My Digital Online Diary

We tend to spent years skipping breakfast in an attempt to reduce weight and avoid extra calories. Maybe, however, there was some truth to the old adage that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In fact, studies have indeed shown that breakfast is crucial to the weight-management process.

Researchers have discovered that individuals who have successfully lost weight and kept it off are more likely to eat a good breakfast, usually in the form of a breakfast cereal. If you are going to start adding breakfast back into your day, consider adding whole-grain, high-fiber cereals, which will help you in the short run by increasing your satisfaction and feelings of fullness, and in the long run by decreasing the total amount of calories you consume throughout your day.

Becoming a key player in your weight-management efforts, fiber should not only be a part of your morning meal, but of all your meals throughout the day. The following tips will help you include some extra fiber in your diet. Read the rest of this entry »

Candies with Xylitol

Want to talk sweet satisfaction with fewer calories? Well, listen here! Sweet-toothed as you are all chatter over the best, less-refined sugar alternatives: agave, erythritol, stevia, and xylitol (so long, little pink packets), sweet.

In fact there are lots of benefits you can have. Like, cooing fewer calories, Xylitol’s got 40% fewer calories than sugar, and stevia’s calorie-free. Agave syrup has about the same number of calorie per gram as sugar, but it’s sweeter, so you can use 25% less of it. This is also sweet, nothing to worry about. Whether it comes in a blue, pink, or yellow little packet, the artificial sweeteners aspartame and sucralose may lead to headaches. Another thing is, it’s planet-complimentary. Forgoing the paper packets by buying in bulk saves trees, and the less refined a sweetener is, the less energy it takes to produce. And lastly, this is a best option for diabetics. People with diabetes can occasionally indulge their sweet tooth with natural alternatives, since they’re lower on the glycemic index than sugar.

Base on medical studies what causes migraine headaches is unknown. The most likely to answer to-date is that a serious of small irritations or reactions pile up until, finally a migraine headache is triggered. Migraine triggers are different for each individual, but many patients claim that a particular food or combination of foods will push them over the edge into a headache.

Just remember that there are no conclusive studies indicating a link between certain foods and migraine headaches, so all information is anecdotal. But, the thing is there is a lot of anecdotal evidence for the link. Here are some foods come up on the trigger list for enough people to merit discussion.

• Cheese – a major trigger for many patients. Particularly likely to cause an attack are hard or aged cheeses. Soft cheeses like cream cheese and new cheeses seem to be fine and unlikely to cause problems.
• Processed Meats – Nitrates are believed by many to be a major migraine trigger. For most people, the most common source of nitrates is processed meat, items like hot dogs, sausage, bacon, processed lunchmeats, etc.
• Condiments – Salad dressings are a trigger for many. The reason is not known, but is probably tied to a combination of other triggers all coming together in one place.
• Spices and Additives – Any spice can be a trigger. Spices as triggers may be tied, at least partially, to scent sensitivity, since many spices have a pungent odor. Seasonings that seem to give patients the most trouble include monosodium glutamate (MSG), common in Asian foods, artificial sweeteners, food dyes, and vinegar.

This is my favorite food aside from spaghetti. It is called Siomai for those who don’t know its name. I have been trying to cook this food because I want to have a stock in my fridge. The sad thing is that I am not getting it right. But I’ll keep on trying until I get it right. I will save this recipe here so that I will not lose it and my visitors and friends can use it.
Shrimp and Pork Siomai Ingredients:

• Pinoy Pork Siomai 1 kg ground pork (suggested proportion of fat to lean meat is 1:3) or 1 kg Prawn (shrimp) peeled
• 1/3 cup chopped water chestnuts or turnips (singkamas)
• 1/3 cup chopped carrots
• 2 medium or 1 large minced onion(s)
• bunch of spring onions or leeks
• 1 egg
• 5 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 50 pcs. large or 100 pcs. small wanton or siomai wrapper
• soy sauce, calamansi (lemon or kumquats), sesame oil and chilli paste (for the sauce)

Mix all the ingredients for the filling in a bowl. Spoon 1 tablespoon of mixture into each wrapper. Fold and seal. Boil water and brush steamer with oil. Arrange the siomai in the steamer and let stand for 15-20 minutes, longer for larger pieces.
Serve with soy sauce, calamansi and sesame oil. Chilli paste is optional.