Superfoods part 32

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Wednesday, 5-31-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 32

Shrimp & Prawns.

Shrimp are very high in protein & low in calories, fat, & saturated fat.

They have some cholesterol; but I saw one study reported that they raised beneficial HDL levels MORE than they did LDL levels.

And, although the person writing about that study didn’t say so, I’m virtually certain that shrimp raised LDL far less than eating the same amount of protein from a fatty meat would have done since the fatty meat has the significant cholesterol also & much higher saturated fat, which boosts LDL levels even more than cholesterol does.

In addition, shrimp & prawns, which are similar but larger, are remarkably versatile foods.

You can cook them & remove the bony tail part & add them or add them & walnuts to salads to add variety & protein.

Since they have somewhat bland flavor, they go well with spicy sauces.

Experiment with sauces using hot peppers, garlic, &/or extra virgin olive oil.

My favorite is prawns served hot with extra virgin olive oil & minced garlic.

Shrimp are also moderately high in selenium. There is evidence I’ve seen reported that selenium in moderate quantities is an antioxidant & one that tends to prevent cancer.

Shrimp are also widely available in grocery stores. And, those that don’t sell them in the seafood section usually have canned shrimp.

Prawns you normally have to find in the seafood section of a grocery store. But many stores do carry them.

Superfoods part 31

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Tuesday, 5-30-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 31

Plums & Prunes (dried Plums).

This will be a bit short today as I’m short on time.

Plums & Prunes, dried Plums, deserve a place on this list.

It’s better to get them from organic sources.

That said, plums are one of the kinds of fruit that are high in antioxidants.

But the really neat thing about Plums is that they have so much taste & a create enough of a perception of sweetness to be a decently satisfying snack or treat food. Plums have enough taste to explode with flavor when you bite into them in fact.

And they deliver all this with a very low glycemic index & are not really that high in sugar. This is a really neat trick.

Dried Plums or Prunes are also high in fiber & have a totally different taste.

Their claim to fame as a superfood is that by concentrating the fiber & antioxidants of the plums they are made of, they are very, very high in antioxidants – enough so that they rank with blueberries for their anti-oxidant content.

And, they are a cheaper &, in my view, a more likely to be beneficial without side-effects source of lots of fiber, than fiber supplements of various kinds.

Not everyone likes the taste of prunes. And that includes me.

But I have found that by adding pitted & checked to be 100 % prunes in diced form to other dishes or by blending them with other foods, like 1 % lowfat milk & a banana, plus cinnamon, for example, they add a more muted & more interesting flavor & are actually easy to like.

Superfoods part 30

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Friday, 5-26-2006


Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 30

Brewers yeast.

Brewers yeast is a superfood. And it’s an honor roll food.

Like wheat germ, it is very rich in most of the B complex vitamins

And, it’s quite high in protein without being high in saturated fat.

Plus, for those of you who cannot eat the gluten in wheat germ, or who are trying to cut the carbs down in the foods you eat, brewers yeast is a good choice. It has no gluten & virtually no carbs.

**My other reason for listing Brewers Yeast is that the US government has continued to threaten to pass legislation or create FDA policies that will decide for you what vitamins & other supplements you can take without a prescription.

This would effectively prevent anyone not a doctor or who is not a millionaire with a co-operative personal physician from getting B complex vitamins.

If done, I certainly think that will harm the health of millions of people in this country & do so unnecessarily.

Some of the doctors in favor of this like to say they follow “evidence based” medicine. The gravely serious problem with this is that people like me who have raised their HDL’s to over 90 & their LDL’s to under 100 with supplements alone aren’t evidence they know about.

So they tend to give legislators & regulators bad & seriously flawed advice.

In addition, even if I’m wrong on the health harm that would cause, which the studies I’ve seen suggest & my just listed personal experience demonstates, is extremely unlikely, it’s totally unnecessary.

Doctors & pharmacists already know what supplements can interact with drugs. And, both that knowledge & the percentage of health professionals who know it or how to find it will increase withOUT over-regulating the vitamin & supplement industry.

(The very few supplements that cause other problems of any kind are becoming known, & in some cases banned. And the information on the few vitamins that cause some harm in very high doses is becoming better researched & better known.)

But people don’t always do the right thing if they know what it is -- & can’t do the right thing even if they are willing if they don’t really have all the pertinent information. This becomes more likely if they think they have all the pertinent information & do not.

So, since legislators & regulators are people, this kind of horrible over-regulation may come to pass anyway.

And, if it does, the rest of us will have to make do with superfoods.

Foods like wheat germ & egg yolks & avocados are high enough in vitamins to be also considered honor roll foods.

And, if that kind or regulation happens, you may well need them to replace the vitamin supplements you now take & take for granted.

Brewers yeast is also that kind of honor roll food.

So, it may well pay you to find out where it’s sold & find what ways to fit it into your food work well for you.

Brewers yeast has a distinct & slightly nutty taste & has a kind of powdery consistency.

For me, it doesn’t work adding it to cereal & milk. But it can work well in a blended protein drink or smoothie.

And, it can work with some soups as it adds both flavor & protein to them.

Brewers yeast is one of the few superfoods I’m listing here that you may need to get at a health food store.

The grocery store chain that does carry it is Whole Foods Markets.

And, they are well enough managed & have a strong enough sales base in organic & safest to eat foods, I think they will survive if the supplement industry is trashed.

They may even do well as the source of foods that can make up for the lack of vitamin supplements.

So they should continue to be around even if supplements are over-regulated & driven from the market.

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 30

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Friday, 5-26-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 30

Brewers yeast.

Brewers yeast is a superfood. And it’s an honor roll food.

Like wheat germ, it is very rich in most of the B complex vitamins

And, it’s quite high in protein without being high in saturated fat.

Plus, for those of you who cannot eat the gluten in wheat germ, or who are trying to cut the carbs down in the foods you eat, brewers yeast is a good choice. It has no gluten & virtually no carbs.

**My other reason for listing Brewers Yeast is that the US government has continued to threaten to pass legislation or create FDA policies that will decide for you what vitamins & other supplements you can take without a prescription.

This would effectively prevent anyone not a doctor or who is not a millionaire with a co-operative personal physician from getting B complex vitamins.

If done, I certainly think that will harm the health of millions of people in this country & do so unnecessarily.

Some of the doctors in favor of this like to say they follow “evidence based” medicine. The gravely serious problem with this is that people like me who have raised their HDL’s to over 90 & their LDL’s to under 100 with supplements alone aren’t evidence they know about.

So they tend to give legislators & regulators bad & seriously flawed advice.

In addition, even if I’m wrong on the health harm that would cause, which the studies I’ve seen suggest & my just listed personal experience demonstates, is extremely unlikely, it’s totally unnecessary.

Doctors & pharmacists already know what supplements can interact with drugs. And, both that knowledge & the percentage of health professionals who know it or how to find it will increase withOUT over-regulating the vitamin & supplement industry.

(The very few supplements that cause other problems of any kind are becoming known, & in some cases banned. And the information on the few vitamins that cause some harm in very high doses is becoming better researched & better known.)

But people don’t always do the right thing if they know what it is -- & can’t do the right thing even if they are willing if they don’t really have all the pertinent information. This becomes more likely if they think they have all the pertinent information & do not.

So, since legislators & regulators are people, this kind of horrible over-regulation may come to pass anyway.

And, if it does, the rest of us will have to make do with superfoods.

Foods like wheat germ & egg yolks & avocados are high enough in vitamins to be also considered honor roll foods.

And, if that kind or regulation happens, you may well need them to replace the vitamin supplements you now take & take for granted.

Brewers yeast is also that kind of honor roll food.

