Here's good-food news: The more you munch on healthy eats, the less
you need to worry about Friday night's fat burger and fries. Who says? Harvard. Its medical school has found that women
who routinely nibble nutritiously slash their risk of dying from the usual culprits, including heart disease and cancer.
To up your odds of living a long and healthy life--despite occasional blow-outs at TGIF--make sure you regularly
include these 7 nutritional powerhouses in your diet. "They're the cream of the healthy-foods crop," says Elizabeth
Somer, RD, author of Age-Proof Your Body.
1. BERRIES Why: Ounce for ounce, berries have
more protective plant antioxidants than almost any other food. "These compounds not only lower your disease risks, they
help prevent memory loss," says Somer.
How Much: Aim for a cup of
berries--any berries, fresh or frozen--at least three times a week (berry researchers say eat a cup daily). Since berries
are high in fill-you-up fiber, they may also help curb weight gain.
How:
Toss them in salads
Snack on them one by one, like healthy potato chips
Add them to yogurt, cereal, and smoothies
Stir them into anything you bake
2. SALMON Why: Sure salmon is a prime source of omega-3s, the healthy fats that
fend off heart disease and maybe more, but are you aware that a mere 3 ounces of the fish serves up 170% of your daily vitamin
B12 and more than 80% of your D
How Much: Aim for two servings a week (and
if one's tuna, that's okay).
How:
Broil,
bake or poach it with dill
Toss it into pasta dishes and salads
If
you're vegetarian or just not a fish-eater, get the key omega-3 fat called DHA in:
Silk
Plus Omega-3 DHA Soymilk
Horizon Organic Milk Plus DHA
Oh Mama
Nutrition Bars
Gold Circle Farm Eggs
Rachel's Wickedly Delicious
Yogurts
3. LEAFY GREENS Why: It's almost impossible
to meet your nutritional needs without eating dark leafy greens, from spinach and romaine to collard greens and chard. They're
huge sources of fiber; vitamins C and K; folic acid (a B vitamin that guards the heart and memory and fights birth defects);
lutein, a vision protector; and four essential minerals: calcium, magnesium, iron, and potassium.
How Much: Two servings a day, and the darker, the better.
How:
Add arugula to your sandwich
Layer
chard into lasagna
Fold spinach into omelets
Add any green to
stir-fries, pasta dishes and soup
4. WHOLE GRAINS Why:
They have up to 96 percent more fiber, magnesium, zinc, chromium and vitamins E and B6 than refined grains. This nutritional
powerhouse helps prevent the same health problems that refined grains help cause: heart disease, cancer,
diabetes, hypertension and even obesity.
How Much: Ideally, all of the
six daily grain servings you need should be whole, unrefined grains, but aim for at least three.
How:
Start your day with oatmeal or whole-grain cold cereal
Use 100% whole-wheat bread for toast and sandwiches
Switch to whole-wheat couscous
and pasta
Opt for brown rice (instant is fine), whole-grain pretzels, even whole-wheat tortillas
5. NUTS Why: They're excellent sources of protein,
magnesium, B vitamins and E--trusty fighters in the war against heart disease and cancer. Yes, nuts are high in fat calories,
but their fat is the heart-healthy kind. Replace junky snacks with them and you won't gain an ounce.
How Much: Up to five small fistfuls a week (roughly 1/4 cup or about 15-20 almonds, cashews,
walnuts or pecans).
How:
Sprinkle plain
or toasted nuts on salads instead of croutons
Mix them into cooked cous cous and brown rice
Stir them into cereal and yogurt
Use them to garnish a stir-fry
just before serving
6. GOLDEN VEGGIES Why: Just
one serving of fiber-filled, deep-yellow-orange vegetables supplies five times the beta carotene you need daily to lower your
cancer risk, defend against colds and other infections, and protect your skin from sun damage. The potassium in these veggies
also keeps your heartbeat in sync and your blood pressure down.
How Much:
Aim for two half-cup servings a day, the equivalent of one sweet potato, 12 canned apricot halves or a cup of butternut squash
or carrots.
