “serious” cook should aspire to owning one. This belief does not stand up to intelligent scrutiny, however. Gas cooktops are fine, of course, but when comparing them to electric, you will see that there’s no overall objective superiority. Let’s take a look at some of the ways gas and electric can differ:


A. Response Speed
Gas stoves respond immediately when you turn the heat up or down. Electric Stoves are much slower, but can get a boost when you move your pan off the heating element. Even still, gas beats it every time.
Winner: Gas

B. Simmering
High-end gas stoves have improved in their simmering skills. But electric stoves give you slow, even and worry-free simmering.
Winner: Electric

C. Escaping Heat
Gas burners produce hot air that flows up and around your pan. That means the room (and your pan's handles) can get very hot when cooking with gas. If you use a pan on an electric stove that completely covers the heating element, almost all of the heat will go into your meal.
Winner: Electric

D. Boiling Speed
In comparison tests, gas stoves are slower than electric stoves to boil a large pot of water. It might have something to do with all of that heat that escapes from gas cookers.
Winner: Electric

E. Choice of Pans
Electric stoves are only heat efficient if you're using pans with reasonably flat bottoms (This is especially true for flat-top stove models). Gas stoves, however, maintain their heat transfer no matter how your pan is shaped.
Winner: Gas

F. Use with a Wok
Woks are the quintessential "not flat" plan. So it's no surprise that woks don't work so well on an electric stove top. Woks are designed for cooking over an open flame. Plus, they're sure to wobble around on an electric stove. Sure, you can cook your stir-fry in a flat-bottomed pan, but a round bottomed wok over a gas burner would be best. Will this decide which stove you should buy? Only if you're a "Stir-Fry Friday" kind of family.
Winner: Gas

G. Cleaning
With a gas stove, you'll need to worry about food stuff getting into your burners. Coil electric burners are easier (but not easy) to clean. But if ease-of-cleaning is a deal-maker for you, you can't beat a flat-top electric stove.
Winner: Electric


Here's a handy list to decide what works:

ELECTRIC RANGES

Pros:
1. Less expensive to buy and install. Simply plug into the wall and you’re ready to cook.

2. Easier to clean burners and surfaces.

3. Smooth-top electric ranges are more stable for pots and offer additional counter or storage space when not in use.

4. Instantly turns on and off every time with the twist of a knob versus gas ranges that may sputter to catch a flame, emitting unburned and potentially hazardous gas. No igniter or lighter necessary.

5. More functions, such as additional fans and grillers, are available than their gas counterparts.

6. More even heat distribution when baking.

7. Dry heat for optimal oven roasting conditions.

Cons:
1. You’ll miss out on the s’mores!

2. Slower to cool when a burner is turned down or off.

3. Subject to power outages.


GAS RANGES

Pros:
1. More even stove top heat for cooking.

2. Easy to gauge and precisely adjust the level of heat by altering the flame.

3. Natural gas is inexpensive, abundantly available and clean burning.

4. Natural gas ranges are less expensive to operate than electric ranges.

5. The heat from a gas flame heats the sides, as well as the bottom, of pans, cooking food faster.

6. Able to change temperature rapidly. You can immediately remove the heat when the flame is turned off, so you can still leave food on the stove to rest without continuing to cook.

7. Less ambient heat to the rest of the kitchen.

Cons:
1. More expensive to buy and install.

2. More dangerous. Increased potential for gas leaks, the leading cause of residential fires. If a gas line is damaged or a pot boils over and quenches the flame, a home can quickly fill with toxic, flammable gas. Children or pets are also at greater risk to be burned or catch fire with an open flame.

3. Diminished Baking Results. Oven temps are hotter at the top so baking requires rotation and placement farther from heat source. Gas gives off moisture when cooking, creating a humid heat rather than the dry heat required for effective roasting.

The bottom line is that each type of stove has its strengths and weaknesses, and it’s impossible to say that one is better than the other in any overall sense. Choose the type that best suits you.




