A simple recipe for a sensational party food

Bacon-wrapped scallops are one of the most luxurious appetizers you can serve, not to mention one of the easiest to prepare. And for me, that's a great combination.

I like using big, plump Alaskan sea scallops and apple wood smoked bacon. Because there are only two main ingredients in this dish, you need to make sure you use the best quality — the biggest, freshest sea scallops you can find, and the most flavorful bacon. After that, they are so easy to grill that you hardly need a recipe.

There are two types of scallops, but only one of them is appropriate for the grill. Tiny bay scallops are so sweet, you can eat them raw or just lightly sauteed. But they also are more expensive and not suited for grilling. What you want are the larger, less expensive sea scallops.

This all-protein finger food appetizer is perfect for holiday entertaining. It's simple to prep and quick to cook. You even could prepare them in advance. I pre-cook the bacon to render some of the fat and make it soft and pliable for wrapping around the scallops. Then just refrigerate until your guests arrive and pop them on the grill when you want them.

We've also paired these with a simple maple-mustard sauce that is delicious dolloped on top of the scallops just before serving. But feel free to leave that off.



GRILLED BACON-WRAPPED SCALLOPS

Everything tastes better with bacon! And it doesn't get any better than fresh-from-the-ocean sea scallops wrapped with bacon. The scallops take very little time to cook, so I cook the bacon in the oven or microwave for a couple of minutes before I wrap it around the scallops. That way, I am guaranteed to get crispy bacon and tender scallops. The best sea scallops I've ever had are from Alaska, so ask your fishmonger for them.

Start to finish: 20 minutes

Makes 12 to 14 scallops

2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 pound jumbo sea scallops

1/2 pound center-cut bacon

Salt and ground black pepper

Round wooden toothpicks, soaked in water for 30 minutes

Heat the oven to 400 F. Set a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Heat the grill to medium-high.

In a small bowl, mix together the mustard and maple syrup. Set aside.

Use paper towels to blot dry the scallops. Arrange them on a plate, then set aside.

Arrange the bacon in a single layer on the rack over the baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until just starting to cook. Do not fully cook the bacon. Remove the bacon from the oven. If too hot to handle, let cool for several minutes. Once the bacon can be handled, wrap one slice of bacon around each scallop. Secure in place by threading one of the toothpicks through the bacon and scallop.

Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the tops and bottoms of the scallops with bacon fat from the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side. Serve with the sauce for dolloping a bit onto each.

Nutrition information per scallop: 120 calories; 70 calories from fat (58 percent of total calories); 8 g fat (2.5 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 25 mg cholesterol;3 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 8 g protein; 320 mg sodium.

source: philstar.com

The good and evil truths about your food addictions

It’s hard to resist the simple addiction of sipping a hot cup of coffee or frappe, or perhaps the tingling sensation that sweet foods could give, or munching on those bags of chips while watching sappy movies late in the afternoon. But does your body appreciate them the way your taste buds do?

Dieticians and nutritionists from Manila Doctors Hospital’s (MDH) PROHEALTH Research and Education Center give you the truth about your addictions.







Coffee
• It’s known as a mental stimulant, which keeps us alert after some time.
• It boosts energy levels and prevents sleepiness, as the body releases adrenaline when we take it in.
• It may also help burn calories as it increases the body’s metabolism.

BUT: If you drink more than two cups a day, you may face the following:

PMS. While caffeine can decrease discomfort and that bloated feeling, it can cause a drop in blood sugar, which in effect aggravates PMS.

Cancer. Though there is no concrete evidence that caffeine alone may cause cancer, but if you love to drink coffee and smoke at the same time, then beware. Studies show that doing so may lead to cancer, particularly breast cancer.

Too much caffeine may lead to headaches, sleep problems and anxiety attack and bladder conditions as it acts as a diuretic to the body.

How to deal: If you can’t get rid of your frappes and espressos right away, try lessening your intake each day until you’re used to drinking small amounts or none at all. Substitute coffee for something healthier —nothing could be better than water.

Sugar
Sugar is a carbohydrate. It boosts your energy, helps sharpen memory, as glucose is the main sugar that feeds our brain cells. If taken moderately, it will help you gain weight.
BUT: This wickedly yummy treat may bring about these negative effects:
Hyperglycemia. A blood-sugar problem caused by too much sugar and improper diet.
Tooth decay. The bacteria in plaque depend on sugars to produce acids, which break down the enamel and start tooth decay.

Headaches and dizziness. Low glucose levels resulting from the severe dip after a high sugar intake tax the brain and cause headaches.

