I am what I eat!
Once famous ancient Greek philosopher Socrates was asked: “What is the cause of your good health at such a mature age, while many people who are much younger than you have so many diseases?” And Socrates said,
Ιt’s because I eat to live, and you talk about people who live to eat.
Why do we eat?
Don’t be surprised! The answer to this seemingly childish question directly depends on the state of our health and well-being. Nowadays, lots of food products can hardly be called food since they don’t really present neither nutritive nor biological benefits for the human body. On the contrary, such food products create certain problems for the body’s proper functioning.
The fact is that modern humans have started to treat the products that they eat every day and the process of food intake in general not like before. It is the matter of concern not only for manufacturers, but also for us – consumers of these high-tech products!
It often happens that we forget about the important fact that the purpose of food intake is actually one. And it lies in supplying the body with all the substances needed for its full functioning. Anything else – is not helpful and on the contrary, harmful.
The human body – is a complex biological system that never stops functioning. In order to maintain its system in the normal functioning, the human body has to perform a great load of work, which requires a large number of ‘consumables’ – biologically active ingredients – vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fats, simple and complex carbohydrates, hormones and hormone-like connections and so on. Our body cannot synthesize most of these substance needed for active life since it is used to get them from food.
Old cells die and they have to be disposed of. And new young cells should be created instead of the old ones. In order to launch this process, our body has to break down some substances and to create others from the resulting components. Each organ of our body – is a ‘high-tech production, which requires high-quality ‘materials’ for its efficient work. Qualitative ‘materials’ can be found only in natural products created by nature for humanity.
Let’s just state the obvious: over millions of years of evolution, the human body have learned how to get everything needed for the complete life from the food, which consisted of a variety of natural foods. With the development of the food industry and the advent of modern technology humans have learned how to change not only the structure but also the composition, and even the natural properties of natural products created by nature.
The main reason for such a rapid growth in the number of chronic diseases in the most developed countries lies in the radically changed over the past few decades (particularly over the past 30-50 years) chemical and biological composition and structure of the products used in food in countries with developed food industry!
What do we eat?
Natural products, in their normal form, are not ‘good’ enough for the industrial technology in terms of financial gain. Short shelf life, or something else that the food industry doesn’t like: bright color and taste, etc. – these are the reasons why we eat the kind of harmful products we eat today.
And now I bring to your attention a proven method as to how to eat delicious, healthy and varied dishes that can be cooked quickly and keep you fit! Isn’t it great? 🙂
This set of dietary dishes, the nutrition course of which is intended for 14 days, includes 10 recipes of low-calorie and still delicious meals, preparation of which needs only a few minutes. The ingredients of these dishes can be found on the shelves of any grocery store. You have to choose one of the ten recipes from the menu for each of the 14 days (4 dishes). Interchange meals according to your preferences.
1. Oatmeal for breakfast (192.5 kcal)
Ingredients:
- Oatmeal
- Water
- Butter
- Parsley
- Cilantro
- Green onions
- Whole-grain bread
- Orange juice
Cook buckwheat porridge with water (40 g of oatmeal, 100 g of water), add a teaspoon of butter into the cooked porridge and add 50 g of parsley, cilantro and green onions. You can also eat 2 slices of whole-grain bread (70 calories) and drink a glass of orange juice (80 calories) with porridge.
2. Soy desert with peanut butter (240 kcal)
Ingredients:
- Soy milk
- Peanut butter
- Banana
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla
- Bun
- Jam
To cook a delicious and low-calorie desert, you have to mix in a blender soy milk, peanut butter (1 tablespoon), half a banana and cinnamon (1/4 teaspoon). After the ingredients are well mixed, add an ice cube and a little of vanilla. A perfect complement to the desert would be a little bun (130 kcal) and 2 teaspoons of jam (20 calories).
