Foods and Drinks to Be Avoided in a Diet Plan for Pregnancy

If you are one of those expectant mothers who are now conscious of what they eat, a diet plan for pregnancy can come in handy. Through this, you can keep track of what you are eating and you can be assured that you get the right amount of vitamins and nutrients if you follow your diet plan. In devising one, you must know what foods to eat and what to avoid. Because a developing baby is delicate and vulnerable, you have to be mindful of what you eat so as not to harm your baby. However, you have to pay close attention to the food that you consume. There might be times that you eat certain meat or fish that you think you are already getting the proper nutrients when in fact you are not. Choosing the correct type of food plays an important role in your diet.

Fish should be included in a diet plan for pregnancy because it contains omega 3 fatty acids and iron beneficial for pregnant mothers and growing babies. However, there are certain types of fish that you should avoid due to high content of mercury and other pollutants. Swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish and shark are those types of fish that you should exclude from your diet. Sushi, oysters and raw fish should also be avoided because they may have harmful bacteria. On the other hand, fish such as mahi mahi and wild salmon are good options.

Milk and dairy products are also included in the diet plan. However, some products should be avoided because of harmful bacteria. Listeria is a harmful bacterium that can sometimes be found in food items. Soft cheeses stored in the refrigerator can contain Listeria so you should avoid eating this. Hot dogs and cold cuts should also be avoided because of possible Listeria contamination. Another harmful bacterium found in food is salmonella. Raw eggs should be avoided as these may contain this bacterium. It is also found in meat that is not well cooked. In order to avoid this, beef and other meats should be cooked well, that is, until no pinkish color can be seen.

Alcohol is a big no-no in a diet plan for pregnancy. It affects the baby's brain and overall growth. Birth defects can happen because of alcohol so there should be complete avoidance. Coffee intake on the other hand is still debatable up to date. More than a cup of coffee per day may harm the baby. Some believe that caffeine intake of less than a cup per day is not harmful although studies show that there is minimal risk to the fetus. It is best that you avoid it as well. Instead of these drinks, fruit juices and milk are greatly suggested. Also avoid processed foods and unhealthy fats and oils so that you will have a healthy body and a healthy baby.

Drink Tea - Train Your Taste Buds to Prefer Healthy Food and Drink

There is an ancient Latin saying, De gustibus non est disputandum, meaning that there is no disputing about tastes. Is this statement true? Perhaps it is true to a point, but in this article I will argue the opposite--that there is a degree to which taste and preferences in food and drink have an objective component to them. In particular, preferring sweet, salty, but bland foods leads us to make poor health and nutritional choices. In addition, I will argue that drinking tea actually retrains your taste buds to prefer food and drink which is healthier for you.

The Evolutionary History of Human Taste:

Humans evolved in an environment where certain foods were scarce. Our ancestors faced conditions where it was often difficult to consume enough calories and protein to get through the day; salt was also often a limiting factor. An active lifestyle in the hot sun leads to intense sweating and a great need to replenish salt and other electrolytes. It is no mystery then why we prefer sweet, fatty, and salty foods. The savory or umami flavor is a signal that a food is protein-rich, which ensured that we got enough protein daily, and our preference for sweet and fatty foods helped ensure that we consumed enough calorie-rich foods.

Food in Our Modern World:

The conditions we live in nowadays are vastly different from those faced by our ancestors. Calories, especially those from sugar, refined starch, and fat, are abundant, and many people consume too many calories daily, leading to epidemics of obesity, type II diabetes, and other problems associated with poor diet. MSG enables nutrient-free foods to fool our taste buds into perceiving these foods as nutritious and protein-rich. Our preference for sweet, fatty, and salty foods leads us to seek out highly processed foods, devoid of other essential nutrients. Our diet is low in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, not to mention the myriad of healthful phytochemicals that function as antioxidants or have other health-promoting properties.

