Blog: Nutrition and Exercise for Health and Weight Control

Nuts have been shown in numerous studies to benefit health in many ways. Try to include a wide variety in your diet as well as legumes such as peanuts, and various forms of seeds. Here are some of the ways our most popular nuts protect health.

Almonds
Almonds are very high in vitamin E, which may guard against heart disease. Almonds contain a natural form of the same drugs used to treat Alzheimer’s disease.

Brazil nuts
Brazil nuts are extremely high in the mineral selenium (1 nut exceeds the Dietary Reference Intake). These nuts may help to prevent cancer and heart disease. Selenium also helps the immune system fight off viral illness. (more…)

I concocted this last Sunday when I had some things that needed being used up and the whole family loved it. If you don’t have cauliflower, you could substitute a large package of frozen mixed vegetables, about 4 cups. You could thaw them out first or just add it frozen. It’ll just take a little longer, about 20 minutes more, if they’re frozen.

I put the following in a bowl and 12 year old, Gigi, mixed it with her hands. (more…)

Tai Chi Chuan is a traditional Chinese martial art that is mostly practiced for its health and longevity benefits. In the first Tai Chi class I took, about 6 years ago, I met a woman who stated that practicing these gentle, fluid movements had normalized her high blood pressure. Since so many people the world over have experienced such remarkable health benefits from Tai Chi, it has become a focused area of medical research in recent years.

In 2008, The Journal of Preventive Cardiology published a review conducted by Harvard Medical School in Boston. They examined 26 separate studies on the effects of Tai Chi and concluded that it is able to significantly reduce blood pressure. (more…)

This is Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit

Four months ago I started taking classes in Shaolin Cosmos Chi Kung (pronounced chee-gong) and Tai Chi from Anthony Korahais at the Gainesville Wellness Center on the recommendation of my son, Moishe. Since then I’ve been practicing 10 to 30 minutes a day and find it very enjoyable and highly rewarding.

These forms of exercise affect the body in dramatically different ways than traditional Western exercise. I’ve noticed I have more energy, am sleeping much better, and have more resistance to viral infections.

The Shaolin Cosmos Style

My instructor gained his knowledge from Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit of the Shaolin Wahnam Institute in Malaysia. This style of Chi Kung and Tai Chi was developed by monks of the Shaolin Monastery in China, dating from 495 AD. (more…)

Phyto is short for phytonutrients and phytochemicals. These are healthful plant compounds that are essential to disease prevention and over 25,000 have been identified.

Vegetables in the cabbage family are particularly healthful as they contain powerful antioxidants such as indol-3-carbinol and sulforaphane. Many of the compounds in these vegetables are protective against macular degeneration, the disease responsible for more blindness among the elderly than any other cause. (more…)