So, it may well pay you to find out where it’s sold & find what ways to fit it into your food work well for you.

Brewers yeast has a distinct & slightly nutty taste & has a kind of powdery consistency.

For me, it doesn’t work adding it to cereal & milk. But it can work well in a blended protein drink or smoothie.

And, it can work with some soups as it adds both flavor & protein to them.

Brewers yeast is one of the few superfoods I’m listing here that you may need to get at a health food store.

The grocery store chain that does carry it is Whole Foods Markets.

And, they are well enough managed & have a strong enough sales base in organic & safest to eat foods, I think they will survive if the supplement industry is trashed.

They may even do well as the source of foods that can make up for the lack of vitamin supplements.

So they should continue to be around even if supplements are over-regulated & driven from the market.

Superfoods part 30

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Friday, 5-26-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 30

Brewers yeast.

Brewers yeast is a superfood. And it’s an honor roll food.

Like wheat germ, it is very rich in most of the B complex vitamins

And, it’s quite high in protein without being high in saturated fat.

Plus, for those of you who cannot eat the gluten in wheat germ, or who are trying to cut the carbs down in the foods you eat, brewers yeast is a good choice. It has no gluten & virtually no carbs.

**My other reason for listing Brewers Yeast is that the US government has continued to threaten to pass legislation or create FDA policies that will decide for you what vitamins & other supplements you can take without a prescription.

This would effectively prevent anyone not a doctor or who is not a millionaire with a co-operative personal physician from getting B complex vitamins.

If done, I certainly think that will harm the health of millions of people in this country & do so unnecessarily.

Some of the doctors in favor of this like to say they follow “evidence based” medicine. The gravely serious problem with this is that people like me who have raised their HDL’s to over 90 & their LDL’s to under 100 with supplements alone aren’t evidence they know about.

So they tend to give legislators & regulators bad & seriously flawed advice.

In addition, even if I’m wrong on the health harm that would cause, which the studies I’ve seen suggest & my just listed personal experience demonstates, is extremely unlikely, it’s totally unnecessary.

Doctors & pharmacists already know what supplements can interact with drugs. And, both that knowledge & the percentage of health professionals who know it or how to find it will increase withOUT over-regulating the vitamin & supplement industry.

(The very few supplements that cause other problems of any kind are becoming known, & in some cases banned. And the information on the few vitamins that cause some harm in very high doses is becoming better researched & better known.)

But people don’t always do the right thing if they know what it is -- & can’t do the right thing even if they are willing if they don’t really have all the pertinent information. This becomes more likely if they think they have all the pertinent information & do not.

So, since legislators & regulators are people, this kind of horrible over-regulation may come to pass anyway.

And, if it does, the rest of us will have to make do with superfoods.

Foods like wheat germ & egg yolks & avocados are high enough in vitamins to be also considered honor roll foods.

And, if that kind or regulation happens, you may well need them to replace the vitamin supplements you now take & take for granted.

Brewers yeast is also that kind of honor roll food.

So, it may well pay you to find out where it’s sold & find what ways to fit it into your food work well for you.

Brewers yeast has a distinct & slightly nutty taste & has a kind of powdery consistency.

For me, it doesn’t work adding it to cereal & milk. But it can work well in a blended protein drink or smoothie.

And, it can work with some soups as it adds both flavor & protein to them.

Brewers yeast is one of the few superfoods I’m listing here that you may need to get at a health food store.

The grocery store chain that does carry it is Whole Foods Markets.

And, they are well enough managed & have a strong enough sales base in organic & safest to eat foods, I think they will survive if the supplement industry is trashed.

They may even do well as the source of foods that can make up for the lack of vitamin supplements.

So they should continue to be around even if supplements are over-regulated & driven from the market.

Superfoods part 29

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Thursday, 5-25-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 29

Cinnamon.

Cinnamon is a superfood.

Many people like it as a spice. And, many more like it when it’s combined with other spices. (It’s in & goes well with pumpkin pie spice. And, cinnamon plus ginger plus dark molasses is the spice combination for gingerbread.)

Some chef’s even use a tiny bit of it in some of their savory dishes as a secret ingredient to add an extra flavor note.

It can go a long way towards helping you enjoy some of the health enhancing foods.

And, it has a very valuable health benefit.

One day some researchers decided to find out by how much eating apple pie boosted the blood sugar levels of the people in their study.

It didn’t.

There was no significant boost of blood sugar at all from eating apple pie.

Eating baked potatoes or donuts or cherry pie all would have boosted the test subject’s blood sugar levels.

So the researchers then set about finding why apple pie didn’t.

It turns out the reason it didn’t was the researchers had used an apple pie with a traditional recipe that included plenty of cinnamon.

Later testing proved that the cinnamon enabled people to eat a food that would normally boost, or over-boost, blood sugar levels & have their blood sugar level stay stable.

Since too high blood sugar levels tend to produce type II diabetes, which in turn can have some serious health effects like triggering a fatal heart attack, eating as little added sugar as possible & on as few occasions as possible is a good health practice.

(People who have type II diabetes have to pay to get blood test monitors & use them every day. They have to pay up for extra doctor visits. And they tend to have to pay for multiple drug prescriptions since doctors have found that multiple drugs produce better & more lasting blood sugar control. And, type II diabetes doubles to quadruples the risk of all cardiovascular disease from impotence to heart disease & reduces the ability of your immune system to protect you from the flu & other disease.)

But what can you do if you go to a birthday party or birthday dinner & have some of the cake?

What can you do on those occasions when you do have some sugar on your oatmeal?

Or eat a dark chocolate candy bar? Or drink lemonade on a hot day?

You can cut your risk a lot from the sugar you eat on such occasions with cinnamon.

When you add the sugar yourself, simply add a good bit of cinnamon also.

I’ve found this very effective personally, since I can use half as much sugar & still enjoy the taste as much as if I used twice the sugar. And the sugar I do eat has no or far less of a negative effect on my blood sugar levels.

And, when you know you will eat some sugar at a special occasion, you can take some cinnamon with you.

No, it doesn’t work well with chocolate cake as far as I know.

But you can stir it in to water, fruit juice, or coffee or tea & drink it that way when you eat a food on a special occasion that has a lot of sugar.

>>> Two recent health news items that go well with this information are:

1) Lemonade made with 4 fluid ounces of lemon juice -- & drunk once a day – has successfully has treated people with kidney stones & made their kidney stones smaller. And, there’s some evidence it can prevent kidney stones from forming in people who tend to get them.

2) Researchers recently discovered that both dark chocolate & milk chocolate boost your ability to focus mentally & speed your reaction time.

The really interesting news is that milk chocolate boosted the memory skills of the people in the study MORE THAN the dark chocolate did.

So, even though dark chocolate eaten with no milk does have more health benefits, you may have occasions when you want to learn or recall things better when you can perform better by eating milk chocolate just before you study or take a test.

Superfoods part 28

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Wednesday, 5-24-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 28

Oranges & Orange Juice.

Oranges & Orange Juice are available almost everywhere.

Most people know Oranges & Orange Juice are high in vitamin C.

What’s less known is that they are also high in potassium & the natural form of folic acid.

That’s important since with the exception of people taking some kinds of diuretic drugs, most of the people in this country eat too much salt & its sodium & too little potassium.

If you eat Oranges & Orange Juice & other fruits & vegetables & also go easy on adding salt & avoid over-salted packaged foods, studies show you’ll lower your blood pressure & enjoy other health benefits.

You also need to replenish your supply of potassium & not just salt when you exercise enough or go out on a hot day & sweat heavily.

Try drinking some water & some cold Orange Juice when that happens.

Oranges & Orange Juice are high in the natural form of folic acid.