Now you know how to select your cooking equipment. Learn about selecting the best diet plan for you, read the Top 10 Best Diet Plan in United States According to Google

Saturday

Top 10 Best Diet Plan in United States According to Google*

 

Best Diet Plan


10) Flexitarian Diet. Learn how to start doing this diet now at Flexitarian Diet

A semi-vegetarian or flexitarian diet is one that is plant-based with the occasional inclusion of meat products. In 2003, the American Dialect Society voted flexitarian as the year's most useful word and defined it as "a vegetarian who occasionally eats meat". In 2012, the term was listed for the first time in the mainstream Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

Thanks to the growing health movement known as “flexitarianism,” you can manage your weight, increase your energy, and lower your health risks with a flexible nutrition plan that minimizes meat without excluding it. The Flexitarian Diet is not a diet in the strict sense of the word but a smart new way of cooking, eating, and living that's as flexible as you are. You can eat what you want with the Five-by-Five Flex Plan--five basic five-part guidelines that you customize to your taste:

1. Five Flex food groups
2. Five main-ingredient recipes
3. Five types of FlexLife troubleshooters
4. Five Flex fitness factors
5. Five-week Flex meal plan

Here's how it works:

There are no rules and no restrictions. Just eat more plants during your regular meals--and try to do the best you can. It's that simple. Once you understand the basics of “FlexFoods,” you can swap your ingredients, change your dinner plans, beef up your main dishes with “meaty” alternatives, and spice up your vegetables for fully satisfying meals.

The secret is “flexibility,” according to registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner, the creator of The Flexitarian Diet. As health columnist for Lifetime Television's website, she knows what dieters are looking for. As spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, she realizes that vegetarianism keeps us slim and healthy. But as a “closet meat-eater,” she understands how hard it is to live exclusively on tofu and sprouts. That's why she developed this wonderfully flexible plan-so you can make your own choices and go at your own pace. (If you're worried about how everything will taste, relax--Dawn is an experienced cooking instructor!)

The choice is yours. Just follow some of the suggestions some of the time, and you can still lose weight, improve your heart health, decrease your risk of diabetes and cancer, and live longer--with the veggie-smart diet that lets you have your meat and eat it too.

Difference between similar terms


Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat. Common reasons for adopting a flexitarian diet may be health, environment or reduction of resource consumption, which are also arguments in favor of adopting a fully vegetarian diet. While flexitarians may view the flexitarian diet as occasional indulgences, vegetarians may strongly resent the term and view it as cheating or as a moral lapse. Other than flexitarian diets that may include any type of meat, semi-vegetarianism includes:

Pollotarians: They eat chicken or other poultry, but not meat from mammals, often for environmental, health or food justice reasons.

Pescetarians: They eat fish or other seafood, but not poultry or red meat from mammals. The macrobiotic diet is plant-based, and may or may not include the occasional addition of fish or other seafood.

Pollo-pescetarians: They eat fish and poultry, but not red meat from mammals.

The bottom line is this:


Flexitarianism has been popping up more and more in the media, so no longer can vegetarians just wish the word would go away. However, as PETA spokesman Bruce Friedrich says, "If people influenced by health consequently cut back on fish and meat consumption that helps animals. If two people cut their meat in half it helps as much as one person going completely vegetarian." In other words, as a flexitarian, one is still taking a huge positive step forward for health, the environment and the animals. And that's a great thing.

9) Pescetarian Diet. Learn how to start doing this diet now at Pescetarian Diet
Pescetarianism (also spelled pescatarianism) is the practice of a diet that includes seafood, but not the flesh of other animals. A pescetarian diet typically shares many of its components with a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet and includes vegetables, fruit, nuts, grains, beans, eggs, dairy, and insect byproducts (such as honey, carmine, or shellac), but unlike a vegetarian diet it also includes fish and shellfish. The Merriam-Webster dictionary dates the origin of the term "pescetarian" to 1993 and defines it as: "one whose diet includes fish but no other meat."

Health considerations

Many cultures offer pescetarian-friendly cuisine. Like in Japan, they have nigiri-sushi. One of the most commonly cited reasons of having pescetarian diet is that of health, based on findings that red meat is detrimental to health in many cases due to non-lean red meats containing high amounts of saturated fats, choline and carnitine. Eating certain kinds of fish raises HDL levels, and some fish are a convenient source of omega-3 fatty acids, and have numerous health benefits in one food variety. A year 1999 meta-analysis of five studies comparing vegetarian and non-vegetarian mortality rates in Western countries found that in comparison with regular meat-eaters, mortality from ischemic heart disease was 34% lower in pescetarians, 34% lower in ovo-lacto vegetarians, 26% lower in vegans and 20% lower in occasional meat-eaters.

