• Even before cooking vegetables, we have to limit the loss of vitamins during storage. This can waste up to 50% of the content of vitamin C. This is the case of potatoes after 3 months storage. A few days in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator also reduces the levels of fragile vitamins. It is therefore advisable to consume vegetables in the 24 to 48 hours after their purchase.


• Soaking your vegetables in water can also make them lose their micronutrients. Vitamin C and vitamin B are partly dissolved in the water during soaking. A simple rinsing with running water and a low pressure is enough to clean the vegetables.
  

• Use the cooking water of vegetables make sauces, dressings and gravy. But you must take care to make sure that the vegetables are fresh and have not been sprayed with hazardous chemicals like nitrates, pesticides, else you will have them in the cooking water. If so, don't use the cooking water.


• Eat raw vegetables regularly . Their micronutrient content is maximum. Here is a great collection of raw vegetables recipes which are relatively easy to prepare and are very nutritious.


• Cook the potatoes with their skin. They lose fewer vitamins this way and are easier to peel after they have been cooked.


• Vegetables must be cooked with boiling water. The high temperature of the water helps "coagulate" sugars on the surface to form a protective layer that prevents an important dissemination of micronutrients.


• Prefer vegetables "al dente". A short cooking time retain more micronutrients.

• Age: Kids have lower blood pressure ranges while adults more than 55 years old have higher blood pressures.


• Sex: Men have generally a higher blood pressure than women. But they catch up usually after menopause.

• Your heart tires itself more easily: It pumps more vigorously and thus gets tired more easily.


• Your arteries suffer too: The high pressure of the blood tend to damage the inner walls of your arteries. They become more fragile and cholesterol accumulate more easily on them, leading to the formation of fatty deposits on the linings of the walls. These fatty deposits clog your arteries and are responsible for the disease known as heart attack.


• Brain complications: The small blood vessels in your brain are affected and can break down under these high pressures. These can provoke a stroke or lead to internal bleeding inside your brain.


• Other organs suffer equally: Namely your eyes and kidneys.

• Hereditary Factor: Although not always true, there is a link between your parents having hypertension and you too getting it. If your parents have high blood pressures, you must be careful in your lifestyle and eating habits to avoid getting hypertension too.


• Ethnic Factor: It appears, although this has not been scientifically proven, that people with darker skins are more prone to hypertension than fair-skinned persons. It seems that this has to do with the difficulty dark skinned persons have in getting rid of salt.


• The famous salt: Is it that bad for our health? Yes in excess! It provokes a retention of water in our body which increases the blood pressure. In addition, the kidneys detecting an increase in the salt concentration in our body will ask the heart to pump more blood to them so as to eliminate the salt. An increase in the heart activity indicates an increase in blood pressure.


• Overweight, a nutrition loaded with fats and physical inactivity: are all aggravating factors because they favor the apparition of cholesterol and fatty deposits. Those factors can also cause type II diabetes.


• Smoking: is also extremely damaging for the whole cardiovascular system. It also contributes to the onset of premature aging of the arteries of blood vessels.


• Stress: is well-known for increasing the blood pressure. Alcohol and coffee also have exciting effects on the heart.


• Age: The inevitable result of age is also a risk factor. With age, arteries become less flexible, and encouraging the heart to pump harder to get blood to the organs. Doctors have long considered that it was normal to have a little tension high as they age.

The book is compiled by Allan Borushek, a dietitian and health educator with over 30 years of clinical experience. His motto is: "Fat Matters, Carbs Count, but, Calories Are King!"

It’s a fact that most of us drastically underestimate how much food we eat. One of the main reasons is that we really don’t know what’s in the food we eat day-in and day-out. Now you can end the guesswork. You will find the calorie, fat and carbohydrate counts for your favorite foods in this convenient, pocket-sized, and colorful book.

• Make Your Bed A Sanctuary
  As my entrepreneur friend told me, his only getaway from work and the pressures of life was to lay in bed at night and relax. He made a promise to himself that when he lays in his bed, he will not allow any of these thoughts to enter his mind. He said that this was something he had to really work hard at, but when he finally wrapped his mind around it, he received the best sleep he's ever had. The key is to start thinking of your bed as a place that is impervious to anything that has to do with work or any other problems in your life. View your bed as a pure, stress-free environment and you'll find sleep as the best getaway.


