The 7 Healthiest Foods You're Not Eating, But Should

A little culinary adventure can add nutrients, fiber, and flavor to your diet.

Kimchi

Koreans are among the leanest and healthiest people on the planet. Could it have something to do with this spicy pickled cabbage, which they eat the way Americans eat French fries and baked potatoes? Eaten at almost every meal in Korea, kimchi is packed with vitamins and immune system-boosting phytochemicals. Its main ingredient, fermented cabbage, contains lactic acid, which helps with digestion and may weaken infections. Several years ago, kimchi made big news when Korean researchers found chickens infected with the avian flu recovered more quickly after being fed an extract of kimchi. More recently, a study at the University of New Mexico suggested that eating cabbage might help ward off breast cancer. Kimchi is low in calories and rich in dietary fiber.

Pearled barley

The chewy, nutty hulled grain used in soups and bread and as a substitute for rice is quickly becoming a favorite of people trying to lose weight. It’s made up of 43 percent slow-digesting carbohydrates and 12 percent of a fiber known as a “resistant starch” because it goes through the small intestine without being digested at all. In 2008, a Swedish study showed that people who ate barley bread as part of their dinner felt much less hungry than those who munched on plain white bread—and the hunger-quenching effect lasted for more than 10 hours.

Pickled lunch herring

Keep a jar of pickled herring chunks in your refrigerator for a quick omega-3 lunch with crackers. It’s an easy way to get more fish into your weekly diet without the hassle of cooking fresh fish. Herring, essentially a larger sardine, is still small enough to be low in contaminants. And it’s a good source of EPA and DHA as well as calcium.

Shirataki noodles

These noodles made from the root of an Asian yam consist of a no-calorie soluble fiber, so they are a healthier alternative to egg noodles or pastas high in fast-digesting carbohydrates. Studies show that the fiber, called glucomannan, helps lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides and may even help lower body weight. Researchers say that just 1 gram of this fiber can significantly slow the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream after a high-carbohydrate meal. Because they have little flavor of their own, shirataki noodles take on the flavor of sauces and herbs from the dishes to which they are added. Try them in vegetable salads, soups, and stir-fry dishes.

Paddlefish caviar

When you’re trying to get more omega-3 fatty acids into your diet, expanding your repertoire of egg dishes can help. We’re talking fish eggs as well as those from chickens. Caviar contains three times as much omega-3 as salmon does. Spooning 2 teaspoons of paddlefish caviar into your omelet just before folding it over will give you a tasty morning boost of fish oil. And if you use omega-3 eggs from chickens who are given feed rich in omega-3s, you’ll get a double shot.

Greek yogurt

Called "yiaourti" in Greece, this is a thicker, creamier yogurt because the liquid (whey) has been strained away. It contains probiotic cultures and has twice the protein of regular yogurt and fewer carbohydrates. It is lower in lactose, too.

Flaxseeds

These trendy seeds are one of the few plant sources of healthful omega-3 fatty acids. Toss these tiny brown seeds into cereal, yogurt, soups and stews. Sprinkle them on top of ice cream or on slices of apple coated with peanut butter. My kids call this “ants on apples.”

By Jeff Csatari, Men’s Health contributing editor and author of The Belly Off! Diet
Source: health.msn.com

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7 Facts and Myths about Germs in Our Daily Life

Germs are everywhere. We always clean up our selves in our daily life for distancing ourselves from germs. But, before you claim yourselves as a super-sterile, check the fact and myth out:

1. Myth: Hand Drying Machine is the best way to drain up your hands.

Fact : Hand Drying Machine can actually increase the number of bacteria on your hands after washing hands. Bacteria can growth in the hand drying machine because this area is very warm and humid. When the dryer is turned on, the air that comes out could be full of bacteria. Tissue and Paper Tissue are still the best way to dry hands, because this can remove the bacteria physically from your hands.

2. Myth: Hand Sanitizer and Alcohols can replace the function of washing hands.

Fact: Alcohol and hand sanitizer has been proven effective for cleaning bacteria from relatively clean hands. However Sanitizer less powerful to remove germs which are contained on extra dirty hands and oily. For this one, water is still the best. Also, don’t forget that alcohol can make hands dry, so in the long period time, the number of bacteria is increases continually. Instead, only use hand sanitizer at the emergency situation or no water.