Concerns have been raised about consuming some fish varieties containing toxins such as mercury and PCBs, though it is possible to select fish that contain little or no mercury and moderate the consumption of mercury-containing fish.

Ethics

Similarly to vegetarianism, some pescetarians adopt the diet on the basis of ethics, either as a transition to vegetarianism, not treating fish on the same moral level as other animals, or as a compromise to obtain nutrients not found in plants as easily.

Abstinence among Catholics

Adhering to a diet closely resembling pescatarianism as a form of penitence was mandatory for Catholics on Fridays until the Second Vatican Council made the practice optional but recommended. However, it is still mandatory on Ash Wednesday and every Friday during Lent, and some traditionalist Catholics choose to abstain from meat during the entire 40-day Lent period, as was common practice in earlier times.

Comparisons to other diets


Pescetarianism is similar to many traditional diets emphasizing fish as well as fruits, vegetables and grains. Many coastal populations tend to eat this way and these features characterize the traditional Mediterranean diet and the diets of many parts of Asia, Northern Europe, and the Caribbean. These traditional diets tend to also include meat although it is peripheral.

Pescetarians are sometimes described as vegetarian or pesco-vegetarian, and often people unfamiliar with vegetarianism believe the pescetarian diet to be vegetarian. In common with vegetarians, pescetarians often eat eggs and dairy products, in addition to fruits, vegetables, and grains.

The Vegetarian Society, which initiated popular use of the term "vegetarian" as early as 1847, does not consider pescetarianism to be a vegetarian diet. The definitions of "vegetarian" in mainstream dictionaries vary.


8) Fruitarian Diet. Learn how to start doing this diet now at Fruitarian Diet
Fruitarianism involves the practice of following a diet that includes fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, without animal products or grains. Fruitarianism is a subset of dietary veganism.

Fruitarianism may be adopted for different reasons, including: ethical, religious, political, medical, environmental, cultural, aesthetic, economic and health reasons. There are many varieties of the diet. Some people whose diet consists of 75% or more fruit consider themselves fruitarians.

Definitions


Some fruitarians will eat only what falls (or would fall) naturally from a plant; that is: foods that can be harvested without killing or harming the plant. These foods consist primarily of culinary fruits, nuts, and seeds. According to author Adam Gollner, some fruitarians eat only fallen fruit. Some do not eat grains, believing it is unnatural to do so, and some fruitarians feel that it is improper for humans to eat seeds as they contain future plants, or nuts and seeds, or any foods besides juicy fruits. Others believe they should eat only plants that spread seeds when the plant is eaten. Others eat seeds and some cooked foods. Some fruitarians use the botanical definitions of fruits and consume pulses, such as beans, peas, or other legumes. Other fruitarians' diets include raw fruits, dried fruits, nuts, honey and olive oil, or fruits, nuts, beans and chocolate.

Motivation


Some fruitarians believe fruitarianism was the original diet of mankind in the form of Adam and Eve based on Genesis 1:29. They believe that a return to an Eden-like paradise will require simple living and a holistic approach to health and diet. Some fruitarians wish, like Jains, to avoid killing anything, including plants, and refer to ahimsa fruitarianism. Some fruitarians say that eating some types of fruit does the parent plant a favor and that fleshy fruit has evolved to be eaten by animals, to achieve seed dispersal.

Scientific studies

Nutritional concerns


According to nutritionists, adults must be careful not to follow a fruit-only diet for too long, a fruitarian diet is not suitable for teens, and a fruitarian diet is wholly unsuitable for children.

Nutritional deficiencies

Fruitarianism is more restrictive than veganism or raw veganism. The Health Promotion Program at Columbia University reports that a fruitarian diet can cause deficiencies in calcium, protein, iron, zinc, vitamin D, most B vitamins (especially B12), and essential fatty acids. Additionally, the Health Promotion Program at Columbia reports that food restrictions in general may lead to hunger, cravings, food obsessions, social disruptions and social isolation.

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12, a bacterial product, cannot be obtained from fruits. According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health "natural food sources of vitamin B12 are limited to foods that come from animals." Like raw vegans who do not consume B12-fortified foods (certain plant milks and breakfast cereals, for example), fruitarians may need to include a B12 supplement in their diet or risk vitamin B12 deficiency.

