FitSugar

They're Not Just Delicious: Reasons to Love Blueberries

Leta Shy — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:28:50 PDT

What's not to love about blueberries? They are delicious, low-calorie, and can be made in many different ways. And, of course, blueberries are so packed with health benefits that it's no wonder they are known as a superfood. Even better news: blueberries are low in calories (125 blueberries equals about 100 calories).

In honor of National Blueberry Month, check out these reasons to add blueberries to any of your Summer meals.

Blueberries may help decrease belly fat. Studies have found that blueberries may help diminish belly fat, which is good news since having too much abdominal fat has been linked to conditions like heart disease and diabetes.

Read on for more health benefits of blueberries.

How to Maximize Garlic's Healing Potential

Heather Dale — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 01:17:26 PDT

In my opinion, the only downside to consuming lots of garlic is having stinky breath. This mighty food adds an abundance of flavor to dishes and can help a variety of ailments putting it at the top of my superfood list.

Just some of garlic's healing properties include warding off colds, reducing inflammation, and boosting immunity. What's not to love? Here are a few garlic tips and tricks:

How to eat garlic: When you consume garlic, make sure it's crushed to conserve its healthy anti-clotting compounds. You can press it with a garlic press and be sure to only cook it for 3 - 6 minutes. To make chopping a bit easier, find a garlic gadget that will cut and peel cloves into perfectly diced pieces so you can quickly add your garlic to dishes or sprinkle it on food.

Keep reading for more garlic goodness.

Use Ginger to Treat Colds, Motion Sickness, and Muscle Aches

Heather Dale — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 02:06:19 PDT

Ginger, the powerful herb used as a spice in many dishes, can also be used as a treatment for a variety of ailments. Whether dried, fresh, in juice form or as a powder in a pill, ginger has many therapeutic properties. Here are some to just name a few.

Cold Remedy: Drinking homemade ginger tea (which by the way, I'm addicted to), can help relieve congestion, that icky symptom of the common cold.
Soothes Sore Muscles: Two separate studies showed that participants who had sore muscles due to a variety of exercises and who took ginger supplements had a reduction in pain of almost 25 percent compared to the placebo group. This study demonstrated ginger's healing anti-inflammatory properties.
Motion Sickness: Put me in the back seat of a car and it's a nauseous nightmare. Several studies have found ginger to be effective against nausea from seasickness and other motion sickness related conditions. Taking just two capsules of ginger in powdered form can delay the onset of sickness about twice as long as antinausea medication. And not only that, but another study showed that ginger improved the symptoms of nausea and vomiting in pregnant women and is a low-risk effective treatment.

What else can ginger do?

Get Some Ghee Into Your Indulgent Meals

Leta Shy — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 10:30:05 PDT

Last night, I was treated to a homemade tikka masala. It was delicious, spicy, and especially creamy - the recipe included yogurt, whipping cream, and a couple tablespoons of ghee for sautéing. With all that saturated fat, you're not going to see this meal in the Healthy Recipe group, but I took small comfort in the health benefits of ghee.

Clarified butter is used in many Indian and Middle Eastern dishes. Cooking advantages include its high smoking point, very long shelf life (it doesn't need to be refrigerated), and nutty taste, but the amount of calories and saturated fat in this cooking oil may have you running as far away from it as possible. Actually, there are a number of health benefits to using clarified butter as a substitute for regular butter. Read on to find out what they are.

Sweet Treats With a Healthy Twist

FitSugar — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:30:00 PDT

Who says your sweet tooth can't work in your favor? Here are five treats that'll satisfy your cravings and also provide some benefits to your body.

Source: Thinkstock

Health Benefits of Wine: Red vs. White

FitSugar — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:00:41 PDT

Have you been wondering, while sipping on your Chardonnay, if white wine offers all the benefits of red? You're in good company, for the New York Times has been wondering this as well.

If you prefer a light Pinot Grigio, you are missing out on many of the antioxidants found in grape skin, like resveratrol, which may help keep you get slim as well as protect your heart. There are less flavonoids, beneficial micro-nutrients found in the skins as well. All that being said, there have been few studies comparing the two. The whites with the highest amounts of flavonoids are made from granache blanc grapes in the Mediterranean regions: Spain, southern France, and Sardinia. Regardless of the shade of wine you prefer, to reap the health benefits of the wine, women should limit their intake of wine to one glass a day.

