Irregular Heartbeats: Is Coffee a Cause?

By admin | Published: January 31, 2010

An irregular heartbeat is medically called arrhythmia or dysrhythmia. A normal heart rate is from 50 to 100 beats a minute but a normal heart rate does not necessarily mean that an irregular heartbeat cannot happen. An abnormal heartbeat does not necessarily mean arrhythmia.  Irregular heartbeat could also be called tachyarrhthmia (heart rates faster than 100 beats a minute) or bradyarrhythmias (slow heart rates at 60 beats per minute).

Irregular heartbeat is different from sinus tachycardia where the heartbeat is regular but is faster than usual. A heart rate that is more than 100 beats per minute is normal when exercising or when you have a fever or for no obvious reason.  Irregular heartbeat is also different from sinus bradycardia where the heartbeat is regular but slower than normal.  This is common in athletes and could also happen if you exposed to the cold or sick.  Ectopic beats are extra heartbeats than feel like a thump from your heart. They could happen to most people once in 24 hours. Ectopic beats aren’t dangerous.

Are There Different Types of Arrhythmias?

There are several types of arrhythmias.  There is atrial fibrillation (AF), Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), Ventricular tachycardia (VT) and Ventricular fibrillation (VF) and heart block. Each type has different manifestations but is one in giving the sufferer quite a trying and frightening episode of irregular heartbeat.

What are its Symptoms?

Though there are different types of irregular heartbeat, symptoms are almost identical. There is a feeling of dizziness, palpitations, fainting or collapsing, chest pain, shortness of breath, and sometimes fluids in the lungs.

Are there Treatments?

Yes there are drugs that can regulate irregular heartbeats. These medications have beta blockers. Anticoagulant medications like aspirin are sometimes prescribed too. In severe cases, surgery might be required.  Still with some sufferers, a mere change in lifestyle can correct their irregular heartbeats.

Help for Irregular Heartbeats

Eat a healthy diet. Eliminate too much fat and salt in your diet. Too much salt has been linked to high blood pressure and limiting its use will greatly be beneficial to you.  Integrate exercise into your daily routine. You do not have to run a mini marathon every other day. Brisk walking for 30 minutes a day, 4 times week will do wonders to your heart. Limit your intake of any drink with caffeine: coffee, tea or pop drinks. Limit alcohol intake too. If you are smoking, quit! Smoking has been linked to almost all the heart-related and pulmonary diseases.

Arrhythmia can be Caused by Triggers

Caffeine and tobacco/cigarette smoking can cause Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). Yes, this type of irregular heartbeat can sometimes be the effect of excessive consumption of coffee or any drink with caffeine.  Alcohol can cause palpitations too. If you smoke quit now as it can lead to heart vessel damage. Other stimulants such as cough medications, diet pills, and other dietary supplements like oleander, goldenseal, motherwort and ephedra might cause an episode of irregular heartbeats.

If you have episodes of irregular heartbeats, you should see a doctor for a consult.

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Top Fruit and Vegetable Cancer Fighters

By admin | Published: January 30, 2010

A cure for cancer is yet to be discovered. There is no one pill that a cancer patient can take and hope that just like a nagging cough, the cancer will go away.  There has been medical breakthrough in terms of oral medicines, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and innovative surgical procedures to fight cancer and combinations of these treatments are proving to be successful in cancer treatment. Success stories of cancer remission are true.

What Causes Cancer?

Cancer starts when a cell or group of cells changes or “mutates”. If the mutation is not arrested or removed (in case of lumps) then the cancer will spread. The cause of cancer is yet to be determined. It has been said that the cell and gene mutations are caused by pollution, free radicals, chemicals and enzymes in food and more.

Is There No Cure for Cancer?

New medications are still being tested. The medical community and its related auxiliaries are current with their researches and experiment in their untiring quest for cancer cure. Some types of cancerous cells have been isolated, studied and experimented on. To date there is a vaccination that could prevent cervical cancer. Cancer management is through combos of known treatments and preventive medicine.

Is there Food that could Fight Cancer?

