Eating For Health

Who hasn’t heard of the saying, “an apple a day, keeps the doctor away”?   For years I have heard apples aren’t all that healthy.   At least not compared to carrots or blueberries.   But now experts are saying apples have a lot of nutritional value.   The Fall is apple season and there are so many varieties to enjoy.   We love the Honey Crisp variety.   (A big shout out to David Bedford at the University of Minnesota who created the Honey Crisp variety.) Oh, so tasty.   No one fruit will really “keep the doctor away” but what is the truth about the health benefits of apples?          1.  Fiber – apples provide the fiber, pectin .   Although we really don’t digest pectin, this fiber has a of health benefits.   a.      Pectin can help lower cholesterol:   Pectin is called a soluble fiber that binds to cholesterol in our intestines and literally takes the cholesterol out of ...

Have you noticed that most restaurants and Fast Food establishments are now posting calories on their menus?    A government mandate of calorie labeling in fast food and other chain restaurants became effective May 2018.   Any restaurant or food outlet with 20 or more locations has to post calorie counts of menu items.   The calorie labeling of menu items was supposed to help us choose menu items more wisely.   So, is it working?   Are people choosing what to eat based on the calories posted?   Recently in Costco, my husband and I were looking at the menu and the appetizing pictures of the Italian Sausage Sandwich vs the Hot Turkey and Provolone Sandwich.   One would think the sausage would have the most calories but not so.   The Hot Turkey & Provolone Sandwich was labeled a whopping 740 calories vs. 610 calories for the Italian Sausage Sandwich.    Costco Posts Menu and Calories Does it work?   Do people cut ...

Remember when maintaining your weight wasn’t so hard in your 20’s and 30’s?   Then come the 40’s, 50’s and beyond and keeping the weight off becomes quite the struggle.   How can you avoid that midlife weight- gain struggle ?   Adding pounds as you age, doesn’t mean you are eating all that much.   Your body changes as you age and it really is harder to keep the weight off.   What are those changes and how can we keep some of those pounds from showing up on our hips and waist?   Bicycling .com has some good suggestions. How the body changes as you age: Fat cells -those pesky little buggers that are happy to grow bigger as they fill up with fat.   An article in Nature found that how our fat cells burn and store fat changes as we age.   Basically, as we age our fat cells store fat as before, but fat cells are less likely to release that stored fat, thus making it easier to add on those pounds.   To try to keep the weight off, many peop...