Wizard Recipes

Coffee is consumed frequently starting from the XV century and has stimulating properties due to its caffeine content and antioxidant properties because of the fitonutrients content. Coffee increases by 10 % velocity of information transmitted to the brain, increases strength, focus and efficacy.

With 2, 3 cups of coffee consumed daily, we become smarter and more capable of physical and intellectual activities, depression and anxiety being decreased.

Due to its slightly bitter taste, coffee determines the gall bladder to contract and helps improve digestion, especially fat digestion.

Caffeine blocks adenosine, a calming substance that decreases brain cell activity, especially at night. Sudden stop of coffee consumption leads to accentuated sleep sensation and even headaches. Caffeine creates addiction, but in short term. After 7-10 days you won’t feel the need to drink coffee.

Coffee increases glucose absorption and offers muscles energy. If consumed moderately before physical effort, increases lipids motility so that we lose weight from fats.

1 cup of coffee contains:

- 115 mg of caffeine (normal coffee)

- 65 mg caffeine (ness coffee)

Coffee with milk and cappuccino is best for morning consumption.

Water is the essential element of life, representing 70% of our body. Water is vital for our survival. If we cannot live without food for 40 days, without water we cannot live more than 2-3 days…

WATER

Water does not contain calories, but only minerals in diverse proportions.

High quantities of Potassium, Calcium and Magnesium make water ideal for losing weight, increasing dieresis.

Water acidity must be between 6 and 7, to assure optimum cell exchanges.

The water quantity that should be consumed daily depends on temperature, physical activity and own body needs, all of these being regulated by a hormone called vasopresine. This hormone is produced if water quantity from the body decreases and its effects are water retention at kidney level, thirst sensation appearing.

A healthy person does not retain excess water, nor eliminates more toxins from the body. Just that the urine quantity is larger, being more diluted.

Water goes through the empty stomach faster, so, instead of drinking a glass of water before meals, it’s better for you to eat and take small sips of water all along the meal. It will keep your stomach full longer.

TEA

Tea represents the most consumed beverage in the world after water. Green or black, tea contains many antioxidants that protect against cardio-vascular diseases, inhibit cancerous cell development and tanine in green tea increases dieresis.

Tea does not have any calories if it is not sweetened. Ice tea and all kinds of ready made fruit teas contain lots of added sugars, so be careful with that

Tea can be made from many plants, medicinal or not, and can be drank with or without sugar or honey.

Little secrets worth mentioning

-         green leafed vegetables held at room temperature can lose up to 20 % of the vitamin C content, so that’s why you should keep these in the fridge.

-         Canned vegetables represent a very healthy option because they are easy to conserve, do not have any fat added and maintain Vitamin E and B content. Beta carotene is best conserved when canned whereas most of vitamin C is destroyed.

-         See labels for vegetables cans regarding added sugar and salt.

-         Hydro soluble vitamins like C and B group dissolve in the water in which we boil our vegetables. It is best to use steam for cooking. Consume the water from the can in which the vegetables were conserved. It has all the nutrients that vegetables have lost in the process. Also consume soups

-         Use vinegar or lemon juice to sprinkle your vegetables not to go dark

-         Salt removes water from vegetables, so add it only before consuming these or they will just turn soft.

-         Cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage can be consumed raw (only Brussels sprout needs boiling).

-         Asparagus must be consumed exactly in the day in which you bought it. Only the tips can be eaten.

-         Red beetroot contains betanine, a pigment, which is used as an alimentary colorant

-         Beans, peas and soy beans must be left to soak in cold water up to 4 hours before cooking. In this manner you avoid bloating and indigestion

-         Champignons mushrooms can be eaten raw. All other types must be cooked.

-         To avoid vitamin C oxidation at metal contact, rip the salad leafs with your hands. Don’t cut it with the knife.

-         Do not cook spinach for more than 3-4 minutes in order to keep C and B vitamin. Choose fresh spinach salad.

-         Eat aubergines grilled or cooked with some lemon juice.

-         After washing, dry salad or spinach leaves to prevent oxidation.

There are so many types of vegetables, right? Let’s try and separate them into two categories:

-         vegetables containing starch : potatoes, peas, beans, soy beans which contain a high amount of calories, almost like cereals

-         vegetables without starch, which you can consume raw: green salad, cabbage, pepper, squash, tomatoes etc, which you can consume FORGETTING THE QUANTITIES!!!

Advantages:

-100 g boiled beetroot contains ½ of the daily recommended doses of folic acid

-3 raw carrots per day improve your digestion due to their fibre content

- 100 g red beans offer you 15% of the an adult’s protein daily necessary and 33 % of the daily recommended fibre doses

-120 g soy beans assures 15% of the daily recommended Calcium doses

-5 mushrooms daily offer 50% of Copper ratio

-100g broccoli contain 2 mg Iron, which means 25 % of the daily recommended doses and Calcium as in a glass of milk

-100g of spinach or endives assure half of the daily recommended vitamin B doses

-1 green pepper contains 3 times more vitamin C than an adult needs daily

-1 glass (200 ml) of tomato juice contains 16 ml lycopen, which means exactly the recommended daily doses

-Brussels sprout contain 2 times more vitamin B that cauliflower or cabbage

Disadvantages:

-         vegetables are high in fibres, which can cause irritation to the intestine walls, eventually leading to bloating and other digestive problems

-         excessive consumption of carrots can lead to yellow skin, affection that is not dangerous for your health

-         starch from potatoes gets absorbed easily, so potatoes fatten even if they are hard boiled or baked or mashed, not only deep fried

-          Fibres from vegetables decrease carbohydrate absorption.

