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grow goji berryChinese Food - Eating With Chopsticks

If you've ever eaten in a Chinese restaurant you will be familiar with those long thin utensils, which are traditionally used to eat Chinese food. Yes, I'm talking about chopsticks. These versatile and efficient objects are actually reasonably easy to use despite appearances to the contrary. In fact with a little practice, one can become proficient in their use.

History shows that chopsticks have been in use since the time of the Shang Dynasty which ruled China between 1600 BC and 1046 BC. The chopsticks from those times would have been made of all sorts of different materials such as bamboo, bronze or ivory and decorated with enamel or lacquer or even gold or silver. A collection of more that one thousand pairs can be seen in the Kuaizi Museum in Shanghai. These days, bamboo or plastic is more usual.

Chopsticks are normally eight to ten inches in length but whereas Japanese ones taper almost to a point, Chinese chopsticks only narrow very slightly towards the end.

It's a little hard to explain how to use chopsticks without the benefit of pictures, but in essence your hand should be vertical as if you were about to shake hands, then curl your fingers round as if you were about to grasp a glass tumbler. Place the chopsticks on the side of your hand and rest your thumb on top of them. Now move your index finger out of the way slightly so that the chopsticks are resting on the side of your middle finger then slip the one nearest to your thumb to the end of your index finger so that it's resting on your fourth and little fingers. By moving your thumb and index finger slightly, the end of one chopstick will move back and forth, enabling you to pick up food. Try practicing by picking up pieces of cotton wool or other quite small items. You'll be amazed how easy it is to master the knack.

Because the Chinese use chopsticks to eat, they prepare their food accordingly. Meat and vegetables are usually sliced into thin strips, which also makes them very quick to cook. Dumplings are a little bigger but still small enough to be gripped with chopsticks and rice can be scooped straight from the bowl to the mouth. The only other implement on offer when dining Chinese style would be a soup spoon, from which it is quite alright to slurp as this is not impolite in Chinese circles.

However, there is strict etiquette surrounding the use of chopsticks. For example spearing something like a dumpling, standing chopsticks vertically in a bowl of food, sucking or licking them, waving them around particular at other people and using them to pull a dish of food towards you are all considered very bad manners.

While some of the above are just tradition, the reason for not standing chopsticks upright in a bowl of food is that their appearance resembles that of incense sticks which are lit in remembrance of the dead. To the Chinese, each meal is a celebration of life so they don't usually mix eating with grieving.

Liz Canham
As well as a love of Asian Food and Cookery, Liz seeks to help newcomers to the world of internet marketing with tools, tips and training from her Liz-e-Biz.com website.

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goji berries side effectsChestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire, But What About Those Other Holiday Food Products - Bah Humbug!

I'M NOT EATING THEM

The holiday season is bringing with it some wildly interesting new festive food choices but Paul C. Davis won't be first in line to sample them.

Call me traditional or call me crazy but when I think of food for the holiday season my mind goes to the old favorites. Doesn't everybody look forward to the candy canes, cranberries, gingerbread, egg nog, mince meat, shortbread and the turkey with all the "trimmins"? Well, apparently not because if you head to the grocery stores over the next few weeks you'll see some pretty strange concoctions that may or may not tempt your palate...but more about that later.

Turkey wasn't always the number one choice for the Christmas feast. Until the 17th century one would celebrate with mutton, pork, peacocks or, sadly, even swans. King James 1 straightened things out by trotting out the turkeys, which he found easier to digest than the other options. Back then, the less fortunate found a turkey substitute in the Christmas goose. Today, ham seems to be gaining in popularity and is the number one choice for many.

Bring on the figgy pudding. OK, Christmas or plum pudding. Plum pudding is still as popular as ever but in the old days it was very different . It used to consist of meat broth with dried fruit along with wine and lots of spices. Later the meat content was given the heave ho, ho, ho and the pudding became an annual Christmas standby.

