‘food and drinks’ Tagged Posts

Should You Choose Coffee or Tea?

For millennia men and women from all across the globe have savored tea both for its healthful benefits and for its unique taste properties. Tea has ...

 

For millennia men and women from all across the globe have savored tea both for its healthful benefits and for its unique taste properties. Tea has been a mainstay in the dietary regime of many countries in the Eastern world as well as in countries of the west, such as Great Britain. It continues to be a mainstay in the diets of many Americans today, in part due to its great versatility.

Some types of tea are beloved because they serve as the ideal accompaniment to finger sandwiches and petit fours at a traditional afternoon garden tea party, while other types of tea are savored for their ability to help bring a sense of calm and rejuvenation after a difficult day. Some people choose to start their daily routine with a strong cup of Black tea, while others relax and unwind with a night cap of Chamomile Tea.

Tea comes in a variety of all-natural, herbal blends, many of which have been shown to possess great health properties. For example, many teas are rich in antioxidants, which help the body defend itself against free radicals in the atmosphere and against the potential onset of many forms of cancer. Green tea in particular is often cited as one of the single healthiest, most anti-oxidant rich natural products in the world. Many scientists cite its pervasive presence in the Japanese dietary regime as a major source of their population’s lower rates of cancer and better overall health.

While it has never been doubted that tea has numerous potential health benefits, it has only recently been discovered that its common counterpart, coffee, may also have health properties which are beneficial for the human mind and body. In the past decade scientists have begun to analyze the chemical composition of the coffee bean, and, as a result, have found that dark coffee, like tea, is very rich in antioxidants. Due to recent studies it has been suggested that daily coffee drinking may help with memory preservation and with the prevention of certain types of common cancer.

Coffee has long been enjoyed both for its rich, bold flavor and for its potent caffeination properties. People enjoy socializing over a luxurious warm cappuccino, or taking a break from a rigorous day of work to grab a cup of strong espresso. Whether it is enjoyed solely for its unique, smooth flavour or for the morning pick-me-up it provides, coffee has long been a staple in the American diet.

Like tea, coffee drinks come in a variety of flavors. Unlike tea, however, coffee beans from different parts of the world will reflect the unique climate and soil properties of their origins. One type of coffee grown in one part of the world will have a different flavor when harvested then one grown elsewhere.

Another main difference between coffee and tea is that tea is more often enjoyed alone or with minimal condiments. Coffee lovers enjoy a vast array of types of coffee drinks, with every type of syrup, milk, sugar, and other additive imaginable. Thus the way that coffee is often served can contribute to certain drinks, containing sugars or fats, being less healthy than a simple cup of tea.

Both coffee and tea are enjoyed for their nutritional and taste properties, yet any lover of either beverage can tell you that the two are very different beverages.

Damian Papworth adores making coffee with one cup coffee makers for his quick morning fix. When he has dinner parties though, his 8 cup coffee maker comes in real handy.

Put An End To A Lazy Day By Having Some Retro Sweets

 

No matter how active a person is, there will always be some days when he’d just feel lazy and bored. Because of this, he might completely cease doing anything and contemplate nothing but to stay at home. When this happens, even a perfectly sunny day can never pull him out of his pajamas and lure him to bask under the sun. However, this kind of disposition can always be lightened up with the heavenly luscious taste of retro sweets.

Why retro sweets? Simply because they taste so exquisitely good that they just lift anybody out of a lazy mood. Not adding the fact that they also result to nostalgia as these sweets hold significance in a person’s childhood. How so? Just think of those many times when you see children sneaking out of their kitchens with a handful of sweets from their mothers’ candy jars.

Retro sweets existed quite popularly in the past but it doesn’t mean they’re not of existence anymore these days. Well, some may have gone to extinction but there are a few that survive. People who are so keen to rediscovering their childhood will find old fashioned sweets the best way to do it.