That’s important since this B vitamin has been shown to prevent a birth defect called Spina Bifida when pregnant women get enough of it.

And, folic acid is apparently the B vitamin that best lowers homocysteine, especially in its natural form as you get in eating Oranges & Orange Juice.

And, lowering your homocysteine levels tends to slow aging; prevent heart disease; & prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Next, as with Concord Grape Juice, I’ve seen studies reported suggesting that for most people, the sugars (or carbs) in real fruit juices with no added sugar or fructose have less of an effect in your body than the amount of the sugars by itself suggests they would have.

And, Kenneth Cooper of Aerobics fame published long ago that people who get enough regular exercise digest & process sugars better than people who don’t.

And, I’ve since had it reported to me that regular strength training works even better if it’s done right.

Also, with Oranges, if you think the juice is too high in sugars, you can eat navel Oranges.

They have a much lower Glycemic index & more fiber & bioflavonoids than most juices as well.

Oranges can also be used as a spice. Buy some organic oranges & wash them well & then grate off some of the peel as orange zest.

Not only does orange zest impart a wonderful, intense, orange flavor, the zest is thought to have an ingredient that helps prevent cancer.

Lemons.

Lemons have many of the benefits that Oranges & Orange Juice do.

Lemon zest from organic lemons has even more flavor than orange zest & very similar health benefits.

You can also use lemon juice to flavor salads & other foods.

You can also mix lemon juice with a sparkling or carbonated water & a small amount of sugar & chill or serve over ice to make lemonade.

If you want to avoid both sugar & artificial sweeteners, you can mix lemon juice with just the sparkling or carbonated water or mix it with orange juice with its higher sugar content—but no added sugars.

Superfoods part 27

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Tuesday, 5-23-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 27

Concord Grape Juice, Red Wine, & Dark Beer.

Both Concord Grape Juice & Red Wine are high in the antioxidant resveratrol.

Concord Grape Juice is a non-alcoholic source of resveratrol.

And, drinking Concord Grape Juice regularly increased the flexibility of the blood vessels of the people who drank more than was the case in people who didn’t – according to a study I heard reported.

This is important -- as having good arterial flexibility & responsiveness tends to help prevent high blood pressure, heart disease, & stroke.

In addition, I’ve seen studies reported suggesting that for most people, the sugars (or carbs) in real fruit juices with no added sugar or fructose have less of an effect in your body than the amount of the sugars by itself suggests they would have.

And, Kenneth Cooper of Aerobics fame published long ago that people who get enough regular exercise digest & process sugars better than people who don’t.

And, I’ve since had it reported to me that regular strength training works even better if it’s done right.

Lastly, virtually every grocery store & supermarket in the country carries Welches Grape Juice.

And, it’s very convenient & time-efficient to get some out of the refrigerator & pour yourself a small glass of Concord Grape Juice.

I don’t remember if the antioxidants in Dark Beer include resveratrol; but I do remember that in the same way all red wines are much higher in antioxidants than white wines, Dark Beers are much higher in antioxidants than lighter beers.

So, if you want some health benefits along with an occasional beer, find some kinds of Dark Beers you like.

They range from ales like Sierra Pale Ale that are only somewhat dark to Guinness Stout, which is so dark, it’s almost like a medicine.

All beers are high enough in carbs, in addition to their alcohol content, I recommend Dark Beer as an occasional treat instead of for regular use.

As you may have heard, the alcohol in Red Wine & Dark Beer has some health benefits. Regular consumption each week raises your HDL cholesterol levels. It is, however, not yet definite that it’s the heart-protective fractions of HDL that get boosted as far as I’ve yet heard.

I think it does have some of that effect. But the antioxidants may be more protective than the alcohol. And, I happen to be personally fond of Red Wine & Dark Beer.

In addition, consumption of one or two drinks a day up to a total of about 10 drinks a week has been shown to have several health benefits for men.

And, a drink a day up to a total of about 5 a week for women has a similar track record. (For some reason, the livers of most women process alcohol about half as fast as those of men I’ve heard; & most women are smaller, which also makes alcohol they drink have more of an effect.)

Consumption higher than that begins to have more health drawbacks than benefits however the more that level is exceeded. And, people who drive after drinking more than that level at a time, 2 drinks for men, 1 for women, produce a large share of the auto wrecks & fatalities in this country.

That said, Red Wine is a Superfood in my opinion. In addition to having the health benefits of Concord Grape Juice from its resveratrol & other antioxidants & the health benefits of its alcohol content, Red Wines have a 3rd ingredient that acts like a sponge in your blood vessels & tends to soak up & remove LDL cholesterol & other heart harmful blood fats.

I’m not quite able to remember the name of the ingredient I’m sorry to say; but I do remember that it’s highest in Zinfandels & high in Burgundy’s & Pinot Noirs.

Cabernets have medium levels & Merlots are low.

The other huge benefit of Red Wines is that they are part of a culture that values having & enjoying them with good food & good company.

So they are for sure a Superfood in that they go well with enjoying foods that enhance your health.

The Sonoma Diet that has come out recently includes Red Wine for that reason.

Superfoods part 26

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Monday, 5-22-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 26

Black-eyed peas.

In this series, I’m including a variety of beans & other plant foods that are good sources of protein to try. That way, my hope is you’ll find some you like & will always know several kinds of plant foods that are good sources of protein to try when you want variety. So, here’s another plant food that’s a good source of protein, Black-eyed peas.

You can buy them canned & already cooked in most supermarkets.

They are basically a kind of bean; but have a very different flavor than most cooked beans.

So, in addition to their protein, they are high in fiber & heart-protective soluble fiber in particular.

You can add them & walnuts to a vegetarian salad to add some extra fiber, protein, & a filling quality to the salad. (Just drain off the water they come in or that you cook them in first.)

Or you can have them by themselves top them with some flavors or health enhancing fats that you like.

Try guacamole & a salsa you like as a topping, for example.

Or cook them with some chunks of lean or fat trimmed ham, diced onion, shrimp, & extra virgin olive oil & Cajun spices.

Superfoods part 25

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Friday, 5-19-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 25

Zucchini & Okra.

One of the ways I lost 30 pounds & kept it off -- & maybe THE most effective way -- was to ADD green vegetables to my dinner every day.

I’d read in my Dad’s copy of the Weight Watchers point system that green vegetables had ZERO points. That means that in terms of putting fat on you, they’ve found that green vegetables, by themselves or with just water added, have the effect of a zero calorie food.

(I found that eating a green vegetable serving with my dinner made it easy & effortless to have one serving of the main dish which had far more calories & fat, instead of having two servings of the main dish.)

That means that every green vegetable is a superfood.

This is particularly true in today’s world where most of the work & recreation of most people is sedentary. (Sitting in front of a computer, even when typing on the keyboard doesn’t burn many calories; & sitting in front of a TV burns very little more calories than sleeping.)

In this series, I’m including a variety of green vegetables to try. That way, my hope is you’ll find some you like & will always know several kinds of green vegetables to try when you want variety.

So, here are two more green vegetables.: Zucchini & Okra.

Zucchini is a kind of green squash so it has water, fiber, vitamin C, & the natural form of folic acid. It’s not an honor roll food for nutrients like broccoli; but as a food, it’s unusually versatile & a great addition for variety & taste in eating green vegetables.

Unlike green peppers, raw carrots, & celery, uncooked zucchini is a softer, non-crunchy food.

For me, I find that makes it a more filling & satisfying food.

Uncooked, zucchini slices are a great addition to salads.

And, by making the slices on the diagonal & relatively thin, you can make a cracker substitute for appetizers.

