If You Had to Make an Amazing Dish Using 555 Fried Sardines, What Would It Be?

Sardines may be known as a poor man’s staple because of it's affordability, but it's also packed with essential vitamins and minerals - making it one of the healthiest things we can eat. In fact, I do whip up a pack of 555 Hot & Spicy Sardines whenever I'm too lazy too cook because I find it to be both tasty and good for you. Of course, 555 Sardines recently signed Yaya Dub as their newest endorser to help encourage more people to eat sardines as part of their daily diet as a great health boost.

Having a daily dose of sardines is good for your heart as it is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which have been researched to lower triglycerides and cholesterol levels. Sardines are also an excellent source of Vitamin B12 which is also great for your overall cardiovascular health. Finally, sardines contains high level of Vitamin D that is optimal in bone building and it's also an affordable way to add protein to your diet.

555 Fried Sardines recently held a cooking competition and here are the creative dishes that had sardines as their core ingredient to promote sardines as a regular part of a healthy diet.

The Most Powerful Food Combinations You Need to Know

You should know by now that a daily dose of healthy food such as apples, green tea, and eggs is excellent for your body. By eating the right kind of food (I don't mean that bag of chips or french fries), your body gets all the nutrients it needs to function properly. You will feel amazing and less sickly as a result. 

It's Time to Know More About What Minerals Do and How To Get A Healthy Dose

We hear about vitamins and minerals all the time. While they are both essential for maintaining a healthy body, minerals are often an afterthought for most people. No one ever says "Get your daily dose of minerals!"

The main difference between the two is that vitamins are organic substances while minerals are inorganic substances found in the periodic table that our body absorbs. They both are essential because without them, we won't even survive. They perform hundreds of roles in our body from repairing cellular damage, healing wounds, convert food to energy, and so much more. 

If you want to know about vitamins and minerals, then check out this guide from Greatist.com, a wonderful health and fitness website.

The Ultimate Healthy Grocery List

There are people who say they want to take better care of themselves and live a healthy lifestyle. Now, there are two parts to that equation: a healthy diet and daily exercise. I don't know about you, but in my opinion it's a lot easier to eat healthy than have a 1-hour session in the gym. 

In order to help you eat food that's actually good for you, here's a grocery list from shape.com that shows you a list of ingredients you should pick up the next time you visit the supermarket. I'm hoping this can get you in the habit of buying food that's healthy. 

10 Healthy Foods That Should Be Part Of Your Daily Diet

Health and proper nutrition has recently been topic of focus of this blog, and for good reason. I'm passionate about food but I would also like to influence you, my readers, to live a healthier life. I'm not perfect. I eat Crispy Pata, Sisig, Lechon, Cake, and fast food just like everyone else. While I don't always eat clean, I do preach moderation - It's important for you to balance unhealthy meals with healthy ones. 

Coffee and Tea Taste are Addictingly Delicious, and They're Amazing for You Too!

Coffee and Tea are two of my favorite drinks (add milkshakes and you have my top 3). I usually drink a cup of coffee first thing in the morning to jump-start my day. It wakes me up and helps me stay focused. I also drink coffee or tea right after eating lunch to either give me an energy boost or to help me relax. It really depends on the kind of day i'm having. 

If you are curious on what blend of coffee I drink, I brew the Philippine Barako Blend - a really strong blend that's grown in the Philippines (it belongs to the Liberica family). It's packs a strong punch and tastes quite good. That is, if you want to stay awake throughout the day. I do hope popular coffee shops like Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and Starbucks share Philippine Barako Coffee to the rest of the world soon. You should really try it.

I am also a fan of green tea, more than black or herbal teas. Green tea is said to be more healthy, with less caffeine and is better tasting (in my opinion). My favorite green tea would have to be Genmaicha Green Tea from Japan. Here in the Philippines, I get my green tea from CBTL Philippines since they have a tasty Genmaicha Green Tea blend and their Green Tea Matcha Latte is one of my favorite drinks. You should try them if you like to drink tea.

Try drinking tea after your workouts. I find that it helps sore muscles relax, and it also helps detox the body since we drink a lot of water after a workout. Of course, I also drink tea whenever I'm feeling a bit under the weather to help my immune system. For sweet tooths I suggest you add honey, its a good day way to enhance the health benefits of tea. 

Check out the benefits of both tea and coffee below;

  

What 200 Calories Look Like and Why You Should Care

Obesity is a serious problem. We often eat food that's bad for us, packed with fat and sugar. Even though we eat too much, we still don't get enough of important nutrients that our body needs to function properly. The average person's diet today consist of either canned food or fast food, due to their promise of 'tasty and convenient' food. So we buy this garbage over and over again, even if we know it's no good. But do we really know the extent of damage caused by these bad habits?

