Ahmed is a Food Scientist/Technologist first of all. A Web Developer, Seasoned Blogger, Astute Marketer, Food Enthusiast and Manchester United Lover. I read anything and everything available so I know so many useful and useless things.
Different folks…different strokes and I believe everyone should understand that. While there are girls and women outside looking to get the flat shape, there are others who want the curves and significant bumps in the “right places”.
Someone asked me on FoodsNG BBM Channel recently, “are there foods that can make you have a bigger butt?” I’ve got that question more than once before. This post you are reading is borne out of that question.
Let me inform you before I proceed that I am not a woman, but with my knowledge when it comes to food and how they work coupled with my consultations with women in the field (including dietician and fitness trainers), I was able to come up with these five food that can help make your butt go bigger without all these drugs and implants. I did some research too and was able to see some testimonies that these foods work wonders.
If you are one female out there looking to increase the size of your butt, then this post will come very useful to you. These are foods that have been recommended by those who have used them with great success.
The same words of caution many women who have tried out these foods gave is “if you eat some of these foods excessively, you can grow bigger all over the body”.
Five Foods That Will Help Make Your Butt Bigger
The group of foods that will help in this regard include the protein-rich foods, complex carbohydrates, the good fats and foods and vegetables.
Examples of each food group that are particularly useful for this cause can be found on the next 2 pages of this article.
Protein Food Group;
Below are the examples of food that are protein-rich and must be considered for bigger buttocks;
Kidney beans
Soya nuts
Cottage cheese
Eggs
Chicken breasts (skinless preferably)
Salmon fish
Tuna fish
Turkey
Complex Carbohydrates;
Oats
Brown bread (whole grain bread, eat moderately)
Sweet Potatoes
Brown rice
Fats and oils;
When we say fats, we only mean “good fats”. These are fats that are really good for the body and our body needs them for proper functioning. We listed some of them under the posts where we talked about the fats you need to eat in order to lose fat. You may want to check that out.
The following are sources of fats that you should take;
Olive oil,
Sunflower oil
Nuts like almonds, cashews nuts etc.
Avocados
Peanut Butter
Fish Fat/Oils
Soybean oil
Soymilk
Finally, fruits and vegetables and we know a lot of those. These are the types of foods that testimonies have shown to set the base for growing a bigger buttock. I also found out that out of all those people I spoke to, a large percentage of them do squat exercises. The foods and the exercises could be the factors working together to help them make it bigger.
There are several ways of knowing if an egg is good after you have cracked it for frying or other purposes. The colour of the egg white and the yolk, the smell and other factors can be determined the level of freshness or how bad an egg has gone.
Never attempt to consume egg that had changed colour or smells — you don’t want to witness the consequences, let alone experience if first hand. That said, what if you want to boil your egg? Is there or are there ways for checking the freshness of eggs before you boil them.
Sometimes, you go to the open market where eggs are stored at normal ambient temperature instead of the refrigerator and you want to know if the eggs are still good before you spend your hard-earned money to buy them. You don’t want to buy them and get home to discover they have gone bad.
I am going to share with you, tips that I have used, and that I still use to know if eggs are still good before I buy them. They have always worked for me. Try them out and share your experiences with other readers of this article.
Tips for checking the freshness of egg before cracking it open
1. The Shake shake test!
You have to be careful when doing this when you are buying in some markets if you don’t want to receive showers of abuses from the sellers. With this test you just need to take some samples randomly from the crates and shake lightly. When you do that, you can tell if the content is still very viscous or gone watery.
I usually don’t take the watery ones because I believe it is an indication they have been around for a longer period, even if they are not spoilt yet.
Another important thing to do when using this method is to make sure you select your samples randomly. This is to make your samples representative of the whole lot. Take from the front, middle and back — you know sellers can mix fresh ones with the not-so-fresh ones.
2. The Egg-in-Water Test or The Float Test
This test cannot be performed in the market. I doubt if any seller would allow you to perform this test on eggs before you purchase them. So, this is only suitable for checking egg freshness at home. You might want to ask, “why do I need this test after buying?”
Okay, let us say you want to fry 3 eggs or mix an egg with other ingredients like flour to make cake or something, you have to be sure each egg is fine. What if you have cracked and mixed two fine eggs together and the third one you crack inside turns bad? You have wasted 3 eggs!
Fill a bowl with cold water and place your eggs in the bowl and allow them to stay for some seconds. Then observe how the eggs behave in the water. There are three possibilities.
Float Test Continued
If they sink to the bottom and lay flat on their sides, then you have bought very fresh eggs. If they have been stored for a few weeks but still good to eat, they’ll stand on one end at the bottom of the bowl.
Photo: SturgisJournal.com
However, If they float to the surface, they’re no longer fresh enough to eat. So, you may not want to risk cracking them open. The smell can be pungent and very repulsive if they have really changed the smell and color. I’ve been through that before — I couldn’t eat eggs for months after.
3. The Candling Method
The Candling method is not really straightforward as the others and it is the method that should normally be used for testing egg quality before putting eggs for sale in the market. It can, however, be used to determine the freshness of eggs too.
