What Are Tortillas - A Brief Tortilla History
By KC Kudra | July 30, 2008
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The word “tortillas” originates from the Spanish word “torta,” meaning round cake. Tortillas are very popular in Mexico and also in the United States. Americans like to be imaginative when it comes to preparing their tortillas and combinations such as beans and meat, apple, cinnamon and sugar or peanut butter and jelly are favorites. Flour tortillas are also used to make sandwiches, casseroles and stews, hot dogs and there are plenty more uses too. You can even make homemade tortillas, since the recipe is quite straightforward.
Tortillas have been used for thousands of years but without the exotic, imaginative flavors and fillings of today.
More than 10,000 years before Christ, the Aztecs were already making tortillas. The Aztecs used a lot of corn, both eaten straight from the cob and in recipes. They would grind corn into cornmeal and from this they would make a corn dough called masa. Water is added to the cornmeal to make the dough but the temperature of the water is very important. If it is too hot or too cold, the dough will not be the right consistency to roll out. When the masa is ready, it is made into a ball and then rolled out into a thick pancake shape. It is then placed on a hot griddle for a minute or so to cook. It is important to keep an eye on the tortillas because they do not take long to cook.
Modern tortillas are made the same way as those in tortillas history. A lot of tortillas are mass-produced in factories with machinery these days since the demand for them is very high. You can get tortillas in various flavors or even make your own homemade version and experiment with the flavors. Various Mexican foods use tortillas. One example is enchiladas, where the tortilla is filled and rolled up and then cooked. Tacos use tortillas for the shell. Tortillas are used as turnovers when making quesadillas, before being filled and fried.
Tortillas are not just for eating. “Tortilla art” is when tortillas are used as a canvas. They are baked and then covered in acrylic, before they are painted. The culture of Latino artists is represented by tortilla art so this is an important part of tortilla history.
Tortilla chips are also made from tortillas. The tortilla is fried after being cut into wedges. The ingredients in corn tortillas are corn, salt, water, and vegetable oil. These tortilla chips first gained popularity in the 1940s in Los Angeles, California. These chips were mass-produced there but are still known as Mexican food.
Americans like to use tortillas in various dishes. They are commonly used in burritos, which originated in northern Mexico many years ago. Many people from the north of Mexico and the Native Mexicans in the southwestern United States eat tortillas as a food staple. Many restaurants use flour tortillas in a variety of non-Mexican and Mexican recipes. Nearly every grocery store has tortillas and you can also make homemade tortillas and experiment with the ingredients and fillings.
There are plenty of tortilla recipes available if you fancy making your own tortillas and creating some wonderful fillings!
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Steroid Hormones And Stretch Marks: Is There A Connection?
By Maia Pells | July 30, 2008
When the skin expands rapidly, stretch marks occur. The dermis tears just underneath the skin. The affected area over time then takes on a color that is silvery to the naked eye. It is these silvery areas that we know commonly as stretch marks.
How is this connected to steroids? Since stretch marks occur when there is rapid growth or stretching of the skin, this can lead to the assumption that steroid hormones and stretch marks actually do have a connection. This is because steroids stunt ordinary growth which is something that our skin is not ready for naturally.
Stretch Marks & Athletes
Muscle Growth - In order to vastly boost athletic performance, some people work out so that it will build their muscles faster and make them more efficient. Most athletes have stretch marks because of this heightened physical activity. It is simply because their dermis is not ready or strong enough to hold together from all the muscle growth and therefore the tearing begins and the stretch marks start to form. This is a common occurrence mostly in bodybuilders. Stretch marks that do occur usually are found where the greatest muscle mass has formed in a short period of time.
How Does This Happen?
Glucocorticoids - There are many different theories today that are being tested so that people understand stretch marks even more. One of these theories suggests that they are a result of what are known as glucocorticoids. When these substances are richly present in the bloodstream, they are assumed to cause stretch marks more than anything else.
