Source: http://www.foodpolitics.com/2016/02/food-navigator-usas-collection-on-health-wellness/

Health and wellness and terms like natural and organic help food manufacturers sell products.  Food-Navigator-USA.com offers this collection of its articles addressing the question, “What does health & wellness mean to consumers today? We ask what Americans now expect of the food industry, and which innovative firms are best placed to meet their evolving needs.”

7 trends influencing the evolution of health, wellness and consumers’ views of food: Americans’ evolving definition of health and wellness from treatment to prevention is dramatically impacting how they view food – with many people looking to the ancient past for guidance on how and what to eat in the future… Read

Sales of meal kit subscriptions surge and show no sign of slowing, research shows: Consumers are embracing the convenience and adventure promised by fresh meal kits delivered to their doors with such fervor that sales growth outpaced all other aspects of food service – topping $1 billion globally in 2015, according to market research firm Technomic Inc. .. Read

Mushrooms: The go-to ingredient for 2016?: Mushrooms will feature more prominently in plant- and meat-based dishes in 2016, predicts the Mushroom Council, which says domestic production and value are at an all-time high, while ‘blended’ burgers, meatballs and tacos combining ground meat and chopped mushrooms are gaining significant traction in the foodservice market……

Source: http://www.sonima.com/fitness/natural-cures-for-chapped-lips/

Q: My lips get very dry and chapped in the winter months and I find drugstore remedies only provide temporary relief. What are the best solutions, in your experience?

A: Most people get chapped lips every once in awhile. During these colder winter months, when so many of us spend time indoors with the dry heat, the skin, and specifically the lips, lose moisture. The surface of our lips can literally break, leading to chapped, and even cracked lips. It is important to take good care, because badly cracked lips can lead to potential infection.

There are several home remedies you can try to both prevent dry lips and to treat them.

1. Stay hydrated! Drink an appropriate amount of water and healthy fluids. The amount individuals need varies, so monitor the color of your urine. When it’s light in color—pale straw color—you’ll know your body is hydrated.

2. Use a humidifier. If you are sensitive to winter dryness, consider a humidifier, at least in the room where you sleep. During the nighttime, especially, some of us tend to breathe through our mouths, which can cause additional dryness.

3. Try to avoid licking your lips. Your saliva dries pretty quickly and this will result in your lips being drier than before you tried to moisten them.

4. Moisturize. There are many choices for lip moisturizers. Most people respond better to natural moisturizers that do not contain synthetic fragranc…

Source: http://www.sonima.com/videos/meditation-for-positive-transformation/

Watch video on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6gIMhynApU

This powerful 18-minute guided meditation calls upon the powerful mantra Sat Nam, which translates to “truth is my name.” Each time you manage to welcome the mantra and the beat of your heart, you’re evolving your internal environment. You’re shifting possibilities, welcoming your connection to the truth, and reiterating your commitment to yourself. Positive transformation comes through being open to the subtle shifts in every moment. May you notice the internal context shifting, today and every day.

Related: A Meditation for Personal Renewal

Photo by Hailey Wist, with Sharmila Desai

The post A Meditation for Positive Transformation appeared first on Sonima.

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Source: http://www.fannetasticfood.com/2016/02/18/why-you-should-start-eating-sauerkraut/

Hello my friends! You know what I’ve been really into lately? Sauerkraut. File this under “sounds weird, tastes awesome” – I made a big salad for lunch yesterday with greens, brown rice, canned tuna (mixed with some dijon mustard), and a big ole serving of sauerkraut. Topped with balsamic vinaigrette (homemade – olive oil + lemon juice + dijon mustard + balsamic).

Why is sauerkraut awesome, besides being delicious (in my opinion)? It’s full of probiotics! Probiotics are living organisms, like bacteria or yeast, that are believed to improve health. The body is a natural home to these organisms; the digestive system alone boasts a large quantity of many types of bacteria, which help keep the intestines healthy and aid in digesting food. These healthy bacteria also help to protect us from pathogens (harmful bacteria), to detoxify harmful compounds (like alcohol or drugs), and more.

Normally, our body has a healthy plethora of gut microorganisms, but sometimes, due to reasons like stress, intestinal damage, infection, excessive antibiotic use, or poor diet, the bacterial ratio ca…

Source: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2016/02/18/cooking-101-your-essential-kitchen-tools/

This is a post from NF Rebel Chef Noel Fernando.

Long gone are the days where sharpened rocks, sticks, and fire were the only tools we needed to prepare a meal. Though that set of equipment might be an easier list to make, I’d much rather be living in today’s world of sharpened knives and heat resistant spatulas. Life as a modern day cook is pretty good.

If you’re new to life in the kitchen, or you’ve just ventured out on your own, making a variety of dishes – especially healthy ones – can be frustrating if you don’t have the right tools. Today we’re going to learn about the 11 tools we feel are most essential to get you from 0 to 1 in the kitchen, so that you are ready to go on the quest of making your first first home cooked meal.

Now my dear friend, don’t read this list and panic. You don’t have to buy all of these things at once. You can totally accumulate kitchen equipment over time, slowly switching out crappy equipment for new stuff. Building up a set of tools that feels comfortable for you can take time and depends on your preferences and budget. Choose wisely.

