When Buying Health Drinks, Alkaline Drinks Are the Better Choice

Author: Cliff Smith

With so many health drinks on the market, it can be difficult to know the difference between alkaline drinks and other unhealthy choices. While many of the health drinks you find are useful in some ways, alkaline drinks have added benefits that their counterparts do not.



Alkaline drinks are special health drinks that utilize natural ingredients registering a pH higher than 7.0, after consumption. The various benefits in these alkaline drinks are reached through the inclusion of specific ingredients that are processed very carefully. Ingredients may include real fruits and herbs, which are naturally alkaline. These ingredients must not be overheated in the packaging process, thereby maintaining the completely natural structure of the plants.



Because there are so many health drinks available, it can be helpful to determine just what effect you're looking for with your purchase. For example, some health drinks are high in antioxidants and Vitamin C and are therefore geared toward improving the immune system. Other health drinks contain a high protein content in an effort to help an individual build lean muscle mass. Unfortunately, most protein drinks are highly acidic.



Why Choose Alkaline Drinks?



The importance of maintaining an alkaline state in the body is becoming more widely accepted as research points to the benefits. Generally speaking, the body has a pH of about 7.4, or slightly alkaline. Many of the bacteria and other organisms that would harm the body are unable to survive in this alkaline environment. This is why health drinks with naturally alkaline ingredients are helpful in assisting the body to maintain that delicate pH balance. If human blood changes just two tenths in pH level, death is imminent. The body will do whatever is necessary to stay in balance, even if that means extracting calcium from bones to alkalize the acid forming foods and drinks consumed.



Unfortunately, much of the typical twenty-first century diet is made up of acid forming foods. By utilizing alkaline drinks, we are able to help the body maintain its natural balance. The result is better overall health, as well as more energy. With the consumption of alkaline health drinks, the body won't have to work as hard in order to manage a proper pH balance.



Alkaline drinks are almost always made with whole food ingredients. Fruits, such as lemons and peaches and herbs like jasmine or cinnamon are alkaline ingredients that you might find in these types of health drinks. Keep in mind that many convenience store sport drinks and enhanced waters are made with acid forming ingredients, which are just the opposite.



In most cases, alkaline health drinks also offer a more natural energy boost without a sugar crash or a caffeine buzz. This is because the whole food ingredients provide elements such as antioxidants, live enzymes, and chlorophyll for enhanced oxygen flow.



When you take the time to find out how your health drinks are processed and what they are made with you can make a huge difference in how effective they are for your body. By shopping for naturally alkaline drinks, you are able to support your life support systems in a way that most so-called health drinks can't possibly equal.

About the Author:
Cliff Smith is a professional actor, voice artist and co-owner of an online health food store. After achieving natural weight loss and other fitness milestones by incorporating alkaline health drinks in his diet, he created the Alkaline Food Test. This simple test helps others understand the benefits of maintaining proper pH balance with the right choices.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/when-buying-health-drinks-alkaline-drinks-are-the-better-choice-811180.html