• Keep Your Office Away From The Bedroom
  This is a direct relationship between work and sleep, don't do it! By moving your office to a different room, or by completely eliminating one in your home, you would be freeing your mind from any thought of it. Many people set desks somewhere next to their beds, but with this you're asking for thoughts to enter your mind as you're trying to get to sleep. Anything that was left on the "to-do list", regarding personal bills or work-related topics, will find its way into your head during the time you want to escape them.


• Set A "Release" Chair Nearby
  Whenever you're feeling any thoughts about stress in your life, get out of bed and sit in a chair. In this chair (which can be in your bedroom) you can think about any worries on your mind and straighten them out there. This is a method you can use to try and get used to making your bed a "sanctuary", from the previous point. Try and make a habit to use this chair as a way to release any stress so it stays out of your bed.


• Move The TVs And Computers
  We love them and we hate them. A bad habit many people have is to place a TV and/or computer somewhere in their bedrooms. As these electronics are great ways to entertain and relax, they are pure distractions. If these are in the room, it's likely that at sometime you'll have the urge to get out of bed to complete a task that wasn't completed earlier. Solve this problem by simply moving these items out of the bedroom and into a more fitting location.


• Let Others Know About Your Mission
  If you have a partner, this is a key point. Tell them that you are trying to eliminate all kinds of stress and worry when you're in bed. By letting him/her know, this would definitely help you achieve your goal. If, at any time, they begin talking about work or outside problems, get out of bed and tell them to wait to continue until you're in your "release chair".


• Sleep Worry-free!
  With these goals and ideas in mind, you'll find that sleep will become something that you'll look forward to all day. You'll never want to skimp on sleep from now on. Even with a very busy schedule, finding the time to sleep even six hours will feel like you've received the best rest you've ever had. As my entrepreneur friend said, achieving these goals was the only way he felt sane through the constant pressure and 14+ hour work days of starting his business. Keep your bed and night's sleep as pure as you can make it. Practice and live these tips to feel the same!

• 15,4% in the kitchen: intoxication due to carbon monoxide, intoxication due to household products, falls from high chairs, burns, cuts are the most frequent risks.


• 14% in the living room: fire caused by lamps, candles, chimneys, and suffocations are the main risks.


• 8,7% on the staircases: Mainly falls.


• 4,8% in the bathroom: Intoxication from medications, drowning and falls.


• All kids before 15 years old have most of their bruises and bumps at home.

• It is during the moments of haste like preparing foods that we sometimes lose our vigilance and we can cut ourselves.


• Defective gas plumbing can cause intoxication by carbon monoxide or a fire in case there are leaks.


• Nothing must be left within reach of children. The biggest risks for them are burns from the boiling liquids, ovens, hot plates, vapors from cookers and pans.

• Turn off electric appliances after each use.


• Use ovens with cold or isothermal doors.


• For the chair of your baby, fix your child properly on it, place a rug underneath it and place it far away from the kitchen tabletop.


• Close your kitchen drawers with keys after each use so that children do not have access to knifes, forks and other dangerous objects.


• Always place your hot plates, hot and cutting objects far from the edge, out of reach of children.


• Always keep the handles of your pans close to the wall and away from you.


• Always have your gas pipes installed by a professional and replace them every 2 years.


• Always buy household products fitted with security caps. Close them after each use.


• Never place toxic substances in standard bottles else they can be mistaken for ordinary drinks


• Keep them in a safe place far from children.

• In a living room, the most frequent risks are falls, mostly for kids and old persons with failing vision.


• Other risks which threaten kids are suffocations.


• Risks of getting burnt and fires are also present in the living room.

• Your living room must less cluttered as possible. The furniture must be spaced out and avoid somber lighting in your living room. Here is a simple guide on how to clean up your living room in 15 minutes.


• Do not let small objects litter the floor of your living room. Pick it up as soon as anything falls down.


• Do not place rugs, tapestries near lamps, candles, chimneys and other lighting.


• Install a security ramp and anti-slip covering on your stairways.


• Fixed your rugs to the floor with glue or transparent duct tapes.


