Five Essential Nutrients For Your Body

Studies show that 77% of men do not intake enough magnesium and that many of them were deficient in potassium, iodine and vitamin D and B12. Pills aside, many of us are not incorporating enough of the right nutrients in our bodies. Here are five essential nutriets to include in your diets.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is well known to strengthen bones but it also prevents inflammation in arteries reducing the risk of a heart attack or stroke. Humans get vitamin D naturally from the sun but those who live in areas with long winters are prone to being deficient. Foods that have vitamin D include many fishes like tuna and salmon and milk-based products.

Magnesium

Without enough magnesium, every cell in your body has to struggle to generate energy. -- Dana King, M.D., Medical University of South Carolina

Magnesium is involved in over 300 bodily processes and deficiencies have found to increase the risk of heart disease. Magnesium-rich foods include halibut and navy beans but look specifically for magnesium citrate, which is the form that is most easily absorbed by the body.

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is all about the brain. A British study found that older people with the lowest levels of vitamin B12 lost brain volume at a faster rate over five years that those with high levels. Vitamin B12 is found boudn to protein in meats like lamb and fish like salmon. However, the most common source of B12 is from fortified cereals.

Potassium

Potassium helps your cells use the sugar glucose for energy. This process is perhaps the most significant in the body as it cannot function without energy. It also helps to lower blood pressure which is important because of Western society's sodium-rich diet. Vegetables are great sources of potassium. Bananas boast 400 mg of potassium however do not even come close to the 1,600 mg of potassium found in one potato.

Iodine

Iodine is used by the thyroid gland to produce hormones that control how your body burns calories. For the many out there looking for solutions to their weight-loss problems iodine may solve the source of the problem all alone. Most people get their iodine from iodinized salt however, as mentioned previously with potassium, our sodium-rich diets arleady do much harm in raising blood pressures. Fortunately iodine is also already common consumed through milk and eggs.

Courtesy of Men's Health

Rikers Island Carrot Cake

The New York Times's City Room Blog posted an article on August 15, 2010 uncovering the famous carrot cake that has earned raves from inmates at Rikers Island in the Bronx of New York City. The carrot cake bread, which is served only on holidays including Christmas and Ramadan, can be barely made fast enough by inmate cooks at Rikers to supply the demand at New York City's other jails and the Department of Juvenile Justice. Until Rikers' kitchen capacity increases significantly, the only chance you will have to try their famous carrot cake is by making it yourself. 

Here is the recipe for a batch of 25 loaves of carrot cake. For smaller quantities scale down measurements appropriately.

Ingredients

• 25 pounds sugar
  
• 3 gallons vegetable oil
  
• 25 pounds flour
  
• 8 ounces salt
  
• 1 pound baking powder
  
• 8 ounces baking soda
  
• 6 ounces nutmeg
  
• 6 ounces allspice
  
• 4 ounces clove powder
  
• 4 ounces ginger
  
• 8 ounces cinnamon
  
• 25 pounds carrots
  
• 25 pounds eggs
  
• 8 pounds walnuts
  
• 20 pounds raisins
  
• 8 ounces vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Place in a mixing bowl – sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove powder, allspice, baking powder, baking sods, salt. Using a paddle mix on slow for five minutes.

2. Add raisins, carrots, walnuts, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract mix on slow speed for an additional five minutes.

3. Increase speed to medium for 10 minutes.

4. Pour into loaf pans. Pans should be three-quarters full.

5. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes.