Okay, so I got a few responses about vegetables, even my mother piped in.  But extra thanks to Jen Everett, our Acupuncturist who wrote a wonderful post for us to share with you.  Needless to say, me and Maddie and Mia washed and cut up some carrots, cucumbers, red bell pepper, peas, tomatoes and celery and made our own little veggie plates (kind of like the ones at Starbucks) except ours don't cost $5 and don't have that really delicous but fattening dressing and ours are organic.

It was kind of fun, I cut up the veggies and Mad and Mia would have to count how many veggies to put into each dish.  This was great for them because they are 5 and 6, sorry if your kids are older, they may not take as much joy in this as my kids.

Here is what Jen has to say tell me you don't want to go out and buy a lot of apples!)

We've all heard it before - eat your fruits & veggies to stay healthy, an apple a day keeps the doctor away, etc. but why?? Well there are actually many reasons that have been scientifically proven so here goes...

A diet rich in fruits and vegetables has been shown to decrease your risk for heart disease, cancer, stroke, high blood pressure and obesity (all the major problems of our society), and a whole host of other health issues (if you ask me).

You've probably heard that fruits and vegetables are high in antioxidants but what are antioxidants and what do they do for us?

Antioxidants help protect us against free radicals which damage tissues, cause inflammation and aging. These free radicals are occurring constantly as a result of normal metabolism, which is why it is so important to always eat our fruits and vegetables to counteract the constant damage taking place. Because such damage is associated with increased cancer risk, antioxidant nutrients are thought to protect against cancer. Antioxidant nutrients include vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium and carotenoids. Studies suggest that people who eat more fruits and vegetables containing these antioxidants have a lower risk for cancer. Interestingly, clinical studies of antioxidant supplements, however, have not demonstrated a reduction in cancer risk, showing that isolating the antioxidants from the whole food is inferior to eating the whole food, fruit, or vegetable.

Also contained in fruits and veggies is carotenoids. These are a group of pigments in fruits and vegetables that include alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein and many other compounds. Consumption of foods containing carotenoids is also associated with a reduced cancer risk.

The term "phytochemicals" refers to a wide variety of compounds produced by plants. Some of these compounds protect plants against insects or have other biologically important functions. Some have either antioxidant or hormone-like actions both in plants and in people who eat them. Because consumption of fruits and vegetables reduces cancer risk, researchers are searching for specific compounds in these foods that might account for the beneficial effects. There is no evidence that taking phytochemical supplements is as beneficial as consuming the fruits, vegetables, beans and grains from which they are extracted.

Once again, this shows that there are many nutrients and chemicals in foods and, most likely, they act in a synergistic manner. If you want to be sure you're getting all the health benefits, eat fruits and vegetables whole -- lots of them and often.

So why do they say "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"?

Well because the apple is a "natural born cancer cell killer" and more. Researchers at the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research in Strasbourg exposed cancer cells to apple antioxidants. They found that one type of antioxidant that is prominent in apples, procyanidins, was particularly effective in triggering cancer cell deaths. The French team then did a second-stage study for which they exposed laboratory rats to colon-cancer-causing substances and then fed one of two groups of rats the apple procyanidins for six weeks. The rats that fed on the antioxidant developed half as many precancerous lesions as the group on regular feed.

An earlier cell culture study at CornellUniversity also demonstrated that apple extract inhibited colon cancer cells, but this study reports that the effectiveness seems to come from not just one, but all antioxidants contained in apples, especially those in the skin. A recent Cornell review of the literature on apple research showed that apples also are protective against several other types of cancer, as well as cardiovascular disease and asthma.

I believe this to be true as I have seen an example of it through my work. I have a 71 year old patient who has smoked for more than 30 years and yet she has never had cancer. Why? I believe it is because she has always eaten a diet high in fruits and vegetables and she told me she loves apples and eats at least one every day.

So as you can see, fruits and vegetables are full of healthful nutrients and as Tiff mentioned, extremely low in calories. So here are some suggestions to boost your intake of fruits and vegetables...

At breakfast, eat a fruit salad with cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries and apples. Or throw some fresh or dried fruit into your cereal or yogurt.

           At lunch, add vegetables like tomato, broccoli and celery to a salad.

           At dinner, make vegetable soup that includes onion, zucchini and carrots.

For snacks, fruit is always a great choice. I also love trail mix because of its convenience factor.  

	9/26/2008
		Goal	2100	70	210	158	25
	Time	Food/Beverage Description	Calories	Fat	Carbs	Protein	Fiber
Meal
#1	7:00	Isagenix	231	6	28	23	7
	10:00	Chocolate Milk	400	6	50	20	0
Snack
#1
	12:00	Fish Tacos	290	16	30	7	2
Meal
#2
	2:30	3 oz Turkey Pastrami	91	0.8	1.5	19.8	0
Snack		Organic Fuji Apple	72	0	19	0	3
#2		8 oz Milk	105	2.4	12.2	8.5	0
		3 little tiny pb cookies
	4;30	Mix 1 Protien Drink	200	2.5	29	15	3
Meal		Carrots
#3
	6:30	Cottage Cheese w/ Berries	203	4.4	8	31	0
	7:00	Eggplant Parmesan	280	19	23	5	4
Snack
#3	9:30	Fit Body Bar	242	7	38	10	4
h2o		Daily Totals	2114	64.1	238.7	139.3	There are no comments to this entry. Post New Comment    BraveJournal Member Non-Member Your Name: URL or Email: Your Username: Your Password: Comments: No Smilies More Smilies » Please type the letters you see Bravenet Blog Get One For Free! powered by bravenet.com