Everyday Health-Ledger

Fruits!

Apricots, Avocadoes, Raspberries, Cantaloupe, Cranberry Juice, Tomato, Raisins, Figs, Lemons, Limes and Bananas.

Vegetables!

Onions, Artichokes, Ginger, Broccoli, Spinach, Bok Choy, Squash, Garlic, Watercress and Arugula.

Grains, Beans, and Nuts!

Quinoa, Wheat Germ, Lentiles, Peanuts, Pinto Beans,
Yogert, and Skim Milk.

Seafood!

Shellfish, Salmon, and Crab.

Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose.

Combined with fiber, a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.

Energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a survey undertaken by MIND amongst people
suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham School in England were helped through their exams by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber,including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads people to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic, induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress:< Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"

The best snacks to eat before-a-work-out are foods high in complex carbohydrates. These great snacks are fruits and vegetables, rice, pasta, or whole grain breads. Complex carbohydrates enter the blood stream slowly and help you to avoid sugar crashes that can occur from eating candy or other sugary snacks. Energy bars are a great source of complex carbohydrates, but can sometimes be too filling as a snack before a work out. Cut one in half to eat per-work out and save the other half for your next work out. It is a money saving tip also. Remember to write things down on a health ledger.

I have been going to EverydayHealth.com for over 6 years and have found answers to questions about nutrition, healthy foods, weight loss, gaining weight, body building, medicines, alternative medicine, recipes, diseases and other illnesses, and much more... The health resources at EverydayHealth.com are very helpful and informative and have been beneficial to countless of thousands of people just like us. Find a great health tip that suites your life an write in your health ledger to follow up on.

This is a picture of my granddaughters, Aubrey Mae & Bailey Rose. Two great reasons for me to want to be healthy and live longer. They are so sweet! I can proudly say that I have a grandson now too and I am no longer a grandma-wanna-be.

By the way, the picture in the introduction is a picture of Health Ledger! Cute guy!

The picture in the introduction is a close up of a strawberry!

I really do love strawberries. Although, I must admit that my favorite way to eat strawberries is sliced with sugar on them. Adding some cream is always a nice treat!

Strawberries are higher in vitiman C than oranges.

We all know that eating well and getting enough exercise are the two most important things we can do for our health. It is important to get rid of those bad habits also, and that's not easy to do. Keeping a health ledger everyday will help see our progress from week to week.

Did you know that it takes 30 days to form new habits? In 30 days, if we will be consistent about 'forming' a new habit that we want, we will have it! We have a will and if we exercise our wills, we can overcome the bad habits, and form good ones!

When we are practiced at exercising our own will, we will get very good at it. Like anything it takes practice, so don't give up! Exercise your will and your will becomes strong. To your health! Let your will rule your own body, not the cravings. We are intended to be true to ourselves, and our will is the power to do just that.