Don’t relegate pumpkins to just the Halloween season – to carve out faces and use as lanterns. Instead this time round, enjoy the benefits of pumpkins… and you would not believe the ways in which this humble vegetable can help our bodies!
Nutritious and delicately flavored; pumpkins are rich in vitamin C, beta-carotene, calcium, potassium and minerals; low in fat and sodium and cholesterol free. Pumpkins are popular as the dieter’s best pal. Pumpkins are a good source of fiber; the beta-carotene in pumpkins delays aging and prevents cancer as well as heart disease. Water content in pumpkins is about 90%. One cup of pumpkin contains about 180 calories. Fresh pumpkins can be used for cooking; canned pumpkin purée can serve well for cakes and pumpkin bread. Fresh pumpkin purée can be made by roasting the pumpkin.
Choosing pumpkins
In case you decide to use fresh pumpkins instead of canned pumpkin puree, make sure you choose the right pumpkin.
- Sugar or pie pumpkins are the best varieties to make bread, muffins, pie, etc. They have thick stems and more flesh.
- Choose pumpkins that weigh heavy.
- Choose pumpkins that are evenly colored.
- Choose pumpkins that are small and sweet.
- Avoid large field grown pumpkins as they are very fibrous, these pumpkins are used mainly as jack-o-lanterns for Halloween.
- Pumpkins should have dark orange flesh.
- A medium sized sugar pumpkin weighing about 4 pounds will yield about 11/2 cups of purée.
- Make sure there are no soft spots on the pumpkin.
Fresh pumpkin puree
- Heat oven to 350 F.
- Divide the pumpkin into halves and remove the seeds.
- Remove the fibrous/gristly pulp.
- On a baking sheet place the pumpkins (cut side downwards).
- Bake for about an hour, check if the pulp is tender and soft, by piercing it with a fork.
- Spoon out the soft pulp and use it for any recipe.
Benefits of pumpkin seeds
The seeds found within the pumpkin are chockfull of nutrients too. Roast them, even season them and you have a wonderful snack that is full of goodness. Pumpkin seed oil is said to have health-promoting potential. It is believed to have curative properties for urinary tract infection as well as unsaturated fatty acids and most vitamins.
If you thought that the benefits of pumpkins were restricted to health issues, you couldn’t be further from the truth! Use it as a beauty aid to soothe and protect your skin.
In keeping with our focus on physical and mental wellbeing, we throw light on healthy recipes that we can incorporate into our mealtimes. With women juggling so many roles, the need is felt for healthy dinner time recipes that promise wholesome meals to enhance family meal times. Eat healthy to stay healthy. After all you are what you eat. Combined with a regular fitness regimen, make healthy recipes a part of your lifestyle. In this way, your body thrives on the goodness of wholesome nutritious meals. Keep your heart happy too.
Healthy recipes help you gain control over your weight and medical conditions. Over time, these healthy options will become a part of you! With a bit of ingenuity with ingredients, you can work wonders with food. Go in for whole grains and whole grain products. Cut out unhealthy fats. Work plenty of color into your meals with colorful vegetables and fruits. With skillful use of herbs, you can kiss goodbye to oily and overspiced dishes. Dont give deserts the go by any longer. With our range of low-fat desserts and tips on substituting high fat ingredients with healthier options, you can indulge your sweet tooth!
It is indeed sad to see growing kids getting overweight and obese. Any mom would be happy with some healthy recipes to feed her kids. Opt for healthier snacks over packaged snacks that are high on fat and salt. Beware of sauces and dressings that are loaded with MSG, margarine, oil or butter. Go in for low-fat dairy products. Make healthy cooking a lifetime plan!
Healthy Food - An overview of healthy food options for our body requirements …
Healthy Heart Recipe - Heart friendly dishes …
Healthy Dinner Recipe - Enjoyable and wholesome mealtimes …
Healthy Dessert Recipe - Indulge your sweet tooth sans the guilt …
According to American Sports Data Inc. the percentage of Obesity in the US has increased from 13 % ( in the base year 1962) to 31 % (in the year 2000). Hold your breath .. the worse is yet to come.
The U.S. Surgeon General report indicates that obesity is responsible for the death of over a quarter million Americans every year. About 63 % of adult Americans have a body mass index of over 25 – which means one thing – that we are overweight and we need to do something about this.
With increasing affluence and change in dietary pattern across the world, things are not exactly rosy elsewhere either. I see this as another problem affecting the entire world.
Is there a solution for this weighty problem? There is – in fact – plenty.
Diets and exercise programs can help alleviate the problem. We come back to the core subject of this blog – choosing the right diet that will work for you. Is there a Healthy Diet ?
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No
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Diet Plan
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Features
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1
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Rice Diet
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The rice diet propagated by the Duke University has shown considerable results in persons suffering from obesity and heart disease.
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2
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Sacred Heart Diet
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For rapid weight loss in overweight heart patients prior to their surgery. This is a soup-based diet and people following this diet tend to lose around 10-17 pounds in the first week itself.
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3
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Dash Diet
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The DASH diet aims at reducing elevated blood pressure with dietary modifications. This hypertension diet is not a fixed menu but a guideline towards reducing sodium and fats in the diet.
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4
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3 Day Diet Strategy
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A 3 day diet strategy involves a calorie-restricted diet to bring about quick loss of weight. The effectiveness of these diets is much debated though
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5
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Negative Calorie Diet
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Negative calorie diet seeks to rev up the body’s metabolic processes. Suitable for weight loss and subsequent weight maintenance
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6
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Scarsdale Diet Plan
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The good part is that salads and lean meats form a large chunk of the diet. But the diet is so severely restricted in calories that it is difficult to follow it for too long.
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7
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Raw Food Diet
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Consuming 75% of the diet as enzymatically alive, raw, whole, live uncooked food is favorable.
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8
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High Protein Diet
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High protein, high fat and moderate carbohydrate diet is closely related to Atkins diet. A variation of this diet is zone diet.
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9
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Zone Diet Plan
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This diet prescribes moderate carbohydrate, adequate protein and a low fat diet. Also referred to as 40:30:30 diet - 40% carbohydrate, 30% protein and 30% fat.
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10
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South Beach Diet
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South Beach diet plan is aimed at shedding off weight and keeping it off. Promoted in 3 phases. May need individual adaptation as all other diet plans do.
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Sonoma Diet
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The secret to losing weight forever is not in avoiding foods you love but enjoying the right foods in the right amounts.
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12
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Macrobiotic Diet
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Macrobiotic diet seeks to harmonize the forces of Ying and Yang so as to optimize their effect on the body. Mostly vegetarian food items …
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Montignac Diet
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The method aims at changing the way people eat - choosing the right food combination to eat and not in limiting what they eat.
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14
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Low Fat Low Cholesterol Diet
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A restrictive diet with many benefits. The page also has a few low fat / low cholesterol recipes.
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15
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Hay Diet
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This diet is also known as the food combining diet and functions as a trigger to reduce unwanted weight. No exercise schedule is insisted during this diet program, this is a diet that works purely with the nutrition of the body and can be followed all through the life of a person.
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