Make The Best Coffee You Can

Author: Fenton Wayne
When you taste a really fabulous cup of coffee you can be sure that a lot of care and effort has gone into its preparation. Great tasting coffee does not happen by accident, but represents the culmination of preparation, cleanliness and meticulous brewing methods. The starting point for great tasting coffee does not come from choosing the right blend of coffee or even the type of brewing equipment to be used, but in the quality of the water used and the cleanliness of the equipment! As coffee is more than 98% water is should come as no surprise that the quality of the water has a dramatic impact of the quality of the finished beverage. Freshly filtered water should be used when making coffee. Many domestic and commercial water filters and calcium treatment units are available and most do an excellent job in removing heavy elements, impurities and odours from water. Be sure to draw a little water from the system first, and pour it away. Use fresh clean cold water for starting off the process of brewing your favourite beverage. The equipment used to brew the coffee should be clean and free of coffee stains and grounds. Coffee contains many complex compounds that can go rancid when left on equipment for a while and will adversely effect the quality of the coffee produced. Choose a good quality roast coffee bean to suit your taste and make sure you buy it in a sealed bag or container. Avoid buying pre-ground coffee - it may be more convenient but it will start to oxidise the moment you open the packet and even if subsequently kept in an air-tight container much of the damage will have been done. The flavour of freshly roasted coffee can deteriorate remarkably fast and within a week or so much of the flavour will be lost. Whole roast coffee beans will also begin to lose some of their flavour once the seal has been broken on the coffee bag, but so long as you keep them in a cool dry place, out direct sunlight and not open to the atmosphere they will stay fresh for quite a while. For these reasons you should only grind as much coffee you need for the brew in question and not be tempted to grind more than what it going to be used immediately. Storing your ground coffee in the refrigerator is not a good idea as other goods may taint its flavour. The grind of the coffee is very important to the taste of the final coffee brew. Always follow the guidelines of the brewing equipment used and grind your coffee beans to their specification. Grind too large and the final beverage will be too weak, grind too fine and it may clog up the system. Typically a standard pour and serve drip method coffee brewer should take between four and six munutes to complete the brew. Keep your grinder clean. Grind a little coffee and then discard it, this should get rid of any old stale coffee within the grinder that you cannot see or reach after cleaning. Wait until the full pot has brewed from your machine before pouring. Typically a drip filter machine will produce slightly weaker coffee at the start of its cycle as it comes up to temperature and slightly stronger towards the end. All good things come to those who wait!
About the Author:

Take at look at our Coffee Resource Centre on our web site to learn more about coffee and coffee machines.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/make-the-best-coffee-you-can-799643.html

The Composition Of Cereals

Author: Justin Skinner

The composition of all cereals is similar, yet each one has its distinguishing feature. While all the five food substances--water, mineral matter, protein, fat, and carbohydrate--are to be found in cereals, they occur in different quantities in the various kinds. Some contain large quantities of protein and others practically none, and while certain ones have considerable fat others possess comparatively small quantities. A characteristic of all cereals, however, is that they contain a large amount of carbohydrate and a small amount of water. It is well to remember, though, that while the food substances of cereals are found in sufficient quantities to sustain life, they will not permit a person to live for long periods of time exclusively on this form of food. Likewise, it will be well to observe that the foods made from a certain grain will be quite similar in composition to the grain itself; that is, any change in the composition of the foods must be brought about by the addition of other substances.

All grains are similar in general structure, too. The largest proportion of carbohydrate lies in the center, this substance growing less toward the outside of the grain. The protein lies near the outside, and grows less toward the center. Fat is found in small amounts scattered through the entire grain, but most of it is found in the germ, which is a tiny portion of the grain from which the new plant sprouts. The mineral matter of cereals is found chiefly just inside the bran, or outer covering, so that when this covering is removed, as in the process of preparation for food, a certain amount of mineral matter is generally lost.

PROTEIN IN CEREALS.--The cereals are essentially a carbohydrate food, but some also yield a large proportion of protein. In this respect they differ from the animal foods that produce the principal supply of protein for the diet, for these, with the exception of milk, do not yield carbohydrates. The grain that contains the most protein is wheat, and in the form in which protein occurs in this cereal it is called gluten, a substance that is responsible for the hardness of wheat. The gluten, when the wheat is mixed with water or some other liquid, becomes gummy and elastic, a fact that accounts for the rubbery consistency of bread dough. Cereals that contain no gluten do not make bread successfully. Next to wheat, rye contains protein in the greatest amount, and rice contains the least. Although protein is the most expensive of the food substances, the kind of protein found in cereals is one of the cheaper varieties.

FAT IN CEREALS.--The fat of cereals helps to contribute to their heat-and energy-producing qualities, and, besides, it is one of the cheaper sources of this food substance. Of the eight grains, or cereals, used as food, oats and corn contain the most fat, or heat-producing material. The oil of corn, because of its lack of flavor, is frequently used in the manufacture of salad oil, cooking oil, and pastry fat. The fat that occurs in cereals becomes rancid if they are not carefully stored. In the making of white flour, the germ of the wheat is removed, and since most of the fat is taken out with the germ, white flour keeps much better than graham flour, from which the germ is not abstracted in the milling process.

About the Author:

Want to find out about growing mushrooms and mushroom pictures? Get tips from the Fruits And Vegetables website.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/food-and-beverage-articles/the-composition-of-cereals-799740.html