Beaujolais vs Bordeaux

Wine Battles - being the first of hopefully many I will take this opportunity to explain the concept: I'll take 2 wines between $10 & $20 to represent the region in which I'll be comparing. The overall goal is to chose which wines I like the best through various head to head battles.

Disclaimer - by no means do I claim to know what I am talking about more than my own personal opinion and welcome any criticism as I am still learning about this vast industry.

Beaujolais - Smooth, layered, easy to drink... a tangy, zesty citrus beginning with a blackberry, raspberry finish but sewn together in a way they complimented each other; a bit sweet for my liking though. I am still trying to tell the difference between sweet and acidic, any tips? Note main grape in Gamay.

Bordeaux - Vanilla, kind of smoky smell... much more tannic and almost bitter during the first glass but acclimated nicely after a little while, I can only assume this is due to the tannins breathing. Its bolder as well, it kicks your mouth with strong flavors that seem to stick around for a while. I would guess it has mostly Cabernet Sauvignon over the other 5 grapes used in Bordeaux blends but thats only a guess.


Winner - Now this is going to seem pretty unfulfilling, especially for my first wine battle but I'm going to pick Beaujolais for the first bottle... then switch to the Bordeaux after it aged for 3 years :) I know what you're thinking and YES I can time travel on my Blog... but if I had to chose one region over the other right now I would pick Bordeaux being the winner today. I predict a future rematch but with a 2009 vintage!! I also plan to talk a bit more about the grapes from what I learn on the super awesome and educational podcast Wine for Normal People.

Credit - 2010 Beaujolais Village by Jean Bouchard & 2010 Bordeaux Chateau Bordeneuve

Health Benefits of Wine

It may be hard to imagine any alcohol to have health benefits, other than the stereotypical drink after a stressful day at work; but a glass or two of wine has more benefits than you would imagine. Not only does wine offer great taste, but in moderation can help everything from your skin to your heart health:

Antioxidants, Antioxidants, Antioxidants!!!

As we talked about in our juicing series, Dark Berries are filled with Rich in Phytochemicals & Antioxidants. Grapes also contain antioxidant which attack Free Radical which cause nothing but trouble in your body. This concept is the basis for most of the claims that Wine is Heart Healthy!! 

Some other claims of how wine can improve your help are below but I must emphasize the moderations as excessive consumption of alcohol obviously will lead to issues that greatly outweight these benefits.


1. Antioxidants: Proven to help reduce Heart Disease, Strokes and many types of Cancer

2. Resveratrol: Reduces Bad Cholesterol, prevents blood clots, lowers risk of Diabetes

3. Polyphenols: Protects cells improving brain function and helping to prevent Dementia and Alzheimer's disease

4. Longer Life: A Finnish study showed wine drinkers have a 34 percent lower mortality rate than beer or spirits drinkers

5. Healthy Skin: Tartaric Acid can improve the quality of our skin, preventing problems and reducing wrinkles

In addition to the hundreds of other perks of joining the Night Juice Wine Club hopefully this is good reason to make the switch from beer of the boring jack and coke type drinks!! Cheers,

Night Juice Wine Club

In recent months, I've became much more intrigued with wine and the different types from around the world. I love to write about working out, health, fitness and recipes; which I still plan to do however as a New Years Experiment I am temporarily rebranding The Healthy Press to talk about Wine… the good, the bad and the random facts about wine. My goal is simple... to be able to enjoy wine more than I currently do.

A little history about my wine journey… I started drinking wine when in living Australia for a term in college mainly drinking fruity white blends out of a box; bad way to introduce such an amazing drink as it tainted my perception from the start. It wasn’t until years later when I met my now wonderful fiancé that I was reintroduced to wine, in bottle form; mainly $10 reds over dinner. I enjoyed this much more than in my adolescent years eventually referring to wine as Night Juice...

We took trips to San Sebastian Spain, Bordeaux France, and Tuscany Italy drinking the local wine and absolutely loved the experience even though we didn’t have a clue what we were drinking. This sparked my enthusiasm to learn more about the subject starting with downloading all 66 episodes of Wine For Normal People; which is Awesome!!