Growth and development issues, deaths

In children, growth and development may be at risk. Some nutritionists state that children should not follow a fruitarian diet. Nutritional problems include severe protein-energy malnutrition, anemia and deficiencies including proteins, iron, calcium, essential fatty acids, raw fibre and a wide range of vitamins and minerals.


7) Omnivore Diet. Learn how to start doing this diet now at Omnivore Diet
An omnivore is an animal that can derive its energy and nutrients from a diet consisting of a variety of sources that may include plants, animals, algae and fungi.

Omnivores often are opportunistic, general feeders which lack carnivore or herbivore specializations for acquiring or processing food, but which nevertheless consume both animal protein and vegetation.

An omnivorous diet includes both plant and animal foods. It’s the most common diet among humans, and many other animals are omnivores as well, including many bears, birds, rodents and other small mammals. There are a wide range of omnivorous diets, so generalizations are difficult to make. However, a balanced omnivorous diet provides all necessary nutrients and contributes to health.

Benefits


An omnivorous diet that features healthy, wholesome foods provides benefits from both meat and plants. Lean meats supply protein, B vitamins, vitamin E and minerals including magnesium, iron and zinc. Additionally, MyPyramid.gov notes that the vitamins and minerals present in plant-based foods can help guard against obesity as well as fight off conditions including heart disease, stroke, kidney stones, bone loss, diabetes and cancer. Furthermore, the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" reports in a 1999 study that participants who followed an omnivorous diet and participated in strength-training exercises gained more fat-free muscle mass than vegetarians who took part in the same exercises.

Features


Due to the wide amount of variation among omnivorous diets, there’s no one standard diet plan that most people follow. Some omnivores are primarily carnivorous and have meat with every meal; others follow a “flexitarian” diet and eat meat only rarely. In the most balanced omnivorous eating plans, meals and snacks contain foods from all five major groups: dairy, protein-rich foods, fruits, vegetables and grains.

Nutrition


Even though omnivores who follow a balanced diet have a high likelihood of getting all of their essential nutrients through the foods they eat regularly, it’s still important to be mindful of nutritional concerns. Limiting potentially harmful nutrients such as sodium, cholesterol, trans fat, saturated fat and added sugar can help cut the risk of cardiovascular and other degenerative diseases.

Foods


According to Dr. John McArdle and the Vegetarian Resource Group, omnivores can be described as opportunistic feeders, meaning that they eat whatever is available. For humans, such foods often include convenience items and processed products. Healthier alternatives are whole foods, including meat options such as turkey, chicken, lean deli meat, fish, low-fat ground beef and pork. Dairy items and eggs are also included. Plant-based foods that offer prime nutritional benefits include whole grains as well as fresh fruits and vegetables of all types.

Considerations


Despite the potential advantages, following an omnivorous diet does not guarantee improved health or optimal nutrition. Before adopting any new diet plan, talk with a physician about the details. Eating well as an omnivore involves balance, moderation and mindful nutrition.


6) Okinawa Diet. Learn how to start doing this diet now at Okinawa Diet
The Okinawa diet describes a weight-loss diet based on the eating habits of the indigenous people of the Ryukyu Islands.

Indigenous islanders' diet


People from the Ryukyu Islands (of which Okinawa is the largest) have a life expectancy among the highest in the world, although the male life expectancy rank among Japanese prefectures has plummeted in recent years.

The traditional diet of the islanders contains 30% green and yellow vegetables. Although the traditional Japanese diet usually includes large quantities of rice, the traditional Okinawa diet consists of smaller quantities of rice; instead the staple was the sweet potato. The Okinawan diet has only 25% of the sugar and 75% of the grains of the average Japanese dietary intake. The traditional diet also includes a relatively small amount of fish (less than half a serving per day) and more in the way of soy and other legumes (6% of total caloric intake). Pork was highly valued, and every part of the pig was eaten, including internal organs. However, pork was primarily eaten on holidays, and the daily diet was mainly plant based. Their overall traditional diet would be considered a very-high-carbohydrate diet by modern standards, with carbohydrates, protein, and fat providing 85%, 9% and 6% of total calories respectively. The consumption of pork in Okinawa in 1979 was 7.9 kg (17 lb) per person per year. This may be contrasted with the average consumption of meat in the United States, which, by 2005, included 62.4 lb (28.3 kg) of beef, 46.5 lb (21.1 kg) of pork, and 73.6 lb (33.4 kg) of poultry per person per year. Virtually no eggs or dairy products were consumed by the Okinawans.

