Give in to your craving for Indian food with this nutritious recipe!

Spiced lentils with spinach and rhubarb, oh my! Here's Indian food with a very healthy twist!

I absolutely love Indian food. Palak paneer, butter chicken, aloo gobi, bhindi baji...you name it, I love it! However, it's a cuisine that I treat myself to only once in while. It always becomes a heavy meal with rich ingredients complimented (or loaded, I should say) with rice and naam bread.

Here's a healthy alternative that still has all the flavours of India but with the sweet, nutritious twist of rhubarb and the iron-rich addition of spinach:

Indian-Spiced Lentils with Spinach and Rhubarb from the Vegetarian Times.

At only 250 calories per serving, it's a hearty dish that you can enjoy guilt-free! (Serves 6)

Recipe and image courtesy of the Vegetarian Times

Feel like you over indulged towards the end of 2012?

Start 2013 healthy and clean up your diet!

Can you believe it's a new year? If there was ever anytime to start fresh, this would be it. It's a new year, a new month, and basically, a new week... well it's mid-week, but the other 'news' I just mentioned definitely outweigh that last minor detail! I've decided that this is the year I clean up my eating. The end of 2012 saw many parties and visiting relatives, routines tossed aside, and with all that, unhealthy eating habits. It's time to start 2013 the right way: healthy and happy.

 If you've eaten too much sweet and fatty foods over the past two weeks, a detox is a great way to start the new year. You'll be happy to know that I'm not talking about a juice detox. In my internet searchings for inspiration and exciting new content, I came across SHAPE Magazine's 7-Day Clean Eating Challenge.

So what does it mean to clean up your diet? This challenge is all about clean eating and healthy habits; making the right choices in the kitchen and at meal times. For example, using fresh ingredients and making things at home from scratch; choosing blueberries and oats for breakfast instead of packaged oatmeal. Not everyone can stick to a strict meal plan that consists of liquid! The editors over at SHAPE decided to come up with something new and definitely, much more achievable!

Check out their 7-Day Non-Juice Detox and challenge yourself to eat clean!

Image source: ineedt0befit.tumblr.com

Welcome back to Dr. Quinn Hand's blog series on combating cold sores, the natural way!

Strategy #1: Balance and Boost Your Diet

The first step to general immune support is always to ensure you are eating a well-balanced, nutrient-rich diet. Aim for your 5-10 servings of fruits and veggies per day and good lean protein at about 0.8 to 1 gram per kilogram of body weight. Be aware, however, that arginine, an amino acid found in proteins, is known to aid in Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) replication.

Found in high amounts in sports and growth hormone boosting supplements, arginine is also high in foods like almonds, chocolate, peanuts, oat meal, peas, soy, seeds and whole wheat, all of which can trigger an outbreak. This is particularly true when arginine is present in greater amounts in the body than lysine, another amino acid.

Tune in tomorrow for Dr. Quinn Hand's second strategy on how to combat cold sores naturally.

Also Read:

• Introduction to Cold Sore Combat
• Cold Sore Combat: Strategy #2
• Cold Sore Combat: Strategy #3
• Cold Sore Combat: Strategy #4
• Cold Sore Combat: Strategy #5
• Cold Sore Combat: Strategy #6

Image source: http://medicaldietpills.blogspot.ca