Try a topping you like on some of those kind of zucchini slices. Hummus works. Guacamole works. If you & your &/or your guests & family aren’t allergic to peanuts, peanut butter works. You can even try cream cheese if you don’t do it often or in super-large quantities.

Using diagonally sliced zucchini in this way is far superior to crackers. It has a lot less carbs. It has more fiber than most crackers. And, zucchini has ZERO transfats -- as in 0.000 percent.

In addition, you can steam or lightly boil sliced zucchini for savory hot dishes or to add to pastas.

Most grocery stores carry it in the produce section.

Okra is green vegetable most people outside the South have seldom eaten.

But it works well cooked into savory hot dishes as the main green vegetable. It has a unique taste & texture.

Like oatmeal, it’s high in soluble fiber that helps keep your dangerous LDL cholesterol low.

I find it quite filling & satisfying to eat.

I have seen it canned & precooked in stores in the past. But currently our local upscale grocery & our supermarket both had frozen okra; but did not have canned Okra on their shelves.

Superfoods part 24

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Thursday, 5-18-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 24

Barley.

In my earlier posts this week, although they covered animal protein foods, I said that eating a majority of your protein from plant sources was desirable & health enhancing.

Barley is one such plant food -- & with extra health benefits added.

In fact, what initially attracted my attention to it was a study I read of once that said it found that those eating barley tended to be leaner on the same number of calories as those eating other foods.

I’ve since found out part of the reason for this.

I went to my local, regular, supermarket & bought a box of barley; brought it home & cooked it according to the directions; & ate it.

Between its chewy texture if not overcooked, its mild but distinct flavor, & its high level of fiber, it is filling & satisfying enough with few enough calories -- to make it clear why eating it can help keep you lean.

In addition, Barley, like oatmeal, is high in soluble fiber -- which helps keep your levels of dangerous LDL cholesterol low.

And, it’s a decent source of tocotrienols which also help keep your levels of dangerous LDL cholesterol low, but do so in a different way than eating soluble fiber.

In fact, I found that there are published clinical studies showing that not only did eating Barley lower LDL cholesterol levels successfully, it did so WITHOUT lowering the HDL levels of the people in the study who ate the barley.

So, between helping keep you lean & keeping your heart healthy, Barley is a superfood.

Eating whole grain foods also helps keep your blood glucose under control while eating refined grains tends to do the opposite. And this is true using barley as the whole grain.

A Canadian study compared type II diabetics eating barley with those eating white bread made with refined wheat flour; & those eating the barley had better blood glucose readings. To be fair to whole wheat, they didn’t test the barley against whole wheat as far as I know.

Because Barley has a chewy texture if not overcooked & a mild but distinct flavor, you can combine cooked barley with other superfoods to make a wide variety of combination dishes -- & get good results.

For example, you could cook chopped mushrooms & diced onions in extra virgin olive oil & add that, plus your favorite savory food spices to cooked barley & cooked lentils to make a vegetarian protein dish.

Superfoods part 23

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Wednesday, 5-17-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 23

Grass Fed Beef & Buffalo.

More OK & health-enhancing protein sources -- albeit for non-vegetarians.

This Monday’s post had this.: (So did yesterday’s)

“….people who get the majority of their protein from plant sources like beans & lentils, and nuts (like almonds & walnuts), & from some whole grains, are far healthier than people who eat some kind of meat or cheese at every meal, three times a day.

A diet with lots of fruits & vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, & the vast majority of its protein from plant sources tends to create low blood levels of LDL cholesterol & of homocysteine. And, it has mega-doses of antioxidants & other vitamins, minerals, & micronutrients that protect your health.

This is critical for your health -- since high levels of LDL cholesterol & homocysteine trigger accelerated aging, heart attacks, strokes, impotence, age related mental decline, & even may trigger Alzheimer’s disease.”

But what about some variety?

What if you LIKE animal protein foods? What if you are cooking for someone who does & refuses to give them up?

What if you are doing massive amounts of strength training & trying to get lots of protein?

What if you’ve found that you do well on a higher protein, low glycemic carbs diet & want to be sure to eat foods that fit?

I fit a couple of those. And, most people in this country have some or even most of those concerns.

Wild caught Salmon works for many people -- but not all; & certainly not more than two or three times a week for most of us.

Here are two more alternatives for people with these concerns.

Grass Fed Beef & Buffalo are decent occasional choices.

They both have far more health benefits & fewer problem causing issues than grain-fed & mixed feed beef.

In fact, Grass Fed Beef & Grass Fed Buffalo that are only fed this way & NEVER fed mixed feed CANNOT get mad cow disease.

This is not reliably true of grain fed beef since some of it is fed mixed feeds that might be problematic for mad cow disease.

Whole Food Markets nationwide carry Grass Fed Beef & many if not most carry Grass Fed Buffalo.

(And, these are NEVER fed mixed feed; they are vegetarian fed only.
Whole Food Markets actually sends its own inspectors out to be sure.)

Compared to grain feed beef Grass Fed Beef & Grass Fed Buffalo do cost somewhat more. But that actually can be a good thing as it will tend to prevent you from eating it too often.

(One way to avoid overdoing eating animal protein sources is to buy half as much but of twice as good quality.)

Grass Fed Beef & Grass Fed Buffalo also have considerable health benefits that grain feed beef has very little of.

Grass Fed Beef & Grass Fed Buffalo have some omega 3 oils like Wild Caught Salmon.

And, they also have CLA (Conjugated linoleic acid ), a kind of fat source with some interesting health benefits.

Unlike omega 3 oils, CLA has no vegetarian source that people can digest except CLA supplements – at least as far as I’m yet aware.

CLA may help boost your muscle mass separately from the protein content of the meat & to replace excess body fat in doing so according to some studies.

(That’s a lot more likely to be the case for people who do regular strength training -- which has that effect FOR SURE, by itself.)

Second, Grass Fed Beef & Grass Fed Buffalo are leaner; & what fat they do have has far less of the saturated fat that can boost your bad cholesterol.

That makes them a much more heart safe choice than grain feed beef.

Lastly, as long as it’s a few times a month or once or twice a week, eating Grass Fed Beef & Grass Fed Buffalo can be Ok for boosting homocysteine & inflammation, the other two problems with eating grain fed beef.

If you eat antioxidant foods at the same meal as Grass Fed Beef & Grass Fed Buffalo, you can sharply limit the inflammation caused. This can be as simple as having a salad with kale & romaine lettuce & a vegetable dish like broccoli with them.

And, in earlier times in the plains of North America, the plains Indians were tall & healthy on a diet of Grass Fed Buffalo & blueberries.

And, eating a wide variety of fruits & vegetables gives you lots of folic acid which lowers homocysteine.

PS: The absolute worst kind of beef for health is quite common in the current diet of the average American.:

Hamburger. Most people eat hamburgers made from grain fed beef & beef fat. And, the grinding process tends to make them more likely to cause oxidation & inflammation.

There are a couple of ways to cook such hamburger however, that minimize these problems.

It’s been found that cooking hamburger patties made with a mix of hamburger & a good amount of bits of dried cherries, believe it or not, is both juicier to eat & far less likely to cause health issues than eating straight cooked hamburger.

The second way is to make meatloaf with Grass Fed Beef & Grass Fed Buffalo or the leanest grain-fed ground beef you can buy & add lots of diced onion; extra virgin olive oil to replace the missing beef fat; & quick-style rolled oat oatmeal to help flush out the remaining saturated beef fat. And, you can also add a tomato sauce with a flavor you like instead of ketchup since most commercial ketchups now have high fructose corn syrup.

(That may well change soon. So check the label on your favorite ketchup before giving up on it.)

Superfoods part 22

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Tuesday, 5-16-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 22

Turkey & Free-Range Chicken.

