SuperFruits!
March 11th, 2011 No comments »You can sometimes catch a glimpse of SuperFruits featured in news stories on your local and even national news stations as their influence in society becomes more and more prevalent. They are presented as heroes in the health field by devoted users, convinced doctors, and even scrutinizing scientists.
One major benefit of these SuperFruits is their anti-aging properties. Aging is presumed to be the result of oxidation of the body, an effect comparable to the oxidation of iron turning it to rust. This oxidation in the human body is caused by buildup of toxins or free radicals. Our body fends off aging by throwing off these free radicals. There are foods that are helpful in this process, some more than others are. How do we know which foods work the best?
A group of scientists came up with a score that they figured how to measure at a place called Brunswick Laboratories in Massachusetts. It is called the ORAC score. It measures a food’s Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC). If a fruit has super strength in eliminating those oxygen radical villains wreaking havoc in our bodies causing it to age, the ORAC test will find out.
So who be these personalities fighting for favor in the SuperFruit field?
Enter great Morinda Citrufolia, Mengkudu Mulberry, Tahitian Noni, or what is commonly called just Noni. The noni fruit hails from Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean area. Introduced as a juice, it has a bitter taste. Also sold in capsule form, people take it for its many health claims. It has an ORAC score of 4,500 per 100g.
Lycium Barbarum, Chinese Wolfberry, or Goji has been used in China for thousands of years but we are just learning about it here in the United States. It has an ORAC score of 25,300 per 100g.
Mangosteen from Thailand and the Philippines has ORAC of 12,000 per 100g.
From the Brazilian Rain Forest comes the Acai Berry. It has been made popular by Dr. Oz and Dr. Perricone on the Oprah Winfrey show. Its ORAC is 16,700 per 100g.
The Chilean Wine Berry or Patagonian Maqui Berry has the highest ORAC of any fruit or berry at 27,600 per 100g.
*But wait… there are fruits who have been with us all along who also pack a super punch. They are:
Blueberry – ORAC score 6,500 per 100g
Black Raspberries – ORAC score 7,700 per 100g
Prunes – ORAC score 5,770 per 100g
Pomegranate – ORAC score 10,500 per 100g
These ORAC scores are not written in stone. Many things can influence them, like the environment, when and where they were grown, and the way the testing samples were harvested and processed. Dried fruit is more concentrated and will test higher than non-dried fruit. Also, if a sample is brought in to the lab spiked with vitamin C, that will spike the ORAC score.
Here is some food for thought to those who wish to eat well to live well. A fruit’s dark color is a giveaway to its identity of having high ORAC (Cacao counts big), and other than the rogue poisonous berries in the yard (warn the kids)… all fruits are SUPER! Especially if you have them working for you as a league!
The US Department of Agriculture recommends people consume 5,000 ORAC units every day and that happens to be the most that your body can utilize in a day. 5,000 units is still up, up, and away five times more than an average 80% of us get. Most of us do not eat enough fruits and vegetables. To the few 20% who do… “YOU’RE SUPER!”
Eating Gluten Free For Your Health
February 16th, 2011 No comments »There are good reasons why many people are choosing to adopt a gluten free diet. On the one hand a gluten free diet is recommended in the treatment of anyone who has celiac disease or an allergy to wheat or other grains. On the other hand it is recommended for anyone who wishes to adopt a healthy whole food diet that can contribute to general good health and effective weight management.
Gluten is a protein in grains such as wheat, barley, rye, kamut, spelt, and triticale. Some people do not tolerate gluten well and this can cause an autoimmune disorder called celiac disease. The gluten can cause the villi of the small intestine to become damaged or atrophied. The result is that important health giving nutrients are not well absorbed by the small intestine and pass out of the body without providing benefit.
Symptoms of celiac disease vary widely and may include vitamin and mineral deficiency diseases, fatigue, anemia, osteoporosis, ulcers, and diarrhea. As a result of the wide variety of possible symptoms, diagnosing celiac disease can be difficult. One study indicated that in the United States one person out of 133 suffers from the disease, but due to the difficulty in diagnosing the disease the incidence rate may be much higher.
