Last Post Here...Please Check Out my Mike's Daily Page...

for all of my friends and followers at this blog, i have not been posting here of late...but you would already know that, given that this is only my second post this year...yikes, egad, my oh my...

that all said...

i have not abandoned posts and blogs and reaching out to my followers, etc...

i have over 250 posts at my daily blog...

something less formal and in lower case (as you can see)...

yet embracing all of those tenets and attitudes that i have always shared and loved here...

• health
• self help
• fun
• humor
• music
• how to
• food
• cooking
• nutrition
• inspiration
• motivation
• entertainment
• killer recipes
• how to eat videos
• life
• positive energy
• fitness
• exercise
• balance
• vegetarian 
• all of the above and more...

bottom line...

if you dug and still dig this blog...

then continue to follow me here:

http://mikesdaily.livelife365.com/

and keep up with and enjoy videos like these...

peace

mike

livelife365

Eat Cactus Fruit and Live Forever

Okay, maybe not forever, but longer than if you don’t consume this delicious and nutritious fruit.

What exactly is cactus fruit?

POP QUIZ!

Cactus fruit is:

a)      a member of the opuntia family

b)      tuna

c)       prickly pear

d)      nopales

e)      all of the above

If you guessed “e,” then you are correct.  Cactus fruit goes by lots of different names and can look daunting when first encountered.  But it is really quite simple to eat and the benefits far outweigh those prickly pear-like features.

Here are some excellent reasons to eat Cactus fruit:

• Low in calories
• Low sodium
• Excellent source of vitamin C
• High in fiber
• Good source of calcium
• An antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
• High in potassium
• Helps control blood sugar
• Assists in weight loss
• Great vegan and vegetarian food
• Tastes great

I discovered cactus fruit while vacationing on Maui—the same island oasis where I found these other delightful tropical foods:

• Papaya
• Dragon fruit
• Guava
• Passion fruit
• Star fruit
• Pineapple guava

Check out your local grocery and you may be surprised to find this healthy fruits, along with many of the others I mentioned.

Why?

Okay, you may not live forever by adding all these delicious and nutritious fruits to your daily diet, but you may just live a longer, happier, healthier, and fulfilling life.

Think about it.

Until next time…

peace,

Mike

livelife365

Eat Cherries...Every Day...

It's cherry season, and that means that i can indulge in one of my fav fruits, and also one of the healthiest...

Cherries!

Why do i love these sweet/tart babies?

Because they are loaded with antioxidants and are considered a super food...

And they taste awesome, without giving you that filled up feeling, like some foods (like the Mexican i ate Saturday...put me in a bad place for hours, man...)

Here is my latest video about cherries...

...followed by an oldie but a goodie blog post....

How to...Eat Cherries

 

I Cannot Tell a Lie, Cherries Are Good For You






It seems I can’t drive anywhere in town these days without passing a roadside stand selling cherries.Guess what? That’s a good thing. Besides all of these local entrepreneurs competing for my patronage, the grocery stores are overflowing with these sweet (and tart), delicious fruits. Living in California, and the fertile San Joaquin Valley, I take it for granted that most of the time something fresh and tasty and locally grown is going to be on sale. Right now…


IT’S CHERRIES!


My lovely wife is a major cherry aficionado, which simply means she digs those chewy pitted babies. We can’t drive past one of those aforementioned stands without her begging for us to stop and grab a box. Me? I wasn’t all that into them until I met her, but eventually her enthusiasm, and that fresh, juicy fruit, wore me down. Oh, and another thing:




CHERRIES ARE GOOD FOR YOU!


Actually, the more I researched the health and nutritional benefits of cherries the more impressed I became. In fact, cherries are now considered one of the SUPER FOODS. This revelation excited me so much, I made this video:


Cherries: Another Super Food!

Why are cherries super?
* loaded with anthocyanins, a powerful antioxidant linked to their red color, many scientists believe a diet rich in cherries can reduce inflammation, lower bad cholesterol, and decrease belly fat
* they may help ease arthritis pain and gout
* one ounce of cherry juice contains the daily recommended amounts of antioxidants required to help fight cancer and heart disease
* cherries contain more anthocyanins (one of the strongest of the antioxidants, by the way) than raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries
* one of the few food sources rich in melatonin, a natural body hormone that helps you sleep better and can reduce jet lag
* they help lower your body fat, thus help you lose weight
* can help control diabetes


Wow, after looking at that list only one word comes to mind: SUPER!


