Soups For Promoting Good Health Part1

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A soup is any thin or thick liquid made with fish, meat, green leafy vegetables, herbs, spices, and with carbohydrates. Some soups have fresh tomato paste as its carb part. I cherish this with fresh or dried sardines.

The carbs provide the thick consistency in nearly most pots of soups. These can be any carbs from root vegetables-yams, cocoyams, potatos; seeds and pods like melon and okra.

Some even contained peanuts as a thick consistency. I like this as a soup stew to eat yams and plantains. It provided me with the much energy I ever need.

A soup is essentially a meal. It can be taken alone or enjoyed over a plate of rice or yam.

Soups contain all the food group listed-carbs, fats and oils, proteins, greens, herbs and spices. A soup is completed in itself as a meal. It needs no supplements. But it is nearly and always followed with a carb or a glass of wine or any drink.

As such, it contained all the factors that our body need for nourishment. That is why it should be prepared with much care.

Soups provide energy plus all that the body need for growing, and repair of worn out and repair of damaged tissues, cells and muscles.

A plate of nice delicious and nutritious soup is like a dope of medicine and can subdue fever, cough, cold or flu and hemorrhold or anal bleeding and can elevated good health.

Pepper Soups

As a boy and a young man, I regularly prepared green leafy pepper soup daily with dried fish. The greens usually come from basil or pumpkins. I do not take it with any meals because I just want to enjoy nature’s greens, vitality my body and contained my weigh.

You see any green leafy vegetable is very low in carbs. These will never make you put on a pond of weight.

Okay, let’s get to review a plate or two of soup.

A pepper soup is usually a thin broth. It can contain fish or meat, or both plus herbs and spices. Some adds a little green like mint, basil or any of their favorite greens.

The type of pepper you one wants depends on a factor or two.

Either, you want to savor it just like any ordinary meal. Or you want it as a dope to treat an ill-health.

Have you had an attack of a fever or cold? I do as a boy. Did grandmother recommend a soup when medication failed in time to relief you of the flu? Old wives remedies, via a plate of soup always work to gain back good health here.

I remember this as a boy of 11 years. I had a bout of high fever. Although I had my prescription from a good pharmacy, it failed or I’d say it needs a booster. The old women advise a warm plate of basil soup. I took the remedy and got better. This has since become a part of my kitchen pots. Whether I am sick or not, and I hardly get sick these days, I made a plate of basil soup for me, and if my family wants a share, all the best to them.

Let me say something here. I am a good jogger. I jog to keep fit. On my returns, guest what I had? A wonderful plate of basil pepper soup with sardines over oiled plantain. I use over two cups of the green here. Such a nice stuff for health promotion.

This plate is the main meal. But a fresh orange or two plus a stalk of sugar cane is for refreshment before the meal some thirty minutes later. You see I take a serious step here to replace my lost energy with the orange and sugar cane.

The rule is that energy lost is to be replaced in time.

Thick Soups

Again, if you are not in any wise sick, you can still enjoy a delicious plate of soup. I like it much with fish and meat.

 In Africa, they are many ethnic groups that cherish soups with a plate of carbohydrate meal.

Ground cassava or guinea corn made with boiling water is such a meal. Some use it with pound yams or plantain. In the case of the guinea corn, the grounded flour is cooked in a pot for over 10 to 15 minutes and this is eaten with the soup. It provided the much energy need for muscular work than a plate of rice meal with stew as a lunch or supper.

I like my thick soups with dried mullets, sardines and fresh cow meat. On certain occasions, I’d like to add some stock fish, especially a share or half a part of the head. The thicken ingredient here can be grounded melon seeds. This made the soup taste much better and nicer. Greens can come in any form with the exception of basil leaves because it does not impact any flavor in thick soup.

In a broth like this, okra or any other carb ingredient to thick the soup can replace melons.

Tilapia Kitchen

Tilapia spices were very common in making pepper soups. The thin types have a lot of soft bones and these provide health benefit for the human bones. These are easily chewed and are absorbed into the blood stream.

Tilapia is an excellent fish that develops and build a strong sturdy body like any other fish. The red variety has thickness of flesh more than the dark types. The red it seems has less bone than the black spices. Or their bones seem to be compact that it did not give any hassle during a meal. One can easily pick the flesh out.

