Chalicechick made the best decision when she decided to have lettuce as appetizers on the baby shower.

Lettuce helps digestion and liver health. It reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke and cataracts. More, it also helps to reduce the risk of cancer, helps prevent spina bifida and anaemia and may ease nervous insomnia.

Here are the nutrition facts of one cup raw leaf lettuce, chopped as mentioned by www.urbanext.uiuc.edu

Calories 9
Dietary Fiber 1.3
Protein 1 gram
Carbohydrates 1.34 grams
Vitamin A 1456 IU
Vitamin C 13.44
Calcium 20.16
Iron 0.62
Potassium 162.4 mg

Have you had lettuce today?

Can’t it be less than three hours?

Well, the best thing is after three hours. Why?

Because tea can interfere with the body’s ability to absorb a whole range of minerals. If you drink it three hours after meal, your mineral absorption won’t be hindered.

You can try these recipes using garlic to:

• lower cholesterol
• avoid heart attack
• avoid cancer

They are:

• No Wheat No Eggs No Dairy No Nuts Mashed Potatoe
• Mint & Cannellini Bean Dip
• Spaghetti and Broccoli
• Stars and Striped Tuna with Avocado-Corn Salsa
• Pasta with Kale and Sausage

Yet don’t eat too much garlic since it might cause irritation of or even damage to the digestive tract.

Prunes are dried plums. Yet, both fresh and dried, they contain unique phytonutrient called neochlorogenic and chlorogenic acid. Both are such strong anti-oxidants.

Not only that, they also are great sources of vitamin A in the form of Beta-Carotene. Beta-Carotene is an anti-oxidant and such can be useful for curbing the excess of damaging free radicals in the body. [wikipedia]
Plus, there is no doubt that they have a very high dietary fiber content, so prune juice is often used to help regulate the functioning of the digestive system. [wikipedia]

You can add them in your cereal, yoghurt or vegetable salad. It’s not only healthy, but also tasty for their being sweet and juicy.

Yet, be careful for they also contain oxalates. Oxalates can interfere with absorption of calcium from the body. Also, they can crystallize. So, it would be better for those who have kidney or gallbladder problems to skip either fresh or dried plums.

Are you ready to be one? Or you’re still on and off about it?

You can check out this book, ‘Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating, Revised Edition‘ that you can download for free here.

Or, as a start, you can try this yummy vegan version of sandwich, sammiches. It looks delicious!

Elder Faery was tagged by her friends to mention 5 things in her fridge, handbag and car.

One of the things in her fridge is Norwegian Goat Cheese, also known as geitost, or brunost (lit. brown cheese) and gjetost. It’s a firm, brown cheese made from the whey of goat’s milk originated in Norway. [wikipedia]
Why goat cheese?

Why not?

It is a great source of protein, calcium, and vitamin A. Also, it’s good for those who have allergy to cow’s milk. But, be careful, not all Norwegian Goat Cheese are made from pure goat’s milk, some are mixed with cow’s milk.

Yet, you can try this delicious Soft Goat Cheese & Smoked Salmon on Toast recipe posted at www.norway.org.

Why?

Why not?

One single cup of brown rice contains:

• 1.76 manganese
• 11.19 mcg selenium
• 83.85 mg magnesium
• 0.06 g tryptophan

Also, a cup of brown rice provides 14.0% of the daily value for fiber.

Norma and Theresa had it and they liked it. I also like it. I bet you’ll like it as well!

There is a popular belief that the consumption of chocolate can cause acne. I once thought the same way too, but when I looked into the Wikipedia, here was what I found:

Such an effect could not be shown in scientific studies as the results are inconclusive.
Pure chocolate contains anti-oxidants which aid better skin complexion. Milk has been scientifically proven to be the cause of acne on twenty-two percent of the milk consumers.
Ergo chocolate bars with any milk content are likely to cause acne. It is not the chocolate itself that causes acne, but rather the milk with which the chocolate is mixed.

Each person can choose which milk he or she prefers. Luckily there are different kinds of milk that we can choose. All seem good for our body.

But the most popular one is the cow milk.

Let’s see what is in it (based to Wikipedia):

A serving (1 cup or 250 ml) of 2%-fat milk contains 285 mg of calcium, which represents 22% to 29% of the daily recommended intake (DRI) of calcium for an adult. Depending on the age, 8 grams of protein, and a number of other nutrients (either naturally or through fortification):

• Vitamins D and K are essential for bone health
• Iodine is a mineral essential for thyroid function.
• Vitamin B12 and Riboflavin are necessary for cardiovascular health and energy production.
• Biotin and Pantothenic Acid are B vitamins important for energy production.
• Vitamin A is critical for immune function.
• Potassium and Magnesium are for cardiovascular health.
• Selenium is a cancer-preventive trace mineral.
• Thiamine is a B-vitamin important for cognitive function, especially memory
• Conjugated linoleic acid is a beneficial fatty acid that inhibits several types of cancer in mice, it has been shown to kill human skin cancer, colorectal cancer and breast cancer cells in vitro studies, and may help lower cholesterol and prevent atherosclerosis; only available in milk from grass-fed cows.