An Okinawan reaching 100 years of age has typically had a diet consistently averaging about one calorie per gram of food and has a BMI of 20.4 in early adulthood and middle age.

In addition to their high life expectancy, islanders are noted for their low mortality from cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancers. Wilcox (2007) compared age-adjusted mortality of Okinawans versus Americans and found that, during 1995, an average Okinawan was 8 times less likely to die from coronary heart disease, 7 times less likely to die from prostate cancer, 6.5 times less likely to die from breast cancer, and 2.5 times less likely to die from colon cancer than an average American of the same age.

The traditional Okinawa diet as described above has been practiced on the islands until about the 1960s. Since then, dietary practices have been shifting towards Western and Japanese patterns, with fat intake rising from about 10% to 27% of total caloric intake and the sweet potato being supplanted with rice and bread.

Weight loss diet


The diet consists of a relatively high energy intake, and contains similar foods to the traditional Okinawan diet. The principal focus of the diet consists of knowing the food energy density of each food item.

The proponents of this diet divide food into four categories based on caloric density. The "featherweight" foods, less than or equal to 0.8 calories per gram (3.3 kJ/g) which one can eat freely without major concern, the "lightweight" foods with a caloric density from 0.8 to 1.5 calories per gram which one should eat in moderation, the "middleweight" foods with a caloric density from 1.5 to 3.0 calories per gram which one should eat only while carefully monitoring portion size and the "heavyweight" foods from 3 to 9 calories per gram which one should eat only sparingly.


5) Ketogenic Diet. Learn how to start doing this diet now at Ketogenic Diet
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that in medicine is used primarily to treat difficult-to-control (refractory) epilepsy in children. The diet forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates. Normally, the carbohydrates contained in food are converted into glucose, which is then transported around the body and is particularly important in fuelling brain function. However, if there is very little carbohydrate in the diet, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies. The ketone bodies pass into the brain and replace glucose as an energy source. An elevated level of ketone bodies in the blood, a state known as ketosis, leads to a reduction in the frequency of epileptic seizures.

The original therapeutic diet for pediatric epilepsy provides just enough protein for body growth and repair, and sufficient calories to maintain the correct weight for age and height. This classic ketogenic diet contains a 4:1 ratio by weight of fat to combined protein and carbohydrate. This is achieved by excluding high-carbohydrate foods such as starchy fruits and vegetables, bread, pasta, grains and sugar, while increasing the consumption of foods high in fat such as cream and butter.

Most dietary fat is made of molecules called long-chain triglycerides (LCTs). However, medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs)—made from fatty acids with shorter carbon chains than LCTs—are more ketogenic. A variant of the classic diet known as the MCT ketogenic diet uses a form of coconut oil, which is rich in MCTs, to provide around half the calories. As less overall fat is needed in this variant of the diet, a greater proportion of carbohydrate and protein can be consumed, allowing a greater variety of food choices.

The classic therapeutic ketogenic diet was developed for treatment of pediatric epilepsy in the 1920s and was widely used into the next decade, but its popularity waned with the introduction of effective anticonvulsant drugs. In the mid-1990s, Hollywood producer Jim Abrahams, whose son's severe epilepsy was effectively controlled by the diet, created the Charlie Foundation to promote it. Publicity included an appearance on NBC's Dateline programme and ...First Do No Harm (1997), a made-for-television film starring Meryl Streep. The foundation sponsored a multicentre research study, the results of which—announced in 1996—marked the beginning of renewed scientific interest in the diet.

Almost half of children and young people with epilepsy who have tried some form of this diet saw the number of seizures drop by at least half, and the effect persists even after discontinuing the diet. The most common adverse effect is constipation, affecting about 30% of patients.

There is some evidence that adults with epilepsy may benefit from the diet, and that a less strict regime, such as a modified Atkins diet, is similarly effective. Clinical trials and studies in animal models suggest that ketogenic diets provide neuroprotective and disease-modifying benefits for a number of adult neurodegenerative disorders. As of 2012, there is limited clinical trial data in these areas, and, outside of pediatric epilepsy, use of the ketogenic diet remains at the research stage.

