Vegetarian Means Vegan, Right?

Actually vegetarians tend to differ from what Vegans consider themselves to be. The exact reasons for why, evade me at the moment.

I eat plenty of vegetables but also enjoy eggs so I think this means I may be a vegetarian but I am not a vegan because eggs are not on their menu. I need to watch my calories and weight.

Veganism, if I may, seems to be more like a religion than just a healthy eating regime. I think the term is applied to not only eggs but even to wearing things that may have once been alive, like leather.

I have no feelings on this one way or another and think our life choices are just that, our life choices.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Gout Home Remedy: Eat Your Way to Good Health

By Rashel Dan

If you're looking for a gout home remedy, you may need not look further than your very own kitchen. You no longer need to jump from one pharmacy to another to relieve the pain and discomfort caused by gout. Commonly used gout home remedy are fruits, herbs, vegetables and roots. These have several benefits and are generally safe to use. They can also be used simultaneously and together with your medication.

The best remedy for gout can do the following:

- Relieve pain. - Reduce swelling - Eliminate stiffness - Detoxify and rid uric acid crystals from the body - Boost healthy blood circulation to aid in the flushing away of toxins - Speed healing of joint tissues to prevent uric acid build-up.

Fruits as gout home remedy:

Acid crystals are turned by potassium into a solution that is easily flushed out by the body. Fruits that are especially high in potassium are your best bet when it comes to curing gout. These high-potassium fruits include dried peaches, avocados, cantaloupe, oranges, bananas, tomatoes and dried prunes.

Other fruits have their benefits as gout home remedy too.

Lemon fuels the production of calcium carbonate, which balances acids in the body. Take the juice of lemon, dilute in water and drink as a gout home remedy.

Another gout remedy from the kitchen are berries and cherries. You can start by purchasing blueberries, cherries and strawberries from your local supermarket as fresh produce or concentrated juices. These fruits are rich with antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds and enzymes that neutralize uric acid in the body. Grapes are good, too, since they contain Alkalines that neutralize acidity.

Bananas and apples are also effective against gout. Maintaining a gout-preventing diet is as easy as eating 1 apple a day and 2-3 bananas per day for 4 days.

Herbs as gout home remedy:

People from ancient times have been using turmeric for medicinal treatment. Now it is known to be a potent antimicrobial, anticarcinogenic, antioxidant and blood strengthener. It is also considered to treat inflammation just like cortisone. Another herb, cayenne pepper, is known to have the same effect.

Also try artichoke, which contains cynarin. Cynarin is a compound known to prevent liver impairment and joint problems, thus benefiting those with gout.

Herbal teas such as buchu tea is also another effective gout home treatment. Other gout-fighting herbs include parsley and saffron, which can be a natural diuretic and acid neutralizer.

Some of the vegetables you can use against gout are spinach, potatoes and carrots since these are rich in potassium. As mentioned earlier, foods high in potassium detoxify the body from uric acid crystals. Also try eating more garlic as a gout home remedy-popularly known to be good for the heart, garlic has also been found to relieve gout symptoms. Finely chop fresh garlic and add to salads and other dishes as a natural gout home remedy.

Consulting your doctor is still an important step in curing gout.

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Designing Restaurant Menu Covers

By Charles Effron

If you have eaten at a restaurant, you might have noticed the restaurant menu cover design as you prepared to order. You might also have wondered to yourself, what makes it unique? How do the designers decide what to place inside the menu cover? What makes a menu cover beautiful for a customer? And are they really needed, when one has a restaurant?

If you are planning to start a small restaurant of your own, you must have already thought of your restaurant?s name and its logo. Thinking of a nice design for your menu cover should be complementary to your restaurant?s theme; are you creating a restaurant that is meant for the whole family to enjoy? Then make sure that your design is something that will appeal to people of all ages. Creating a separate kid?s menu is nice, as it will make children feel special, while at the same time creating a fun menu which lists only children?s food. Make sure it has bright colours and fun images for the delight of children.

If you know how to design, you can go ahead and make your own logo. If you want a logo that looks professionally done but do not know how to create one, then you should see a professional. Make sure that you tell him or her what kind of logo you want, so that the designer can make one that is right for your restaurant. This might cost some money, so be prepared for it.

Discussing your logo is very important, as you want the designer to create one that is as close as possible to the logo you have in mind. Explaining it in a detailed way will assure you of a logo that is close to what you are thinking of. If you have no idea what kind of logo you want, you can just give the designer some specifics about your restaurant, and leave him or her to create a nice and attractive logo for your restaurant.

All restaurant menu covers are different, except for the restaurant?s name and logo printed on them. That?s why make sure that you have a unique one and not just a copy of some other restaurant; you do not want to remind your customers of your competitors! Though it may cost you good money, designing a logo is a good investment that will draw customers in.

As for the design of your menu cover, the background colour is usually light, so that the text you will put in can be easily read. If you want the reverse, you can have a dark-coloured background with white or light-coloured text. The pictures you will place inside should be very sharp and detailed. The text size should not be too small as to not be readable, or too large as to occupy too much space in the cover.