Studies show that more than 30% of all types of cancers are linked to poor diet and nutrition.  If this is the case then it is possible that eating the right food could help prevent cancer.  It is a fact that eating fruits and vegetables is a healthy attitude. There are studies that point out that people who eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains have a lower risk of developing cancer.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has approved the statement that “Diets rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of some types of cancer and chronic diseases.”  Though all fruits and vegetables are beneficial here are some that stands from the rest.

  • Tomatoes – rich in lycopene, a plant chemical that can lower the risk of prostate, ovarian and cervical cancer. Sources are: tomato ketchup and spaghetti sauce.
  • Broccoli sprouts – contains sulforaphane, a plant chemical that could reduce the risk of breast, stomach and skin cancer.  Other sources are cabbages, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.
  • Berries – all berries are rich in anti-oxidants  that can prevent colon cancer.
  • Soybeans- and tofu are rich in isoflavones that can help prevent breast cancer.
  • Pumpkin – carrots, red/yellow peppers, squash, and sweet potatoes are rich in beta carotene, a powerful antioxidant.
  • Spinach – is rich in lutein that could help in the prevention of liver cancer, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer.
  • Garlic – minced fresh garlic is best in reducing the risk of cancer of the breast, stomach or esophagus.
  • Tea – catechins found in green and black teas are very potent antioxidants that can arrest the growth of cancer cells of the skin, liver and stomach.
  • Pineapple – contains bromelain  that can prevent lung and breast cancer.
  • Apple – contains quercetin  which has been shown to reduce the risk of lung and prostate cancer.
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Asthma Food

By admin | Published: January 29, 2010

Asthma can be summed up as a respiratory ailment that causes the air passage to constrict because of inflammation of the airways.  The narrowed airways make it hard for air to pass to and from the lungs thus a series of asthmatic symptoms become evident: wheezing, coughing, difficulty in breathing and chest tightness. Mucus may also be produced then accumulate in the air passage making it more difficult for the asthmatic to breathe. When these asthma symptoms are evident, medication is needed.

What Causes Asthma?

There are many causes why a person can develop asthma and four of the major reasons are:  genetics, environmental factors (i.e. pollution, tobacco smoke), obesity and allergies. It has long been debated as to which comes first, the allergies or asthma. As allergic reaction causes the airways to constrict too there is no clear line if allergies cause asthma or asthma causes allergies.

What are the foods that can cause an allergic reaction?

There are foods that are noted to cause allergic reactions even to non-asthmatics. The more notable allergic-causing food are: egg, milk, peanuts, soy, fish, shrimps and other shellfish, wheat and sometimes, fresh fruits and vegetables. Note that food intolerance is different from food allergy. As defined, food intolerance can cause stomach ache, diarrhea or make you vomit.

Allergic reactions are not confined to food per se but could also be triggered by the additives in the food that you eat. The most common food additives are: tartrazine, monosodium glutamate, sulphites and sulphur dioxide, benzoic acid, salicylates and aspirin. These are preservatives that are found in potato chips, beer, wine, artificial and carbonated drinks, dried fruits and vegetables and pickled food  to name a few.

Allergic Reactions to Asthma Food can Lead to an Asthma Attack

Having presented these facts it could be assumed that asthma food could trigger an asthma attack. The food that you eat could be a factor on the onset of an asthma attack. Asthmatics are usually allergic to a particular food and not to a whole food group though. If you have asthma and history tells that you have an adverse reaction to a particular food, it is best to avoid eating that asthma food. You should also check the labels of canned, bagged and frozen food to identify preservatives that you are allergic too. Avoid all asthma food trigger!

How do you know what allergens you are sensitive to?  An allergologist can do a sensitivity test on you to measure your body’s reaction to a particular allergen. Knowing your sensitivity to certain chemicals, plants and animals would help in limiting exposures to such allergens.

Certain food can help minimize asthma attack. Eating certain food and the elimination of some, may help in preventing the inflammation of the airways that leads to an asthma attack.  Go for an all-natural diet. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables and avoid preserved food.  Eat fish and other food that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Choose a low salt and low fat diet (see asthma diet).

