Cooking Vegetables and Losing Some Nutrients

Vegetables are an important source of vitamins. For example, carrots contain vitamin A and tomatoes contain plenty of vitamin C. In addition, vegetables are also source for vitamin B1 (thiamin) and some of Calcium (Ca) and Iron (Fe).

Unfortunately, vitamins in general do not have a stable nature. Vitamin C, for instance, oxydized and damaged by light and high temperature easily. So, to minimize the loss of vitamins in cooking processes, wash vegetables first before cutting them into small pieces. Don't reverse this process. 

Comparison between vegetables and water is important too. Good comparison between the vegetables and water for cooking is 1: 3, with the nutrients that are on vegetables do not lose much because the dissolve in the water solvent. Meanwhile, the processing time will be vary depend on what kind of vegetables that are processed.

Decaffeinated Is Not The Same As Caffeine-free

Coffee is one of the most consumed beverage in the world. It is not only the taste of coffee that makes people get more and more coffee, but culture and lifestyle play the role as well. Coffee has become a kind of drug to many people today. Thus some problems are arousing with such kind of life style. Coffe brings some health effects such as increasing in heart beat and blood pressure.

How can coffee impact our health? The answer is the caffeine contained in coffee and other beverages. Some people avoid consuming a lot of caffeine for health reasons. They take decaffeinated coffee instead. Unfortunately decaffeinated coffee is not the same as caffeine-free coffe. The coffee still contains caffeine in lower dose. Eight ounce instant decaffeinated coffee contains 2-3 miligrams of caffeine while brewed one contains 3-4 miligrams. So be careful when you decide to have some cup of decaffeinated coffee. Bear in mind that decaffeinated coffee is not the same as caffeine-free coffee.

Possibilities and Problems

“To be miserable, focus on your problems. To be positively motivated, focus on your possibilities. The things you experience, and the things you think about, are your reality. To change your reality, simply change what you experience, and what you think about” (Ralph Marstone) 

A Four-point Plan for Improving the Environment

Assess the consequences

Most everyday activities have some effect on the environment: they either improve or make it deteriorate. A few leave it unchanged. Deciding which category any action falls into is an essential part of conserving the environment.

Encourage positive changes

If something enhances the environment, it should be recommended to others wherever possible. Individual action is only successful if enough individuals pursue it.

Avoid causing damage

Many actions, like throwing away excessive amount of rubbish, wasting water or using pesticides, fall into the category of avoidable damage to the environment. In nearly all cases, this kind of damage can be prevented without any noticeable change in the quality of life.

Cut down what cannot be cut

Some actions, like driving a car, are almost impossible to avoid. In these cases, the best approach is to take steps to reduce the damage.