3. Oatmeal porridge with nuts and blueberries (390 kcal)
Ingredients:
- Oatmeal
- Blueberries
- Honey
- Cashew
Two useful and nutritious ingredients, oatmeal and blueberries, are joined in this recipe in one tasty dish. First you need to cook half a cup of oat-flakes. Then add in the cooked porridge a cup of frozen blueberries, 2 tablespoons of honey and cashew.
4. Express salad with Rancho sauce (240 – 260 kcal)
Ingredients:
- Lettuce
- Canned salmon or tuna
- Hummus
- Parmesan cheese
- Rancho sauce
- Bread rolls
In order to cook this stunningly delicious salad, mix 2 cups of lettuce, 60 grams of canned salmon or tuna, a quarter of the cup of boiled hummus (chickpeas). Next step – sprinkle the resulting mixture with 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese and add 2 tablespoons of the Rancho sauce. Fresh bread rolls (78 kcal) could be a good addition to the recipe. You could also buy law-calorie chocolate pudding (90 calories) as a desert after the salad.
5. Chicken Sandwich (405 calories)
Ingredients:
- Chicken
- Barbecue sauce
- Bun
- Carrots
- Lettuce
- Cucumber
- Cream sauce
To cook this tasty and healthy dish you have to mix and warm up in the microwave half a cup of chopped cooked chicken and 1 tablespoon of Barbecue sauce. Then cut a bun in half, remove from it a part of the crumb and fill with a mixture of chicken. By the way, you may add grated carrots into the bun. To decorate the sandwich, use chopped lettuce, 2 tablespoons of a chopped cucumber and a tablespoon of law-calorie cream sauce.
6. Vegetarian Chili soup (330 kcal)
Ingredients:
- Chili sauce
- Beans
- Tomato
- Cheese
- Green salad
- Corn tortilla
This spicy dish is a simple and cheap way to enrich your diet with protein and fiber. To cook it, you need to warm up in the microwave a mixture of 0.5 cups of cooked Chili sauce with beans and shredded tomato. The dish also includes a bowl of chopped tomatoes, sliced cheese and a green salad. Small corn tortilla is a good addition to the soup (60 kcal).
7. Spaghetti with Pesto sauce (395 kcal)
- Spaghetti
- Cherry tomatoes
- Green beans
- Chicken
- Pesto sauce
- Parmesan cheese
This dish – is a real godsend for weight loss lovers of Italian cuisine. First, you need to cook the 4 portions of spaghetti. Next – mix 1/2 kg of cherry tomatoes, half a cup of cooked green beans, half a cup of cooked chicken, in form of cubes and 1 cup of the cooked Pesto sauce. Put the spaghetti and the resulting mixture on a platter, sprinkle it with 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.
8. Vegetarian ragout with Tofu cheese (235 kcal)
Ingredients:
- Frozen vegetable
- Tofu cheese
- Butter
- Peanut
- Soy sauce
To cook this dish with Chinese motifs you need to fry in a pan half cup of frozen vegetable mixture, add half a cup of tofu cheese, add butter in the peanut mixture (one tablespoon) and soy sauce. As a side dish you may add boiled brown rice to the ragout (150 kcal).
9. Nut Parfait (400 kcal)
Ingredients:
- Cereal flakes
- Nonfat plain yogurt
- Macadamia nut
- Honey
This cold dessert can serve as a wonderful snack. To cook it you need to pour 1 cup of the of cereal flakes with 1 cup nonfat plain yogurt. Next – add 2 tablespoons of chopped macadamia nut and honey (1 tablespoon). The resulting mixture should be stirred well and put in the fridge to cool.
10. Marshmallow-chocolate cookies (410 calories)
Ingredients:
- Sweet cookies
- Crackers
- Marshmallows
- Dark chocolate
Even while on a diet, you can treat yourself to a pair of sweet cookies. To cook it you need crackers, marshmallows and dark chocolate. These products need to be put in layers (crackers, chocolate, marshmallows, crackers) and place it in the microwave for short period of time (until chocolate melts).
Leave your comments and suggestions about the list of recipes, and write about the results of such a delicious, quick and useful diet! We will improve the art of proper nutrition together! 🙂