The kick that a person gets from the chocolaty, sugary and even minty flavors of retro sweets is enough to set his adrenaline moving. With the nostalgia that comes along the experience, he definitely will want to jump out of bed and be as playful as he can be. Yes, the result of sampling these heavenly treats can be quite addicting. But if that means to lighten up someone’s mood then perhaps it is not a bad thing. To say the least, these sugary confections make people feel happy.

For those skeptics about this claim, it’s time to be aware that chocolates indeed stir a happy feeling from a person who eats them because of the phenylephylamine that can they produce. This same chemical is responsible for bringing that feeling of falling in love in people. So the next time you have a friend whose down in the dumps, offer him or her the miracle of retro sweets.

However, there are cases too that a person who has eaten retro sweets, instead of feeling so lively, would slump back to bed and reminisce even more the fond memories he has created with these delectable sweets.

A Lesson in Tea and Coffee

 

Tea and coffee are both drinks which inspire passion. More than just simple beverages, tea and coffee are part of a cultural phenomenon filled with social meaning and ritual. They both have fairly long, extensive histories?here?s a short look at them.

As old time legends have it, the origins of coffee can be traced to Ethiopia, where it grows copiously, and in the wild. Shepherds were apparently the first to discover its stimulating effects after their flock nibbled on some and couldn?t settle down for the night. Another ancient tale tells of a man who was shipped out to the desert to starve to death. In the desert, the man could only find the coffee plant, so he took chance, boiled it and lived. He then made it to the neighboring town of Mocha; the locals there thought his survival was a miracle.

Historians believe that coffee was first drank around 1000 AD. In Yemen (southern Arabia), Sufi monks apparently brewed the drink within their monasteries. The drink traveled to Yemen and Egypt via Ethiopia. As with so many other inventions, we can credit the Arabians for introducing the roasting and brewing technique we are familiar with in these modern times. From the Middle East, the plant spread to Northern Africa by around 1450. It then took off in Europe by way of Italy; from there it spread to Indonesia and then eventually America.

Arabians apparently rendered their coffee export beans infertile by parboiling them so that no coffee would grow elsewhere. However one intrepid Indian man by the name of Baba Budan smuggled out fertile seeds by strapping them to his belly. These beans reached Europe via Venice and flourished there.

The Dutch began growing their own coffee plants and cultivating the beans in 1616 despite the Arab prohibition on exporting beans. Dutch coffee was thus taken to Java and Ceylon. According to historians, by the early 1700?s Indonesian coffee was being drunk by Dutchmen and women by the cupful.

Today, coffee is drunk the world over. Brewing the perfect cup has become something of an art form. It?s not just water and beans, but rather, temperature, water quality, roast and care.

Tea has a long history. Legend has it that it was first discovered in ancient China, some 5,000 years ago. The emperor Shen Nung required that water be boiled, for hygienic reasons. One day, he was visiting a far off land and having stopped to rest, the servants prepared boiled water for the court to drink. Some dried up leaves from a bush fell into the boiling water, turning it brown. The emperor?s curiosity was piqued and he drank the mixture and found it pleasing. Thus tea was first created.

Tea culture was pervasive in ancient China. In 800 AD Lu Yu wrote the first guide to tea called the Ch?a Ching. The book detailed various tea rituals, cultivation methods and preparation. The work was heralded as a masterpiece and backed by the Emperor himself.

The Japanese weren?t introduced to the beverage until the priest Yeisei brought it back to his homeland from China some years later. After that tea was big in Japan.

Tea was introduced to Europe in 1560 via the Portuguese Jesuit Jasper de Cruz. From there it spread like wild fire.

Damian Papworth adores the Krups 4 cup coffee maker. You can peruse the review on the One Cup Coffee Makers site.

Coffee Beans: A Guide for The Aspiring Gourmet

 

Coffee, like wine and cheese, is so much more than just its finished product. It takes a lot of time to make a good cup of coffee, and most of that time is actually spent by people you’ll never met, cultivating the coffee beans out in fields on mountain ranges as far away as Columbia, Java, and even Kenya.

