Eat potassium-rich foods to avoid a stroke and lower blood pressure

Want to know how to avoid a stroke? Eat more potassium rich foods found in fruits and veggies like: orange juice, bananas, raisins, spinach, broccoli and potatoes. Not only did these foods help maintain proper muscle function, they had other health benefits too.

My mother had a major muscle spsm that left her lying flat on the floor. The Doctor’s Book of Home Remedies said it this was caused by low potassium. The left leg muscle ache suffered by me from December 2015 to February 2016 wasn’t just lack of fluids, but low potassium also. Raisins were never in short supply as a snack, which is eaten by me a lot. The pain ceased in April.

Most of these fruits and veggies also served a dual purpose. Foods like broccoli and salmon are bone strengtheners and have as much calcium as a glass of milk, a slice of cheese and a small serving of yogurt. Properly prepared, they are also a great way to lower cholesterol and avoid clotting that blocks blood flow to the brain. Women were more apt to suffer strokes than men. However, those ladies in the latter stage of middle age and those beginning seniors who had high potassium in their diets were less likely to have strokes than those who didn’t.

Remember the onions, peppers and mushrooms people loved on their pizzas and spaghetti dishes? These foods help curtail some of the signs of menopause, like mood swings, hot flashes and night sweats. My friend from church told me this was a good way to stay healthy too. Eating mushrooms reduced the risk of breast, colon, and stomach cancer. Onions protected the heart, the immune system and are excellent in fighting diabetes and some forms of cancer. .

To be perfectly frank, eating food like this beat taking fish oil as a daily supplement. The after taste made my breath smell like fish and everything taste that way too. I swear it oozed from my pores too. The odor was strong before taking my shower. Mom told me that because of the salmon in my diet, the fish oil supplement might not be needed.

Because of my moderately high cholesterol, diagnosed in 2009 during a routine check up, it was important to pay attention to one’s diet. Eating these potassium rich foods also helped in reducing blood pressure. After visiting my doctor and having my level checked twice this year, it amazed me that it was normal after suffering from “White Coat Syndrome”, or having high blood pressure only when visiting one’s primary doctor. Stress also caused health problems like strokes and heart attacks. The migraine suffered by me in 2008 was induced by stress and could have caused a stroke. My whole right side was weakened by more than Spastic Cerebral Palsy.

So the secret is out. To avoid a stroke one had to eat potassium rich foods. Granted, they not only helped avoid strokes, but also lowered blood pressure. Some of them served a dual purpose and were bone strengtheners too, while others battled the effects of menopause and reduced the risk of some forms of cancer.

Ramen Noodles no longer just a ‘poor man’s lunch’

Why have Ramem Noodles replaced tobacco products in prison trading? Tobacco products are more expensive because of a tax imposed on them before 2000. Budget cuts in private correctional facilities made this pasta a hot commodity. Using food instead of cigarettes was not uncommon though.

In 1921, Iowa became the first state to pass a tobacco excise tax at the state level in addition to the federal tax.[3] Other states quickly followed suit, and by 1950, 40 states and Washington D.C. enacted taxes on cigarette sales.[4] Texas had a tax of $1.41 tax per carton. My parents always bought a few cartons of Salem Cigarettes every time they shopped for groceries. Knowing my mother, the cheaper the price the better.

A lot of the prison movies seen by me had inmates trading things other than cigarettes for much needed items not normally found, like chocolate or cookies. One actually had a general store of items people bought with money placed in their accounts. It wasn’t uncommon for some to need basic hygiene products. As budgets became smaller, the quality of food offered declined in the private prison sector. Maybe they should cut cable television to offer three meals a day. Prison was a punishment not a vacation. If they wanted to earn money, teach them to prepare their own meals, don’t cut them out. The best way to prevent repeat offenders is to educate them.