3. Myth: During a toothbrush is placed far from toilet, bacteria won’t grow up.

Fact: If you like to keep your toothbrush in bathroom, there’s one you need to know. When you are flushing the toilet, water tight rotation will make bacteria sprayed up into the air and stayed until 2 hours afterwards. Every time you brush your teeth, the germs which stick on a toothbrush will go into your mouth! Well, you have two choices : close down the toilet lid when flushing, or store your tooth brush outside the bathroom.

4. Myth: All germs are danger for healthy.

Fact: Apparently there are some bacteria which benefits the body. This type of bacteria are usually found in the group in charge of maintaining the ecosystem in the particular body part. Some parts of body which are inhabited natural bacterial flora or good bacteria are stomach and vagina.

5. Myth: Using soap together would make us share the germs.

Research shows that bacteria don’t necessary move from one person to another through a soap. Some experts argue, it is because soap – especially anti-bacterial soaps- have an ability to clean themselves. Beside that, the bacteria whom you are obtained from the soap would be shed when you wash your hands with water.

6.Myth: Trying cosmetics in the shopping center is safe to do, because the covers or the samples is always cleaned all days.

Research shows that cosmetic samples at makeup stores save many Stapylococci and E.coli, even after the end of the lipstick or powder is thrown/ cleaned.

7. Myth: Foods that fall could still be eaten as long as they haven’t been 5 seconds.

The motto “hasn’t been five seconds” actually should be thrown far away. When a slice of cake fell to the floor, microorganisms directly invade the cake .What’s worse is if the floor is wet. The germs which is nested will be more.

Reference: Health Today; May 2007 (with arrangement)
Images by Google

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7 Most Recommended Indonesian Low-Priced Foods in Jakarta

Hello, food lovers! This is the first time we made an article about food. Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia. Indeed, Jakarta is full of peoples. So, there are many kinds of foods. In this chance, we wanna share about 7 most recommended Indonesian low-priced foods in Jakarta according to our site (fnflife). If you go to Indonesia someday and want to be more sufficient, you may consider these foods to be your meal. Check it out, friends!

7. Gorengan

Gorengan means fried food. This food is made by frying it. There are many kinds of gorengan: tempe goreng (means fried tempe), tahu goreng (means fried tofu), bakwan goreng (means fried bakwan), cireng, lisol, pisang goreng (means fried banana), singkong goreng (means fried cassava), etc. A gorengan seller may not sell gorengans completely. This food is very popular for students in Jakarta. You can find gorengan near schools, offices, or traditional markets. However, there are some issues about this food, such as the use of plastic in the dough and repeatedly used oil.

Price: about Rp300-700,00/piece (about 1$ for 13-30 pieces)


6. Rujak and Buah Dingin

Rujak and buah dingin are foods which contain fruits, such as pineapple, melon, watermelon, sweet potato, cucumber, water apple, mango, kedondong, and papaya, which are mixed. Rujak is divided into 2 kinds, rujak serut (rujak) and rujak bebek. Rujak serut serves sliced fruits (notice that there are some fruits that can't be sliced, such as water apple and cucumber), while rujak bebek serves mashed fruits. The significant difference between rujak and buah dingin is that buah dingin mostly doesn't use nuts and shrimp paste as one of the sauce ingredients. Rujak and buah dingin is suitable to eat in the afternoon. The use of rotten matters and dye for shrimp paste is the only issue of rujak.

Price: about Rp3000-7000,00/portion (about 0.3-0.8$ a portion)


5. Chicken Porridge

Chicken porridge ("bubur ayam" in Indonesian) is usually made of porridge, fried onion, nuts, sliced chicken, crackers, chips, curry sauce, soysauce. It is very cheap and highly liked by the poor. The issue of this food is the use of dye for crackers.

Price: about Rp2000-5000,00/portion (about 0.2-0.6$ a portion)


4. Bakso

Bakso is a food which contains meatballs as its primary ingredient. Other ingredients include mihun, noodles, and vegetables. Meatballs used in bakso are made from beef but there is an issue saying that the sellers use rat flesh as the component to make the meatballs. Then, another issue says formalin and borax are used to preserve and make the meatballs more elastic. However, that is an old issue.

Price: about Rp4000-7000,00/portion (about 0.4-0.8$ a portion)


3. Ketoprak

Ketoprak is one of the most popular Jakarta traditional foods. Ketoprak is made of nuts, salt, garlic, brown sugar, soysauce, and chillies as the sauce, as well as rice cake/ketupat, angel hair, tofu, cucumber, fried onion, bean sprouts, and crackers as the content. You can find ketoprak sellers on many streets, especially in residential population area. The issues of this food are the use of formalin for tofu, the use of dye for crackers. Besides those, ketoprak is a healthy food based on its ingredients.

