Veggies: The World's Greatest Medicine

Better Choice: Olive Oil or Nuts?

We’ve all heard about the health benefits of olive oil. Nuts, too, are chock full of health benefits but many people fear the calories. However, the well known Nurses Study showed that those who ate nuts frequently were actually a little thinner than those who almost never consumed nuts.

Another study found that people on a Mediterranean-style diet, who added an extra ounce of nuts (about 20 almonds, 18 Cashews or 14 walnut halves) had a lower incidence of metabolic syndrome compared with those who ate the same diet but instead added 4 to 5 ounces more of olive oil every day. (Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of medical conditions that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.)

The best choice? Incorporate both nuts and olive oil into a healthy nutrition program.

Here's a cool chart that shows the nutrients in various nuts:

Nutrients in One Ounce of Tree Nuts and Peanuts

Green Tea Update

Two months ago, I wrote about the inferiority of most bottled green tea when compared to homemade. You can go back and read my original post. For the most part, the bottled variety does not give you the same health benefits as brewing your own.

Now Men's Health has confirmed my comments and ranks the brands. You'll find the article in the June edition or online here.

Are You Getting What You Expect From Green Tea?

Green tea is all the rage but are you getting all the health benefits from your brew? If you're buying bottled green tea instead of making it yourself, probably not.

Green tea is loaded with antioxidants known as catechins, which are believed to help prevent heart disease and cancer. So, with all the hoopla about this healthy beverage, the market for the product increased and manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon and started producing it.

Unfortunately, when green tea is bottled, it becomes cloudy. The process of "declouding" to improve the appearance involves removing many of the catechins which, in turn, reduces the health benefits. In fact, when bottled green teas (including major brands like Snapple and Lipton) were tested for the amount of catechins they contained, researchers found them to be extremely low and in some cases zero.

Another issue with any bottled tea is the high sugar content, which is not a good use of your calories if you're trying to drop body fat.

Last but not least, most commercial tea contains all kinds of unpronounceable chemicals. Our bodies don't even know how to properly digest that stuff. Healthy? No way.

As always, if it comes in a box, bag or bottle, limit your consumption if you're goal is good health, proper nutrition, and fat reduction.

So, if you're looking to take advantage of the many health benefits of green tea, stick to brewing your own.

Fitness More Important Than Fatness

We all know that the majority of American classify as overweight or obese. Obviously, there are many benefits to losing weight and I encourage people to do so. However, as I mentioned in my post of 12-26-07, I strongly believe in the importance of regular physical activity whether or not weight loss is the goal or the result.

Apparently, so does researcher and exercise physiologist Steven Blair of the University of South Carolina. According to an article on WebMD, Blair found that overweight and obese men and women who were judged fit on a treadmill test had a lower risk of death than those of appropriate weight with low fitness levels.

According to the results of Blair's study, participants judged to be in the lower 5th of fitness levels were four times more likely to die than those in the top 5th, regardless of the individual's weight.

Please don't misunderstand me. I am not dismissing the serious problem of obesity and this study does not give anyone an excuse for throwing in the towel on dropping pounds. My point is simply that far too many people think of exercise solely as a vehicle for weight management, which I find very frustrating. There are a huge number of physical, mental and emotional health benefits associated with regular physical activity, regardless of the size of the exerciser.

You can read the entire article here:
You Can Be Fat and Fit (and Live Longer!)