One inmate, a convicted drug dealer, supposedly used his EBT card to pay bail. While this did violate the ‘food only rule’, the government couldn’t trace actual transactions like this. They do get tough on abusers in the system. Other items such as pet food and household products were also purchased. If they hadn’t been allowed already, people were soon to purchase lingerie and use their card at strip clubs. Congress upheld prohibited use of EBT cards in liquor stores and night clubs

A lot of college students and young adults live off of Ramen Noodles to survive the month when the money was low. With a few more ingredients added, the basic bland chicken or beef flavor could stretch into two meals. It was on longer the ‘poor man’s lunch’ or to be eaten only when sick as referred by me. I have been known to prepare enough additives like veggies and meat to make two servings, one for the freezer.

 

 

 

Sources:

Ramen is displacing tobacco as most popular US prison currency, study finds,  Mazin Sidahmed, Monday 22 August 2016 06.00 EDT

11 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Buy With Food Stamps, HANNAH BLEAU 8:39 PM 06/30/2014

Congress Bans Access to Welfare Cash From ATMs Within Liquor Stores, Stripclubs and Casinos, Christopher Santarelli. Feb. 20, 2012 5:31 pm

“Heroin Dealer Allegedly Posts Bail With His EBT Card”, Becket Adams Apr. 11, 2012 11:00 PM

“Cigarette taxes in the United States” Wikipedia, Last Modified: 17 July 2016, 20:16.

To Buffalo Wild Wings: Stick with the plan

What would increasing the price of Buffalo Wings do at a chain restaurant? Let me see if I understand the latest post on social media. Apparently, one of the investors, Mick McGuire, founder of Marcato Capital Management, believes share price could triple if the restaurant chain improves its business focus.

Here’s what Mick McGuire wanted to see:

• New talent on the Board of Directors and in management
• More emphasis on Buffalo Wings main business
• Ending the way new brands are introduced in high-functioning areas

This blogger did not understand a lot of investor language. All right, so I had to define cessation. Don’t laugh, at least I know the meaning. As a person who enjoyed dining out on occasion, I can see why these changes needed doing. If profits weren’t better in business, this restaurant was doomed to fail. McDonald’s didn’t get popular by making bad hamburgers or selling shoddy items. Their version of the Fit Bit had to be pulled from the Happy Meal due to children’s allergic reactions. I can deal with that.

I remember eating at the now defunct Rock Creamery before moving into my apartment. My friend, now deceased, and I used to stop in every so often to have lunch and sample some of the ice cream. The management sold the business to someone that made drastic changes. One of them cost them their core audience, the young people.

When we visited this place, the previous management had satellite television streaming through there. I thought, after In Living Color was cancelled, Keenan Ivory Wayans wouldn’t allow the show to be syndicated on any cable channel. Actually, he left because Fox aired repeats before any deal on syndication was made, without his authority. He thought it lowered the value. It played during a few of our visits. Since this place was within walking distance of the mall and other neighboring businesses, some of the workers came to get lunches, drinks or ice cream. Two high school girls played a card game, called Skip Bo, at one of the tables.

After the store ownership changed hands, the first thing they phased out was the satillite television. They replaced it with country music. My friend and I noticed the place being dark and almost empty except for a table of six to ten people, myself and my friend. A lot of what made the place attractive disappeared. Gone were the high school crowd and employees from surrounding businesses buying their food. Less than a month later, it closed.

As an owner of two websites, my job is to increase traffic. Like the establishment in this article, my job is to attract readers with engaging articles on trending web topics. In my case, I work alongside established news and social media for my core content. To me, if there is no way to tie the story to a trending news topic, it didn’t get written.

As for the situation with Mick McGuire’s letter, he’s right. Stick to the plan of operation.

 

Source:

Activist investor pushes for change at Buffalo Wild Wings AUG. 18, 2016 – BY ERICA SHAFFER

The Angel Food Network: Alternatives were still in development

This really disturbs me. The one thing counted on by me and people in 39 other states have been discontinued. The founders of The Angel Food Network were disgraced when they were forced to close in 2011 because of criminal activity.

