Eating For Health

Almost everyone thinks sodas are not good for your health.   Sweetened sodas are loaded with added sugar and low-calorie sodas use artificial sweeteners which many people try to avoid.   But there are new sodas on the market being advertised as good for your gut.   What are these sodas and why are people drinking them for a healthier gut? What are the new sodas promoting gut health? Two types of sodas are being marketed.   Prebiotic Sodas:   Prebiotics are mainly fiber that feed our healthy gut bacteria.   Two brands of prebiotic sodas are Poppi and Olipop .   On the Olipop can it states, “Supports Digestive Health”.   The prebiotic fibers in Olipop include cassava root, chicory root, Jerusalem artichoke, guar fiber, and Nopal cactus.   Olipop also contains Calendula Flower for its lutein, beta-carotene and flavonoids.      Probiotic Sodas:   Probiotics are healthy bacteria usually found in foods like yogurt but n...

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 ...

You are watching TV and an ad comes on for a probiotic product.   Or you see an ad for yogurt promoting the benefits of probiotics.   Do you need to ensure you get some probiotics every day?   Are there really health benefits to probiotics?   What are probiotics?    Probiotics are friendly bacteria that are promoted as having health benefits.   Probiotics can come in many forms, tablets and capsules and in foods like yogurt.   There are different types of bacteria in probiotics.   Two of the most common bacteria promoted are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium , but there are other strains as well.   Each strain can have different health benefits.   Some probiotic products contain only one strain of bacteria, while other products provide many strains.   The amount of bacteria also varies.   Some product offer 1 billion organisms in a daily dose while others offer 250 billion organisms in a daily dose.   Doe...