This corn salad is perfect for the summer. Not only is it delicious, but it’s also refreshing!

SHARE:

The post Summer Mint Cilantro Corn Salad appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

Unlike whole foods that provide essential nutrients, ultra-processed foods are devoid of nutritional value. They typically contain lots of sugar, salt, and additives that can be very harmful to the body. Statistically, people who eat lots of ultra-processed foods, such as deli meats, sugary cereals, and packaged foods, might not live as long as people who avoid these foods. 

That point was recently highlighted in a new 30-year study that connected ultra-processed meat, poultry, and seafood in ready-to-eat meals to a 13% greater risk of early death. Researchers looked at data collected for more than three decades on nearly 75,000 women and 40,000 men. The data started when participants were at least 40 years old and had no history of heart disease, diabetes, or cancer. Every two years during the course of the study, participants shared information about their health and completed detailed questionnaires about eating habits. 

At the end of the study, a total of 48,193 people passed away. Study authors observed that the participants who consumed the most amount of ultra-processed foods were 4% more likely to die during the study than people who held better diets and consumed fewer amounts of ultra-processed foods. These foods, which include soda, potato chips, sausages, and candy, contain added sugars, excess sodium, and unhealthy fats. These ingredients negatively affect the function of major organs and systems in the body, which may explain why their consumption is associated with shorter lifespan. 

What Are Ultra-Processed Foods?

These foods are the most processed and usually come in packaged form. They are almost entirely made of substances extracted from fats, sugars, proteins, and oils, or synthesized in factories and labs with few ingredients that come from natural sources. Corn, for example, is available to purchase in the produce section of a grocery store. You can also purchase it in canned or frozen form, or even as kernels to make popcorn. Corn chips in the snack aisle, however, are ultra-processed, usually containing trans and saturated fats, hydrogenated oils, and excess sodium.

Some Ultra-Processed Foods Have Higher Risks Than Others

One of the things that researchers discovered during the study was that not all ultra-processed foods harm the body equally regarding longevity. Study authors noted that ultra-processed meat, poultry, and seafood in ready-to-eat products increased early risk of death by 13%. Ultra-processed foods and sodas with added sugars or artificial sweeteners increased early risk of death by 9%. Ice cream and other dairy-based desserts were associated with a 7% higher risk of early death. 

Avoid Processed Meats And Seafood…If You Want To Live Longer

It is difficult to translate the early risk of death into a specific number of months or years. The researchers didn’t indicate this because there is not simple math conversion for mortality risk to lost years of life. If your goal is to live longer, study authors advise you to steer clear of ultra-processed foods, or avoid them as much as possible. Consider the quality of the ultra-processed foods you consume and examine the ingredient lists and nutritional profiles. Reading these labels may inform you about the risks of eating these types of foods. 

It is better to build your meals around whole foods, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and lean protein choices. Eating these healthier foods and avoiding ultra-processed may help the body function more optimally, and potentially reduce your risk of early death. Just remember that the quality of your diet can either support or harm your health.

SHARE:

The post Ultra-Processed Foods Linked To Higher Risk Of Early Death appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

Before we get started on great late-night snacks that support weight loss, let’s take note of a 2015 study that revealed snacking at night leads to overeating. As you know, overeating contributes to weight gain. However, if you plan to go to bed and hear your stomach growling, it is very tempting to reach for something quick and tasty. The problem is that most people reach for the wrong snacks to hold them over. 

Sometimes, it’s very possible that you did not eat enough during the day and need a snack to tide you over until morning. There are many hunger-curbing snacks that are healthy to enjoy before bed. The key is to choose low-calorie foods that keep you full without exceeding your caloric limit. Choose from the following healthy late-night snacks when hunger strikes. 

Oatmeal

There’s nothing wrong with a little A.M in the P.M. A bowl of warm oatmeal is quite the filling late-night snack because it is rich in fiber, offering four grams per half cup of uncooked oats. One serving of plain oatmeal has about 160 calories, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). It is low in fat and sugar, provided you don’t use those packets of processed oatmeals. Cook your oats in water and season them with cinnamon and a little maple syrup to keep the calories down. 

