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Healthy Ezine of the Week: Issue 311

Featured Article

Diet and Dieting Problems  Why doesn't my diet work? What are the downsides of dieting? Get the facts on diets and dieting problems.

Fitness Tip

New Light on Mushrooms
Mushrooms -- that sun-shunning edible fungus -- may turn out to be a potent new source of the sunshine vitamin. Preliminary research presented at a recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration forum suggests that briefly exposing white button mushrooms to ultraviolet light after they are harvested can pack them with a significant dose of vitamin D. WIth that addition, mushrooms could help reduce your risk of osteoporosis, heart disease, diabetes, and certain forms of cancer, including breast cancer. If further research supports it, growers may start exposing mushrooms to UV light while they are growing or before they reach the marketplace.

Nutrition Tip

Lunchtime Calcium

According to a sports nutritionist at Penn State University, it's best to take calcium with food because it's absorbed better. Your body can only absorb 500 milligrams of calcium at one time; any more is simply excreted. Lunch may be a better time than breakfast to take your calcium because your morning caffeine impairs calcium absorption.

Quip or Quote of the Week

Quip:
The longer a list of ingredients on a food package, the less healthy the food is!

Quick Recipe

Salad with Red Bartlett Pear
Toss sliced pears into a green pre-mixed salad. Add walnuts and Gorgonzola crumbles. Dress with a light raspberry vinaigrette.

Tidbit(s)

Fish Oil
More and more food makers are adding fish oil to their products for the heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. The added fish oils do not taste or smell fishy; you probably won't even notice them. You can now find them in StonyField Farm's new YoBaby Plus Fruit and Cereal yogurts (targeted to children) and in A.C. LaRocco frozen izzas and Gringos tortillas. This "wave" is just beginning -- watch for the ingredient in everything from bread to fruit chews to milk.

Food Fixes

When freezing liquids, leave a one-half inch headspace at the top of the container to allow for expansion.

When cooking green beans, avoid adding baking soda to your cooking water. It may keep that beautiful green color, but it will sap your beans of their nutrients.

Keep pasta hot by serving it in bowls rather than on flat plates. Warm the bowls beforehand in a 200 degree oven.

More  Cooking Tips and  Quick Cooking Tips on the Web site!

What's New?

Health Brochures -- Looking for some printed information? Check out our new Health Brochures!

New! Over 5,000 Food Facts now posted online! Check out the Food Facts here!

An eight-part series on Walking for Beneficial Exercise Includes a free printable chart to keep track of your walks!

All Natural Sexual Health -- Safe, proven, effective aids to a healthy, happy sex life, making YOU a healthier, happier individual!