Other symptoms of too much sugar intake are great stress and fatigue, depression, anxiety, lack of mental alertness, and rapid mood swings. It may also delay wound healing, particularly for people with cancer or other disease conditions, as bacteria thrives on sugar as their immediate food source.

How to deal: Always eat your meals on time to prevent craving for sweets. Satisfy your sweet tooth by eating fruits instead.



Junk Food
Chips, packs of salted goodies, are the most convenient food-on-the-go. It is handy to eat or take anywhere, but junk food is precisely that—junk! It’s tasty (especially when it’s in your favorite flavor) but gives us nothing but empty calories (meaning we gain weight but we don’t get any nutrients from it).

BUT Junk food will never give us nutrition that our body needs. Some of its harmful effects are:
• Lack of energy
• Poor concentration
• Heart diseases
• High cholesterol

How to deal: Self-discipline is what you need to be able to swerve away from your junkie-addiction. If you’re really craving for something to munch on, the least you can do is substitute the flavored varieties with the plain-flavored ones, or better yet opt for a bag of popcorn (but not the microwaveable kind). A healthier option? Try crunching on dried or roasted unsalted nuts instead. It gives you the same comfort of chips without causing harm to your body.

Want to know more? Manila Doctors Hospital’s resident nutritionists and dieticians at the PROHEALTH Center offer diet counseling services that are tailor-fit to your lifestyle. They also offer nutrition and disease education on common medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.

• PROHEALTH is open from Mondays through Saturdays from 8 am to 5 pm and is located at the ground floor of Manila Doctors Hospital, 667 United Nations Ave., Ermita, Manila. You may reach them at these numbers (02) 524-3011 local 4718. For more information, you may visit http://www.maniladoctors.com.ph.

source: interaksyon.com

Diets rich in fruits and veggies great for the body - but are they harmful to Earth?

A nutritious diet that includes lots of fruits and vegetables might be healthier for humans but not necessarily healthier for the environment, according to a French study.

After analyzing the eating habits of about 2,000 French adults, and the greenhouse gas emissions generated by producing the plants, fish, meat, fowl and other ingredients, researchers concluded in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that such a diet might not be the greenest in environmental impact.

"When you eat healthy, you have to eat a lot of food that has a low content of energy. You have to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables," said Nicole Darmon, the study's senior author from the National Research Institute of Agronomy in Marseille, France.

Growing fruits and vegetables doesn't produce as much greenhouse gas as raising cattle or livestock, but food production - including the use of farming equipment and transportation - is estimated to be responsible for 15 percent to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in development countries, the authors said.

Scientists have long advised people to switch to a plant-based diet to benefit the environment and their own health.

To more closely examine that premise, Darmon and her colleagues used food diaries from 1,918 French adults to compare the nutritional quality of people's real-world diets and how much greenhouse gas they produced.

From the diaries that were kept for seven days between 2006 and 2007, the researchers identified the 400 most commonly consumed foods. They then used a database to find out how much greenhouse gas was emitted to produce each one, measured as the grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per 100 grams of food.

All aspects of a food's lifecycle were taken into account, including how it was cooked, Darmon said.

"The only step that wasn't taken into account was the transport from the supermarket to the home," she added.

Overall, about 1,600 grams of carbon dioxide were emitted for every 100 grams of meat produced. That's more than 15 times the amount of greenhouse gas emitted during the production of fruits, vegetables and starches and about 2.5 times as much greenhouse gas as that from fish, pork, poultry and eggs.

That gap narrowed, however, when the researchers looked at how many grams of carbon dioxide were emitted per 100 kilocalories (kcal) - a measure of energy in food.

The most greenhouse gas - 857 grams - was still emitted to produce 100 kcal of meat, but only about three times the emissions from a comparable amount of energy from fruit and vegetables.

Greens also ended up emitting more gas for the calories than starches, sweets, salty snacks, dairy and fats. It was also about as much gas as pork, poultry and eggs.

When Darmon and her colleagues looked at what people actually ate to get a certain amount of energy from food every day, they found that the "highest-quality" diets in health terms - those high in fruit, vegetables and fish - were linked to about as much, if not more, greenhouse gas emissions as low-quality diets that were high in sweets and salts.

Overall, the documented diets were responsible for around 5,000 grams of greenhouse gas emissions per day per person.

Darmon said that's because people who eat a plant-based diet need to eat more produce to get the amount of energy they'd have in a piece of meat.