Fruit With Nut Butter

Some people argue against eating fruit at night because it can ferment in the gut overnight. As long as you know your digestive system, you can plan to eat the right fruits, which are typically low in calories and high in fiber. If you want a sweet treat, opt for fruit instead of ice cream or cake because the natural sugar will satisfy your sweet tooth. Consider eating whole fruits, such as grapes, apples, pears, cherries, berries, or grapes, all of which provide about 80 calories per cup. If you need something a little more substantial than fruit, try dipping your fruit in either low-fat yogurt, natural peanut butter, or almond butter. Be careful with how much nut butter you eat, though, because it can have about 90-100 calories per tablespoon. 

Popcorn

Do not grab a packet of movie theater popcorn and eat the entire thing while watching Netflix. If you want to get your crunch on, sub those unhealthy chips and crackers with air-popped popcorn. One serving of popped popcorn without butter offers just 31 calories. You don’t have to eat it plain; rather, you can season your popcorn with some garlic powder, black pepper, chili powder, or other seasonings to liven up the flavor. You can choose to put nutritional yeast on the popcorn for a cheesy flavor, but keep in mind that a two tablespoon serving contains 50 calories. 

Veggies And Hummus

Vegetables are some of the lowest calorie foods you can enjoy, and they typically contain a lot of water and fiber. One cup of raw carrot sticks, celery, bell peppers, snap peas, cucumber, broccoli, or zucchini offers between 25 to 50 calories. In addition to helping you feel full, vegetables provide lots of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, all of which benefit overall health. To provide extra sustenance, dip your vegetables in one to two tablespoons of hummus. Eating too much hummus will increase your caloric intake a lot, so be careful with your portions. 

Protein-Rich Foods

Don’t go grab a tomahawk steak and eat it like a caveman; rather, focus on high-fiber, protein-rich foods that move slowly through the digestive tract. A great high-protein and healthy fat option is mixed nuts. Just be mindful of your portions because an ounce provides 170 calories. You can also consume low-fat yogurt with some berries. Eggs can also be a great source of proteins, with one large hard-boiled egg providing 75 calories.

SHARE:

The post 5 Late-Night Snacks That Support Weight Loss appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

Dining out with high cholesterol can seem like an unenjoyable experience, but only if you don’t know how to tackle the menu. You can still enjoy family nights out, festive occasions, or even romantic dinners at your favorite restaurants. All you have to do is educate yourself about the best low-cholesterol choices. 

In order to understand how to manage high cholesterol, you have to know what you’re eating. Reading the menu carefully and identifying problematic ingredients is paramount. How do you know what to look for, though? While going to healthier restaurants and making your own food is the best plan of attack, it may not be sustainable for everyone. This article aims to educate you on how to dine out if you have high cholesterol. 

If Eating Chinese Cuisine, Go For Steamed Instead Of Fried

Chinese restaurants usually have a lot of fried food options, but there are many low-cholesterol options to choose from. Instead of enjoying deep fried egg rolls, opt for spring rolls that are steamed. Better yet, see if you can roll the ingredients in lettuce leaves! Steamed rice is a better choice than fried rice, but try to ask for brown rice if it is available. For your main course options, seafood can be a good choice, especially if the protein is steamed. Boiled or broiled seafood entrees are also good options. Just remember to eat shrimp in moderation and choose entrees with lots of vegetables. Resist dishes with a lot of oil if you want to care for your arteries!

Go For Vegetables And Skip Ghee At Indian Restaurants

There are many vegetarian dishes at Indian restaurants, which is great if you want to eat on the healthier side. Chickpeas are a common ingredient in Indian cuisine, and a heart-healthy legume to consider. Try to order dishes with plenty of vegetables, but stay away from heavy dishes with ghee, which is clarified butter made from buffalo’s or cow’s milk. Just as in the above explanation about Chinese cuisine, ask if the dishes can be made with minimal oil, provided the dishes are made to order and not in large pots. 

Skip The Sour Cream At Mexican Restaurants

Believe it or not, one of the healthier dishes (and perhaps most eye-catching) to order when eating at a Mexican restaurant is fajitas. They usually contain a lot of vegetables and don’t have fried components. Black beans tend to be a better choice, since they are rich in soluble fiber. That said, some restaurants over-salt the beans, no matter what type they are. Try to choose corn tortillas instead of white flour tortillas, because corn tortillas contain fewer calories and less sodium, sugar, and saturated fat than flour tortillas. If possible, choose grilled fish as your protein because it is a leaner protein with lower fat and sodium content. Lastly, resist ordering nachos as an appetizer and skip the sour cream and queso, opting for pico de gallo instead.

