Blog: Nutrition and Exercise for Health and Weight Control

Here’s a fast, nutrient packed meal that will give you the fuel you need for a high energy day. The best salmon is red sockeye, whose color comes from the carotenoid astaxanthin. This pigment is a powerful antioxidant that is preventive against cancer and nervous system disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Essential omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D are much in the news lately as they are highly anti-inflammatory and important for disease prevention. Unfortunately, requirements for both can be difficult to meet without supplements. Salmon is the best food source of both these nutrients and eating it 2-3 times a week would provide adequate omega-3’s and vitamin D. (more…)

50 million Americans suffer from hypertension and the salt in processed food is a primary factor as the connection between sodium consumption and high blood pressure is well known. Since high blood pressure is an enormous contributor to strokes and heart attacks, controlling it is of great importance.

The Effect of Food Processing

Many pre-packaged foods contain alarmingly high amounts of salt. Taste is lost due to refinement and the high temperatures involved in the manufacture of processed foods so salt is frequently added to enhance flavor. Most Americans get 75 percent of their total daily sodium from processed foods and take in an average of 4 to 6 grams per day, approximately double the recommended level of no more than 2,400 milligrams. (more…)

In the March, 2009 issue of Clinical Immunology, researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report that sulforaphane, a compound that occurs in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, significantly increases the body’s production of antioxidant enzymes.

All cruciferous (cabbage family) vegetables contain plant compounds known as glucosinolates, which are metabolized by the body into cancer-fighting isothiocyanates, a class of antioxidants. Sulforaphane, the primary member of this family, stimulates the production of detoxifying and antioxidant enzymes in the body. (more…)