To do this, just put on a flashlight and hold right next to the eggshell to light up the inside. Although a sort of pinhole camera is normally used, the flashlight works fine for home use. When you flash the light, you can see the air space to determine if the egg is fresh or not (image below).
Photo: Woman’s Institute Library of Cooking (1918)
With the candling technique, you could have any of the following; a fresh egg (little air space, slightly visible yolk), a slightly old egg (larger air space, slightly darker yolk), a nearly bad egg (really dark yolk, spotty), and a spoiled egg (mixed in yolk, lots of dark).
Finally, let me say this that no matter which tests we try to carry out on eggs before cracking them, the best will remain cracking them open to check the colour and odour. Those listed here, however, will ensure that we get eggs that are still good and can be consumed.
By way of definition, a snack is a small portion of any food eaten between meals. This could be a snack food (i.e. food that are generally in small quantity and not consumed as main meals) —items like potato chips or baby carrots. It could also simply be a small amount of any food.
Snacks, generally referred to as junk foods have been implicated in so many diseases and medical conditions. They are known to cause general weigh gain, obesity and at time cardiovascular heart diseases, so many people tend to stay away from them now while other cannot for one reason or the other.
The work schedule of some people means that they cannot sit and eat overtime the body demands it. This prompts them to snack away on several junk foods. While eating good foods remains the best option, when you cannot avoid it, there are “healthy snacks” that you can eat.
Also, when we exercise or engage in activities such as reading, we like or have cravings to eat things as we do them or after the activities. Healthy snacks can serve these purposes.
A List of Healthy Snacks That We All Should Know
These foods healthy snacks list will contain foods that can be found and bought anywhere and those that are only available in some regions — they are only few in some other countries and often expensive. However, this post will try as much as possible to list more snack foods that are available everywhere — those that can be found in grocery stores.
You can go through the pages by clicking from 2 to 8 below to see all the foods and why they make very good snacks.
1. Dark Chocolates as Healthy Snacks
Dark chocolate can be a healthy snack when you eat the type with at least 60 percent cocoa content. This type of dark chocolate has been linked to reduced heart disease risk and even lower body fat numbers in people who snack on it more often.
Also, because dark chocolate has a more intense flavor than the sugar-laden milk varieties, you’ll be satisfied after eating a small quantity.
2. Carrots
Carrots are nutritious, available everywhere, convenient and easy to carry around. When buying your carrots, only select dark orange ones that are crisp and firm. Not soft ones that are changing colours.
Carrots contains a considerable amount of beta-carotene which works for good eyesight, healthy skin and resistance to infection. The potassium present in carrot assists in moderation of blood pressure.
Carrot also contains fiber which helps in maintaining a healthy intestinal tract, controls blood sugar and promote healthy cholesterol levels. Carrots also contain calcium, vitamin C, iron and vitamin K, which promotes healthy blood coagulation.
3. Banana — a healthy snack (day or night)
This is my favorite because it has been packaged naturally for easy movement. I can easily peel of the skin and eat anywhere I am. If you kind of work requires energy, banana can help you because it comes with the added benefit of cramp-prevention. We made reference to this under our post which listed foods that help relief menstruation cramps and pains.
If you have also read the list of foods that you can snack on at night, you would find banana there. Even though it is not advisable to eat a few hours before going to sleep, banana is still one of the healthy foods you can use as snacks before going to bed.
4. Almonds
If you want to make a healthy grocery list, then you should have almonds on that list when next you are going to the grocery store.
Almonds, often referred to in some quarters as the most healthy food on earth contains healthy fats. Almond is a high-fat food that is also good for your health. Yes, you would already know that there are fats that are good for your health if you did read this article when we posted it.
Almonds have a lot of health benefits that can be written as a separate article. They have cholesterol-lowering effects and the ability to reduce heart disease risks.
5. Pumpkin Seeds
Before my fellow Nigerians start asking if this is even available in Nigeria, yeah it is. I have come across it at one store at Chevron in Lekki, Lagos State. They even have an online store —you can get pumpkins on this page — http://www.evronfoodstore.com/pumpkins. I will also make effort to check at Shoprite outlets, the next time I go to one for groceries.
Pumpkin seeds can make a healthy snack when washed, dried, and nicely roasted. About 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds has about 14 grams of protein. I have seen fitness trainers and dietician recommending this as the perfect pre-workout snack!
6. Hard-boiled Eggs
Eggs are readily available and when boiled can be packed and moved around to eat whenever we need to at them. Hard-boiled eggs are are very good sources of protein. They are low in carbohydrates and simple to prepare — each one only has about 76 calories.
One egg has the following compositions;
Calories: 70
Fat: 5.0g
Carbs: 1.0g
Protein: 6.0g
The yolk contains nutrients necessary for immunity, healthy skin, nerves and vision. It also contains good amounts of B Vitamins, Vitamin A, iron and riboflavin.
