Eating For Health

Who doesn’t eat processed foods?   Almost all the foods we eat undergo some processing.   Bread is processed, crackers are processed.   Real cow’s milk is pasteurized to kill some bacteria and is fortified with vitamin D.   But highly processed foods have many nutrients and fiber removed.   Now many health professionals are talking about ultra-processed foods.   Is some processing of foods needed? Yes.   As noted, cow’s milk is pasteurized to kill harmful bacteria.   They also add vitamin D to milk which is a good thing.   Some foods are frozen, like frozen vegetables and frozen fruit to prolong shelf life.   Grains are processed to make bread, crackers, cereal.   What type of food processing is not good for our health? You may have heard of refined grains.   All grains start out healthy as whole grains.   Then many grains are refined, which removes one or more parts of the grain.   White flour and white rice are both refined because they have the healthiest parts of the grain

Blueberries – why are they considered a super healthy food?   Growing up, I went blueberry picking with my grandfather.   At first, more blueberries went into my mouth than into the bucket.   Who knew I was boosting my health every time I went blueberry picking? Why are blueberries so healthy?   What make blueberries a power food?   Health.com discusses the   5 Health Benefits of Blueberries, According to a Nutritionist .   Antioxidants – blueberries are “blue” or some say “purple”.   This coloring means blueberries provide different antioxidants than other colored fruit.   Berries , in particular, have higher antioxidant levels than other fruits.   Antioxidants are great for our health as they help protect our bodies and cells from damage and thus protect us from some diseases and “protect against inflammation ”.   Blueberries provide the antioxidant, anthocyanin which lowers our risk of certain cancers, helps our memories, and promotes healthy aging.   Interesting that wild