Eat Nuts to Lose Weight

If you are trying to lose weight, you might want to go nuts for nuts. Nuts are among the healthiest foods you can eat while pursuing a weight loss goal. Nuts are high in B vitamins and protein which boost metabolism. Boosting your metabolism is a must when pursuing a weight loss goal. They are also high in fiber, and many contain omega 3, omega 6, and other anti-oxidants that are good for the body.

When working on your weight loss goal, it is important to know which nuts to eat. Almonds, walnuts, cashews, and pecans are all healthy choices. Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, and pine nuts are also good choices. Although macadamia nuts have thiamine in them, they are high in fat, so do not include them in your weight loss plan if at all possible. All nuts are a source of the good type of fat you need to stay healthy.

Most dieters avoid nuts because they are worried about high calorie content. But many reputable studies have found that they may actually help you lose weight when included as part of a moderate fat, rather than a high-fat diet. This is possibly because people find it easier to stick to a diet that has fewer restrictions. The key is to have just small amounts – and always opt for unsalted varieties.

Best Nuts for Weight Loss

Walnuts

Walnuts are packed with nutrients like fiber, omega-3 fatty acids and protein, which help aid in weight loss. A 1/4 cup serving of walnuts sufficiently meets your recommended daily amount of omega-3 fatty acids. Walnuts also contain 2 g of fiber and 4 g of protein per serving. The omega-3 fatty acids in walnuts help lower bad cholesterol levels and promote a healthier heart.

Misconceptions

All nuts do not promote weight loss. Nuts that have been salted or have added flavorings are higher in calories and sodium. Eating raw and natural nuts will help you reach your weight loss goals. Eat nuts in moderation, because they are high in calories. A half ounce of mixed nuts has about 84 calories. Eat a small handful or serving of nuts to keep calorie consumption low and help you conquer weight loss.

Almonds

Almonds are filled with nutrients and contain fiber, protein and healthy monounsaturated fats, which help with satiety. A 2003 study, published in the “International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders,” found that overweight and obese adults had significant weight reduction when they ate an almond-enriched diet. The results showed that there was a 62 percent greater reduction in body mass index and a 56 percent greater decrease in body fat than in those who where not fed an almond-enriched diet.

Cashews

Cashews, like almonds and walnuts, are filled with healthy fats, fiber and protein needed for weight loss. The “American Journal of Clinical Nutrition” found that consumption of nuts like cashews helped lower the risk of obesity and helped with weight control. Cashews are also filled with the minerals magnesium, phosphorus and zinc.

Tips and Advice

* Make sure you aren’t allergic to nuts
* Make sure to stick to 1oz portion and not overindulge for optimum weight loss
* Pre-measure nuts into portion size and keep in zip-lock bags for a quick snack
* Add nuts to your salads to replace croutons

Common Plants That are Poisonous

Oleander
It may look like an attractive flowering shrub, but Oleander is one of the most poisonous of all commonly grown garden plants, and though it’s especially toxic to children it is often planted in school yards. It is a hearty bush and grows on many different continents, and with beautiful, fragrant blossoms, it is tempting to include it in any garden. Just don’t even think about touching it or tasting the leaves or stems.

A small child can experience symptoms after handling just one leaf from the plant, though typically it takes more contact for severe reactions to take place. Upon consumption, the poison causes intestinal issues like vomiting, diarrhea (sometimes bloody), excess salivation, and cramping/pain. It can also cause a racing, irregular heart rate, poor circulation, tremors, seizures, coma, and death.

Manchineel
The flowering plants are considered among the most poisonous trees in the world and are native to Florida, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Central America and northern South America. The Spanish name is “manzanilla de la muerte: which means “little apple of death.”

In fact, it’s not just the fruit that is poisonous, but the entire tree is toxic to humans and animals. The tree oozes a white sap when it rains, so standing beneath the tree can cause blistering of the skin. Burning the tree releases extremely toxic fumes which can cause blindness and respiratory problems when humans come into contact with the smoke. Consumption is generally fatal, and it’s, by all accounts, an agonizing death.