Avoid Saturated Fats And Limit Fatty Meals

There has been an interesting development in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It no longer includes a specific limit for dietary cholesterol, but that isn’t an excuse to eat carelessly. The USDA guidelines and other dietitians advise people to eat as little cholesterol as possible. One study followed 30,000 men and women who did not have cardiovascular disease at the beginning of the study. After a 17-year period, researchers noted that for every 300 milligrams of cholesterol that participants added to their daily diet, they increased their risk of cardiovascular disease by 17%. 

Health experts suggest that cholesterol you eat impacts your blood cholesterol levels, but that isn’t the only factor to consider. Maintaining a balanced diet is the best way to manage your cholesterol levels. Reducing your consumption of meat, especially processed meats like bacon, sausage, and deli meat, can go a long way in reducing cholesterol and your risk of heart disease. Many foods that are rich in cholesterol, including high-fat dairy, bakery items, and fatty meats, also have a higher content of saturated or trans fats, both of which elevate cholesterol. For this reason, do your best to avoid these foods when you dine out. Such foods include pizza, burgers, tacos, sandwiches, and casseroles. Additionally, watch out for cheesy foods, palm oil, cookies, snack foods, and cakes. 

SHARE:

The post How To Dine Out When You Have High Cholesterol appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

This is a cozy meal for when it’s chilly out. To save yourself some time, prep the ingredients beforehand.

SHARE:

The post Creamy Vegan Corn Chowder appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

Usually vegan patties use plant based products. Smashed Burbank does things a bit differently, and makes their own patties. Their vegan patties contain: quinoa, corn, bell peppers, and more. Would you try this vegan smash burger?

SHARE:

The post Vegan Quinoa Burger Food Review (Smash Burbank) appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

You can’t have popcorn while cleansing, but you can have some cheesy raw cauliflower popcorn! This dehydrated snack is cheesy, salty, and crunchy. Not only that, but it is a great nutritious alternative to corn, most of which is genetically modified. The cauliflower absorbs the seasonings and nutritional yeast, creating a savory snack that is easy to eat and healthy to snack on. No more feeling guilty about reaching into a bowl of popcorn with this snack!

You’ll notice that the cauliflower has an orange tint and that is because of the turmeric, which exhibits many health properties. Not only does it help boost immunity and metabolism, but it also works to lower inflammatory markers. But let’s talk about the star of the show: cauliflower. This cruciferous vegetable is relatively bland, but is low in carbs, gluten-free, and offers surprising health benefits. One study found that cauliflower works to reduce inflammation, which researchers attributed to the antioxidants that counter oxidative stress. When you have a build up of free radicals in the body, the damage cells and result in systemic inflammation, which increases your risk of premature aging and disease.

Because cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable, it helps reduce the risk of two leading causes of death in the United States: heart disease and cancer. Cruciferous vegetables contain substances that protect bends and branches of blood vessels. Those are the areas most prone to inflammation! that means that cauliflower, and other cruciferous veggies, help protect your heart. That’s why studies confirm that a higher intake of cruciferous vegetables reduces the risk of hardening in the arteries.

SHARE:

The post Cheesy Raw Cauliflower Popcorn appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

Air fryers have taken the world by storm, but some things just don’t need to be put in them. TikTok and Instagram videos have popularized these kitchen appliances even more, touting them as efficient ways to cook healthier meals. Air fryers circulate air to achieve a fried finish commonly achieved by deep-frying food. The only difference is that air fryers don’t use oil, which can impart unhealthy saturated and trans fats into your food. 

The beauty of an air fryer is that it is essentially a small convection oven. Because of the size, you can cook food in a shorter amount of time. Not to mention, they heat up quickly and tend to be more energy efficient than most ovens, depending on size and energy provider, of course. You don’t just have to reheat French fries or make donuts, chicken tenders and complex desserts, though. You can roast vegetables, toast bread, and make other healthy meal options. 

However, you shouldn’t use these nifty kitchen appliances to cook everything. Some meals do not need to be air-fried. For safety reasons, you should definitely not cook certain foods in an air fryer. Don’t know what those foods are? Read on to find out. 

Anything With A Sauce

Stews, chili, bolognese sauce, or other hardy dishes tend to be midweek favorites among the masses. They are relatively easy to prepare and are quite filling. We strongly advise against cooking these meals in an air fryer. As hot air circulates within the air fryer, the hot liquids can splatter. Not only does this make the air fryer messy, but it is also very dangerous, as wet splatters can potentially short-circuit the air fryer or cause an electrical complication. If you want to make a saucy recipe, slow cookers are the better appliances.

