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What a strange title you are thinking. What on earth has limes, sailors and ships got in common?

You’ve heard of English sailors being called limeys? Well, you’ve got the Scots to blame for that, (no wonder they don’t like each other). Back in the mid-1700’s a Scottish naval surgeon by the name of James Lind discovered that drinking fruit juice, namely the juice of limes, prevented scurvy, and of course, much later this led to the discovery of vitamins and their importance in disease prevention.

Meanwhile, those British sailors who travelled the world stacked their ships up with limes for their voyages and earned themselves the nickname ‘limeys’. So now you know.

Naturally, it follows that limes are rich in vitamin C with approximately 50mls of lime juice containing 19mg vitamin C. Similar to other fruit limes are high in bioflavonoids and other antioxidants, which help protect against cancer and other diseases. Like lemons, lime peel is also rich in limonene, another fighter of cancer.

Limes can also be used as a meat, fish and poultry tenderiser, and are used extensively in Thai cooking for flavouring.

However, there are drawbacks to limes. Lime peel also contains chemicals called psoralens, and psoralens make the skin sensitive to sunlight.

Tags: limes, cancer, antixodants, vitamin C

Almost everyone knows coffee is a stimulant, but not everyone realises there are advantages to drinking coffee.

Our major source of caffine is coffee, but it also contains almost 400 other chemicals as well as antioxidants, niacin, some minerals, tannins, and caramelised sugar.

So what are the advantages?

An ageing study has revealed that coffee helps improve your memory and mental functioning, especially in older people. A study was completed on women of over 80 years of age, and it was found that those who moderately drank coffee throughout their lifetime performed better in tests of mental function. Of course as a stimulant it has always been known to help you keep awake and stay alert.

And the disadvantages?

The majority of the disadvantages are linked to high coffee consumption, or more than 300mg of caffine a day.
*linked with a delay in the conception (infertility).
*linked with heart problems, (irregular heart rhythms, and rises in blood pressure).
*linked to cholesterol problems, (in the liver coffee compounds boost the production of cholesterol).
*linked to bone loss and osteoporosis, (increases calcium loss in urine).
*linked to prostate irritation in men, (diuretic).
*linked to headaches, twitches, and nervous irritability when cutting back, (withdrawal).

Tags: coffee, osteoporosis

When it comes to a low sodium foods lifestyle, every cook needs some quick easy salad dressing recipes. They are easy to make in small batches. These are some of my favorites:

Sweet & Spicy Salad Dressing

1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup vinegar
1 tsp horseradish

I really enjoy this dressing. Amazing, you don’t really taste the hot horseradish when using honey. A very quick salad dressing to make adding plenty of flavor to salads! I enjoy it on a garden salad.

Balsamic Vinegar Marinade

1 cup balsamic
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp mixed spices such as garlic, basil, oregano, lemon pepper etc.

If your a fan of Italian cuisine like I am, then a balsamic vinegar dressing is a must. I use it a lot with my low sodium foods Balsamic is a dark-brown syrupy vinegar with a smooth sweet-sour flavor, produced in the Modena region of Italy.

Honey Mustard Dressing

1 cup water
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tbs. cornstarch
Cook until thick and then cool.

Then add:

½ tsp paprika
1/3 cup honey
1 tbs. canola oil
Mix well and store in a container and refrigerate..

By making it yourself, this can be a nice healthy recipe.

There you go, three of my favorite quick and easy to make salad dressing. Adds great flavor to a low sodium foods lifestyle.

A low sodium diet is often recommended for those trying to prevent or reduce high blood pressure, diabetics or those with chronic kidney disease. Research also shows that populations with high sodium diets experience higher blood pressure as they age. Low sodium diets also tend to have fewer processed foods and more fruits and vegetables, which carry their own health benefits.

Are you looking for a healthy lifestyle? I use low sodium foods to help fight high blood pressure. I am constantly asked about low sodium foods. So I would like to share with you how to go about using low sodium foods in your new healthy lifestyle…Rick

For more information on low sodium foods and high blood pressure, please go to: http://signsofhighbloodpressure.blogspot.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_P._Ostler