Wrong diapers can cause fungal infection

Fungal infection in vital area not only attack grow up people. Babies can also get fungal infection. less hygiene and inappropriate use are the main cause of fungi.

Fungal infection usually cause by a group microscopic fungi or yeast. Candida is one of yeast that naturally live on human body but it can grow up fast and cause infection if it got proper moisture and temperature. Before it become a fungal infection it will show as Diaper rash marked with red and irritation skin.

Red rash can be papules or little bump that fill with pus and easy to blister. In certain condition, baby scrotum and their penis can be so red, scally and got dry skin.

What you should do is to maintain the baby hygiene. Always treat diaper rash before it get worst. You can prevent the rash expanded by using disposable diapers. Always make sure your diaper have good air circulation. If your babies got a fever or getting open wound or appear a yellow fluid in the infection area, it can indicated bacterium infection, consult to your doctor immediately.

Read More

Cuban healthy meals

Below are suggested menus for two typical Cuban meals, along with shopping lists of the ingredients you’ll need to prepare them. These are just a few possible combinations of dishes and flavors. As you gain more experience with Cuban cooking, you may enjoy designing your own menus and meal plans.

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch :

• Avocado salad
• Beef hash
• Cuban white rice

Shopping List:

Produce

• 1 head lettuce
• 4 avocados
• 1 red onion
• 2 yellow onions
• 2 green bell peppers
• 1 bulb garlic

Canned/Bottled/Boxex

• 16 oz. canned tomato sauce
• 1 small jar sliced green olives with pimientos
• olive oil
• red wine vinegar

Dairy/Egg/meat

• 1 lb. lean ground beef

Misc.

• Medium or long grain white rice
• golden raisins
• cumin
• oregano
• salt
• black pepper

Supper

• Garlic soup
• Creole chicken
• Red beans and rice
• Baked custard

Shopping List:
Produce

• Fresh cilantro
• 4 yellow onions
• 3 green bell peppers or 2 green peppers and 1 red bell pepper
• 3 bulb garlic

Canned/Bottled/Boxex

• Olive oil
• 32 oz. chicken broth
• 16 oz. canned tomato sauce
• 14-ozcan sweetened condensed milk
• 12 oz can evaporated milk
• red wine vinegar
• 1 small jar sliced green olives with pimientos
• capers
• vanilla extract

Dairy/Egg/meat

• 4 eggs
• 4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 to 1 1/2 lb.)

Misc.

• 2 c dried small red kidney beans
• Long grain white rice
• 2 slices bread (stale or day old if possible)
• Raisins
• cumin
• Bay leaves
• Sugar
• salt
• black pepper

Read More

Cuban cuisine - Healthy and low fat recipe

Cuban cuisine, like Cuban culture, has been shaped by many influences. One of the most traditional Cuban dishes—frijoles negros, or black beans—was first prepared hundreds of years ago by the island’s native inhabitants. Many other Cuban foods have European origins. When Spanish colonists arrived on the island in the 1500s, they continued to enjoy the familiar dishes of their homeland. Entrées such as paella, a saffron-flavored rice and seafood dish, reflect the island’s Spanish heritage.

Cuban cooking remains simple. Fresh produce and staples such as rice and beans are combined with a few key ingredients such as olive oil, garlic, oregano, and cumin. A sautéed mixture called a 13 sofrito—consisting of garlic, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes and, depending on the cook and the dish, a variety of other spices and ingredients—is the foundation of many Cuban dishes. For example, the sofrito is the heart of ropa vieja, a rich dish of shredded beef. The narrow strips of meat and vegetables in this dish give it its name— ropa vieja means “old clothes” in Spanish. Other dishes that start with a sofrito are carne con papa, a meat and potato stew, and picadillo, a simple but flavorful ground-beef hash.

 

Healthy and Low-Fat Cooking Tips

Many modern cooks are concerned about preparing healthy, low-fat meals. Fortunately, there are simple ways to reduce the fat content of most dishes. Here are a few general tips for making adjustments to Cuban recipes.

Many Cuban recipes call for olive oil to sauté vegetables or other ingredients. Olive oil adds good flavor and is healthier for your heart than the fats in most other oils, butter, and margarine. However, you may still want to cut fat by reducing the amount of oil you use or substituting a low-fat or nonfat cooking spray for oil. It’s also a good idea to use a nonstick pan if you decide to use less oil than the recipe calls for. When recipes call for deep-frying, you may want to experiment with baking the dish instead to reduce fat.