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What to Eat to Prevent Gallstones

By admin | Published: January 28, 2010

Gall or bile is produced by the liver.  The bile is a watery fluid that aids in the digestion of food. The normal path of bile is as it is secreted by the liver cells, bile flows within the many small canals in the liver, then to the larger collecting ducts out to the extrahepatic bile duct, into the hepatic duct then finally to the bile duct. From the bile duct the bile flows into two directions: one is directly to the intestines to help in the digestion and the second is to the cystic duct then finally into the gallbladder where it stays concentrated and stored until needed in digestion.

What are gallstones?

Gallstones are stones that are formed in the gall. They are common to more than 20% women in Europe, Canada and the USA but there is also a great difference in prevalence among different ethnic groups. The largest percentage in terms of occurrence is among native Americans where it is pegged at 80%.

There are different types of gallstones:

  • cholesterol gallstones
  • pigment gallstones
  • and other types that are related to medications.

Cholesterol gallstones are formed when the normal cholesterol content of the food we eat is not dissolved in the bile. The bile is water-based and fat and water do not mix. That is why the liver had to excrete extra bile and lecithin with an acidic base in order to dissolve the fat (cholesterol). The excretion of the acidic bile and lecithin has to be timed perfectly and at the right amount. If the liver does not secrete the right amount of acidic bile and lecithin at the right time, the undissolved cholesterol binds together and form cholesterol gallstones.

Pigment gallstones are either black or brown. Black pigment gallstones are formed when there’s too much bilirubin in the bile. When bilirubin combines with other constituents in the bile, then black pigment gallstones are formed. Brown pigment gallstones are formed when bacteria from the duodenums goes to the bile duct therefore contaminating the bilirubin. The altered bilirubin then binds with calcium or other bile constituents and form brown pigment gallstones.

Food to Eat and Not Eat

Clearly fat is the primary culprit in the formation of gallstones. It goes without showing that the intake of fats and oil from animals should be limited if not totally avoided especially if you are genetically predisposed to gallstones.  It is best to limit intake of fast foods, red meat, pork, nuts and beans.

On the other hand you should eat more fruits and vegetables that can increase fiber in your diet. Some recommended fruits and vegetables are:

  • watermelon
  • apples
  • lemons
  • water chestnuts
  • broccoli
  • spinach
  • grapefruit
  • lemons
  • mustard greens

For protein, it is best to stick to chicken, turkey, fish and lean meat. Essentially, a low fat and low salt diet is best as a preventive measure in the formation of gallstones.  Drink plenty of water too as it flushes out toxins and waste.

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Nuts for Preventing Heart Damage

By admin | Published: January 23, 2010

For many people, they think of nuts as a fatty food to avoid.  However, evidence is mounting showing that a small portion of nuts each day is a very healthy thing to do for both the heart and the rest of the body.  Because nuts are full of unsaturated fats and a good portion of fiber, they are gaining ground as a go to food for many diet plans.  The fact that nuts are good for heart health is merely a bonus for many people.  However, research is showing that everyone should eat nuts for heart health reasons.

How does eating nuts contribute to heart health?

The research shows that regular consumption of nuts contributes to heart health in a number of ways. First of all, the unsaturated fats contained in nuts help lower LDL, or “bad” cholesterol as well as help raise the HDL or “good” cholesterol levels.  Nuts are also a good source of Omega-3 fatty acids which have been shown to help the heart by helping regulate heart rhythms as well as functioning as an anti-oxidant which helps prevent heart damage due to free radical damage on the cellular level.  Aside from fish, nuts are the best source of Omega-3 fatty acids.

Other components that contribute to heart health include L-arginine, vitamin E, fiber and plant sterols. Each of these has been shown or linked to heart health in some way.  Fiber helps lower cholesterol as well as helps prevent diabetes both of which are heart disease triggers.  Plant sterols are also known to help lower cholesterol levels.  L-arginine has been shown to help keep arterial walls flexible which helps prevent blood clots which can slow blood flow and cause a host of other conditions should those clots fall off.

Do all nuts provide these heart health benefits?

