Archive for the ‘Healthy Food & Drink’ Category
Acai – The Amazon Health Food
Acai berry is a small purple blue fruit, but don’t dismiss this berry due to size, it’s a natural medicine cabinet growing on a palm tree. This fruit is packed with a range of healing properties and health benefits. From being high in fiber content, to the essential B vitamins and antioxidants, Acai is quickly becoming a well known and desired supplement.
Fiber, sometimes known as the roto- rooter for the digestive system, is necessary for good intestinal health and physical well being. Acai berry is rich in fiber, which promotes a healthier heart, better condition of the skin, reduction of cholesterol levels and better sleep.
Essential B vitamins are part of the advantage to including Acai into a healthy diet plan. Vitamin B1 is known for supplying a burst of energy. Vitamin B 2 helps maintain healthy skins and eyes. Vitamin B 3 is the source that helps to convert carbohydrates into necessary energy.
The antioxidants found in Acai fruit helps by fighting off free radicals that cause oxidation and stress on the body.
Like rust that builds up on a car, oxidation wears down cells causing ageing. Antioxidants, works like a buffer to help polish and remove old oxidation from cells. These antioxidants then work to protect cells from further damage.
Products containing this wonder fruit in smoothies, juice, instant drink powers, and tablets but don’t rule out trying the juicy fruit right from the tree. Go shopping for acai berry rich supplements on the web, at heath food stores, and markets specializing in health and physical well being.
Thank you, never again, once enough
Eating Vegetables
Consuming Greens, Ranging from Scratch
Eating Vegetables- If greens won’t be on your procuring guidelines, you’re not alone! It’s straightforward to get caught in a cycle of shopping for exclusivley processed foods. Many people grow up this manner, cooking and preparing meals has develop to be a bit of little bit of a misplaced artwork for an excessive amount of the American population. Nonetheless, consuming solely meals that come frozen, in bins, and cans is detrimental to our well being from a long term and short time interval perspective. There are also many wholesome meals comprised of entire foods which might be fast and straightforward to prepare. Greens are also simple so as to add to plenty of the processed meals it is doable you’ll already eat. Finally it’s best to move away from processed meals as a lot as doable nonetheless during a interval of transition it’s biggest to not totally overturn your lifestyle. It does not matter what your dietary habits, rising greens in your meals is an unlimited improvement. Listed below are some recommendations on how one can start:
1. Purchase frozen vegetables at first. Frozen greens are simpler to rearrange as they’re already clear and cut. Additionally they gained’t go dangerous on you, which is a huge function plenty of individuals stray from the vegetable section. I wish to suggest frozen broccoli, spinach, inexperienced beans, and asparegus to start. Frozen broccoli could be added to macaroni and cheese, or some other frozen or boxed pasta dish. It’s moreover nice with melted cheese or with asian fashion sauces. Frozen spinach is unquestionably added to scrambled eggs, omelets, pastas, and would possibly even be sprinkled onto frozen pizza sooner than it goes within the oven. Inexperienced beans and asparegus is likely to be roasted, sauteed, or boiled as a simple side dish to meat, fish, rice, and pasta.
2. If you’re ready to buy current greens, purchase carrots, celery, onions, and garlic. Carrots and celery are scrumptious as snacks with varied dips in their raw type, and are also great sauteed into stir fries and added into soups. Canned vegetable or noodle soups would do effectively with some up to date veggies, as most of the dietary value of canned greens is gone by the point they’re eaten. Onions and garlic can be used to flavor absolutely anything, meat, eggs, fish, and veggies alike. They’re nice foundation for Italian, Mexican, and Asian flavored dishes. Onions, garlic, celery, and carrots are additionally the proper base for soups. Maintain them within the crisper and they’ll all last weeks earlier than going bad.
3. Now that you simply’ve started to include veggies into your life, try so as to add salad. Purchase a pre-minimize, pre-washed bag of romaine lettuce or blended greens. Stay away from ice burg lettuce as there may be little dietary value, not even very much fiber! As an alternative of using dressing, try topping your salad with sliced turkey, chicken, exhausting boiled egg, sardines, tuna, or nuts. If it’s too dry for you, add some olive oil and lemon juice with sea salt and pepper, or salsa. You probably have a favorite dressing, learn the label carefully. Many dressings shall be up to 200 calories per tablespoon, largely from fat. If ranch is an absolute favorite, attempt only using 1 tbsp and utilizing different issues to taste your salad or combine a little bit ranch dressing with a bit of skim milk to make it go further. Moreover try to purchase all pure salad dressing as many embody MSG!