Cuban dishes often call for meat. Cutting meat out of a dish is a quick way to cut fat. But if you want to keep a source of protein in your dish, there are many low-fat options. Try buying extra-lean meats and trimming off as much fat as possible or replacing ground beef with ground turkey. To both reduce fat content and prepare a vegetarian meal, you can use a meatless ingredient such as tofu, tempeh, or mock duck. Since these substitutions do alter a dish’s flavor, you may need to experiment a bit to decide if you like the change. Dairy and egg products are common in Cuban desserts. An easy way to trim fat from a recipe is to use skim milk in place of whole or 2 percent milk. In recipes that call for sweetened condensed milk, you may want to try substituting low-fat or nonfat sweetened condensed milk. Eggs can be replaced with reduced-fat egg substitutes.

There are many ways to prepare authentic Cuban meals that are good for you and still taste great. As you become a more experienced cook, try experimenting with recipes and substitutions to find the methods that work best for you.

Read More

Vitamin K The Green Leafy Vitamin

Vitamin K

The Green Leafy Vitamin

 

Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin needed for blood  coagulation. Coagulation refers to the process of blood clotting. Vitamin K was discovered by a Danish scientist, Henrik Dam, in the late 1920s. He discovered a factor that was causing excessive bleeding and was missing from some diets. He published his work in a German journal and called the new coagulation vitamin Koagulationsvitamin. The initial letter in this word is how vitamin K got its name.

Vitamin K and Blood Clotting

Blood must flow freely and not clot unless there is a break in a blood vessel. Clotting is normally triggered by a rough edge in a blood vessel, such as a cut artery. The liver synthesizes several proteins important in blood clotting including prothrombin and fibrinogen. These two proteins circulate in blood. One of the first steps in
blood clotting is triggered by the formation of thrombin from prothrombin. Thrombin then accelerates the conversion of fibrinogen to  fibrin, which consists of fine threads that tangle together to form a blood clot. Vitamin K is necessary in order for the liver to synthesize prothrombin. Vitamin K converts the glutamic acid that is in prothrombin, enabling it to bind to calcium. Without adequate vitamin K, prothrombin production slows, leading to a bleeding tendency.

There are several other proteins involved in blood clotting that are activated by vitamin K. Balance and control are important parts of blood clotting. In addition to speeding blood clotting, vitamin K also assists in creating proteins that slow blood clotting. Vitamin K is needed to synthesize two proteins, protein C and protein S, which are important inhibitors of coagulation. Protein S is also synthesized by the blood vessel walls where it has a role as a coagulation inhibitor.

Vitamin K and Bone Mineralization

Bones are formed by bone-forming cells called osteoblasts. The osteoblast cells synthesize osteocalcin, under the direction of the active form of vitamin D, calcitriol. Vitamin K is needed to enable osteocalcin to bind minerals to bones. Vitamin K is used as a coenzyme to convert three glutamic acid residues in osteocalcin that enable bone mineralization.

Higher vitamin K levels may be protective against osteoporosis and age-related fracture. Several studies have found a correlation between higher vitamin K levels and lowered risk of hip fracture. However, since leafy green vegetables are the primary source of vitamin K, this protective effect could be from other nutrients, such as the calcium or magnesium in green leafy vegetables.

Read More

Vitamin E The Fat Antioxidant

Vitamin E

The Fat Antioxidant

The main form of vitamin E is alpha-tocopherol. Tocopherols were discovered at the University of California at Berkeley in 1922, where they were found to be essential to maintain fertility. Pure alpha-tocopherol was first isolated from wheatgerm oil in 1936. The word tocopherol means “to bear offspring” and derives from the Greek root phero, which means “to bring forth,” and the Greek root tos, which means “childbirth.” Tocopherols are a family of eight fat-soluble alcohols. The final “ol” in the name tocopherol indicates that it is an alcohol.

Antioxidant Activity

The main role of vitamin E is as an antioxidant to neutralize free radicals in cell membranes, in mitochondrial membranes, and in LDL. The fats in cell membranes are susceptible to oxidation by free radicals. The interior of the cell membrane is inaccessible to water-soluble antioxidants. The fat-soluble tocopherols are perfectly suited to protecting cell membranes from free radicals. The fat-soluble tail of the tocopherol can reach in and neutralize the free radicals.

Vitamin E also protects polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin Afrom free radical damage.
Vitamin E neutralizes free radicals by donating a hydrogen atom from the hydroxyl group (HO) on the hexagonal head of vitamin E.
Donation of hydrogen to a free radical is easiest for the alpha-tocopherol and gamma-tocopherol forms and slightly harder for the beta-tocopherol and delta tocopherol forms.