It is common for locals to mark the tree with signs or a red X on the trunk to keep people away. The sign on the tree above reads: “Warning! The leaves, bark, and fruits of these trees contain a caustic sap which may be injurious if touched. Columbus described the small green fruits as ‘death apples.’ The trees are common along the Caribbean shores. Avoid contact with any part of this tree!”

Deadly Nightshade
This plant goes by many names, including Belladonna, Devil’s Berries, and Death Cherries. Both the leaves and the berries are extremely toxic, and children have been known to die from eating just two berries.

One of the most toxic plants in the Western Hemisphere, consumption of Deadly Nightshade leads to delirium, hallucinations, dilated pupils, sensitivity to light, blurred vision, tachycardia, loss of balance, staggering, headache, rash, dry mouth and throat, slurred speech, urinary retention, constipation, confusion, hallucinations, delirium, and convulsions. Without receiving the antidote, sufferers will eventually die due to the plant’s disruption of their body’s involuntary activities such as sweating, breathing, and heart rate.

Castor beans
Castor oil has long been used to aid digestion. While it has a foul taste and consistency, it is not harmful when ingested, yet you may be surprised to learn that just one bean from the plant that is used to make castor oil can be fatal to an adult in minutes.

That’s because when they make castor oil they remove a lethal compound called ricin, making the oil safe to consume. While usually fatal, if consumption of the castor bean doesn’t kill you, you can look forward to symptoms like nausea, emesis, diarrhea, tachycardia, hypotension and seizures, often persisting for up to a week.

Water Hemlock
Water Hemlock grows in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, mainly North America and Europe, usually appearing in marshy areas like wet meadows and along stream banks. Called “the most violently toxic plant in North America,” it is the plant’s roots that contain the deadly sap that, when touched or eaten, causes grand mal seizures and death.

English Yew
One of the most deadly trees in the world, these evergreens are common in the forests of Europe. With the exception of the berries, all of the tree is toxic, and the Yew was once used by early herbalists to induce abortions. Sadly, the result was often fatal to both mother and child.

Consumption of the Yew in even tiny amounts causes cardiac issues that result in death. It is quick-acting and there is no antidote.

Rhubarb
While some people enjoy eating the stems of this plant in desserts like Rhubarb Pie, eating Rhubarb leaves can be fatal. Eating large amounts of raw or cooked leaves causes difficulty breathing, burning of mouth and throat. Symptoms set in within an hour of eating the leaves and lead to convulsions, internal bleeding, coma, and death.

Daphne
Native to Europe, Asia, and north Africa, this broad species of plants has fragrant flowers and highly poisonous berries. Commonly planted in baskets and other planters, even a handful of these red or yellow berries can cause burning of the mouth and intestinal tract, followed by coma and usually, death.

Dumb Cane
A common shade-loving household plant, Dumb Cane is a tropical plant that is among the most poisonous plants in the world. Chewing on any part of this leafy plant causes intense pain in the mouth and throat, excessive salivation, and in rare cases, severe swelling of the throat that can lead to strangulation.

Jimson Weed
The very first plant poisoning death in the United States is credited to this little weed: Jimsonweed. The Jamestown, VA settlers used jimsonweed to poison British soldiers, who then spent 11 days in a state of insanity until they came to their senses (and didn’t remember a thing). Turns out those soldiers got off easy; symptoms such as abnormal thirst, vision distortions, delirium, incoherence, and coma are often fatal.

Also called devil’s trumpet, angel’s trumpet, devil’s weed, stinkweed, locoweed, and hell’s bells, people who attempt to consume this weed recreationally for the hallucinogenic properties often get more than they bargain for because it’s nearly impossible not to overdose. In South Africa, they call them “mad seeds.”

