KTK-Nutrition

Who doesn’t like some fresh fruit?   This week my husband stopped at the farmer’s market and brought home fresh raspberries, fresh yellow plums, peaches, and fresh corn in the husk.   He also brought home a fresh watermelon. The fruit and especially the watermelon were summer sweet.   Our neighbor just rang our doorbell and gave us some home-grown tomatoes.   All kinds of fruit will be coming your way during the summer months:   strawberries ripened on the vine, cherries from Washington, blueberries from Michigan.   Not only is fruit delicious, it is super healthy, low in fat and low in calories.   A few years back, Consumer Reports had an excellent article on 100 calorie summer fruits (June 2018) and 100 calorie picnic foods .    If you are going on summer picnics or barbeques this summer, read what a 100-calorie serving of barbeque foods look like.   Enjoy some 100-calorie fruit :   What about the “sugar” in fruit? Most frui...

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...

There are so many ideas for boosting brain power but what works?   Are there foods you can add that will give your brain a boost?   Consumer Reports has an interesting article , Boost Your Brain Power at Any Age .   The article covers many brain boosters like games but what about food?   Are there foods that give your brain cells a boost?   What really works? As people age, they are concerned with dementia and Alzheimer’s and just plain forgetfulness.   A study in The Lancet found that there are 12 factors we can control that will reduce dementia risk by 40%.   These factors include staying physically active, avoid smoking, and reducing obesity which also reduces one’s risk of type 2 diabetes.    What foods promote better brain health? Focus on leafy greens Choose those dark, leafy green vegetables like spinach, arugula, Romaine lettuce, kale, broccoli, collard greens, Bok choy, collard greens.   Unlike iceberg lettuce, dark, leaf...

What a great time of year to enjoy some fresh berries.   Last week my husband brought home some freshly picked strawberries.   Raspberries are soon to be plentiful but you can buy them all year.   Blueberries are considered a superfood.   My husband now says it is getting harder to even buy blueberries as they are sold out in many stores he goes to.   He now has to go to a store farther from our home in search of blueberries, but he did find a huge container of blueberries at Costco.   Searching out and stocking up on berries is worth it.   Why?   Because berries and other fruits and vegetables are so good for your health.   (See Superpower Fruits to Add to your Diet and Superpower Vegetables to Add to Your Diet .) Berries contain lots of different “phytochemicals” Berries are loaded with phytochemicals.   This sounds bad, but phytochemicals are good for your health.   Plants produce phytochemicals for protection .   “Phy...