In cell membranes, the hexagonal head of vitamin E stays near the surface of the membrane. The tail of vitamin E is deeply implanted into the cell membrane. When the tail of vitamin E is oxidized by a free radical, it moves to the surface where the head of the vitamin E can donate hydrogen. In this way, vitamin E pulls free radicals out of fatty membranes for neutralization. This vitamin E cannot perform its antioxidant function a second time until it is regenerated.

The ability of vitamin E to perform as an antioxidant can be restored by the ascorbate form of vitamin C or by coenzyme Q. After restoring the antioxidant activity of vitamin E, the vitamin C then needs glutathione to restore its own antioxidant activity, as seen in Figure 5-5. In reactivating these antioxidants, both niacin and lipoic acid may play a role. Vitamin E has the potential to act as a free radical rather than as an antioxidant when co-antioxidants such as vitamin C are not available.

Read More

Vitamin D The Sunshine Vitamin

Vitamin D

The Sunshine Vitamin

The main function of Vitamin D is regulating calcium and phosphorus to make bones strong. Vitamin D is an unusual vitamin. Vitamin D is necessary in the diet only for people who get too little sun to make their own vitamin D. For the billions of people who do get enough sun, it is not a vitamin because it is not needed in the diet. Vitamin D is also very hard to find in a natural diet as it occurs in only a few foods. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. Vitamin D is also unusual because its most active form is one of the most powerful hormones in
the human body.

Vitamin D was first named in 1922 by researchers who learned of a fat soluble substance that played an important role in bone growth. Researchers went on to learn that ultraviolet light could activate vitamin D. By 1925 it was
suspected that a cholesterol derivative in skin was activated by sunlight. In 1931 vitamin D2 was synthesized, and the structure of vitamin D was established by 1936.

How Vitamin D Controls Calcium

Blood calcium levels must be maintained within a narrow range for normal nervous system functioning and maintenance of bone density. Blood calcium levels are especially vital in childhood during bone growth. Vitamin D as calcitriol is an essential part of the regulation of blood calcium and phosphorus levels. Bone growth and regulation is also assisted by vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, the hormone calcitonin, parathyroid hormone,
and magnesium.

Calcium levels are sensed by the parathyroid glands. If blood levels of calcium fall too low, the parathyroid glands secrete parathyroid hormone. The parathyroid hormone stimulates production of an enzyme in the kidneys. This enzyme increases the transformation of calcidiol to calcitriol. Calcitriol is a potent hormone that increases blood calcium levels.

Increased blood levels of calcitriol cause increased absorption of calcium from food in the intestines. The kidneys also reduce losses of calcium in the urine in response to increased levels of calcitriol. In addition, calcium can be mobilized from bones if dietary levels of calcium are insufficient. Increased release of calcium from the bones requires parathyroid hormone in addition to calcitriol.

Vitamin D and Immunity

Calcitriol has a powerful ability to aid the functioning of the immune system. Immune system cells such as Tcells and macrophage cells need calcitriol. Macrophages have the ability to make calcitriol from calcidiol. In  autoimmune diseases an excess of macrophages may produce an excess amount of calcitriol.

Read More

Vitamin A The Night Sight Vitamin

Vitamin A

The Night Sight Vitamin

 

 As long ago as 300 B.C., the Hippocratic School of Medicine recommended liver (rich in vitamin A) for children with night blindness or infections. Vitamin A was the first vitamin discovered. In 1907, the fat-soluble vitamin A was found necessary for growth. In 1930 it was learned that there were two related forms—beta-carotene and a fat-soluble Vitamin A. Vitamin A was first synthesized in 1947. Most of the vitamin A in the body is stored in the liver in the form of retinyl palmitate.

The Forms of Vitamin A

Vitamin A is a family of compounds with similar structures called  retinoids. In plant-based foods, vitamin A is found in the form of  provitamin A, principally beta-carotene. These plant-based carotenes are known as provitamin A because some of them can be sliced apart to become the other forms of vitamin A. Foods derived from animals or animal products contain a different form of vitamin A called retinyl esters. The retinyl esters can also be converted to the other forms of vitamin A in the body.

Inside the body vitamin A is found in five forms: retinol, retinal, retinoic acid, retinyl palmitate, and beta-carotene. Each of these forms of vitamin A performs functions that the others cannot. Retinol is the major form of vitamin A for transport in the body. Retinol is the alcohol form of vitamin A. Retinol is required to maintain the integrity and immune function of the skin and mucous membranes. Retinol can be converted to three of the other forms inside the body.