You don?t want to confuse your customers with so much detail, so keep it short and direct to the point. A detailed description of the food you offer might sound nice, but most customers just actually want to order right away and eat. You should only put the right amount of text to help your customers order. Pictures of food you serve are nice additions, to give the customers an idea of what the food looks like, should they wish to try it.

A menu cover?s purpose is to help customers order the food they want. Make it unique and creative to reflect your restaurant?s specialties, but make it serve its purpose as well.

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Your Anti Gout Diet Tips

By Rashel Dan

If you want to prevent gout for life, start with your diet. This is not such an impossible task. Diet does play a large role in controlling and preventing gout, so depending on your daily intake, you can either increase or reduce your risk of gout.

Gout can be congenital (present at birth), occurring in family history or caused by obesity and other health factors. It is also more prevalent among men and those who are 40 to 60 years of age. If you can relate to any of these then you may want to focus on preventive measures.

An anti gout diet primarily consists of low-purine foods.

Purines are mostly found in foods which are high in protein and fat content. Vegetable oils, greasy burgers and fatty fish are all high in purines, so you should avoid fried foods and naturally fatty produce. Basically, high purine content is found in almost all kinds of food: pork, beef, chicken, turkey, salmon, tuna, oysters, scallops, creams, eggs, peas and beans. But there are ways to have a low-purine diet and are illustrated below:

Eat more fruits and vegetables as part of your anti gout diet.

Most fruits and vegetables are high in potassium. Potassium regulates electrolytes in the body and has the ability to get rid of uric acid crystals from the blood. Potassium-rich fruits are bananas, avocados, apricots and cantaloupe. High-potassium vegetables include spinach, potatoes, asparagus, beets and pumpkin.

Begin your anti gout diet now.

For breakfast, take low-fat protein foods. For example, drink low-fat milk and utilize only egg whites when cooking. Add onions and garlic for taste and use low-fat butter or margarine. High-protein foods that are low in fat have been found to be safe. Quench your thirst with vegetable juice or concentrated blackberry juice.

For lunch, prepare a cleansing lemon juice. Lemon juice is filled with vitamin C and antioxidants to help flush your body from unwanted uric acids. Couple the drink with a hearty salad and meal using tofu to replace red meat or chicken, finely chopped fresh garlic and extra virgin olive oil.

For dinner, grill or bake lean meat in a foil to retain moisture. Pair with potatoes and steamed spinach. After dinners make sure to have a bowl of cherries, berries or grapes on the side.

Other tips for your anti gout diet:

Be careful about your weight. Gout has been linked with health problems such as diabetes and obesity. Slowly restrict calories by introducing more of the gout preventing foods mentioned earlier. Avoid crash diets as these can actually trigger gout flare-ups. A good anti gout diet is always a balanced diet.

Drink lots of water - around 8-10 glasses per day. Water dilutes uric acid (a cause of gout) and rids them from the body. Cloudy urine means you have high acid content in your body and this is not a healthy sign. Clear urine suggests that you are properly hydrated and well on your way to good health.

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Hard Facts About What Cause Shingles

By Rashel Dan

Anyone from both genders can get shingles. In fact, it is estimated that about a million Americans get shingles each year. Understanding the facts about what cause shingles can get you on the right track to medication and treatment.

Fact #1: You don't get the shingles virus from a person who has it - the virus just gets reactivated.

Varicella zoster virus is the real cause behind shingles. It is also the same virus that causes chicken pox. When a person gets chicken pox, the virus can hide itself in the body and can be reactivated once the immune system becomes weak.

It is a fallacy to say that you have caught the shingles from someone suffering from it. You can only get chicken pox from someone who has the shingles virus and who has fresh blisters. Shingles therefore is like another belated but more severe bout of chicken pox.

Facts #2: Shingles may or may not occur.

Those who have had chicken pox do not automatically get shingles. It is estimated though that one in every ten individuals will develop shingles at a later age. It is still not clear whether what cause shingles can cause repeated episodes of shingles. It is believed though that shingles usually happens only once and that a repeat of it is possible but is not always the case.

Fact #3: The shingles virus is different from other herpes viruses.

Understanding cause of shingles will lead to the fact that it is caused by a type of herpes virus. This is why shingles is also known as herpes zoster. This does not mean though that what cause shingles can also cause genital herpes or mouth sores. The only reason why they all belong to the herpes group of viruses is because herpes viruses have the ability to infect an individual once and then become dormant for a span of time. They can reactivate only when a there is a trigger.

Fact #4: The crucial trigger for shingles is a weak immune system.

Eating chicken and other allergy-inducing food do not cause or worsen your shingles and chicken pox. The real trigger for what cause shingles is a weak immune system. This is the reason why understanding what cause shingles is important for the elderly.

People 50 or 60 and above have a higher risk of manifesting shingles because their immune systems are no longer in top shape. It is also possible though that people with immune deficiencies and those sick with cancer and other serious ailments are also at high risk of developing shingles. Anyone with a weak immune system and has had chicken pox before can also have shingles.

Fact #5: Stress is another trigger for shingles.

Stress does not cause shingles. Stress however can increase the chances of an individual who is prone to shingles to develop it. This is because stress can affect the immune system which can lead to a reactivation of the virus. Normal stress actually serves to activate the immune system. Too much stress however can increase the level of work of the immune system that it may stop responding to ailments like shingles.

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