Eating For Health

Who doesn’t enjoy some fresh watermelon?   So juicy and naturally sweet.   We have some sliced watermelon in our fridge as my husband went to the farmer’s market this week. Many people enjoy watermelon and don’t realize how healthy it is.   Cleveland Clinic says, “watermelon should be part of your diet”.   Why?   Watermelon is “packed with vitamins and minerals and can be enjoyed all year ‘round”.   We hear a lot about superfoods like blueberries but we don’t hear much about other fruits like watermelon.      Watermelon packs a big nutritious punch. One reason why watermelon is so good for your health is that it is loaded with many vitamins and minerals as well as fiber.            Vitamins : watermelon is a good source of vitamins A, C and many B vitamins.   One cup of watermelon balls provides 12.5 mg of vitamin C, almost 25% of daily needs.   One cup also provides 876 IU of vitamin A, almost 20% of daily needs.   Minerals :   think potassium.   Almost all fruit provides this

We recently got back from a wonderful trip to Europe.   What food is enjoyed every day, many times a day in Europe?   Bread.   All kinds of bread from delicious croissants in France to many different kinds of breads in Germany and Netherlands.   One morning in France, we talked to a woman walking her dog and later saw her with a bag from a bakery and she held it up and said, “My breakfast”.   We found the bakery she had gone to and went in and the shelves were half empty.   Puzzled the store clerk said they had sold out all those baked goods that morning.   We bought a baked roll and the store clerk gave us a fresh croissant.   It was one of the best croissants I had ever eaten.   Why does the bread in Europe seem so good compared to the bread we eat in the USA?   One reason is that many of the preservatives used in breads made in the US are banned in Europe.   Europeans buy their bread fresh every day because their bread has no preservatives.   Europe not only bans some preservative

Who hasn’t experienced the afternoon energy slump?   You did fine all morning, ate lunch and then about 2 or 3 pm, you have no energy, you are in an afternoon slump.   Some people then head to the snack machine for a candy bar in hopes that it will boost your energy.   It will, but then after the sugar rush your blood sugar may plummet and you are back to being tired.     Well rather than hit the snack machine for some high sugar, high salt food or grab a left-over donut in the break room, what are some ways and foods that can give you an afternoon pick me up?    What are some quick ways to deal with an afternoon slump?         Move around – so many people sit at their desk all day and even send an email to the co-worker next door.   Get up and ask the co-worker what you wanted instead of sending the email.   Get up and go the stairwell and go up and down a couple of flights of stairs. Drink some water .   Even being mildly dehydrated can affect you.  Mayo Clinic notes , “Ev

Who doesn’t like some fresh fruit?   This week my husband stopped at the farmer’s market and brought home fresh raspberries, fresh yellow plums, peaches, and fresh corn in the husk.   He also brought home a fresh watermelon. The fruit and especially the watermelon were summer sweet.   Our neighbor just rang our doorbell and gave us some home-grown tomatoes.   All kinds of fruit will be coming your way during the summer months:   strawberries ripened on the vine, cherries from Washington, blueberries from Michigan.   Not only is fruit delicious, it is super healthy, low in fat and low in calories.   A few years back, Consumer Reports had an excellent article on 100 calorie summer fruits (June 2018) and 100 calorie picnic foods .    If you are going on summer picnics or barbeques this summer, read what a 100-calorie serving of barbeque foods look like.   Enjoy some 100-calorie fruit :   What about the “sugar” in fruit? Most fruit is so low in calories that you can eat a handful o