Food and Diet. Find daily health food tips and ideas from Dr. David Samadi. Discover healthy food for healthy living. Explore major food issues and debates related to health such as buying and cooking with organic food, genetically modified food (GMO versus Non-GMO), nutrition, dieting epidemic, obesity, disease prevention, best digestion foods.
It appears the ban on trans fats that began in July 2007 in certain areas of the nation are doing what it was meant to do – reduce heart disease. A new study led by a team at Yale University and published in the journal of JAMA Cardiology, has found since that ban, heart attacks and stroke have fallen by more than 6 percent three years after New York City and some counties within the state banned them.
Read MoreHere is a list of 8 foods you may be surprised that are higher in sugar than you realized
Read MoreHere are 7 foods that if consumed regularly, may help give your skin a more natural glow, smoothness and with fewer breakouts getting you ready to face the season ahead:
Read MoreWe love our tea. In fact we love it so much tea is the most widely-consumed beverage in the world, second only to water. Hundreds of millions of people around the globe enjoy drinking tea and studies have shown green tea provides some of the most nutritional health benefits of all.
Green tea is made from unfermented leaves and reportedly contains the highest concentration of powerful antioxidants called polyphenols. Antioxidants are substances that fight free radicals, damaging compounds in the body that change cells, damage DNA, and even cause cell death. The belief by scientists is free radicals contribute to the aging process along with the development of health problems including cancer and heart disease. Antioxidants such as polyphenols found in green tea, can neutralize free radicals and may reduce or perhaps prevent some the damage they cause. These same polyphenols may also be the answer to a youthful glow as research has discovered that these compounds in green tea may protect skin against UV radiation as well as improve skin quality such as elasticity and dryness.
Because of the polyphenol chemicals found in green tea, researchers believe green tea’s potent health properties derive from them. Polyphenols contained in teas are classifies as catechins. Green tea contains six primary catechin compounds with one of them being apigallocatechin gallate or EGCG. ECCG is the most studied polyphenol component in green tea and the most active. Some researchers think the polyphenols in green tea, giving it its bitter flavor, seem to have greater antioxidant effects than vitamin C.
Green tea also contains alkaloids including caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline. An amino acid compound also found in green tea, L-theanine, has been studied for its calming effects on the nervous system.
Besides the possibility of preventing major chronic diseases, green tea has been used in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine to help relieve or cure other health conditions such as using it in various ways:
· A stimulant
· A diuretic to help rid the body of excess fluid
· An astringent to control bleeding and help heal wounds
· To treat gas
· To help regulate body temperature and blood sugar
· To promote digestion
· To improve mental processes
To help maximize the most health benefits green tea has to offer, there are certain steps one can take to do this:
· The best source of tea polyphenols is brewed green tea.
· Steep the tea bag or tea leaves for at least three minutes as it takes time for the polyphenols to dissolve into the water.
· Squeeze in a few drops of lemon juice which not only supplies some vitamin C but also protects the polyphenols from being oxidized and lost.
· An 8 ounce cup of fresh-brewed green tea contains about 320 milligrams of polyphenols, including roughly 190 mg of EGCG.
· It is recommended to consume about 2 to 3 cups of green tea daily to receive the health benefits it may provide.
If you are unsure if drinking green tea is safe for you or not, always discuss with your healthcare provider as to what they recommend. People with high blood pressure, heart, liver or kidney problems, or with anxiety may need to avoid large amounts of green tea or avoid it altogether.
Here are 10 foods athletes can eat assisting them in striving to be at their tip top shape:
Read MoreDon’t let their petite exterior fool you into thinking they have little nutritionally to contribute – this small yet mighty fruit packs a ton of nutrients which is why to be sure to add cherries to your grocery list.
Read MoreMany young women struggle with anorexia nervosa for reasons that remain unclear. Biological, psychological and even environmental factors – Western culture's unhealthy obsession with being thin – all have their own camps and adherents. But new findings that link anorexia to celiac disease may finally shed some definitive light on the eating disorder which affects 1 in 200 American women.
Read MoreIf only weight loss was easy. For some it can be but for most it can be a perplexing conundrum of lose weight, gain it back, repeat – lose weight, gain it back, repeat. This rhythmic pattern of weight cycling is affectionately referred to as ‘yo-yo’ dieting. We’ve all heard of the term and some of us may have experienced the up and down weight scale ride where we lose weight only to quickly and expectedly regain it back.
Read MoreAthletes, whether weekend or pro, what to know what foods are best for enhancing athletic performance, help speed up recovery and build muscle mass. There are certain foods that have scientifically been shown to appear to have that athletic enhancing ability helping a person reach their peak performance.
Read MoreOne more reason to follow a Mediterranean diet – it could prevent the brain from shrinking in old age thus helping to slow down or prevent cognitive decline. A new study published in the journal Neurology suggests there is an association between consuming foods typically consumed within a Mediterranean dietary pattern and a reduced amount of brain shrinkage. Several studies have already demonstrated that following a Mediterranean diet can result in having better thinking skills, a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
Read MoreDiscerning between food truths and food myths is really hard sometimes. There is a multitude of some excellent nutrition advice to extremely bad to downright dangerous nutrition advice. As a consumer and partaker of food (we all are), knowing the truth of how to follow a healthy, nutritious diet can get lost in the shuffle of nutrition myths that have grown exponentially over the years.
Read MoreThe saying goes “variety is the spice of life” and boy, are they not kidding when it comes to fruits. When we look beyond bananas, apples, and oranges, we’ll find there is a wide world of weird and wonderful fruit just waiting to be discovered. These exotic and unique-looking produce may not be found in all grocery stores but they often are more widely available at Asian, Latin and gourmet supermarkets or from online specialty produce purveyors.
Read MoreIt’s a commonality we all share – finding healthy foods that create a full but not a stuffed feeling. What we are really looking for are foods giving us a feeling of satiety - the perception of fullness that lingers in the hours after a meal and keeps us from eating until the next mealtime.
Read MoreWe all want our gut to feel good. No one wants a gut that is in constant turmoil possibly leading to serious conditions of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, diabetes, obesity or rheumatoid arthritis. What our gut is trying to tell us when these diseases arise is that the gut’s microbiome, partly inherited from your mother at birth and partly determined by your lifestyle, have a great deal of influence on our health.
Read MoreNothing is more annoying than experiencing belly bloat. Even though bloating is capable of making you feel puffy and uncomfortable plus making it just about impossible to zip up your skinny jeans, it usually is not serious. It can be due to a variety of things – eating too fast or too much or drinking through a straw. All of these actions can lead to gas buildup in the tummy and that can spell trouble.
Read MoreHave you ever tried mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes? How about chocolate cake made with black beans? Probably not your usual method of cooking but making healthy swaps with not-so-healthy ingredients is becoming more popular as people are becoming more aware and informed about what they eat.
Read MoreGrocery shopping – you either love it, hate it or maybe you are somewhere in between. No matter how you feel about it, we have to eat in order to live so we might as well be good at it.
Read MoreHigh protein diets continue to ride high their reign as a super nutrient. Yes, protein is an invaluable nutrient as it does a ton of various functions within our body. But how much do you really know about protein and if you were to take a quiz on your knowledge about it, would you pass? Let’s find out:
Read MoreBe honest – when’s the last time you went a little crazy and had a cruciferous vegetable? If it’s been awhile, it’s time to change that – your health depends on it.
Read MoreEach day, every one of us must make choices when it comes to eating. If there is one area all of us can do our health a favor is to reduce our intake of saturated fat.
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