Ramadan daylight fasting is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith. This June, our blog site Guest Author is Teba Abdul Lateef, a Registered Dietitian from Pakistan who is contributing to a two-part blog series on Ramadan. Teba is sharing some of her expertise as a devout Muslim when it comes to Islamic traditions. Please see Part 1 of this two-part blog series for links to Teba’s background. (Grand Mosque picture courtesy of barunpatro at rgbstock). Part 1 covers some background from Teba concerning Ramadan as well as some reported culinary trends during Ramadan for Muslims living in various parts
Category: Hydration
Hydrate Like an Olympian! Part 2 of 2
With the 2012 Summer Olympics in London on everyone’s minds this July, we’re continuing our series on the importance of hydration. In Part 1 of 2 of this series on hydration, we noted via infotainment some considerations as to when it might be most appropriate to use just cool (not cold) water to rehydrate and when something more might be needed. (Symbol of the five Olympic Rings which is in the Public Domain in the United States shown for identification purposes only courtesy of Wikipedia Commons). We’ll get into a bit more of the subject of hydration in this infotainment blog post, including
Healthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 3 of 3
Why not grab a cup of fragrant not-too-hot tea and we’ll wrap up this blog series on Christmas tea and how it can contribute to helping you and yours to stay healthier during the holidays. We’ve already mentioned in Part 1 of this series how tea can contribute valuable flavonoids to your diet, and then in Part 2 of this series shared some thoughts concerning brewing tea and its caffeine content as well. Now we’d like to share some other potential health benefits of drinking a not-too-hot cup of freshly steeped tea and mention just some of the supermarket accessible brands of
Read MoreHealthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 3 of 3
Healthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 2 of 3
It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and inadvertently forget about setting aside time to help keep yourself healthier during the holidays. Sometimes you need to just stop, catch your breath, and maybe even sit down and treat yourself to a wonderfully aromatic warm cup of tea! It’s important to keep up your antioxidant intake during the winter months and as we noted in Part 1 of 3 of this blog series, especially green and/or black tea made from the tea leaves of the Camellia senesis plant can be an excellent source of important
Read MoreHealthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 2 of 3
Healthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 1 of 3
Are you a tea drinker? As of the year 2010, the Tea Association of the USA estimated that there are at least 154 million people in the US who drink some form of tea. If their 2010 Tea Fact Sheet still holds true, then in effect before the year ends approximately 1 out of every 2 persons in the US will have consumed some form of tea this year. (Image of Christmas Tree + ornaments courtesy of dyet at rgbstock.com) In Part 1 of this 3 part series we’ll review a little background on tea and tea events, and mention
Read MoreHealthful Holidays–Christmas Tea Anyone? Part 1 of 3
Emergency Storm Apps & Checklists for Food & Other Supplies (Part 1 of 2)
There have been many kinds of storms including hurricanes, tornadoes, nor’easters & more over the years & such storm activity will continue in the future. One can’t stress enough how important it is to have an emergency plan of preparedness that includes a checklist for supplies & be ready at a moment’s notice to actually implement any such plan. Dietitians who operate feeding centers have to be prepared to serve thousands of meals, even if there is no power available and limited water supplies. We have personally experienced 11 days without power after a microburst storm hit our area back
Read MoreEmergency Storm Apps & Checklists for Food & Other Supplies (Part 1 of 2)
Hydrate Like an Olympian! Part 1 of 2
Every 4 years it’s time for another Summer Olympics and the world turns its eyes toward the value of sports in our collective lives. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a world class athlete, a “weekend warrior” or the parent of a young person active in sports, you still need to be aware of some critical aspects of nutrition that can affect sports performance and overall health. (Rethink Your Drink graphic courtesy of the CDC) Olympic athletes know that adequate hydration along with other factors of optimal nutrition for sports performance can mean the difference between standing on the medal stand or