Wonderful Reasons Why Apple Juice is very Good for Your health fitness

Apples are considered among the healthiest fruits in the world with many benefits, along with the leaves that are useful for diabetics. There are many varieties of the fruit, including red delicious, golden delicious, honeycrisp, and granny smith. But no matter the type, they are all equally beneficial to our health. You can consume apples in different ways, such as eating them raw, adding them to your salads, or as juice.

Drinking apple juice daily can give you the following health benefits:

1. Heart Health

The fruit is an excellent source of antioxidants, namely flavonoids and polyphenols – which are beneficial for the heart. A serving of apple juice daily can help the heart function properly.

2. Very Nutritious

Both apples and their juice contain crucial nutrients, including phytochemicals that can help improve immunity and anti-inflammatory response of the body. Phytochemicals are plant compounds that help the fruit protect themselves. When consumed by humans, they provide protection as well, particularly against chronic diseases.

3. Liver Health

Aside from the heart, apple juice is also useful in protecting the liver. The juice is alkaline and is useful in removing waste and toxins in the body.

4. Anti-Alzheimer’s

For those who are at risk of Alzheimer’s disease, apple juice is a great drink to indulge in. According to a study by the University of Massachusetts, they discovered that mice that drank two glasses of the juice daily for 30 days showed a decreased signal of developing the brain disease.

5. Anti-Cancer

Apples and apple juice can help reduce the risk of skin cancer, as well as breast and colon cancers, according to a research by the German Cancer Research Center.

6. Reduced Asthma Symptoms

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute discovered that drinking apple juice daily can help decrease frequency of wheezing in children.

Instead of drinking soda, apple juice is a much better alternative, especially if you’re craving for something sweet. The juice is rich in vitamin C and many other antioxidants that promote good health. Grabbing a fresh apple and juicing it at home is definitely more recommended by health experts and enthusiasts over buying store bought juice.

The pulp is rich in fiber and antioxidants; plus, it’s better if you keep the peel intact. According to the Medical University of Warsaw researchers as well as the researchers from the Agricultural University of Wroclaw, cloudy apple juice is better than the clear version. Cloudy juice has more polyphenols, which mean better disease fighting capability.

FDA Says Walnuts Are Drugs: What Do You Have To Say About This?

Seen any walnuts in your medicine cabinet lately? According to the Food and Drug Administration, that is precisely where you should find them. Because Diamond Foods made truthful claims about the health benefits of consuming walnuts that the FDA didn’t approve, it sent the company a letter declaring, “Your walnut products are drugs” — and “new drugs” at that — and, therefore, “they may not legally be marketed … in the United States without an approved new drug application.” The agency even threatened Diamond with “seizure” if it failed to comply.

Diamond’s transgression was to make “financial investments to educate the public and supply them with walnuts,” as William Faloon of Life Extension magazine put it. On its website and packaging, the company stated that the omega-3 fatty acids found in walnuts have been shown to have certain health benefits, including reduced risk of heart disease and some types of cancer. These claims, Faloon notes, are well supported by scientific research: “Life Extension has published 57 articles that describe the health benefits of walnuts”; and “The US National Library of Medicine database contains no fewer than 35 peer-reviewed published papers supporting a claim that ingesting walnuts improves vascular health and may reduce heart attack risk.” 

This evidence was apparently not good enough for the FDA, which told Diamond that its walnuts were “misbranded” because the “product bears health claims that are not authorized by the FDA.”

The FDA’s letter continues: “We have determined that your walnut products are promoted for conditions that cause them to be drugs because these products are intended for use in the prevention, mitigation, and treatment of disease.” Furthermore, the products are also “misbranded” because they “are offered for conditions that are not amenable to self-diagnosis and treatment by individuals who are not medical practitioners; therefore, adequate directions for use cannot be written so that a layperson can use these drugs safely for their intended purposes.” Who knew you had to have directions to eat walnuts?