Diet

In 1921, Rollin Woodyatt reviewed the research on diet and diabetes. He reported that three water-soluble compounds, β-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate and acetone (known collectively as ketone bodies), were produced by the liver in otherwise healthy people when they were starved or if they consumed a very low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet. Russel Wilder, at the Mayo Clinic, built on this research and coined the term ketogenic diet to describe a diet that produced a high level of ketone bodies in the blood (ketonemia) through an excess of fat and lack of carbohydrate. Wilder hoped to obtain the benefits of fasting in a dietary therapy that could be maintained indefinitely. His trial on a few epilepsy patients in 1921 was the first use of the ketogenic diet as a treatment for epilepsy.

Wilder's colleague, pediatrician Mynie Peterman, later formulated the classic diet, with a ratio of one gram of protein per kilogram of body weight in children, 10–15 g of carbohydrate per day, and the remainder of calories from fat. Peterman's work in the 1920s established the techniques for induction and maintenance of the diet. Peterman documented positive effects (improved alertness, behavior and sleep) and adverse effects (nausea and vomiting due to excess ketosis). The diet proved to be very successful in children: Peterman reported in 1925 that 95% of 37 young patients had improved seizure control on the diet and 60% became seizure-free. By 1930, the diet had also been studied in 100 teenagers and adults. Clifford Barborka, also from the Mayo Clinic, reported that 56% of those older patients improved on the diet and 12% became seizure-free. Although the adult results are similar to modern studies of children, they did not compare as well to contemporary studies. Barborka concluded that adults were least likely to benefit from the diet, and the use of the ketogenic diet in adults was not studied again until 1999.

4) Master Cleanse Diet. Learn how to start doing this diet now at Master Cleanse Diet
Master Cleanse Diet is a modified juice fast that permits no food, substituting tea and lemonade made with maple syrup and cayenne pepper. Proponents claim that the diet detoxifies the body and removes excess fat. There is no scientific evidence that the diet removes any toxins, or that it achieves anything beyond temporary weight loss. Though unlikely to be harmful over the short term it can be harmful over the long term. Short term side effects include fatigue, nausea, dizziness, and dehydration, while long term harm includes loss of muscle mass.

Origin


Master Cleanse was developed by Stanley Burroughs, who published it initially in the 1940s, and revived it in 1976 in his books The Master Cleanser and Healing for the Age of Enlightenment.

Criticisms


Nutritionist Jane Clark points to a lack of essential nutrients in this program, citing a deficiency of protein, vitamins, and minerals. As a result of these deficiencies, including far fewer calories than the recommended amount for health and optimum functioning, individuals on the diet may experience headaches and a variety of other symptoms in the short term and the diet is potentially harmful over the long term. The program has been described as an extreme fad or crash diet, and any weight lost during the fast can be expected to be regained once the diet is stopped. Dietician Keri Glassman has said those following the diet are "guaranteed" to gain weight after stopping.


3) Mediterranean Diet. Learn how to start doing this diet now at Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet is a modern nutritional recommendation inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of Greece, Spain and Southern Italy. The principal aspects of this diet include proportionally high consumption of olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, fruits, and vegetables, moderate to high consumption of fish, moderate consumption of dairy products (mostly as cheese and yogurt), moderate wine consumption, and low consumption of meat and meat products.

On November 17, 2010, UNESCO recognized this diet pattern as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Italy, Greece, Spain and Morocco. On December 4, 2013, UNESCO recognized, during its meeting in Baku, that this diet pattern as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Croatia.

Despite its name, this diet is not typical of all Mediterranean cuisine. In Northern Italy, for instance, lard and butter are commonly used in cooking, and olive oil is reserved for dressing salads and cooked vegetables. In both North Africa and the Middle East, sheep's tail fat and rendered butter (samna) are the traditional staple fats, with some exceptions. Indeed, one researcher concludes: "It appears that currently there is insufficient material to give a proper definition of what the Mediterranean diet is or was in terms of well defined chemical compounds or even in terms of foods.... The all embracing term 'Mediterranean diet' should not be used in scientific literature...."