Somehow, the operators were using the non-profit organization to make a profit off of its partners in 40 states, which were helping people in need. The worst part about this was that a lot of these partnerships were with other churches. I was referred by a member who used the service from my church. They gave me enough food to survive almost a month with a big box. The only thing they didn’t offer was bread and eggs. There was plenty of meat, canned goods, and freezer items. So far, there haven’t been any bananas offered. With the latest danger of fungi, they can’t sit after ripening. Fresh pears, apples, limes and a big watermelon were available.

Both the founder, his son and his wife were to face criminal charges for skimming millions for personal use. Whatever happened to “Thou shall not steal?” What about Wanting others’ belongings? Greed was one of the Seven Deadly Sins also. In the last days, mankind will be lovers of themselves. Lately, there have been a lot of shootings (murder) and people stealing. I remember the break in at my apartment last month. Whoever was watching my movements wanted that router/modem power cord.

To me, seven years in prison for father and son weren’t enough. I shouldn’t scoff at this because I am not the judge or jury. They also got a $15,000 fine and had to give up almost $3.9 million. The crime wasn’t the only bad thing that had occurred. When this network officially closed its doors in September 2011, a lot of volunteers were turned away with the needy who depended on this organization. There are alternatives available, but their reach is not as widespread as AFN. They were still developing. One had no distribution centers within 50 miles of me.

This was very sad.

Phelps’ diet might age him faster on the inside

Age won’t be the only thing that would slow Michael Phelps down as an Olympic athlete. While it is true that race times got slower as athletes age, Phelps has other contributing factors that could slow him down. After yesterday’s article, Top five diet tips for Olympic athlete wanabes, it shocked me to see the kind of food eaten to fuel his workouts while he prepared for the Olympics. The article said it was reasonable because of what the body went through during training.

Let’s cut the bull. Michael Phelps’ diet was scary. He lives off of the high saturated fat content he eats. If anything did age him, it would occur on the inside first. There were a host of health problems that came from eating high fat content such as: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, heart attack, and Type 2 Diabetes. When my sister ran track in high school, they told her not to eat sweets. I mean, What he did, blew my diet tips out of the water, just like he did when he won his last gold medal.

Dwayne Johnson, “The Rock,” was no better. While there is an eating plan in place, he undoes the 150 days of ‘clean eating’ on that one cheat day. My plan was the 80/20 rule, that is 80% good, 20% bad. During the week, I stick to my low cholesterol diet. On the weekend, particularly Sunday, I can eat the breakfast they serve in my department. I still have limits like one donut, one small cup of coffee, but nothing greasy or upsetting to my stomach. Anything swimming in grease, spicy food or covered in sour cream.

//www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/a1598d44-273d-11e6-8329-6104954928d2” target=”_blank”>Michael Phelps had another problem with alcohol. Over time, that can add weight to his middle. Let us hope he remains on the straight and narrow path for the sake of his infant son and fiancee. Thank goodness he got help after getting arrested on a DUI after retiring after the 2012 Olympics. During the test and treatment of stenosis of the lower limbs in 2005, one of the doctors asked if I had any ‘self destructive’ habits like drugs or alcohol. Thankfully, there were none.

In spite of his eating habits, Michael Phelps remains at the top of his game. He is number 3. Let us hope his diet changes as he ages to keep up.

Top Five diet tips for Olympic athlete wannabes

What did Olympic athletes eat? If they want to compete for the gold medal, they had to eat smart. Even athletes in the NBA, MLB, and NFL never ate bad food before training or a game. They ate more often and smaller portions. Below were the top five tips.

One thing they all did was eat breakfast. One should never skip this because it puts the body in starvation mode, which meant energy came from the body’s reserves. One’s blood sugar is low in the morning so, an Olympic nutritionist recommended eating healthy carbs, like toast or half a bagel before going on the morning workout. At least there was a 30-45 minute leader before hitting the track. For those that weren’t used to eating, then drink something. Try a fruit drink made with real fruit like strawberries, blueberries, or cranberries. Not only did this give the athlete natural sugar to power their muscles during warm up and training, it is a great way to get antioxidants too.