To give you a little head start, we’ve provided you with Amazon links where you can pick up some of this equipment. We’ve tried to find you some inexpensive tools with the best reviews. These are affiliate links, so feel free…

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tinybuddha/~3/zxFHdoGG9-8/

“Whenever I climb I am followed by a dog called ‘Ego.’” ~Frierich Nietzsche

At a young age, the bar for the rest of my life was set very high. I was a natural at anything I tried to do, and I was lucky enough to have my friends and family support me in just about every venture, so I became incredibly confident in my abilities and hopeful that life would always be easy and painless.

Eventually, I solidified the expectation for myself to always be number one because that is what my identity was based upon.

To give you a couple examples of my pre-adolescent stretch of glory: I was an all star swimmer (better than even the boys on my swim team); no one dared challenge me in verbal warfare due to my incredibly intellectual argumentative skills; I was “popular” for a pre-teen and had close friends; and I was very good at school.

Then I was humbled by reality.

I transferred from my safe 100-student private school to a public school of over 400 students in sixth grade, and my world was literally flipped upside down.

I lost my identity in a sea of kids who went toe to toe with my vivacious personality, and my ego took a big hit.

I was not the best at anything anymore, so who I was and my contribution to the world, in my young mind, was compromised,…

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tinybuddha/~3/8JI24xQi6LA/

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” ~Albert Einstein

I am pathetic. I am a walking, talking cliché (well, maybe not walking—I use an electric wheelchair).

I am one of those people who is so desperate to overcome their own sense of lack that they create some giant obstacle to overcome, or some massive achievement to attain, in order to feel that they might just be worth something.

I am an over-compensator; so desperate to feel okay about the fact that I am, in some ways, not as capable as other people that I seek to achieve the impossible—purely to show the whole world, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I am enough.

The great irony, of course, when you do this is that the only one you’re really trying to please is yourself. You’re just afraid that you aren’t worthy, so you seek to prove that you are, through your achievements. It doesn’t work. Everybody can see what you’re trying to do.

Your desire to achieve is fine, but it’s silly and fruitless to pin your self-worth on it.

You might wonder why I’m being so down on myself. And the truth is, I’m just being honest. This is how I operated until recently. It’s part of personal growth, something we have t…

Source: http://www.foodpolitics.com/2016/02/the-collection-continues-5-more-funded-studies-with-results-favoring-the-sponsor-the-score-13012/

Yesterday’s post was about a study funded by Disney.  It brought the number of studies funded by companies with results favorable to the company to 125 since last March.  I’ve only found 12 with unfavorable results.  Today’s five raise the count to 130/12.

The association between dietary saturated fatty acids and ischemic heart disease depends on the type and source of fatty acid in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition–Netherlands cohort.  Jaike Praagman, Joline WJ Beulens, Marjan Alssema, Peter L Zock, Anne J Wanders, Ivonne Sluijs, and Yvonne T van der Schouw. Am J Clin Nutr 2016; 103:356-365 doi:10.3945/ajcn.115.122671

Conclusions: In this Dutch population, higher SFA intake was not associated with higher IHD risks. The lower IHD risk observed did not depend on the substituting macronutrient but appeared to be driven mainly by the sums of butyric through capric acid, the sum of pentadecylic and margaric acid, myristic acid, and SFAs from dairy sources. Residual confounding by cholesterol-lowering therapy and trans fat or limited variation in SFA and PUFA intake may explain our findings. Analyses need to be repeated in populations with larger differences in SFA intake and different SFA food sources.
Conflict: JP is financially supported by a restricted research grant from Unilever Research and Development, Vlaardingen, Netherlands. MA, AJW, and PLZ are employees of Unilever Research and Development. None of …

Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/02/17/465627948/holy-ravioli-cookbook-reveals-the-vaticans-favorite-recipes?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=thesalt

Polish nuns do most of the cooking at the Vatican. Here, they prepare sweets for the Feast of St. Nicholas.

Katarzyna Artymiak/Courtesy of Sophia Institute Press

Empanadas are among Pope Francis’ comfort foods. Above, Argentine Empanadas on Pepper Salad, from The Vatican Cookbook.

Katarzyna Artymiak/Courtesy of Sophia Institute Press

He loves Argentinian empanadas and dulce de leche. In 2015, he said that if he had only one wish, it would be to travel unrecogni…

Source: http://www.sonima.com/videos/mammogram/

Watch video on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKdTqtw44S4

A mammogram, which is an X-ray of the chest, is used to detect cancer in hopes of catching it in the early stages when there are generally no signs or symptoms. An early diagnosis means early treatment, which can possibly stop the disease from spreading. Age 40 has long marked the year women should schedule their first annual mammogram.

Last October, however, the American Cancer Society released new guidelines for breast cancer screenings, recommending women start at age 45 (five years later) with the option to book it every other year beginning at age 55. This new rule does not apply to women who may have an inherent increased risk due to a family history of breast cancer or genetic mutation (such as BRCA). These women are advised to get both an MRI and mammogram every year. Women who prefer to start at age 40, as previous suggested, are still welcome to do so.

In this video interview, Sonima.com founder Sonia Jones discusses mammograms with Elisa Port, M.D., co-director of the Dubin Breast Center and chief of breast surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Port recently wrote the book, The New Generation Breast Cancer Book: How to Navigate Your Diagnosis and Treatment Options-and Remain Optimistic-in an Age of Information Overload, which came out last fall, to help streamline information for women seeking prevention and treatment advice. Here, Port …