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Salt spilled from fallen shaker Image Credit: Levent Konuk/iStock/Getty Images Commercial table salt consists mainly of sodium chloride, an electrolyte mineral compound that directly affects human blood pressure. When you consume salt, it dissolves in food liquid and stomach fluid, and your body absorbs the minerals when they reach your small intestine. Your digestive time frame depends on what else you have eaten and how quickly your stomach empties its food contents into your colon....

Most pasta should be cooked in boiling water so it doesn't swell and become spongy. Image Credit: dagfrida/iStock/Getty Images Pasta is an amazingly varied and versatile food. Pasta dishes include spaghetti with a variety of sauces, lasagna and macaroni and cheese. Macaroni salad and other cold pasta recipes abound. Nor are you limited to wheat pasta. Rice pasta is a popular ingredient in many Asian dishes. With all this diversity, it’s not surprising that you can pre-soak some types of pasta....

Carb cycling involves manipulating your carb intake for fat loss and performance. Image Credit: Arx0nt/iStock/GettyImages Perhaps you tested a vegan lifestyle for a month or two. Maybe you devoted a week of your life to the keto diet (and realized it was dreadful). Or was paleo your weight-loss diet of choice? Hey, we’ve all tried a fad diet or two in our day. Advertisement But unlike these lifestyle-altering diets, carb cycling is more of an eating style (like volume eating)....

Image Credit: Yulia_Davidovich/iStock/Getty Images Celiac disease, which can be defined as a gluten allergy, touches 1 percent of all Americans, according to the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Center for Celiac Research. Celiac disease is a serious condition that can increase your risk of autoimmune disease, osteoporosis, infertility and cancers. Eliminating gluten, which is found in grains such as wheat, rye, barley, oats and foods containing these grains, is the only treatment....

Eating frequently can help you manage your hunger. Image Credit: Daniel Kulinski/Moment/Getty Images It’s a well-established “rule” that frequent meals boost your metabolism and prompt weight loss, but research doesn’t necessarily back this rule up. While this eating pattern helps some people, it isn’t absolutely necessary for healthy weight management. Eating frequently can help you manage your hunger so you make good choices and avoid bingeing on high-calorie foods. But having a small meal every three hours is no guarantee you’ll experience a metabolic boost....

Hand with a stop watch Image Credit: XIANGYANG ZHANG/iStock/Getty Images If you and your child are searching for a good experiment for your local school district science fair and you’ve never done one before, don’t panic – there are many experiments you can choose from. Experiments that involve exercise and heart rate are relatively easy to do and don’t require much in the way of materials. Advertisement Materials When you do a science fair project you need to start out with a theory or prediction and develop a testing method and list of materials for your project....

Foods with a high sugar content should be avoided by women with PCOS. Women with PCOS, or polycystic ovary syndrome, can see their symptoms improve by reducing their carbohydrate intake below 40 percent of their daily calories and ensuring that the carbohydrate foods they include in their diet have a low glycemic index -- below 55 -- as reported by dietitian Martha McKittrick. A lower-carb and low GI diet can help better manage insulin levels, which results in a more regular menstrual cycle, weight loss, if needed, and decreased insulin resistance, as reported in a study published in July 2010 in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition....

Gluten is a combination of the proteins gliadin and glutenen, found in grains such as wheat, barley and rye. Image Credit: IakovKalinin/iStock/Getty Images For sufferers of celiac disease or other forms of gluten intolerance, a gluten-free diet can be a lifesaver – sometimes literally. Gluten, a combination of proteins found in wheat, rye, barley and related grains, can trigger problems ranging from diarrhea to osteoporosis in sensitive individuals. Yet despite potential benefits, the effects of eliminating gluten from your diet aren’t always positive....

If your goal is to lose weight and tone up, you'll need to do both cardio and strength training at the gym. Image Credit: LuckyBusiness/iStock/GettyImages First things first: Toning up and losing weight aren’t quite the same. Weight loss is more straightforward as it simply involves lowering your body weight, which can be done by dieting alone. Advertisement Toning, however, is a different, more complex matter. Although toning is the common term, what you're really looking for is a leaner, stronger-looking physique, which involves losing fat, rather than just overall weight loss....

A racing heart after exercise can be a worrisome symptom. Image Credit: Osuleo/iStock/Getty Images Although a racing heart following exercise can be unsettling and frightening, it is usually a harmless condition. However, because it is such a disturbing symptom, it is important to understand how to treat it–and to know when to seek medical attention for it. Advertisement Symptoms A racing heart can vary in severity–from an unpleasant awareness of your heartbeat to a frightening pounding that is actually visible beneath the surface of your skin....

