Health and Wellness

How Hot is Your Chili Pepper?

Ever wondered how hot your favorite chili peppers are? Well, I was wondering how hot Siling Labuyo (Asian Bird’s eye chili) was and how it does compared to the other chilies in the world. All the while, I was thinking that the smaller the size of a chili pepper, the hotter it gets – but I was wrong (my friend who told me that tale was wrong too).

It appears that the piquancy (hotness and spiciness) of a chili pepper can be measured by the amount of capsaicin (which is a chemical compound) that it contains. This means that the higher the capsaicin level of a chili pepper, the hotter and spicier it gets. There is a method in measuring the capsaicin level in chili peppers; this is called the Scoville Organoleptic test. This was named after its creator, Wilbur Scoville. On the other hand, the Scoville Scale is the standard measurement used to categorize the degree of piquancy of chili peppers depending on their capsaicin content. I wouldn’t have learned this if not for Adam Richman’s Man vs. food.

So, how did Siling Labuyo fair? As you can see, it is somewhere on the average level. It will take 10 times the capsaicin level of Bird’s eye chili to match the hottest naturally grown chili pepper in the world, the Bhut Jolokia or most popularly known as “The Ghost chili”.

I like chili peppers; in fact, I can even chew bird’s eye chili if dared. However, I can’t seem to think of myself chewing the hottest chili in the world – that would be totally insane. At present the hottest chili that I ever had was the Habanero. I guess that that’s the farthest that I will go.

What was the hottest chili pepper that you tasted so far? Care to share your experience?

32 Reasons Why You Need to Eat Breakfast

Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day. There are lots of reasons why we need to eat breakfast everyday. Here are some of them.

It restores your sugar level that was consumed while sleeping.
It helps you lose weight
It supplies you more energy and nutrients that you’ll need for the day.
Regularly having breakfast can increase your metabolism by as much as 10 percent.
It increases your concentration and makes you focused on whatever you will do for the day.
It saves you money.
It boosts your efficiency making you accomplish more things.
It makes you less ill-tempered especially during your morning rush-hour commute to work or school.
It helps you avoid or decrease stress.
It helps you build healthy and timely eating habits.
It makes you feel less sleepy during the early parts of the day.
You can eat easily even if you are not that hungry.
It helps you stick to your diet.
It will help you prevent from snacking throughout the day.
It increases your brain function.
It helps you overcome fatigue.
It regulates digestion.
It is the only time that you will feel like a king.
Skipping breakfast makes you over eat during lunch.
It lowers the level of bad cholesterol.
You can eat almost anything without feeling guilty.
Eating breakfast is comforting.
It exercises the muscles in your jaw.
It makes you physically train more effectively.
Skipping breakfast is associated to obesity.
It lets you enjoy the different egg preparation.
It satisfies your curiosity on the taste of the new cereal being advertised.
You’ll finally see your griddle in action after a long rest inside the kitchen cabinet.
There is nothing like a good breakfast after a few miles of jogging.
It makes you wake-up earlier to prepare the food.
It gives you reason to eat bacon and Angus burger
It is simply the most important meal of the day.

Do you have other reasons to add? Its now your turn.

14 Reasons Why You Should Drink Beer

“Too much of a good thing is a bad thing”. You might have heard of this cliché over and over – but does it make sense to you? People have the tendency to over indulge in things that they enjoy doing to the point that it becomes harmful rather than beneficial.

Drinking beer is one of the things that some of us enjoy. Drinking too much of it has been attributed to several negative outcomes that gave beer a bad image. Have you ever thought of looking at the other side of drinking beer?

Drinking beer in moderation has some positive effects too. Wait! Don’t grab a bottle yet. Allow me to first define what moderation means to be sure that all of us are in the same track. Consuming 2 regular bottles of beer a day for men and a regular bottle a day for women is the kind of moderation that I am talking about. …Read More

Fatty Foods can be Addictive

An article about Fatty Foods published in Health.com immediately caught my attention. Apparently, foods that are high in fat and calorie impact the brain just like how prohibited drugs does.

Based on the article, a new study has been conducted on rats and results show that pigging on foods that are high in fat and calorie lead to uncontrollable eating habits that can be compared to drug addiction.

