FitSugar

What is the Deal With: Folate

FitSugar — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 10:15:00 PST

I just learned something new and I thought I should share it with you: folate and folic acid are the same thing. Well not exactly the same thing. Although they are both forms of a water soluble B vitamin, folate naturally occurs in food and folic acid is its synthetic form found in supplements and added to fortified foods.

Folate and folic acid not only prevent anemia during pregnancy, they also help to produce and maintain new cells. These two reason are why it is essential to take folic acid before and during pregnancy. So if you are planning on becoming a mama soon, make sure you're getting your daily value (DV) of this vitamin, which is 500 micrograms if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. For all other adults the recommended DV is 400 micrograms.

Aside from pregnancy, folate is an important nutrient since it is needed to make DNA and RNA, the building blocks of cells. It also helps prevent changes to DNA that may lead to cancer. The "C" word usually catches people's attention, so now I want you to know what to eat for your DV of folate.

Foods naturally high in folate are: leafy green vegetables like spinach and turnip greens (don't toss the greens when cooking with turnips you can sauté them with garlic just like spinach), citrus fruits and juices, as well as dried beans and peas. Since 1998, folic acid has been added to "enriched" grain products like breads and cereals. Many fortified cereals contain 100% of your daily folate needs. Ahhhh...another reason to read those labels.

What's the Deal With Folic Acid?

Natasha Dantzig — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:37:16 PST

Happy National Folic Acid Awareness Week! Most women of childbearing age have heard of folic acid: it's one of the first terms bandied about when women start talking about having children, but not everyone knows why it's so crucial to the health of the developing baby.

What's your folic acid IQ? Do you know how much to take and when, and why the B vitamin is so important? Take the following quiz and increase your awareness.

Take the Quiz

Toast to Valentine's Day With a Blood Orange Champagne Cocktail

Michele Foley — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:50:49 PST

Fruits and veggies can be slim pickings during the Winter, but not when it comes to blood oranges. Since the crimson color of the fruit's flesh makes it a perfect pairing for Valentine's Day, putting it in a celebratory cocktail makes total sense. It's full of nutritional goodness, too: blood oranges are a great source of vitamin C, and also contains a good amount of vitamin B1 and folic acid. If you're not a drinker, substitute the champagne for soda water in this recipe.

Check out this citrus twist on the champagne cocktail when you

Why Do I Bruise So Easily?

FitSugar — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 12:00:00 PST

Why is it that I can get the slightest bump and the next day, I've got a huge bruise? Sometimes bruises show up and I don't even remember hurting myself.

A bruise develops when small blood vessels under the skin tear or rupture. Blood leaks into tissues under the skin and causes the black-and-blue color.

As bruises heal, usually within two to four weeks, they often turn colors, including purplish black, reddish blue, or yellowish green. Sometimes the area of the bruise spreads down the body in the direction of gravity. A bruise on a leg usually will take longer to heal than a bruise on the face or arms.

Bruising easily does not mean you have a serious health problem. Tendency to bruise easily sometimes runs in the family. Also, you should know that women bruise more easily than men, especially from minor injuries on the thighs, upper arms, and bottom.

The amount of fat covering your body may also play a part. If you don't have much fat on your bones, then bruises will appear with the slightest knock. That's why children and the elderly tend to bruise easily.

Sometimes bruises are bumpy. This is called hematoma, and happens when blood collects and pools under the skin. This is no cause for concern, unless it is accompanied by a greater injury or intense pain.

Fit's Tips: If you are concerned about your vulnerable bruising skin, you may want to get checked by a doctor to make sure you're getting enough vitamins B12, C, K, and folic acid. Deficiencies in these vitamins could also be causing your skin to bruise easily.

Want to Age Better? Swap Your Morning Cup of Coffee For Green Tea

Leta Shy — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:05:42 PST

We all know that green tea has many benefits - eye health, sunburn protection, and disease prevention, to name a few. Now, a new study can add another possible benefit to that list: green tea may help you remain functional as you age.

The Japanese study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, tracked 14,000 adults 65 years old or older for three years and found that those people who drank at least five cups a day of green tea were about a third less likely to have functional disabilities than those who drank little or no green tea. Even those who only drank two to four cups of green tea a day also experienced a benefit as they aged. "Functional disabilities" were defined as the inability to do basic daily activities or necessities, like bathing or dressing, so the more green tea you drink the more likely you are to be able to stay independent when you're older. The study did find that those who drank green tea tended to have healthier lifestyles overall, but the researchers said a positive effect still existed when diet, exercise, and other lifestyle habits were accounted for.

Five cups may sound like a lot, but it's actually a lot less than you think. So, how much tea should you actually be drinking to reap this benefit and possibly remain independent as you age? Read on after the break.

What to Eat to Get the RDI of Vitamins and Minerals

FitSugar — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:12:23 PDT

How much calcium should I get? What about vitamin B12? If you're curious to know how much you need each day of your basic vitamins and minerals, this chart is for you! It tells you the recommended daily intake (RDI) of each nutrient, and what you need to eat to obtain it.