“The FDA’s language,” Faloon writes, “resembles that of an out-of-control police state where tyranny [reigns] over rationality.” He adds:

This kind of bureaucratic tyranny sends a strong signal to the food industry not to innovate in a way that informs the public about foods that protect against disease. While consumers increasingly reach for healthier dietary choices, the federal government wants to deny food companies the ability to convey findings from scientific studies about their products.

Walnuts aren’t the only food whose health benefits the FDA has tried to suppress. Producers of pomegranate juice and green tea, among others, have felt the bureaucrats’ wrath whenever they have suggested that their products are good for people.

Meanwhile, Faloon points out, foods that have little to no redeeming value are advertised endlessly, often with dubious health claims attached. For example, Frito-Lay is permitted to make all kinds of claims about its fat-laden, fried products, including that Lay’s potato chips are “heart healthy.” Faloon concludes that “the FDA obviously does not want the public to discover that they can reduce their risk of age-related disease by consuming healthy foods. They prefer consumers only learn about mass-marketed garbage foods that shorten life span by increasing degenerative disease risk.”

Faloon thinks he knows why this is the case. First, by stifling competition from makers of more healthful alternatives, junk food manufacturers, who he says “heavily lobb[y]” the federal government for favorable treatment, will rake in ever greater profits. Second, by making it less likely that Americans will consume healthful foods, big pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers stand to gain by selling more “expensive cardiac drugs, stents, and coronary bypass procedures” to those made ill by their diets.

But people are starting to fight back against the FDA’s tactics. “The makers of pomegranate juice, for example, have sued the FTC for censoring their First Amendment right to communicate scientific information to the public,” Faloon reports. Congress is also getting into the act with a bill, the Free Speech About Science Act (H.R. 1364), that, Faloon writes, “protects basic free speech rights, ends censorship of science, and enables the natural health products community to share peer-reviewed scientific findings with the public.”

Of course, if the Constitution were being followed as intended, none of this would be necessary. The FDA would not exist; but if it did, as a creation of Congress it would have no power to censor any speech whatsoever. If companies are making false claims about their products, the market will quickly punish them for it, and genuine fraud can be handled through the courts. In the absence of a government agency supposedly guaranteeing the safety of their food and drugs and the truthfulness of producers’ claims, consumers would become more discerning, as indeed they already are becoming despite the FDA’s attempts to prevent the dissemination of scientific research. Besides, as Faloon observed, “If anyone still thinks that federal agencies like the FDA protect the public, this proclamation that healthy foods are illegal drugs exposes the government’s sordid charade.”

Source: The New American – Like The New American on facebook

PAPAYA FRUIT: HEALTH BENEFIT OF EATING PAWPAW

Papayas grow in tropical climates and are also known as papaws or pawpaws. Their sweet taste, vibrant color, and the wide variety of health benefits they provide make them a popular fruit.

The papaya, a previously exotic and rare fruit, is now available at most times of the year.

The possible health benefits of consuming papaya include a reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, aiding in digestion, improving blood glucose control in people with diabetes, lowering blood pressure, and improving wound healing.

Papayas are a soft, fleshy fruit that can be used in a wide variety of culinary ways. Here we will explore more on the health benefits, uses, how to incorporate more of them into your diet, and what nutritional value papayas have.

Fast facts on papaya:Papaya is native to Mexico. However, it grows naturally in the Caribbean and Florida too.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), India produces the most papayas - over 5 million tons in 2013.

It can be added to salads, smoothies, and other dishes

Health benefits of consuming papaya

There are many health benefits to consuming fruits and vegetables, and papaya is no different. However, there are benefits related specifically to papaya, and some are quite surprising:

Age-related macular degeneration

Zeaxanthin, an antioxidant found in papaya, filters out harmful blue light rays; it is thought to play a protective role in eye health, and may ward off macular degeneration.

However, a higher intake of all fruits has been shown to decrease the risk of and progression of age-related macular degeneration.

Asthma prevention

The risk of developing asthma is lower in people who consume a high amount of certain nutrients. One of these nutrients is beta-carotene, contained in foods like papaya, apricots, broccoli, cantaloupe, pumpkin, and carrots.