Doing drugs targets the pleasure centers of the brain and overloads them at some point. When these so called pleasure centers overload, it crashes and the pleasure level goes down; additional doses are needed to bring the pleasure level up. The scenario is also the same with fatty foods. There will be a time when the pleasure center of the brain will reach its peak and overload. When this happens, it is more likely that more fatty and high calorie food will be consumed to bring the pleasure level up again – this reaction is uncontrollable and will power alone may not be enough.

It was stated that the rats who feasted on fatty food gained a lot of weight and there were changes in their behavior. It seemed that they developed a high amount of tolerance on fatty foods and eating more is needed for them to be satisfied. Another thing that is quite surprising is the focus that these rats developed. The article notes that pain and punishments were ignored by the rats and consuming the food seems to be their main priority.

Interesting article, isn’t it? The result of this study could probably explain the main cause of obesity. Can this be the reason why most of us prefer fatty foods rather than healthy ones?

In your opinion, how can we enjoy eating our traditional fatty foods without over indulging?

Boosting Health with Antioxidants

Free Radicals are one of the causes of cell damage. These are produced in the cells through a chemical reaction known as oxidation. Antioxidants are particles that are able to slow down or prevent oxidation from happening leaving the cells unharmed.

Why should I continue reading this article when some of the terms in the first paragraph alone seem confusing? Chronic diseases such as cancer and hardening of the arteries can possibly be caused by cell damage due to Free Radicals. Did that catch your attention? I guess you better read on.

Now that I have your attention, let me use some analogy to simplify the idea. Imagine that your house is your body and the kitchen garbage are Free Radicals. What will happen if you do not take the garbage out for a day? Yes, your kitchen will smell. Imagine the garbage piling up for a week or even a month without you disposing them. Gross isn’t it? Your whole house smells like garbage and this can affect your actions and mood. The stink from the inside will eventually spread until it becomes noticeable from outside the house. Antioxidants are garbage collectors that take the garbage out of your kitchen leaving your house (which is your body in reality) clean and smelling good.

Where can I get Antioxidants?

Of course, you always want your body to be safe from Free Radicals and you might now be asking as to where you can get Antioxidants. There are several sources of Antioxidants; some of them are listed below.

Vitamin C (also known as Ascorbic Acid)
Gluthathione
Melatonin
Vitamin E (also known as Tocopherol)

Wait a minute, did you mean that my daily supplement in pill or capsule form supplies Antioxidants? The answer to this question is yes, provided that Vitamin C and Vitamin E are present in your daily pill or capsule supplement. As for Gluthathione and Malatonin, there are some supplements claiming to contain them (some even sell the idea of looking young – as if you discovered the fountain of youth). I am not endorsing any product here neither do I recommend you to try them out. I am merely stating a fact that some vitamins and minerals contain Antioxidants.

The best way is still to consume Antioxidants naturally. You can do this by adding foods rich in Antioxidants in your daily diet. Here are the top 20.

1. Small Red Bean
2. Wild blueberry
3. Red kidney bean
4. Pinto bean
5. Blueberry
6. Cranberry
7. Artichoke
8. Blackberry
9. Dried Prune
10. Raspberry
11. Strawberry
12. Red apple
13. Granny Smith apple
14. Pecan
15. Sweet cherry
16. Black plum
17. Russet potato
18. Black bean
19. Plum
20. Gala apple

Pure cacao is filled with antioxidants.

Additional information that you should consider

Antioxidants protect you for a short period of time; it is important that you take these foods in a regular basis.

Like any other supplement, taking-in Antioxidants (whether food or supplements) should always be done in moderation. Always remember that too much of anything can be toxic.

Let’s enjoy food and try to live a healthier life. Have you done something good for you’re body lately? We love to hear from you.

The Real Magic behind Magic Sugar

This is probably the 3rd time that I read about Magic Sugar in the news within the last 3 years. The last time I read about it was yesterday – while keeping myself updated with the current events in the Philippines.

Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral warned the public against the use of magic sugar which is allegedly being smuggled into the country. According to the news, Secretary Cabral described magic sugar as an artificial sugar that is also known as sodium cyclamate; this could cause dizziness, vomiting, and stomach ache. (source: inquirer.net)

Trying to feed my curious mind, I started to figure out what the real magic behind magic sugar is. Here are the things that I learned:

Artificial Sweetener

Sodium Cyclamate (aka Magic Sugar) was a widely used artificial sweetener until 1969. This was accidentally discovered in University of Illinois by a graduate student while working on the synthesis of anti-fever medication.

Compared to real sugar, Sodium Cyclamate is 30 to 50 times sweeter. This was the reason why was mixed with saccharin and used as an artificial sweetener. It was also the least expensive sweetener around.

Banned by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Based on a study performed in 1966, there are some bacteria in the intestine that reacts with cyclamate to produce a certain compound that is alleged to cause chronic toxicity in animals. Supplementary research also paved the way for a more shocking discovery. A 1969 study reported that the common cyclamate – saccharin mixture (which is 10 parts to 1 part respectively) increased the occurrence of bladder cancer in rats. This was one of the reasons why the FDA banned the sale of Cyclamate (Magic Sugar) in the USA.

Negative Effects

Aside from the discovery that cyclamate and saccharin mixture can increase the incidence of bladder cancer in rats; cyclohexylamine, the compound produced by the bacteria in the intestine when combined to cyclamate, can cause testicular atrophy (deterioration or decrease in size; Yikes!!!) in mice.

According to the Research Council committee, cyclamate only increases the speed of cancer, accelerate the formation of tumors, and speed up tumor progression (Source: wikipedia)

I think that this explains why Secretary Cabral is so concerned about the smuggling of Magic Sugar in the Philippines. It turns out that there is really something magical going on with it.

If you care about your health and manhood, better start being cautious; you don’t want to wake-up one day with a miniature thing.

Pringles Recalls 2 Flavors

The possible Salmonella issue on HVP (Hydrolized Vegetable Protein) has prompted Procter and Gamble to voluntarily recall two flavors of Pringles in the United States.

You might have heard the news a few days back about the discovery of Salmonella Tennessee in some of the HVP supplied by Basic Food Flavors, Inc. It was said that P&G was notified by one of its suppliers that a seasoning used in two of their Pringles product contain HVP manufactured by Basic Food Flavors.

The Pringles recall is limited only to two flavors: The Pringles Restaurant Cravers Cheeseburger and the Pringles Family Faves Taco Night.

Based on the FDA, only the products with the respective best buy dates are off for recall:

Besides the two flavors mentioned, there are no other Pringles flavors affected by the recall.

Check out the FDA website for more information.

Girl Scout Cookies, Recalled

Girl Scout cookies are several different cookie assortments sold by Girl Scouts of the USA. This is a fund raiser intended to support events and activities of the Girl Scouts. Some proceeds from the sale of these cookies are also used to maintain camps, properties, and cookie sales incentives.

Little Brownie Bakers (LBB), one of the licensed Girl Scout Cookie companies, declared a recall on some batches of Lemon Chalet Crème Cookies that they manufactured. Apparently, several complaints were received by LBB on the odd taste and smell of the said cookie.

According to LBB, the cookies contain oils that possibly broke down resulting in the unpleasant taste and odor. However, the company already took precautionary steps to test the samples and they determined that they are still safe to eat although it did not meet the company’s quality standards.

The Kentucky based company said that customers who purchased the Lemon Chalet Crème Cookies can call 1-800-962-1718 for more information. You may also want to visit the official site of the Girl Scouts of the USA for their news release.

7 Foods that Lower Blood Pressure

What are the foods that can lower blood pressure? A person with a high blood pressure means that he or she has “Hypertension”. This is regarded as a silent killer and has no definite symptoms to watch out for. The best way to determine if you have a high blood pressure is to have your blood pressure checked on a regular basis.

If you have hypertension, consult your doctor right away for proper treatment. You would likely be advised to control your blood pressure by exercising more, lowering your salt intake, drinking alcohol in moderation, reduce stress, and avoiding foods that can trigger hypertension.

There are certain foods that you can take as supplement to lower your blood pressure. However, your doctor’s advice should still be strictly followed.

Foods that can Lower Blood Pressure:

1. Celery

Foods that Lower Blood Pressure - Celery

Celery is not only regarded as a supplement to lower blood pressure, it is also known to reduce weight. This vegetable contains a compound called 3-N-butyl-phthalide that has been tested to lower blood pressure; it also regulates blood flow by relaxing the muscles.

