KTK-Nutrition

Google “blueberries and health” and you will see article after article about the health benefits of blueberries.   My sister sent me one titled, 7 Science-Backed Benefits of Blueberries .   Growing up I often went blueberry picking with my grandparents.      My grandmother then made blueberry muffins, blueberry pie and blueberry sauce.    Little did I know that wild blueberries were especially healthy.      What are some of the health benefits of blueberries?          Heart health:   Blueberries help lower your bad LDL cholesterol while increasing your good, HDL cholesterol.   Additionally, blueberries help lower your blood pressure.   The antioxidants in blueberries help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.   To read more about blueberries and heart health, go to Heart Health . Improve brain function :   Studies on older adults have found that eating blueberri...

This week my husband showed me an interesting article in TIME, Can Taurine Slow Aging?   Who isn’t interested in slowing down father time?   Then my husband asked me if I knew what taurine was.   I said, “sure, it is an amino acid in some proteins.”   So, what does taurine have to do with slowing aging?   What foods have taurine?   Are there ways to increase taurine levels in your body besides eating certain foods?   What is taurine? As noted in my blog, How can you add some high-quality protein foods to your day? , proteins are made up of building blocks called amino acids.   Your body can make some amino acids but some you have to get from the foods you eat.   For babies taurine is an essential amino acid but adults can make the amino acid, taurine.      Taurine levels decline as you age. Although adults make taurine, the amount we make decreases substantially with age.   For example, in 60-year-old individuals,...

Who knew that what you eat affects your sleep.   Yes, overeating can lead to upset stomachs and affect your sleep.   Once my husband and I went out to a French restaurant.   We ordered some food with heavy sauces.   Our mistake.   We felt so full afterwards that we both could not sleep.   Others avoid coffee in the evening as the caffeine keeps them awake.   But are there foods that help promote better sleep? Americans need their sleep as the CDC says about one-third of us are failing to get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep every night.   The Cleveland Clinic notes, A good night’s sleep is critical to our health, giving our bodies time to rest, repair and rebuild. There are no magic foods that will immediately help you sleep.   But there are foods and beverages that can help.   In general, eating foods higher in fiber and lower in saturated fat can lead “to deeper, more restorative sleep”.   What pre-bedtime be...