Let me quickly use this first paragraph to explain the title of this post to you. Like I have mentioned in two of my articles in the past — every thing that we eat and consume could be viewed as a poison, the amount (dose) that we have taken in is what determines if it would cause disease or become lethal (cause death). Almost every food I have seen has a component, that can cause adverse health effect in everybody or some specific group of people.
If this is not really clear, let me use this analogy of a drug called Indocid. When I mentioned this name, what would come to the mind of many people here in Nigeria is its use in killing mice and rats in the house. Well, the drug was actually designed to help relief the painful condition involving inflammation of joints or muscles. It could be arthritis. When rats take that amount we put in foods for them, it is lethal but not for human.
This analogy is true for every food component that has been labelled ad dangerous or risky — they all have a dose at which they are lethal in the body. We only have to eat enough of it to see adverse effect in our body. This is not to say that we should not care about the dangers every food pose, in fact we have to endeavour to find out about them. This way, we can know the hazards posed by the food component, at what quantities it becomes dangerous and the problems it causes when its adverse effects start to manifest.
Menstrual cramps (Dysmenorrhea) is the medical term used to refer to the painful cramps that some women experience immediately before or during their menstrual period. You don’t need a soothsayer to tell you when some women are menstruating because of the kind of pain they pass through and how they react to things around that period. You cannot blame them; you don’t know how it feels unless you have passed through it before. At least that’s what several women told me when I asked.
However, there are some foods that can help you through the episode of menstrual cramps and the resultant pains. These foods are not guaranteed to totally prevent the pain but they cab relieve it. There are several attendant pains like aching pain in the abdomen, feeling of pressure in the abdomen, pain in the hips, lower back, and inner thighs.
Some 9+ Foods That Help Relieve Menstrual Cramps
These foods will take some of the pains away for you if you eat them during your and after your menstruation period.
Different types of Tea can help!
Since there are several attendant symptoms of menstrual pains, different types of tea can help you relieve different symptoms. For example, green tea can help with cramps, while peppermint tea can soothe the stomach upset that may arise.
If you are someone that takes coffee normally, you should avoid it during this period because it may add to your anxiety and cause some other types of pain.
Did you know that if you put Tonic Water under black light, it would glow azure blue? Also, it would interest you to know that the red food-coloring carmine — used in Skittles and some other type of candies — is actually extracted from boiled cochineal bugs and boiled in ammonia.
The cochineal bug is a type of beetle. These are just some of the facts that will wow you and even make your jaw drop about some of the foods we eat. We’ll share many with you here in graphics and text.
Some Facts About Foods That Will Shock You!
Let’s get it started by sharing a simple and interesting one about fruits with you. At the end of this article, you can share any interesting but surprising facts that you know about some foods with us using the comment section. Let’s get things started…
1. Milt, a delicacy around the world, is fish sperm
Milt is the seminal fluid of fish, mollusks, and certain other water-dwelling animals who reproduce by spraying this fluid which contains the sperm, onto roe (fish eggs). In Japan, it is called Shirako.
2. Tomatoes, Banana and Watermelon are berries? huh?
There are definitely some fruits and vegetables that we only classify based on how they are consumed. Botanically, these fruits and vegetables actually have different identities.
For example, Tomato is botanically a berry, a subset of fruit. However, the tomato is regarded as a vegetable for culinary purposes. True berries are simple fruits stemming from one flower with one ovary and typically have several seeds. Tomatoes fall into this group, so also are pomegranates, kiwis and — surprisingly — bananas.
Others that are in this group include watermelon, pumpkin and avocado.
Photo: leanitup.com
3. Omega-3s and Cattle Fed With Grass vs Those Fed With Grains
Here is another very interesting fact about beef that we eat. Some nutrients and composition of the meat depend on the type of foods the cattle were fed on. A research has suggested that grass-fed cattle usually have between 2-5 times omega-3s in their meant than their counterparts fed with grains.
The research which can be found here reported that;
Several studies suggest that grass-based diets elevate precursors for Vitamin A and E, as well as cancer fighting antioxidants such as glutathione (GT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity as compared to grain-fed contemporaries. Fat conscious consumers will also prefer the overall lower fat content of a grass-fed beef product.
In addition, the fat from grass-finished beef may have a yellowish appearance from the elevated carotenoid content (precursor to Vitamin A). It is also noted that grain-fed beef consumers may achieve similar intakes of both n-3 and CLA through the consumption of higher fat grain-fed portions.
4. Peanuts or Groundnuts are not nuts, they are legumes! Really?
Just like some fruits that have their names ending with berries are not truly berries, peanut is not a not too. It just has NUT attached to its name. If you didn’t know about this before now, don’t feel bad about it because you are not alone – there are so many people who don’t know too.
If you are still doubting is this is true or not, you can quickly check Wikipedia for details on peanut. The following is what you are going to find there:
The peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is a species in the family Fabaceae (commonly known as the bean, pea or legume family).
5. A strawberry isn’t an actual berry, but a banana is
Isn’t this interesting too? Just like peanut has nuts at the back and is not a nut, blackberries just have berries in their names – they are not actual berries. Why? Well, it is due to the same reason that banana is a berry. They have the same technical definition.
A berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single seed. Strawberries, unlike cranberries and blueberries do not fall under this classification of fruits.
See the most expensive fruits in the world. It costs $23,500!
6. The Japanese Yubari King Melon is the most expensive fruit in the world!
If you had $23,500, would you spend it on buying one fruit? Well, this depends on what your bank account balance looks like. The most expensive fruit in the world is the Japanese Yubari cantaloupe, and two melons once sold at auction for $23,500. Yeah, a whooping $23,500!
The melons are grown in greenhouses and even given “hats” to prevent sunburn. You now wonder why they are that expensive.
Photo: iheartjapan.ca
Walk into a normal store on a good day and ask for this melon, you would probably get it for a price around $225 for two.
Would you eat the vomit of another animal? I guess not but I am sure you do, and even like it.
7. Honey is made from nectar and bee vomit!
Honey is actually bee vomit. It takes at least 100,000 vomits to make 453 grams of honey. The bees that go out to collect nectar have a gland that secrets enzymes in their mouth. When the bees collect the nectar, it is mixed with the enzyme in the bee’s mouths.
The nectar plus the enzyme is then taken back to the bee hive where it is dropped (vomited) into the honeycomb. The honeycombs are hexagonal shaped cells that the bees make themselves out of wax. When I found out about this I was taken aback but then I though, “what if honey is being made out of bees excreta? Who cares?” It is sweet, nutritional, medicinal and we love it.
You can see the video below to see how the bees actually make honey!
8. Canola oil was INVENTED in a biotechnology laboratory
Canola oils is not from a plant called Canola as many people I spoke to thought. In fact, there is no plant called Canola and this oil that is common in everybody’s home was actually invented in a biotechnology laboratory in 1976, using radiation bombardment techniques to destroy parts of the plant’s DNA.
Here are some key facts on growing genetically modified (GM) canola in Canada.
GM or transgenic canola varieties have been modified to be resistant to specific herbicides. They are called herbicide-resistant varieties. The plants are modified, but the oil is not modified. It is identical to canola oil from non-modified or conventional canola.
Herbicide-resistant GM canola is grown on about 80% of the acres in western Canada. GM canola was first introduced in 1995.
They are usually made from the oil from rapeseed!
These are just some interesting facts we have brought together for your reading pleasure. We eat all these foods and we enjoy them. Many of them have high nutritional value and beneficial to our body.
Which of these facts actually thrilled or surprised you the most? Share your thoughts in the comment section!!!
For some people the banging and pounding are completely inexplicable. A few of them have used different drugs or medications yet there is no relief to the headaches. It will surprise you to know that migraines and headaches can be eased by foods just like they can be caused by certain foods. One major challenge many of us face is that we have refused to pay attention to our body.
Our bodies send very vital information to us on how best to attend to it, yet we always do the opposite. The reactions that follow are head aches, migraines and other forms of body pains. Headaches could occur due to cold or flu, stress and hormonal dysfunction. All theses various forms can actually be improved using foods.
In this short post I will be sharing with you some foods that may help you improve and relief your headaches and migraines.
1. Milk And Yogurt:
When your head aches and bangs such that everything seems difficult to do and you can not sleep at night, it might be due to lack of calcium in your diet. The brains functions well with adequate supply of the mineral. Once your body chemistry recognises absence of this, it could present a request letter to you in the form of headaches. Consuming plain yogurt, calcium fortified skimmed milk or even calcium peels at recommended daily intake could help relieve you. Some of these milk products are also rich in vitamin B2 which also helps in headache management.
The materials commonly used in cookware and utensils include Aluminum, Copper, Iron, Lead, Stainless steel and Teflon™ (polytetrafluoroethlyene). Everyone is now aware that Lead and Copper have been associated with various illnesses and health hazards and should be avoided. This is a reason water pipes are no longer made of lead but plastic. You must have heard about lead poisoning before, so we don’t want this in our cooking pots and frying pans. This post is meant to enlighten us on the cookware that we use and the potential dangers some of them pose to our health.
I have written so many articles and I have seen a lot of responses, feedback and comments from people. Hence, I can guess that one question in the mind of some people already is, “which one is the best and which one is the most dangerous pot material”. Honestly, it is a hard to say what the best materials are as they all have their own advantages and downsides.
What You Need To Know about Pots & Pans Materials
Although there are several materials for making our cookware, we are only going to write on the most commonly used ones ans any health risk that may be associated. We are not going to talk about earthen ware like clay pots but common ones like stainless steel, aluminium and cast iron cookware and potential health hazards.
As you go on reading the article, you will see a VIDEO TO GUIDE YOU on how to choose safe cooking pots!
We’ll drop a few notes on non-stick pots too. Click 2 to page 2 below to see the various types of cooking pot and pan materials and details about them…
In a post published on FoodsNG recently, we informed you about this new type of Pizza made by Musclefood that helps in busting fat. It is a low carbohydrate and high protein Pizza that still contains many of the ingredients you would find in a regular Pizza.
