Eating For Health

Are there foods that promote healthier skin?   Students in my class often ask what foods they can eat for healthier skin.   As it turns out there are lots of foods that promote skin health.   Environmental Nutrition recently had an article, “Eat to Glow” and they outlined many foods for eating to glow.   WebMD and other sites also provide guidance on eating for healthy skin.   What are some of their recommendations? 1.  Fruits and Vegetables – “eat the rainbow”.   Many people know that fruits and veggies are healthy but many don’t know the different colors of fruits and veggies pack different antioxidants that are good for you.   For great skin, focus on vitamin A and carotene which turns into vitamin A in our bodies.   Think dark green and dark orange like spinach, sweet potatoes, carrots, green peppers, broccoli and cantaloupe.   Interesting, foods that are red – not only provide carotenes but also the healthy antioxidant, lycopen...

Most people know about the recommendation of drinking 8 glasses of water a day.   But, it doesn’t have to be plain water to benefit your health.   This summer, add some lemon water to your day.   No, not lemonade, which is loaded with added sugar and of little nutritional value.   But lemon water – just water with some fresh lemon juice added.   The Cleveland Clinic recommends small changes in your habits can lead to some big changes in your overall health.   One change recommended by the Cleveland Clinic is to add some lemon water to your day.   How to make lemon water:   The Cleveland Clinic suggests taking a half a lemon and squeezing the juice into a glass of water.   Exact measurement isn’t needed.   Take the other half and add some lemon slices to a pitcher of water and enjoy some lemon-infused water throughout the day.   And for extra nutrition, add some lemon zest when baking or cooking. How does drinking lemon water ...

Most people know drinking milk is important for healthy bones.   But how about your overall health?   And for years the American Heart Association and other organizations have recommended low-fat or fat-free milk for heart health. But a new study sheds a different light on real milk and whether or not whole milk may be a healthy choice.   In fact, the latest research is showing that drinking real whole milk may actually lower your risk of diabetes and high blood pressure.   What do the studies find? 1.       An international study found a link between consumption of real dairy foods, especially whole fat diary, and lowering one’s risk of high blood pressure and diabetes.   The study looked at nearly 150,000 people from 21 countries across the globe whose ages ranged from 35-70 years old.   They asked these individuals how often they ate certain foods.   Dairy foods included real milk, yogurt and cheese.   Researchers als...