FitSugar

For More Benefits, Don't Peel That Apple

FitSugar — Thu, 24 May 2007 03:00:00 PDT

Are you an apple peeler? Maybe your kids refuse to eat the apple peel and you give in to them? Well, looks like it's time to think about changing your ways...

A new study shows the bulk of apples’ anticancer properties lie in the peel. Researchers identified a group of phytochemicals in the peel that proved potent against at least three different types of human cancer cells: breast, colon and liver. So step away from the peeler and grow to love the skin your apple is in.

By the way, ironically, I am eating an apple (peel included) as I write this -- Check ya later cancer.

Source

Superfood Diva Julie Morris Defines Key Nutritional Terms

Anna Monette Roberts — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:01:52 PDT

Julie Morris, writer and healthy food chef, has developed recipes for vegan athlete Brendan Brazier and released her own cookbook, Superfood Cuisine: Cooking With Nature's Most Amazing Foods ($30). With 10 years of experience in the natural food industry and 12 years as a vegan, Julie has accumulated a lot of information on nutrient-rich foods and how to deliciously prepare them. Here are key concepts that Julie uses to help measure the nutritional content of foods, which she says everyone should know.

Nutrient density: Nutrient density refers to the ratio of the "amount of nutrients per calorie," and Julie believes this is the "key philosophy behind understanding what superfoods are. Using this definition, superfoods give the most nutrients possible for the least amount of calories. Nutrients like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals are all included in this calculation. Put simply, nutrient density is the opposite of an empty calorie, and the fresher and more whole a food is, the more nutrient dense.

See more key nutrient terms after the break!

3 Vegetable Myths Busted

Prevention — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:32:09 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

White potatoes don't make you fat, carrots aren't made of sugar - and other myths about the produce you grew up on, dispelled
By Karen Ansel, RD

If the low-carb diet craze of the early 2000s left you believing that potatoes equal pounds and corn is no better than candy, it's time to wake up and taste the produce. Truth is, even vegetables you may think of as nutritional duds are packed with vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, not to mention varied colors, flavors, and textures. If you've been avoiding these "produce outcasts," your diet — and health — are missing out. Here, we debunk the biggest myths about a few unfairly maligned vegetables — and provide easy and healthful ways to eat more of them.

Feed Your Family for $100 a Week

White Potatoes Make You Fat
One medium baked potato has only 161 calories, plus 4 g of filling fiber
Added bonus: Chilled, cooked potato is packed with resistant starch, a fibrous substance that could help you lose weight. (For more information on resistant starch, visit prevention.com/resistantstarch.) "If you keep portion sizes in check — no more than one medium potato in a given meal — and eat the fiber-rich skin, potatoes make a satisfying, low-cal, nutrient-rich side dish," says Michelle Dudash, RD, a Gilbert, AZ-based nutritionist. They also:

Fight disease
When scientists from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service tested more than 100 potato varieties, they discovered 60 different vitamins and phytochemicals. For starters, they found flavonoids (which are credited with improving heart health and protecting against lung and prostate cancers) including quercetin, which may boost immunity.

Help maintain healthy blood pressure
Potatoes are loaded with kukoa-mines, plant chemicals that help lower blood pressure, found the USDA researchers. In addition, one medium baked potato (including the skin) provides 20 percent of your daily potassium, a known hyper-tension fighter.

Try this: To make a fat-burning potato salad, boil new potatoes in water until cooked through. Cut into one 2-inch slices and then quarter. Toss with olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and chopped fresh parsley, and chill. Or for a hearty meal, skip the sour cream, butter, and cheese, and top a baked russet potato with vegetarian chili.

9 Eating Habits to Naturally Boost Your Health

Learn why you should be eating carrot and celery after the break.

Study Shows Purple Potatoes Combat High Blood Pressure

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:43:42 PDT

I'm a huge fan of those adorable little purple potatoes, and now I have a reason to eat them. A small recent study shows that eating these plum-colored root veggies can lower your blood pressure. When participants added six to eight small purple potatoes (golf-ball size) twice a day to their regular diet, after four weeks their diastolic (the bottom number) blood pressure lowered by an average of 4.3 percent and their systolic (the top number) by 3.5 percent. The scientists said purple potatoes have almost the same blood pressure lowering abilities as oatmeal.

Of course, fried and smothered in butter doesn't count - the taters in this study were microwaved and enjoyed plain (with the skins). Potatoes are naturally high in antioxidants, which protect your body from damaging free radicals, but frying destroys those healthy substances. If eaten sans butter, margarine, or sour cream, a half-cup serving of purple potatoes is only 70 calories, so they're not fattening when enjoyed just as nature intended.

Hopefully this research will help make potatoes of all colors popular again and clear them of their unhealthy reputation. Knowing all varieties contain healthy phytochemicals on similar levels to broccoli, spinach, and brussels sprouts definitely inspires me to eat them.

Source: Flickr User g.p.macklin

The Healthiest Seeds to Snack On

Heather Dale — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 09:35:10 PDT

Just like nuts, seeds are full of protein and fiber and will give you an energy boost when snacked on throughout the day. Here are four types of seeds that are delicious and good for you!

Pumpkin Seeds: Pumpkin seeds aid in lowering cholesterol, promote good prostate health, and are high in plant sterols and phytochemicals. And they're not only a good source of protein and fiber, but potassium and magnesium as well. Here's a recipe on how to roast them to perfection.
Chia Seeds: Chia seeds are high in omega-3 fatty acids, protein, fiber, and calcium. Throw them in your cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, muffins, or smoothies, or add them to a salad or potatoes. Here's a yummy recipe for Chocolate Banana Chia Pudding.