Roni Neff, the director of research and policy at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for a Livable Future, cautioned against taking the findings too literally. For example, according to the study's calculations, people would need to eat about four kilograms (nine pounds) of fruit and vegetables to make up for a smaller serving of meat.

"I think they're raising a lot of important questions that need further investigation," she said.

source: interaksyon.com

The health benefits of organic barley grass

MANILA, Philippines - As producer and manufacturer of nutritional products containing the best organic barley grass powder from New Zealand, Sante International Inc. carries on with its objective to provide high-quality goods and services while offering income-generating opportunities for Filipino households.

Established in 2008, Santé International uses only the best organic barley grass certified by Biogro, New Zealand’s leading organic certifier. 

Santé has introduced the exceptional properties of organic barley grass that has enhanced the well-being of its consumers as evidenced by testimonies of celebrities recovering from serious diseases, from parents of sickly children to ordinary people.

“Seeking helpful sources like barley in order to maintain our physical wellness need not be expensive, but also should be of good quality and effective for sharing to others,” said Jesus Joey Marcelo, chief executive officer of Santé International.

Dr. Yoshihide Hagiwara, a Japanese doctor, scientist, inventor, pharmacologist and entrepreneur, said, “Barley grass is the only vegetation on earth that can supply nutritional support from birth to old age.”

With over 200 plant species researched in 13 years, Hagiwara found that barley grass is the most excellent source of nutrients the body needs for growth, repair and well being.

Barley is also recognized as the most nutritious of all plant foods, a total health food that boosts the proper functioning of organs and the immune system since it contains essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes plus chlorophyll, phytonutrients, and phytochemicals.

To cater to the growing needs of the health conscious, Santé International offers several products that underwent a meticulous and patented process where important vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and amino acids are preserved.

Grown in the rich Canterbury plains of New Zealand, Santé Pure Barley New Zealand is blended with nature’s most potent sweetener, Stevia, and has soluble fiber that completely dissolves in cold water without sedimentation.

Santé Pure Barley also lowers bad cholesterol levels and blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart disease and is a powerful source of antioxidants that may prevent cancer.

Santé Pure Barley New Zealand helps people who are constipated, has slow metabolism and a weak immune system. Its high fiber content promotes regular bowel movement and acts as detoxifier that removes heavy toxic elements in the body.

Packed in blister strips of 10 vegetable capsules, it is rich in chlorophyll, a deodorizer that helps control bad breath, urine and fecal odor and body odor, and is safe and recommended for vegetarians and even vegans.

For the coffee aficionados, Santé Barley Fusion is the best option, with its combination of young barley and Robusta coffee beans that will surely wake the senses through its luscious creamy taste.

All these products comply with BioGro New Zealand Organic Standards and do not contain pork, lard or other elements of impurities defined under Islamic law, thus, halal-certified. These products are only sold by trained agents, sellers and franchisees of the company to preserve product quality standards.

“We want our partners to as well conform with our mission of building and maintaining the highest level of competence and excellence in developing wellness products and services,” said Ronnie Piñon, chief marketing officer of Sante International.

For more information on Sante International Inc., visit www.santebarley.com.

source: philstar.com

Bridging the nutritional gap

MANILA, Philippines - Diabetes, hypertension, obesity — more and more people are getting afflicted with these so-called “lifestyle diseases.”

As a result, their performance at work or at play is impaired. What is causing the increasing number of cases of lifestyle diseases? According to the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), an unhealthy diet is a key factor in the prevalence of these conditions.

Vitamins and minerals are necessary for proper food metabolism. When people do not get the right amount of vitamins and minerals into their body, they are unable to efficiently turn the proteins and carbohydrates that they eat into energy. This is why even though they eat so much, they still feel weak and get tired quickly.

Vitamins and minerals are also needed to strengthen the immune system. When people have a shortage of important vitamins and minerals in our body, their immune system is less than optimal and they become vulnerable to illness.

This unhealthy diet creates a vicious cycle: when people feel sick or weak or tired, they lose their drive to engage in healthy physical activities such as sports or exercise. Even simple things such as walking or climbing stairs become tiresome. This leads to a sedentary lifestyle, where they feel that changing their diet and physical routine is too great an effort, so, it’s not surprising that their health and our quality of life suffer.

Lack of nutrients

 Based on the 2008 FNRI National Nutrition Survey, more than 70 percent of Filipinos across populations groups lack vitamins A and C, calcium, and iron in their daily diet.

For example, the FNRI’s Recommended Nutrient Intake (RENI) on a daily basis for vitamin A is 550 micrograms for male adults (aged 19 to 65 and above), and 500 micrograms for female adults (aged 19 to 65 and above).

