Weekly Wellness
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 pizzas 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.