Food & Nutrition: Culinary Techniques, Diets & Metabolic Health

Nutritional health is achieved through the therapeutic use of whole foods, safe culinary preparation, and understanding the metabolic impacts of specific dietary frameworks and ingredients.

Bowl of dried apricots on wooden table background.

What Dried Fruits Are Good for Constipation?

Eating both fresh and dried fruits can help promote regular bowel movements. However, since dried fruits typically contain more fiber than fresh fruits do, you might consider eating more dried fruit if you are suffering from constipation.

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Bitter melon

How to Make Karela Juice

Karela juice, a juice extracted from bitter gourd, is sometimes difficult to find in stores so you might try growing your own gourds and making the juice yourself.

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Barbecued Chicken on a Flaming Hot Grill

Does Cooking Food Affect Protein Content?

The cost of food is escalating so quickly that a healthy diet becomes a financial as well as nutritional investment. To get the most from your foods, prepare them to retain the highest nutritional value.

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Stressed business woman

Why Do I Get a Headache After Eating Carbs?

With the exception of meat, fish and a few types of seafood, almost all foods have some amount of carbohydrate. If you suspect that carbs are giving you a headache, it could be a sign that your blood sugar is high.

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bananas on white background

Can Eating a Banana Help You Fall Asleep?

Grabbing a banana as a midmorning snack won't likely have you nodding off at your desk, but munching on one at bedtime can improve the quality of your sleep. The minerals and amino acids in a banana help relax your body. Pairing your evening banana with another sleep-inducing food provides even greater benefits.

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Pistachios

What Foods Contain Lithium?

Lithium is a naturally occurring alkali metal found in numerous foods and drinking water, especially that which comes from river basins and other fresh sources. Doctors prescribe high doses of lithium in drug form to stabilize the mood of patients with psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder.

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Soda with Ice Cube and Drinking Straw

Can Soft Drinks Affect Your Gallbladder?

If you've already had gallbladder disease or gallstones, you may wonder if your diet might affect your risk of developing the condition again. If you consume too much sugar each day -- perhaps in the form of sugar-sweetened soft drinks -- you might be increasing your risk.

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Coffee & Potassium

Regular coffee contains caffeine, which not only stimulates your nervous system, but also acts as a diuretic. While consuming coffee in moderate amounts is likely safe for most people, drinking too much can have negative repercussions.

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Bodybuilder

Diets for the Cutting Phase

The cutting phase is a term bodybuilders use to describe the period of dieting leading up to a competition. While bodybuilders spend most of the year eating excess calories to build muscle, when a competition is looming, cutting calories is vital to help shed body fat and get as lean as possible for the stage.

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Bananas

Do Overripe Bananas Still Have Nutritional Value?

The nutrient content of a banana changes as the banana becomes more ripe. However, the nutrient change isn't necessarily bad. Regardless of how ripe or unripe a fruit is, you still gain numerous benefits from it. For example, an overripe banana is packed with antioxidants.

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Pressing buttons

Vitamin D Deficiency & Bloating

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin stored in the liver. Its main purpose is to promote the absorption of calcium and strengthen bones. Only recently are experts discovering far-reaching effects of a vitamin D deficiency, including higher risk for cancer, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and more.

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Rich sliced fudge

Side Effects of Vegetable Glycerin

Vegetable glycerin, also called glycerol, is sometimes used as a food additive in baked goods, candy, fudge, dairy products, meat, pasta, cereals, processed fruits and vegetables, condiments, soups, sauces, egg products and fish products.

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Is Tempura Fattening?

Tempura can be vegetables, tofu or seafood, but it's always battered and deep-fried to a pale golden color. Depending on the style and desired result, the tempura coating can be quite light and delicate or much thicker. Tempura is traditionally served with soup, pickles and hot rice, as well as a daikon dipping sauce.

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How Do Saltines & Ginger Ale Treat Nausea?

Nausea can be caused by a variety of reasons including stomach flu, alcohol consumption, medications, food poisoning, migraines, motion sickness and pregnancy. Nausea is an uneasiness in the stomach that may make you feel like you need to vomit, but vomiting does not always occur.

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red and green tomatoes grow on twigs

What Type of Acid Is in Tomatoes?

A tasty bite of tomato contains more than 10 different types of acids, but two account for a large percentage of the total: citric acid and malic acid. Tomatoes also contain another essential acid, ascorbic acid, which is better known by its common name: vitamin C.

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Macro view of drink cans

What Kind of Acids Are in Sodas?

Most soft drinks contain one or more of three common acids: citric acid, carbonic acid and phosphoric acid. Soft drinks with specific flavor ingredients may also contain other less common acids. The level of acidity in sodas can be quite high, and many dentists deplore its long-term effect on your teeth.

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stevia plant

How Much Stevia Can You Have a Day?

Stevia is a blanket term for all sweeteners derived from the Stevia rebaudiana bush, which is prevalent in Asia and South America. Sweeteners labeled stevia are actually extracts called steviol glycosides.

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THB0012985

Daily Nutritional Requirements for Teens

Not all teenagers may have the same nutritional requirements. The United States Department of Agriculture provides age ranges on which to base teen nutritional requirements.

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Young woman drinking orange juice on bed (portrait)

Can Drinking Orange Juice Make Your Stomach Hurt?

A nutrient-rich addition to the diet, orange juice provides essential nutrients, including potassium, vitamin C and folate. However, drinking orange juice can cause digestive upset in some people, and might even damage the delicate lining of the stomach.

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Asparagus Tied inBunches For Sale

Do Vegetables Contain Fat?

Butter, oils, fried foods and fatty meats all have varying amounts of fat, and surprisingly, so do some vegetables.

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