There are ingredients such as beef, chicken, mushrooms, flour, pepper, etc in the Pizza mentioned in the post linked to above. This video we are sharing below shows you how to make one of such Pizza that is low in carbohydrate. You would see for yourself that the title of the video is “Musclefood teach you how to make a low carb meat pizza”.
Watch the video on how to make the Pizza below
If you try it out, please share your experience with everyone here!
How would you feel to eat as much Pizza as you want and not be scared of getting fat? Well, this seems a reality now as musclefood.com has come out with a Pizza recipe that does not only help burn fat, but also contains as much protein as three chicken breasts and 5 times less carbs than a standard slice. Should we call this a “SUPER PIZZA”?
This new development in Pizza processing has been making the rounds for some weeks now and I had to wait to see a lot of information about it before deciding to share with you. The manufacturers of this Pizza claim that you can now get slim by eating this pizza. I am waiting for more testimonies from people as much as you are. However, looking at the ingredients and composition of this pie, I would say their claims make sense.
Photo: dailymail.co.uk
This chicken and peppers pizza has 73 calories and 2.4g of fat per slice
One of the that have eaten this Pizza said:
I was a bit sceptical at first as I was expecting a dry and crumbly base but I was pleasantly surprised.
You can’t actually taste the difference from a regular pizza even though there’s protein in the base.
Composition of the Pizza
The online retailer, musclefood.com claims that the high protein pizza contains just 82 calories per slice. This is way below the calories of more than 300 in some fast food alternatives.
They also claim that it contains the same amount of protein as three chicken breasts and five times less carbohydrates making it perfect for people on a weight loss plan or those body building.
Darren Beale from Musclefood.com has the following to say:
High protein isn’t just for bodybuilders and fitness fanatics, it’s for those wanting to lose weight – increased protein keeps you feeling fuller for longer – and for those wanting to lead a much healthier lifestyle.
He continues;
We’re expecting these pizzas to be popular. Products like our high protein cookies and bread have flown off the shelves as soon as they’ve gone on sale and we’re expecting these to be the same.
The gluten and soy-free pizza comes in two different toppings, Chicken and Pepper, and Ham and Mushroom, with the pea protein base adding approximately 10g of protein to the pizza.
Here is a video from MuscleFood that teaches you how to make such low carb meat pizza. Click here to watch it now!
Our skin is made up of three main layers: Epidermis (the outer layer), Dermis (the middle layer) and Subcutaneous or Hypodermic (the deepest layer). Stretch marks form in the middle layer of the skin when the connective tissue is “stretched” beyond the power of its flexibility as a result of rapid expansion or contraction of our skin. Skin expansion usually occur due to sudden weight gain or pregnancy.
The purpose of this article s to show you foods that help you remove the stretch mark and your body and we are going to stick strictly to that. Stretch marks appear on the body for a number of reasons and we are not going to be going into that today. We are only going to discuss how you can make use of foods to remove them from your body.
This is going to be in two part — (i) foods that you should eat to get rid of stretch marks, and (ii) foods that you can apply on your body (not eat), to remove stretch marks. Let’s take this journey together to see these foods and how they work their wonders.
Foods To Eat To Get Rid Of Stretch Mark
The visibility of stretch marks can be reduced by making few changes to your diet. There are foods that, if included in the meals that we consume can help fade the stretch marks away. These are the foods we will be discussing in this section.
Click on 2 below to see the first group of foods that heal stretch marks…
Often, when we write articles highlighting the dangers or potential hazards inherent in some foods and how they cause harm to our health when we consume them, we get a lot of abusive comments, telling us how “dirt cannot kill Africans”. On a particular article where we explain the potential dangers in eating Suya, someone — surprisingly a lecturer in one University of Technology commented in pidgin, “na over sabi dey kill pass” (meaning knowing too much kills more).
We would like to implore people to just try and take their health issues more seriously. When they see warning on foods they consume, even when they doubt the source, they should try to seek more information elsewhere to clear any doubts they might have.
People sometimes get food poisoning by eating foods prepared by themselves at home and sometimes by eating foods at eateries and restaurants. I have seen more cases of people having food poisoning after eating foods at eateries than in their homes.
First of all, let me share with you some statistics and information on occurrences and cases of food poisoning in Nigeria;
Professor of Food Science and Technology, Alfred Ihenkuronye, has said that more than 200,000 persons die of food poison in Nigeria annually. The sad thing is that, many would not even know it is food poisoning. They just look at the symptoms and try to treat that alone.
Managing Consultant at First HACCP System, Mrs. Zainab Akanji reported that 99% of Nigerians eat outside (eateries, restaurants, parties) and adverse effects are underreported.
She added,
So I feel there is need because most times a lot of people fall sick, there is high increase in diseases now traced back to food issues and when you compromise food safety it causes adverse effect on people ranging from cancer to stomach ache, diarrhoea. In fact almost everybody in the world has had food poisoning case at one point or another either from the minute one of frequent going to the toilet, to vomiting, to the acute one that sometimes people don’t live to tell the stories, which causes death sometimes due to the contamination of food.
