Benefits of Seafood

Health benefits of Seafood:
• Best sources of good fats, vitamins, and minerals to promote good health can actually be found on different seafood.

• The fats contained on fishes and fish oils are high in Omega-3 fatty acids. These are polyunsaturated fatty acids known to protect the body against heart diseases. This is known as "good fats" that helps in lowering cholesterol, decreasing blood clotting factors, increasing beneficial relaxation in larger arteries and blood vessels, and decreasing inflammatory process in blood vessels.

• One serving of fish two to three times a week can actually lessen arthritis symptoms by fighting inflammation, decreasing fatigue and reducing morning stiffness.

• The Omega-3 fatty acids found in different types of fishes and shellfish can be very vital during an unborn child's development in the womb.

• People suffering from depression and not responding to anti-depressant medications can get relief from Omega-3 fatty acids present in sea food.

• Seafood are rich in vitamins and mineral, aside from being very low in fat content that provides healthy skin and promotes good eyesight because vitamins contained in shellfish aid in formation and use of red blood cells and muscles.

• Children who receive at least 300mg of fish oil a day can undergo noteworthy improvement of asthma symptoms.

• The Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are the essential components responsible for protection against cancer.

• Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly those of the omega-3 family, can actually slow mental decline and even reduce the development of Alzheimer's disease in older people.

Healthy Seafood:
1. Cod: The white, mild flavored flesh of cod is available throughout the year and is a wonderful substitute for meat protein. Besides being an excellent low-calorie source of protein, cod contains a variety of very important nutrients. Cod, have been shown to be very beneficial for people with atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease.

2. Salmon: Salmon is low in calories and saturated fat, yet high in protein, and a unique type of health-promoting fat, the omega-3 essential fatty acids. The omega-3 fats found in salmon have a broad array of beneficial cardiovascular effects. Salmon promotes cardiovascular health not only through its concentration of omega-3 fats, but also because this fish is a very good source of the B-vitamins, niacin and vitamin B12.

3. Halibut: Halibut is the largest of the flatfish and one of the largest of the saltwater fish with catches that weight in at up to 660 pounds. Halibut are truly a nutrient-dense food. A very good source of high quality protein, halibut are rich in significant amounts of a variety of important nutrients including the minerals selenium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium; the B vitamins B12, niacin, and B6; and most important, the beneficial omega-3 essential fatty acids.

4. Scallops: Scallops are actually a very good source of a very important nutrient for cardiovascular health, vitamin B12. Scallops are a very good source of omega-3 fatty acids and a good source of magnesium and potassium, three other nutrients that provide significant benefits for the cardiovascular system.

5. Shrimp: Shrimp are small in their nutrient density. Food ranking system qualified shrimp as an excellent source of selenium and unusually low-fat, low-calorie protein. Shrimp is very low in total fat, yet it has high cholesterol content. Shrimp help Prevent and Control High Blood Pressure.

6. Tuna: Tuna fish are truly a nutrient-dense food, an excellent source of high quality protein. Tuna are rich in a variety of important nutrients including the minerals selenium, magnesium, and potassium; the B vitamins niacin, B1 and B6; and most important, the beneficial omega-3 essential fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids provide a broad array of cardiovascular benefits. Tuna is also a very good source of vitamin B6, which, along with folic acid, lowers levels of homocysteine.

So if you like seafood, enjoy eating them regularly. And try to create the taste bud of your child for seafood. Furthermore, most seafood can be bought canned, which cuts down on cooking time but still provides numerous health benefits.

Uses of Salt

Salt (Sodium Chloride) is one of the five basic taste sensations sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. We all know that salt is the most essential seasoning in our daily cooking. Generally, it is used to enhance the taste of a recipe but you will be surprised to know that it also acts as a great preservative for our blood cells and blood vessels. Our body cannot function without salt, because every cell in the human body is dependent on the presence of sodium.

Not only salt is necessary for your body, but here are number of ways of using salt. Let's have a look at the following benefits of salt in our day to day life:

 

• Salt is an essential nutrient of our daily diet. Be it humans or animals all possess an inherent appetite for salt. It acts as an appetiser for our digestive system.

• Salt can even work in preserving food. It protects the stored food from spoiling and retarding the growth of microorganism.

• You can use salt to melts ice in the winter. People residing at places where the temperature remains down, use salt to melt the ice from the sidewalk when it snows.

• Dip your toothbrush in a mixture of one table spoon of salt with 4 tablespoon o water to have white and shiny teeth. It will also be useful in bad breath.

• Salt is also brings wonders when you have a toothache. Put a pinch of salt in a glass of warm water and then gargle, it helps keeping teeth decay clean until you visit a dentist.

• Want to preserve your cheese for loner? Dip a cloth in salt water and wrap it before putting the cheese in the refrigerator.

• If your child is a slow eater and the apple gets brown while eating, do not worry. All fruits such as apples and pears, when peeled undergo a process called oxidation. Just place them in lightly salted water before serving it to your kid, the colour and freshness of the fruit will remain for long.

• You can use salt for cleaning the appliances like brass, copper, kitchen utensils etc. By mixing salt and vinegar into a thick paste, it can be applied as a polish. Use a soft cloth to apply, then rinse thoroughly in water and dry well.

• Salt acts as bleach. It can be used to clean floor of the house or the corners of your washroom. Sprinkle the salt at the place where moist has accumulated and leave it for sometime before cleaning it. Salt will absorb the obdurate dirt form there making your work easier.

• You can put salt in baked goods like cakes, cookies, chocolates and bread etc. It balances the flavour of all the other ingredients.

• It also helps you while doing utensils. To remove tea and coffee stains on cups and decanters, sprinkle salt onto a sponge and use a circular motion when rubbing over the stains.

• Salt mixed in hot water can be used to kill weeds and remove fungus.
We hope you will now start using salt more than just a seasoning after reading this article. If you are aware of more usage of salt in your day to day life, please share with us in our comment box.

Why does slicing onion make you cry?

Did you ever wonder why onions make you cry? Slice an onion and the tears start flowing. Why does this happen? Like all other plants, onions are also made of cells; but the onion cells contain sulfur elements. When we slice the onions, the cells break and release the sulfur vapors. Sulfur has a bad odor, and when these vapors mix with the moisture of our eyes a chemical reaction takes place which produces molecules such as ethylsufine which make your eyes burn. The eyes then produce tears to wash and and dilute the chemicals – in other words the tears are a natural reaction of the body so that the offensive chemicals can be washed away.

As long as we keep on slicing the onions, more and more cells will break, which will produce more sulfur vapors, and hence more and more tears! To prevent the tears, try cutting the onions in a bowl of water. The water helps dissolve the sulfur elements, so that they don’t reach your eyes and this prevents the tears from flowing!