Negative Calories: Health Benefits Of Kale

Negative Calories: Health Benefits Of Kale

You've probably heard it before, that you need to include leafy green vegetables in your diet. Vegetables like spinach, lettuce, cabbage and kale. If you've never had kale, then you should include it in your diet. It provides a lot of nutrition value with very few calories. It can be cooked in many different ways. It can be sauteed, braised, steamed, boiled, or just eaten raw.

The health benefits of kale are many. For example, kale contains organosulfur compounds, which appear to lessen the occurence of certain types of cancer. Exactly how these compounds fight cancer isn't clear, although it is believed that these compounds activate enzymes in the liver, which aid in detoxifying the body. These enzymes then help to clear carcinogens from the body.

Kale is also good for the eyes. Some of the carotenoids present in kale act to filter out UV light, thus protecting the eyes, and lowers the risk of cataracts. Kale is an excellent source of beta-carotenes as well, which are the compounds in carrots that promote good vision and healthy eyes.

Kale is an excellent source of vitamin C. Vitamin C is an important antioxidant, which helps to fight free-radicals, thus preventing damage to cells, which could lead to cancer. Vitamin C also helps to prevent cholesterol buildup. Free radicals oxidize cholesterol, which causes it to build up in the arteries. Since vitamin C neutralizes free radicals, it prevents the oxidatin of cholesterol, and therefore, keeps it from building up in the arteries.

The mineral manganese is present in kale. This mineral helps the body to produce energy from carbohydrates and proteins. Manganese is also an antioxident, helping to protect the mitochondria from free-radical damage.

In addition to these benefits, kale is also a good source of fiber, calcium, and vitamin E. Adding kale to your diet can very much benefit your health, by adding these and other essential nutrients. Here's a recipe for a great soup using kale.

Caldo Verde

2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4-6 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced.
2 quarts cold water or chicken stock
1 lb linguica sausage
2 tsp. salt
pepper
1 lb kale rinsed, and thinly sliced.

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 3-4 minutes, until tender. Add the potatoes, and cook for another 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the water or chicken stock to the saucepan, bring to a boil, then cover the pan, and boil gently for about 20 minutes.

While the soup is boiling, remove the linguica from it's casing, and crumble into a large skillet. Cook over medium high heat until cooked through, and most of the fat has rendered out, about 10 minutes.

Mash or puree the potatoes. Add the linguica, and salt and pepper to taste, and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the kale, and cook for a few minutes more, until the kale is tender. Remove from the heat and serve.

Negative Calorie Diet
Negative Calorie Diet

Negative Calories - Weight Loss Update 5-30-06

Negative Calories

Well, it's been a while since my last update. For the past few weeks, there hasn't been much progress. I've been bouncing around between 212-214 pounds. That was expected, though. Every other time I've tried to lose weight, I seem to stall at about that point.

Anyhow, this time will be different. I will get down to 180 by the end of the year. I just have to increase my exercise, and really keep an eye on what I'm eating. If I can just eliminate fatty, sugary snacks, and replace them with healthy, negative calorie foods, then I'll be just fine. But mark my words, I will reach my goal.

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Negative Calories - Weight Loss Update, 4-24-06

It's another week gone, and guess what? Yes, another two pounds gone. I started 3 weeks ago at 220, and I'm down to 214. I guess eating negative calorie foods even in small amounts does help. Let me give you an idea of what I've been eating to lose this weight.

Breakfast: Usually a bowl of cereal (preferably something without a lot of sugar), or a bowl of oatmeal, or some yogurt. I usually also drink a glass of orange juice.

Snack: At 10:00 AM or so, I usually have a snack of either carrots or tomatoes (both negative calorie foods). 5-6 pieces of carrot, or about 6-9 grape tomatoes.

Lunch: Half of a tuna sandwich, a couple of cookies (gotta have something sweet), an apple, and a 5.5oz can of fruit juice (with no sugar added).

Snack: Another snack at 3:00, some more fruit. Grapes, or some frozen fruit... peaches, strawberries, or pineapple are good.

Dinner: 3-4 ounces of meat, some mashed potatoes, salad, and some corn.

So far, this seems to be working. If I just add some more negative calorie foods to the diet, and start exercising like I should, the weight should come off even faster.

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Negative Calories - Weight Loss Update, 4-17-06

Negative Calories

Well, it's been another week, and another 2 pounds gone. What is somewhat surprising is that I didn't even exercise this week. All I did was continue with the negative calorie foods as snacks, and adding some negative calorie foods to my meals. But it certainly seems to be working.

