Men's Health has some really awesome articles...what's with giving men all the health information while we get articles like "10 Ways to Make Your Man Wild!" and "15 Ways to Make Yourself More Attractive to Men!" Anyways, check out this article...I was especially interested in the part about purslane (Dr. Oz just talked about it on Oprah, too...wonder if I'll ever find it out here in the boonies?), the new info on diabetes and cinnamon (more than they knew before), and the great info about the sugar in Goji berries (which taste amazing, BTW!!! ). What do you all think about the info on beets? Does anyone eat the greens? I'm not a fan of them, so never minded that they are too high in sugar for us to eat...but I wonder if Dr. A will change that if they seem healthy enough?
Quote:
... 5. Cinnamon
This old-world spice usually reaches most men's stomachs only when it's mixed with sugar and stuck to a roll.
Why it's healthy: Cinnamon helps control your blood sugar, which influences your risk of heart disease. In fact, USDA researchers found that people with type-2 diabetes who consumed 1 g of cinnamon a day for 6 weeks (about 1/4 teaspoon each day) significantly reduced not only their blood sugar but also their triglycerides and LDL (bad) cholesterol. Credit the spice's active ingredients, methylhydroxychalcone polymers, which increase your cells' ability to metabolize sugar by up to 20 times.
How to eat it: You don't need the fancy oils and extracts sold at vitamin stores; just sprinkle the stuff that's in your spice rack (or in the shaker at Starbucks) into your coffee or on your oatmeal.
...
8. Goji berries
These raisin-size fruits are chewy and taste like a cross between a cranberry and a cherry. More important, these potent berries have been used as a medicinal food in Tibet for over 1,700 years.
Why they're healthy: Goji berries have one of the highest ORAC ratings -- a method of gauging antioxidant power -- of any fruit, according to Tufts University researchers. And although modern scientists began to study this ancient berry only recently, they've found that the sugars that make goji berries sweet reduce insulin resistance -- a risk factor of diabetes -- in rats.
How to eat them: Mix dried or fresh goji berries with a cup of plain yogurt, sprinkle them on your oatmeal or cold cereal, or enjoy a handful by themselves. You can find them at specialty supermarkets or at gojiberries.us.[From Laurie: I find them at my local Wegman's in the Nature's Market section and they're also at my local Co-op/health food store.]
I put cinnamon, nutmeg, and a splash of all-spice in my coffee grinds when I brew coffee - yummy fall flavored coffee. I tend to do it all year long though! I love cinnamon and put it on/in anything I can
My husband and I dump a ton of cinnamon on our oatmeal. His fasting blood sugar used to run around 100 but now is around 85. As for some of the other food listed, I hate beets, love cabbage, but never heard of goji berries or purslane. I don't think either would be available in my area. Have to check out the dried plums.
I take cinnamon capsules because that way I know I'm getting it in. I also dump it all over anything that might make sense to dump it in. My mole is so cinnamony that it's ridiculous (but low fat and healthy too!).
We have pomegranate juice in the school store, but it's like $4.00 for an 8oz bottle! I hate that it's so expensive... though if I get it, I pour a little into another cup and add a ton of water.
Though it's not listed, look into acai juice and acai berries. They actually have more antioxidants and vitamins than pomegranate. The juice I buy is better too- it's sweetened with agave rather than sugar like most pomegranate juices are.
Thanks for the heads up! I knew about some of these and surprisingly some of them are old standards like the plums and cinnamon that have been a part of my life since I was a kid.
I will definitely check out the others and I am sure that any organic grocery store should have some of those. I am open to trying anything once.
Isn't it funny how it all gets back to eating like we did before all of these fast food restaurants, when there was gardens in almost everyone's back yard and added chemicals/addictives were NOT in our foods and we could actually pronounce the ingredients on the labels and know what they were since they were basics like spinach, water and salt!
The "good old days" really were just that! Here's to beets, cinnamon and all the other things for our health!!