How: Try this sweet potato quickie from Somer's The
Food & Mood Cookbook:
Cajun Sweet Potatoes 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut sweet potatoes into 1-inch thick slices and toss with olive oil, Cajun seasoning and freshly ground pepper. 3. Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly brown and cooked through, but still slightly crunchy.
7. YOGURT Why: Low- or no-fat plain yogurt is a terrific source of B vitamins,
protein, calcium and --if it has active cultures--the healthy bacteria known as probiotics, which crowd out disease-causing
germs.
How Much: Four or more cups a week,
if this is your main dairy source.
How: Cut back on sugar and calories by choosing
plain yogurt and adding fruit, especially berries, and some granola. Or be more inventive:
Mix
a dash of vanilla and chopped mint into yogurt and dollop on fruit
Use yogurt instead of sour
cream for dips, sauces and salad dressings
Top baked potatoes with yogurt and chives
Thicken sauces and make soups "creamy" with yogurt
The payback
part? As one of the Harvard researchers would likely tell you, eating a diverse diet that is low in calories and high in nutrients
can make your RealAge as much as 4 years younger.
Conscientious People are Less Prone to Alzheimer's
Content provided by Reuters
Friday, October 26, 2007
CHICAGO (Reuters) - People who are conscientious, self-disciplined
and scrupulous, appear to be less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, U.S. researchers said on Monday. The finding is the latest from a long-running study of nearly 1,000 Catholic nuns,
priests and brothers by Robert Wilson of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. The study appeared in the Archives of
General Psychiatry. Wilson and colleagues defined conscientiousness in the study as people who control their impulses and are goal-directed.
These people are often considered dependable.
People in Wilson's study did not have dementia when the study started
in 1994.
The researchers asked the volunteers to rank themselves on a 5-point scale according to a 12-item statement,
with questions such as "I am a productive person who always gets the job done." From this, they derived a conscientiousness
score, based on a scale of 0 to 48. The average score was 34.
They were also given various medical and neurological
exams, including testing intellectual abilities. Follow-up tests were done each year through 2006. A total of 176 people developed
Alzheimer's disease during the study.
People who were highly conscientious -- those in the 90th percentile
with scores of 40 or higher, had an 89 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than those who ranked in the
10th percentile, with a score of 28 or lower.
The researchers also found that conscientiousness was linked with
a slower rate of mental decline and a lower risk of mild mental impairment, a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.
Why conscientious people are less prone to Alzheimer's is not clear, but Wilson and colleagues suggested it may
be because conscientious people tend to be more resilient, making them better able to cope with difficulties.
Such
people also tend to have a fair measure of success in school and work, they said.
"These factors might lessen
the adverse consequences of negative life events and chronic psychological distress, which have been associated with risk
of dementia in old age," the authors wrote.
According to the World Health Organization, about 18 million people worldwide have Alzheimer's disease, a brain-wasting condition marked by memory loss and confusion that becomes so severe patients lose the ability to care for themselves.
Starting an olive oil habit could be as healthful
as kicking a smoking habit. And the proof is in your urine.
Microscopic substances in your urine reveal how
well your body is defending against everyday cancer-causing cell damage. Think of the substances as shrapnel --
too much means your body is taking some serious hits. Enter olive oil. In a study, men who upped their intake had
less of the damage-signaling shrapnel in their urine samples. How much less? The drop was similar to what smokers experience
when they quit. Now that's some potent oil. Here's why it's so good for you.
Olive oil is full
of good-for-you substances. So which one is responsible for the cancer-fighting effects? Until this recent study, researchers suspected it was the phenolic compounds in the oil; phenols have antioxidant (read anticancer) properties.
But the phenolic content of the oils seemed to have little impact in this study. Three different types of oil with
varying amounts of phenolic compounds were tested, and the type made little difference in the amount of cell-damage
markers found in urine samples. Researchers suspect there is something anticarcinogenic about monounsaturated fat,
in and of itself.
Which would mean that olive oil, rich in monounsaturated fat, is not only a heart helper
but may also deter cancer. That helps explain why, compared to Northern Europeans, Southern Europeans, whose diets tend to overflow with the oil, have lower rates of both heart disease and cancer.