Yes, what really makes coffee taste great are the beans themselves, or the special regions in countries around the world where the weather gets together to create the perfect growing environment. To learn a little bit more about the world’s different coffee producing regions, as well as the most popular beans, you needn’t look any further than this handy guide, which will teach you how to make the best possible pot of coffee around just by learning which brands to select.

Kenya AA People around the world know Kenya AA as a type of coffee, but there’s actually more of a distinction to be made. Rather than a specific bean, this is a classification given depending on the size of the bean. So really, Kenya AA is letting customers know that they’re getting the highest grade of Kenyan coffee beans, which are grown on the high plateaus on Mount Kenya, where the perfect mixture of great soil and suitable weather lead to a bean known for intense flavor as well as a lovely aroma.

Kape Barako One of the types of coffee grown in The Philippines, not many people are familiar with Kape Barako, because of an infestation of Coffee Rust in the 1990s that almost wiped out the plants forever. A type of Liberica species, the coffee, when available, is popular with gourmets, who enjoy a blend where it’s mixed with Arabica to get the best tasting coffee with a distinct aroma.

Costa Rican coffee Not as well known as Columbian coffee by any means, Costa Rica has long been a country where coffee was a hugely important cash crop. The most popular varieties of beans are West Valley, Tres Rios, and Tarrazu, which are known worldwide for their very good body and aroma, as well as a level of acidity that’s rather manageable. These coffee beans are used in blends frequently.

Lavazza Espresso pods Some companies are so well-known for their coffee that they manage to employ their own growers around the world to create the product for them. A look at once such enterprise is world-famous providers of Italian coffee, Lavazza, whose different varieties are sold worldwide. Since the early 1900s, the company has imported beans specially grown for them from countries around the world, including Vietnam, Columbia, Costa Rica, and Indonesia. A delicate mixture of these different varieties, as well as the blending of different types of coffee beans that come from different soils and weather patterns, leads to a complex and delicious tasting coffee.

Remember, while different countries all produce different types of beans, it doesn’t mean that the names on this list are the only type of coffee bean grown in that particular country. Furthermore, it is possible that many of these beans have shown up in different names and varieties through United States importers.

Regardless of how or where you’re shopping for your coffee, please take a moment to consider whether or not it is fair-trade. The world of coffee harvesting is tough stuff, and most of the people who do it never receive proper financial credit for the amount of time and effort they put in. With different fair-trade companies around the world, many of which are easy to buy (just walk into Whole Foods or Trader Joes and ask), it makes giving credit where credit is due a whole lot easier of a task.

For a large weekend BBQ, Damian Papworth’s 8 cup coffee maker comes in real handy. On any other typical morning though, one cup coffee makers are more convenient.

Developing A Love for Coffee: Learning How to Caffeinate

 

Coffee wasn’t always such a big deal, you know. At one point, it was just something that truckers drank and diners served endless pots of in many places. But beverages grow, they change, and somehow there’s been a boom where you need to know a little more about coffee than whether or not you want a small, medium, or large cup at McDonalds.

No one can quite pinpoint the latest coffee boom, only comment on the far-flung places in the rural United States where it’s now possible to get an organic cup of coffee (thanks, Newman’s Organic and McDonalds). A large number of university cafeterias across the country fought for their right to fair-trade coffee back in the 1990s, so you’d think that this coffee trend, especially with foodies, would be a little over by now.

The real difference between a love for coffee and a strong like for it is knowing a little bit more about how it’s made and where it comes from. For example, espresso is not a different type of coffee bean. Rather, it’s a special kind of coffee beverage where the hot water is forced through well-packed, finely-ground coffee. The machine that makes espresso is where the beverage gets its name, and is actually only from 1901, when a man in Milan filed the very first patent. Unlike coffee, espresso has a foam, even without milk, and a thicker consistency. A truly good espresso, you see, will hold sugar you pour in for a couple of seconds before it breaks through the foam.