Here are Tips For Avoiding Food Poisoning At Eateries
Click 2 (page 2) below to start reading the tips to follow… 1. Read the labels on the food container
One cannot overemphasize the importance of reading anything and everything written on food packs. I have mentioned the importance of reading labels in one article in the past and I can only hope people have learnt a great deal from it.
I travelled to Abeokuta some months ago and went to a popular eatery with branches all over the South-western part of the country. I ordered for food which included a container of vegetable salad. While waiting for my change, I just started reading things written on the container then I saw something boldly written on it;
Consume Salad Within 15 Minutes of Purchase
What came to my mind was, “why do they sell to people in take-away packs?” If you know that this food will only be in its best condition for only 15minutes after taking it out of the refrigerator, why sell to people to take away, when they may not get to their destination in one hour.
Forget the the organoleptic attributes of the food now, what about the safety. Raw vegetables (ingredients of salad), carry the risk of salmonella and E. coli – which can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach cramps. When they are not well refrigerated and left under ambient temperature for long, these microorganisms multiply and cause problems for whoever eat them.
2. Make sure of the hygiene level as it affects the food
Although one cannot totally be sure of the hygiene level of a food you are buying in a restaurant or eatery, one should make effort to verify those he can. Whenever I want to buy food, I look at the environment, the food and the person that is going to serve it.
Sometimes, we cannot see what is being done to the food where it is being cooked but when we can, we should also check these things too — the neatness of the person cooking, how does he/she gets rid of sweat on their face, does the water used for cooking appear clean and things like that. I can scan to assess things like these within 30 seconds of getting to the eatery.
When I can, and have made sure of all these, what I do next is to monitor the serving. I wouldn’t allow any server to use bare hands to unwrap “moin moin” or “eba” for me, I am not going to allow it. When I see that’s what the server wants to do, I talk. If he/she goes ahead and uses bare hands, I am not taking the food.
When I gave some information about food poisoning above, some people would have started asking if I meant that food poisoning is just a Nigerian issue. No! It is everywhere in the world.
Norovirus, which is usually called “cruise ship virus,” is more often caused by infected restaurant workers than outbreaks on the high seas — this is according to U.S. health officials.
Just 1 percent of more than 1,000 food-borne outbreaks examined by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were traced to a cruise ship. Most outbreaks were caused by infected kitchen employees touching food with their bare hands, according to a new agency report.
3. Insist on microwaving/heating your food
When you buy food from a eatery and would either like to eat in there or take it away in a pack, please insist that they microwave it for you. We have previously explain how microwaving foods helps to kill microorganisms in food and make them safe.
Many people have complained about how microwave heating affect the taste and appearance of foods. Yes, this might be true but they usually don’t affect food that much, sometimes they are even unnoticeable. The only noticeable change I have ever noticed when I microwave my food is that it makes my fried plantain harder like it was first fried, then boiled.
Well, even if this happens, I would rather eat a harder fried plantain than end up lying up lying on hospital bed clinging to life.
4. Avoid foods displayed inside show glasses with bulb
When food are stored in show glasses with light bulbs (e.g meat pie, doughnuts, samosa, spring rolls, etc), the change of making the microorganisms present multiply increases. The temperature provided by this bulb is very good for survival and multiplication of many organisms.
I have been a victim of this before — eating burger displayed like this and ended not going forward for a presentation I should because I thought my bowel would come out that day. Fortunately, the course I was supposed to make the presentation for was a Food Microbiology course and the lecturer talked about food poisoning.
I raised my hand and explain what just happened to me. I was informed it could be food poisoning from the burger I ate. When I got home, I met my house mate in the same condition — we had bought and eaten the burger together.
Avoid foods that are displayed without cover, a lot of air-borne microorganisms might have found their way into that type of food. If restaurants want to customers to see what is inside the display containers, they should use covers made of clear, transparent glass.
5. Plates, Spoons, Food Containers and other utensils
Cooking and eating utensils are as important when it comes to safety of our foods as the food itself. You can cook a food in a very hygienic way, process it to remove most of the pathogenic microorganisms but end up serving them in contaminated plates. Restaurants should have a form of heater, where washed plates are kept for some time before they are used to serve food.
If I have not mentioned it before, this article is not just for people that patronize restaurants and eateries, managers and restaurants workers will also benefit a lot from this article because there is so much a customer can do to ensure safety of food. The most important parts lie with the processors and handlers of foods.
I was at a fast food joint last week to buy popcorn, to my dismay, the attendant was trying to increase the volume of the paper bag by blowing air into it with her mouth. I asked her if she was new on the job there and she asked me why I asked her that. I made my mind known to her that what she did was unhealthy and unsafe.
I demanded that she changed the pack and desist from that act.
6. Ensure that your own hygiene level is good too
The last of the tips I a sharing here has to do with your own hygiene. You need to make sure your hands are clean when you want to it. For me, it does not matter if I am going to use a spoon or fork and knife.