But one caveat to keep
in mind: The men in the study didn't add olive oil to their diets. They used it to replace the fats they normally consume -- about 5 teaspoons total per day. Use olive oil to chase out the butters, margarines, and shortenings in
your diet so you don't increase your overall calorie count; if you go overboard on calories, you're looking at a
different set of health problems
Are your bad eating habits getting
you down? You tell yourself that starting Monday you’ll do better, but by Tuesday, you’re already eating all the
wrong foods and depriving your body of essential nutrients. Finally, there’s a sensible solution that’s going
to purge your body of toxins, along with some extra pounds. Dr. Roni DeLuz is the author of 21 Pounds in 21 Days
(Harper Collins, 2007), and she’s encouraging people to take a vacation from their bad habits and transform their lives
now and forever…
Most people don’t realize that they’re being poisoned day in and day out.
Your body is exposed to toxins from major sources including food, household items, water, the environment, and personal care products. More than 1,000 of these nasty toxins are dumped into our food supply alone every year.
It’s a recipe for a health and dietary disaster. Enter the Martha’s Vineyard Detox Diet, a plan that asks dieters to only drink juices and soups made from whole fruits and vegetables, as well as consume supplements and plenty of water.
The Toxin Takeaway
The Martha’s Vineyard
Detox Diet is broken down into two phases. The first is the cleansing phase, which stimulates the body to eliminate toxins that have
been stored in your body’s fat and in your organs. The second phase, the repair/rebuilding phase, uses the nutrient-rich
juice and soup diet (plus supplements) to put nutrients back in the body.
DeLuz, founder and director of the Martha’s
Vineyard Holistic Retreat in Vineyard, Massachusetts, knows the dangers of quiet contamination. She was bedridden for a year
after suffering from environmental illness, a debilitating condition triggered by chemicals, allergens, pollutants, and other
toxins. Determined to get back on her feet, DeLuz gathered all the information she could about holistic medicine and its healing
properties.
DeLuz went on to earn her Ph.D. in natural healing and opened the retreat in 1999. Since then,
she’s treated thousands of clients and helped them turn their health around with her 21-day detox diet.
The most important tool for sticking with the program? A high-quality
juicer. In her book, DeLuz offers plenty of guidance on how to make effective toxin-fighting tonics. There’s also a program
kit online (MVDietDetox.com) that comes with antioxidant powders, a green drink and an inner cleanse that helps support the
colon and kidneys. (See related story: 7 Foods That Fight Back)
3 Rules of Toxin-Free Living
There are major tenets to the Martha’s Vineyard Diet Detox:
DeLuz swears by the “green drink,” a nutritional supplement available
at most health stores. This powder is the equivalent to six to eight servings of vegetables, sometimes even 10 servings. Antioxidant drinks
also have six to eight servings of fruit and are especially rich in berries. The goal is to consume a minimum of 22 servings
of fruits and vegetables every day. This is accomplished through soups, fresh juices and supplements.
2) Nourish the body every two hours, even sooner if you get hungry.
Don’t starve the body or consume large calorie-loaded meals that will be converted into fat. Eat what
your body can burn off in a two-hour period of time, then eat again in a couple hours.
3) Consume your
nutrients in liquid form.
That’s right – no chewing allowed. Chewing takes away
energy that can be better spent releasing the toxins from the body. The average meal requires a great deal of energy from
chewing. By drinking all of your nutrition, the body is able to save its energy to heal the body and release toxins. This
also leaves enough energy to do other things such as exercise.
“I
tell people that with those three things alone, it’s amazing what [the detox plan] does to the body,” DeLuz says.
“Weight loss is one of the benefits. Improved energy, anti-aging and rejuvenated skin and hair are all additional benefits. These things help get people motivated to stay on the program.”
Keeping the Nutrients
Many detox plans can be unhealthy, depleting the body of
essential minerals and nutrients. However, unlike water fasting that dumps out the toxins and doesn’t replace them with nutrients, the Martha’s
Vineyard Detox Diet doesn’t leave the body malnourished.
According to DeLuz, these five vegetables give dieters the most nutrition
in their detox juices:
Broccoli
Nutrition: vitamins A, C, E,
and K, niacin, folate, potassium, calcium, sulfur, indole-3, carbanol, beta-carotene
Benefits:
Broccoli is a power antioxidant and energizer. For most people, broccoli juice is too bitter, so mix it with carrot juice.