Yesterday’s post had this.:

“….people who get the majority of their protein from plant sources like beans & lentils, and nuts (like almonds & walnuts), & from some whole grains, are far healthier than people who eat some kind of meat or cheese at every meal, three times a day.

A diet with lots of fruits & vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, & the vast majority of its protein from plant sources tends to create low blood levels of LDL cholesterol & of homocysteine. And, it has mega-doses of antioxidants & other vitamins, minerals, & micronutrients that protect your health.

This is critical for your health -- since high levels of LDL cholesterol & homocysteine trigger accelerated aging, heart attacks, strokes, impotence, age related mental decline, & even may trigger Alzheimer’s disease.”

But what about some variety?

What if you LIKE animal protein foods? What if you are cooking for someone who does & refuses to give them up?

What if you are doing massive amounts of strength training & trying to get lots of protein?

What if you’ve found that you do well on a higher protein, low glycemic carbs diet & want to be sure to eat foods that fit?

I fit a couple of those. And, most people in this country have some or even most of those concerns.

Wild caught Salmon works for many people -- but not all; & certainly not more than two or three times a week for most of us.

Today’s post, & the next one I plan for tomorrow, have some alternatives for people with these concerns.

Turkey & Free-Range Chicken are decent occasional choices.

Dr Steven Pratt in his Superfoods Rx lists turkey & turkey breast in particular as have several times more protein than chicken. And, this makes turkey & turkey breast in particular as very high in protein for the saturated fat they contain.

In addition, turkey & pre-cooked slices of lean turkey breast are available in most grocery stores.

For this reason he lists turkey as a superfood.

Most people like chicken or like it in some recipes. And, for convenience, most grocery stores carry canned chicken.

Free Range chicken is the best kind to get -- since free range chickens tend to be leaner & have considerably lower saturated fat content than caged, grain-fed chickens.

Free Range chicken does cost somewhat more. But that actually can be a good thing as it will tend to prevent you from eating it too often.

(One way to avoid overdoing eating animal protein sources is to buy half as much but of twice as good quality.)

Whole Foods Markets & many upscale grocery stores & some larger supermarkets carry free-range chicken.

And, there’s a new book out that presents an approach to eating healthful foods AND making sure you enjoy them that I particularly like.:

The Sonoma Diet. by Connie Guttersen.

There’s also a book: The Sonoma Diet.Cookbook by Connie Guttersen

She relies heavily on chicken recipes. So, if you have liked my superfood blogs & like chicken, check out her two books.

Superfoods part 21

Welcome to our health & self help blog. In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Monday, 5-15-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 21

Whole Wheat, Wheat Germ, & Buckwheat.

It’s far too little known:

Because of its higher glycemic index; its lack of fiber, its reduced nutrients, & because it far too often has been in foods with added transfats (partially hydrogenated oils), added sugars, & added high fructose corn syrup --

people who eat a lot of refined wheat flour & other refined grains, tend to be fat & less healthy, due mostly to experiencing a higher rate of type II diabetes & cardiovascular disease than people who do not or who eat only whole grain foods.

But people who eat whole grains only & eat them in moderation tend to enjoy robust health & have far fewer health problems.

In addition, people who get the majority of their protein from plant sources like beans & lentils, and nuts (like almonds & walnuts), & from some whole grains, are far healthier than people who eat some kind of meat or cheese at every meal, three times a day.

A diet with lots of fruits & vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, & the vast majority of its protein from plant sources tends to create low blood levels of LDL cholesterol & of homocysteine. And, it has mega-doses of antioxidants & other vitamins, minerals, & micronutrients that protect your health.

This is critical for your health -- since high levels of LDL cholesterol & homocysteine trigger accelerated aging, heart attacks, strokes, impotence, age related mental decline, & even may trigger Alzheimer’s disease.

Whole Wheat, Wheat Germ, & Buckwheat are three whole grain foods that provide lots of plant protein, B vitamins, fiber, & other nutrients.

Buckwheat is included for people who cannot eat wheat due to allergies & for those who cannot eat or prefer not to eat gluten. (Wheat has lots of gluten.)

Buckwheat groats are a whole grain & can be boiled & eaten in that form. Buckwheat groats are sometimes called & sold under the name: Kasha. Buckwheat is NOT wheat -- & has NO gluten.

And, the gluten-free buckwheat flour from a company called Bob’s Red Mill was reported to me as being reliably gluten free.

(However a miller who processes wheat & buckwheat with the same equipment cannot do what Bob’s Red Mill does since buckwheat flour made that way will have traces of wheat flour & gluten in it.)

The good news is that Whole Wheat, Wheat Germ are superfoods for those who can eat wheat & gluten.

Wheat is unusually high in protein for a plant food.

And, Whole Wheat & Wheat Germ are high in B vitamins, fiber, & other nutrients.

(Important note: “whole wheat flour” as the only wheat flour listed on the label of a bread means that Whole Wheat is all you are getting & that it is Whole Wheat you are getting.

If “wheat flour” is listed as an ingredient at all or is the only what flour listed, you are looking a refined grain product & not looking at one with decent health benefits chances are. My recommendation is to simply never buy such bread or buy it very rarely.)

And the appearance can fool you -- since the baker may add brown coloring to make it look like whole wheat.

Wheat Germ is a superfood & honor roll food – one of the best for people who can eat it.

Since virtually all the nutrients of whole wheat are in it except the starch it’s an unusually rich source of all the B vitamins except B12; it’s very high in protein; it’s high in fiber; & it’s high in natural vitamin E.

And I believe that includes the vitamin E complex including gamma tocopherol, which may help prevent some cancers, notably prostate cancer, according to a report I saw.

In addition, one of the B vitamins in wheat germ is choline. And a serving of wheat germ of only two ounces by volume, 1/4th of a cup, has over 1400 mg of choline according to a source I saw.

Since choline boosts the level of the highly protective HDL’s in your blood & is a precursor to acetyl choline that is essential to thinking & memory, this makes wheat germ a superfood.

In fact, this unusually high choline level alone would qualify wheat germ as a superfood.

(To get this much choline, over 1400 mg, from a lecithin supplement which is sold due to its high choline content, you’d have to take five or six capsules to get that much choline. !!)

Superfoods part 20

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Friday, 5-12-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 20

Whole Eggs & Eggwhites.

The good news is that they both are incredibly nutritious.

The egg industry’s “The incredible, edible egg” slogan is literally true.

Whole Eggs & Eggwhites are definitely Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods.

Both have very complete protein with virtually every amino acid in very bio-available form.

The diets that best support health are mostly vegetarian with the majority of their protein from plant sources like beans & lentils, nuts like almonds & walnuts, & to a lesser extent whole grains.

And this is particularly the case when every day you eat several kinds of fruit & several kinds of vegetables – including the ones listed here as Superfoods.

Adding some eggwhites to such a diet or some whole eggs to it helps you receive complete protein & all the amino acids your body needs, just like nonfat & one percent lowfat dairy does. And, Whole Eggs & Eggwhites do an even better job.

Whole Eggs & Eggwhites also are high in vitamin B12 which it’s valuable to add to a mostly vegetarian diet.

In addition, the yolks in whole eggs are high in bio-available iron which can be especially important to women. (And too little iron in your diet can make you anemic & sap your energy & vitality. In addition, many vitamin & mineral supplements no longer contain iron since some people were getting too much, men who eat five times more meat than is healthy to do, for example.)

Besides that, the yolk is even better than avocados as nearly being a vitamin & mineral supplement as it’s so high in vitamins, especially vitamin B complex & vitamin A.

