Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Does an Apple a Day REALLY have an impact?

You've heard it a thousand times. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Did you ever stop and ask yourself how? Today you will find out the secret behind that Granny Smith, Rome, or Delicious Apple.

True, "Eating your fruits and vegetables" is one of the tried and true recommendations for a healthy diet - and for good reason. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables can help you ward off heart disease and stroke, control blood pressure and cholesterol, prevent some types of cancer, avoid a painful intestinal ailment called diverticulitis, and guard against cataract and macular degeneration, two common causes of vision loss.


But what does "plenty" mean? More than most Americans consume!

The latest dietary guidelines call for five to thirteen servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Imagine eating 15 golden delicious, Washington, or Macintosh a day. That's a lot - isn't it?

The largest and longest study to date, completed as part of the Harvard-based Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, included almost 110,000 men and women whose health and dietary habits were followed for 14 years. The higher the average daily intake of fruits and vegetables, the lower the chances of developing cardiovascular disease. According to these two Harvard studies, for every extra serving of fruits and vegetables that participants added to their diets per day, their risk of heart disease dropped by 4 percent.


Increasing fruit and vegetable intake by as little as one serving per day can have a real impact on heart disease risk. That's right, just one winesap apple a day will do it!


Fruits and vegetables are clearly an important part of a good diet. Almost everyone can benefit from eating more of them, but variety is as important as quantity. No single fruit or vegetable provides all of the nutrients you need to be healthy. The key lies in the variety of different fruits and vegetables that you eat.



That’s why your favorite Hook up with Health Wholefood Farmacy Foods are made from a wide variety of great tasting fruits and veggies!

Fruitalicious, Fruitalicious Plus, Veggielicious and Veggielicious Spice offer a delicious and very convenient way for you, your family and your children to get plenty of fruits and veggies every day. YUM!

Hook up Health and one more piece of fruit a day!

www.hookupwithhealth.wholefoodfarmacy.com

Thursday, February 22, 2007

YAMS - Why are they SO GOOD for you?

Did you know that Yams are a good source of both potassium and vitamin B6, two nutrients that your body needs every day? That's right. Yams containg both Vitamin B6 and Potassium, plus more.

Vitamin B6 helps your body break down a substance called homocysteine, which can cause damage to blood vessel walls. High intakes of vitamin B6 have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Potassium is a mineral that helps to control blood pressure. In the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) study, one study group ate servings of fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy food in place of snacks and sweets. This approach offered more potassium, magnesium and calcium. After eight weeks, this group lowered their blood pressure by an average of 5.5 points (systolic) over 3.0 points (diastolic). Yams also contain a storage protein called Dioscorin. Preliminary research suggests that Dioscorin can help your body to achieve increased kidney blood flow thereby reducing blood pressure.

In addition, Yams' complex carbohydrates and fiber deliver the goods gradually, slowing the rate at which their sugars are released and absorbed into the bloodstream. Because they're rich in fiber, yams fill you up without filling out your hips and waistline. Yams are also a good source of manganese, a trace mineral that helps with carbohydrate metabolism and is a cofactor in a number of enzymes important in energy production and antioxidant defenses.

At hookupwithhealth.wholefoodfarmacy.com you can find our Farmacy Gourmet V-10 Creamy Yam Soup. It's a yummy way to offer your body all of the wonderful benefits that Yams have to offer.

Hook up with the benefits of YAMS today

www.hookupwithhealth.wholefoodfarmacy.com

Monday, February 19, 2007

Are you RAIS-IN your hands for a top antioxidant food?

Raisins rank among the top antioxidant foods, according to USDA government tests. Early findings suggest that eating plenty of fruits high in antioxidants, such as raisins may help slow the processes associated with aging in both body and brain.

Andrew J. Dannenberg, M.D. a cancer researcher at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University reports that the antioxidant catechin, found in raisins and some other fruits and vegetables, in the diet of mice genetically predisposed to intestinal tumors reduced the number of tumors by at least 70 percent compared to the control group. This type of study adds to the body of evidence which shows that components of fruits and vegetables have the potential to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, colorectal adenomas and other gastrointestinal tumors.