A great cleanser, it also fights cancer and cataracts and serves well for general healing. (See related story: Diet Secrets in 100 Healthy Foods)
Benefits: Beets build blood and
the immune system, as well as fight infection. They are great for the liver and gallbladder. Because beets are so potent in
juice form, dilute them with cucumber, celery and chard.
Carrots
Nutrition:
vitamins A, C and B6, beta-carotene, niacin, folate, and pantothenic acid
Benefits: Carrots
are not only a sweet juice but one of the most powerful antioxidants and detoxifiers. The flavor can be added to plenty of other juices.
Celery
Nutrition:
vitamins A, C and K, sodium
Benefits: Celery has a naturally high sodium content which
helps replenish the natural sodium lost through sweating. It may also help reduce blood pressure.
Nutrition: vitamins A and C, iron, calcium, potassium, zeaxanthin, indole-3, leonine,
Benefits:
Greens are potent antioxidants and blood detoxifiers. They’re also good for the liver and help relieve constipation. They’re hard to swallow alone, which is why you may want to combine with carrot and cucumber juices.
Soup It Up
Soups are also a key part of the detox diet. The possibilities are endless when it comes to creating a variety of nutritious soups.
DeLuz does have her own personal favorites, such as the four below:
Celery, collard greens, green beans, onion, and sweet potato. Mix with cayenne pepper, cumin, curry, chopped garlic, and chopped
ginger.
Carrots, cauliflower, green
beans, and kale. Season with bay leaves, Cajun seasoning, cilantro, garlic powder, and parsley.
Broccoli, celery, chard, kale, onions, scallions, and spinach. Season
with cayenne pepper, garlic and salt-free seasoning.
Carrots, cauliflower, green beans, onions, and spinach. Flavor with garlic and vegetable seasoning.
Following the 21-day detox, dieters
are given recipes to maintain the results they’ve achieved with the program. The book features dishes such as Asian
Spinach Soup, Curried Vegetables, Spicy Greens, Ginger Carrots, and more. Even after the detox, it is important to get enough fruits and vegetables daily to minimize toxins in your body.
“Always get your vegetables,” DeLuz says. “Let
green be your staple food. Let it be your main food.”
Vegetable soup. Freshly pressed juices.
You know health food is good for you, but that doesn't necessarily make a bland block of tofu any more appealing. Experts insist that
health food is essential to your diet, but do you know why? Test your knowledge on healthy fare - from garlic to green tea - with this health food quiz.
Plants for Health
Get Healthy, Get Happy, Get Houseplants Houseplants not only look beautiful - research shows that they greatly improve your health and wellbeing too!
For centuries the Chinese have used houseplants to create "living energy" in their homes and workplaces.
Scientific studies prove that houseplants are good for you - physically, emotionally and psychologically, they are
proven to:-
Remove harmful chemicals from the air, such as those in paints and varnishes, new carpets and
MDF furniture Absorb noise and lessen dust in the home Help hospital patients recover faster, and with less medication Lower blood pressure, help concentration and improve memory Promote feelings of relaxation, calm and well-being Make rooms look cared for and welcoming
3 Fall Veggies That Make You Younger By Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
It's that time of year when the leaves
turn orange and the offerings on your dinner plate can turn even more vibrant, too. And that's a good thing, because yellow-orange
veggies -- including carrots, sweet potatoes and winter squash -- are great-tasting and chock-ful of carotenoids. Why care
about carotenoids? These good-for-you nutrients fight the DNA damage that can make your body old (or sick) before its time.
See, during the course of your lifetime, whether you spend it loafing on the Riviera or diligently working your
way up the ladder, your DNA accumulates damage like Dr. Mike does pennies, but your DNA does it frequently when it gets copied
to create a new cell. It's like when you make a copy of a copy of a copy on the Xerox machine. Little flaws and imperfections
start to show up, even if everything started out just fine. Same thing can happen with your DNA. And that's not such a
great thing, because it can lead to that ultimate cell-replication error: cancer.