Washing hands, especially fingernails are even more important when eating foods that we use our our fingers for in this part of the world. Eba, amala, semo, akpu, tuwo are examples of foods people use their bare hands to eat in many parts of Africa and other places where they are consumed.
Finally, as we age, our immune systems become weaker. As a result, older people are more likely to suffer from foodborne illnesses or food poisoning than the younger ones. This does not mean that younger people should shun all safety tips that ensure food safety but to advise older people to be more careful in their choice of foods and restaurants.
I know I have only tried and may have left some tips out; if you have any other tip you wan to share with people, you are welcome to drop them as comments on this page. Thank you!
I do not know where people get the notion that a “No fat diet” is good for the body or for those in the train of weight lost. No other food macro nutrient has been demonized and labelled in the bad light as much as Fats. It also surprises me to hear of how some nutritionists or dietitians plan such Zero fat diets for patients who seek professional advice on weight loss. I have never done it before and I would not.
The results of weight loss and improved nutrition based on a calculated fat inclusion diet which I have planned for all of my clients have been remarkable. Hey, I am not say you should go all out for those burgers, deep fried foods, and other trans-fat loaded meals. I am saying; for you to effectively ensure you lose those pounds of fats and never see them again, there is need for you to include some amount of healthy fats.
Photo: vipfitness.zone
So, How Does Fat Make One Lose Fat
One interesting thing about fats is the satiating effect it gives to your entire body system. It takes longer time for fats to be digested and so they stay longer in your digestive tracks while keeping you less hungry unlike other food groups like carbohydrates which are quickly digested. When food manufacturer come up with a low fat or no fat snacks, they most like would have added loads of sugars and its ally in order to sweeten or flavour the foods. Be careful, it is a scam.
It is clear that many certain vitamins can only be digested and transported with the help of fats. These are fats soluble vitamins which include vitamins A, D, E, and K. Many body functions, including: Vision, healthy skin and hair quality function better if you eat a diet rich in healthy fats. When you limit your fat intake, you’re limiting your ability to transport and absorb these fat soluble vitamins which eventually help your body to metabolize fat.
Many people that I have seen following a regime of “No fat diet” always gain back the weight as they cannot sustain a continuous diet without fats. I have repeatedly said to those who care to listen that include foods like peanuts, canola oil, avocados and coconut oil are critical in weight management. Research has also reiterated that individuals who include a certain percentage of fats in their weight loss diet lose fat easily than those who do not include any fat in their diet.
You should note that fat is good and healthy. You should not be scared of eating healthy fats at calculated amount, what you should be scared of is high calorie foods with very low nutrients, usually those loaded with sugars and no nutrients carbs.
Customs officials at an American airport got more than they bargained for when they found 67 live giant Snails (African Giant Snail). The snails were confiscated July 1 and a sample was sent the next day to a federal mollusk specialist in Washington, D.C., who identified them as a prohibited species. The U.S. Department of Agriculture incinerated the snails after they were inspected.
Those were the words used to describe the event that happened on 1st July, 2014. Customs officers in the United States of America found 67 live giant snails in a passenger’s luggage. They later confiscated and burned those snails because they have been banned in the United States.
Why The United States Govt. Banned African Giant Snails
The African giant land snails (Archachatina marginata, Achatina achatina and their family members) are delicacies in many African nations, especially the West African countries. So, it would come as a surprise that some countries could see them as a threat to their own survival. If you are interested in knowing the reasons why the the US Government banned the African snails, then you should read on.
1. They are carriers of a Parasitic Nematode
The African snails carry a parasitic nematode that can be a vector for meningitis in humans. The snail acts as an intermediate host between the parasite and its natural final host in rodents. Unless we eat snails raw or undercooked, one should not be in danger of these nematodes and ultimately, meningitis.
In places where the snails are eaten, they are usually well cooked and even fried. Hence, the danger of the nematodes causing diseases in eaters of these snails is not even there.
Whether you are on a weight loss mission or you are fasting and want to resist the urge to eat by suppressing your appetite for food, you should know that there are some foods that you can add to your diet in order to achieve this. Some of these foods are foods that we see and eat often for their taste but they have other functions we may have not noticed; others, many people don’t like to eat because of their taste.
The objective of fasting (not for religious reasons) and weight-loss plan is to make you eat less and burn more calories than you consume, therefore, you cannot afford to eat large quantities of foods.
So what now happens when you get hungry?
When your body needs food, it produces a hormone called ghrelin that causes hunger — it signal hunger to the brain when it gets secreted. You start having some elevated level of appetite — this you can suppress by eating some of the foods listed in this article.
Foods That Help To Curb Hunger & Appetite for Foods
When you add these foods to what you eat in the right manner, you won’t get hungry like you usually would.
1. One piece of Apple can do the magic
Of course you know the saying that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”. This is very true and one of the ways it is true is that eating an apple before or after a meal helps keep you full faster and for a longer period.
Photo: saidaonline.com
It has been reported that the pectin in a piece of apple can keep you full for 1-2 hours. So, why don’t you just eat apple before and after your food. It tastes great and even contributes to whitening of teeth amongst other benefits.