2. Skim milk

Foods that Lower Blood Pressure -Skim Milk

Skim milk is rich in calcium and vitamin D. Studies show that people with low calcium intakes have high rates of blood pressure. It is significant to achieve the daily calcium need of 1,000 mg. Lack of vitamin D, on the other hand, may increase the risk of high blood pressure. This was the latest study conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan (source: natural news ).

3. Garlic

Foods that Lower Blood Pressure - Garlic

Garlic is known to have plenty of health benefits. It can reduce bad cholesterol which is one factor of blood pressure. In China, it is used as a medicine in curing high blood pressure for Centuries.

4. Green leafy vegetables

Foods that Lower Blood Pressure - Green Leafy Vegetable

Green leafy vegetables are usually high in Magnesium. It has been discovered from studies that a diet with low Magnesium has a high possibility for blood pressure to rise.

5. Banana

Foods that Lower Blood Pressure - Banana

Banana is rich in potassium. Studies show that low potassium intake can be one of the reasons for blood pressure to rise. Regularly having foods that are rich in potassium (such as banana) can prevent blood pressure from rising.

6. Dark Chocolate

Foods that Lower Blood Pressure - Dark Chocolate

This isn’t a typographical error. According to JAMA (Journal of the medical association), a daily habitual low intake of dark chocolate can lower the blood pressure of an individual.

7. Fish

Foods that Lower Blood Pressure - Fish

Omega-3 fatty acids plays a huge part in reducing high blood pressure and has other health benefits as well. This fatty acid can commonly be found in fatty fish such as mackerel and salmon. Although there are health benefits in fish, it is still recommended to cook the fish using less cooking oil as possible. Baking, steaming, and grilling are the 3 recommended methods.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are plenty of foods that can be eaten as supplement for high blood pressure. Your turn, name other foods that we can add to the list.

Top 7 Aphrodisiac foods

Before anything else, let me emphasize that this article is not intended to encourage or promote any form of malicious idea – my purpose is to inform and remind everyone that every food that we ingest contains different substances that may affect our behavior and mood.

Have you experienced a sudden mood shift after eating a certain type of food? Do you like eating a particular food because it makes you feel good? If you answered yes to any of these questions – then you might have an idea of what I’m trying to say.

There are certain foods that make a person feel romantic. These foods can increase the blood flow in the genitals and increase ones estrogen or androgen level which induces an intense passionate feeling. You might not be aware; it might be your favorite food that’s causing all this.

The following belong to the top 7 Aphrodisiac foods.

1. Oysters

Aside from Spanish fly – which is not considered as a common food, Oysters are the most known and regarded aphrodisiac. The reason behind this could be the high zinc and selenium content in oysters that are said to help produce sperm and increase blood flow.

2. Almonds

Since time immemorial, almonds are considered to enhance fertility. The oil extracted from this drupe is known to be a nutritive aphrodisiac. It also rich in Vitamin E that provides a glowing effect on the skin.

3. Balut

If you are Filipino, this needs no explanation. Balut is popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac and considered as a source of high-protein. It is often regarded as an energy booster and is believed to strengthen the knees – literally speaking.

4. Dark Chocolate

Eating dark chocolate enables the body to produce serotin, a substance that makes you feel good (this is also attributed to the feeling of being in love). It also contains theobromine which is considered as a stimulant.

5. Basil

Aside from treating stress and asthma, Basil is also known to set a woman’s mood for romance. The implausible aroma is said to have an intense stimulating effect on both partners.

6. Bananas

The shape might give you an idea as to why this fruit is in our list. It is also known that this fruit is rich in potassium, magnesium and B vitamins – it also contains bromelain which enhances a man’s sexual desire. The sap of the red banana is also considered as an aphrodisiac in some parts of Central America.

7. Avocado

Also known as “testicle tree” because the fruit resembles the testicles while still hanging in the tree; this fruit is rich in B vitamins, as well as vitamin E and vitamin K. It also has a high fiber and potassium content that is said to boost energy.

Do you have other foods to add in the list? Got any suggestion to neutralize the effect?