The bad news is that eggs are high in cholesterol. So, if your LDL cholesterol is totally out of the safe range, over 160, you may be safer to eat only eggwhites or limt the whole eggs you eat to one or two a week.

However, the high cholesterol in eggs may not be as bad a news as was once believed for several reasons.

A diet that has well over 7 percent of its calories as saturated fat raises LDL far more than one that’s under 7 percent but high in cholesterol.

So, if you are eating whole eggs with just a few, I think about 3, grams of saturated fat apiece & the rest of your diet is mostly vegetarian, if you eat three to six eggs a week, it may not cause you problems.

In addition, high HDL levels are actually more protective than high LDL levels are bad for your health. And, eating whole eggs is one way to raise your HDL level.

Frying eggs in butter at relatively high heat is NOT a good idea as butter is high in saturated fat & high temperatures tend to oxidize the saturated fat -- which is even worse for your health.

Frying them at moderate temperatures in Extra Virgin Olive Oil is MUCH better & a better choice for raising your HDL levels without over-raising your LDL levels. And, adding some diced onion to the frying pan & eating it with the eggs helps cut the boost of your LDL cholesterol also.

Boiling eggs & poaching them also work.

If you eat egg-whites, it helps to add them to a variety of other foods that you like with plenty of flavor as they are super bland.

Stir fry them with diced onion & walnuts & then serve salsa or guacamole on top, for example.

Because of the risk of salmonella & the bad effect raw eggwhites have on biotin, a B vitamin, make a special effort NOT to eat raw eggs or eggwhites.

(Somehow the makers of commercial eggnog kill the germs in the eggs without cooking them. So it may be possible to get the eggs processed in that way from the source those companies use.)

>>> If anyone out there knows how to buy eggs in that form or do that process for yourself, please let me know.

Also, because of salmonella, be very careful to wash eggs before you cook them & discard the shells as if they might be bio-hazards, because they might be !!

Lastly, if your LDL cholesterol is way over 160, by all means bring it down to closer to 100 or less with statin drugs plus 100 mg or more a day of CoQ10 or take sterol supplements &/or inositol hexaniacinate.

Niacin, nicotinic acid, NOT the niacinamide form, is also unusually effective. (The niacinamide form is good for you; but it doesn’t lower LDL & boost HDL like nicotinic acid form does.)


I finally found a paper online that suggests inositol hexaniacinate is also effective; & it worked well for me when I tried it as my HDL went up & my LDL went down when I added some & then got retested.

Niacin usually produces a “flush” that feels like an instant – but temporary –sunburn, so some people prefer the inositol hexaniacinate form.

Warning, if you take more than 600 to 900 mg a day between niacin & inositol hexaniacinate, be sure to let your doctor know as you’ll need to get liver function tests to be sure your liver isn’t over-driven by these supplements. (This does happen to some people who take a lot, especially if they take a lot more.)

Then, once your LDL is more like 68 to 98 instead of 168 or 190, it will be safer for you to eat whole eggs in moderation.

Superfoods part 19

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Thursday, 5-11-2006 Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 19

Hummus

We’ve already listed extra virgin olive oil, garlic, & beans as superfoods.

So would a food that tastes great; that’s available in most grocery stores pre-made in many varieties; is super easy to eat; & is made from extra virgin olive oil, garlic, & a kind of bean -- be a Superfood?

I think so !!

And, since I love hummus & really don’t like the chickpeas or garbanzo beans from which it’s made in their whole form very much at all, I think hummus is one of mankind’s great inventions.


Note: Today’s post & tomorrow’s will be a bit short; but my regular ones will be back next week.

Superfoods part 18

Welcome to our health & self help blog. In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Wednesday, 5-10-2006 Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 18

Chili, Red Peppers, & Hot Peppers

Chili, Red Peppers, & Hot Peppers have three key benefits.

1. Even in small doses they add a HUGE kick to the flavor of foods. Many people like them as spices they add themselves to their food or in Chinese or Mexican food.

It’s a lot more fun & easier to continue to eat right if you can enjoy what you eat, so this one qualifies them as superfoods by itself.

(Note: They can be a bit too harsh if you use too much or use them in foods with no added healthful oils or fats to mellow them out a bit.

Guacamole with some hot peppers added to taste or using them with extra virgin olive oil or just using a just a little bit of ground red pepper can all work well.

2nd note: If you overdo, cold water doesn’t help much since it doesn’t dissolve or remove the hot oils in them.

Cold beer or chilled wine do work though -- since the alcohol in them does dissolve the hot oils. Eating something with a health enhancing oil works for the same reason. And, eating dry toast or tortillas works since, as you eat them, they absorb off the hot oils.

3rd note: NEVER eat the bright red peppers in Chinese dishes because the pain will outdo the worst heartburn you can imagine. The food & tiny pieces of the peppers that break off make the food plenty hot enough without doing that to yourself.)

Tobasco sauce is a very convenient way to add hot peppers to food; but use it in moderation & without added salt as it’s a bit high in salt. (I love the stuff.)

Actual peppers, powdered cayenne or red peppers, & chili powder also work but have no added salt.

2. A study of people who regularly ate a lot of such hot peppers in Mexican food had virtually no bronchitis when they got upper respiratory virus or bacterial infections – or far less than people who didn’t eat these foods.

There are two reasons I know that may explain this.

It’s very clear that thick gunk in your lungs is more likely to produce problems than it will if it’s thinned out, mixed with water, & your body begins getting rid of it.

When you eat enough hot peppers, your nose runs & the gunk tends to clear out of your lungs. And eating Chili, Red Peppers, & Hot Peppers does this about six times better & far faster than the prescription medicines I’ve tried. That’s 90 to 99 percent of the reason eating hot peppers has this health benefit in my view.

But, I suspect, there my very well be a second reason. When you eat enough hot peppers, you begin to sweat enough you may need a headband or to wipe off your forehead with a napkin or handkerchief.

When you have a fever, that triggers your immune system to go to attack mode. So, I strongly suspect when your body has this heated up reaction to the peppers it boosts your immune system & helps you kill off the bacteria or viruses that are making you sick in the first place & to help you get well faster.

3. And, it was in the news recently that eating hot peppers regularly may also help prevent cancer. As both ginger & Chili, Red Peppers, & Hot Peppers are hot spices, they may do this for similar reasons. Or it may be the immune system boost from your body’s heat reaction. Or, substances in the hot peppers my act like chemotherapy agents in some way.

So, between their value as spices in helping you enjoy your food in variety of ways & their health benefits, Chili, Red Peppers, & Hot Peppers are definitely superfoods.

Superfoods part 17

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Tuesday, 5-9-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 17

Ginger, Turmeric, & Curry.

Ginger & Turmeric are the superfoods. Curry is included as most curries are high in turmeric; but they vary in their flavors & usually taste far better than straight turmeric.

Both ginger & turmeric are available as supplements in addition to being available in most supermarkets as spices.

So if you don’t like or know how to cook with them or can’t find a curry you like, you can still get the health benefits.

Ginger helps make gingerbread taste good & is heavily used in Chinese cooking. And curries with lots of Turmeric are heavily used in cooking & recipes from India.

So, if you like either kind of food, you very likely already like these spices.

Both Ginger & Turmeric are anti-inflammatory. So, if you want a safe, if mild anti-inflammatory effect, they are great choices. And normalizing inflammation is becoming better & better known as protecting your health.

They may each have some of the other’s effects as they are botanically related; but the two health benefits I’m aware of Ginger are:

1) it sharply increases the threshold of your nausea reflex. So, if you tend to get airsick or seasick & will be in that kind of situation, you can take ginger as a supplement ahead of time & either escape nausea entirely or have the effect be less & harder to bring on. And, if it does show up, it will happen later, so the time you’ll feel the nausea will be less.