Another good reason for a person to eat a gluten free diet is that it is a very healthy diet. The diet forces a person to avoid processed convenience foods, sometimes called “junk” foods, because nearly all convenience foods contain wheat gluten of some kind. The diet also keeps a person from dining at fast food restaurants because most menu items at those restaurants contain gluten or are cross-contaminated with gluten containing cooking agents. So, just by avoiding convenience foods and fast food restaurants a person will be able to avoid a lot of excess calories, fats, and carbohydrates in their diets. And their gluten free diet will be substituting healthier foods in their place.
Among the foods to avoid are the numerous products made with wheat, barley, and rye. More specifically, this will preclude many cereals, breads, cakes, cookies, doughnuts, tortillas, beer, chips, many sauces, ketchup, hot dogs, many sausages, muffins, numerous snack foods, and ice cream. Also, some cosmetics such as lipstick and lip balm may contain gluten.
Fruits and vegetables are naturally gluten free, but the labels of any processed fruit and vegetable products should be checked to see if any gluten has been added. Unprocessed meats are also gluten free and fine for the diet. Flours made from potatoes, nuts, beans, rice, and buckwheat (which is not related to wheat) can be used in baked goods, including bread. Therefore, a person can still enjoy some tasty bakery item treats. As you can see, a gluten free diet can include a satisfying variety of foods and does not have to be a bland diet.
There are many cookbooks and resources on the Internet to help guide a person who has chosen to cook and eat gluten free meals. It’s a good, healthy choice, and many people have decided that it is the right way to go.
For my CrossFit and Paleo peeps… this is why we want you to avoid grains – it’s the gluten!
The Benefits of Vitamin D
February 2nd, 2011 No comments »Vitamin D is a major player in ensuring the body’s health. It is a member of the fat-soluble group of vitamins which means that it can be dissolved and stored by our body’s fat deposits. Is the only vitamin that the body can produce with adequate exposure to sunlight. Vitamin D may also be obtained from food. The form of this vitamin that comes from plants is called ergocalciferol (also referred to as Vitamin D2). From animals, it is called cholecalciferol or Vitamin D3. Vitamin D has key benefits to the body. They include:
Calcium absorption
Vitamin D is a very important element for building strong, healthy bones. In the intestine, Vitamin D helps the body absorb dietary calcium, the ingredient that promotes that hardness of our bones. With Vitamin D, whatever calcium we take into our body is utilized properly. Vitamin D also benefits the teeth and gums.
Disease prevention
Since Vitamin D helps in the absorption of calcium necessary to proper bone growth, it helps prevent the bone-deficiency disease called rickets in children. Vitamin D also helps prevent osteoporosis, a debilitating bone disease characterized by the decrease in bone density.
Vitamin D has also shown to be very beneficial to the health of the muscles. In a 2003 study that appeared in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, patients who suffered from chronic musculoskeletal pain had a Vitamin D deficiency.
There is also some potential showing Vitamin D’s capability to help prevent diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and Type 1 diabetes. The results in studies published in 2004 are suggestive at best, but researchers believe it might hold some promise. Vitamin D helps boost the immune system and may help prevent inflammation, which probably explains its role against arthritis.
Vitamin D’s benefits against cancer
New research suggests that Vitamin D may be beneficial against certain cancers, such as prostate, colon and breast cancer. Blood tests conducted by researchers on the subject over a period of time showed that the lower the Vitamin D levels are, the higher the risk of cancer.
The vitamin’s active form is capable of initiating important responses in the body. One of these is the regulation of how cells grow and proliferate. When uncontrolled, both these processes result in cancer. Again, the evidence is still suggestive and more studies have to be conducted.
You’ll find extra Vitamin D in foods like salmon, sardines and mackerel. It’s also found in cod liver oil and fortified foods like milk and cereals.
