Eating For Health

Some interesting nutrition topics in the news this week.   Coffee Drinker?   Well good news for your health.   I love coffee and couldn’t start my day without it.   A large study has reported drinking coffee actually reduces your risk of dying from heart disease and other diseases.   Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health studied both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee in over 200,000 men and women.   For non-smokers the reduced risk is impressive.   Just one-three cups of coffee a day reduces risk of dying by 8%, 3-5 cups reduced it by 15%.   But less returns on coffee consumption for over 5 cups a day.    Interesting, these findings were also true for those drinking decaf coffee.   Cranberries – what is Thanksgiving without the traditional cranberries?   Have any leftovers?   Enjoy as cranberries are great for your health.   Eating fruits and vegetables is more than getting vitamins and minerals.   Most are loaded with antioxidant compounds that are beneficial to o

Recently a student asked me if high fructose corn syrup was something to avoid.    Good question as there is so much being written about high fructose corn syrup.   If you watch the commercials sponsored by the high fructose corn syrup industry, all is well and there is no difference between sugar and high fructose corn syrup.   Others have renounced high fructose corn syrup almost from day one.   So what do some of the experts have to say about high fructose corn syrup? Is high fructose corn syrup the same as sugar? Actually, no.   Table sugar is about half fructose and half glucose.   High fructose corn syrup has a higher ratio of fructose to glucose having 55- 65% fructose and the rest glucose.    Does the higher fructose content of high fructose corn syrup cause health problems?     Some studies are indicating, YES.   The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that beverages sweetened with high fructose corn syrup can significantly raise the bad cholesterol,