• Place cushioned corner-protections on your furniture to prevent your kids from getting hurt if ever they bump into the corners of the furniture.

• The most frequent accidents are drowning, especially for small children. If there is no one looking after him/her, a child can drown in a few minutes in 20 cm of water!


• Burns and scalds from hot water.


• Intoxication from the ingestion of medications.


• Cuts from razors and scissors.


• Falls on slippery surfaces.


• Electrocutions from electric appliances lying around.

• Place an anti-slip rug on the floor inside your bathtub and shower stand.


• Always keep eyes on your kids when they are in the bathtub.


• Always check that the temperature of the water in the bathtub and from your shower is below 37°C.


• Keep your medications in a cupboard locked securely with a key.


• Keep cutting objects like razors and scissors on a high shelf out of the reach of your kids.


• Turn off electric objects like a hairdryer after use and place them on a high shelf.

• 0 to 20 db: (You hear no sound between 0 to 20 db) - Normal Hearing
• 20 to 40 db: slight deficiency
• 40 to 70 db: average deficiency
• 70 to 90 db: severe deficiency
• 90 to 120 db: extreme deficiency
• 120 db: complete hearing loss

• In a noisy place, do you have trouble following a conversation?
• Do you ask people to whom you talk to repeat what they have just said?
• Do you increase the volume when you watch TV or when you are listening to a song on the radio?
• Do you have trouble understanding conversations when people talk to you in the dark?
• Do you have trouble understanding a foreign movie which has been translated in your mother tongue?
On the phone, do you have trouble understanding addresses, numbers,etc... which are communicated to you?

• Always carry earplugs with you
  
  Not all workplaces are calm. Take a few earplugs with you and use them if your concentration is hampered by the noise around you.


• Stop using headphones/earphones
  
  Stop using your Ipod at home or around the house. Instead use loudspeakers whenever possible as long as you do not make it loud and you do not annoy your neighbors with the sound.


• Do not stay near the loudspeakers.
  
  This point may sound as a contradiction in respect to the point above. But if you stay near the loudspeakers, it is the same as if you are listening through your headphones or earphones.


• Listen to your mp3 player for 20 hours only per week.
  
  4 hours at a party and 2 hours in a night-club per week.


• Dump the cotton swab.
  
  Use a cotton swab if you want to run the risk of causing irreversible damage to your ears. To safeguard your ears clean them with a disposable handkerchief using your finger. Most people like to remove completely the wax from the ears but you must understand that the wax has a protective role in the ears. It filters the air which enters the by trapping bacteria, insects and dust particles. It also lubricates the ear canal. Do not wash your ears daily. Twice a week is largely sufficient.


• Use protective ear covers in your workplace for noises above 87 dbs.
  
  Deafness is the second professional disease which affects many people around the world. Working in a place where there are constant noises everyday will ultimately have irreversible impacts on your hearing abilities. I can't ask you to change jobs but you can use protective ear covers to dampen the noise intensity.


• Use earplugs when swimming or bathing.
  
  Sometimes it happens that water enters your ears, mingles with the earwax and clogs your ear canal. This is very painful to remove. So to avoid this, use ear plugs when swimming or bathing to avoid this.


• Be careful when diving.
  
  Be careful when diving due to the change of pressure in the water. Dive alongside a professional diver and respects all the safety procedures.

1. Be Honest
   Some patients lie about their conditions to their doctor. If they have been suffering from a disease for the last past month, some often deny it and just state that they have been suffering for the last past week. I assume some people do this so as not to justify why they haven't come to the hospital earlier. Others hide treatments they have been following. What may seem as a simple white lie to you, may actually complicate matters for both the doctor in his/her diagnosis of your disease and in the treatments and medications he may give you. Be honest in whatever you say to your doctor. You must understand that all doctors are govern by a code of conduct or Hippocratic Oath whereby they are not allowed to divulge what the patient has told him/her. It is known as patient-doctor confidentiality and what information you told your doctor on you will stay between you and him/her. If you are having any personal problems and you are unable to cope with them because of your disease, (s)he will be able to propose a solution to you or guide you to concerned parties which may help you.