Anyone with a real love for coffee also knows that you don’t have to start with espresso but rather, can enjoy some regular coffee with plenty of room for milk and sugar. If you simply must start right out with espresso, be aware: the good kind is much thicker than regular coffee, comes in a small cup, and should have a foamy upper layer that can hold a packet or spoonful of sugar, easy.

In fact, ordering coffee is one of the biggest parts of learning to drink it, and if you’re going to be using coffee to socialize in new and exciting places, you should probably know what you’re getting yourself into. Except early in the morning on the way to work, when you stand at the bar and do a shot of espresso, drinking coffee in Italy is going to set you back at least an afternoon. The same is true in France. Those are a couple of the only countries where you can order a shot of espresso and make it last for a couple of hours, so order accordingly.

But part of a love for coffee is appreciating all of the fun and fancy versions of drinks that have been developed, and trying them all out. Depending on where you are in the world, or the style of coffee you’re sampling, a number of different things are used for flavor. Whether it’s enjoying the taste of chocolate in a mocha or drizzling some sweet caramel-like sauce down in Argentina right into the coffee, it doesn’t have to be a bitter-tasting drink experience.

One of the best parts about drinking coffee, especially socially, is the snacks! From Holland to Argentina, you can expect at least a couple of cookies and sometimes even a glass of orange juice, so there’s always something to pick at while you’re enjoying your coffee. It’s also nice, if you haven’t eaten, to put something in your stomach that isn’t just a cup of caffeine.

Don’t forget: the main purpose of drinking any sort of beverage with a group of friends is to socialize. You don’t need to be an expert on coffee, or even have a serious love for coffee, to go out and use the excuse of an afternoon cup to make a great friend or get to know a new place better. Just do it.

If Damian Papworth hosts a major celebration he pulls out the 12 cup coffee maker. For typical mornings though one cup coffee makers are more appropriate

All You Need to Know About Styles of Coffee

 

With all the different names for coffee drinks out there, it’s no wonder that people get a little overwhelmed when they’re ordering. Fortunately, with all the different styles of coffee, there’s actually usually just a simple variation on a classic drink happening. We’ll prep you for a world where hazelnut and pumpkin lattes are confusing you from what’s really going on behind the counter.

First, though, it’s important for understanding styles of coffee to recognize some key names for when you’re ordering a coffee the next time you’re in Italy, or at a great restaurant in your own town. You’ve probably said at least one of these names before, but maybe you don’t know what really goes into the drink. Well, now you’re going to:

Caffe Latte Also referred to as Cafe au Lait, depending on where you’re ordering your drink, this is one of the most popular styles of coffee worldwide, and is really just a fancy way of saying espresso with milk. A single shot of espresso is made with steamed milk, and then served with an extra inch of frothed milk (foam) on top.

Americano You know how when you use your drip coffee machine at home, how the product tastes more like coffee-flavored water if you don’t put the right amount of grounds in? Well, the Americano is named, jokingly, after the sort of taste it is that Americans prefer when drinking their coffee. Basically, eight ounces of hot water is added to a shot of espresso, giving you a–you guessed it–watered down version of a stronger espresso drink.

Caffe Creme A number of different styles of coffee just involve a couple of variations to change the end result. Here, your coffee is brewed right from the beans, resulting in a non-milk layer of foam, referred to as crema, on top of the drink itself. No dairy is involved, but the taste is surprisingly smooth, considering.

There’s more to knowing about styles of coffee than just remembering some of the key names to the drinks. It’s even more important to know some of the processes–i.e. what heats the beans. Here are a couple of the most popular:

The French Press This is the device you’re most likely to break if you’re having breakfast at a posh girlfriend’s house the morning after. A wire part and plunger combine in a glass cylinder, where water is poured in, brought to a full boil, and then the coarsely-ground beans are pressed down to make a filtered cup of coffee that tastes a whole lot better than a drip. Be careful not to force the device, especially if it’s your first time making coffee in one, or else you’re going to have a bad cup of coffee (and probably an angry girlfriend, too).