However, the 2008 survey shows that actual average vitamin A intake among Filipino adults is just 499.6 micrograms, while the elderly only take in 379.9 micrograms daily.

In the case of vitamin C, the RENI for male adults (aged 19 to 65+) is 75 milligrams while the RENI for female adults (aged 19 to 65+) is 70 milligrams.

The 2008 survey, however, shows that on the average, Filipino adults only consume 44.7 milligrams of vitamin C daily, while the elderly consume 44.5 milligrams daily.

As for calcium, the RENI for male adults is 750 milligrams for those aged 19 to 64, and 800 milligrams for those aged 65 and above. The RENI for female adults is 750 grams for those aged 19 to 49, and 800 grams for those aged 50 and above.

According to the 2008 FNRI survey, the actual average daily calcium consumption among adults is only 370 milligrams, while the elderly only consume 330 milligrams of calcium every day.

Iron consumption among Filipino adults is also below the RENI. The RENI for iron among male adults aged 19 to 65 and above is 12 milligrams. The RENI for iron among non-pregnant female adults aged 19 to 64 is 27 milligrams, and for those aged 65 and above, 10 milligrams.

Actual average iron consumption among Filipino adults, however, was found to be only at 9.4 milligrams daily, while the average consumption among the elderly was even lower at 7.5 milligrams a day.

The 2008 FNRI survey also found that 65 percent of Filipinos across population groups are not taking enough calories to meet their daily energy requirement.

The RENI pegs the energy requirements for Filipino male adults as follows: 19 to 29 years old, 2,490 kilocalories (kcal); 30 to 49 years old, 2,420 kcal; 50 to 64 years old, 2,170 kcal; and 65 years old and above, 1,890 kcal.

For female adults, the energy requirements are: 19 to 29 years old, 1,860 kcal; 30 to 49 years old, 1,810 kcal; 50 to 64 years old, 1,820 kcal; and 65 years old and above, 1,410 kcal.

On the average, however, Filipino adults only consume 1,915 kcal daily while the elderly consume even less, with only 1,436 kcal daily.

According to FNRI’s computation, these figures mean that 65 percent of Filipinos are not getting enough energy for their everyday activities.

So how do people change to a healthy lifestyle and be at their best? Obviously, they need to commit themselves first to a healthy diet. The FNRI website (www.fnri.dost.gov.ph) provides an illustrated, dietary guide called the Filipino Food Pyramid to help people make the right food choices for optimum health and nutrition.

 Besides switching to a healthy diet, Filipinos also need to take health supplements to fill in the nutrition gaps on days when, for one reason or another, one’s food choices are less than ideal.

There are encouraging signs that more and more Filipinos are becoming educated about the value of nutritional supplements and they are taking more of these. FNRI surveys show in 2003, only 22.9 percent of Filipinos said they took health supplements. In 2008, that figure had risen to 46.8 percent.

The top two reasons these people gave for taking supplements were health and extra energy. Other reasons were “doctor-recommended,” “perform better in school/work,” and “not getting enough vitamins from the diet.”

To get the maximum benefits from a vitamin and mineral supplement, make sure to choose one that has complete nutritional content.  Centrum is complete and specially balanced with 30 vitamins and minerals the body needs, from vitamin A to zinc. For adults aged 50 and above, on the other hand, Centrum Silver’s age-adjusted formula is perfect for the changing needs in their golden years.

source: philstar.com

Loading up on more veggies, fruits won't ward off hunger - study

The idea that filling up on fruits and vegetables will cut one's appetite for higher-calorie fare did not pan out in a new study; in fact, adding fruit juice before meals boosted hunger and weight gain for some participants.

Eating apples and grapes before lunch helped people feel fuller and eat slightly less than when they drank an equivalent amount of fruit juice as an appetizer in the experiment. However, putting volunteers on a fruit- and vegetable-heavy diet for months made no long-term difference in their assessments of their own hunger and fullness, researchers found.

Some doctors have hoped that encouraging people to eat greater volumes of fruits and veggies, which are less "energy-dense" than burgers and pizza, might help them feel full for longer and prevent overeating and weight gain.

But the new study suggests loading up on more carrots, broccoli and oranges every day won't ward off hunger over the long run. And having fruit in beverage form simply added calories to the day's tally without displacing any.

The findings follow results from the same trial showing 34 participants - some overweight or obese, some a healthy weight - gained between 3.5 and 5 pounds when they were given eight weeks of fruit juice to incorporate into their diet. Heavier participants, in particular, also gained weight when they received extra fresh fruit and vegetables.