2. Prepare a family medical history
   When questioning you, most doctors will ask you at one point or another if there have been any cases of disease in your family. For example if there are cases of cancer in your family, there is a high probability that you may yourself suffer from cancer one day, although that may actually not happen. To make a family medical history, a simple family tree is enough. Mayoclinic has a great guide on how to make a medical family tree. Keep it handy everytime you visit your doctor. This will greatly help his/her work.


3. Keep a list of treatments/medications you are taking or have taken
   Keep a list of treatments, surgeries you have undergone and what medications you have been taking for each treatment and surgery. Sometimes it may happen that you are suffering from an illness and you take a medication, this medication may aggravate your health if it does not bode well with other medications or therapies you are undergoing. Also some medications may have nasty side-effects depending on what surgeries or treatments you have done in the past.


4. Weigh yourself regularly and note it down
   Keep a habit of weighing yourself regularly every 15 days and noting it down. Sometimes when you are suffering from an illness, the fact that you have lost/gained weight may be indicative of a symptom of a certain disease. Also the doctor will be able to know exactly how much is your normal weight and how much you have lost/gained in total.


5. Indicate the precise location of any pain you are suffering and other difficulties you are experiencing
   If you are having trouble sleeping at night and you cough frequently without any apparent reason, this may be indicative of a breathing problem. If you are suffering from chest pains and swelling in the feet, ankles, legs or abdomen or weight gain, this may suggest a heart problem. Be clear to your doctor and tell her/him every little pains, irritations you are experiencing. A conscientious doctor will examine you properly and will detect them but it does no harm to tell him/her about that. (S)he may overlook something unless you tell him/her about it.


6. Learn a bit about your illness and the parts of your body affected
   No I'm not telling you to infer symptoms of your illness and learn complex schemas of anatomy with all the bones, muscles, veins, etc... If you are having trouble for a specific body part and is consulting a doctor about it, you will understand the doctor's explanations better if you know a bit of the anatomy of this body part. Most patients I see are not able to grasp simple explanations of the diseases which would have been easier for them to understand had they taken the time to research a bit about the disease and how it is affecting their body.


7. Note down what the doctor is saying
   Take the habit of bringing a simple notepad and a pen to your visit and note down what the doctor is telling you. You may not be able to write down all the complex terminology but a good doctor will always try to simplify his/her explanations. If you are not able to understand everything the doctor is telling you, this will help you afterwards in your research about your illness.


8. Always question your doctor
   
   Steve Olson illustrates this important point in his post Always Question Your Doctor - Three Stories Why.
   

   "12 years ago at age 25, a doctor diagnosed me with gallstones and she recommended that I have my gall bladder removed. The first inaccurate thing they told me was that the procedure was safe. It isn’t. They didn’t tell me that 1 in 50 patients have an injury that results in serious complications like death or lifelong pain. They also didn’t tell me gallbladder surgery increases the chance of colon cancer. And they didn’t tell me that over 1 in 10 patients are not satisfied with the surgery. Is that the doctor’s fault? No, some of this stuff they didn’t even know in 1994. It was my responsibility to ask more questions and do more research about the procedure. I should have asked – What does low risk mean? What exactly are the possible complications and how would they affect my life? Is it possible there are long-term complications with this procedure that nobody knows about yet?"

• The amount of protein he must consume daily is about 2 g per kilogram of body weight. That is for a boy of 69 kg, about 120 g of proteins are needed, half from animal origin and half from plants.
  
  Animal Origin: 150g of fish or meat, 1/2 L of milk, an egg, 2 portions of cheese.
  
  Plant Origin: 300g of bread, 300g of potatoes, 2 portions of cereals, biscuits,...


• You must increase the protein consumption if your child is doing some physical activities.


• You must vary the menus and maintain a sufficient amount of vegetables and fresh fruits in his daily diet. A minimum of 5 vegetables and fresh fruits per day is required.


• Because of his "enormous" appetite, your teenager may have a tendency to eat more than his share of starchy foods. You must follow his weight closely; also the digestion of all the starchy foods may sometimes lead to colitis, a disease affecting his intestines leading to diarrhea and abdominal pain.