Despite being 22 episodes in by no means am I going to claim to be an expert nor do I ever plan to inherit such title, however I would love to become familiar with the different types of wine and speak intelligently about the subject. Upcoming topics include:

• Health benefits of Wine
• Health risks of Wine
• How to avoid Wine Hangovers
• Organic & Biodynamic Wines
• Wine parings with Healthy Recipes
• Wine Battles

Hopefully everyone can learn a thing or two along The Healthy Press: Night Juice Wine Club Journey. Cheers,

New Year's Goals

Happy New Year 2013!! Hope everyone rang in the new year in grand fashion; Laura & I were at the Burj Khalifa to watch the Epic Fireworks display with some close friends.

First off, resolutions in my opinion seem very immediate, without substance; where goals have lasting effect especially when planned or simplified to easily integrate into your daily routine. For example a resolution or choice to "Eat Healthy" is great but lacks the ability to achieve the end result because the commitment is open ended... a goal on the other hand to "replace potato chips with cucumbers and hummus" or "limit coffee to one cup per day" is defined giving you the opportunity for you to be proud of achieving your target.

I have a lot of things to be proud of and grateful for in 2012. L & I really came into stride when it comes to eating healthy and cooking. Yeah we still have our pizza or thai curry every now and again but for the most part we try to stick to lots of whole foods, fruits, organic veggies, eggs and lean protein mainly fish. We even bought a Juicer!

I have turned a new leaf after watching "Forks Over Knives" practically cutting out red meat and dairy from my diet. Fish is the preferred selection with Pork & Lamb in a close tie for second.

As for working out… I’ve maintained pretty much everything throughout 2012; Weight, Muscle Mass, Body Fat & BMI hasn’t changed over the course of the year. My goal in 2013 however is to increase my muscle mass, I weight about 160 right now and would love to be up to 170 by years end; this won’t be easy especially working a full time job and trying to meet the expectations of my wonderful fiancé (who wants a puppy). Anyways, 2013 Goals: 

1. Spend more time Outdoors with L: Going to the beach, golfing, camping, fishing, hiking, etc anything to get out the apartment; while safely sustaining the Dubai summer heat. 
2. Workout at least 4 times a week focusing on Multi-Muscle Lifts: Power cleans, dead lifts, dips, pullups, squats, and core training with dumbells or kettle bells. 
3. Eat more protein: Eggs for breakfast, tuna or chicken sandwich for lunch with bean salads, nuts and dried fruits for snacks, and looking forward to trying some new recipes for dinner which I’ll be try to be more diligent to post. 
4. Stretch Everyday!! Considering I can barely touch my toes I'd like to start the day stretching.
5. Write More: Weather it’s for The Healthy Press or otherwise, allocate at least 2 hours, 2 days a week and build from there; block out the time and stay focused.
6. Make Pickles: My buddy and I started making pickles a few months back aiming to sell them at the Ripe Farmer’s Market in February; check us out Mr Pickles: Famous Pickles!

We also plan to cut down on the drinking and going out to bars to once a week. A nice night in or with close friends over a decent bottle of wine is the preferred poison now days. I have been trying to learn more about wine and fascinated with the depth of the industry, expect some upcoming posts about Wine and my progression from 2 buck to chuck to hopefully a respectable standard. 

Wishing everyone a Happy & Healthy New Year!! Cheers,

Forks Over Knives - Documentary Review

Our new flatmate recently showed us a documentary called "Forks Over Knives" talking about the world wide studies by a few top nutritionists. Their research proves many wives tales that red meat is bad for you and explains how dairy can be put in the same "harmful" category. They promote a "Plant Based Diet" and urge everyone to eat "Whole Foods" while avoiding anything processed.

The movie does a great job in busting some classic myths our parents told us:

• Drinking Milk is the only way to get your Calcium
• Your diet will be void of Protein if you don't eat Meat
• Juice is good even with High Fructose Corn Syrup

Frankly, most of the thoughts above are byproducts of very successful add campaigns which have now been dispelled by modern research. Even further, there is so much financing that goes to legislators from big food industry that health standards don't change.

One of the main points that I took away was derived from an extreme episode where well-off children in Philippines whose diet was high in Beef & Dairy were dying of Liver Cancer compared to the poverty struck lower class. Dr Colin Campbell flew out to perform a case study and his findings were shocking. The building blocks in their diets, referred to as Casein Protein, was causing the Cancer Growth. When his hypothesis was tested on rats he confirmed his findings; when given 20% Casein Protein, Cancer Growth was exponential compared to only 5%.

