Stevia - The Organic Sweetener with Loads of Health Benefits

Organic Stevia

Stevia rebaudiana is a popular plant of the Asteraceae  family and grows in plenty in Latin America. It is a natural sweetener and is widely used to sweeten beverages since the historic times. It is a common ingredient in some part of the world to prepare tea with replacing sugar. Simply as a sweetener it may not have gained so much popularity in the present-day health conscious society. Actually, the plant provides an array of benefits to our health, which can be summed up as following:

• The plant extract is about 300 times sweeter than the ordinary sugar available in the market and is a crucial component in a number of food items. These include energy bars, candies, protein drinks and even some varieties of tea.
• In contrast to sugar, it is calorie-free.
• It contains near about 11% of fiber and is helpful in enhancing our digestion process and curing constipation.
• The leaves of the plant are rich in potassium, zinc, magnesium and vitamin B3.
• The plant is also rich in iron content and stimulates production of hemoglobin in the blood.

The plant grows well in both temperate and tropical regions. Thus, considering its impressive health quotient, stevia is widely grown these days in many unconventional countries including China, Japan, Kenya, Vietnam, India, and Thailand, etc.

An increasing number of physicians are prescribing organic stevia to patients suffering from chronic medical ailments like diabetes, overweight or obesity and high blood pressure. The plant extract is known to improve the metabolism rate and helps us to resist pancreatic cancer. Foods and drinks that contain stevia are an excellent option to cut down our unwanted calorie intake. There are in fact hundreds of products available in the market that contain naturally-sourced stevia. The natural sweetener is also helpful for children in cutting down excessive calorie intake. 

To put it simply, the natural, organic sweetener possesses excellent commercial prospect in this health-conscious society. There are many reputed grocery outlets both online and in the real world that readily provides superior quality of the organic sweetener at pocket-friendly prices.  

Read More

Enrich Your Lifestyle With the Goodness of Popular Organic Foods

Seeds are the power foods of nature which are smaller in size, but highly enriched with nutrition. Adding them to your everyday meals is certainly a cinch. You will find a variety of popular seeds like flax seeds, chia seeds and hemp seeds available in the health food stores, be it online or in local markets. This trio of seeds provides a myriad of health benefits, of which the most valuable are Omega 3 fatty acids. Consumption of these seeds are not just limited to plant-based diets, but every other person, who is eager to improve their daily intake of nutrients can consume them.

Chia seeds

Chia Seeds Weight loss

These seeds are heralded by nutritionists across the world as a perfect alternative of fish oil for the vegans because of its rich Omega 3 fatty acid content. These have more number of healthy fats compared to salmon. Omega fatty acids aids in improving the health of your heart and also regulating the cholesterol level, thereby proving to be helpful in shedding weight. Furthermore, the gel that forms around the seed makes you feel full for longer hours.

Quinoa

White Quinoa

Quinoa is considered to be the cornerstone of traditional harvest products. Known as the ‘mother grain’ amongst Bolivians, Quinoa serve as one of the most plant-based sources, which tastes damn good. Being a complete protein source, it offers all the 9 necessary amino acids for good health. Amino acids promotes stronger muscles, keeping the immune system in proper shape, thereby keeping our bodies healthy.

Hemp seeds

Organic Hulled Hemp Seeds

These are a great food for vegans, as they are mostly packed with easy-digestible proteins, thereby containing all the 10 necessary amino acids. Thus, they are one of the rare plant-based foods which, offer complete protein. These seeds are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, especially special type of omega-6 fatty acids, which is not as such present in any other food. These seeds come with a nutty, mild flavor. With other seeds, they taste good both with cold or hot cereals, soups, smoothies or can be just sprinkled on casseroles, salads, cooked grains or noodle dishes. Moreover, hemp oil comes with a ‘grassy’ flavor that can offer almost the same extent of benefits alike olive oil.

Thus, the next time you are looking for some highly-nutritious foods to add to your daily regimen, try for these three enriched natural weight loss products. Being listed among the top superfoods, these items come with a myriad of health benefits which, further aids in improving your lifestyle.

Author Bio : Maria is a nutritionist and loves to write about different types of natural weight loss products, which serve enormous health benefits, thereby helping people to shed their excessive weight.

Read More

Easy Dessert Recipes using Raw Cacao Powder

There is hardly anyone who does not like chocolate. In fact, everybody loves chocolate, irrespective of how old one is. It is widely used in preparing lip-smacking desserts. Yummy taste of items like chocolate strawberry shortcake, fudge babies, and double chocolate mocha biscotti, etc. proves most helpful to win over just anyone and everyone. In alternate words, chocolate is widely used in whipping up bakery items, including desserts. 

Innovative folks often blend raw cacao powder with the bakery ingredients to prepare varieties of desserts. Here, we will discuss preparing real fudge babies and sun butter brownies.  

Real fudge babies:

This item is obviously lip-smacking and unbelievably healthy. Moreover, the dish is pretty easy to prepare.