• It is at this age of "emotional turmoil" that your child is more likely to succumb to peer pressure and start indulging in habits like drinking,smoking and taking drugs. I for one, cannot give you any proper advice on this subject but you must refer your child to a psychologist or another certified doctor so that you can tackle the problem at its root instead of letting it becoming a bigger and bigger problem.
  

• never let your child feel hunger pangs.


• balance her/his diet with all the necessary nutrients in a correct proportion. You can consult this following guide to prepare a healthy balanced menu.


• teach her/his about proper eating habits. This is even more important for them as they will have to teach their kids later about proper eating habits in their roles of parents.


• never send her/him to school on an empty stomach or simply a cup of tea and biscuits. Make a proper healthy breakfast for your child.


• never put your daughter on a weight loss "diet" or other fad or crash diets. This can only put a restraint on her still growing body.


• never force them to lose weight even if they do not want to do this. A diet without motivation is doomed to failure.


• show them how to choose dishes for the family. Let them have a hand in the preparation of family meals.


• always find some time daily to have a proper family meal with your children.

• Milk, tea or coffee with semi-skimmed milk and 1 or 2 sugar cubes.
• 3 or 4 toasts slightly smeared with butter.
• 1 food with plenty of proteins like a yogurt, an egg,etc...
• 1 fruit or 1 glass of fruit juice.
  

• Appetizer: choose a fruit or a salad. Avoid the pizzas, meat, etc...


• Main dish: Meat or fish without any sauce, accompanied with large portions of veggies. Limit fried foods as mush as possible.


• Dessert: a fruit, a yogurt.
  

1. The Banana: A powerhouse of 9 vitamins.
   
   True but False: You may find this answer ambiguous but this is actually the case. In most health articles you will find people quoting such a vegetable or such a fruit as a powerhouse of vitamins. A banana has been claimed as such. A fruit in itself is not a powerhouse. You will find 9 vitamins in a banana but most are in trace amounts that they will not do such major benefits on your health. However bananas are rich in potassium, a nutrient which combats high blood pressure.


2. Puree is the best way to digest potatoes.
   
   False: To gulp down potatoes in puree without mastication and impregnating it with saliva, it will not be digested correctly. So do not give too much puree to your child or old persons.


3. Carrots ease the transit in case of diarrhea.
   
   True: This is due to a molecule known as pectin which absorbs water and gives less watery faeces but this vegetable does not have anti-infectious properties. Beware also of intolerance to carrots.


4. Mushrooms are the "meats" of vegans.
   
   False: Mushrooms do not contain all essential amino acids (building blocks of proteins) found in meats. Also you must consume about 1 kg of mushrooms to get the equivalent amount of proteins in a beef steak. At most, you can consider them as protein complements.


5. Consuming the cooking water of vegetables are beneficial for health.
   
   Actually there are two schools of thoughts on this particular nutrition fact which are totally divergent.
   
   True: The classic opinion is that you must collect the cooking water of vegetables because it is a concentrated solution of minerals and vitamins which have drained from the vegetables and it would be a total waste to throw it away.
   
   False: On the other hand, as well as vitamins and minerals, you will also be collecting the pesticides, insecticides and nitrates compounds found on the vegetables.
   
   For this, I'll say that if you are sure that the vegetables have not been sprayed by hazardous chemicals, then make a health drink from the cooking water of the vegetables.


6. The automatic cooker is safe for the cooking of vegetables.
   
   False: If you do not know how to use an automatic cooker.
   
   True: If you respect the modes of use: cooking in a minimum amount of water, in a minimum amount of time and in an airtight condition. In a cooker, the vitamins are more vulnerable to the time of cooking than the actual temperature. So it is better to cook your vegetables at 120°C for 10 minutes than at 100°C for 30 minutes.


7. Two bananas are the equivalent of a beefsteak.
   
   False: You need atleast 12 to 14 bananas to equate the proteic value of 100g of a beefsteak but it is more nutritious to eat 12 bananas than a beefsteak.


8. Citrus juices acidify urine.
   
   False: The acidic salts in fruits undergo a transformation in the human body which turn them into carbonates alkalines, i.e. the acidic nature of the citrus fruits are cancelled by the human body. Most vegetables and fruits in general, rich in calcium, potassium and other metals, are alkaline. They are very important in a dish to balance the acidic nature of meats, eggs and fish.