2. High-Water, High-Fiber Foods help curb hunger
These type of foods that are high in water and fibers give us the feeling of being full and prevent us from eating too much. Example of such foods is the vegetable family — they fill the stomach, and helps digestion. These foods, even when you eat large volumes of them, are usually low in caloric density. Therefore, they help you shed weight without feeling like you’re on a restrictive diet.
Often when we want to lose weight, what we do is to eat less foods. But what if you could cut calories, yet still eat plenty of food, and not be feel hungry? This is the dream of any dieter and these type of foods should be incorporated into your diet.
These vegetables, for example Lentils, Lima beans, Spinach, etc., will help you through your diet plan and not make you give up when it matters most. You are often full, less hungry and cutting on your calorie intake. These high fibre foods also help prevent constipation and relieve it in case we have it.
Barbara Rolls, PhD, and some of her colleagues at Pennsylvania State University have done extensive research on the “volumetric” theory of eating more low-calorie, high-volume foods.
They have this to report; ”We have found in numerous studies that when you allow people to eat as much as they want of foods that are high in volume yet low in density (calories), they eat less at the meal or during the day.”
3. Lean Protein Helps To Reduce Hunger Too
If you are wondering about what lean protein is, here is a quick description; many proteins are high in saturated fats that contribute to cardiovascular disease, so it is better to consume lean proteins. These lean proteins are described as a 1-ounce serving that has 2 to 3 grams of fat.
There is evidence of the ability of lean protein from foods such as lean meat, fish, poultry (chicken, turkey, for example), soybeans, and eggs, to help with fullness and weight loss. The white meat from chicken and turkey are especially good sources of lean protein. Fish provides lean protein together with omega-3 fatty acids that lower cholesterol and inhibit inflammation.
Wayne Campbell, PhD, a professor of Nutrition at Purdue University said “You are most likely to feel fuller after eating protein than other nutrients, including fiber, and one of the theories behind why higher-protein diets work well with weight loss is because it helps you not feel hungry.”
It may also interest you to know that even though you can add lean protein at any meal you want to take, research has shown that adding it to your breakfast may be better than other meals in the day. A research that was conducted on this theory revealed that when people eat foods like eggs that rich in protein for breakfast, they tend to eat less during the day compared o when they eat foods that are rich in carbohydrates.
With this knowledge in your head, you can actually start your weight loss diet by including these foods in your meal. If you are going to fast for religious or health reasons (fasting has a lot of health benefits), you can also ad these foods to those that you eat in the morning as they make you full without adding calories to your body. It is not surprising that breakfast is regarded as the most important meal of the day.
First, what is heartburn? We are going to explain that because some people experience the symptoms but don’t even know what they are experiencing are symptomatic of heartburn. It is a burning sensation that comes in your chest, just behind your breastbone. The pain is often aggravated when lying down or bending over. Does this sound familiar?
Often, people get heartburn occasionally and can get rid of it with some drugs as prescribed by the doctor but there are severe cases of heartburn which are symptoms of another more serious condition. When this is what you have you need to seek medical care.
What are the causes and symptoms of heartburn?
The simple cause of heartburn is a lower esophageal sphincter, also referred to as LES. When it does not tighten as it should, there is a problem. It only opens when food wants to enter the stomach or when we want to belch. When it is not tightly closed, food can come back into the mouth. Too much food in the stomach (overeating) or too much pressure on the stomach, often as a result of obesity, pregnancy, or constipation. See how to get rid of Constipation easily!
Photo: sharecare.com
Heartburn is simply acid reflux — It happens when stomach acid comes back up into your esophagus. If left untreated, this reflux can damage the esophagus over time. Pregnancy, some types of foods, alcohol, and some medications can also bring on heartburn. You just need to know what triggers your own heartburn — observation could be key.
However, if you are having heartburn for two or more than two times in a week, you need to see your doctor as soon as you can.
What are the remedies I can use at home?
Home remedies to get rid of heartburn very fast!
Depending on the cause and how frequent your occurrence of heartburn is, there are solutions you can make yourself at home to get rid of it fast.
Chewing gum can help you get rid of your heartburn: A small study from the Journal of Dental Research showed that people with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms experienced heartburn relief when they chewed a piece of sugar-free gum for 30 minutes after a meal. You can also give that a shot.
Baking Soda: Dr. Jacqueline Wolf, the author of A Woman’s Guide to a Healthy Stomach, recommends mixing between 1/2 and 1 teaspoon of baking soda with a glass of water. Baking soda is high in salt content so you should not make this your home remedy anytime you have heartburn. If you have heartburn often, the best thing is to see a doctor. So, now you know that baking soda does more than baking and whitening of teeth.
Other home remedies for heartburn include Aloe vera juice reduces any inflammation that is in the esophagus as well as the stomach; avoiding eating too much food too could help prevent this acid reflux.
If you have too much occurrence of these symptoms, you should consult a medical practitioner because some symptoms of a heart attack may mimic that of heartburn.
COMING SOON: Foods That Contribute Largely To Heartburn.