4. As quickly as you are feeling more comfortable with greens, making ready meals and creating meals, begin mapping out meals and purchase the greens you want for them, even if it’s just one meal per week. This way you should buy contemporary greens with out concern of them going bad. Be open minded about totally different flavors and textures. Take a look at recipes in cook dinner books and on-line to get some ideas. This is usually a probability to be creative and will stimulate your thoughts and physique! Proceed your personal research and determine what greens you want and revel in preparing. Notice the excellence in how you are feeling and function. Attempt to buy organic when you can, and know that farmers markets will forestall cash and feed your soul.
5. Make meals for associates and family utilizing the delicious vegetable dishes you’ve created. Know that you’re doing something sort for them and their bodies. Construct a neighborhood of vegetable followers and swap ideas and recipes. Thank yourself for taking excellent care of your body and soul, congratulate your self for taking the steps to bettering your health.
Pumpkin Rice – Children’s Health Food
Pumpkins are very popular in cooking. It can be fried, boiled, steamed, baked and even roasted. Small pumpkins can be eaten as squash or zucchini. Mashed pumpkin can be used in soup. In Middle East, pumpkin is used for making desserts such as halawa and yaqtin. In China, the leaves of pumpkin are used as an ingredient in soups. In India, kadu ka halwa is made from pumpkin, butter, sugar and other spices. In Japan, some take the pumpkin to serve as tempura. In Australia, pumpkin is commonly roasted before consumed. In Italy, pumpkin is used with cheeses for ravioli. In Thailand, small pumpkins are steamed with custard, sugar and coconut milk mix to become a Thai dessert – pumpkin custard.
Usually, kids like to eat pumpkin. It might be due to its sweetness taste and the cheerful color – orange. My kid likes to eat pumpkin meals as well. My wife started feeding him with pumpkin meals since he was 1 year old.
Now, he is six years old and still likes to eat pumpkin very much. Pumpkin is his favorite food, and no matter the meal prepared in soup, porridge, rice, steam or stir fry, he will always ask for pumpkin.
I would like to share with you one of the simplest and easiest way to prepare pumpkin cooking. You can prepare it in meal box and let your children bring them to school. Normally, I will add it with green peas to make the dish looked better and also more nutritious. Here is the Pumpkin Rice recipe.
Cooking Methods: (servings for 4 to 5 people)
Ingredients:
a) white rice 160g rinse clean and take off the water
b) Pumpkin 220g removed skin and cut into cube
c) Chicken breast 130g cut into cube
d) Dried mushroom 7 pcs soak till soft, rinse off the water and cut into cube
e) Dried prawn 35g soak till soft, rinse off the water
f) Onion small 5 pcs, cut slices
g) Water 350ml ( including water of soaking mushroom &dried prawns)
h) Green onion few
Seasoning materials:
a) Soya Sauce 1 ½ tbsp
b) Dark Soya Sauce 1 tbsp
c) Salt half of tsp
d) Sesame oil 2 tsp
e) Pepper 1 tsp
Method:
1.
Marinate chicken breast with few starch flour and soya sauce together with sugar for about 30 minutes.
2. Heat up the oil, fry onion small until fragrance and ready to use.
3. Heats up the oil again, fry fried prawns with low flame and add in mushrooms continue by put in the chicken. Stir fry till half cook; add in white rice and the seasoning materials. Put into rice cooker and add in water and cook till 80%.
4. After that, add in pumpkin and onion that fried earlier and cook the rice till dry.
5. Loosen out the riceï¼put some green onions when ready to serve.
6. Completed.
Cooking Tips:
1. Australia pumpkin normally easy to cook than local pumpkin, hence don’t cut too small, around 1.5cm to 2 cm will do.
2. Separate the fried onion to two servings, one can pour into the ingredients while half cook, another servings can use when ready to eat. This will help the taste.