When I lived in central NY I had purslane everywhere in my garden. It's followed me here to VT. Once you see a picture of it you may discover that you've been mowing and pulling it up for years. I've never tried to eat it though, even though I've heard good things about it. Hmmmm maybe this spring
pamatga, I totally agree! Here's to eating healthy from our own gardens! I just finished reading an awesome nonfiction book by Barbara Kingsolver called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It's fabulous--all about how things went when she and her family decided to live only on what they raised themselves or could buy locally within an hour's radius. (they did buy fair trade coffee and spices from the grocery store and such, but everything else was local) It's about eating things when they are in season, about how factory farming has hurt us all, and how much pollution is a result of trying to eat everything all the time instead of only when it's in season. It's truly amazing and comes complete with recipes. (Just one warning--if you're vegetarian or vegan, you might want to skip one of the chapters which is on raising animals for food. ) There's also a website for the book with all the recipes.
Allie, I'm dying to know the brand of Acai juice you drink! I think with the acidity of the acai berry, it should be enough to keep blood sugar low, especially if it's in small quantities. Wanna share?
Last year after Christmas my grocery store had a big basket full of bags of cinnamon sticks for 99cents. I bought about 10 bags of them and all year I've been throwing them in the pot when I brew tea or putting one in my homemade lattes. Sooo yummy, but who knew it was good for us too? Hooray!!
Thanks for posting that, Laurie! Interesting read. We've just begun putting pomegranate seeds on salads, and Tom made a great (his judgement, not mine as I didn't eat it!) chicken dish with pomegranate. Be careful with the juice...it tends to be a laxative! I can't drink more than four ounces at a time or I have a big problem. I like to put a splash of the juice in a smoothie. Yum!
I hope Dr. A does look into approving beets for South Beach. I love fresh beets, especially baked in the oven. MMMMMMMMM, good! I use lots of cinnamon on a daily basis. I add it to my coffee beans when I brew a pot, sprinkle it on oatmeal, yogurt, cottage cheese, and even put it in chili. And it's fantastic in a cup of cocoa!
Ulck. Beets! I am not a fan. We got some last year from a local farmer and I tried them a couple different ways. We did really like borscht soup (did I spell that right?) but the rest of the recipes were flops. They were good recipes, I'm guessing, we just didn't care for them. Too earthy. I don't like my food to taste like dirt.
Kara, I don't like beets either, though I did try them about six different ways in the years before I started SBD. I didn't eat many veggies back then, though, so maybe I'd feel differently now? I agree with the dirt thing, though! Still, I admire people like cottage and my DH who like them...they're so healthy! A good borscht is so healthy for you if you use a lean cut of meat (or make it without)...all those veggies! Plus, it has both beets and cabbage, 2 of the 10 foods down!
Cottage, I sprinkle cinnamon over my coffee grounds before starting the pot sometimes, too! I usually think of it as New Orleans coffee, though I'm not adding any chicory. Cat, do you think adding cinnamon is a New Orleanian (sp???) thing to do, or am I just pulling that out of nowhere?
Laurie- I drink Bossa Nova brand. They come in original, blueberry, passion fruit, and mango flavors. I'm not a HUGE fan of the original flavor (I like passion fruit!) but I feel like I'm reaping more benefits that way.
"The 10 Best Foods You Aren't Eating"
Anyways, check out 
). What do you all think about the info on beets? Does anyone eat the greens? I'm not a fan of them, so never minded that they are too high in sugar for us to eat...but I wonder if Dr. A will change that if they seem healthy enough? 
Some I knew about, some I didn't
I just finished reading an awesome nonfiction book by Barbara Kingsolver called 
) There's also a 
I agree with the dirt thing, though! 
Still, I admire people like cottage and my DH who like them...they're so healthy! A good borscht is so healthy for you if you use a lean cut of meat (or make it without)...all those veggies! Plus, it has both beets and cabbage, 2 of the 10 foods down! 