Perhaps it's not great for the waistline but who can resist egg nog? This mixture of eggs, sugar, milk/cream is often accompanied by some type of liquor and was the creation of the English upper crust. Back then, there was no refrigeration, so a good way of keeping the drink fresh was to mix it with sherry or brandy. It seems that we Americans made it the "original", popular Christmas libation, a couple of hundred years ago, when we started mixing it with rum, which was plentiful and relatively affordable. Of course, in the south, it still tastes very good with Kentucky bourbon.

All the dishes we have grown to love will be making a return visit through the holidays. Hanukkah is celebrated by foods cooked in oil such as potato latkes (pancakes) and sufganyot, which are irresistible, jelly doughnuts. For many, Christmas is as American as pumpkin pie. It will be wonderful to chomp on chestnuts and sneak a few Christmas cookies and peppermint patties.

However, today things are changing and maybe not for the best. I took a quick look around and found some pretty unusual holiday products. I don't think anyone can get too upset about "Winter Oreos" which come with red cream filling and Ritz's "snowflake crackers" sound kind of creative. No problem, I guess, with Kellogg's holiday Rice Krispies. Of course, the Italian fruit cake, Panettone, is almost mainstream now, for everybody.

However, Noah's Bagels, for the second year in a row, are offering Candy Cane Bagels for the holidays. Apparently they don't taste minty at all but are just in the shape of candy canes. Still, as a novelty item they might be at least a bit of fun. A brand new offering this year is the bagel wreath made of red and green bagels filled with cranberries and braided into the shape of a wreath. Turtle Island Foods celebrates the sale this year of over one-million Tofurky roasts, a vegetarian poultry alternative and that's a little different. Unfortunately, I have to draw the line with the Jones Soda 2007 Holiday Gift Pack. It's a complete holiday meal that's brightly packaged in four cute little bottles with four different flavours: Christmas ham soda, Christmas tree soda, egg nog soda and sugar plum soda. No calories, no fat, no caffeine and definitely no fun! A portion of the proceeds of sales go to charity but what about your poor taste buds.

What next? Well, McReynolds Farms will deliver a suckling pig right to your door. Shaw's in New England is encouraging their customers to collect turkey points and over in the UK you can find Pedigree Limited Edition Turkey Schmackos which are described as a delicious and nutritious, meaty Christmas treat for your canine.....making it official that holiday eating is going to the dogs in no uncertain terms.

Paul Davis is the CEO of http://www.mygrocerydeals.com a free online grocery flyer comparison shopping tool designed to help you save money at the grocery store.

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Did you hear of Holistic Healing

goji berry seedsOolong Tea - A Healthy Refreshing Drink

Green tea is often touted as a wonder drink providing all sorts of health benefits. Studies have shown that green tea can prevent cancer, lower blood pressure, boost the immune system and reduce hypertension. Although green tea gets the spotlight, many of these same health benefits can be attributed to all sorts of tea including oolong.

Tea is, after all, tea. The only difference between green, oolong, and black tea is the way it has been processed after harvesting. White tea is a little bit different because of the way it is grown, but all tea is from the same plant - Camelia sinensis. And this plant has naturally occurring antioxidants that are beneficial to human health.

Antioxidants are also present in other types of food such as nuts, fruits, vegetables, and wines. They are good for disease prevention by combating free radicals - substances in the body linked to cancer, Parkinson's disease, senile and drug-induced deafness, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's.

There are several components in tea that act as antioxidants including catechins, flavanoids, and polyphenols.

White, Green or Oolong?

Oolong tea is produced by allowing the tea leaves to oxidize for a short time after picking. Oxidation is the process which makes the leaves turn dark on exposure to oxygen. Oolong is semi-oxidized; black tea is fully oxidized; and green tea is un-oxidized.

Fresh tea leaves are high in catechins. Processing the tea reduces these levels, so the more the tea is oxidized the lower the catechin levels. This means that white tea has the highest levels of catechins closely followed by green tea.

Catechins are the media darling of green tea promoters and usually receive the most coverage when discussing the health benefits of tea. There is one point, however, which is often overlooked: As the levels of catechins decrease during oxidation, the levels of theaflavins and thearubigins increase.

These two substances are found in higher concentrations in oolong and black tea than in green tea and have anti-allergy, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties. A 2001 Chinese study indicated that the antioxidant properties of green tea and black tea are equal.