Researchers suspect that carotenoids
-- the plant pigments that also give pumpkins and cantaloupes their rich orange hues -- may help protect against the kind
of DNA damage that happens with age, so you can go on making clear, good copies of your cells longer. It's one more way
that taking good care of your taste buds with the season's peak produce also takes the best care of your body.
Steady as She Goes Potatoes can have their place in a healthful diet. They're low in fat
if cooked right, and if you eat the skin, you get a fiber boost as well.
But keep in mind that potatoes are considered
a high-glycemic-index carb -- the kind of carb that can cause blood sugar to spike, then drop suddenly. And too much of that
may set the stage for diabetes. (Check your diabetes risk here.) Case in point: Women in a study who ate one daily serving of starchy potatoes or two weekly servings of french
fries had a slightly higher diabetes risk compared with the non-spud-loving lasses. The effect was even worse when the women
ate potatoes in place of whole grains. (Here are other foods that may boost diabetes risk.)
Better Blood-Sugar Choices Better side dishes for blood-sugar control? High-fiber
whole grains (think brown rice or whole-wheat pasta), fiber-rich veggies (peas,
artichokes, and broccoli top the list), or a salad (made with spinach,
not iceberg). Tally the fiber in your diet with this nutrition assessment.
Go Nuts
Making a heart-smart grocery list? Add a bag of
peanuts.
Saving your own life doesn't get much easier than this: Eat a handful of peanuts twice a week. Or
almonds, walnuts, or Brazil nuts, if you prefer. Men who do this slash their risk of suddenly dying from a heart
attack by almost half. Why? It's all about the good fats. RealAge Benefit: Eating a low-fat diet -- and eating healthful unsaturated fats when you do eat fat -- can make your RealAge as much as 6 years younger.
What makes nuts
so heart-healthy? Monounsaturated fats -- those good- for-you fats that lower bad LDL cholesterol and increase good HDL, which helps keep your arteries clean and clog-free. Nuts are full of good fats, as are olive oil, canola oil, avocados,
and flaxseed. In a study, men who nibbled on nuts at least twice a week had a 46 percent lower chance of dying from
an out-of-the-blue heart attack than men who rarely or never ate nuts.
The only caveat: Nuts are high in calories
-- although other studies have found that, thanks to a happy quirk of digestive chemistry, the body doesn't absorb
all the calories in nuts. Still, if weight loss is a goal, substitute nuts for other snacks rather than just adding them to your daily diet. A little goes a long way: It only takes a small handful, the rough equivalent of a 1-ounce
serving, to protect your ticker.
Some content here is from Health News Weekly, a twice weekly health e-newsletter published by www.healthresouces.net.
Better Off Red
Beans may be a near-perfect health food -- especially if they're red.
We already
know that beans are a great source of fiber and vegetable protein. But red kidney beans are also stellar when it comes
to packing an antioxidant punch. In fact, red beans are right up there with blueberries when it comes to total antioxidant
value. So brighten up your salads and stews by tossing in some crimson-colored beauties. Here's an easy Taco
Salad recipe to get you started.
In addition to red kidney beans, other antioxidant champions include artichokes, russet potatoes, pinto beans, sweet cherries, plums, and pecans. What's so great about antioxidants?
They help guard against the cell damage that can lead to cancer, heart disease, and early aging by swiftly mopping
up free radicals -- cell-process by-products that can damage DNA.
Here are the antioxidant winners in a recent
study, which examined over 100 different plant-food sources: Fruits: Cranberries, blueberries, blackberries Vegetables:
beans (red, kidney, pinto, and black), artichokes, and russet potatoes Nuts: pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts Recipe
Superfoods: The Next Frontier Provided by Prevention.com by Denise Foley
Had it up to here with broccoli? Join the club. But it's hard to take it off the menu when it's
such a great source of vitamins and minerals. Still, is a little variety too much to ask?
Not anymore, thanks
to research that's shifting the spotlight to a new generation of health-boosting foods -- many of which do double
or triple duty to help prevent illness. Here are six on the brink of superstar status.
