Eating For Health

When teaching nutrition, I always emphasize eating at least 5 fruits and vegetables a day.   One student asked me if they could eat just more of one or two vegetables.   Say they were having corn at dinner and instead of one half cup of corn, they ate 1 cup and that would be worth 2 vegetables.   Although this sounds mathematically fine, it is not really the best nutrition option.   Why?   Because fruits and vegetables not only offer different nutrients, their color also has nutritional benefits.   By eating fruits and vegetables with a variety of color, we increase the many antioxidants (beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene)   and healthy food components called “phytochemicals”.    Another student asked if Sunny D is as healthy as orange juice.    Sunny D contains vitamin C like orange juice but it is missing many other vitamins and minerals found in orange juice.   Also, it is orange juice that is naturally orange – not a...

Almost everyone seems to think water is the healthiest choice for a beverage.   Yet, is it?   WebMD ( Types of Tea and Their Health Benefits and Health Benefits of Green Tea )   has had a few articles on the benefits of tea drinking.   It seems drinking tea is great for our health.   Various studies have shown that tea can help prevent cancer, prevent diabetes, prevent heart disease by lowering our cholesterol, and help us be more alert.   Is there a downside to drinking tea?   The only downside would the drinking sweet tea loaded with sugar.   But the tea itself is a very healthy choice for a beverage. What tea has these benefits? Green, black and white tea all provide health benefits.    What is in the tea that provides us so many health benefits?   Flavenoids - - are a unique antioxidant.   These help prevent the build up of “free radicals” which can lead to cancer or heart disease by clogging our arteries. ...