goji berries

Goji berries have been used in Chinese herbal medicine for years to treat imbalances of the liver, kidneys & eyes. These days you can find them in any health food store, and they are definitely worth snacking on. I personally like to mix them with nuts to make a tasty trail mix. Nutritional info for goji: they contain 18 amino acids, more beta carotene than carrots, more iron than spinach, and 21 trace minerals. They contain vitamins B1, B2, B6 & E, and 500 times more vitamin C by weight than oranges(!). They are 13% protein and contain extremely high levels of antioxidants, even higher than blueberries. They taste & look a little like red raisins. Let me know how you like 'em.

soda & heartburn

If you suffer from heartburn at night, you may want to stop drinking carbonated soft drinks, which were strongly linked to such episodes in a recent study. An increase in soft drink consumption has also been linked to an increase in esophageal cancer because it causes stomach distention, not to mention the extremely acidic nature of soft drinks. Chest 05;127:1658-1666, J Natl Cancer Inst 06;98(9): 644-645.

I have been counseling people away from soft drinks for a very long time. Switch to green or black teas. There is now a large selection of chilled teas in health food supermarkets everywhere. Try them, you'll like them!

fighting fatigue in atheletes & Epstein-Barr virus

Doctors have found that a good way to fight fatigue and declining athletic performance in athletes is to have them take a probiotic supplement (lactobacillus acidophilus) for one month. The same probiotic supplement was given to people who suffer from Epstein-Barr Virus, and these people too experienced a significant decrease in fatigue. Brit J Sports Med 06;40(4):351-354. Don't forget that probiotics also significantly improve digestion too.

that's nuts!

Here's one more study showing a non-pharmaceutical way to lower cholesterol: When a group of people consumed 20% of their caloric intake in pistachio nuts for three weeks, their total cholesterol levels improved, their HDL levels increased by a remarkable 26% and their triglyceride levels dropped.

I can't imagine eating such a large amount of nuts for that long, but this study is a reminder that including nuts in your diet is a great way to help maintain health. Nuts are an excellent snack, and almonds and walnuts have been shown to be particularly heart-healthy. I recommend keeping a little sack o' nuts at your desk at work to snack on rather than reaching for chips or other less desireable choices.

grapefruit goodness

A new study out of Israel shows that people who ate one grapefruit (particularly the red varieties) per day for 30 days had a reduction of 15.5% of total cholesterol, with a 20.3% drop in LDL (the bad cholesterol), and a 17.2% drop in triglycerides. J Agric Food Chem 06;54(5): 1887-1892.

So besides the high vitamin C content, grapefruits are also great for your heart! Eat up!