Eating For Health

Have you ever heard of brain food?   Foods you can eat for a healthier brain?   I always told my students that before an exam they should drink some water.   Why?   Because even being slightly dehydrated (1%-5%) can adversely affect brain function .   A 2% decrease in brain hydration can result in short term memory loss and have trouble with math computations. Besides staying hydrated, what foods can you eat for a healthier brain? My sister sent me an interesting article, “ People who eat magnesium-rich foods like spinach and almonds may have bigger, healthier brains” .    Why magnesium?   According to NIH , about half of Americans have diets deficient in magnesium.   It is known as a “silent deficiency” as most people are totally unaware that they are lacking in magnesium.   What are the health benefits of magnesium?   Magnesium is a mineral that has many roles to play in your body.         Heart ...

Go to the grocery store and you will see hundreds of varieties of yogurt to choose from.   For years eating yogurt was a popular fad.   And that was great as yogurt is a great health food.   But lately, my husband says there are less and less varieties of yogurt to choose from.   Many of the flavors we love are getting harder to find.   Sad, as this means people are eating less yogurt and may be substituting yogurt for some foods that are far less nutritious. When students in my class analyze their diet recall there is almost two nutrients they are low in, calcium and vitamin D.   These are two nutrients that most yogurts are a great source of.   If you have been cutting back on your yogurt intake, it would be a great time to add some yogurt back to your day. What is Greek yogurt and how does it differ from regular yogurt? According to WebMD , “Greek yogurt has been strained to remove extra liquid and whey.   The result is a thicker, denser ...

Do you ever even think about the health of your joints or strength of your bones?   Younger people may not but   recent articles in Runner’s World and Bicycling.com brings these important topics to younger and older readers.   Why would younger people be interested in these topics?   My daughter recently was pleased to tell us she and her husband will be running a 10K this year.   This is quite the goal for her as she broke her ankle a few years ago.   I advised her to beef up her bone strength and sent her an article on boosting bone strength.   Older people are concerned about bone strength and joint health because of fear of broken bones and aching joints.    What are some foods and nutrients that promote bone strength and healthy joints? Calcium – Almost all the students I have taught know that calcium is needed for good bones.   But when they analyzed their diets, they were often low and sometimes really low in calcium. ...