3. Chicken breast can replace by chicken thigh.
4. Water levels that use to cook rice depend on the type of rice that you use. Use the normal cooking water level as reference
5. Use fresh mushrooms, put them into hot water, then rinse off.
6. if use pot to cook, you can follow the same method (1) to (3), put all ingredients (except pumpkin & fried onion) into pot, put in appropriate water and cook till water is boiled. Don’t use too big flame, change to medium flame till water dry off, continue by low flame and add on the pumpkin and fried onion. You may want to stir it from time to time so that the rice won’t stick to the pot.
Storing Vegetables
Green leafy vegetables like Spinach, Lettuce, Coriander, Rocket, Parsley, Bok Choy, Fenugreek, Leek, Watercress, fresh herbs etc are hard to store fresh for a long time. When you buy leafy vegetables pay attention to buy fresh and crispy once.
Wrap them in a paper towel to observe excess moisture and water from the leafy veggies. If leafy vegetables are too moist they tend to rot very quickly.
Make sure not to wash leafy veggies before you wrap them in the paper towel. You can always wash them properly before you eat them or use them for cooking.
Once you are done with wrapping, put each of them in separate plastic containers in the fridge. This will make leafy vegetables last for a longer period than normally expected.
Never store fresh green leafy vegetables in freezer, they will lose their aroma, freshness and become watery. Turnip roots store well in the refrigerator, but the greens, like most leafy vegetables, must be eaten quickly or canned or frozen to preserve freshness.
Both the turnip’s root and greens may be consumed. One cup of boiled turnip roots contains 34 calories, 0 g of fat, 8 g of carbohydrates, 3 g of fiber and 1 g of protein.
One cup raw turnip greens contain 18 calories, 0 g of fat, 4 g of carbohydrates, 2 g of fiber and 1 g of protein. One cup of boiled turnip greens contains 29 calories, 0 g of fat, 6 g of carbohydrates, 5 g of fiber and 2 g of protein.
One cup of canned turnip greens contains 27 calories, 0 g of fat, 4 g of carbohydrates, 2 g of fiber and 2 g of protein. One cup of frozen turnip greens contains 48 calories, 1 g of fat, 8 g of carbohydrates, 6 g of fiber and 5 g of protein.
Bok Choy, sometimes called Peking cabbage, is a type of leafy green cabbage found in Asian dishes. It is an extremely healthy vegetable, full of beta-carotene, calcium and foliates.
Bok Choy can be served cooked or raw. The plant can be stored like any other leafy vegetable, like lettuce or spinach.
Cut the root of the Bok Choy off, where the leaves join together at the bottom. Keep the white stems of the plant as you will most likely be using both parts of the leaf in your recipe.
Fill a large bowl with cool water and soak the leaves for about 30 seconds. Swish the leaves around in the water to remove any dirt.
Remove the leaves of the Bok Choy and gently shake off excess water. Blot them dry on paper towels.
Roll out another section of fresh paper towels. Place the leaves on the paper towel in a single layer and roll them up.
Store the rolled leaves in a plastic bag. The produce bag from the grocery store is fine to reuse for this.
Place the bag in your refrigerator crisper. The Bok Choy should stay fresh for five to six days.
Purslane is a leafy vegetable that grows all over the world. Although it is commonly considered to be a weed, it is popular in some Mediterranean–particularly Greek–cooking.
It works nicely in salads when fresh, as a side dish when lightly sauteed and when tossed in soups. Pluck all the purslane leaves off of the stems by grasping the top of a branch in one hand and sliding the thumb and forefinger of your other hand down the stem.
This will rip most of the leaves off in one smooth motion. Cut the stems into 2-inch pieces with kitchen shears.
Discard the roots, as they are not edible. Put the leaves and stem pieces in the bowl of a food processor.
Process until the leaves and stems are chopped, as for a pesto. Drizzle in a little water if the leaves are sticking to the sides of the bowl.
Purslane leaves have a lot of gooey, mucilaginous juice, which can make them a little sticky. Measure 1 tsp. and 1 tbsp. portions of purslane puree and pack them into the segments of an ice cube tray and freeze.