The quick answer is maybe.  While most nuts seem to be healthy, not all have been researched as much as others.  Of them, walnuts have been the most studied.  Walnuts are high in all of the good things mentioned above and are often the standard which other nuts are compared.  Hazelnuts have shown to be even better, having more Omega-3 fatty acids than walnuts as well as being the best source of a cancer-fighting extract known as taxol available.  Even peanuts are proving to be healthy, having plenty of fiber as well as unsaturated fats, all the while not technically being a nut.  Coconut, another non-nut, is not heart healthy though because it contains quite a bit of saturated fats.

How much should I eat?

Because nuts are high in fat, from 70% to 90% or more depending on the type of nut, moderation is important.  Nuts should be used as a way to replace an unhealthy snack such as candy or chips or as a way to reduce the intake of products with saturated fats such as dairy or eggs.  A handful is a good amount for a snack and will both help knock out hunger and be a sufficient quantity to get the heart health benefits.

As an alternative, nut oils are an option.  While they lack the fiber of the actual nut, they will still be full of the other heart healthy components.  They are an excellent replacement in salad dressings and can be used in cooking.  These oils can become bitter if overcooked so some experimenting and practice is needed to adjust to using them.

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Heart Health Through Food

By admin | Published: January 22, 2010

While most diets are designed to be temporary, the person who is looking to modify their diet for heart health is looking for diet tips that can be applied and adhered to for the rest of their life.  Because of this, super restrictive diets are not livable for the long term.  Instead, making careful choices, substituting foods where possible and adding foods to the regular eating routine are all things that can be done and kept up with long term.  The key is to practice these heart smart tips for a while, and then they begin to become second nature.

Heart Health and Food Tip #1:

Add fish to your diet.  Fish is the easiest place to get Omega-3 fatty acids.  These fatty acids are considered “good fats” for a few reasons.  First of all, fish oil helps raise “good” cholesterol numbers which helps prevent arterial blockage.  On top of this, the Omega-3 fatty acids are anti-oxidants that bind to a completely different set of free radicals compared to the anti-oxidants from plant sources.  Fish oil also has been shown to help increase blood flow, lower blood pressure.  To get an idea about how powerful fish oil is, know that those on anti-clotting medication have to be very consistent about their consumption of fish because it can throw off their clotting factor.

If fish is not something you enjoy eating, consider taking fish oil capsules on a daily basis instead.  You will get all of the health benefits of fish in capsule form.  If you are also counting calories, be aware that fish oil IS oil and will add slightly to your daily fat and calorie consumption.  Also, be sure to take a healthy and recommended amount.  Over consumption can lead to problems!

Heart Health and Food Tip #2:

Garlic is good!  Most people enjoy a little garlic flavor here and there but having garlic on a daily basis has been shown in multiple studies to have a positive effect on heart health.  There are at least fifteen different antioxidants in garlic which all work together to prevent damage, protect the heart and new research is beginning to show that garlic is actually able to help remove arterial plaque.   On top of this, garlic is good for the rest of the body too.  Studies have shown that a regular diet of garlic helps with joint pain, especially from osteoarthritis as well as having an overall energy boost effect on the body.

Most of the studies show that cooked garlic works just as well as raw in terms of getting the health benefits.  For people that don’t like garlic, it too is available in pill form.  Many of these pills even claim to be free of any garlic odor which is one reason people typically avoid garlic.

Heart Health and Food Tip #3:

Switch to olive oil.  There has been clamor around the “Mediterranean diet” because it is a fat rich diet that has a culture that is virtually free of heart disease.  There are regions of the Mediterranean where fat consumption is over 40 percent of their daily calorie intake yet they are incredibly healthy people.  Statistics show that the residents of one country in the region are twenty times less likely to die of heart disease than Americans.  Monounsaturated fats are pointed to as the heart health cause and there are other oils and foods that are high in these oils.

Most foods can be enhanced with olive oil.  However, frying foods is hard because olive oil has such a low burn point and smokes easily.  Consider a blend for frying and consider pan frying things instead as well.  Mild olive oils can be used instead of vegetable oil for inclusion in most recipes without any discernable taste of the olives as well.