Broccoli

Some vegetables, like Brussels sprouts, are excellent at retaining moisture during the cooking process. For that reason, they crisp up nicely in an air fryer without drying out. Broccoli, however, can become chewy and bitter in an air fryer, which is why roasting or sautéing broccoli florets are better cooking options. You can also steam broccoli as an alternative preparation method. 

Rice

In order to cook raw grains, you have to boil them in water. A few drops of water in your air fryer basket won’t do any harm, but this gadget isn’t meant for boiling or steaming food. If you already have cooked rice, however, you can put it in the air fryer to make a crispy rice cake. It’s better to cook rice in a rice cooker for the fluffiest rice possible. 

Anything With A Wet Batter

Some people are aware of the fact that cooking something with a wet batter in an air fryer doesn’t yield the same result as frying it in a pot of oil. In fact, recipes that use a wet batter will be messy and they won’t crisp up properly. The reason for this is that there isn’t enough hot oil to set the batter. Instead of becoming crispy, that wet batter will most likely drop everywhere. You’ll be left with unevenly cooked food and a puddle of burnt batter drippings in the bottom of your air fryer basket. If you want to achieve a golden-brown, crispy exterior, you can use a dry coating on your food. 

Popcorn

Popcorn is a classic movie theater snack, but you shouldn’t cook it in an air fryer. Popcorn kernels can easily become lodged with the fryer’s heating element, increasing the risk of a shortage and fire hazard. You can, however, make your own popcorn in a pot on the stove, or in the microwave. Manufacturers make silicone vessels to put kernels in and you can cook them in the microwave without the use of oil or butter. 

Hard-Boiled Eggs

You can use an air fryer to make hard-boiled eggs, but the texture can be a little chewy, rubbery, and unpleasant. There are much better and more efficient ways to achieve better results. If you want to give the air fryer method a go, cook medium-sized eggs straight from the fridge at 255º F for 10 minutes.

SHARE:

The post Here’s What You Shouldn’t Cook In An Air Fryer appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

Quick and easy is the name of the game for this recipe. A stir-fry is a great way to combine an assortment of vegetables, perhaps ones that you don’t know what to do with in your fridge. For example, if you are low on groceries and have some vegetables you need to use before they spoil, a stir-fry is your best bet. The sauce gives everything a uniform flavor, making it an integral component of the dish. The key to a great sauce, as you’ll learn in this recipe, is balancing both sweet and salty flavors.

The Sauce

Let’s begin with the sauce, which contains rice vinegar, sesame oil, coconut aminos, garlic powder, fresh ginger root, and pepper. Now, that is a thin sauce, which won’t yield that classic thick, sticky sauce that you want from a classic stir-fry. For this reason, you mix corn starch and water in a separate bowl, and then add that to stir fry. This corn starch slurry helps to thicken the sauce during the cooking process. The last thing to remember is to constantly mix it once you add the corn starch slurry to the pan. NEVER ADD CORN STARCH TO A SAUCE BY ITSELF. Always dissolve the corn starch in water first, otherwise you will end up with chunks of corn starch in your meal.

If you don’t have all of the vegetables in this recipe, that is completely fine. You can swap out vegetables for ones that you have on hand, but this combination of vegetables makes for a great stir-fry. The addition of seitan is a great option for vegans who want to increase their protein intake without intaking a lot of fat and carbs. Additionally, seitan is a great source of selenium and iron, two nutrients that can be difficult to get on a vegan diet.

SHARE:

The post Vegan Sesame Ginger Seitan Stir-Fry  appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

Where does the name “cowboy caviar” come from? Well, this blend of simple ingredients and mild spices is a staple in classic Tex-Mex cuisine. People classically pair this dip with fish, chicken, simple vegan rice bowls, and more. The name most likely comes from the fact that cowboys live in Texas and this is a common side dish/dip in the state. The black beans represent the “caviar” in this dish. We apologize that there isn’t a better explanation. The intense flavor combinations make up for it, though.

This recipe features black beans and corn, in addition to a tasty and fresh combination of onion, scallions, tomatoes, cilantro, and lime juice. Some people may enjoy eating this as a salad, but it is intended to be consumed as a dip. Figure out the way you love to eat it and let us know how you like it. The great thing about this recipe is that it comes together in no time! If you feel like adding more spice, throw in a few dashes of cayenne pepper.

SHARE:

The post Cowboy Caviar (a.k.a.) Black Bean Corn Salsa appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.