Carl L. Keen, Ph.D. from the University of California Davis reports that a significant amount of raisins eaten daily for 4 weeks increased the plasma antioxidant capacity. This in turn decreased the level of circulating oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) also known as the “bad cholesterol”. These data clearly show raisins are an important part of 5-a-day diet and that benefits of eating raisins are similar to benefits seen when eating other fruits and vegetables with these plant antioxidants.

Christine D. Wu, M.S., Ph.D. of the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Dentistry has found that raisins contain compounds including oleanolic acid that inhibit in vitro growth of Streptococcus.mutans, the bacteria in the mouth responsible for tooth decay. Oleanic acid and other compounds in raisins also inhibit organisms associated with periodontal disease, including Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum. Oleanolic acid is most effective in suppressing in vitro plaque formation by Streptococcus mutans. Prevention of plaque building up on the tooth surface is critical both for preventing tooth decay and promoting healthy gums.

Mary Ellen Camire, Ph.D. of the University of Maine reports that dietary fiber and other components may reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer by binding bile acids and causing their elimination from the body. Camire’s study confirms that eating fibrous foods, such as raisins, stimulates the body to replace the bile acids that have been eliminated by making them from its own cholesterol, thus potentially lowering serum cholesterol and the risk of coronary heart disease. Furthermore, bile acids that are bound by fibers such as those in raisins will not be metabolized to a more toxic form and this may potentially reduce cancer risk.

Gene A. Spiller, Ph.D. of the Sphera Foundation and Health Research Studies Center - Los Altos, CA reports feeding of raisins along with peanuts to 10-12 year old children prior to a soccer game resulted in lower increases in blood glucose and insulin than a snack of a white bagel and jam. This is important because it means a more steady fuel supply to the exercising muscle of the young players. Lower insulin levels are advantageous because high levels of circulating insulin can promote the laying down of fat and may lead to insulin resistance, a concern among US children today, where rates of obesity and type 2 Diabetes are increasing.

You, your family and your children can enjoy all of the health benefits that raisins have to offer with your favorite Wholefood Farmacy foods such as Phi Plus, Cranberry Phi, Fruitalicious, Fruitalicious Plus and Cornaborealis.

Hook up with Health and Raisins today!

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Friday, February 09, 2007

Where's the Fruit?

PARENTS - LISTEN UP!!!

According to a study released by the Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity Environments over half of the most aggressively advertised children’s foods that prominently feature fruit on their packaging contain no fruit at all. Did you hear that? There was no fruit at all!!!!

The study - Where’s the Fruit? reveals that 51 percent of these commercially sold products do not contain fruit, and another 16 percent contain only minimal amounts of fruit despite prominent fruit promotions on the packaging.

“Parents drawn to products that seem healthier for their children based on references to fruit on the packaging are being deceived,” explains Leslie Mikkelsen, a registered dietician with the Strategic Alliance and lead author of the study. “Food and beverage companies are some of the most sophisticated communicators in the world and are clearly capable of accurately reflecting what is in their products if they wanted to.”

The Where’s the Fruit? study identifies the most heavily advertised children’s food products that include words and images of fruit and/or fruit ingredients on the packaging. A total of 37 products were included in the final study, and their ingredient lists were analyzed to determine the presence of fruit ingredients. A full 51% of the products contained no fruit ingredients at all despite the images of fruits and use of words such as “fruity,” “fruit flavors” and “berry” on the packaging.

“The nation is facing a staggering epidemic of chronic diseases that result from poor eating and physical inactivity,” cautions Dr. Andria Ruth, a pediatrician for the Diabetes Resource Center of Santa Barbara. “Children are particularly affected and these food companies are making parents’ jobs even harder by using misleading packaging to lead them to think that they are making a healthy choice when they are not."

If you’re tired of being misled when it comes to the food that your children eat, then let www.hookupwithhealth.wholefoodfarmacy be your oasis of truth amidst this desert of deception.

At Hook Up With Health we believe in truthfully describing our products and we don’t rely on fancy artwork or neon colored pictures to get the job done. All of our full sized food packages feature a clear see-though front panel so that you can actually see what’s inside.

Fruitalicious is 100% Fruit - and we’re proud to show you what’s inside.

With your health and wellness in mind!

www.hookupwithhealth.wholefoodfarmacy.com