Heart Health and Food Tip #4:

A handful of nuts a day keeps the cardiologist at bay.  Almonds and hazelnuts have both been shown to be good sources of monounsaturated fats as well.  In fact, Hazelnuts are more packed with this heart healthy fat than olive oil.  A small handful a day of either almonds or hazelnuts has been shown to have health effects including elevating “good” cholesterol levels, lowering the bad ones and reducing the triglycerides levels as well.

For those who don’t like the taste or texture of almonds, you can still get much of the benefit from purchasing almond milk.  It is a good substitution for putting on breakfast cereal or can be mixed fifty-fifty with milk to help reduce animal fats and get the benefits of almonds.

Heart Health and Food Tip #5:

Choose whole grains.  As whole grain options become available for more and more products, it is becoming easier to choose them for any dish.  Whole grains are full of fiber which essentially acts like a sponge, pulling and prevent toxins from entering the body.  Many studies have shown that there are numerous benefits of a high fiber diet, including maintaining heart health as well as preventing certain types of cancers.

Whole grain breads are an easy switch, however whole grain pasta for many is a tough sell.  Some new varieties have nailed the normal taste and texture while maintaining the whole grain health benefits.  Consider quinoa pasta as well as it is very high in fiber, is also gluten free and has a texture and flavor that is unique but very pleasant.

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How To Modify Your Eating Habits After Heart Surgery

By admin | Published: January 21, 2010

Going through heart surgery is something that no one really wants to repeat.  Most of the time, heart surgery is done either in emergency situations or in near emergency situations and for the person that has gone through heart surgery, they are given a second chance to live life.  However, with that second chance comes expectations that the person changes the way they have been living life.  From exercise to diet, changes have to occur to prevent more surgery or even premature death.

For the person who has grown accustomed to certain foods, they may have to give some of them up or modify how they eat quite a bit to maintain heart healthy goals.  These modifications cannot be called a diet in the traditional sense because they need to become permanent behavior modifications, not just temporary changes toward a short term goal.  These are some the best and easiest modifications that people can make to help fully take advantage of the second chance that the person has gotten after going through heart surgery:

Modification #1: Add Omega-3 fatty acids to your diet

There is quite a bit of research into Omega-3 fatty acids and how they affect heart health.  These fatty acids function in many different ways to help prevent and in certain cases turn back the clock of heart disease.  These fatty acids have been shown to help in these ways:

1. Omega-3 fatty acids help with cholesterol levels

The Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to change LDL, or bad cholesterol, into HDL, which is the good cholesterol.  By helping with the cholesterol levels, it prevents the build up of gunk in the arteries which causes arteries to harden.  Hardened, clogged arteries lead to heart disease as well as high blood pressure and clots can form in hardened arteries which can lead to further blockage as well as heart attacks and strokes.  After heart surgery, working on cholesterol and blood pressure are both focused on and the addition of Omega-3 fatty acids will help anyone to work toward these goals.

2. Omega-3 fatty acids help boost overall health.

Research is showing that Omega-3 fatty acids support multiple systems in the body.  Studies have shown that diets that include proper amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids result in people that have more healthy immune systems.  On top of this, these fatty acids also have also been shown to reduce inflammation.  This reduction of inflammation itself can help lower blood pressure by making arteries and capillaries open up as well as help with inflammation such as arthritis.  One study showed that all participants found they were in less pain from their arthritis to some degree or another.

3. Omega-3 fatty acid rich foods are also high in “good” fats.

All the foods that contain Omega-3 fatty acids will be made up of unsaturated fats, especially monounsaturated fats.  Omega-3 fatty acid is actually one of the building blocks to these fat molecules and the replacement of saturated fats with unsaturated has been shown to be one of the single easiest ways to make a diet heart healthy.