Place frozen puree cubes out of tray and quickly transfer to small plastic bags for storage in the freezer. Pack purslane puree into small freezer-safe containers for use in larger amounts.
Health Benefits of Drinking Alcohol
The benefits of alcohol consumption have long been known. The Bible refers to alcohol’s medicinal properties no less than 191 times. Alcohol is beneficial in controlling the following conditions: hypertension or high blood pressure, peripheral artery disease, angina pectoris, liver disease, hepatitis A, pancreatic cancer, duodenal ulcer, gallstones, kidney stones, digestive ailments, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, bone fractures, hearing loss, macular degeneration, poor cognition and memory, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stress and depression, and erectile dysfunction.
Even more significantly, innumerable studies have proven beyond any doubt that alcohol consumption leads to a decrease in the rate of heart attacks and strokes. The results of studies conducted on hundreds of thousands of men and women from several countries and continents have consistently shown that alcohol consumption reduces death from heart disease and a host of other ailments.
Huh?!! So why does alcohol consumption keep getting such bad press?
Well, it’s not the alcohol that’s to blame, but the consumer of it.
For these beneficial effects to take effect, the key is for the alcohol to be taken in MODERATE doses.
Ahhh!! There’s the rub.
Alcohol consumption has wondrous effects if, and only if, the consumption is MODERATE. Listen to just a minuscule portion of the findings.
* The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reports that moderate drinkers have the greatest longevity. Moderate drinking results in a sharp decrease in heart disease risk (40%-60%). (This is a pretty major effect considering that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the United States, responsible for one million deaths in America each year.)
* A study of 12,000 male physicians done in the U.K.
over a 13-year period found that moderate drinkers had the lowest risk of death from ALL causes.
* The Italians did a study of 1,536 men aged 45 to 65. The study found that the moderate drinkers among them gained about 2 years of life compared to occasional and heavy drinkers.
* China also did a large-scale study of middle aged men. It too found that those who drank moderately had a nearly 20% lower mortality rate compared to men who abstained from drink.
The studies are not confined to male subjects. Alcohol does not discriminate between the sexes.
* The Harvard Nurses study of over 85,000 women reported reduced mortality among the moderate drinkers.
* Harvard researchers did a study of over 5,000 women with type 2 diabetes. The moderate drinkers among them had significantly lower heart disease rates than those who didn’t drink. In fact, the women who drank about half a glass of alcohol a day reduced their risk from coronary heart disease by more than half.
And the list goes on. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism did an extensive review of recent research from over 20 countries and the findings were quite consistent. Moderate drinkers live longer than those who either abstain from alcohol or who drink heavily. This is largely due to a decrease in diseases such as coronary heart disease, respiratory disease, and cancer. Moderate drinkers enjoy better health than abstainers or heavy drinkers. It’s been found that abstainers have double the risk of stroke as moderate drinkers.
Okay. So what’s considered moderate drinking?
Different countries have different standards. But generally, for non-pregnant women, it’s one to two drinks a day, for men it’s two to three drinks.
Now, what constitutes a drink?
A medium glass of wine, a can of beer or a .5 ounce shot of whiskey or other spirit generally have the same amount of pure alcohol in them and would be considered as a drink or one alcoholic unit.
Many of the beneficial effects of moderate drinking reverse if a person drinks too much. The amount is a key factor but so is consistency and regularity. Five drinks in one night do not equal – and produce a totally opposite effect from – five drinks spread out over five nights.
So take heed. Moderation and consistency are key to getting the health benefits that alcohol offers.
Health Benefits of Drinking Coffee
Most of the people around the world, look for a cup of coffee whether in home or at the work spot. The aroma, taste and the sense of feeling for a cup of coffee refreshes the entire body. Nowadays, the coffee is the world’s most popular beverage and it contains the widely researched ingredients. The Coffee is everyone’s favorite drink. Thus the coffee has plenty of health benefits which is already proven in many studies.
Thus Drinking a cup of coffee has initialized to improve an individual’s alertness and concentration. So, it helps us to reduce the feeling of tiredness or lethargy. The key ingredient responsible for the enhanced mental performance is the caffeine which is naturally contained in the coffee.