So it appears that oxidation does not eliminate the health properties of tea, but simply reduces one type of antioxidant while increasing other health-promoting compounds.

So is Oolong Good for You?

It is safe to say that all tea is good for you, but since we are particularly interested in oolong, let's see what the medical literature has to say.

• Diabetes - Oolong tea may be an effective adjunct to oral hypoglycemic agents in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
• Eczema - Japanese researchers reported that patients with a form of eczema improved after drinking a liter of oolong tea daily.
• Allergies - Two catechin derivatives (C-1 and C-2) with potent antiallergic activity were isolated from Taiwanese oolong tea.
• Bacterial infections - Oolong tea polyphenols strongly inhibited the enzyme activities of some types of streptococci.
• Cavities - Oolong tea polyphenolic compounds could be useful for controlling dental caries.
• Obesity - Consumption of oolong tea stimulates both EE and fat oxidation in normal weight men.
• Cancer - Oolong tea extract has a chemopreventive action against hepatocarcinogenesis.

Great stuff! Drinking oolong tea will make you healthier, live longer, be more beautiful and have great teeth!

The Bottom Line

Drink oolong tea for your health, but don't lose sight of this simple fact - people have been drinking tea for thousands of years because it is a great tasting beverage. Sit back, relax, and savour the sensations as you sip this wonderful drink. It's good for the soul, and what's good for the soul is certainly good for the body. __________________________________

References:

• J. Agric. Food Chem., 47 (5), 1906 -1910, 1999. 10.1021/jf981114l S0021-8561(98)01114-5
• Archives of Dermatology, January 2001
• Diabetes Care 26:1714-1718, 2003
• Appl Environ Microbiol. 1993 April; 59(4): 968-973.
• The American Society for Nutritional Sciences J. Nutr. 131:2848-2852, November 2001
• Caries Res. 1993;27(2):124-9.
• Jpn J Cancer Res. 1996 Oct;87(10):1034-8.
• Journal of Nutrition. 2001;131:2248-2251.

Copyright � 2006 by Ross MacIver TeaFromTaiwan.com

This article may be redistributed freely on the Internet or in ezines as long as the resource box and hyperlinks remain intact.

Ross MacIver is the webmaster of Tea From Taiwan, a Taiwan-based merchant of high-quality oolong tea. Taiwan produces the best oolong tea in the world. All the tea carried by Tea From Taiwan is hand picked and hand processed. The tea is shipped worldwide by Taiwan air post.

Dear Pepsi (A Goodbye Letter)

This is a hard letter to write, but it must be done. I have loved you with an unfailing love so much of my life. You have been my constant companion on good days and bad days. You have been a faithful friend, always there to lift my spirits and make the pain go away. You were the one who was there when no one else was around. In the midst of the days that were filled with turmoil or emptiness you were my refuge. I would reach for you and you would always be there for me. After just a few moments in your presence, I would feel better and forge ahead with whatever had to be done. People have never understood our relationship, but I want to offer my deepest and heartfelt thanks for making many lonely, stressful and hard days bearable. I don't want to give you up. I don't. I'm not sure I feel like I CAN give you up, but I am writing this letter in hopes that you will understand why I have to take this step and that you will let me go. We both knew that we had to face this day. I have dreaded it for so long. But if you care for me at all, love me enough to let me go and help me on my journey of health, wholeness and wellness.

I've tried to give you up before. You know that. You stood patiently waiting, giving me my space, always knowing that I would return to you. I would go three months or six months without you, but somewhere inside there was a spot that only you seemed to be able to fill. When we'd get back together after being apart, it would be awkward at first, but after a while it felt as though I had never left you. We've been on this yo-yo relationship for at least five years now and I must choose Water instead. I have to choose to be in a relationship with someone that is good for me and who will contribute to me living a long and healthy life. But I love you so. I hate to give you up, but it has to be done.

For so long you were the one thing I had in my life that made me feel good. I could count on you to always be there for me. I really didn't want to have to ever give you up. The thought of doing it still makes me feel empty inside and I wonder how I will make it without you during the tough days that may lie ahead of me. At this moment, it feels like it will be a hard task to accomplish. It seems so unfair that I must make the choice to give up something that means this much to me. But to have life the way I want it, I must give it up the way it is.