Where to get Omega-3 fatty acids:  The two best sources of Omega-3 fatty acids are fish and nuts.  Most fish are full of Omega-3 fatty acids, especially fatty fish such as salmon, herring and cod.  Cod is the most common source for supplements of Omega-3′s.  Nuts such as Walnuts are full of these beneficial fatty acids as well.  Another source of Omega-3 fatty acids is Olive oil.  This oil is one that is focused on in research because Mediterranean diets use a lot of it yet have twenty times less incidents of heart disease than other countries.  For most recipes, olive oil or an olive and canola oil blend can be used instead of plain vegetable oil giving this source of Omega-3′s an easy inclusion into any diet.

Modification #2: Add Fiber

Fiber is another component of any heart healthy diet and is actually an easy one to begin including.  The recent availability of high fiber products designed around heart health makes it even easier than it was even ten years ago.  Obvious sources include choosing whole wheat bread over white bread but today there are many other places to add fiber, both from grain products and beyond.  Easy ways to modify eating for heart health include choosing whole wheat pasta or quinoa pasta over regular semolina and picking boxed cereal products which have plenty of fiber as well.

When adding Omega-3′s, know that a handful of nuts also has a good amount of fiber so nuts are one of the single best eating habits to incorporate into your new post-hear surgery life.  A serving of walnuts has as much fiber as a serving of bran cereal.

In addition to these sources, increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables is an excellent source of fiber as well as giving the consumer plenty of vitamins and minerals.  The recommended fruit and vegetable consumption is six to nine servings a week and making sure to meet or exceed this is a great modification to help get the right amount of fiber.

The addition of fiber is so important because it helps contribute to lower cholesterol.  On top of this, fiber also helps reduce pre-diabetes symptoms which also contribute to heart disease.  Many type two diabetics actually can, with some work, be off any medications and keep their symptoms under control by diet alone; a diet that is high in fiber and low in raw sugars.

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Fish and Heart Health

By admin | Published: January 20, 2010

Fish are well known as healthy and delicious eating.  Cooked well or not cooked at all, fish is a versatile protein dish and is become well known as a heart healthy food.  Research is showing that consuming two servings of fish can reduce heart attack risks by more than one-third.  There are some people who avoid fish, either due to issues with taste or due to reports of contaminants in fish.  The reality is that most fish are completely safe and contaminant risks would only be an issue if a person was to have specific types of fish in incredibly large quantities.

What makes fish such a heart healthy food?

The simple answer to this question is Omega-3 fatty acids.  Unsaturated fats, especially monounsaturated fats and the Omega-3 fatty acid building blocks that those fat molecules are built from are simply better for the human body than saturated fats.  By replacing a couple meals that contain saturated fats, it makes a big difference.  On top of this, Omega-3 fatty acids are being researched and are believed to reduce inflammation of all types of tissue as well as help lower “bad” cholesterol levels.

These fatty acids are also linked with the children’s ability to learn as well as lowering blood pressure in adults, enhancing the immune system and can help alleviate the pain from arthritis.  Omega-3 consumption has also been linked directly with less incidents of heart disease.

Are there certain fish that are best?

Fish that are considered fatty are the richest source of the beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids.  Salmon is a very popular choice because, while on the oily side, is very flavorful and can be cooked in a variety of ways.  Herring is the best choice if the solitary goal is getting fish oil and Tuna is the least fishy tasting option that still has plenty of oil.

There are fish to avoid as well.  Talapia and catfish are both very popular fish; mostly because they are two of the least fish tasting varieties.  However, on top of containing low amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids, they contain arachidonic acid which is an Omega-6 fatty acid that red meat and egg yolks both contain.  This fatty acid can actually cause inflammation which can actually contribute to heart disease.

What about contaminants?

In general, the amount of mercury and other toxins are very low for most fish.  There are some fish that are higher in these contaminants than others in commercially available fish.  Eating fish caught in a creek next to a chemical plant is going to yield a lot more toxins than any fish found from a commercial source.  In general though, fish that live longer or are higher up on the food chain will have higher toxin levels simply because they have more time to accumulate in the body of that fish.  Even a portion of shark or king mackerel is ok provided that you don’t eat one of these predator fish twice a day for weeks on end.