The interesting part is that these substances are a class of steroid hormones that are produced by the body. We can actually cause the substance to be released when we are in a state of physical or mental stress by producing cortisol which is a group of hormones glucocorticoids belongs to. Bodybuilders do go through a lot of physical and mental stress and this is how we connect the steroid hormones and stretch marks formation.
How It Happens - When this hormone is released, the body is sent signals and the body will react in many different ways to the stress that released the hormones. This leads us to eat more so that we can balance the glucose that we feel is lost when we are stressed. If this stressed state is prolonged, then there is a greater tendency for the body to burn excess fat a lot slower. We therefore gain weight a lot quicker than normal and this can produce numerous stretch marks around the body where skin is stretched.
It is very important to know what causes stretch marks so that we might be able to counter the effects or prevent the marks from occurring. But other people who are more wary of their skin can take more natural methods in making sure that they do not produce stretch marks. This involves a good diet and just the right amount of time of exercise.
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Adopting A Diabetes Diet Plan
By Max Peykar | July 30, 2008
Diabetes can cripple you for life if you let it, but one way of taking control and not letting it do that is by following a diabetes diet plan. This is not really an option - unless you do so, your health will worsen and every facet of your life will be affected by diabetes. So what you should do is, consult a nutritionist who will design a healthy eating plan for you, which has enough variation to satiate your taste buds, while ensuring that your nutritional needs are met at the same time.
A healthy diet plan for diabetics has very strict composition - it must have 50% starch, 20% fat and 30% protein. Since the composition should be so exact, diabetic food must be prepared very precisely, with a great deal of attention given to exact measurements.
You really have to be dedicated to following your diabetic eating plan. Fatty and high calorie foods like fried foods and snacks between meals must all be strictly avoided. You also have to be careful not to miss any meals - this can mess up your metabolism. Eating out can be a problem, but you have to be careful.
Fructose is much easily digested than sucrose, so consuming a lot of fruits and vegetables is recommended, but they must be fresh and not frozen. Frozen foods are often preserved with various fatty and sugary chemicals. Avoid whole milk dairy products in your daily meals, but you should get your necessary dairy intake by drinking skimmed milk. Look away from all sweets, honey and candy items and other bakery and/or confectionery items containing high amounts of enriched carbohydrates.
There are plenty of other things you will have to try your very best to avoid - alcohol tops the list. Other high-fat foods like red meat, potato chips, eggs, mayonnaise etc must also be avoided, if you can, as should bottled fruit juice, cooking sauces and carbonated drinks. When you are on a strict diabetic eating plan, the daily calorie intake you must aim at is 1800 calories. So you have to make sure that your daily diet is carefully planned well in advance.
It is not as difficult as it might seem to figure out a good diet plan for a diabetic. Here is a simple and wholesome one. Breakfast can be a slice of wholemeal bread, a soft-boiled egg, half a cup of oatmeal, two thirds of a cup of apple juice and one cup of skimmed milk, without sugar. Lunch can include two slices of wholemeal bread, half a cup of tuna, a half a cup of diced tomatoes, one cup of mixed fruit, a glass of lemon tea and a teaspoon of margarine. A good dinner to round off the day would include half a cup of mashed potatoes, one slice of wholemeal bread, three ounces of baked chicken and either a cup of broccoli or a tossed salad. Salad dressing is something else you have to be wary of - store-bought dressings are high-fat and high-sugar. You could try a teaspoon of olive oil with some chopped garlic and a condiment like parsley, sage, basil or oregano for seasoning.
As you can see, preparing a nutritious and energy-generating diet needs good knowledge about basic nutrients required to keep your body healthy and a good understanding of how your metabolic system works. You can easily get your doctor to help with creating an easy-to-follow, enjoyable and wholesome diabetes diet plan.