Try eating vegetables like this:

-         vegetables contain II quality proteins, so you must consume them with meat, fish, cheese, eggs

-         vegetables are very low in fats, so, to indulge yourself, you can add a little bit of butter, cream or oil.

-         Vegetables can also be consumed with cereals: lintels, say beans, rice, corn, green peas, wheat etc

Boiled Broccoli:

-when steamed it keeps73% of C vitamin

-when boiled it keeps only 35% of C vitamin

Regarding vegetables without starch, we can never eat enough. The minimum daily quantity: 4 pieces/day of any kind of green, yellow or orange vegetable. Even if you eat 6 pounds a day you still do not reach 1000 calories, so, ABUSE!!!

To continue the subject of previous post, let’s now see the disadvantages of consuming these oleaginous fruits and seeds , because, believe it or not, there are some worth mentioning

Disadvantages :

-         First of all, you must know that these fruits and seeds contain 40-60 % fats, so they contain a lot of calories! Be careful when consuming these if you’re on a diet

-         The so called ‘good fats ‘ -non saturated fats- also contain 9 cal/g, meaning 45 cal/ tbsp

-         Our organism consumes less energy for fat assimilation, so calories from fats fatten more than calories from sugars!

-         Coconut and palm oil contain only saturated fats and no cholesterol, but lose all nutrients found in vegetable oils.

-         When heated, oil releases toxic products and fried foods can cause indigestion due to the formed crust. The only manner in which we can take advantage of all oil nutrients is consuming it raw.

-         Fat hydrogenation represents a process of adding Hydrogen to a non saturated fat (liquid) to make it oxidation resistant and to transform it into solid fat. So margarine is born !

-         Hydrogenated fats are very dangerous for our health, because they increase LDL, TGL, insulin resistance and decrease HDL. THESE FATS ARE CONTAINED IN LOTS OF PRODUCTS, SO BE CAREFUL AND READ THE LABEL EVERYTIME!

-         Margarine has the same amount of calories as butter, but does not contain cholesterol. As the margarine is softer, is also healthier. It contains less hydrogenated fats.

-         Fats do not dissolve in water or acid environment- this is why these ones float in the gastric liquid in our stomach. Once in our intestine, these get mixed with enzymes from the gall bladder, digestive and pancreatic enzymes, forming an emulsion that is soluble. People suffering from gall bladder or digestive problems may have serious trouble when consuming fats, so be careful!!

Due to their high calorie content, these cannot be consumed by themselves, but only along with other products, in small quantities, to take advantage of their qualities only. Fats need carbohydrates in order to be metabolised- metabolising only fats doesn’t lead to glucose, the only energy producing chemical of the organism.

So please do consume:

-         Dried seeds and fruits with cereals and milk

-         Oil of any kind added to fresh or cooked vegetables, in salads or pasta and rice.

Small secrets worth knowing:

-Every kind of vegetable oil is a mix of saturated and poli non saturated fats in diverse proportions. The more saturated an oil is, the more solid it is.

-If you put olive oil in the fridge, you can notice that at the bottom of the bottle this becomes dens due to the mono non saturated fats. Sun flower oil, being poli non saturated, remains liquid in every condition.

- Corn oil is excellent for cooking

-Remember: NONE OF THE VEGETABLE OILS CONTAIN CHOLESTEROL

- All vegetable oils contain the same amount of calories, no matter if they are made of olives, sun flower, nuts, corn, Soybeans

-extra virgin olive oil is the best quality of olive oil you can get.

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Fruits (nuts, olives, peanuts, almonds, avocado and coconuts) and seeds (sun-flower, pumpkin) contain a high caloric content, being rich in unsaturated fats, minerals (zinc, iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium and selenium), vitamins (B and E) and proteins. These fruits and seeds can be consumed as they are or used for producing oil.

Oleaginous Fruits

Advantages:

-         Due to the high content of minerals, these stimulate the immune system and increase the body’s capacity to protect itself.

-         Decrease cholesterol level, assuring a good blood fluidity, arterial wall elasticity and a normal blood pressure

-         Improve male fertility and sperm quality

-         Nuts ameliorate PMS symptoms through B6 vitamin content.

-         Olive oil is the best absorbed by the intestine and improves intestinal transit and digestive functions, preventing constipation.

-         If you hold olive oil in your mouth for a few minutes, it maintains teeth whiteness and gum health

-         Rich in mono non saturated fats, olive oil is good for your heart, whereas sun flower oil has a high content of E vitamin, being a good antioxidant

-         Pistachio contains Iron and Calcium

-         1 fist of peanuts or nuts per day increase intellectual performances

Avocado is one of the least fruits rich in oils and E Vitamin fruits; E vitamin helps cicatrisation, maintains skin quality, improves immune system, diminish heart disease risk