Because there are trace amounts of contaminants, there are groups that should be more careful with their fish consumption.  Women who are pregnant, nursing and children should reduce their consumption of fish because even trace amounts of mercury, especially the very bio- available mercury that is contained in trace amounts in fish, can cause nervous development issues.  The FDA  still recommends that pregnant women do consume fish as the Omega-3′s are vital for development but recommend sticking with fish such as salmon that are known to be low in mercury and to avoid completely those that are known to have higher amounts of toxins.

I don’t like the taste of fish but want the health benefits, what do I do?

There are fish oil supplements available on the market that are quite potent and very easy on a person’s body.  However, research is showing that eating fish itself works better than taking a supplement of fish oil or other Omega-3 fatty acid containing oil.  If you can’t handle fish, research other food sources that have Omega-3 fatty acids instead.

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Foods High in Calcium

By admin | Published: January 19, 2010

All dairy foods are high in calcium. All cheeses average about 200 milligrams of calcium per ounce, although some are higher, for example Parmesan and Romano cheeses.

Canned fish such as mackerel , salmon and sardines are relatively high in calcium.

Here is the list of foods that are high in calcium:

  1. Ricotta cheese: 1/2 cup [337 mg]
  2. Parmesan cheese: 1 ounce [336 mg]
  3. milk: 1 cup [300 mg]
  4. Calcium-fortified orange juice: 1 cup [300 mg]
  5. Mackerel with bones, canned: 300 ounce [263 mg]
  6. Yogurt, fat free: 4 ounces [225 mg]
  7. Salmon with bones, canned: 3 ounces [191 mg]
  8. Collards, frozen, cooked: 1/2 cup [179 mg]
  9. Dried figs: 5 figs [135 mg]
  10. Sardines, with bones: 1 ounce [130 mg]
  11. Tofu, firm: 1/2 cup [118 mg]
  12. Turnip greens, fresh, cooked: 1/2 cup [99 mg]
  13. Kale, cooked: 1/2 cup [90 mg]
  14. Broccoli, fresh, cooked: 1/2 cup [89 mg]
  15. Okra, frozen, cooked: 1/2 cup [88 mg]
  16. Baked beans: 1/2 cup [80 mg]
  17. Soybeans, cooked: 1/2 cup [65 mg]
  18. Chickpeas, cooked: 1/2 cup [60 mg]
  19. White beans, cooked: 1/2 cup [45 mg]
  20. Pinto beans, cooked: 1/2 cup [40 mg]

Note:  milligrams per serving

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Foods High in Beta Carotene

By admin | Published: January 19, 2010

Dried apricots are high in beta carotene. About 28 halves of dried apricots contains 17.6 milligrams of beta carotene. In contrast, raw apricot contains much less beta carotene.  It contains only 3.5 milligrams of beta carotene per 100 grams, which is equivalent to 3 medium apricot.

Dried peaches are rich in beta carotene as well. In every 100 grams of dried peaches, we can find 9.2 milligram of beta carotene. Cooked sweet potatoes contains slightly lesser amount of beta carotene than dried peaches. 8.8 milligrams of beta carotene can be found in 100 grams of cooked sweet potatoes.

We can find lot of beta carotene in carrots, collard greens, kale, spinach, pumpkin and other vegetables. Below is list of foods that are high in beta carotene.

  1. Apricots, dried [17.6 mg]
  2. Peaches, dried [9.2 mg]
  3. Sweet Potatoes, cooked [8.8 mg]
  4. Carrots [7.9 mg]
  5. Collard greens [5.4 mg]
  6. Kale [4.7 mg]
  7. Spinach, raw [4.1 mg]
  8. Apricot, raw [3.5 mg]
  9. Pumpkin [3.1 mg]
  10. Cantaloupe [3.0 mg]
  11. Squash, winter [2.4 mg]
  12. Beet Greens [2.2 mg]
  13. Romaine lettuce [1.9 mg]
  14. Grapefruit, pink [1.36 mg]
  15. Mango [1.3 mg]
  16. Green lettuces [1.2 mg]
  17. Broccoli, cooked [0.7 mg]
  18. Brussels sprouts [0.5 mg]

Note: milligrams per 3 1/2 ounces (100 grams)

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