by laurel on February 10, 2010
I’ve been hearing more and more about resveratrol over the past couple of years. It’s a powerful antioxidant compound found naturally in foods like grapes, cranberries, blueberries, peanuts, and wine. It’s also found naturally in a Chinese herb called Hu zhang and a Japanese plant called knotweed. According to Natural News, Hu zhang is actually [...]
by laurel on August 11, 2009
One of my favorite new books is Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future by David Wolfe. I heard David speak at my school earlier this year and had to know more about superfoods and his living raw food diet. What are superfoods, you say? They are the most nutritious foods on Earth. When [...]
by laurel on February 7, 2009
Here’s a good reason to pick up some dark chocolate for you or your one true love on Valentine’s Day…and every other occasion after that. A new study published in the Journal of Nutrition concluded that people who regularly eat dark chocolate (in moderate amounts) had 17% lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in their [...]
by laurel on January 14, 2009
Penn State University researchers presented new pistachio findings at the Experimental Biology Conference in San Diego in April 2008. They found that some key nutrients in pistachios reduce multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in men and women. Pistachio consumption improved cholesterol levels and reduced cellular inflammation. Dr. Sarah Gebauer said that, “Reducing inflammation [...]
by laurel on November 27, 2008
I’m sure you’ve heard that probiotics help keep your digestive system healthy and fight off bad bacteria in the gut. But, new research published in the Public Libracy of Science Pathogens journal found that probiotics may fight harmful inflammation too. As you probably know by now, inflammation in our bodies can put us at risk [...]
by laurel on November 7, 2008
A 2008 study from the Baylor College of Medicine and Harvard Medical School found that omega-3s in fish oil can help reduce inflammation by improving the body’s immunity response. Researchers found that blood vessels can form small lesions inside our bodies, and the “normal healing process is for these lesions to become inflamed, for the [...]
by laurel on June 25, 2008
A recent study from the American Journal of Epidemiology found that increasing your intake of vitamin K1 may reduce harmful inflammation in your body. As I’ve mentioned on this blog before, chronic inflammation is linked to a slew of diseases including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. Researchers concluded that higher dietary intake and higher [...]
by laurel on June 3, 2008
An American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study found that whole grains help reduce C-reactive protein in our bodies. This inflammatory protein is associated with many diseases including heart disease and diabetes. (Ref: Body + Soul magazine, June 2008, p. 34) The 12-week study monitored 50 obese adults who ate lean protein, low-fat dairy, five servings [...]
by laurel on April 29, 2008
Mark’s Daily Apple wrote a great piece about the amazing nutrition of hot peppers. Here are some of the benefits they listed: – Hot peppers are low in calories but high in vitamin C. They also contain carotenoids, lutein, lycopene, and zeaxanthin. – Capsaicin (the compound that makes peppers hot) is anti-inflammatory and helps relieve [...]
by laurel on December 8, 2007
MSNBC recently posted a great article on how you can improve your health in 90 seconds. I organized their tips in the following table. WANT PROOF? Fight cancer – Research from Cornell University found that natural chemicals in apple peels can inhibit breast, liver, and colon cancer cell growth. A four-year study from Creighton University [...]