How do you like your cherries? My favorite way to eat them is the same way I enjoy almonds: by the handful. But unlike almonds, cherries are not nearly as fattening. One serving of cherries (one cup, with pits) has less than 100 calories (around 87), while offering up 3gs of fiber and zero fat or sodium. They are also a very good source of vitamin C and iron.


All this talk about super foods and health and nutritional benefits almost made me forget to mention:


CHERRIES ARE DELICIOUS!


Fresh-from-the-branch, pop-in-the-mouth delicious! Cherries can also be added to oatmeal, salads, desserts (cherry pie or cherries jubilee), as well as complimenting savory foods like pork and chicken. Serve them up anyway you like, but serve them up as often as possible.



Cherries come in dozens of varieties, both sweet (Bing, Lambert, and Tartarian) and sour (Morello, Montmorency, and Early Richmond), in various shades of colors.


Like George Washington said, all those years ago when he chopped down that cherry tree, “I cannot tell a lie.” Neither can I, so I can honestly say that I didn’t realize how super cherries were until I did the research for this post.


The next time my lovely wife and I are driving around town and we pass by a cherry stand and she yells, “Stop, cherries!” I’m going to stop and pick up not one, but two baskets. Why? Because super foods like these don’t grow on trees…uh, well, in this case they do, actually. I guess, what I’m trying to say is:


EAT CHERRIES, THEY’RE GOOD FOR YOU!




Until next time…


peace,


Mike




Still hungry for information about cherries? Check out this cool site, a very helpful resource for this post.

What Is Guava?

Whenever I have the good fortune to visit Maui, I often partake in the regional produce.  Across the street from the condo where my wife and I stay, a farmer’s market, loaded with local fruits, veggies, and other homemade products, conducts a brisk and relaxed, aloha-spirited exchange of goods and smiles bartering for our hard-earned mainland cash.



Each time I visit Hawaii I make it a point to try something different, something healthy, while learning as much about it from the friendly island folk as I can, helpful souls who take the time to explain, no doubt for the hundredth time, what it is they are vending.

Over the past few years I have been lucky enough to discover:

* Papaya 
 
* Passion fruit
 
* Star fruit
 
* poi

Recently, I grabbed a handful of green and yellow orbs, asked my friend across the table what they were, and happily discovered guava, adding that tasty and healthy fruit to my growing repertoire of nutritional delights.

What is guava?

So glad you asked.

Guava grows on trees (in fact, my local amigo at the market informed me that in his backyard grew a prolific guava tree that produced the very fruit in my hands, but he was constantly battling his Vietnamese potbellied pig for them; yes, pigs, and most animals, love guava!) in tropical climes like Hawaii - also Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, Africa, and even Florida.

Guava has both a sweet and sour taste, depending on ripeness (you gotta try it yourself to fully understand), with little edible seeds one has to navigate as you munch your way through one.


But taste alone is not what makes guava a worthwhile venture to discover.  Guava is also considered a super food -  and that’s a good thing!

Why, you ask?

* loaded with dietary fiber
* four times the vitamin C as an orange
* low in calories
* no fat or cholesterol
* good source of folic acid, potassium, copper, and manganese
* antioxidants! (high in carotenoids and polyphenols)
* vital part of POG

Huh?  Um, what the heck is POG?

Oh, POG is an Hawaiian fruit drink made from Passion fruit, Orange juice, and, you guessed it, Guava.  (stay tuned for a couple of videos from my recently concluded trip to Maui about POG in the coming weeks)

Guava can be enjoyed in many different ways:

- smoothies
- juices (like POG)
- ice cream
- with fish
- or right off the tree (watch out for pigs, though)

You need not travel all the way to Maui to taste guava (though that’s not a bad idea, is it now?), just search your local produce aisles and ask around.  I wish you luck, because besides tasting amazing, guava is a super food worth discovering.

Until next time…

peace,

Mike