The Fully Automatic Espresso Machine From semi-affordable versions given as wedding gifts to machines that literally cost the same amount as sports cars, Italy definitely perfected yet another mechanical device when the guys up in Milan invented this. For over a hundred years, these have made the best coffee you could get your hands on, and families are known for bringing over specific machines for their restaurants to do well. It basically grinds, measures, heats, and makes shots of espresso automatically. Amazing!

For the at-home folks, there’s also a stovetop version of an espresso machine, which is a cross between a coffee pot and a percolator. Of course, the Americans amongst us are used to a different style of coffee entirely, with the Mr. Coffee drip system, which unfortunately is accurately known for producing slightly sub-par tasting cups of coffee, even when great beans are used.

So the scary world of coffee vocabulary is actually nothing more than a few fancy foreign language words used to describe strong coffee, hot water, and milk in various stages of being heated. Stop worrying, and start drinking. You’ll be a coffee expert in no time.

Damian Papworth recently bought a new 2 cup coffee maker, he wrote about it at the One Cup Coffee Makers website.

The Continued Popularity of Coffee Shops and New Opportunities

 

While the origins of coffee shops go back some five hundred years, there are few periods in history where their popularity has been greater than in the present time. Coffee houses in Mecca were already a concern to the Imams in the early sixteenth century, indicating that they had been established as centers for gathering for some time. You?ll see similar complaints from English monarchs of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. By the 1960s, coffee houses were places where gatherings — often music-oriented — would occur, especially in the U.S.

Today, coffee shops are something of an amalgam of all these different incarnations throughout history. They can be the place for two friends to meet and chat away from the noise of a pub. They can be a place for enjoying coffee at it best while getting some work done. They can also be an informal office of sorts for all the nontraditional employees of the world. Many of the work-at-home types would prefer to retain a part of the social element lost when they left the office.

More than anything, what separates the coffee shop of the present time and those from even twenty years ago is the quality of the coffee itself. The highest quality of coffee is now readily available because of improved techniques in cultivation and storage, as well as faster methods of transportation. In other words, the greatest coffee in the world is available almost anywhere in the world.

If you are an investor looking to get involved with a good business plan, there are few opportunities as encouraging as a coffee franchise. Both domestically and overseas, coffee companies continue to succeed no matter what the economic climate. Coffee appears to be something people will no go without. In fact, the different types of new coffee drinks command prices that are similar to those being charged in a pub. The difference is in the profit margin for coffee drinks and lower labor and licensing costs.

There are a number of spots in any community where a recognized brand could park itself and draw an instant clientele. Taking a brief tour through the main districts in your area will yield a number of potential corners.

The ability to create a general atmosphere is probably the key challenge to someone considering a coffee shop franchise. From the lineup of events to the quality of service being delivered by the staff, you must figure out how to create the ideal environment for customers. Offering small concerts or poetry readings could be a way to grab the attention of your community.

Once you have established your coffee shop as a comfortable place where excellent coffee drinks are served, the community will latch on to it as one of the social centers. Because no alcohol is served, younger teens and anyone looking to stay away from a loud pub environment can find a place to meet.

Franchise owners who find themselves with a loyal client base can look ahead to other opportunities once an initial business is established. Customers like to continue to deal with respected names and faces in the area.

Damian Papworth uses a 5 cup coffee maker for dinner parties. But he realizes one cup coffee makers are more suitable for brewing his first coffee.

categories: coffee,drinks,beverages,food and drinks,food and beverages,nutrition,health,leisure

A New Tradition of Exotic and Classic Coffee Flavors

 

You might say that coffee is an acquired taste, as it will often strike people as bitter upon first encounter. For this reason, people will commonly add milk and sugar to a cup of coffee in a an effort to soften the impact or to sweeten the taste. For people with more of a sweet tooth, even that might not do the trick. The process of adding different flavors to coffee drinks — or even to the bean itself — is nothing new, but the number of coffee flavors available is increasing all the time.