9. Dried plums are excellent against constipation.
   
   True: An excellent grandmother remedy, it is recommended for lazy intestines to eat, every morning 3 to 4 dried plums soaked 24 hours in water and to drink the water.


10. Pulses can replace meats.
    
    True: But you must also complement your meals with other sources of proteins. Although more loaded with proteins than meats (20 to 24%), they lack some essential amino acids. The biggest inconvenience of eating pulses is the intestinal fermentations they provoke.


11. Potatoes left to ripen in air are good for health.
    
    False: There has been some cases of intoxications with potatoes left to ripen in the air but if you take the necessary precautions to remove all the germs and the greenish patches on the potatoes, then there are no major health risks. The substance responsible for this is Solanine, a compound which develops under the skins of tubers on exposition to air, sun and humidity.

1. Limit the consumption of fine sugars
   
   By this, I mean sugars which are powdery or in small cubes which are use to make cakes and other delicacies. So no sugar in your coffee or tea as from now. Replace white bread with wholewheat breads. Stop drinking sodas. These food products have a high glycemic index: they contain a lot of sugar which are digested and absorbed very quickly by the human body. Cancerous cells need a lot of glucose to develop rapidly. A diet with lots of sugars can favorize the development of tumors in your body. Moreover, your pancreas, the organ which produces insulin in your body, must increase its turnover of insulin to break down surplus sugar. This increase of insulin, according to the chief of cancerology department, stimulates the growth and diffusion of cancerous cells. It is imperative then to limit the consumption of fine sugars.


2. Avoid hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils
   
   You can find them in some margarines and prepared dishes. They have inflammatory properties and prepare the ground for the formation of cancerous tissues. These are also trans fat products. Trans fats lowers the amount of HDL or good cholesterol.


3. Opt for fresh farmers foods
   
   Fresh farmers foods have the advantage of having been cultivated the traditional way. The fruits and vegetables are not contaminated by pesticides and insecticides and the meats are not loaded with steroids and hormones. But beware though. Some farmers do resort to orthodox and unhealthy methods to boost their productions.


4. Green Tea
   
   Green tea is rich in polyphenols and seems to block the formation of tumors by preventing blood vessels of forming everywhere. Green tea also seem to prevent the formation of leukemia, cancers of the prostate, breasts, kidneys, skins and mouth.


5. Soja
   
   Soja contains isoflavines which have the property of reducing overstimulation of the body by oestrogens. It is used in some treatments of cancer like breasts cancer.


6. Curcuma
   
   Curcuma have anti-inflammatory properties and thus may prevent proliferation of some tumors, namely in the colon, liver or stomach and breasts.


7. Maintain a correct weight
   
   Maintain your BMI (Body Mass Index) in the healthy normal range of 18.5 to 24,9. Overweight and obesity increase the risks of developing cancer, even more if you have a lot of fatty tissues around your waists. An increase in weight raises the probability of having cancer in your colon and rectum, oesophagus, pancreas, kidneys and breasts even after menopause.


8. Do some regular physical activities
   
   The famous 30 minutes daily walk must no longer remains as idle talks. You must make sure you have a daily time slice to do some jogging, walking or other physical activities. Doing some kind of sports may have some benefits against certain types of cancer such as lung and pancreatic cancers.


9. Limit the consumption of red meat to 500 g per week
   
   Red meat has been known to be one of the causes of the cancer of the colon and rectum. But do not eliminate it completely from your diet because it is also a very good source of essential minerals and nutrients like proteins, zinc and iron.


10. Daily Maximum Alcohol Intake: only 1 glass for women and two glasses for men
    
    And no alcohol for pregnant women! Alcohol favorizes the apparition of cancer in certain parts of the body: colon, rectum, oesophagus, liver and even breasts.


11. Limit consumption of salt to 5 g per day
    
    It seems that salt is one of the major causes of stomach cancer.


12. Mothers should breastfeed their babies
    
    Ideally every baby should be fed by breastfeeding only till the age of six months. Breastfeeding decreases the risks of breast cancers for the women and participates in the development of a solid immunitary system of the growing child. This also prevents overweight later.