Chic-Shuk Secrets

Healthy diets almost always contain fish, which have fewer calories and higher nutrition values than other meat sources. It’s also one of nature’s most versatile foods – can be steamed, baked, fried or poached and even great as raw, in the form of sashimi.
Many health institutes recommend eating up to two portions of fish a week, based on several different studies. Eating fish could lowers the risk of death from heart disease by 36 per cent, thanks to the oils in fish, that appear to reduce stickiness of blood, therefore can prevent it from clotting. Fish also contains selenium which thought to have cancer-fighting properties plus omega-3 fatty acids which are believed to raise levels of the brain chemical- Serotonin, which aids in reducing depression. Omega 3 regulate the body’s inflammation cycle as well, which prevents and relieves painful conditions like arthritis and cystitis.

One of the benefits I like the most, from eating fish, is its ability of reducing signs of age! Some dermatologists say that a fish rich diet acts like a facial smoothing-out age lines.
 

Recommended fish: Salmon, Trout, Sardines and Tuna:

Try some of my favorite healthy recipes, taken from MyRecipes.com:

Baked Salmon With Dill Herb:

 
Tuna with Ginger Cream:

Trout with Brown Butter and Pecans:

Sardine and Potato with Romesco Sauce:

The good, the bad and what is recommended-

There are many myths regarding coffee beans and drinking coffee habits. However, recent Japanese reserches found that having a cup of coffee a few times a week, thanks to the Antioxidants coffee contain, may lower not only the risk of mouth AND throat cancers by up to %50 percent, but link coffee to lowering the risk of breast and ovarian cancers as well! 

Now, since caffeine raises blood pressure, if you enjoy drinking a lot of coffee, you may wanna choose decaf. It has the same healthy benefits as regular coffee.

What can I say, it makes me feel much better now, recommending drinking coffee with my favorite low fat soy based creamer:

Coffee Mate makes drinking coffee more “sophisticated”! It is a great healthy choice for your healthy lifestyle, and there are so many different flavours to choose from so then you never get board with the same old taste! This product works great for someone like my mom, which is lactose intolerant lack enough of an enzyme called lactate, and aren’t able to completely digest the natural sugar found in milk which calls lactose. All COFFEE-MATE coffee whiteners are lactose free, low fat and low calories, with few sugar-free versions available as well, which makes adding only 2 spoons of it to your cup of coffee makes it unnecessary to add any kind of sugar or other sweetener!
I like several flavors coffee-mate offers and it is very much fun finding new flavour on the market shelves every time I shop for groceries! I like the `Irish Cream` the most…

Antioxidants have been getting great press lately, and rightfully so. But what exactly are they? What do they do once inside our bodies and how can we get more of them?

When molecules in the body oxidize, they can create free-radicals. Those, create a destructive process in our cells, causing the molecules within the cells to become unstable. They may even be a big player in the formation of cancerous cells by a “chain-reaction” effect, causing other cells to become damaged. Because of the inherent instability of free-radicals, they try to attack other healthy cells to get stable themselves. This then causes the once-healthy cells to react in the same way, attacking others in an never-ending attempt for cellular stability.
 

Antioxidants stop the cellular chain reaction of oxidation by neutralizing the free radicals. Once an antioxidant finds its way into the body, mostly through the foods we eat, it slows down, or even prevents, the oxidation of other molecules. Many experts feel that increased antioxidants in the body can also help slow the process of aging, on top of preventing cancers.

Make sure to keep a large amounts of antioxidants on hand and inside your body on a regular base! But How?!

The secret to expose yourself to more antioxidants is simply through your diet: Eat more organic fresh fruits and vegetables! This is the most effective way. By incorporating at least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day into your diet, you may be helping your body reduce its chances of heart disease, neurological diseases, cancer and lowered immunity, keeping in mind that organic, raw, fresh and local is always best.

I used to think, drinking one glass of wine is recommended on a daily base, since all of its health benefits, especially the reduction of heart disease risk.

However, new researches shows that what`s good for the heart may not be good for the breast. Recent British studies link alcohol to breast cancer and suggests that a small glass of wine every day may raise a woman`s breast cancer risk by %12 precent!

So what should we do? Is red wine good or bad for us ?

For all of you out there, who loves unwinding with a glass of wine like myself, read this: 

According to Dr. JoAnn E.Manson, MD, Professor of  medicine at Harvard Medical School, If breast cancer runs in your family, you may consider abstaining. But- if you maintain a healthy weight, exercise, eat lots of fruits, veggies and whole grains, and- do not smoke, your increase in risk from a few glasses of red wine per week will likely be very small. As long as you accept the fact that alcohol does carry some risk, it may still be worth it for you, since its large amount of healthy benefits: Reduces the risk of heart disease since certain antioxidants substances in red wine called  polyphenols helps protect the lining of blood vessels in your heart therefore may help prevent heart disease by increasing levels of “good” cholesterol and protecting against artery damage. Red wine can also slow the progression of neurological degenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.

One glass of Red Wine Nutritional and calories Facts:

A Glass of Red Wine- Only 25 Calories!!!

Ever since I was a little girl, I remember my grandmother used to say: ”Olive oil is the best”. I never knew exactly why at that time, however became aware of its benefits later on. I used to add olive oil to everything, even when I deep fried food. Then one day, I read in a cooking magazine that deep frying using olive oil can be not less then- health risky. Many recipes call for cooking and salad oils, however selecting the best kind for various uses can confuse even seasoned cooks. 

In this post, I will explain how to choose the best oil for each purpose, keeping in mind flavor, health benefits, and cooking secrets.

A little about OILS :

Oils are mostly liquid at room temperature. They come from plants such as seeds like Grape or Sun-flower, fruits like Olives, nuts like Peanuts and legumes like Soybeans. Oils are %100 percent fat, however their fat is made up of various pro-portions of few fatty acids:

• The “GOOD” Fats: Poly-unsaturated and Mono-unsaturated. Those can help improve blood cholesterol profiles, ease arterial inflammation and stabilize heart rhythms, which result in a healthier cardiovascular system. 

• And, the “BAD” Fat: Saturated, which can elevate harmful cholesterol. Another “bad” fat in oils is: Trans fat, which is created by manufactures by altering the chemical structure of oil in order to increase its shelf life.

An Ideal all purpose oil will be, of course- low in Trans fat and Saturated fat and high in Mono/Poly-saturated fat. In addition, look for a “Cold-Pressed” processed since it means- preserving antioxidants and vitamins, therefore worth the extra cost.

It is very important knowing what is the Smoke Point of each oil you consume since the smoke point is the temperature at which oil burns, becomes health-risky and can easily start a fire. That is the main reason why certain oils are better for high heat cooking then other.

A number of factors can impact the smoke point of any fat: presence of sodium, number of times oil is used, length of time oil is heated or storage of oil (exposure to oxygen, light, temperature). Fats that have gone past their smoke points contain a large quantity of free radicals which contribute to risk of cancer.

Oils such as: extra virgin Olive, Peanut, Grapseeds and Seseme have mid-low Smoke-Point at approximately 320F / 160C degrees, therefore recommended for dressing, low-heat cooking or beauty products. However, oils like Canola and Sunflower or Soybean can be used for high-temperature cooking as deep-frying. 

Olive Oil

Canola Oil