Eating For Health

Who doesn’t enjoy some sour dough bread?   In California we had some great sour dough bread.   This past June, we were on a Viking cruise and many countries had some delicious sour dough bread.   Healthy bread is usually whole grain.   There are some whole grain sour dough breads but mostly sour dough is made from white flour.   Whether made from white flour or whole wheat flour, are there any health benefits to enjoying some delicious sour dough bread? Why is it called sour dough bread? Instead of relying on baker’s yeast to raise the dough, sour dough bread uses a “ starter ” of a living microbes plus flour and water.     This is called “wild” yeast which contains some lactic acid that gives sourdough its tangy taste.     Sour dough doesn’t use the commercial baker’s yeast used to make regular bread. This is certainly not a new technique for bread making as it dates back to 1500 BC in ancient Egypt .    What nut...

Who hasn’t heard the old wives’ tale, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”?    Although not true, eating apples has some health benefits.   Fall is apple season and how fun it is to visit an orchard to pick or to browse and choose some freshly picked apples.   Growing up we did not hear much about the health benefits of apples.   But more research has found apples not only provide some good nutrition but also fiber and those healthy antioxidants.    What are some health benefits of apples?   Cleveland Clinic has a great article on 7 Reasons Why Apples are Good for You .   Blood sugar control – yes, apples do contain the natural sugar, fructose.   But unlike sugary foods like donuts, eating an apple won’t spike your blood sugar.   Why?   Because the fiber in the apple slows down the absorption of fructose, and apples are lower in sugar than processed foods like donuts.   In fact, a study of over 38,000 women found...

Growing up every kid and many adults enjoyed a glass of real dairy milk at every meal.   Then plant-based milks started to come on the market and many people switched to these milks thinking they were healthier.   Are they?   Teaching nutrition I often talked about the nutritional differences of real milk versus the fake plant-based milks.   Some students asked what “real milk” was.   Real milk is dairy – milk from a cow.   Plant-based milks can be made from almonds, oats, or soy.   Which is healthier?   Real dairy milk or plant-based milks?   Which milk does the United States Department of Agriculture count as a serving of milk?   Consumer Reports has a great article Which Milk Should You Drink?   that answers many of these questions.     Should you drink cow’s milk?   Good news for nutritionists is that 79% of 2,121 US adults polled are still buying cow’s milk.   Unfortunately, people are drinking less re...