2) I saw a study reported recently that said that Ginger apparently caused cancer cells to undergo “Aptosis” – to self-destruct & stop multiplying !!

So, eating Ginger as a spice every week may keep you from getting some cancers. And taking it as a supplement might help slow or cure cancer or help keep it from metastasizing -- or returning once most of it is removed.

Taking Turmeric as a supplement or eating food with curry containing it daily or many days a week is one of the several actions you can take that research shows will sharply reduce your chances of getting age-related mental decline & Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers initially discovered this when they found that people who live in India very rarely get Alzheimer’s disease; & this is believed to be because of their daily or near daily intake of curry with Turmeric in it.

So, it looks like the kind of anti-inflammatory action Turmeric has is strongly protective for your brain & keeps its cells alive & functioning.

Also, you may find your stomach tolerates the supplement Turmeric better than eating LOTS of foods with curry.

Some curries produce their strong sensation of heat with substances that some people’s stomachs don’t deal with well. And, for such people those curries have produced damage to their stomach lining. (Oddly, very hot peppers don’t seem to have this effect.)

Also, if you love curry, go easy on the hottest ones & choose the milder ones most of the time.

Superfoods part 16

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Monday, 5-8-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 16

Apples & Unsweetened Apple Sauce.

Both are high in pectin, a soluble fiber that helps keep your LDL cholesterol under control.

Even better, they both are low enough in glycemic index & Weight Watchers points to be great foods to enjoy & take off excess fat or prevent its return.

The fiber fills you up & the small amount of natural sugar they both contain satisfy enough to help keep you from getting hungry.

And, if you eat them with avocado, walnuts, or almonds which all have fiber AND good for you oils, Apples & Unsweetened Apple Sauce work very well to stave off hunger.

Both Apples & Unsweetened Apple Sauce have advantages & disadvantages.:

Whole Apples are more filling & have a lower glycemic index. And, many people like their crunchy taste when you bite into them. Their colors are often pretty to look at.

Even better, according to Marilyn vos Savant in yesterday’s Parade magazine, eating the apple skins & their added fiber & micronutrients in whole apples is associated with a decreased risk of several serious diseases. This likely includes the micronutrient that apples share with broccoli that reduces the risk of cancer.

The downside of whole apples is that they can be messy when eaten. They can be a bit time consuming to fix if you core them & quarter them. They can be more a chore to buy & store at home.

And, if you aren’t in the mood for it, apple skins can be as chewy as canvas.

The more serious problem is that whole apples often have pesticides on their skin. And, with the shiny red apples, often this is then looked away from easy washing by having an edible wax put over it to preserve their appearance.

So, for whole apples, make a special effort to buy organic ones. Or buy the green ones that aren’t waxed & wash them well before eating. Whole Foods Markets usually has several kinds of organic apples in stock & other stores are beginning to also.

Unsweetened Apple Sauce can be eaten straight out of the refrigerator.

It’s even pour-able, so you only need a spoon to eat it with & don’t need an extra spoon to serve it.

I’m quite fond of adding some powdered cinnamon & pumpkin pie spice for an extra treat.

You may also like it with ginger, cinnamon, & some dark molasses as that gives it a gingerbread taste. You can also add some 1 percent lowfat milk for a drinkable treat with more vitamins & protein,

It’s 3 drawbacks are that:

pre-sugared or sweetened applesauce has enough sugar to be a problem to eat. And, in some stores. the unsweetened may not be available;

even unsweetened applesauce is not as low in glycemic index as whole apples;

& the whole apples have a LOT more health benefits.

I find the unsweetened applesauce more convenient & tasty & easy to buy than whole apples; & I don’t like whole apples much.

By contrast, some people LOVE whole apples.

The ideal is probably to have some of each every week.

Superfoods part 15

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Friday, 5-5-2006

Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 15

Pomegranates & Pomegranate Juice.

A couple of news items I saw recently said pomegranates may well have more antioxidant power than green tea or red wine.

The articles actually said it was three times as much. I’d want to see the test results myself before I would post here that pomegrantes have three times as much antioxidant power as green tea.

And, antioxidants are like carotenoids or vitamins. Different ones have different health benefits.

So green tea may be a better cancer preventer than pomegranate juice for example even if the overall level of antioxidants in the pomegranate juice is higher.

One dietician who studies the health aspects of foods suggested pomegrantes may be particularly good for keeping your blood vessels clean & so to promote good circulation & prevent cardiovascular disease

So, it definitely sounds like pomegranates & pomegranate juice are probably superfoods. And, it may well be worth your while to taste some to see if you like it.

The team member, their main buyer I think, that I just spoke with at our local Whole Foods Market, said they had the RW Knudsen pomegranate juice in stock.

And, he said they may soon get in a pomegranate, blueberry, apple juice combination & even a pomegranate ice cream possibly.


See more superfoods here next week

Superfoods Part 14

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Thursday, 5-4-2006 Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 14

Cabbage & Kale & Brussels Sprouts

These foods have the same, or nearly same, health benefits as broccoli.

They are all cruciferous vegetables like broccoli. So they tend to prevent cancer from their several kinds of cancer fighting micronutrients.

They are high in vitamins & in other antioxidants.

And, like green beans, asparagus, & broccoli already listed, they are green vegetables.

So eating MORE of them is one of the keys to keeping off or losing & keeping off unhealthy excess bodyfat WITHOUT being hungry.

There are some great ways to enjoy cabbage.

Most people like coleslaw. And the cabbage is so good for you, even coleslaw made with commercial mayonnaise & added sugar is likely to be good for you. (The coleslaw I had at KFC when I went there years ago was that kind of coleslaw & it tastes great.)

Even better, you can make your own coleslaw with diced onions, extra virgin olive oil, & a bit of your favorite mayo – though with more of the extra virgin olive oil than the mayo. And you can also try adding your favorite spices for variety.

AOL today listed Kimchi as one of the worlds 5 best Superfoods. They may have a point. Kimchi is spiced & fermented cabbage & Korean staple. It has all the health benefits of cabbage & the fermenting bacteria in Kimchi are good for you like the ones in yogurt are.

Some people really like Kimchi. And, it’s definitely NOT too bland & unflavorful !!

Brussels sprouts are very much like miniature cabbages. You can boil them & have them as a dinner vegetable. Or you can cut them into halves & then quarters & add them to salads.

Kale is very likely 100 percent as good for you as broccoli.

It has virtually the same nutrient profile & is even higher in some carotenoids I understand.

It’s a leafy green vegetable like lettuce. (There are also purple varieties.)

If you are OK with the intense flavor of it uncooked, you can use it in salads either as an edible garnish or by tearing or chopping the leaves into bite sized pieces. And, you can use Kale as a substitute for lettuce in sandwiches.

And, it’s actually quite good -- & has a MUCH milder flavor -- to eat it as a dinner vegetable by sautéing it in extra virgin olive oil with some chopped onion & garlic.

And, the kale cooks down so much you can easily get a megadose of its nutrients by eating a medium sized serving of Kale cooked in this way !!

>>> Other News you can use: Extra info on Extra Virgin Olive Oil: (A superfood we covered earlier in this series.)

Today, in a health news item I read, it said that Extra Virgin Olive Oil has an effective anti-inflammatory micronutrient in it according to recent research.

This means that it may be a helpful food for YOU in addition to its other health benefits if:

you are recovering from an injury

or you do strength training enough to get sore muscles from time to time

or you have pains from something like arthritis

or you got a too high reading on CRP, C-reactive protein back from your doctor

(CRP measures a kind of inflammation that correlates with heart disease & the risk of getting it. So low readings are highly desirable.)

