Polymeal Recipes

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Can following the Polymeal Diet help you lose weight?

Yes.

Well, yes but…

The main key to losing weight is consistently taking in less than you expend each day, and that means controlling your portion sizes.

This can be done with any diet, really, but there are some advantages to the Polymeal Diet that can tip the scales in your favor.

First, the diet promotes the consumption of lots of fruits and vegetables. Just cutting back on starches and junk food and replacing them with fresh veggies and the occassional fruit will help you feel full while eating fewer calories.

The addition of dark chocolate to the diet can help with satisfying a sweet tooth. Just make sure to watch your fat intake for the rest of the day.

Fish is a fantastic source of lean protein and healthy fats when it’s not fried in oil. Bake, barbeque or steam your fish. If you find it too bland, and some herbs, spices or lemon juice to perk it up.

You can lose weight on the Polymeal Diet, but you still need to watch your portion sizes and get some exercise. It’s good for your heart and your waistline!

If you’re allergic to fish, vegetarian or vegan, and you want all the health benefits of the Polymeal diet then you need to find another source of the omega-3 fatty acids that make fish so heart-healthy.

There are two types of omega-3 fatty acids that are found in fish oil. The first, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), is readily synthesized by your body by converting alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).

ALA is found in flax seeds, so supplementing one’s diet with flax seed oil, or crushed flax seeds takes care of the EPA production. It’s worth mentioning that heating flax seeds destroys the omega-3s, so if you’re using the oil or the seeds in a hot food, it’s best to add them after. And you must crush the flax seeds. Your body can’t digest their hulls, and you’ll lose out of all the goodness inside if you don’t break them open first. Coffee grinders are fabulous for this task.

The second omega-3 fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is more difficult. The body doesn’t synthesize DHA as easily, so supplementation is advised.

Fish is the primary and most readily available source of DHA. However, there are a couple of vegan-friendly brands of DHA supplements available:

• NuTru’s Omega-Zen-3
• Deva’s Vegan Omega-3 DHA oil

Getting your 5 servings of fruits and vegetables can keep your heart healthy, reduce your risk of developing cancer, help your vision and keep you in the aging-gracefully camp.

Check out the 5 a Day site for a run down of the benefits of eating different colored fruits and vegetables.

There’s a great article over at Convenience Store News about the health benefits of almonds, and how they can keep your heart healthy, your body fat low, and your blood sugar stable.

Link: What a Nut: Studies Crack Almonds’ Health Benefits

Not all dark chocolate is the same.

Many companies use processes that destroy or remove the heart-healthy flavonoids from dark chocolate. Dutch or alkali processed cocoa has most of the flavonoids stripped away, so try to avoid chocolate made with it.

Conversely, the Mars Corporation has developed a process called Cocoapro that retains a high level of the flavonoids in the cocoa. In fact, Dove makes a dark chocolate bar that is so high in flavonoids that it is used in research studies.

Generally, the darker the chocolate is, the better. Information on flavonoid levels in different brands of dark chocolate is hard to find. Dove is the only one that I’ve seen concrete information about, but other high-quality brands likely have decent levels of flavonoids as well.

So, to sum up, avoid Dutch or alkali processed cocoa, go as dark as possible, and look for the Cocoapro label on Mars products.

Regular consumption of garlic not only helps you to keep your heart healthy, it can help men with erectile dysfunction.

Garlic helps to widen the arteries and increase blood flow to the groin, which aids in erections. Many men with heart disease also have impotency problems due to poor circulation.

The creation of nitric oxide, a chemical that is involved in causing erections, is also enhanced by garlic compounds.

Scientists recommend taking garlic supplements to get a high enough dose of garlic to be effective, but eating it helps too.

So next time you’re making a romantic meal for you and your sweetie, add some garlic!

Reference: Garlic a ‘power boost’ love drug - News.com.au

Lifehacker has a great post today with a new trick for cutting onions.

I’d never heard this one before, and I’m looking forward to trying it out!

A recent Canadian study determined that the more fast-food joints there are in a neighbourhood, the higher the rate of heart disease in the area.

For more information, check out this article from the Globe and Mail: Live Near These & They’ll Get You

If you’re looking for a technical overview of the chemistry of hearth healthy compounds in garlic, look no further.

Garlic Festival Foods has a great interview with Dr. Eric Block, an expert in garlic chemistry.

You can read the interview here: http://www.garlicfestival.com/Rx/garlicchemistry.html

Raw garlic cloves contain a sulphur compound called alliin that, when combined with an enzyme also found in garlic, starts a cascade of chemical reactions that produce heart healthy compounds.

Alliin is very unstable, and it is kept separate from the enzyme in the garlic clove. To start the chemical reaction, the garlic needs to be crushed or chopped and then left to sit for a few minutes to allow the beneficial compounds to fully develop.

So you’ll see a lot of waiting times in the garlic recipes on this site. Don’t skip the waiting time unless you want to skip out on the health benefits of garlic!

References:

• http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arc98/5_23_98/food.htm
• http://sheknows.com/about/look/3648.htm