Retinal is the form of vitamin A famous for working in the rod cells of the eyes to enhance night vision. Retinal is the oxidized form of retinol. Retinal is a needed intermediary in the conversion of retinol to another active form of vitamin A, retinoic acid. Retinal can be oxidized to produce this third form of vitamin A, retinoic acid.

Once retinal is oxidized into retinoic acid, it cannot be changed back to retinal again, Retinoic acid acts as a hormone, affecting genes in the nucleus of the cell.

Retinoic acid influences gene transcription, the expression of genes, and the synthesis of proteins. Retinoic acid regulates the developing cells for specialized uses during growth and embryonic development.

All of the forms of vitamin A are called preformed except provitamin A, which is also known as beta-carotene. Beta-carotene can be split into two, and each half can become a molecule of retinal.

Antioxidant Activity

Vitamin A has several forms that are used for vital functions. Provitamin A, betacarotene, performs antioxidant functions that none of the other forms of vitamin A can achieve. In addition to its vital antioxidant functions, beta-carotene can be split apart into retinal and converted to all other forms of preformed vitamin A, as pre-
viously.

Beta-carotene is one of the most powerful antioxidants in food. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals to reduce the risk of macular degeneration, cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Some of the beta-carotene in foods and supplements can be converted into the retinal form of vitamin A. About 10 percent of the carotenoids (beta-carotene is one of the carotenoids) in plant foods can be converted into retinal. The remaining carotenoids may be used as antioxidants.

Read More

Vitamin C The Citrus Antioxidant

Vitamin C

The Citrus Antioxidant

The History of Vitamin 

Lack of vitamin C for long periods of time can result in scurvy. Scurvy was first noticed during long sea voyages. The cause of the disease was not initially known. In 1536, a French explorer had his crew stricken with scurvy while exploring the St. Lawrence River. He learned from local Indians that the tips of young arbor vitae evergreen needles cure scurvy. By 1617, John Woodall, a surgeon for the British East India Company, published a cure for scurvy—lemon juice.

James Lind was another British surgeon. He wrote Treatise on the Scurvy in 1753. James Lind gave some sailors two oranges and one lemon each day, while other sailors received cider, vinegar, or other possible scurvy cures. This may have been the first scientific nutrition experiment in the history of science. He proved that fresh citrus fruit prevented and cured scurvy. By 1795, limes were standard supplements on British ships and scurvy was no longer a problem. British seamen are called “limeys” to this day because of this custom. Captain James Cook sailed to the Hawaiian Islands using sauerkraut for his vitamin C and lost no men to scurvy.

DISCOVERY OF ASCORBIC ACID

Until the early twentieth century, the factor in these foods that prevented scurvy was an unknown antiscorbutic (prevents scurvy) factor. In 1912, Casimir Funk introduced his theory that scurvy is due to the absence of an “anti-scurvy vitamine.” This factor was named vitamin C in the 1920s. Albert Szent-Györgyi isolated a substance he called hexuronic acid because it is a six-carbon compound. Hexuronic acid was later renamed ascorbic acid. Albert Szent-Györgyi was awarded the 1937 Nobel Prize in medicine for the discovery of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and its role in preventing scurvy. By 1932, vitamin C was isolated and identified, complete with photographs of the vitamin C crystals. The ascorbic acid molecule was first successfully synthesized in 1933.

The Most Popular Supplement

The Swiss pharmaceutical company Hoffman-La Roche was the first to mass produce vitamin C. Today, many thousands of tons of ascorbic acid are produced synthetically from glucose. The glucose is often derived from corn syrup.

Many consumers believe that vitamin C is beneficial, as about 30 percent of the U.S. adult population takes supplemental vitamin C. Currently, vitamin C is the most widely used vitamin supplement in the world. Vitamin C is also used extensively to preserve food. L-ascorbic acid and its fatty acid esters are food additives used as browning inhibitors, antioxidants, flavor stabilizers, dough modifiers, and color stabilizers. Ascorbyl palmitate, a form of vitamin C, is sometimes used in antioxidant preparations because of its greater solubility in fats and oils.

Read More

Vitamin B2 —Riboflavin, the Fat Burner

Vitamin B2 —Riboflavin, the Fat Burner

 

Riboflavin was discovered as a growth factor in the early nineteenth century. Riboflavin has a greenish-yellow color, which led to one of its early names, vitamin G.In 1935, riboflavin was first synthesized in the lab, and by 1938, its structure was determined. When it is taken in excess of needs, riboflavin is responsible for the bright yellow color of urine.