What are you drinking these days?

Flaxseeds: More Than Omega-3s

FitSugar — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:00:00 PDT

Flaxseeds are not taking any flack. Even though the omega-3 fatty acids found in flaxseeds might not be as easy for your body to utilize as the omega-3s from fish and fish oil, there are still plenty of reasons to eat flaxseeds.

There are a couple of reasons that this little seed can help with weight loss and one big reason is fiber. Flaxseeds are a good mix of insoluble and soluble fiber, which combined help to aid digestion and contribute to a sensation of fullness post meal. If you prefer flaxseed oil, it ranks highest on the satiety scale as well and it promotes fat burning not fat storage.

To check out the health reasons to eat flax just

read more. The health reasons to add flax to your diet are quite convincing as well. Flaxseeds contain lingans, a phytoestrogen (hormone-like chemicals found in plants) that have been shown to lower the risk of developing hormone-related cancers like breast and prostate cancer. Flaxseeds also help lower the dangerous LDL cholesterol and may help lower blood pressure, two risk factors for heart disease. Not to mention that 50 grams of flaxseed have been shown to lower blood sugar levels in diabetics by 30 percent. My suggestions for adding flax to your diet are simple. Add ground flaxseeds (I use an extra coffee grinder) to oatmeal, yogurt, and fruit, or smoothie. I like to use flax oil in salad dressing or instead of butter on whole grain toast. How do you work flaxseeds into your diet? Share with us in the comment section below. Source

The Dark Side of Chocolate

FitSugar — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 02:00:00 PST

I have reported all the good news on chocolate: it is full of heart protecting flavonoids, it lowers blood pressure, and it increases blood flow. I reported the good news, so it is only fair that I share with you the bad news as well. Unfortunately, its reputation as the new healthy food is being called into question.

A top Medical Journal says that many of the health claims are misleading. While it is true that plain chocolate is high in antioxidants, these plant chemicals also impart the chocolate with a bitter taste and are often removed during the manufacturing process. With the flavonoids removed, chocolate is just a decadent treat. The majority of chocolatiers do not list the antioxidant content of their chocolate. So, once again I remind you. Chocolate may or not may not be beneficial to your health, so please enjoy it in moderation.

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Just Put One Foot In Front of the Other: Walking

FitSugar — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 02:00:00 PDT

There is no doubt about it - walking is good for you! If you are perpetually flummoxed by fitness news and terms like fartlek, gyrotonics and plyometrics make you a bit anxious, you need to know that walking is good for you. Here are a few reasons why:

It is free: You don't need to join a gym to walk.
It is easy: Walking requires no lessons, since you have been doing it all your life
It is beneficial: Walking can help with weight control, lowering blood pressure, decreases your risk for cardio-vascular disease and stroke.
It is uncomplicated: You can walk anytime, anywhere. It doesn't require special equipment or conditions.

If you are intimidated by exercising, start walking. It is a great form of exercise and it is a great form of conditioning for other forms of exercise from step aerobics to running.

So like Giggle says you got to walk, walk, walk, walk it out.

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Pistachios Lower Cholesterol

FitSugar — Wed, 02 May 2007 11:00:00 PDT

Not only are pistachios fun to eat, but new research has found that these little nuts can also lower the LDL (bad) levels of cholesterol in your body. You know what that means - you can reduce your risk for developing cardiovascular disease.

Eating just one or two handfuls (1.5 - 3 oz) of pistachios is all it takes. Researchers also found that these tasty nuts contain antioxidants normally found in dark leafy vegetables like kale. Pistachios also contain more beta carotene (vitamin A) than other nuts.

Reap the health benefits of pistachios by adding them into your diet. Eat them plain (shelling them has got to burn a few calories) or add them to muffins, granola, salads, or try making pesto made with pistachios (instead of pine nuts).

Interested in how pistachios compare nutritionally with other nuts? Check out this nut break down.

Fit's Tips: Look for the nuts with white shells, since the red ones are dyed and you don't need to be eating weird chemicals. Plus they stain your fingers all pink.

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