Tea Offers a Solution to This Conundrum:

When people discuss the health benefits of tea, they usually focus on the chemical components of tea itself. While some of these have been studied extensively and demonstrated by rigorous research to have tangible benefits to human health, there is another, much overlooked way in which drinking tea can promote health. Tea is a bitter and aromatic drink. In stark contrast to the processed foods dominating our modern society, tea is almost completely devoid of sweetness and saltiness, and contains no fat. The predominant flavor in tea is bitterness, and the main complexity and depth of tea lies in its aroma, the beautiful smells that rise from the cup and ultimately define the experience of drinking a cup of tea.

Do Not Sweeten Your Tea; Confront Your Fear of Bitterness:

People often sweeten their tea and dilute it with milk because they find its bitterness unpleasant. Humans have a natural tendency to be cautious with bitter foods--and for good reason--most poisons are bitter. But we can naturally grow to enjoy bitter foods after we have been exposed to them for a period of time. Tea is no exception.

Bitterness is not to be feared. If we train ourselves, we will come to prefer bitter foods. It is actually a well-known phenomena that over their lifetimes, most people come to move away from sweet foods and develop a greater appreciation for bitter and aromatic foods. This development serves us well as many healthy vegetables are bitter, and many spices and other aromatic foods have numerous health benefits.

Our environment has changed considerably since the ancient times in which our innate biological taste preferences were formed. We would now be well-served to seek out foods that are less sweet, less salty, and more intensely aromatic. By drinking tea, and by refraining from sweetening our tea or adding milk to it, we will come to naturally prefer those foods which are healthiest for us in the context of our modern world. We will naturally shun the empty calories and chemical additives of processed foods, and develop an appreciation for truly natural flavors and aromas.

This change has the potential to yield even greater health benefits than any chemical in tea ever could. Drink up!

Outdoor Wedding Reception Food and Drinks - Money Saving Methods

Wedding Reception Food

For those who opt for an outdoor wedding reception, there are several ways food can be served. Following are some popular and money saving methods for serving food at an outdoor wedding reception:

    Barbecue. At a casual reception, it is common to serve barbecue items such as hamburgers, chicken, or ribs. To make your barbecue buffet-style, ask your guests to forego a wedding gift in exchange for bringing their own special dish to accompany the barbecue. Although, if you do this, be sure to confirm with your guests beforehand so that you don't have everyone bringing the same dish.
    Buffet. Ask your guests to bring a favored dish instead of a wedding gift. If cost is an issue, serve vegetable, cheese, fruit, and meat trays with dips and other snacks rather than hosting a huge meal.
    Theme. Create a theme to base your reception meal around, such as Mexican or Hawaiian. Choose an outdoor theme that is simple, easy and affordable.

Wedding Reception Drinks

The bar tab can often account for one of the largest wedding expenses. Following are tips on serving drinks at your reception without incurring a major expense:

    Semi-open bar. Offer several beverages for free, such as beer and all non-alcoholic drinks, but have guests pay a nominal fee for mixed drinks, such as a dollar per drink to cover some of the expense.
    Bring your own. Request that guests bring their own drinks to the outdoor reception in lieu of bringing a wedding gift.
    Bulk purchase. Buy your spirits in bulk from a wholesaler.
    Multiple purchases. Purchase the drinks over a time period rather than all at once to spread the cost and payments.

The beauty of hosting one is that it provides the flexibility to be casual or formal. A more casual theme will leave you with more room to reduce the expenses associated with the wedding reception food and drinks.

Save Money on Happy Hours and Food and Drink Specials

At times when everybody lives on a tighter budget looking for money saving opportunities is high priority. People still love to go out, meet friends after work, enjoy a good dinner but it can get expensive to do that. Happy hours and discounted food specials are really popular among people every age group. Restaurants are trying to fulfill that need with discounted menus and happy hours. But discovering these deals is not that easy. Happy hours are not really advertised that much and finding out who has specials and when is almost impossible. Even online you have to dig deep.

Still, looking online for coupons is really popular. But not everybody wants to spend hours on the computer to search for the best deal and then it still needs to be printed out and taken to the restaurants. To be honest, not everybody likes to show up with paper clippings. Another way to look for bargains is to search local papers but most restaurants do not want to spend the money on costly ads anymore.

