Fresh vs Frozen

We all know that eating more fruits and vegetables is a good way to become healthier and
lose fat. They're packed with vitamins minerals and antioxidants which will prove your
immune system and help protect against heart disease and cancer. But even though most
people know this there's still the question of fresh versus frozen vegetables which are most
nutritious. So in theory vegetables and fruits that are in season and we're just picked will be
full of some vitamins and minerals. But this is only good to know if you live on a farm for us
folks we will and we have to offer second best options. So when we compare fresh versus
frozen foods we have to take into account the transportation and storage time involved in
both fresh fruits and vegetables that you can buy at the supermarket. I usually pick before
they ripe. That way they will ripe during transportation. But the problem is that this also
leaves less time to develop a full range of nutrients so depending on the type of fruit or
vegetable you're getting they will spend anywhere from a few days to several weeks on the
road before arriving at the supermarket. Then it all takes one to three days to be sold and
you can also store them for a few more days at home. So all the fresh produce you consume
at home isn't so fresh after all. But what about the frozen alternatives. They usually picked at
peak ripeness which means they're at their most nutritious state afterwards. Vegetables will
be washed blanched and frozen. The blanching involves putting the vegetables in boiling
water for a few minutes which is going to kill bacteria but this will also lower the Vitamin C
content on the food because vitamin C is not very heat resistant since the vegetables are
boiled water. There's also the risk of water soluble vitamins leaching out fruits on the other
hand won't be blanched because they will lose the furnace. Also in both cases no chemicals
are added befor freezing. So if we take into account the nutrient loss due to transportation
and fresh produce and the nutrient loss during blanching and frozen produce which is better
increasingly studies show that the nutritional content of both fresh and frozen fruits and
vegetables is very similar the nutrient loss from blanching is generally small and most frozen
options are just as healthy as their fresh counterparts or the supermarket the levels of a
vitamin a corrupt moist vitamin e which are all not affected by blanching are similar across
the world. What's even more interesting is that one study compared frozen fruits and
veggies to fresh ones that were stored in the fridge for three days. They found that in two
thirds of the cases the frozen types actually contain more antioxidants. This is definitely
good news for frozen fruits and vegetables which were long thought of as less healthy
probably because of all the frozen junk food at the supermarket which of course you should
definitely avoid. So whether you buy fresh or frozen will really depend on your convenience
taste and Budget. One more thing you should keep in mind it's important to remember how
you cook your food also matters. Like I said before vitamin C is sensitive to heat. And the
water soluble vitamins can reach out into water. Therefore steaming stir fry or microwave
your veggies will be your best option because it's quicker and uses less water.
Brown Sugar vs White Sugar
When you think about different foods like rice pasta or bread and how nutritious they are
usually the brown version is less processed and slightly more healthy. But is this true for
sugar as well. Will it make a difference in your diet if you add brown sugar to your coffee
instead of white sugar. To be honest no it's really only clever marketing that drives people to
buy brown sugar. In reality the only difference between the two is one tiny step in the
manufacturing process in regards to calories and nutrients. There is no significant difference
at all. To illustrate this let's look at how sugar is made. Most of it comes from the sugar cane
plant which grows for several months to up to two years. Once it's harvested machines and
extract the type of juice from the plants which is then boiled. The boiling process along with
the spinning centrifuge will crystallize the juice. And what you get is the brownish raw sugar.
Keep in mind that even though this type of sugar has a light brown color it's not the
traditional brown sugar you know. Not yet. Next the rationing will be put back into the
centrifuge and spun again until all the molasses which gives the sugar its brown color is
removed. At this point you have white sugar and this is where it gets interesting to make
brown sugar you actually processed white sugar again by adding the molasses back into the
mix which will also add the distinctive caramel taste the molasses also allows the sugar to
hold more moisture which makes it better for baking as you can see the manufacturing of
white and brown sugar is practically the same. And brown sugar is actually a tiny bit more
processed. But what about the nutritional value of both types. Are there any differences.
Technically yes but your body won't notice them. White table sugar is half glucose half
fructose which makes it 100 percent carbohydrate and will give you 16 calories per four
grams which is about the size of a normal teaspoon the same amount of brown sugar will
provide slightly more energy at 17 calories. That's because of the added molasses which also
includes tiny amounts of minerals like calcium potassium iron and magnesium but these
amounts are so small that the difference is not a practical health benefits. So the real
differences between brown and white sugar is not their energy value or nutrient content but
their taste and the effect on baked goods. In the end you should limit your intake of either of
them in your diet and instead get your carbs through more complex sources like rice
potatoes or whole grains.
Are Food Safe In Microwave
Microwave odds are extremely convenient. But even though are among the most common
kitchen items in the U.S. and Europe. People still fear that microwaving food reduces
nutrients or harms in other ways. But is this true. Is cooking with microwaves dangerous or
doesn't reduce the nutritional content of food. In this video I’ll answer these questions but
first we have to talk about what microwaves actually do and how they work. After all that
kind of seems like magic. Do you think microwave ovens basically turn electric energy into
electromagnetic waves which are called microwaves microwaves interact with the molecules
in the food and make them move faster which turns the energy into heat. It's the same
principle that you use when you try to make fire by rubbing sticks just that happens on the
molecular level since these waves are almost instantly available. Your food heats up a lot
quicker than if you had to heat up a pop or a pan. At this point the first question that will
come to mind probably are these micro waves harmful. The short answer is not if you have a
modern microwave or even though microwaves are technically electromagnetic radiation
this is not the same as atomic radiation which most people think of when they hear the
word each microwaves are non ionizing radiation which means they don't have enough
energy to damage chemical bonds or molecules. In fact non ionizing radiation are all around
us including cell phone waves are all one type of. Also keep in mind that microwave ovens
are made of metal which prevents the radiation from leaving the oven. So unless you still
have an old rusty one from the 70s the radiation is not an argument against using the next of
course is the question of whether microwave food kills the nutrients. To understand how
microwave cooking affects nutrient content of food you have to know that cooking food can
do different things usually to decrease the amount of vitamins in the food because some
arent very resistant. Vitamin C is a good example here. On the other hand certain nutrients
are actually made more available through heating food like beta carotene which is why
cooked carrots are often said to be more nutritious than raw ones. So if you want to see the
real effect microwave has on food, youll have to study each one individually because no one
has time for that. I will not give you a summary. The most important findings of studies done
with microwaves first the most important factors that lead to nutrient breakdown are either
high temperatures long cooking times or added water which can make water soluble
vitamins leach out of the food. These are risk factors are for all types of cooking and not just
microwave. In fact microwave ovens are sometimes actually seen superior to boiling or
heating your food in traditional ovens because the process is so much faster. There is one
study published in the journal of food Science that compares the effects of different cooking
methods on the anti oxidant contents and vegetables and it found that microwaving and
baking performed best while pressure cooking and boiling the worst. But there are also
studies which found that garlic which had been in micro wave for only a minute had fewer
cancer fighting compounds than when in a traditional oven another study found fewer anti
oxidants in broccoli after microwave. Are these arguments against microwaving food. In a
few cases like broccoli and garlic maybe. But for most foods they tend to compare very well
to other cooking methods. now one health concern that is valid is the use of cooking
containers in microwave ovens because microwave cooking also heats up the plastic in the
containers. This is the possibility of chemical leakage that means cooking with unsafe
containers can lead to cancer causing toxins leaking into your food. So just to be safe I
recommend you take your food out of non improved plastic container before you microwave
glass and ceramic are fine. Microwaves are generally safe and will probably make your life a
lot easier just like they were designed. There is no evidence that the radiation causes direct
harm and the overall nutrient content is reduced in Very few foods. So my advice to you is
that instead of worrying about the microwave and then worry about what you actually put
in it and make sure it's quality real food instead of processed junk.
Does Alchohol Affect Testosterone Levels
Alcohol can cause a variety of problems in the body. Everyone knows this That's also a huge
factor in our cultural and social life. So it would be unrealistic for me to tell all my students to
cut it out completely. In this video I want to talk about the effects of alcohol on testosterone
and how you can mitigate them. The first thing you need to know is that excessive alcohol
consumption and chronic alcohol abuse associated with decreased testosterone levels.
Various studies have supported this. For example we know that alcohol damages cells in the
testes that produce and secrete testosterone or that even though drinking alcohol results in
the release of endorphins these endorphins interfere with testosterone synthesis alcohol
also increases cortisol and hurts your deep sleep which is so important for testosterone
production. Now I know all this makes alcohol sound pretty bad but there are two things you
need to keep in mind. Dosage matters and the type of alcohol you consume also matters.
First dosage researchers have actually found that in dosages under one gram per kilogram of
body weight and men testosterone levels remain unchanged or even increased after drinking
one gram of alcohol is about five beers for one hundred and sixty five pound guy or seventy
five kilogram guy which is quite a bit to be honest I would probably stay more within the
range of two to three drinks just to be on the safe side because once you go over one gram
per kilogram of body mass things quickly go bad and you will experience the nasty side
effects. I talked about earlier. Next we have the question of what type of alcohol is best to
drink. And the answer is probably liquor and not beer. Why not beer. Because it's made of
hops which contains certain phytoestrogens that block testosterone production. Hard liquor
is usually made from other foods like vodka from potatoes. So you don't have this problem.
Now of course the dosage always matters a beer here and there is not going to ruin your
testosterone levels and stressing out about this is probably worse for you than relaxing and
not worrying about it too much. I just wanted to tell you that in theory hard liquor without a
lot of fruit and sugar is probably your best bet. A glass of vodka soda or even shots would fit
this category.