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Seafood Safety in Baked Fish Recipes
By KC Kudra | July 29, 2008
Whether you have always adored the unique flavor of lobster or crab or if you grew up by the sea, you will almost certainly agree that there are few things as flavorful as fresh shellfish or fish recipes, well prepared and piping hot. There are, however, a lot of warnings about these days about food contamination, so it can be hard to totally relax and enjoy your baked tilapia recipe or grilled snapper recipe. Although it is vital to take into account food safety when preparing seafood, you just need a little bit of information and do not worry - it is easier to prepare safe seafood than you might think!
When you are purchasing fish at the supermarket or farmer’s market, make sure you examine the fish thoroughly. Remember that fresh fish and shellfish do not have a smell at all; if your fish smells fishy or oily, put it back. You will notice that the eyes on a fresh fish are clear and bulge out a little; fish that have sat for a while have sunken eyes. Similarly, make sure that the flesh around the eyes is not brown or yellow. The flesh of the fish should be shiny and firm and the gills should be free of any discharge.
When you are shopping, make sure the fish counter is the last place you visit. The less time your fish has to spend at room temperature, the better. You can ask the cashier to double-bag the fish and package it away from other foods. This ensures the juices of the fish do not spill out and contaminate other food items.
While you are preparing your seafood of choice at home, remember to keep the cutting board and knives that you use on your fish away from your vegetables unless you have washed them with hot, soapy water; some people even keep completely different sets of kitchen goods for vegetables and meat to avoid contamination.
Never put cooked food on an unwashed plate that has had raw poultry, meat, or fish on. The bacteria from this might contaminate the cooked food. You can use a food thermometer to tell you with complete accuracy whether your food is safe to eat or not. You cannot tell by sight or smell alone.
Raw seafood is popular, in some places more than others are. Do you enjoy raw oysters in the half shell or Japanese sushi or sashimi? There is always an inherent risk with raw seafood, no matter how professional the presentation appears. People with liver disorders or weakened immune systems or pregnant woman have a higher risk for these problems. Be aware of the facts and choose wisely.
There is no reason you cannot enjoy your seafood; just remember to take some normal precautions!
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The Vegetarian Diet Risk Hazard
By Irene Maseko | July 29, 2008
Mentioning you are a vegetarian as part of a conversation on health issues is still guaranteed to bring about a silence, even in today’s world. If you are thinking of following vegetarian diet for certain causes - religious belief, health reason, economic reason, animal rights - you will often face a barrage of uninformed arguments from skeptical relatives and friends. You may want to consider a vegetarian diet for improving and maintaining your physical, mental and spiritual health. While a vegetarian diet is among the healthiest ways to eat, certain nutrients can be lacking on a diet that contains no animal products at all.
Children often benefit from a vegetarian diet because many animal products contain preservatives and hormones and this limits their exposure. Although it is healthy, children need to have a nutritious diet so it is well worth doing some checking before giving them 100% vegetarian food.
Of course the main health benefits of heating regular quantities of fruit, vegetables and whole grains are well known. It’s this healthy consumption of fruit and vegetables etc. that could help in addressing the obesity problem which is becoming a major health concern as it addresses the problem of too much protein and animal fats in our diet. Other health advantages of a vegetarian diet are that it is normally low in cholesterol and fat.
It is probably well known that a vegetarian diet does not stay in your system for as long as normal diet and or course it doesn’t take as long for vegetarian food to become part of the food chain. If you go back in time, being a vegetarian was the norm and our distant ancestors probably didn’t eat much meat, if any. If you are in a restaurant though it is worth checking exactly what their vegetarian option contains as there are different definitions to what vegetarian is, even today!
Medical research into the vegetarian diet highlights some interesting statistics. Scientific studies carried out on the effects that meat has on people has caused increasing numbers to become vegetarian. Vegetarians are also less likely to develop any heart disease, 50% less likely in fact. Many people, at some point in their lives become vegetarian even if only for a short while.
But more and more people these days are discovering the many health benefits of a vegetarian diet as would seem to solve many health problems in the United States today. Like all things in life, something worth doing that will benefit your health in the long term, is not necessarily the easiest thing to do. In the end though, you will be disappointed if you only consider a vegetarian diet as a replacement for meat.
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