1. POMEGRANATE:
If you're going to have a martini, at least make it a pomegranate one. This fall fruit has higher antioxidant activity
than red wine and green tea, which may be why a number of studies show it may prevent skin cancer and kill breast
and prostate cancer cells. It also helps:
Fight Alzheimer's disease: Researchers at Loma Linda University
found that mice who drank pomegranate juice experienced 50 percent less brain degeneration than animals that consumed
only sugar water. The pomegranate drinkers also did better in mazes and tests as they aged.
Guard your arteries:
A group of diabetics who drank about 2 ounces of pomegranate juice a day for 3 months kept their bodies from absorbing bad cholesterol into their immune system cells (a major contributing factor to hardened arteries), discovered Israeli
researchers.
2. KIWIFRUIT: Don't judge this fruit by its cover: Under that bristly brown peel you'll
find a bright green star bursting with antioxidants and full of fiber. Kiwifruit works to:
Protect against
free radical damage: A study from Rutgers University compared the 27 most popular fruits and determined that kiwifruit
was the most nutritionally dense. Plus, it makes the short list of fruits with substantial amounts of vitamin E,
and contains more vision- saving lutein than any other fruit or vegetable, except for corn.
Lower blood-clot
risk: In a 2004 study from the University of Oslo in Norway, participants who ate two or three kiwis for 28 days significantly
reduced their potential to form a clot. They also got a bonus benefit: Their triglycerides, a blood fat linked to heart attack, dropped by 15 percent.
3. BARLEY: When some whole grains, such as wheat and oats, are processed,
they lose their fiber content. Not so with barley, which is full of soluble beta-glucan fiber in its whole kernel or
refined flour form. Studies show this particular fiber may:
Knock down bad cholesterol -- by as much as 17.4
percent, according to USDA research. A 2004 study found that adults with moderately high cholesterol levels who
went on a low-fat American Heart Association diet began to see an improvement only when barley was added to the menu.
Decrease blood sugar and insulin levels: That makes barley a better choice for people with type 2 diabetes, says
a 2005 Agricultural Research Services study.
•All About YOU: Bad to the Bone
When it comes to your health, too much of a good thing can often
be bad. Enter high-protein diets.
While loading up on protein helps shed pounds, it also speeds up bone loss. Large amounts of protein -- a pound of chicken, fish, beef, or pork or 2.5 pounds of nuts per day -- prompt your
body to excrete bone-building calcium rather than absorb it. Read on for another bone buster. (see below↓)
In addition to extremely high protein, another bone-buster: caffeinated drinks. The caffeine in coffee or soda
can make you excrete the calcium you eat or drink, before your body has a chance to use it. Is your diet putting
you at risk for osteoporosis? Take this assessment and find out.
Can't cut back on the java or diet coke?
Take a calcium supplement (either a pill or a chewable) and load up on calcium-rich foods (you can look up good
sources here). Add 20 milligrams of calcium a day for each 12-ounce carbonated soft drink, 4-ounce cup of coffee, or
4 ounces of protein you consume. Make sure to take it with vitamin D (it helps keep calcium in the bones). But don't
take it at the same time you take your fiber or iron supplements, which can block absorption.
You Say Tomato
You've
heard of ditching salt to help lower your blood pressure. But what about bumping up your tomato intake?
Seems
it may be a cherry tomato of an idea. People with hypertension who consumed tomato extract daily for 8 weeks experienced
a 10-point drop in systolic blood pressure and a 4-point drop in diastolic pressure. The reason? (see below «)
Researchers credit the lycopene in tomato extract for the potential blood-pressure-lowering effects experienced
by participants in a recent study, but further research is needed to confirm the findings. And it's not clear
how eating whole tomatoes would compare to taking tomato extract. In the study, people took 250 milligrams of commercial
tomato extract daily -- containing about 15 milligrams of lycopene. That would be equivalent to the lycopene in about
3 or 4 tablespoons of Are you sodium savvy? Take this quiz and find out.
tomato paste. Wouldn't be a difficult
amount to add to your daily diet.
Regardless of the blood pressure benefits, we already know that lycopene
has anticancer and heart-protective effects.
Not a fan of tomatoes? You have other options for getting your lycopene fix, including watermelon, red grapefruit, and canned baked beans. Find more lycopene sources with this tool.
.