Cancer

Consuming the antioxidant beta-carotene, found in papayas, may reduce cancer risk. Among younger men, diets rich in beta-carotene may play a protective role against prostate cancer, according to a study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Biomarkers.

Bone health

Low intakes of vitamin K have been associated with a higher risk of bone fracture. Adequate vitamin K consumption is important for good health, as it improves calcium absorption and may reduce urinary excretion of calcium, meaning there is more calcium in the body to strengthen and rebuild bones.

Diabetes

Studies have shown that people with type 1 diabetes who consume high-fiber diets have lower blood glucose levels, and people with type 2 diabetes may have improved blood sugar, lipid, and insulin levels. One small papaya provides about 3 grams of fiber, which is equivalent to just 17 grams of carbohydrates.

Digestion

Papayas contain an enzyme called papain that aids digestion; in fact, it can be used as a meat tenderizer. Papaya is also high in fiber and water content, both of which help to prevent constipation and promote regularity and a healthy digestive tract.

Heart disease

The fiber, potassium, and vitamin content in papaya all help to ward off heart disease. An increase in potassium intake along with a decrease in sodium intake is the most important dietary change that a person can make to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.

Inflammation

Choline is a very important and versatile nutrient found in papayas that aids our bodies in sleep, muscle movement, learning, and memory. Choline also helps to maintain the structure of cellular membranes, aids in the transmission of nerve impulses, assists in the absorption of fat, and reduces chronic inflammation.

Skin and healing

When used topically, mashed papaya appears to be beneficial for promoting wound healing and preventing infection of burned areas. Researchers believe that the proteolytic enzymes chymopapain and papain in papaya are responsible for their beneficial effects. Ointments containing the papain enzyme have also been used to treat decubitus ulcers (bedsores).

Hair health

Papaya is also great for hair because it contains vitamin A, a nutrient required for sebum production, which keeps hair moisturized. Vitamin A is also necessary for the growth of all bodily tissues, including skin and hair. Adequate intake of vitamin C, which papaya can provide, is needed for the building and maintenance of collagen, which provides structure to skin.

Nutritional breakdown of papaya

Papayas are an excellent source of vitamin C, and one single medium fruit provides 224 percent of recommended daily intake.

One medium papaya has approximately:

• 120 calories
• 30 grams of carbohydrate - including 5 grams of fiber and 18 grams of sugar
• 2 grams of protein

Papayas are also a good source of:

• folate
• vitamin A
• magnesium
• copper
• pantothenic acid
• fiber

They also have B vitamins, alpha and beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, vitamin E, calcium, potassium, vitamin K, and lycopene, the powerful antioxidant most commonly associated with tomatoes.

How can I incorporate more papaya into my diet?

There are many simple ways to add papaya to a diet. The fruit is quite tricky to eat, as it is very juicy, but consider the following methods of eating and recipes:

How to eat papaya

When choosing or eating papaya, look for fresh papayas with reddish orange skin that are soft to the touch. Just cut like a melon, scoop out the seeds, and enjoy. The seeds of the papaya are edible but have a bitter, peppery taste. Using a spoon, it is possible to scoop out the soft flesh of the fruit.

Papaya recipes

Papaya is a soft, versatile fruit. This means it can be incorporated into many recipes. Consider the following simple methods of preparation:

• Make a tropical fruit salad with fresh papaya, pineapple, and mango.
• Muddle papaya into a glass of lemonade, iced tea, or water for a burst of fresh fruity flavor.
• Make a fresh salsa with papaya, mango, jalapeno, red peppers, and chipotle pepper. Use as a topping for fish tacos.
• Add a few slices of frozen papaya to smoothies. Combine with pineapple juice, half a frozen banana, and Greek yogurt for a sweet tropical treat.

Potential health risks and side effects of consuming papaya

People with a latex allergy may also be allergic to papaya because papayas contain enzymes called chitanases. They can cause a cross-reaction between latex and the foods that contain them. To some, ripe papaya can have an off-putting odor. You can minimize this smell by mixing the cut fruit with lime juice.The seeds of the papaya, though unpleasant tasting to some, are perfectly safe to consume.