Thank you for your faithfulness, for your patient understanding and for giving me much much more than I ever expected. As I write this I realize that I may have been using you as a crutch in my life. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry so please forgive me. I was just doing the best I could. I see you watching me right now as I write this. You are sitting on my desk looking me squarely in the eye. You are standing tall and looking sharp, dressed in my favorite colors of cobalt blue and red. I sure hope that the new person in my life can fill your shoes and make me feel as good as you.

Thank you for caring for me and loving me and being ever present in my life. Thanks for being there when it counted. You will be hard to replace, but I am sure that women are waiting in line for you just like I was. Don't feel neglected by the ones who have chosen champagne and wine over you. What I loved about you was that you never changed my state of mind, but you did have an addicting love.

Pepsi, I must say goodbye. You may never know how much you meant to me. I will miss you so much, but the time has come when I must stand tall and come out of hiding. I have to get out and live my life and be active and become the woman I am called to be. I have to move about freely and lightly. Although people have never understood our relationship, I do. I don't care what "they think", I am not influenced by them. Don't ever think that I was. This is a choice I had to make for myself. Somewhere in our hearts we both knew it would have to come to this. We will not be together, but I will always speak lovingly and kindly about you. I hope you'll do the same for me. You were there for me and I appreciate that so very much.

The next time you see me you may not recognize me, because I am going to give Water a try. He has pursued me and pursued me and I have never shown interest in him. However, we both know that he is a much better match for me and will take very good care of me. He'll take some getting used to. I've always felt he was such a "plain" kind of guy, but he is sure and steady and is ready to commit to me and you never were. When we see each other we may not speak, but we will always remember what we were to each other. If you love me, don't come after me; let me give my new life a try. I'm counting on you to understand me and to be rooting for my success in the new chapter of my life. You were my hero and I once loved you for it, but Water is ready to sweep me off my feet.

Best,
Sharmaine L. Hobbs

Sharmaine Hobbs is a writer and speaker and Founder of The Metamorphosis Movement which is a transformational movement reaching 100,000 women in 2008 to inspire, uplift and empower them to become the woman they were born to be. She reaches women through her speaking engagements, inspirational writings, womens workshops, teleclasses, mentoring program and her website. "When Women Awaken, Mountains Move!" To have her speak at your event or to awaken and transform your life, visit online at http://www.whenwomenawaken.com and email her at sharmaine@comcast.net

It Won't Be E-Asy Getting Kids Off Additives

Following a study by scientists at Southampton University, the papers have been awash with articles on the effects of food additives on children, and whether these are to blame for hyperactivity and behavioural problems that seem to be becoming more and more common.

I'm no fan of these additives and E numbers. There is absolutely no reason why they should appear in our foods, other than to entice children to pester their parents for brightly coloured, fantasy tasting 'treats' that appear too exciting to resist. And that's before the adults get tempted too...

Long term, children that regularly consume foods laden with additives are likely to grow into adults that cannot appreciate the true flavour of food, and that is going to prove deadly to our impending obesity crisis. Many of today's children will find real food dull, boring and tasteless and instead steer themselves towards nutritionally 'dead' junk.

What future headache does that hold for Trainers, Nutritionists and Lifestyle Coaches if it's hard enough getting grown adults away from artificially flavoured foods, in favour of more vegetables, more fibre and more protein??

Until there's a total ban on these additives (which may never happen), there is one way to reduce the chances of behavioural problems in children; get the family outdoors and be more active.

The more time children spend indoors, in front of the TV, the games console or the internet, the more chance they have of steering towards these 'sweet treats' to pep up their flagging energy.

With less regular physical activity, they will also find it hard to know how to expend this newly-found energy, which could be when you find a troublesome child on your hands...

Simon Dainton is a Certified Personal Trainer and founder of Fitstreet Personal Training in the UK. His Programs of Lifestyle change guarantee clients results, combining effective exercise, nutrition and lifestyle adjustments. For your FREE Fat Loss Report, go to http://www.fitstreet.co.uk/

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