God Finds Out About Modern American Lawn Care

Imagine the conversation The Creator might have with St. Francis about this:

“Frank you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracted butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.”

“It’s the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers ‘weeds’ and went to great extent to kill them and replace them with grass.”

“Grass? But it’s so boring. It’s not colorful. It doesn’t attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It’s temperamental with temperatures. Do these suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?”

“Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.”

“The spring rains and cool weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.”

“Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it _ sometimes twice a week.”

“They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?”

“Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.”

“They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?”

“No, sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.”

“Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?”

“Yes, sir.”

“These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.”

“You aren’t going believe this Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.”

“What nonsense! At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It’s a natural circle of life.”

“You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and have them hauled away.”

“No! What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter and keep the soil moist and loose?”

“After throwing away your leaves, they go out and buy something they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.”

“And where do they get this mulch?”

“They cut down trees and grind them up.”

“Enough! I don’t want to think about this anymore. Saint Catherine, you’re in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?”

“Dumb and Dumber, Lord. It’s a real stupid movie about…”

“Never mind I think I just heard the whole story.”

Leaves on the Track

Following graduation from high school, and prior to heading off to college, I worked on the B&O Railroad in the late spring and summer of 1965. I just stumbled on this video and was intrigued by the title, so I gave it a look. It immediately brought back memories of a trip to West Virginia while on the train crew. I was a fireman, and so I rode in the lead engine along with the engineer and conductor. The sights shown in this video are nearly identical to a stretch of rail we took to a coal mining operation to pick up a few dozen cars full of coal.

It was a hot, humid day, made almost claustrophobic by being surrounded on all sides for miles and miles by forest, underbrush, and tangled vegetation. We parked the train at one spot and walked through a patch of woods that opened onto a clearing. In the clearing, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, there was an old-fashioned general store where we bought assorted lunch meat, bread, cheese, and Cokes for our lunch. Clearly the engineer had made this trip before and knew where to stop.

While our train was being put together at the coal yard, we over nighted in a boarding house built on what appeared to be a precarious hillside. At the boarding house we were given our dinner and breakfast the next morning, before returning through the forest, and eventually dropping the coal off in the middle of a steel plant in Cleveland, Ohio.

Here then is the video that took me back to that time and place so long ago.

Is the Republican Party Abnormal?

According the David Brooks in today’s New York Times, they can no longer be considered normal, and I believe that he’s totally correct.

While holding the financial future in their hands with the debt ceiling deal that is still waiting in the wings, they have gotten about four trillion dollars in expenditure concessions from the Democratic side, but they have not made one single dime in revenues available from their side. Cutting debt alone cannot, and will not, ever balance our budget, let alone contain the growth of our debt. It takes additional revenue as well. All the Democrats are proposing in order raise revenue is to close loopholes and deductions so that someone other than the elderly, children, the sick and infirm, and under-employed are making the sacrifices necessary to put our financial house in order. But to Republicans, added revenue is off the table, even though they got more than they could have hoped for in spending concessions.

Here is what Brooks had to say, in part, in today’s column:

“If the Republican Party were a normal party, it would take advantage of this amazing moment. It is being offered the deal of the century: trillions of dollars in spending cuts in exchange for a few hundred million dollars of revenue increases.

A normal Republican Party would seize the opportunity to put a long-term limit on the growth of government. It would seize the opportunity to put the country on a sound fiscal footing. It would seize the opportunity to do these things without putting any real crimp in economic growth.
The party is not being asked to raise marginal tax rates in a way that might pervert incentives. On the contrary, Republicans are merely being asked to close loopholes and eliminate tax expenditures that are themselves distortionary.

This, as I say, is the mother of all no-brainers.

But we can have no confidence that the Republicans will seize this opportunity. That’s because the Republican Party may no longer be a normal party. Over the past few years, it has been infected by a faction that is more of a psychological protest than a practical, governing alternative.”