Additionally, when the experiment was replicated using Plant Based Proteins there was no Cancer Growth at all regardless of the amount. Fish & Poultry are also Casein Free.

• THP Fit Tip #12: Limit Beef & Dairy to under 5% of your diet

The documentary continues to talk about the benefits of a "Plant Based Diet" including many heartfelt testimonials of overweight and over-perscriptioned patients making the change.

• Lowered Cholesterol
• Reduced Exposure to many Cancers
• Elimination of Type 2 Diabetes in most patients
• Reduction in Heart & Cardiovascular Disease

Hence the title "Forks Over Knives" encouraging everyone to eat healthy in order to avoid operations. Patients exposed or recovering from coronary bypass surgery who changed their diet showed incredible  improvements in the amount of plague buildup in their arteries. The elimination of Casein Protein from their diet was proven to repair the inner lining of arteries subsequently preventing clogs.

I normally try to not press my opinions on others but strongly encourage everyone to watch the film, do research and formulate their own opinion. It honestly has changed my diet; not to the extreme as some but I try to avoid Beef & Dairy. We went to brunch yesterday and ordered Fish Fajitas, amazing!! I substituted Cheese & Sour Cream for Guacamole, Rice & Beans.

So Grow a Garden & Stay Healthy!!

Cauliflower Crusted Pizza

We've been really into Micro-Nutrient dishes after watching Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. So our new flat mate Ryan made a Delicious Cauliflower Crusted Pizza, mostly vegetarian ingredients with some cheese and eggs. Compared to our standard meat filled meals ie Macro-Nutrients, the Micro-Nutrients still can provide all the vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and essential proteins that you get from meat.

This Awesome Recipe is full of healthy foods when baked make an fantastic alternative to pizza.

 - Cauliflower:      Nuval Score - 100

 - Eggs:                 Nuval Score - 33

 - Mozzarella:       Nuval Score - 23

 - Feta Cheese:     Nuval Score - 28

 - Tomatos:           Nuval Score - 96

 - Garlic:               Nuval Score - 91

 - Jalapeños:         Nuval Score - 99

 - Mushrooms:      Nuval Score - 96

 - Bell Peppers:    Nuval Score - 94

 - Fresh Basil:       Nuval Score - 100

Sprinkle a bit of Olive Oil to brown the crust and add Pink Himalayan Salt to taste. A Healthy Press alternative to a classic Italian Classic I would definitely recommend everyone trying!!

Enjoy!!

The Non-Diet

I have been trolling around with an idea ever since I did an Body Composition Assessment a year ago. My BMR current around 1800 calories not including workouts and I always try to breakdown my meals to get as close to the mark as possible but, as everyone can agree upon, controlling exactly what food you eat is not easy and counting calories is no fun!!

Additionally, many fad diets focus on a specific food which doesn't necessarily burn fat as desired. The basics to fat burning is simple:

• THP FIT TIP #11: Burn more calories than you consume if you want to burn fat

So here's the plan... Target to consume 1200 to 1400 calories per day spread over 4 meals equally spaced starting as soon as you wake. My schedule:

• Wake Up 7am: 2 Hardboiled Eggs & 1 Buttered Toast = 330 Calories

• Early Lunch 11am: Roasted Vegetable & Quinoa Salad = 280 Calories

• Midday Snack 3pm: Do it yourself Trailmix: 6g Cashews, 6g Almond, 15g Dried Apricots, 15g Peanut M&M, 10g Raisins & 15g Granola = 300 Calories

• Dinner 7pm: Mushroom, Garlic & Lean Beef Bleu Cheese Burger on a Whole Wheat Bun = 390 Calories

• Go to sleep at 11pm: Drink lots of Water throughout the day, it helps digestion!

Theoretically you can eat anything ie carbs, protein or fats to makeup the calorie count so mix it up. Just be cautious that eating processed foods may change the function of your liver to breakdown Chemicals instead of the natural food used in the all the recipes above!! 

And remember that unused protein flushes out of your system where carbs are stored as fat. On days I lift I'll add a protein shake or two make sure my muscles are not being depleted instead of the desired fat loss... I estimate that for every week you follow the above you'll loose about 1 pound of fat.

• 600 calories burned per day = 75 grams of fat or 0.165 lbs x 6 days = 1 pound of fat

We're going to start blogging some Healthy 300 Calorie recipes especially Ripe Vegetable Salads. Stay Tuned & Stay Healthy!!