Vitamin or Mineral	Amount	Eat This to Obtain RDI
Vitamin A	2,310 IU (700 mcg)	Two medium baby carrots: 2,758 IU
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)	1.1 mg	One cup oatmeal: 1.2 mg
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)	1.1 mg	1 cup cottage cheese: .4 mg 3 oz. salmon: .4 mg 1 cup cooked spinach: .4 mg
Vitamin B3 (Niacin)	14 mg	Half an avocado: 1.3 mg 2 large carrots 1.4 mg 3 oz. salmon: 8.6 mg 1 medium sweet potato 1.7 mg 1 oz. almonds: 1.1 mg

Keep reading to find out if you're meeting your RDI of the other vitamins and minerals.

Roasted Chickpeas Two Ways

Yum Community — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 03:04:33 PDT

We're always looking for new healthy snack ideas and we just found a good one from CheesePlease: roasted chickpeas.

Try this simply and addictive healthy snack! Chickpeas are a great source of protein, folic acid and iron. Roast your chickpeas with this garlic-cumin-sea salt recipe, or a delicious honey-cinnamon version. It's hard to say which one is better. My advice: Make both and you will have options depending on your mood!

Want the recipes? Head over to her blog. Don't forget to share your delicious creations with us in the YumSugar Community. You could be featured here!

More Than Half of Americans Take Supplements - Do You?

Leta Shy — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:15:18 PDT

I've never been a fan of supplements, even during my Flintstones vitamin days. Between having to remember to take them and the odd tastes of some of them (yes you, fish oil), I prefer to get my nutrients from the farmers market.

But according to a new report from the CDC, I'm in the minority. More than half of adults in the US take a supplement of some sort, including multivitamins (almost 40 percent of Americans take them), minerals, herbs, and other ways we try to get our recommended daily values outside of food.

I may not be a fan, but supplements do have their place. Doctors recommend anything from multivitamins for people on restricted diets to folic acid during pregnancy, and others, like vitamin D and calcium, have proven to be beneficial.

5 Reasons You Should Eat More Berries

FitSugar — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 00:25:53 PDT

If someone told me that the only food I'd be able to eat for the rest of my life were berries, I wouldn't bat an eyelash. I absolutely love all kinds of berries including strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries - they are a simple, sweet, healthy treat that can be added to a variety of dishes. Just buy them, or pick them, and rinse them up and enjoy. Berries not only taste good, but they are also chock-full of nutritious goodness and deliver a plethora of health benefits. Here are five reasons why you may want to up your berry intake.

They are good for your brain: Investigators with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Boston found that the polyphenols in berries help the part of the brain that takes care of regular maintenance and "housekeeping." Blueberries and strawberries were said to contain the most polyphenols.

They may help you lose weight: Berries are loaded with the powerful antioxidant anthocyanin. This antioxidant is said to be able to alter the activity of genes found in human fat cells, making it more difficult to put on weight if you are regularly consuming anthocyanins.
They are good for your eyes: Berries, especially blueberries and raspberries, contain lutein in the pigment of their skin, which is important for healthy eyes.
They are anticarcinogens: Christine Sardo, who manages clinical trials on berry consumption and cancer prevention for Ohio State University's College of Medicine, found that rats that ate a diet consisting of 10 percent black raspberries showed reductions in oral, esophageal, and colon cancers of about 50 percent compared to rats that did not eat berries. Sardo concluded that berries contain potent anticancer compounds including calcium, folic acid, fiber, and various phytochemicals. Specifically, black raspberries slow the growth rate of premalignant cancerous cells through a process called apitosis, therefore stimulating those cells to die.
They help slow down the aging process: The powerful antioxidants in berries prevent free radical damage in your body. And less free radical damage means slowing down the aging process and helping you live longer!

You Asked: How Many Cups of Green Tea a Day?

FitSugar — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:30:00 PDT

Dear Fit,
You've been extolling your wisdom on the benefits of green tea, but I'm unsure how much green tea you actually have to drink for it to make a difference. I've heard as much as 10 cups a day which sounds crazy!
Thanks so much!
– Green Tea Gina

This a great question because green tea is amazing. I feel fortunate that I do like the taste so drinking a cup or two a day is no problem for me. This is good since both
Dr. Zuo Feng Zhang, a cancer epidemiology researcher at UCLA, and the University of Maryland Medical Center recommend two to three teacups (not mugs) a day will prove beneficial to your health.

To see what drinking five cups of green tea a day can do for you

read more. However, drinking up to five cups a day has been shown to decrease risk for stomach cancer. For weight loss and to boost your metabolism, the best results have been seen with drinking seven cups a day (this was studied in mice though and has yet to be studied directly on humans). Additionally many other medical studies have shown the the more green tea consumed daily the greater the benefits, with 10 cups being the upper limit. If you are sensitive to caffeine, or suffer from insomnia, 10 cups of green tea is probably going to be too much for your system, regardless of the benefits. There are a few negative consequences to drinking lots and lots of green tea. The tannins found in both green and black tea can decrease absorption of folic acid, an important vitamin that helps decrease birth defects. If you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, you should definitely limit your green tea consumption to two cups a day, or skip it all together. Green tea can also interfere with the absorption of iron, too, so it is recommended that you avoid drinking green tea with meals and just drink it between them.