Membership programs offer members to save money and to find deals online. Restaurants and bars often post specials to spoil members with amazing food and drink deals. Members don't have to clip out coupons anymore, they simply show their membership card to receive specials - it is like carrying a whole coupon book in the wallet. Some of these membership programs have a mobile phone application what makes it even easier to find the perfect deal on the go.

Restaurants and bars have always been looking for a way to advertise their happy hours to attract new guests. Customer satisfaction and appreciation is their top priority but it can be expensive to reach those goals. Restaurants have to look for a new way of advertising to reach out to new customers. One of the best and cost effective ways is being spoken about and recommended in blogs and other social media outlets.

It is very popular to share experiences on social media sites and people rely more and more on reviews and tips coming from sites like yelp and facebook. You know of a good restaurant that has good food and happy hour offers, you pass it on. Restaurants and bars can be certain that people will recommend the places where they get their specials and extended happy hours because all of us just love bargains and if you can enjoy more for less cash, that is called a real deal.

Some Low Carb Foods Can Make You Happy-Boost Your Mood With the Right Low Carb Diet Foods and Drinks

For low carb diet foods to make you happy, they need to be the right kinds of low carb foods and drinks. If you're reading this and thinking about things like ice cream, cookies or sweet rolls as foods that make you feel good, that is not where we're going with this. Also, we're not talking about low carb snack foods that are usually lacking in any real nutrition. To understand precisely what we're discussing, let's take a look at how certain nutrients affect the brain, the nervous system and your overall mood.

Let's say you've got an important business presentation and your nervous about standing up in front of a group of your peers. Which of these would you choose to calm your anxiety?

A. A diet soda

B. A glass of milk

C. A handful of Gummy Bears

D. A low carb food formula in a health drink

Believe it or not, C is a correct answer if you want a quick fix that's not really very good for you in the long run. In some people, sugar from candy acts as a short energy boost followed by a quick drop while some people go straight to the crash. However, D, a low carb food formula in a health drink is the best choice. This is because liquids are digested more rapidly and absorbed right away. Assuming that your low carb diet food health drink is made with natural ingredients, including whole foods with complex carbohydrates, then you will gain the most calming effect.

If you thought a glass of milk was the best choice for relaxing, you should know that mixing protein with carbohydrates reduces the carb's calming properties. So, next time you are eating a high carb cereal, don't put milk on it if you want to feel less anxious as you get ready to face the day.

Drinking a diet soda with artificial sweeteners is the worst choice you could make. Low carb diet foods and drinks that contain aspartame and saccharin do anything but calm the brain and nervous system. Avoiding these chemical ingredients in low carb foods or drinks is always a good idea, but especially if you are trying to relax.

The bottom line is that when you want to calm down, you can eat high carb foods, like potatoes, pasta, breads and other starches, or you can drink a naturally formulated low carb food mixture that will give you more benefits. Not only will your brain and nervous system get quick anxiety reduction, your body will get complex carbohydrates it can use for long lasting energy.

An ancient Chinese proverb states, "In times of stress, sweeten the tea". Our ancestors commonly consumed a spoonful of honey before bed to induce restful sleep. This may run contrary to the popular opinion that sugar gives you quick energy. Instead, recent research suggests that, "all carbohydrates, including sugar and starches have the opposite effect on most ordinary people" (Food-Your Miracle Medicine by Jean Carper-Harper Collins Publishers-1993). There are numerous experiments that show carbohydrates to be more like mild tranquilizers than pick-me-ups.

How some high carb foods act as sedatives, according to experts, could be due to complicated biochemical reactions. One theory is that carbs clear the way for the brain to receive more tryptophan, an amino acid that gets converted into serotonin. Now, researchers are learning more about the ability of serotonin to act as a calming chemical in the brain and nervous system. That's why you hear about people with low serotonin levels developing greater stress. If you are eating low carb foods on a regular basis and feeling some nervousness or overly revved up energy, make sure you are getting tryptophan and serotonin by eating the right low carb diet foods.