Reduced Gall Stones:
The Harvard school of public health recently researched and published a study about the caffeinated coffee on a regular basis.
Thus it proves that, it can dramatically decrease the incidence of gall bladder disease and gall stones in humans.
Reduced Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease:
Then the European Journal of Neurology have shown that the individuals who drank about 2 cups of caffeinated coffee per day doesn’t develop the Alzheimer’s disease than the other individuals.
Reduced Risk for Parkinson’s Disease:
Many studies have shown that the amount of coffee consumed is inversely related to an individual’s relativity to the Parkinson’s disease. Thus the more coffee you drink, there are low chances of developing the disease.
Antioxidants and Cancer-Fighting Properties:
The Coffee is a powerful source of antioxidant agents which are free from cancer-causing free radicals.
The Coffee consists of the compound methylpyridinium, which is found in many food items and are not available in the coffee. Thus you can get antioxidants from both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee beans sufficiently.
Bowel Stimulation:
The Coffee is a stimulant and also a laxative. Some alternative practitioners can even prescribe the coffee to stimulate the lower colon.
However, the coffee is also a diuretic and it can cause the constipation in some individuals. But normally every all the issues should be practiced in moderation and the health concerns should always be discussed with a medical professional. So, a moderate amount of coffee has its own benefit, an excessive amount can also cause some problems. Thus there should be some limit in coffee drinking and heavy coffee drinking can lead to irritability, anxiety, sleep deprivation, cardiovascular problems and higher cholesterol levels too.
Health Benefits Of Drinking Beer
There has been and probably always will be a big debate on whether beer has true scientific evidence that it is good for your health.
For most people, beer might not seem to equate directly to health benefits. It might seem like a potbelly is the only result of drinking too much beer. Of course, too much beer is also the cause of that nasty hangover. However, beer can actually have some positive effects on your health that might surprise you more than a little.
There are many beer drinkers in the world. So, it is good to know that there are a number of health benefits of drinking beer.Hence,here are some benefits of beer.
A compound found only in hops, which are used to make beer, have been discovered to prevent cancer. Of course we all know that hops are an ingredient in beer and therefore Xanthohumol has high hopes of making beer a new anti cancer drug.
Beer has the ability to lessen the chances of heart disease. It contains vitamins B6 which have the ability to counter chemicals in the body which are responsible for heart problems, such as amino acid.
Beer is a proven stress reliever and sleep inducer. Nothing like relaxing with a glass of delicious beer you brewed yourself. In fact, the very act of making beer is relaxing.Home brewed beer contains no fat and no bad cholesterol. Drink it guilt free!
Great news for beer drinkers! Bone material has also seen positive effects of beer consumption. The study suggested that beer can help maintain bone density, but too much beer can also increase the chance for bone fractures, which is why finding a healthy balance is just as important as drinking it.
Apparently, according to The New England Journal of Medicine, moderate beer drinkers are actually able to reduce their chance of having a stroke. In beer drinkers who drank no more than one beer per day (and no less than one per week), the chance of stroke was reduced by up to 20%.
Memory Booster – Studies in mice have shown that moderate consumption of beer can actually stimulate the growth of new nerve cells in the brain. These are responsible for memory capacity in humans.
Increase in beer consumption may reduce the risk of developing kidney stones. Results showed that there was a 40 percent lower risk of kidney stones in beer drinkers, but the researchers were stumped as to whether the results were due to water, alcohol or hops.
Slowing The Aging Process – Scientists have found that hops, the key ingredient in beer, affects the body’s production of neoterin and trytophan, which help the body deal with inflammation. There are anti-oxidants in beer that help the body fight the symptoms of aging from the inside out.
So the next time someone looks down their nose at you for the stories that you tell about the night before and the beer that you drank. Come back here and point out that you were just doing the healthy thing and having a couple of beers.
Top 10 Brain Health Foods
Certain foods with low fat and cholesterol such as blackberries and dark chocolates containing nutritions and vitamins bring a healthy life and help enhance brain power. According to the Alzheimer\’s Association, a brain-healthy diet can effectively treat Alzheimer\’s disease or dementia and reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes, transfer blood flow to the brain. There are variety of natural foods, drinks, herbs and supplemental products containing brain & body improving properties, the following list includes the best brain health food for humans.