Price: about Rp6000-8000,00/portion (about 1$ a portion)


2. Chicken Noodles

Chicken noodles, a.k.a bakmi ayam (Indonesian), is one of the most popular foods in Jakarta. There are various prices for this food depending on the place where the seller sells. It contains noodles, chicken, vegetables, etc., based on the seller. The issue of this food the exceeding use of MSG. You can ask the seller not to give MSG too much or even not at all.

Price: about Rp6000-13000,00/portion (about 0.7-1.4$ a portion)


1. Mie Tek-Tek

Mie tek-tek is a kind of food which encompasses fried rice, fried mihun, fried noodles, fried kwetiauw, and telor sayur. This food is liked by most people because it is so delicious and can make you full up. Mie tek-tek is mostly sold at night. For Jakarta grassroots, mie tek-tek is preferred to be their dinner. The issues of this food are the use of dye for crackers and the use of MSG which is exceeding. But, don't be afraid, you can ask the seller not to give MSG too much or even not at all.

Price: about Rp7000-9000,00/portion (about 0.8-1$ a portion)


However, actually, there are still many Indonesian low-priced foods that are sold in Jakarta, such as nasi ulam, siomay, batagor, gado-gado, soto ayam and pempek. The foods we mentioned above are the foods which are widely distributed in Jakarta and we think the most favorite for all Jakarta people. Notice that the foods we recommend are sold by using carts on the side of streets, not in houses.

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7 Most Things That The Indonesian Exactly Know Wrong But They Still Do

It is lamentable that we have already known something which is bad, but we still do it, moreover, we are educated people who have been taught which is good and which is bad. These are the 7 most things that the Indonesian know wrong but they still do them based on our site (fnflife):

7. Saying Birthday Greeting to Someone At 12.00 a.m.

We already know that everybody was mostly born at different times. Imagine that Edward was born at 04.00 a.m. and Bella at 01.00 p.m.. Then, we should greet them birthday greeting at the correct time, right? Properly we greet Edward at 04.00 a.m.. and Bella at 01.00 p.m.. But, we have discovered that the Indonesian mostly greet someone at 12.00 a.m. which is probably not the correct time when he/she was born. It is funny, isn't it? Are you one of them? If yes, from now, ask your friends' born time.

6. Consuming Too Much Monosodium glutamate (MSG)

Monosodium glutamate, also known as sodium glutamate and MSG, is a sodium salt of the naturally occurring non-essential amino acid glutamic acid. It is used as a food additive and is commonly marketed as a flavour enhancer. It has the HS code 29224220 and the E number E621.Trade names of monosodium glutamate include Ajinomoto, Vetsin, and Accent. It was once predominantly made from wheat gluten, but is now mostly made from bacterial fermentation; it is acceptable for celiacs following a gluten-free diet. (Wikipedia)

The explanation above describes the definition of MSG. Dr. Russell Blaylock says that MSG causes a cancer cell to become more mobile, and that enhances metastasis, or spread. Probably there may be other negative effects caused by MSG. If you go around Indonesia, you will see many foods containing MSG as their ingredient. Even many food producers hide MSG under many different names in order to fool those who catch on.



5. Passing The Street When The Red Traffic Light is On

Why don't the Indonesian care for their and the other's safety? It is priceless, isn't it?

4. Using Drugs and Drinking Alcoholic Drinks, etc.

Using drugs and drinking alcohol, etc. is a big phenomenon in Indonesia. There are many seminars, advertisements, announcements, and advice from the family about the effects of them. But, why are there many Indonesian people still do those things? Where is the fault?

3. Smoking

See the picture above? It is clearly told that smoking can cause cancer, heart attacks, impotence and pregnancy and fetal disorders. We think only crazy people don't know the meaning of that statement. But, why do the Indonesian still like smoking? Moreover, in public places where it is prohibited for smoking they still take their cigarettes and smoke without caring about other people around them.


2. Throwing Garbage to The Improper Place

We will not explain further. We think everyone has known about this thing. You can see, for example, Jakarta--the capital city of Indonesia--streets have much litter. We already understand the impacts of throwing garbage improperly, such as triggering flood and generating pollution. So, why do we still do it?

1. Being Scared by Ghosts

There's no even one murder case in Indonesia which is caused by a ghost--pocong, kuntilanak, gondoruwo, sundel bolong, or same kinds of those. So, why are the Indonesian still scared by something that exactly cannot harm them? Why aren't they scared by something that exactly can harm them, such as drugs, smoking, and careless actions?

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