Or, if you simply want to stay healthy & avoid aches & pains you can escape getting in the first place !!

Superfoods part 13

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Wednesday, 5-3-2006 Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 13

Sweet Potatoes, Yams, Pumpkin, Squash, Carrots, & Spinach in moderation –
AND Tomatoes & Broccoli.

Carotenoids are a key to good health. All these foods are high to very high in various carotenoids, so they are all Superfoods.

People who have high blood levels of carotenoids from the foods they eat are healthier, age more slowly, & are less likely to get cancer.

And, except for the lycopene supplements from tomatoes & the relatively small dose of beta carotene in most of today’s multivitamins, studies show that by far the best health results come from eating a wide variety of carotenoid containing foods each week.

Like the B vitamins, there are many kinds of carotenoids; & they apparently work best in combination & in combination with the other micronutrients found in foods containing them that science has not yet identified.

Sweet potatoes are just sweet enough to be good with no added sugar or spices by just opening a baked sweet potato & spooning out the sweet orange part of the sweet potato. And, their glycemic index is far lower than regular potatoes. Plus they are high enough in fiber to be quite filling.

And, if you are very short on time to cook, both sweet potato & squash are available in a single serving sized jar you can take in a bag lunch or use as a snack at home. You can find them with the Gerber babyfoods in their 3rd foods size in most larger supermarkets.

(And, they are a great idea to feed your baby or kids for that matter.)

Cooked & canned yams are also readily available. It’s better to get an unsweetened variety; but either way, the nutrition is there. And you can eat them cold if you are in a rush.

Pumpkin is actually better canned. You can buy it canned without added sugar in most larger grocery stores.


This is enormously faster, takes up less space, & is much less messy than buying the pumpkins & processing the pulp by hand.

I’ve found that adding a bit of 1 percent lowfat milk, some cinnamon, & some pumpkin pie spice to canned pumpkin makes a snack or dessert that tastes very much like a good pumpkin pie.

And, if you want a more dessert like version, you can add a bit of extra virgin olive oil & a bit of brown sugar & heat it up.

Summer squash can be diced up or sliced raw & added to salads. And many people like baked Acorn Squash.

Carrots have gotten a bad rap of late due to their high glycemic index. But they are widely available. Many people like the crunchy feel of eating carrots raw. They work well when cooked into stews. And, they are small enough & high enough in fiber, their actual glycemic load is far less than you might think.

Spinach is high in the carotenoid, lutein, that is apparently good for preserving your eyesight.

However, spinach is also quite high in oxalates. So spinach is best eaten at a meal with no milk or cheese, since the oxalates tend to bind with calcium & make it hard to digest. And, spinach is better as a once a week or a few times a month food, since a diet high in oxalates (&/or soft drinks) tends to produce kidney stones.

Tomatoes & Broccoli are both high in carotenoids & are already listed as super foods here.

>>> Other News you can use:

Extra info on Green Tea: (A superfood we covered earlier in this series.)

Today, in a health news item I read, it said that a study from Japan showed that the more green tea people drank, the lower their incidence of cognitive impairment.

This may be explained by the other point in that item. EGCG, the key antioxidant in green tea, is stronger than vitamin A or C & stronger than the resveratrol found in red wine.

Superfoods part 12

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Tuesday, 5-2-2006 Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 12

Garlic & Onions.

Two of the world’s kinds of cooking that are best for your health are Chinese & Italian.

Garlic & Onions are used a lot in Chinese & Italian foods & recipes.

Garlic & Onions make Chinese & Italian foods taste good & enjoyable to eat.

Garlic & Onions also contribute strongly to the health enhancing qualities of Chinese & Italian foods & recipes.

Garlic, particularly when served raw & minced, apparently has some antibiotic & antiviral effects.

This is significant -- since we don’t yet have good medicines to combat viruses & bacteria are gradually evolving to adapt to many antibiotics.

Garlic is clearly not strong enough by itself to be a treatment; but if your immune system is almost up to handling something, eating garlic regularly might be just enough to prevent you from getting sick.

And, when added to other things that are antiviral or which boost your immune system, garlic might be effective as part of a set of things that are useful as a treatment.

But its greatest value is that it protects the health of your blood vessels & heart & helps to prevent or help reverse cardiovascular disease.

Eating garlic regularly lowers high blood pressure by a bit in some people. And, one study I saw reported said that eating garlic regularly or taking it as a supplement, helped to reverse & clean out Calcium deposits in the arteries.

Garlic’s ability to lower LDL cholesterol is apparently not very high. But when it does seem to do is to make your blood vessels healthy & responsive. And the study about calcium deposits suggests that may be due to garlic preventing or clearing deposits of gunk inside your blood vessels.

I saw a film once that showed that when you eat a food high in animal based saturated fat, a soapy, sludgy, set of fat particles is released into your blood.

Onions apparently act like antifreeze & prevent these particles from sticking to the inside surfaces of your blood vessels.

I suspect that Garlic, which is biologically a relative of onions, may work by this mechanism also.

So, Garlic & Onions are clearly superfoods.

And, on those occasions when you are eating foods high in animal based saturated fat, spicing the meat with garlic &/or onions or having salad or a vegetable dish at the same meal which has plenty of garlic &/or onions, is somewhat protective.

Eating Thanksgiving dinner, cheese, hamburgers, lamb stew, pork chops, ham, bacon, sausage, & steak – or sweet & sour pork in a Chinese restaurant are all great occasions to use Garlic & Onions in this way.

Some people are allergic to or dislike Garlic & Onions. For those people as for those with very high cholesterol levels, such foods are less safe to eat.

Most people like Garlic & Onions when they are skillfully used in cooking. And, they have powerful health benefits.

Superfoods part 11

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today’s post: Monday, 5-1-2006 Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 11

Walnuts.

Walnuts, like flax seeds, are high in a kind of oil, alpha linoleic acid, or ALA, that apparently is a precursor form of Omega 3.

For that reason & the other health benefits of nuts, in a study I saw once, it showed that people who eat walnuts regularly tend to have better heart health than people who don’t.

One source I saw recently even says they contain an ingredient, ellagic acid, a cancer fighting antioxidant.

And, thought they have a bit less than almonds, they are also high in Arginine, with all its benefits to your heart, blood vessels, & blood flow – including to your sexual areas.

To repeat, here are some of the other reasons to include nuts in general.

(Unfortunately, some people are allergic to tree nuts. If you are, they aren’t an OK food for you, let alone a superfood.)

For those who can eat them, nuts in general are superfoods. They are high in magnesium which is vital for your health & which many people get too little of in their food.

They are high in other vitamins & minerals including the several kinds of natural vitamin E.

In addition, nuts are filling because they are high in protein and fiber and fat – so much so that despite their fat content, one study found that people who added 500 calories a day of nuts to their diet, did NOT gain any weight. Apparently they were enough less hungry they ate that many calories elsewhere in their diet. As you might imagine, this can be a huge help if you are trying to lose weight & keep it off or you need to cut out eating fatty treats or fatty meats to protect your heart.

In fact, nuts are high in sterols which lower LDL cholesterol !!

One study even found that people who eat nuts regularly, lived several years longer than people who don’t. This was about seven years as I recall. You can certainly see why with all their health benefits. And, I suspect these people were in better health also.

If you like them, eating walnuts is a great way to enjoy eating nuts & getting their health benefits.

Shelled walnut halves & walnut pieces are readily available. (Whole Foods Markets carries them in bulk, which costs less per pound.)

And, I’ve found they are an excellent way to enhance a dish of cereal or fresh fruit – or a salad -- that tastes great; adds some extra protein & fiber; & has a very low glycemic index.

They also make a great snack food even when eaten by themselves.