While blueberries and strawberries usually gain recognition for their health-enhancing properties, raspberries have quietly built an impressive resume of vast health benefits that match any berry. The fruit’s potent anti-inflammatory power contributes to fighting obesity, enhancing cardiovascular support, battling cancer, and combating diabetes. Raspberries’ History Although the exact origin of raspberries (Rubus spp.) is unknown, it’s believed they were cultivated in Europe more than 2,000 years ago and introduced to North America from eastern Asia through trading. The edible fruit is one of the most popular berries in the world, with top producers in Russia, the United States, Serbia, and […]
What can good farming teach us about nurturing ourselves? Family physician Daphne Miller, M.D., long suspected that farming and medicine were intimately linked. Increasingly disillusioned by mainstream medicine’s mechanistic approach to healing and fascinated by the farming revolution that is changing the way we think about our relationship to the earth, Miller left her medical office and traveled to seven innovative farms across the country, on a quest to discover the hidden connections between how we care for our bodies and how we grow our food. Farmacology: What Innovative Family Farming Can Teach Us About Health and Healing, the remarkable […]
It’s summer and avocados are at their best. Who doesn’t love this buttery-rich fruit that’s full of nutrients and good fats? I’m just happy to take a ripe avocado and spread it on whole grain toast, but the chef in me can’t resist coming up with new ideas for avocados, too. Here are some facts about avocados that make them one of the healthiest foods you can eat: They’re high in monounsaturated fat, specifically oleic acid, an omega-9 fat that can help lower cholesterol. The monounsaturated fat in avocados is also associated with reduced risk of cancer and diabetes. Avocados […]
Mushrooms are a major FoodTrient food! Both edible and medicinal mushrooms contain FoodTrient properties including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immune boosting, and disease prevention effects. Two mushrooms backed by research that contain potent health benefits include Reishi and Turkey Tail mushrooms. Reishi mushrooms aren’t something you will find in your local grocery store. Though all mushrooms have health promoting properties including vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber and immune-boosting compounds like beta-glucans, some mushrooms are more edible than others. Reishi mushrooms are made of non-digestible fiber and have a woody texture. More potent health benefits are said to come from young reishi mushrooms rather […]
General Observations: New Flavors – spicier, more international dishes More Exotic Ingredients (Moringa, Ashwagandha, Baobab, Crickets, Hemp) More Superfood ingredients Earth- and Cause-conscious Simpler, Cleaner, Fresh Ingredients. Even the labels have clean, simple designs. Coconuts are everywhere – in waters, fruit drinks, snack bars, jams and sauces. This superfood is multiplying like crazy and being reimagined in lots of new ways. Protein bars just keep coming – with more exotic flavors and ingredients Kale may not be the “darling” of the food industry but it is now a hugely featured ingredient in many products. Turmeric is popping up everywhere, too, […]
Scientists are discovering significant additional benefits that resveratrol confers in fighting aging and degenerative disease. While much of this research was initiated by a prolific group at Harvard University and in the biotech industry, scientists around the globe are now making unprecedented discoveries that define resveratrol’s multiple preventive and therapeutic potentials. Most exciting are findings showing how resveratrol may help protect against devastating age-related diseases including cancer, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and Alzheimer’s. We’ll start with an in-depth look at just what they’re discovering and then review the most compelling findings about resveratrol’s current and future roles in sustaining human health and […]
If I told you that eating just a handful of walnuts, peanuts, almonds, etc, would lower your risk of several major diseases, and death, would you believe me? As incredible as that may sound, new research has proven it to be true. Here’s even more reason to enjoy your nuts snack everyday… Beat Major Diseases with 10 Grams of Nuts A Day As you get older, you’re risk for developing certain major diseases of aging increases. These include neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, as well as internal medicine issues like diabetes and heart disease. Why? Well, for one reason, […]
Once we pass the age of 40, we become prone to developing certain vision related conditions like cataracts and possibly macular degeneration. However, as I tell my patients, become proactive now to protect your vision! First, let me explain a little about both of these conditions. Cataracts are an outgrowth on the lens that distorts vision. Over 17% of Americans over 40 have cataracts and it is a very common vision problem. They are caused by aging, over-exposure to ultraviolet light, as well as oral and spray (as in asthma inhalers) steroids that get in the eyes. Cataracts typically have […]
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is an antioxidant that is made in the human body and is needed for basic cell function. The fact that CoQ10 is involved in the prevention of so many conditions is no surprise. Coenzyme Q10 is present in every cell of your body. Its ubiquitous nature even gave rise to its other names: ubiquinone and ubiquinol. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) may help to protect against a number of conditions, including heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy, Parkinson’s disease, Gulf War illness, septic shock, Huntington’s disease, inflammation, breast cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, fibromyalgia, ataxia, and autism. It’s been successful in relieving […]
By Ginger Hultin, MS, RDN, LDN After a 2012 clinical study on the medicinal turkey tail mushroom showed that this functional food does improve the immune system of patients treated for cancer, research continues to grow in support of this healthful fungi. The National Institute of Health (NIH) funded study found that turkey tail mushrooms increased natural killer cells in women with breast cancer before they ended radiation therapy. Turkey tail mushrooms have been used as adjunct therapy to traditional cancer treatments in Japan for years for a variety of types of cancer including breast, head and neck, gastric, colon […]