An entire 10-inch cheese pizza from Domino's has 1,140 calories if you opt for the standard hand-tossed pizza. Image Credit: LightFieldStudios/iStock/GettyImages It probably doesn’t come as a big shock that pizza isn’t a health food, but if you’re a pizza lover, a life without pizza is no life at all. If you’re looking to treat yourself with a 10-inch pizza, calories may be at the forefront of your mind. Can you get a small cheese pizza and stay within your goals?...

Dietary sources of B vitamins include meat, seafood, eggs and dairy as well as leafy greens, nuts, seeds and beans. Image Credit: kerdkanno/iStock/GettyImages Vitamin B complex supplements are a combination of all the B vitamins. These include vitamin B1 (thiamin), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B3 (niacin); vitamin B5 (panthothenic acid), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), vitamin B7 (biotin), vitamin B9 (folate or folic acid) and vitamin B12 (cobalamin). Advertisement B vitamins are soluble in water, so excess amounts won't build up in the body but instead be excreted through urine....

In addition to fat and protein, the egg yolk contains most of the vitamins and minerals in an egg. Image Credit: KucherAV/iStock/GettyImages The egg white has been promoted as the healthier part of the egg, leaving the yolk behind. As it turns out, though, you’re probably better off keeping the yolk in. Although the egg white is seen as the primary protein source, the yolk has more protein by weight and plenty of vitamins and minerals to go along with it....

Baking a chicken dish is easy with the right glass bakeware. Image Credit: minadezhda/iStock/Getty Images Glass pans are easy to use and look attractive on your dining table. They are also safe when users take the appropriate precautions. Oven-safe glass pans have been in regular use since they were introduced in 1915, but “Consumer Reports” magazine cites recent examples of oven-safe glass cookware breaking in the oven under certain conditions. It is important to read and understand the safety-and-use instructions on glass baking pans before cooking with them....

You can use an aluminum pan to make your favorite chicken dishes. Image Credit: Elena Moiseeva/Hemera/Getty Images Aluminum pans, also referred to as foil pans, are a valuable resource when you are entertaining or having a barbecue. Because they are inexpensive and conduct heat well, they are a good storage option for cooked foods. However, you can use aluminum pans anytime to cook common items such as chicken in your oven....

Imagery techniques go a long way in building confidence and creating mind-body trust. Image Credit: Johnce/E+/GettyImages In fitness, your brain is just as important as your body. At the most basic level, your mind is sending signals to your muscles, bones, tendons and other organs to make them move the way you need them to. Advertisement But in a less obvious sense, your brain sends your body cues consciously and subconsciously that can improve or hinder your performance....

An enviable physique requires strong lifts and careful diet planning. Image Credit: takoburito/iStock/Getty Images A dedicated workout ethic and proper diet are key to bulking up. Eating whole foods rich in lean protein, rather than highly processed foods, is especially important when it comes to putting on muscle rather than fat. Advertisement Besides marring a buff physique, belly fat is especially concerning as it's inflammatory and raises your risk of disease....

Exercise helps firm and shape your glutes. Image Credit: George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Images While slimming down is the desire of many people, the one body part that some like to actually expand is the derriere. Genetics play a big role in the size of your butt, however you can do exercises to enhance your natural shape. The butt, or glutes, are made up of three muscles, which are the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus....

To cook a Costco lasagna, always follow the directions on the package, because they will differ with the type of meat that it contains. Image Credit: ivanmateev/iStock/GettyImages Costco lasagna comes in three varieties that feature different meats. Lasagna can be either a healthy or a not-so-healthy dish, depending on the ingredients. Whenever time permits, it’s best to make it at home, so you can control what goes into it. Advertisement Tip To cook a Costco lasagna, always follow the directions on the package, because they will differ with the type of meat that it contains....

Cow's feet may not seem appetizing, but they are delicious when slow simmered. Image Credit: jon666/iStock/Getty Images Most Americans cringe at the thought of eating the foot of any animal, but in many cultures, the feet are important flavoring ingredients to soups and stews or are consumed as inexpensive sources of meat. A cow’s foot does not have a great deal of tender meat, but when it is slowly simmered the tough fibers of the foot soften and the meat can be removed from the bone....