The Food Site

It’s been awhile since I did a food trivia post. Well, since I did loads of fat burning food, foods to prevent cancer, etc, I might as well, do one on foods good for men, as in, you know, to keep things ‘up’ when it’s supposed to be and to keep the prostrate healthy too so that you can maintain the flow when visiting the loo. (be patient, women, I will post a separate one for women’s health later, now just read this and impart it to your husband/father/ brother/ etc)

You know, when a man reach middle age (or even earlier, depending on your health condition), one of the main health problems that could happen is the prostrate problem. It could lead to enlarged prostrate or worse, prostrate cancer. Then, there is also the more embarrassing problem which may end up with you searching for viagra online.

But, you can actually prevent this from happening. You only need to be more selective in your foods and choose foods for prostrate health. There are a lot of foods that are good for prostrate health (and sexual health too) that you can eat on a daily basis to prevent any future suffering of prostrate problems. Here are some of the foods:

Foods good for prostrate health

1. Soy and soy products like tofu

Research has shown that soy food products like soya milk and tofu (beancurd) is really good for prostrate health. Instead of drinking milk, why not substitute it with soy milk? It is healthier and better for your prostrate.

2. Fruits and Vegetables that contain Quercetin and lycopene

This would include vegetables like broccoli, kale and cabbage. Fruits that have this compounds are grapefruit, berries, melons and tomatoes. So, in short, do add more vegetables and fruits to your diet for the sake of your prostrate health. Even red wine is good as it is derived from grapes that has lycopene too, but it is better to eat the grapes than to go for the wine because alcohol is not good for prostrate health.

3. Water and clear vegetable broths

Yes, water is always good for health, especially so for prostrate health because it helps to flush out the toxins in your body and get things going as smoothly as possible. Clear vegetable broths are also good as it is full of nutrients from the vegetables and because it is liquid, it also helps to flush out your kidney and bladder to prevent any possible blockage.

Now, other than consuming the above mentioned foods more regularly, it is important that you try to limit some foods to prevent prostrate problems. Or if you already have a prostrate problem, these are the foods to limit or cut out of your diet completely:

1. Meat  – because this triples your risk of prostrate enlargement

2. Milk – because this doubles your risk (thus, it is better to drink soy milk as substitute which is good for prostrate health)

As with any advice for a healthier lifestyle, do try to cut down your caffeine and alcohol consumption. Instead, drink more herbal caffeine-free teas or water, eat more fruits and vegetables and add grains to your diet for a healthy body, healthy prostrate and no worries of any disappointment between the sheets and you won’t ever need to furtively search for viagra or cialis.

Much has been said about the good and bad of drinking coffee. The recent onslought of advertisements by Nescafe claiming that coffee is good for you because it contains anti-oxidants made me decide that it’s time I do some digging around to find out the truth behind all these claims.

Let’s first look at the nutrition value of coffee without looking into the various claims by various researchers and scientists.

Nutrition value of Coffee

If we talk about 2g of regular instant powdered coffee:

• it is low in calories, about 5 calories
• it is low in cholesterol
• it is low in fatty acids
• it has ZERO vitamins
• it contains potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and small amounts of calcium
• it contains 62.8mg of caffeine

Now, we come to the findings and research by various scientists and experts.

Pros and Cons of Drinking Coffee

According to WebMD, researches have found that drinking coffee could possibly help lower your risk of diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, colon cancer, cavities and treat headaches too.  However, the article also maintained that  if you consume more coffee than your body could handle, it could result in adverse effects such as nervousness, trembling hands and rapid heartbeat. Coffee, although low in cholesterol, was known to raise cholesterol levels in certain people and this could result in artery clogging which could lead to heart attacks.

Contrary to the WebMD article’s claims, a Harvard research showed that coffee consumption has not effect on cancer in any way at all. However, it concurs with the findings that drinking coffee has been beneficial in reducing the risks of Alzheimenr’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, diabetes mellitus type 2, cirrhosis of the liver and gout.

Coffee is also known to cause heartburn and other related illnesses and yes, it does contain anti-oxidants that could prevent cell damage but that is very minimal. In fact, research has shown that more than 1,000 chemicals are found in roasted coffee and many of these chemicals are rodent carcinogens.

Doctors have advised those with heart problems and pregnant mothers to limit the intake of coffee and for a good reason too. That’s because coffee contains caffeine and caffeine is found to cause an increase in the stiffening of arterial walls which is not good for people with heart problems.

Also,  drinking coffee can result in iron deficiency anemia in mothers and babies. It won’t even help if the mother consume supplemental iron because coffee would block the absorption of iron.

In conclusion, I think that all these contradictory researches only goes to show that coffee isn’t all that bad but it’s not all that good either. If you want anti-oxidants, fresh fruits and vegetables contain loads of anti-oxidants that is proven to boosts your immune system and also contains loads of vitamins and minerals.

You don’t need to fall for the ridiculous Nescafe ads on getting your anti-oxidants from coffee when you can get it from other natural sources that are healthier and better.

Also, if you enjoy a cuppa every once in a while, it’s not all bad. When it comes to our health and food, moderation is always the key. So, if you consume coffee in moderation it probably will not cause much bad side effects on you. Still, it all boils down to how your body takes it.

For example, my husband has a heart problem and he only needs to drink a cup of Nescafe before he suffers chest pains for the next few days. So, he has to cut out coffee entirely from his diet.  As for me, I don’t drink coffee either because after years of over-indulging in Nescafe and other coffee brands, my body finally puts a stop to it all. Now, a drink of really rich coffee (such as Nescafe, Expresso and brewed coffee) would give me heart palpitations, shortness of breath, trembling hands and nervousness.

So, whether you are a coffee addict or simply loves the taste of coffee, do remember that coffee is not all that good for you but it’s also not all bad. Enjoy the taste and the aroma by all means but do remember, moderation is the key.