| | |  Entertainment | Restaurants & Dining | June 2009 
Foods That Make You Feel Groovy
 Marla Hoover - PVNN
FRUITS AND VEGGIES are packed with key nutrients and antioxidant phytochemicals, which directly contribute to your health and health-related quality of life. In a one study, eating two more servings of fruits and vegetables a day was associated with an 11% higher likelihood of good functional health. People who ate the highest amount of fruits and vegetables felt better about their health. Here are some interesting facts on some of our faves:
BROCCOLI guards against cancer and is rich in a wide range of anti-oxidants, vitamins C and E, folate and iron.
CARROTS - High in carotenes, known to boost the immune system.
LETTUCE AND SALAD GREENS - Tangy varieties, such as chicory and endive, stimulate the liver, making them great detoxifiers. Most lettuces contain valuable amounts of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.
GRAPEFRUIT has immune-boosting, antiseptic, wound-healing and anti-bacterial properties.
GARLIC strengthens the heart and blood, and has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties. Also thought to help lower blood pressure. A key ingredient is allicin, which has cancer-fighting potential.
CRANBERRIES best known for helping to prevent and treat urinary tract infections, especially cystitis, in women. They have both anti-fungal and antiviral properties.
GINGER stimulates the immune system and circulation.
BROCCOLI - It's rich with a healthy supply of iron, calcium, fiber, and vitamin C, meaning it's good for the circulatory system, bones, and fighting colds.
TOMATOES - Yes, it's true that tomatoes used to be called "love apples" and have a reputation as a powerful aphrodisiac. Tomatoes have lycopene. This powerful antioxidant, which comes from the pigment that gives tomatoes their red color, may actually help fight off a number of diseases and ailments. Tomatoes are also that rare food that's more nutritious when cooked than when eaten raw. "Lycopene becomes more bio-available to the body after it's been heated," says nutritionist David Ricketts.
PINEAPPLE is the only food with natural bromelain (an enzyme group that aids digestion, reduces inflammation and swelling, and speeds healing). These enzymes are helpful for muscle and joint injuries, gout, and arthritis. Note: Cooking pineapple deactivates the bromelain.
ZUCCHINI - ChefMD says that zucchini helps fight age-related macular degeneration (the most common form of blindness in people 55 and older). The National Eye Institute found that a high intake of lutein significantly reduces the risk of macular degeneration. Zucchini is packed with lutein to help you protect your vision before age takes its toll.
ORANGES make the list for their wealth of vitamin C. Studies suggest this vitamin can reduce levels of stress hormones while strengthening the immune system. If you have a particularly stressful event coming up, you may want to consider supplements. In one study, blood pressure and cortisol levels returned to normal more quickly when people took 3,000 milligrams of vitamin C before a stressful task.
CHOCOLATE, Yeah baby - Dark Chocolate - A University of Nottingham professor found that drinking cocoa drinks rich in flavanols improves blood flow to key areas of the brain for two to three hours. Flavanols in the cocoa drink are a key ingredient of dark chocolate. Professor Macdonald’s study also suggested that cocoa flavanols in chocolate may enhance brain function to help fight sleep deprivation, fatigue, and the effects of aging. "Small amounts of dark chocolate can be a physical upper," says Becker at Johns Hopkins. "Dark chocolate has an effect on the levels of brain endorphins," those feel-good chemicals that our bodies produce. Not only that, but dark chocolate also seems to have a heart-healthy anti-clogging effect in our blood vessels. In one study from the Netherlands, Dutch men who ate 1/3 of a chocolate bar each day had lower levels of blood pressure and lower rates of heart disease. The chocolate also boosted their general sense of well-being. This was the good news, now here is the bad:
LOOKING GROOVY
Cut back on your sugar intake. Most people don't realize the toll sugar takes on their appearance. "Sugar is responsible for nearly half of all skin aging, because it inhibits the effectiveness of collagen within your skin cells," says Nicholas Perricone, M.D., adjunct professor at the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University and author of The Wrinkle Cure. Excess sugar in your system binds with collagen, causing a chemical change called glycosylation. Ideally, collagen molecules slide easily over each other, giving the skin a soft, elastic look. After being attacked by sugar, the collagen fibers become cross-linked and stick to each other, resulting in sagging and wrinkled skin. Glycosylation can also cause age spots and discolored marks on the skin by overworking melanocytes, the cells that provide pigment.
Avoiding sweets is a must, but identifying hidden forms of sugar is even more important. "Try to stay away from foods that are higher on the glycemic index, such as corn, bananas, potatoes and peas," says Perricone. Instead, eat more foods that are low on the glycemic index, such as kiwi, blueberries, peaches, leafy greens, broccoli and spinach. "These types of fruits and vegetables deliver sugar into your system at a slower rate, since they're also packed with fiber. They're also rich in antioxidants that help eliminate free radicals and reduce inflammation in the skin. Left unchecked, [free radicals] can lead to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, a weakened immune system and other health issues."
Switch from coffee to tea. Coffee raises cortisol levels for 12 to 14 hours. "Too much cortisol in the system is toxic to brain cells, thins your skin, decalcifies your bones, and suppresses your immune system," explains Perricone. Cortisol also kicks up insulin levels by raising your blood sugar, encouraging the storage of excess calories as fat. "Making the switch has been proven to show an average weight loss of up to eight pounds in just six weeks," says Perricone — and that's if no other change, such as beginning a workout program, is implemented during the same period
Actually, caffeine is not the culprit, but rather the organic acids found in coffee that causes cortisol levels to skyrocket. Switching to tea, whether caffeinated or decaffeinated, can curtail cortisol release and insulin spike while keeping you healthy minus the withdrawal symptoms. Black Tea research suggests black tea can help you recover from stressful events more quickly. One study compared people who drank four cups of tea daily for 6 weeks with people who drank a tea-like placebo. The real tea drinkers reported feeling calmer and had lower levels of cortisol after stressful situations.
Now we have the key ingredients for a recipe to make us feel and look calmer, younger and dare I say it, groovy!
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Marla Hoover is a practicing yogini, a registered RN, a Puerto Vallarta Real Estate professional and an accomplished journalist with over 300 published articles in both international and local print and online publications.
Click HERE for more articles by Marla Hoover. |
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