Eating For Health

Recently the walnut industry has been advertising walnuts a lot on TV.    Eat walnuts for heart health, put walnuts on your salad.   Are walnuts good for your health?   Dr. Oz wrote a column with “walnuts: the superfood” and a posted blog post, The Wonderful Walnut .   So why does Dr. Oz and many nutritionists think walnuts are a superfood? Omega-3 fats – these fats are the “good” fats, the fat that is good for our hearts.   Walnuts are full of omega-3’s.   Studies have shown that eating walnuts actually improves heart health.   How?   By lowering the bad cholesterol, LDL and even helping to lower blood pressure.   Omega-3’s are also good for reducing inflammation.   Diabetes – eating walnuts helps lower blood sugar and reduces your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.   ( Nuts Good for Some with Diabetes) .   Eating walnuts 2-3 times a week is helpful in lowering Type 2 diabetes risk.   Vitamin E, manganes...

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was “brain food”?    Just eat a few foods and be smarter, more alert, improve your memory?   Well, apparently there are foods you can eat to improve your memory and learning.   A recent article in Environmental Nutrition, 5 Steps for Feeding Your Brain , lists a number of foods and steps to feed your brain.           1.    Foods rich in Phytonutrients – these aren’t vitamins or minerals but plant nutrients that have health benefits to plants and to us.   There are many phytonutrients, the one called flavonoids, are good for brain health.   These promote memory and learning.   Whole plant foods are better than processed so choose:         a.        Citrus fruits – whole orange vs. orange juice, grapefruit, slices of lemon in ice water              ...