Ingredients

• ½ cup dates with the pits removed
• 1 cup walnut
• 3 tablespoons cacao powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon Celtic sea salt (however, this can be omitted if you do not prefer too much salt)

Procedure

• Place dates, walnuts, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt together in a food processor
• Pulse on high speed until the mass smooth ens
• Remove the mixture from food processor and roll into little balls
• Now, you can serve

Sun butter brownies

Ingredients that are required for this dish are as following:

• ½ cup sun butter
• 3 to 4 eggs
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup cacao powder
• ½ teaspoon each of Celtic sea salt, baking soda, chocolate chips

Procedure

• Take a food processor and put sun butter, eggs, and maple syrup together into it
• Pulse in vanilla, vinegar, cacao powder, salt, and baking soda
• Stir in chocolate chips by hand
• Transfer batter to a greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish
• Bake at 350° for about 15 to 20 minutes
• Leave it for about an hour to cool
• Now, you can serve it

However, here is a postscript (PS) for those who are conscious about it.

Most baked dishes that have sun butter as ingredient have a strong aftertaste, which is somewhat bitter. So, most kids and many grown-ups usually do not prefer the use of sun butter in desserts. In contrast to that the brownies mentioned above turn out to be really exceptional.

Using raw cacao powder invariably improves the health quotient of the dishes to considerable extent along with delivering a slightly different taste.

Read More

Say No to the Adverse Effects of Sugar Consumption with Organic Stevia

We all are aware of the fact that; sugar is not healthy, especially if consumed in excessive quantities. Because of this increased awareness, people are getting more and more inclined towards the usage of sugar substitutes these days. Some of these may be harmful, however, some are extremely useful. Amidst the myriad of alternatives available in the market, organic stevia can be surely considered as a highly-nutritious substitute of sugar. 

What is stevia

Being of South American origin, mostly used in Brazil and Paraguay since ancient times, Stevia is a herb, which is naturally sweet, almost 100-200 times more sweet than sugar. However, it doesn’t increase the level of blood sugar as in case of other artificial sweeteners and sugar. It is normally used as a medicinal herb and sweetener in several cultures across the world. However, it has gained wide popularity in the recent years.

Rich source of minerals and vitamins

Stevia contains a rich content minerals like iron, zinc, sodium, calcium and potassium and vitamins A, B and C.

Weight loss

As compared to the other synthetic sweeteners which, might result in overeating by making people feel to compensate for the lack of satiety, thereby leading to carbohydrate intake. On the contrary, stevia helps in balancing the metabolism rate, thereby preventing your desire to overeat.

Children’s diet

Kids’ generally possess a natural affinity to sweetness. Thus, a single drop of stevia serves as the perfect option for sweetening kids’ smoothies, drinks and snacks by preventing the chances of facing adverse effects of sugar consumption.

Diabetes

It is great for lowering the blood sugar level. Thus, it is a healthier choice for diabetic patients to improve the function of insulin.

Dental health

It hosts a number of anti-bacterial properties. Because of this, it is widely used in Paraguay as a mouth rinse or mixed with the toothpaste for fighting against cavities and gum bleeding.

Replacing sugar with organic stevia in your daily regimen comes with a number of benefits. People, especially who are struggling from the adverse effect of diabetics can add these to their low carb diet, which can bring out significant positive changes to your life, thereby making you feel healthier.

Read More

Crucial Facts About White Quinoa

Quinoa is a popular food item these days. In fact, its popularity is steadily growing across the continents. Although it grows in an array of colours, red, black, and white quinoa are more popular than the other varieties. However, the taste and the nutritional statistics in the different varieties do not vary. There are lots of factors that contribute to the edible seed’s age-defining popularity. These include:

• It is a gluten-free product
• Highly nutritious
• Provides lots of health benefits and
• Easy to cook

Because of its high nutritional quotient, quinoa diet was unbelievably popular across the Mayan and the Aztec societies in pre-colonised America. Research confirms, it possesses the perfect balance of all the nine amino acids that are most essential for human nutrition. In other words, quinoa - irrespective of its varieties - is a complete protein that comes from plants.

Considering the growing craze for vegetarian diet these days, quinoa is an ideal protein supplement for these folks. According to nutritionists, this edible seed - similar to meat and fish - is a complete protein diet that is seldom found in plants. Moreover, quinoa provides an excellent dosage of iron and fiber. Actually, half a cup of the seeds provide near about 111 calories.

There is an array of delicious dishes that can be whipped up with the variety of seeds.  However, rinsing the seeds properly is the first step to cooking tasty dishes out of it. This is because, the seeds - by the design of nature - contain a protective casing called saponin. This is bitter to taste and if it is not removed from the seeds before cooking, it spoils the taste of the dishes.  

However, removing the saponin covering from quinoa seeds is no big deal. Just place the edible seeds in a container and run cold water over them. Interestingly, it can be consumed both hot and cold. Thus, chefs can easily whip up yummy side dishes with it as well as prepare cold salad.

Considering the steadily increasing popularity of white quinoa, there are many online grocery retailers that readily provide superior quality of the item at competent price. Business for the range of retail outlets is flowing in from all directions.

Read More