Apples are the wealthy source of quercetin, an antioxidant plant chemical preserving water to protect your brain cells. An apple each day helps prevent your brain from free radical attacks. Radical attack is so dangerous to your brain because it can damage the outer line of delicate neurons, even causing cognitive decline.
Apples
Blackberries supply with potent antioxidants best known as polyphenols enhancing communication between neurons, improving information process.
Blackberries
Caffeine and plentiful antioxidants being contained in coffee beans is the key to enhance brain power. According to a recent Finnish study of 1,400 long-time coffee drinkers, having three to five cups of coffee compared to fewer than two cups a day is much more effective in reducing the development of Alzheimer\’s disease by 65 percent.
Coffee
According to the 2009 Journal of Nutrition study, eating 28,35 gram of chocolate a day at least helps protect your brain against absentmindedness and memory loss. The polyphenols in cocoa beans contribute to enhancing blood flow to the brain.
Chocolate
A well-known research from the University of California at Santa Barbara shows that the two compounds proanthocyanidins and cinnamaldehyde in cinnamon are inactivate tau proteins killing brain cells.
Cinnamon
This kind of food contains nutrients helping prevent dementia such as folate, vitamin E, and vitamin K. You will obtain a third of the folate and five times a great deal of vitamin K in a half cup of boiled spinach. Combining spinach with a little olive oil for your diets creats healthy fats enhancing absorption of vitamins E and K.
Spinach
ADDLs (or amyloid B-derived diffusible ligands) are proteins enhancing Alzheimer\’s progress. According to a research carried out at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, PA last year, extra of olive oil may be an enemy against ADDLs harming the brain.
Extract of olive oil
Salmon is either good for heart or for brain. Salmon is a leading source of DHA, omega-3 protecting against Alzheimer, an illness killing over five million Americans. The kind of fish also supplies with a plentiful source of vitamin D helping avoid cognitive decline.
Salmon
Turmeric and ginger are 2 main spices in curry powder. According to studies at the University of California Los Angeles Alzheimer\’s Disease Research Center, turmeric is rich in curcumin protecting against Alzheimer\’s progress. Besides, turmeric reduces cholesterol causing low blood flow to your brain.
Turmeric
A survey conducted by researchers at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicin shows that 12 older adults with memory decline having a daily drink of grape juice is so beneficial to heart and brain. Polyphenols in grape juice help enhance communication among brain cells.
Grape juice
Related links:
Herbs – Best for Emotional Health and Brain
Why Taking Fish Oil Supplements is one of The BestBrainHealth Strategies You Can Employ
Improve BrainHealth
What Are Health Food Supplements?
Health food supplements are concentrated nutrients processed by using whole fruits, vegetables and grains; the nutrients in these food supplements are designed to work together to provide balanced nutrition and are most common in capsule form. The supplements differ in many different ways from synthetic supplements that target a specific area of the fruit or vegetable for nutrients.
Finding health food supplements is easier than you think today with the Internet at our side for just about any subject of information on which we might need expert advice or just general knowledge. Health food stores, whether they are local or on a reputable website, are where consumers have a choice on which to go with. When you shop locally there is a personal factor involved with you and the business owner. Exchanges with him or her on advice to living healthy is something that local shops have a definite advantage.
Now, using an established affordable website that offers health food supplements has the ability to give you the best possible price on the supplements that are suggested you take. Sites that are dedicated to healthy living and providing these supplements have product volume on their side and will usually be able to beat any local price you could find. Most suggest that you read the label and product information that your health food supplement comes with to ensure that you are getting an all natural product as opposed to, because the synthetic made supplements are not as nutritious.
Many individuals are concerned enough about the situation to consult with their doctor in advance of taking or pursuing some type of program of health food supplements. Your doctor might recommend that you get a liver test done to make sure that the substances can be handled by the body. Once you get to OK then making a decision on which process to take and what health food supplements will round out your daily intake, it is permissible to begin your regimen of supplements.