"If you tell people to add anything to their diet, you're going to potentially have no weight loss, or weight gain, even with fruits and vegetables," said Barbara Rolls, chair of nutritional sciences at The Pennsylvania State University in University Park.

"You need to be careful to make sure that you emphasize substitution, not just, ‘Eat more of this or that,'" Rolls, who was not involved in the new research, told Reuters Health.

That's especially true for beverages, she said, since the body regulates hunger and thirst differently - and people often don't think to eat less to make up for juice or other calorie-filled beverages.

Richard Mattes from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and his colleagues found that when they fed volunteers a regular lunch of all-you-can-eat macaroni and cheese, they ate an average of 785 or 821 calories of it, depending on the day.

When the same participants started a meal with fresh and dried fruit, then went on to the main course, they ended up eating 678 calories of lunch, the fruit course included. When they started with fruit juice instead, the volunteers took in a total of 891 calories.

People ate about 400 more calories, on average, during the test day when they started lunch with juice, compared to when they started with solid fruit, according to the findings published in the International Journal of Obesity.

But those results in favor of fresh and dried fruit did not hold up over the longer-term, Mattes and his team found. When the researchers provided the volunteers with 400 to 550 calories of either fruits and vegetables or fruit juice each day for eight weeks, there was no change in how they rated their hunger or fullness at regular intervals during each test period.

That means simply adding fruits and veggies to meet nutritional guidelines may not be enough to help people stay full and lose weight - and may actually make it harder for them to shed extra pounds, researchers said.

Mattes and his colleagues advised "careful implementation of recommendations" through counseling or other nutrition programs to make sure people taking steps to improve their diet don't end up accidentally putting on more weight.

source: interaksyon.com

This Christmas, it’s cool to be kind at Ayala Malls

MANILA, Philippines - Christmas, the season of love, kindness and generosity, is also the busiest time of the year. With a lot of Christmas parties to attend, and work to wrap up before the holiday break, maintaining good cheer can be a challenge.

Ayala Malls officially welcomes the Christmas season with a campaign called “Wrapped in Love.” Figuring that it’s easier to stay in touch with our own kind, loving and generous nature when we are surrounded by expressions of such virtues, Ayala Malls has declared their space “kindness zones,” where otherwise exhausted shoppers and visitors are shown the love — and lots of it, in numerous ways.

Popcorn for all moviegoers. Candy bags for the kids on the playground. Concerts featuring artists such as The Blake, Piolo Pascual, Zia Quizon, Nikki Gil and Lea Salonga. An original Christmas ballet with Steps Dance Project. Goodies from a vendo machine that promotes good cheer. A designer charm bracelet that spreads the warmth of the season. All for free. From the surprising to the inspiring, expressions of giving abound at Ayala Malls.

So, too, do opportunities to give back. What better way to show some love than to include support for any or all of Ayala Malls’ partner foundations and their causes in your Christmas checklist?

Children’s Hour is an organization that invites individuals, employees, organizations and corporations to donate at least one hour’s worth of salaries or earnings once a year. Its mission is to promote education, health and nutrition and protection for disadvantaged Filipino children.





Hero Foundation, Inc. (Help Educated and Rear Orphans Foundation) provides educational assistance in the form of stipends to children of Filipino soldiers killed in action (KIA) or totally incapacitated while in the line of duty. HERO aims to help these children obtain a college or university degree, or a certificate in a vocational course, in order to give them a competitive chance in finding good and decent jobs or profession.

Ayala Foundation aims to improve the quality of life of the Filipino through social development. Since 1989, the foundation has been helping the Iraya-Mangyan, an indigenous ethnic group in Puerto Galera, become sustainably self-sufficient especially in the areas of education, livelihood, housing and health.

WWF-Philippines (World Wildlife Fund) is an organization whose mission is to stop and eventually reverse the accelerating degradation of the Philippine environment and to build a future in which Filipinos live in harmony with nature.

Concerts, fundraisers, weekly surprises, simple gifts — these are some of the big and small gestures of kindness visitors can expect this season at the Ayala Malls, a commitment that is perhaps best explained and underscored by the new Greenbelt Tunnel artwork by Jaime Zobel de Ayala. Various scenes capturing moments from the malls, the walkways and the gardens are shown in full-color, larger-than-life still photographs and, at the center, the words “relate, create, serve.”

Because at the heart of these efforts is the desire to create an atmosphere where visitors can leave their worries and stress behind. Unburdened, they are free to spread the love and the holiday cheer at Ayala Malls.

source: philstar.com