Michal Ansky: The Intimacy of Food on Our Plates

I'm a huge fan of TED talks. I'm one of those that believe a healthy dose of these talks can be good for you because they help you make better decisions in life. I previously shared Jamie Oliver's TED talk on the importance of food education and on better nutrition, and here I am sharing another talk that I hope you will like - this time by Michal Ansky. 

Jamie Oliver: The Importance of Food Education for a Healthier World

Shocking fact. Diet related disease is the biggest killer in the US today. Since we have talking about the importance of nutrition and including eating vegetables for a well-balanced diet to avoid some very common nutritional deficiencies, let me take this opportunity to share a very inspiring TED talk regarding the food we eat and the importance of food education. A lot of people meed to see it.

MyFitnessPal: The Perfect App for a Healthier Lifestyle

I have been using myfitnesspal for quite some time now and so far I must say that I love it! It's a really great way to keep track of your daily nutritional requirements, it has the ability to calculate the nutritional information of your recipes, and it integrates well with other health and fitness apps (such as RunKeeper, Pacer, and Apple's Healthkit). The great part about it is that it is FREE. The app has been made available on iOS, Android, and even online through www.myfitnesspal.com so you don't need to own a smartphone to make the most out of it. 

Let's get down to the top 3 reasons on why every home cook should have this great app as part of their arsenal. 

Wyeth's Enercal Plus: Is it Any Good for Your Health?

Understanding proper nutrition is an essential part of crafting a well-balanced diet. Of course, the best diet should consist of some grain, protein, fruits, and vegetables as recommended by Harvard's Healthy Eating Plate. Unfortunately most of us don't have the luxury of time and resources to plan every meal to make sure we get all the nutrients we need, which is why nutritional supplements and multivitamins are so popular. 

I was recently able to get my hands on one nutritional supplement specially formulated for adults - a can of Wyeth's Enercal Plus. Wyeth describes Enercal Plus as the following:

ENERCAL PLUS is an adult nutritional supplement for health inside and out. It contains Nutri-Life Plus, which contains essential nutrients found in a balanced meal. More than just vitamins, it has whey and soy protein, Calcium and Vitamin D for bone and muscle strength, antioxidants for improved immunity and has 0 grams transfat for a healthy heart.

Wyeth's Enercal Plus is,

• Made of 100% Vegetable Fat Blend
• Contains Whey and Soy Protein, Calcium and Vitamin D
• High in Vitamins A, C, & E
• Contains Choline, Folic Acid, Vitamins B6 and B12

So based on everything all the information mentioned above, is Enercal Plus any good for your health? 

You Should Eat More Brown Rice, Here's Why

Rice has always been a staple of the Filipino diet, with over a hundred million Filipinos eating a healthy serving of rice during every meal. Try to imagine eating Kare-Kare, Sisig, Bulalo, and other Filipino favorites minus the rice. Pretty hard to imagine, right?

We Filipinos normally consume white rice rather than it's less processed counterpart, but I'm here to convince you why you should consider eating rice that's more brown than white. 

Five Important Nutrients We Don't Get Enough Of

I have to admit, I honestly thought I was one of the healthier people around. I normally would get a small serving of vegetables at every meal, eat the occasional fruit, and never skip a meal. I would exercise at least 10-15 minutes a day and jog around 5km once a week. I also love to drink both coffee and tea, two drinks packed with antioxidants. 

Imagine my surprise when I started tracking my Daily Nutritient Details using My Fitness Pal. I was sadly mistaken. I drink a tablet of multivitams every day to protect myself against nutrient deficiencies, so I only lack around 3 of the 5 nutrients I mention below. However, I'm going to present results without factoring in multivitams because most of us don't drink a tablet each day. Here are my nutrient details over the past week: 

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Average
Fiber	16%	18%	16%	6%	26%	40%	46%	22%	24%
Potassium	26%	26%	22%	15%	42%	32%	86%	89%	42%
Iron	16%	26%	43%	31%	40%	121%	32%	41%	44%
Vitamin A	26%	1%	31%	29%	16%	34%	136%	98%	46%
Calcium	6%	33%	4%	58%	40%	117%	95%	107%	58%

*for a 20-25 aged, lightly active male

Looking over the results, I failed to get enough Dietary Fiber and Potassium the most. Since I drink multivitamins daily, I was able to get enough Iron and Vitamin A if I factored it in and towards the latter end of the week I started drinking a lot of milk to achieve my daily Calcium requirements after adjusting to the initial results. 

What happens if we don't get enough of these nutrients?