Mike Pence, Bad for Indiana

Mike Pence is a staunch Republican unilateralist. As such, he is war with liberals, Democrats, moderates, and anybody else who doesn’t have his narrow world view of fiscal and social arch-conservatism. He’s the worst kind of politician. Full of hyperbole. Useless in practical, economic matters. Actively harmful on social issues. Pence appears to me to represent the worst in our public servants. The kind who talks a lot, often in superficial, cartoonish terms, but doesn’t seem to actually do anything except poison the political discourse.

Dan Carden of the Northwest Indiana Times reports that Mike Pence warns of a descent into totalitarianism if he is not elected governor.

Pence warns that: “[P]olitics is not about choosing right or left but up or down: “Up to man’s age-old dream — the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order — or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism.”
“That’s the choice Indiana faces today,” Pence said.

“That’s the choice Indiana faces today.” Individual freedom or the ant heap of totalitarianism. Really? I can’t imagine he actually believes that. Particularly when he embraced, and continues to embrace, the Patriot Act. It’s just something he says for money and votes.

As for legislative accomplishments, according to Govtrack.us: Mike Pence has sponsored 62 bills since coming to Congress on Jan. 3, 2001, of which 59 haven’t made it out of committee and none were successfully enacted.

In addition to strict Republican view of everything, apparent inability to compromise, he is also so anti-government that it makes you wonder how he stands to serve in any governmental capacity, as witnessed by this statement from his gubernatorial campaign website: “We need to be willing to say ‘Yes’ to Indiana and ‘No’ to Washington, D.C.” Pence said. Pence said he will fight for citizens “to live, work, run our schools without unnecessary intrusion.” He also said he would oppose environmental policies such as the cap-and-trade system to control greenhouse gases, and the healthcare reforms signed into law by President Barack Obama a year ago.”

I think it’s fair to say there aren’t many Republicans in Washington who are prouder partisans than Mike Pence, and that’s the kind of attitude that makes it impossible to get things done. It’ll be the kind of attitude that will be useful, however, if he becomes governor and as a Republican legislature to rubber stamp his slash and burn policies. Indiana will be facing the same thing that Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Florida, and other Republican controlled states have experienced this year. The rich and connected will gain and the people will lose, it’s that simple.

Pence is the most dangerous kind of politician there is. All God, mom, and apple pie in the front, corporate shill/fear monger in the back. He’s definitely poison. And for a state that’s already ill, I truly fear for the future of the working class, poor, elderly, and the children of Indiana.

Fresh Perspectives on Medicare

At least three of these kids sound like they would make better congressmen than most of the Republican side of the aisle is proving themselves to be.

How Republican Governors are Tilting Battleground States Toward the Democrats for 2012

Republican governors and legislatures overreaching in key battleground states may well tilt the election of 2012 in favor of Democrat candidates. As these Republicans have slashed funds from education, infrastructure, the sick, the elderly, the needy and all other segments of the middle and lower classes, they have cut taxes and given windfalls to the wealthy and the well-connected. This graph shows what it has done to their popularity.

My Top Ten CDs of the Year So Far

Here’s my top ten in order for the first half of the year. Give some of these releases a listen.

1. Mirel Wagner – Mirel Wagner
2. Over the Rhine – The Long Surrender
3. Bobby Long – A Winter Tale
4. Robbie Robertson – How to Be Clairvoyant
5. Sophie Barker – Seagull
6. Thea Gilmore – John Wesley Harding
7. Peter Bradley Adams – Between Us
8. The Civil Wars – Barton’s Hollow
9. Jolie Holland – Pint of Blood
10. Jude Johnstone – Quiet Girl

Peter Bradley Adams – I May Not Let Go

A song from Peter Bradley Adams’ latest CD, Between Us, which lands a spot in my top ten releases for the year so far. This being the mid point of the year, I’ll look back on my top ten list so far in my next post. Meanwhile enjoy this great song.