Large study finds fruits, veggies good for leg arteries

Large study finds fruits, veggies good for leg arteries

Be sure to eat plenty of fruits and veggies – they’re good for your legs.  This is not the typical reason given for consuming more produce but it is a suggestion being made by recent research showing that a steady diet which includes daily servings of fruits and vegetables may help keep leg arteries free of blockages.

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How Does Mindful Eating Work?

How Does Mindful Eating Work?

Mindfulness – taking the time to just pay attention, basically – is all the rage, and rightly so. It's even touted as a weapon in the fight against prostate and breast cancers. Increasingly, it is being discussed as a tool for controlling our weight.

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10 herbs offering amazing health benefits

10 herbs offering amazing health benefits

Herbs, those fragrant culinary delicacies, offer so much more than just flavoring and garnishing our food.  Whether you buy them at the grocery store, a farmer’s market or grow your own, these tender plants harbor a wealth of health benefits just waiting for you to discover.

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Why ‘fit but fat’ may be a fable

Why ‘fit but fat’ may be a fable

If the dichotomy term of ‘healthy obese’ has always seemed to be a misnomer, new research is proving it to be most likely true.  An as yet unpublished British study presented at the European Congress on Obesity puts into question the ‘fit but fat’ campaign which surfaced about two years ago promoting the mantra that anyone can be fit since weight doesn’t discriminate.

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For fabulous health, eat leafy greens everyday

For fabulous health, eat leafy greens everyday

Mom was right (but aren’t they always).  Eating your greens is a good thing but in this case, not just any greens will do.  The darker the green and the leafier the vegetable, the better for you they will be.  When we consume leafy greens frequently, we are the ones who reap the nutritional value they offer us. 

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3 reasons diets fail and how to fix that

3 reasons diets fail and how to fix that

 

Raise your hand if you’ve ever gone on a diet to lose some weight.  Raise both hands if you have gone on more than one diet.  Most likely, many of you raised both hands - not unusual considering there are dozens upon dozens of diets vying for our attention.  From high protein to low fat to low carbohydrate, all of them will claim to be the latest and greatest way of eating to solve your weight loss woes.

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Study finds DASH diet good for gout

Study finds DASH diet good for gout

Embracing the DASH diet may be the trick to avoiding the most common inflammatory arthritis condition – gout - affecting more than 8 million Americans.  Over 25 years of analysis and follow-up of data published in the BMJ, a recent study found a significantly lower incidence of gout in men who consumed a dietary pattern similar to the DASH diet.  The DASH diet stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension which emphasizes a higher consumption of fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products while minimizing the typical Western diet high in salt, sugar, unhealthy fats and meat.

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8 ways berries battle for your health

8 ways berries battle for your health

Berries are just about the perfect food to eat, whether fresh or frozen, and the variety to choose from is outstanding – blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cranberries, gooseberries, loganberries, raspberries, and strawberries. 

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8 unexpected foods packed with plant protein

8 unexpected foods packed with plant protein

Even though animal products are our best sources of high-quality protein, the good news is plant protein sources can be just as healthy in providing the necessary protein you need.

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6 vegetables you may be neglecting and really shouldn’t

6 vegetables you may be neglecting and really shouldn’t

When your repertoire of veggies consists of carrots, corn, and green beans, it’s time to branch out and take a second look at healthy vegetables you’re overlooking.  Some of them are not as familiar as broccoli, cauliflower, or asparagus but they are packed with important nutrients and give just enough variety to an otherwise routine serving of the same old, common vegetables.

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Liver – love it or leave it alone?

Liver – love it or leave it alone?

Here’s an experiment to try – tell your family liver is on the menu for dinner tonight.  Watch their reaction.  You should be able to tell right away who loves liver or who doesn’t just by their expression on their face after your announcement.

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Why a sweet tooth may rule your life

Why a sweet tooth may rule your life

If you’ve ever spoken the words, “I have a sweet tooth,” there may be a good explanation for that. And it looks to be not as easy as simply having more willpower to refrain from indulging in goodies and desserts.  It may actually be more of a biological aspect motivating and rewarding some people to go into sugar craving overdrive that could be the explanation.

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Power up on pulses for good health

Power up on pulses for good health

 More than ever, the pluses of pulses as a nutritional powerhouse for achieving good health continues to grow around the globe. From as early as 800 BC, pulses have had an impact on feeding the world and their popularity helped pushed pulses onto center stage when the United Nations declared 2016 as the International Year of Pulses

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Which is better? Plant-based milk or cow’s milk?

Which is better?  Plant-based milk or cow’s milk?

Take a walk down the dairy aisle and you’ll notice a big change.  The refrigerator case that was once dominated by cow’s milk is taking on a new look.  Cow’s milk is having to give up some shelf space and is slowly being edged out by plant-based milk alternatives.  You may have spotted and even used soymilk, almond, coconut, rice, cashew, oat, hemp, quinoa, or hazelnut, just to name a few.

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Fight springtime allergies with allergy-fighting foods

Fight springtime allergies with allergy-fighting foods

Spring is a wonderful time of year with the reawakening of new growth in dormant plants.  But for many people it’s also a reawakening and a reminder it’s allergy season triggered by all the grass, pollen and mold.  With everything in full bloom this can result in itchy, watery eyes, a runny nose, sneezing, and coughing that can begin as early as February and can last until early summer.

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Say aloha to sweet, nutritious pineapple

Say aloha to sweet, nutritious pineapple

When we think of pineapple, images of Hawaiian women in grass hula skirts placing flowered leis around our necks come to mind.  This exotic fruit was first introduced to the Hawaiian islands in 1813 and by 1930, nine million cases of pineapple were exported out of the state by nine different canneries.  By the 1960’s, Hawaii was responsible for growing 80 percent of the world’s pineapple.  Hawaii still grows pineapple but over the years, it is no longer a profitable place to grow and process this fruit.  Today, Hawaii currently only grows about two percent of the world’s pineapple. 

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Sorting out fact from fiction on drinking water

Sorting out fact from fiction on drinking water

What would we do without water – nothing!  Out of the six classes of nutrients (water, carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals) water is undoubtedly the most important nutrient of all.  Our bodies cannot store water or make it on its own and each day it must be replaced as we constantly lose water through our urine, feces, sweat, skin and lungs.  Most of us could go for weeks without eating food but would last only a few days without water.  

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