Prior to recent times, when considering different flavors for coffee, most people would think about chocolate (mocha) as the main option. It took just one small step to add chocolate to an espresso drink, as most of the cafes in Europe serve hot chocolate drinks along with the rest of the menu. While the caf? mocha is a drink that can be found in most of the world?s cafes, other types of flavors have followed suit. Some were formulated to mimic the classic liqueurs, flavors like Irish cr?me or cr?me de menthe. Others were more traditional (orange, hazelnut) and were added in small doses to drinks much like a shot or liqueur would be added to a cocktail.

Beyond that, coffee flavors have been taken all the way back to the bean itself. Coffee is now available in whole bean form in flavors such as hazelnut and mocha. The coffee drinker has to be aware that coffee simply cannot be grown in different flavors, so any way the gets the flavor must by nature be artificial (though the ingredients don?t have to be). If you see coffee being offered in machines with different flavors, you can be assured that you are not getting a natural brew.

Besides the most basic coffee flavors, you can find pistachio, white chocolate, almond, orange and more topping the list at cafes right there with hazelnut or mocha. In fact, if there is a flavor that can conceivably be matched up with coffee, you will find it, maybe even in organic form.

There is nothing artificial about chocolate in the hands of the right producer, of course, so enjoying a caf? mocha can have a more natural flavor than some of the syrups. The natural properties of both can blend together nicely.

Coffee drinkers will also see more autumnal flavors like cinnamon and pumpkin popping up in your favorite caf?, to the delight of many.

Adding a variety of different syrups or creams to a coffee drink will certainly make its nutritional properties vary widely from a typical cup off coffee with a spoon of sugar or ounce of milk. Coffee drinkers who grow accustomed to highly sweetened beverages that the fat and overall caloric content will be significant. Keeping it simple will allow a coffee beverage to retain its most beneficial qualities.

For most coffee purists, the more you see tampering with the basic coffee form, the less appeal it will have. For those with a sweet tooth who aren?t crazy about traditional coffee, different flavors will add a significant amount of appeal and probably keep you going back to your favorite corner caf? for some time.

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Understanding The Caf? Lifestyle Worldwide

 

Clueless about the best way to meet people and get to know a new city? There’s a simple way to figure out where the best spot to go later in the evening is, or better yet, to understand how things work. Just head to a local cafe, and get the best insight on how the country you’re in operates. Learn if people are leisurely or rushed just by watching them drink some coffee.

You see, the caf? lifestyle is more than just a reflection on how the locals like their coffee (one sugar, two sugars, milk, no sugar). It lets you know how people value their time, how a day actually moves, and whether or not you’re going to find yourself waiting a long time for your friends to show up. In places like Western Europe, it’s literally possible to sit as long as you like, sipping on a cappuccino, watching the action of the city go by. In Italy, if you meet a friend for coffee and don’t stay for a couple of hours, they’re going to think something is terribly wrong. After all, where could you possibly have to rush off to?

A number of countries are rather relaxed, but others even elevate their culture from simply enjoyable to intellectually important. Over by the university on the left bank of Paris, a number of tourists flock to the cafes where Sarte and other existentialists wrote some of the most important books of the 20th century. In a city like Paris, the caf? lifestyle is about something more than just leisure. It’s about valuing the time to think and create on your own, but also thinking that is an exchange that can happen out in public.

Of course, hop across the pond to The United States, and you’re going to find that things are a little different. People actually go to drive-through windows at Starbucks because they don’t have the extra couple of minutes to get out of the car on the way to work, and even places like McDonald’s have taken to serving Newman’s Organic coffee because somehow Americans have learned that they like the taste of better coffee, but they don’t really understand that the taste is only half of the experience. So while you can get a decent cup of coffee even at a rest stop in New Jersey now, it doesn’t mean it comes with remotely the same ambiance as a country where the caf? lifestyle actually matters.