Athletes both on and off the field drink water. This is very important because athletes sweat a lot working out. Not staying hydrated can cause muscle cramps, headaches and dizziness. Sports drinks were a no no because they were laden with sugar and made the body crave more. The ratio of water to body weight was 5 to 1 ounces of total mass a day. To avoid tummy issues, sip on the same drink used during a workout that is used on race day. Abrupt changes in what one drank caused stomach discomfort.

Those in athletics ate fruits and vegetables along with other healthy carbs and high protein foods. The more colorful one’s plate looked the better the health benefit to the athlete’s immune system. This blogger never knew of an athlete that got sick eating healthy. Since incorporating more fruits and veggies in my diet, there have been fewer sick days this year. Greek Yogurt was high in probiotics and did not have the large amounts of sugar like other popular brands.

Athletes needed to ‘pump some iron‘. That did not mean lifting a 10 pound steak on or off the grill or lifting 10 pound hand weights. It is done by boosting the intake of iron rich foods. This prevents injuries and didn’t slow one down. Foods like oatmeal, cold cereals rich in iron, red meat, and spinach.

All athletes have a plan. Traveling to compete and public appearances were hard enough and threw anyone’s diet off on a trip. It is wise putting together a weekly menu of  nutritional meals and healthy travel snacks in a cooler so they can grab something and go. My time to plan and prepare was late Friday or Saturday afternoons for Sunday night and Wednesday night Bible Study at church. I doubled up on carbs because I was climbing in and out of vans and cars. Sometimes it felt like an Olympic event doing this from a wheelchair.

Even though they have a meal plan, this blogger would not follow the diets of Michael Phelps or Dwayne Johnson because of the high saturated fat content in both. My doctor would put me on a statin real fast.

Sources:

10 Diet Tips from Olympic Nutritionists by Lindsey Emery

Decibel (Image)  You won’t believe how many calories these pro athletes eat every day  Kate Bratskeir, Food & Health Editor, The Huffigton Post

 

‘Too Good To Go’ a great idea from the UK

I wonder what would happen if restaurants in the United States started offering discounted food they would otherwise throw away to customers like the United Kingdom is doing with Too Good To Go? According to the article, this was to eliminate waste at the end of the day, when perfectly edible unsold food is discarded. It served other purposes also.

I mean, eating out got expensive. One of my mother’s neighbors didn’t cook at home any more. Of course a lot of restaurants offer senior discounts in addition to their dollar menu items. I make my own pizza to avoid having to pay and tip upon delivery. It did add up. Most of the time splurging on a Dominoes Sub sandwich a pasta dish and a 20 ounce Coke was all I wanted. One had a to have a minimum order of $10. I remember when a number 3, a Quarter Pounder with cheese, large fries and a medium Cole at McDonald’s, was just under $5.

It was hard to determine whether the discounted food thrown away by restaurants would be allowed for resale because the food must pass stringent safety guidelines in the United States. This wasn’t the case with Too Good to Go, who found a way around this obstacle. People logged in,chose their food, and paid, via an app. Most of the U.S. restaurants had this option, but not all of them delivered. It was mandatory that all uneaten food had to be discarded at the end of the day, for safety reasons.

The local supermarkets do their part to feed the needy, mostly through major fundraisers. Some even gave fresh produce to the food bank. One can Google for a list of churches to find distribution centers or dial 211. The local Boys and Girls Clubs got their snack foods from there before building cafes to get food. A whole bunch of other United Way agencies get relief from there too.

US restaurants count the large amount dumped food at day’s end as a low priority. Roughly 10% of food or three cents on the dollar, ended up in the trash. That amounted to a half ton of food a day for Americans The UK,wasted 600.000 tons of food each year. The UK found a way to take the food that got thrown out and not only sell it at a discount but give it to those in need. If they had a program like this in the U.S., a lot of people wouldn’t go hungry. Until the obstacle was removed from the U.S., waste will continue.