If I keep losing weight at this rate, I'll reach my goal of 180 pounds a few months earlier than I'd planned, around the end of August instead of December.

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Negative Calories - Weight Loss Update

Negative Calories

Well, it's been a week since I decided to lose some weight. When I stepped onto the scale Saturday morning, it stopped at.... 218 pounds. That's 2 pounds lost in 1 week, which is actually more than I'd hoped to lose. So, my weight loss plan is working.

I've changed my eating habits a bit. Instead of snacking on chips and beef sticks, I'm snacking on foods with negative calories, like carrots, tomatoes, peaches, and grapes. Instead of drinking a liter of Mountain Dew every day, I'm drinking more water, and green tea.

I've also started some light exercise, walking two tenths of a mile on the treadmill every weekday (well, I did miss a couple of days last week), and doing some very light weight lifting, (3 pound weights). Over the course of the year, I will be increasing the distance on the treadmill to 1 mile per day, and every few weeks, I will move to progressively heavier weights, hopefully up to 15 pounds by the end of the year.

Considering how well the first week went, I'm looking forward to seeing the results in upcoming weeks.

Negative Calories

Negative Calories

Negative Calories

If you're like me, you've probably grown up eating tuna on sandwiches, and there are a lot of good reasons to. As well as having a negative calorie effect, tuna also has many other health benefits.

Tuna, like several other fish, contain the beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. These fatty acids are essential for our health, yet the body does not produce them, they must be obtained from food. Omega-3 fatty acids benefit your cardiovascular system, by helping to prevent blood clots, helping to prevent erratic heartbeats, and improving the ratio of HDL (good cholesterol) to LDL (bad cholesterol). Omega-3s help to lower the amount of lipids in the bloodstream. They can also increase the activity of endothelium-derived nitric oxide, which helps the arteries to relax and dilate, improving blood flow. Some research shows that omega-3s can also help to prevent the damaging effects of sunburn as well as skin cancer.

Tuna is also a good source of vitamin B6, which helps to lower the levels of homocysteine, a compound which can damage the walls of the arteries.

Selenium, which is found in tuna, is a component of an antioxidant, glutathione peroxidase, which helps to keep the liver healthy and functioning properly, detoxifying and cleaning harmful compounds out of the body. Also, selenium can help to prevent cancer and heart disease.

Tuna has been eaten since people began to fish, and is still extremely popular, and with good reason. It's a very tasty fish, and is very beneficial to our health.

TUNA AU GRATIN:

1 Tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup fontina cheese, shredded
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup milk
3 6oz. cans of tuna, drained
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium skillet, melt the butter or margarine. Add the sliced onion, and cook over medium high heat until the onion turns golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove the onions from the heat and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup of the fontina cheese, the mayonnaise, milk, and tuna. Spread the tuna mixture evenly in the bottom of an 8x8 inch baking pan. Spread the sauteed onions on top of the tuna mixture.

Combine the bread crumbs with the remaining cheese, and sprinkle on top of the tuna mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven, and serve.

4 Servings
Negative Calories

Negative Calories

Negative Calories

Well, I've decided that it's finally time for me to drop a few pounds. Last Saturday (4-1-06), I weighed in at 220 pounds. My goal is pretty modest, I want to get down to 180 pounds by the end of the year. I think that goal is attainable that means I only have to lose a little less than 4 1/2 pounds per month.

I don't plan on going on a full blown diet, but I will do my best to cut back on unhealthy snacks, and replace them with healthy foods, preferably fruits and vegetables with negative calories. I also intend to eat smaller portions at lunch and dinner.

As far as exercise, I plan on starting slowly. Weekdays, I'll be walking on our treadmill, only .1 or .2 miles to start, working up to 1 mile a day by the end of the year. Saturdays and Sundays, I'll be walking a mile in a nearby park. I'll also be doing some light arm exercises, beginning with 3 pound weights, and working my way up to 15 pounds by the end of the year.

So, that's my goal for this year, and my plan to get there. Light exercise, increasing throughout the year, and eating more negative calorie food. I'll be posting the results periodically on this blog. So check back to see how much weight I've been able to take off.

The Negative Calorie Diet is a great book if you want to learn more about the negative calorie diet, and losing weight with negative calorie foods.

Negative Calories