Tilapia is mostly cooked with fresh red tomatoes, fresh chili pepper and basil leaves and eaten over a plate of rice.

In my place, small bars or public eating places made the soup for sale to hungry customers. The price depending on the variety can be princely. It was a joy over wine.

Tilapia is found mostly in African, Asia and the Biblical lands or Israel.

A plate of soup a day is dope of good health benefit for all your body system.

To Your good health!

Miebakagh57 (Miebakagh Fiberesima) Copyright 2015.

fruits And Vegetables

I hold that fruits and vegetables (FAV) are man’s first food.

Now a day too, there is certain persons that has made fruits and veggies their sustainable living or meal. They do not add any bird, meat or fish. They selected their FAV wisely.

The various combinations of the items give all the carbohydrates, fats and oils and proteins their need.

Remember nuts and seeds are also fruits.

Combining peanuts, green bean or soya bean with lentils or corn will give you as much protein as an egg or a complete protein of first class status. 

What is more, the carbs, fats and proteins combination are good source of energy.

But our fear is that if we do not take a piece of flesh, we get sick or hungrier.

Okay have some sardine or mullet which is safer with essential omega-3 and -6 fatty acids.

I recall while growing up and experimenting with these various FAV foods. I also regret to say that the energy release from combinations such as above sent me to a doctor because the temperature of my body surge higher.

I do not know then that 2/3 of a meal should contain only FAV as you should have. I was just a boy of 24 years back then. Now I know better.

 Our western diets depends more on how high a food is processed. We believe the more processed a food is, the more it is healthy and much safer.

Unknown to us, as we have realized later to our regret, we end up sick.

Now, scientists especially nutritionist, dietician and medical personnel are telling us we need to increase our eating of fresh fruits and vegetables, from the relatively five servings a day to the recent thirteen servings a day and much more.

This was not based on a theory but on closer observation of common rural dwelling people eating nature’s products and staying free of diseases. They saw individuals like you and me who take more and more of these natures goodness are relatively free of the common ill health associated with advanced years like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and stroke, certain prostate cancer risks in men and especially breast and cervical cancer in women.

These studies where undertaken over a period of fourteen years.

Take a look at the animals. They depend much on natural vegetation. I have not seen a domestic pet owner cook a meal for his hen or goat or sheep.

Fodders and grains or concentrates is what was provide to these beings. We should eat more and more fruits and vegetables always.

The reason being:

1. Fruits and vegetables are full of natural goodness. They contain water in its purest form. Take a cucumber fruit or water melon for example. 95-96 % of the fruit is water. Cucumbers and melons are the only fruits that have more water than any other fruits. Are you tasty for a cool drink of water? Instead chew a cup of cucumber fruit.

2. Mineral matters and vitamins. Fruit contains much vitamins and mineral salts. It is reasoned that you take your supplements of vitamins and minerals from fruits and veggies and not from over the counter drugs (OTC). I am inclined to opine so because why are doctors encouraging us to eat more and more fruits and veggies? They have realized that despite the fine medication given to patients on certain vitamin deficiency diseases, eating much of the natural diets does better than medication. An exception can be made here.

Pregnant mothers need supplements of folates in capsule or tablet form.

3. Fruit and veggies more natters is one of the natural ways to stay in optimum health. Your ingestion of these goodies wards of diseases and helps retard old age.

4. Fruits and veggies (FAV) more matter are free of animal fats and oils and so prevent the formation of cholesterols in the blood.

Animal fat and oils are essential parts of our digestive process. They contain saturate fats. These fats insulate our vital internal organs. Too much is bad and excess had to find out an outlet in building cholesterol. These saturated and poly-saturated fats need the essential fatty acids in FAV to prevent bad cholesterol building up in the blood stream.

Formation of bad cholesterol in the blood is one of the major causes of heart disease and stroke.

This is what puzzled doctors for a long time. They though the availability of drugs will solve problems.

 5. FAV more matters is more satisfying. By combing various assort types of fruits in salad form as per the 13 cup serving, will produce the energy you need even for some extra activities.

Remember to add some nuts to your salads and not only greens. Peanuts, walnuts, pine nuts and cashew nuts are fruits and can count up to the 13 cup serving. This is because of their fiber content. Certain fibers are not digestible. They just stay sleeping in the stomach and at times delay the digestion of other food items in the stomach.