The most commonly understood version of the Mediterranean diet was presented, amongst others, by Dr Walter Willett of Harvard University's School of Public Health from the mid-1990s on. Based on "food patterns typical of Crete, much of the rest of Greece, and southern Italy in the early 1960s", this diet, in addition to "regular physical activity," emphasizes "abundant plant foods, fresh fruit as the typical daily dessert, olive oil as the principal source of fat, dairy products (principally cheese and yogurt), and fish and poultry consumed in low to moderate amounts, zero to four eggs consumed weekly, red meat consumed in low amounts, and wine consumed in low to moderate amounts". Total fat in this diet is 25% to 35% of calories, with saturated fat at 8% or less of calories.

Olive oil is often considered characteristic of the Mediterranean diet, though in Egypt, Malta, and Israel, olive oil consumption is negligible. It contains a very high level of monounsaturated fats, most notably oleic acid, which epidemiological studies suggest may be linked to a reduction in coronary heart disease risk. There is also evidence that the antioxidants in olive oil improve cholesterol regulation and LDL cholesterol reduction, and that it has other anti-inflammatory and anti-hypertensive effects.


2) Juice Cleanse Diet. Learn how to start doing this diet now at Juice Cleanse Diet
Juice Cleanse Diet (also known as "juice cleansing" or "Juice fasting") is a controversial fasting method and a detox diet in which a person consumes only fruit and vegetable juices to obtain nutrition while otherwise abstaining from food consumption. The health benefits are unproven, with many health professionals considering them potentially dangerous. Juice fasts may last anywhere from a few days to several weeks. The juice consumed during a juice fast is not the type commercially available, but rather that produced from freshly juiced fruits and vegetables.

Reasons for fasting

Reasons to undergo juice fasting may include spiritual or religious reasons, detox, desire to lose weight, or attempts to stop habitual behavior such as smoking, drinking soda, overeating, caffeine addiction, etc. Participants may use juice fasting as an alternative medicine. Participants may believe juice fasting will cure chronic pain, cancer, depression, arthritis, severe infections that resisted antibiotics, autoimmune diseases, and many other incurable diseases. One reason for juice fasting is to assist with other methods of gallstone passage. Others choose juice fasting because they believe they can focus on healing specific organs and systems.

1) Paleo Diet. Learn how to start doing this diet now at Paleo Diet
The paleolithic diet (abbreviated paleo diet or paleodiet), also popularly referred to as the caveman diet, Stone Age diet and hunter-gatherer diet, is a modern nutritional plan based on the presumed ancient diet of wild plants and animals that various hominid species habitually consumed during the Paleolithic era—a period of about 2.5 million years which ended around 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture and grain-based diets. In common usage, the term "paleolithic diet" can also refer to actual ancestral human diets, insofar as these can be reconstructed.

Centered on commonly available modern foods, the contemporary "Paleolithic diet" consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.

First popularized in the mid-1970s by gastroenterologist Walter L. Voegtlin, this nutritional concept has been promoted and adapted by a number of authors and researchers in several books and academic journals. A common theme in evolutionary medicine, Paleolithic nutrition is based on the premise that human genetics have scarcely changed since the dawn of agriculture, and modern humans are genetically adapted to the diet of their Paleolithic ancestors. Therefore an ideal diet for human health and well-being is one that resembles this ancestral diet.

Proponents of this diet argue that modern human populations subsisting on traditional diets, allegedly similar to those of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers, are largely free of diseases of affluence. They assert that multiple studies of the effect of Paleolithic diet in humans have shown improved health outcomes relative to other widely recommended diets. Supporters also point to several potentially therapeutic nutritional characteristics of preagricultural diets.

The paleolithic diet is a controversial topic amongst some dietitians and anthropologists. An article on the website of the National Health Service of the United Kingdom Choices refers to it as a fad diet.

REFERENCES:


Acquista, Angelo and Laurie Anne Vandermolen. 2006. The Mediterranean Prescription: Meal Plans and Recipes to Help You Stay Slim and Healthy for the Rest of Your Life. Ballantine Books; 1 edition. ISBN-10: 0345479246

Blatner, Dawn Jackson. 2010. The Flexitarian Diet: The Mostly Vegetarian Way to Lose Weight, Be Healthier, Prevent Disease, and Add Years to Your Life. McGraw-Hill; 1 edition. ISBN-10: 0071745793

Carrington,  Hereward. 2010. The Fruitarian Diet. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. ISBN-10: 1162885688

Cordain, Loren. 2010. The Paleo Diet Revised: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Foods You Were Designed to Eat. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Revised Edition. ISBN-10: 0470913029