Using some of the information used here can help you make an informed choice on what kind of health food supplements are for you. Taking supplements are essential to many who are on the go all the time and have a hard time getting the nutrition they need. Consultation with the family physician should always be an option when ingesting pills to either help or hinder and could save you a trip to the medical center later for an allergenic reaction to the substances.
Health Tips: FOOD POISONING
Food poisoning is an acute gastroenteritis caused by the consumption of a food material or a drink which contains the pathogenic micro organism or their toxins or poisonous chemicals. Food poisoning is common in hostels,hotels,communal feedings, and festival seasons.
A group of persons will be affected with same type of symptoms ,and they give a history of consumption of a common food before few hours.
Types of food poisoning
1) Bacterial food poisoning:
Here the micro organisms called bacteria are responsible. The food material may contain the pathogenic bacteria or their toxin and will be ingested along with the food.
2) Non bacterial food poisoning:
Due to the presence of toxic chemicals like fertilizers,insecticides,heavy metals and etc.
Since bacterial food poisoning is common it is discussed here.
Bacterial food poisoning:
All bacteria are not harmful.
There are some pathogenic bacteria which secrete toxins and cause clinical manifestations. These organisms enter the human body through food articles or drinks and affect our health badly.
How food poisoning occurs:
1) Presence of bacteria in the water.
2) The raw materials for the food may contain toxins.
3) Premises where the food is prepared may contain micro organisms or toxins.
4) Food handlers may have some infectious diseases.
5) Some animals like dogs,rats may contaminate the food.
6) If prepared food is kept in the room temperature for a long time and heated again can make a chance for food poisoning.
7) Purposely some body mixing toxins in the food.
Some common bacterial food poisonings.
1) Salmonella food poisoning:
There are three different varieties of salmonella bacteria.(salmonella typhimurium,salmonella cholera suis,salmonella enteritidis) These bacteria are present in milk, milk products and eggs. Symptoms of this food poisoning include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Fever is also common.
2) Botulism:
This is the dangerous type of food poisoning caused by clostridium botulinum. The spores of these organisms are seen in the soil and enters the human body through pickles and canned fish etc. Compared to other food poisonings here vomiting and diarrhea are rare Mainly the nervous system is affected. The symptoms starts with double vision,numbness with weakness. Later there will be paralysis with cardiac and respiratory failure ending in death.
3) Staphylococcal food poisoning:
It is caused by staphylo coccus aureus. These organisms usually cause skin troubles like boils and eruptions. It causes mastitis in cow. Through the milk and milk products it enders and causes gastroenteritis. There will be vomiting,abdominal cramps with diarrhea.
4) Closteridium food poisoning:
This is caused by closteridium perfringens. They are present in stool,soil and water. They enter the body through,meat,meat dishes and egg etc. If food articles are cooked and kept in room temperature for a long time and heated again before eating can result this food poisoning. Symptoms include vomiting ,diarrhea and abdominal cramps.
5) Bacillus cereus:
The spores of these organisms can survive cooking and causes enteritis . Diarrhea and vomiting is common in this infection.
How to investigate food poisoning?
1) Examine each and every person affected.
2) Water sample should be tested.
3) Kitchen, store room and food samples should be examined.
4) The cook and food handlers should be questioned and examined.
5) Samples of vomits and stool of all victims should be tested to identify the bacteria.
Below is the mention of some health tips to be followed and prevent food poisoning.
Healthy way to prevent food poisoning:-
1) Only purified water should be used.
2) Hygiene should be maintained by all persons keeping contact with food.
3) Workers should use masks, cap and gloves during cooking and serving.
4) Sick individuals should not come in contact with food materials.
5) Kitchen and premises should be neat and clean.
5) Vessels should be washed with soap and hot water.
6) Should not keep the prepared food for a long time in room temperature.
7) All food materials should be kept in closed containers.
Animals like dog, cat, rat etc should not come in contact with food materials.
9) Vegetables should be washed before cooking.
10) Meat should be fresh and should be purchased from recognized slaughter house.
Following such health tips enables us to prevent diseases and living life the healthy way.
[ THE POINTS MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION. ANY PERSON HAVING ABOVE AILMENTS SHOULD CONSULT A QUALIFIED DOCTOR ]