This ensures you do not get hungry soon. After the carbs, fats and oils and proteins are properly digested, provide the bulk movement that is very important to keep our bowels clean.

6. Most importantly, FAV will help you prevent cold symptoms and issues when eaten regularly. Not only this, it helps wounds to heal fast and strengthen the blood capillaries and veins and other tissues in the body. In this case, it is much better to include citrus and alkaline fruits in the diet always.

These keep the blood stream in an alkaline medium which is the base of our blood. Any acidic state in the blood is a signal for disease to show up.

But eating FAV regularly will prevent this from happening. I wrote a hub on “how to prevent a cold all season.”

The subject matter was on eating fruits instead of resorting to drugs because of their long time side effects

http://greens4food.blogspot.com

 A fruit juice is not a substitute for fruits. But if you want a juice, blend an orange with a lime and lemon or tangerine.

Do not discard the seeds, though it may give the juice a slightly bitter taste or flavor. You get all the vitamin C your body need. You should also add a cup of tomatoes and pineapple to the blend to thicken it.

Most commercial fruit juice sold under the brand names of super fruits are either chemically laden with additives. But ensure you get 100% juice if if you want the commercial type.

To your good health!

Miebakagh57 (Miebakagh Fiberesima) Copyright 2014-12015

Good Food For The Body

Introduction 

Some food stuffs: plantain, rice, palm oil, peanut oil, yam and a carton of spaghetti 

There is nothing much better than a person to eat some good food. When I say good food, I mean natural food items in their natural form and unprocessed state. Convenience foods packed in readily forms like spaghetti and oats thought good, need to be supplement with adequate natural ingredients to compensate for the loss of vitamins, minerals and fibers during the milling processing. 

Processed foods has much of their vitamin A, B-Complex, B1, B2, B6, B12 and folate removed. 

Vitamin C, D, K and E are also removed and chemical forms of the same vitamin added.

Good eating is fueling the body with good natural and wholesome foods; and with all these vitamins including plant photochemical as we can note later.

The body use fuel or energy from the foods we eat to carry out some of its internal activities, as well as physical actions like walking, breathing and sleeping.

An activity like talking, singing, running and swimming required some energy.

To drive a car for over five kilo meters, you need to expend some energy too. A noted African,Ghanaian scientist has said “good food is the greatest single factor in securing good health.”

I subscribe to this opinion. Refine foods need to be supplement with plenty of fruits and vegetables. The refined foods are usually lacking in organic nutrients. This is where they become a problem in the body.

Fruits and vegetables has many and varied vitamin, minerals and fibers that help to release the energy in processed refined foods. For example, an oat meal should go with at least seven assort fruits 

including a vegetable green such as pea. The many foods we eat come from various food groups. 

These were scientifically classified.

Food Groups

A closer observation shows different animals, birds, insects, reptile feeds on different foods. You cannot find an animal or a bird feed on one specific food or a grain. The food items they eat varied significantly. Even as human beings, we eat assort types of foods. In this regard, our scientists classified foods into two main groups.

 1. According to chemical composition; and, 2. According to special functions in the internal metabolism.

Chemical classification of foods

Scientists divide the foodstuffs we eat into six groups. Carbohydrates or carbs for short. These are starch and sugar products. They are usually formed by green plants.

 Examples are: Brown rice, whole wheat flour, potatoes with their skins and similar root vegetables like yams and cocoyams. Stems like sugar cane and beet root.

Carbs are again sub-group into starches, sugars and celluloses.

The carbs are further divide into simple and complex starches, sugars and celluloses.

Carbohydrates, specifically glucose or simple sugars when eaten will release the energy in the foodstuff quickly into the body cells. The body needs glucose or sugar. It is one of the simple sugars that we use every day. All internal cells, systems, and organs in the body need sugar to do their work well. Your brain needs sugar. Your muscles need sugar as primary fuel before anything else. Sugar is readily oxidized to release the much need energy.

Starch has to be break down into simple sugar like glucose. Excess is stored as glycogen, in the muscles and tissues. This is where I and you gain extra weight quickly.

 Here we need to be cautious that eating much sugar has its down side. It can cause teeth decay.

Ordinary household sugars (white sugar) you put in your tea or custard has no food value. It is just a sweeter. Use it sparsely. Or substitute it brown sugar which has much nutritional ingredient like vitamins and mineral salts. All the vitamin A, B, C, and mineral matter in the sugar cane has been removed during the milling and refine process to make white sugar.

