Tag Archive for: phytonutrients

The Science Behind Holiday Spices: Nutmeg

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One of the signature spices of the holiday season is nutmeg, and nothing says nutmeg more than eggnog. For me, it can end right there but in doing the background research, I found nutmeg is used in a variety of holiday dishes from cookies to main dishes to holiday-spiced lattes.

Nutmeg is a commonly used spice derived from the seed of the Myristica fragrans tree. A little nutmeg goes a long way, so it’s used sparingly especially when grated fresh. Just like cloves, nutmeg is being researched for its health properties. In the past year, research studies have . . .

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The Science Behind Holiday Spices: Cloves

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No one has to tell us that Christmas and the New Year are coming; it’s in the air. You can smell the holiday season this time of year. This week, I’m going to cover three spices used this time of year and talk about some of the potential health benefits of each. I’m not suggesting their use makes foods healthy if they’re also high in sugar and fat—just that there’s some interesting science behind these spices.

If you prepare . . .

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Why You Need Your Seven

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Green leafy vegetables and fruit convey health benefits to eyes and men’s sexual function. Why? It all comes down to blood flow and specifically, how those foods help blood vessels.

Nitrates cause dilation of blood vessels, especially the minute blood vessels in the heart, the eyes, and other organs, exactly when we need it most. Most people associate nitrates with processed meats, but green leafy vegetables and root vegetables such as beets have a far greater nitrate content without dragging along a lot of fat and sodium. The nitrates provide the raw materials that help the nitric oxide system . . .

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Fruit Intake and Men’s Health

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On Monday I talked about a recent study on vegetables and glaucoma. Today the subject is fruit intake and men’s health, specifically, the relationship between eating certain types of fruit and erectile dysfunction. Wonder why I didn’t put that in the title? Because it would have ended in up in your spam folder. But this isn’t about inanimate objects such as computer programs and how they evaluate subject lines, it’s about phytonutrients.

Researchers again examined the data from the Healthcare Professionals Follow-up Study. This time, they examined the relationship between the specific phytonutrient intake typically . . .

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Rich Foods

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Today I finish up my look at Southern-style collard greens. On Thursday, I looked at bacon, one of the key ingredients in most recipes. Another is ham. As long as the ham is lean, it has much more protein than fat so that’s not a real concern at 45 calories per ounce. That leaves us with the greens and onions.

Adding a large white, yellow, or red onion doesn’t add many calories but it adds plenty of phytonutrients. It adds flavonols such as quercetin and kaempferol as well as another type of phytonutrient called allicins. Research shows . . .

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Bacon, Bacon, Bacon, Bacon, Bacon

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Bacon and eggs. Bacon on cheeseburgers. Bacon martinis. Bacon-caramel cupcakes. Bacon all by itself. If ever a food craze is in full swing, it’s the obsession we have with bacon. It satisfies the taste buds for salty and umami with a fatty texture. The primary concern from a health perspective is the amount of fat in the bacon.

The typical recipe for collard greens begins with bacon. The amounts vary but in order to add flavor to the greens, the smokiness of the bacon is one of the keys. It can’t be duplicated by simply adding salt . . .

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Poor Man’s Food

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Once again the events in my life have led me to write this week’s messages. First, I watched a presentation on flavonoids and their role in health by two of the country’s leading experts. Why we don’t eat more vegetables, herbs, and fruits is beyond me. Maybe it’s because of what happened in a conversation I had with one of the aides who works with my father-in-law in assisted living.

The conversation started when she asked me what I do. When I told her my background in nutrition, she asked how I felt about . . .

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Drinking Your Phytonutrients: The Bottom Line

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To finish this series, I’ll briefly cover two recent research studies on coffee and tea, and then give you the bottom line and a recipe.
 
Research
Green Tea and Neuronal Mitochondria
The mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cells, and that includes brain cells. When they operate at peak activity, they provide our brains with the energy for learning and memory. The downside is that they produce many free radicals in the process, and if we don’t have antioxidants to quench those free radicals, it can cause a decline in mental function. Researchers have recently . . .

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Drinking Your Phytonutrients: I Love Coffee

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I’ll say it again: I love coffee. I’ve been drinking it since my mother put coffee with a little sugar in my bottle when I was a baby; I guess she wanted me to stay awake. (Yes, that’s Ma and I in the photo; Paula’s feeling creative this week.)

In my lifetime, the health news has said coffee is both bad and good for you. Today it seems to be mostly on the plus side; there’s good reason for that and it appears the benefits are due to the phytonutrients and—surprise!—the caffeine.

Caffeine . . .

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Drinking Your Phytonutrients: Tea of Any Color

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Summer is here and with it, iced tea seems to be a staple drink. It gave me the idea to do a series on the phytonutrients we can get from our beverages. Getting people to eat vegetables can take some time, but everyone wants a cool drink in the summer and hot drink in the winter. This week is all about tea, coffee, and the latest research on both.

Let’s begin with tea from the leaves of Camellia sinensis. Based on world-wide statistics, black tea is consumed by 72% of the population while 36% drink green tea. Obviously . . .

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