Learn more about other healthy seeds and see their full nutritional breakdown.

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!

DrSugar's Tips For Staying Healthy While Traveling

DrSugar — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:00:21 PST

DrSugar is in the house! And she's answering your health-related questions.

How to prevent getting sick while traveling and why it's good to avoid touching your face (eyes, nose, mouth) during cold and flu season.

OK, FitSugar readers, as we all know, it's holiday time, which is a time for fun, family, friends, and celebration! However, it is also the time of year for colds, flu, and travel. Learn my tips and tricks for staying healthy this season when you

read more. With the holiday season gearing up, I'm sure many readers are worried about getting sick while they travel to their holiday destinations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides many useful tips on its website for protecting yourself from the flu (and from other illnesses, if you are traveling internationally). The official CDC recommendation is to get a flu vaccine prior to travel as an important way to protect yourself and others from the flu virus. It also recommends traveling with a "travel health kit," which would be helpful in case you do get sick while traveling, which would include: tissues, pain/fever medicine, soap, and an alcohol-based antibacterial hand rub to use in case soap and water aren't available. The CDC also recommends only traveling if you feel well enough to do so, as if you fly when you are sick you risk infecting others as well as picking up other illnesses given the immune system depression that occurs when you are sick. Finally, it recommends everyday steps to protect your health and the health of others when traveling: cover your coughs or sneezes with a tissue, or sneeze/cough into your upper elbow/upper sleeve and not your hands, wash your hands often with soap and water (if soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based rub), avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, and avoid close contact with sick people. EverydayHealth recommends a healthy diet with lots of antioxidant-rich foods to boost your immune system around and during your time of travel. The website also reports on some of the popular remedies to try to prevent illness such as vitamin C, echinacea, and zinc, as these ingredients have been studied in the medical literature and might keep you from getting sick. "Germ warfare" includes switching seats on the plane (if it isn't full) to a seat away from other people, disinfecting your seat/seat area on the plane, and considering wearing a mask if you or someone you are traveling with is sick. Finally, WebMD reiterates many of the points above, adding these helpful tips for staying healthy whether you're traveling or not: drink plenty of fluids, do aerobic exercise regularly, eat foods rich in phytochemicals (dark green, red, and yellow vegetables and fruits), eat yogurt, don't smoke, cut alcohol consumption, and relax/de-stress (this will improve your immune system!). Hopefully with these tips, you will be able to try to prevent illness during the cold and flu season, especially if you are traveling! Happy holidays to all from DrSugar! Have a question for DrSugar? You can send it to me via private message here, and I will forward it to the good doctor.

DrSugar's posts are for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations. Click here for more details.

Flaxseed: Whole vs. Ground

FitSugar — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 10:00:12 PDT

If you don't eat fish, flaxseeds are a wonderful source of omega-3s. They're also high in fiber, so many people take them regularly to prevent constipation. When perusing the aisles of your grocery store, you'll see they come in two forms - whole and ground. Is one more beneficial than the other? To find out

read more It may help to compare them nutritionally first, so check out the chart below.

	1 tbsp. whole flaxseed	1 tbsp. ground flaxseed
Calories	55	37
Total Fat (g)	4	3
Saturated Fat (g)	0	0
Carbs (g)	3	2
Fiber (g)	3	2
Protein (g)	2	1
Calcium (mg)	26.1	17.9
Iron (mg)	.6	.4
Omega-3s (g)	2.3	1.6
Omega-6s (g)	.6	.4

As you can see, they're pretty similar, but it's recommended to consume ground flaxseed because whole flaxseeds just pass right through the body undigested. Eating ground flaxseed allows your body to get the omegas as well as the phytochemicals called lignans, which may have antioxidant actions and may help protect against certain cancers. What about flaxseed oil, you ask? It also contains omegas and lignans, but no fiber, so I'd go for the ground flaxseed. Since the RDI of omega-3s is 1.1 grams a day, just one tablespoon of ground flaxseed is way more than enough. Either buy ground flaxseed, or buy whole flaxseeds and grind them yourself in a coffee grinder. Ground flaxseed can be stored in an airtight container for several months. Refrigerate any whole seeds you haven't ground to keep them fresher for longer. Sprinkle ground flaxseed on your cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, or salad. Or you can mix it in dips, or add it to baked good recipes. It has a slightly nutty flavor and a flour-like consistency, so you hardly taste it.

Eat Green, Get Healthy

FitSugar — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:45:00 PDT

St. Patty's Day is all about the green and it is just around the corner. That doesn't only have to mean green beer. There are numerous healthy foods that you can add to your diet to not only up the green, but to also up the health as well. Here are just a few:

Avocado: Avocado is a good source of monounsaturated fats, which help lower cholesterol, said Dr. Vickie Vaclavik, clinical assistant professor of clinical nutrition at UT Southwestern. Avocados also are good sources of both vitamin E and lutein, a natural antioxidant that may help maintain eye health.
Broccolini: It's packed with the cancer-fighting nutrients isothiocyanates, sulforaphane, and indoles all linked with reducing the risk of breast, prostate, cervical, lung, and other cancers and offers as much vitamin C as orange juice, said Dr. Jo Ann Carson, professor of clinical nutrition at UT Southwestern.
Brussels sprouts: Brussels sprouts are another cruciferous vegetable with cancer-fighting phytochemicals. "They're also high in vitamin C and are a good source of folate, vitamin A, and potassium," said Lona Sandon, assistant professor of clinical nutrition at UT Southwestern and a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

There's more so