Riboflavin does its primary work as part of a coenzyme named Flavin Adenine Dinucleotide (FAD). Coenzymes derived from riboflavin are called flavins. Flavins are needed for the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. One of the ways that the thyroid gland controls metabolism is by regulating riboflavin’s coenzyme activity. FAD is needed to prepare fatty acids for energy production in
the mitochondria of all cells.

Flavins derived from riboflavin play a vital role in the metabolism and elimination of toxins, drugs, carcinogens, and steroid hormones. One flavin, the coenzyme FAD is also needed in the reduction and oxidation cycle of glutathione. This glutathione reduction and oxidation cycle has a major role in protecting us from free radicals such as hydrogen peroxide. When glutathione protects us from free radical oxidation, it becomes oxidized. FAD is needed to reduce (recharge) the glutathione and return the glutathione to its protective state.

Riboflavin deficiency is associated with the increased oxidative stress that can be caused by free radicals. Adeficiency of riboflavin will reduce the efficiency of glutathione, an important antioxidant. In fact, measurement of glutathione reductase activity in red blood cells is used to assess the nutritional deficiency of riboflavin.

Another coenzyme made from riboflavin is Flavin MonoNucleotide (FMN). FMN is needed for the activation of pyridoxine (vitamin B6). This is one of the reasons that it is best to take all of the B vitamins together. Adeficiency of riboflavin prevents the activation of pyridoxine, so taking pyridoxine by itself is not a good idea. Riboflavin in the forms of FMN and FAD coenzymes is also required by the mitochondrial electron transport chain for energy metabolism. Riboflavin is also needed by the  tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle during energy production. This cycle has also been known as the Krebs cycle.

Read More

Vitamin B1—Thiamin, the Carbo Burner

Vitamin B1—Thiamin, the Carbo Burner

 Thiamin was first discovered in Japan in the early 1900s, when the lack of thiamin in white rice caused beriberi. Thiamin was first synthesized in 1936. Thiamin is found in rice bran and rice germ, both of which are removed when white rice is made from brown rice.

Thiamin plays a key role in the metabolism of energy in all cells. Thiamin is part of the coenzyme ThiaminPyroPhosphate (TPP), which helps convert pyruvate to acetyl-coenzyme A (also known as acetyl-CoA). This is a necessary step in the production of cellular energy from carbohydrates. Magnesium is needed to convert thiamin to TPP. Although refined grains are often fortified with thiamin, their original magnesium is depleted by an average of 76 percent. Magnesium deficiency may also have played a part in beriberi since so much magnesium is lost when white rice is refined.

Thiamin is also found in the form of thiamin triphosphate in nerve and muscle cells. This form of thiamin activates the transport of electrolytes across the membranes of nerve and muscle cells. This allows healthy nerve conduction and muscle action. The amount of dietary thiamin needed is based on the amount needed in producing energy. Thiamin needs will be met by most normal diets if enough food is eaten to meet energy requirements. People generally get enough thiamin to meet the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA), although marginal thiamin deficiency affects about one quarter of the people in the United States and Canada. Elderly people are at risk of thiamin deficiency because of low intakes and reduced absorption.

Cooking can reduce thiamin in two ways. Thiamin is destroyed by heat. Also,thiamin is easily leached out of food by water. To minimize the loss of thiamin and other water-soluble vitamins during cooking, food can be steamed or made into stews and soups.

Read More

The B Vitamins

The B Vitamins - The Energy Vitamins

The B vitamins were identified and isolated early in the twentieth century when refined grains were first found to cause deficiency diseases. The B vitamins work so closely together that it is hard to tell which individual B vitamin is missing when a deficiency occurs. The B vitamins need to be taken together in food or in supplements.




Other nutrients also interact with the B vitamins. In one case, a mineral, iron,and an essential amino acid, tryptophan, are both needed to synthesize niacin,vitamin B3. The best way to avoid a deficiency of B vitamins is to eat a varied diet of fresh fruit, an abundance of vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds,and other food as desired. Some of these B vitamins can also be made by friendly bacteria in a healthy colon and absorbed into circulation.

The B Vitamins
B1 Thiamin
Biotin
Folate
B2 Riboflavin
B5 Pantothenic Acid
B12 Cobalamin
B3 Niacin
B6 Pyridoxine

THE ROLES OF THE B VITAMINS

The B vitamins are needed for healthy nerve conduction and thus muscle action.They are needed for the synthesis of many important neurotransmitters, such as acetylcholine, serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. B vitamins are also indispensable for the synthesis of fats used in the myelin sheaths of nerve cells. With the special ability of the B vitamins to make neurotransmitters and also to make the myelin sheaths of nerve cells, the B vitamins are well known for helping with stress.

Read More