Carbs are very important foods for our body. Some are good and some bad. I have mentioned at least six foods that are good carbohydrates above. Any carb that is unprocessed like brown flour for making brown bread is a good carbohydrate.

The bad ones are in the form of convenience food products like white sugar, white rice, white breads and biscuits made with white flours. It is these white products that has its much health beneficial matters removed.

View and download a large listings of many carbohydrate foods here with this link http://iuhealth.org/images/ril-doc/carbohydrate Counting Food LIST.pdf.

Or copy and paste the link into your internet browser.

Other sources of carbs

Fruits: apples, mangoes, pineapples, tomatoes and peach. Boys berry, raspberry, oranges, limes and lemons. Any fresh fruit is a source of carb, sugar or starch

With the exception of limes and lemons, these are sources of complex sugars. After being properly digested, they changed to simple sugars.

Nuts: almonds, walnuts, tiger and grass nuts, and peanuts are complex carbohydrates.

Legumes: all types of beans especially green bean and soya bean. These are another source of complex carbohydrate.

Spices: especially green pepper, red pepper, garlic, ginger and onions. Sage and celery.

All these are natural sources of starch and sugars.

Seeds: melon, jack fruit, sunflower and 

When eaten in their natural states, they seem to be filling; and at the same time make us not to over eat. This is because of their fiber content.

A 1g of carb. will provide you with 3.6 calories. As fruits now are being measured in cups rather than grams, one cup of a fruit is the same as the size of one big banana fruit. Hence, one cup of any fruit is equal to one gram.

Fats and oils

Fats and oils have a special role to play in good eating. These are like the grease a machine used for lubricating parts of the component. But they provide more energy than carbs. A 1g fat will give out twice the energy value of a 1g of a carb diet. In other words, you get at most 7.2 calories from a gram of fat.

Fats come from meat, beef, egg yolk, all nuts, butter and margarine.

Palm oil and peanut oils are fats but are liquids at room temperature and pressure; whereas, egg yolk and margarine are solids at the same temperature and pressure.

Specifically, fats and oils are derived from two sources:

1. Animal fats: pork meat, beef, red meat and turkey. Cod liver oil and shark liver oil are good fish oils. Mullets, sandiness and salmon fish oils contain essential omega fatty acids -3 and -6 that sustain the health of the heart.

2. Plant source or vegetable fats: all nuts for example, walnuts and peanuts. Palm oil, pears and beans. Others are olive oil and coconut oil. Seeds too have oils. Sunflower oil is got from its seeds.

In colder regions, oils can be solids. Fats and oils are reserve foods stored in the body that are readily available when the body needs extra energy.

Eating fats and oils is very important for good health, fueling the body for heat, work and protecting the internal organs of the body.

Again, we need extra fats when the weather is very cold to maintain our body temperature at the optimum level.

Protein

A protein will give the same energy output as in a gram of a carb. Proteins build the body. Our body is at least 16% protein. Like fats, they come from both animal and plant source.

1. Animal protein: fish and poultry. Egg white, milk, chicken and turkey.

A protein like an egg is very much useful in a meal. So is a fish. These are builds the body. They provide all the nutrients the body need to grow, develop and replaced dead cells.

2. Vegetable protein: from seeds, nuts, roots, stem and leaves of plants.

Seeds: sunflower, black berry, tomatoes, guavas and cucumbers.

Nuts:  Peanuts, walnuts and cashews. Tiger nuts and grass nuts. Pine nut is a good nut.

Legume: green beans, soya bean, black eye bean, lima bean and all beans. Green pea is a delight.

Root crops or tubers: fresh potatoes, cocoyams and yams in their skins. Green vegetable yam that grows on flowering stalk is another. 

Green leafy (foliage): all green leafy vegetables or greens: pumpkin leaves, sage, brussel sprout, broccoli and basil or scented leaves.

Water is another but vital source of food. It is need for dissolving food that is properly chewed for absorption into the body cells. Water is to be sip sparely during meal time. Food should be eaten regularly and at regular times.

Do not skip your breakfast except that you are fasting.

Always start the day with a good breakfast of fresh leafy greens, vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts including fats and proteins.

To your good health!

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Miebakagh57 (Miebakagh Fiberesima) Copyright 2015-018.