Farley, Lori Kenyon and Marra St. Clair. 2013. The Juice Cleanse Reset Diet: 7 Days to Transform Your Body for Increased Energy, Glowing Skin, and a Slimmer Waistline. Ten Speed Press. ISBN-10: 1607745836

Freeman,  John M., MD, Zahava Turner RD CSP LDN and James E. Rubenstein MD. 2011. Ketogenic Diets. Demos Health; 5 edition. ISBN-10: 1936303108

Harris-Uyidi,  Stephanie J. 2012. The Posh Pescatarian: My Favorite Sustainable Seafood Recipes. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN-10: 1468144448

Pollan,  Michael.  2007. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Penguin. ISBN-10: 0143038583

Willcox,  Bradley J., D. Craig Willcox and Makoto Suzuki. 2002. The Okinawa Program: How the World's Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health--And How You Can Too. Harmony. ISBN-10: 0609807501

Woloshyn, Tom. 2007. The Complete Master Cleanse: A Step-by-Step Guide to Maximizing the Benefits of The Lemonade Diet. Ulysses Press; 1st edition. ISBN-10: 1569756139


*Based on the most searched diet plan on Google for the year 2013.


If you like eggs before but you are a vegetarian now. Try this recipe... Eggless Egg-Salad

Thursday

Tofu Lasagna- Healthy Recipe

 

This is the lasagna that I have been making for my family for many years. This recipe uses no soy cheese, which makes it lower in fat but still “creamy ” and delicious. Make sure to let it rest for at least 45 minutes before serving so it “sets up” nicely .


PREP: 30 MINUTES | COOK: 1 HOUR | REST: 45 MINUTES • SERVES 6 TO 8

Prepare the tofu ricotta before assembling the lasagna.


TOFU RICOTTA

1 package (12.3 ounces) silken tofu, drained in a fine-mesh strainer
1 package (16 ounces) fresh water-packed tofu, drained in a fine-mesh strainer
¼ cup nutritional y east
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup soy milk
1 tablespoon parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Set aside.


LASAGNA

10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (see sidebar on opposite page)

Tofu Ricotta

2 jars (25 ounces each) fat-free pasta sauce

8 ounces no-boil lasagna noodles (see sidebar on opposite page)

No-Parmesan Cheese


Preparation Steps:

1. Add the spinach to the Tofu Ricotta and stir well to mix.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

3. Pour about 1 cup of the pasta sauce into the bottom of a 13″ × 9″ baking dish.

4. Place a single layer of noodles over the sauce. Spread half of the tofu mixture over the noodles. Pour another cup or so of the pasta sauce
over the tofu mixture and spread evenly .

5. Add another layer of noodles and spread the remaining tofu mixture over them. Pour another cup or so of sauce over the tofu and spread evenly . Top with another layer of noodles
and another cup or so of the sauce, making sure all the noodles are covered.

6. Sprinkle the top with No-Parmesan Cheese. Cover with parchment paper, then aluminum foil, crimping the edges under the baking dish top to
seal the top well.

7. Bake for 1 hour.

8. Let rest for at least 45 minutes before cutting.

9. For a more spinach-flavored lasagna, use 20 ounces of spinach, thawed and squeezed dry . Do not mix with the tofu; instead, layer it over the tofu mixture before covering with the sauce.

10. To add more vegetables to the sauce, sauté some onions and mushrooms in a dry nonstick pan until softened, about 5 minutes.

11. Add this to the pasta sauce before using in the recipe. Other vegetables may also be added as desired. Another delicious option is to thinly slice some zucchini lengthwise and lay these strips over the tofu in each layer.

No-boil lasagna noodles are available in most supermarkets and natural food stores.

Use whole grain varieties whenever possible. For a fantastic gluten-free option to the wheat lasagna noodles, use Tinkyada brown rice lasagna noodles. There are many varieties of lasagna noodles that do not need to be boiled ahead of time before using in recipes.



Want to know how to store your favorite vegetables and fruits at home read...Complete Guide to Storing Fruits and Vegetables at Home


WATCH: Tofu Lasagna- Vegan Healthy Cooking Videos


Gluten Free Tofu Lasagna Video


Tofu Lasagna Video


Have you heard of about Maillard Reaction?...Maillard Reaction Mechanism and Its Applications to Your Cooking

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