It’s pretty obvious how things work in The States when you realize that all your coffee comes with is a napkin or a dairy creamer. In other places, where you’re encouraged to sit and stay awhile, there’s practically a small spread presented with even the most regular cup of joe. In Buenos Aires, cookies, crackers, and some soda water come along, too. In Italy, at least a cookie is expected. In Holland, at least a couple of cookies come, too. And in Paris, if you’re going to a cafe to enjoy a coffee, you might actually save money by ordering it with some pastry or croissant item.

The thing about the snacks in these other countries where the caf? lifestyle is important is that it’s pretty much permission to stay as long as you want. There’s no one trying to turn the tables over fast in the afternoon, and every extra item that comes with that coffee buys you at least ten more minutes to sit, relax, and hang out.

Perhaps some of that culture will rub off the places that it doesn’t exist already. Starbucks, after all, has made it acceptable to want something with espresso, and maybe the slow food movement in The States will carry over to beverages in public. A number of bloggers and internet fiends are making it slightly more acceptable to sit in a public place and still be a responsible adult, so long as there’s a computer in front of you and you look busy.

But wherever you are in the world, get to know a little bit more about the city you’re visiting by heading over to a well-worn looking spot. It might have waiters in bow ties, it might have beat-up looking wooden tables, but all that matters is it has a nice view of the street, and a few customers. You now have the best seat in the whole city to learning how things work. Just don’t rush off now, you hear?

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Understanding The Link Between Obesity And Toxins

 

There has been a great deal of outcry over the chronic obesity problem that has developed in recent years in the US. While many point fingers at fast food restaurants and sedentary lifestyles, research has shown that there are many other factors that can be traced back to environmental toxins and the buildup of toxins in the body caused by artificial preservatives in foods. The link between toxins and obesity has shown that the two are linked in a mutually feeding spiral that only gets worse.

It is a long standing fact that morbidly obese individuals have slower metabolisms that allow toxins to accumulate at an incredible rate in their bodies in turn resulting in illnesses such as heart problems and hypertension, as well as a substantially increased risk of degenerative disease development like osteoarthritis and diabetes.

What many people may not know is that there is a buildup of environmental toxins in the body from:

* produce laced with poisonous pesticides

* meat from animals fed grain that contains pesticide residues and animals shot with hormones

* processed foods with loads of artificial ingredients and preservatives. These chemicals stick to tissues and paralyze the body’s ability to function normally

Now you may ask yourself: How does this work? Well, the body attempts to protect itself from contamination by these poisonous substances, when loaded with quantities it is impossible to handle, by encapsulating toxins in fat pockets and storing them until the body reaches later a level of functionality to process and remove them effectively.

The greatest challenge faced, is the incredible pace and immense quantities these toxins are thrown at the body, which cannot find the opportunity to eliminate the toxins already accumulated. In turn, we store even more junk while waiting for the perfect opportunity to get rid of it.

This fat builds up and slows the metabolism, allowing for more of a buildup and on and on. You can see how this cycle becomes self feeding and leads to an early grave after a long fight with several chronic health problems. The question becomes one similar to the chicken and the egg mystery. Obesity leads to a buildup of toxins in the body and the buildup of toxins leads to more obesity.

While the precise link between toxins and obesity may not be transparent, the solution to the obesity problem can be found in the consumption of a healthier diet consisting of lower toxic substances and higher fiber and nutrient content, which the body needs in order to eliminate as well as burn fat at a faster pace.

We need to consume more natural fruits and vegetables (washed thoroughly to remove all traces of pesticides) and find a way to consume less red meat that has been processed through commercial feedlots. In addition, avoiding processed foods that are full of artificial ingredients and preservatives and limiting or eliminating consumption of caffeine, cigarette smoke, and chemically treated water will help to reduce the number of toxins bombarding the body and aid in detoxification of the body.

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