debor015

          So I’ve written a couple blogs that have mentioned the beneficial effects of antioxidants.   Thanks to your feedback, I’ve decided to dedicate a blog to explaining what exactly antioxidants are, why they’re beneficial, and how you can acquire them through your diet.            To begin, it’s important to know that because of oxygen, our atmosphere is highly reactive.   This means that the air we breathe is both good and bad for us.   So we can thank oxygen for life, however, we can also thank it for producing many of the diseases which ultimately lead to death.   Fortunately, we have antioxidants to help counteract many harmful oxygen-induced effects.             When we take a breath, a very complex set of chemical reactions take place in our bodies which enable us to produce and store energy.   During t...

          While iron is extremely important to our bodies, too much iron can be a bad thing.   We’ve all heard that antioxidants are good for your body.   Well this is because they “fight” oxidizing agents, which are harmful to your health.   Well, in certain instances, iron is an oxidizing agent.   Since our bodies are efficient at storing iron, various iron reserves tend to accumulate throughout one’s life.   Studies have in fact linked disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease with high levels of iron in the brain.   So what can you do?   Well because so much iron is contained in the red blood cells of your body, it’s a good idea to donate blood every once in a while.   When your body is forced to regenerate these blood cells, it calls upon its iron reserves to do so.   This in turn reduces your body’s iron, including that which is stored in your brain.   This health tip is even...

          In recent years, the consumption of fish has been widely advocated due to the health benefits associated with omega-3 fatty acids (FAs).   Diets high in fish, however, have also been associated with elevated exposures to toxic chemicals, mainly methyl mercury, and have therefore been linked to adverse health effects.   Such mixed messages have led to much confusion regarding whether or not, or to what extent, fish should be included in one’s diet.   Consequently, many organizations and agencies have published warnings about which fish should be avoided due to high mercury levels.   These messages, however, are limited in that they describe only fish that are bad because of high mercury without describing those that are most healthy due to high levels of FAs.   In this article, I’ve not only listed certain popular seafood to be avoided due to high levels of mercury, but also included fish that are important t...

          We’ve all heard that whole grain products are healthy.   Still it seems many people remain unaware as to the variety of health benefits of eating whole grain, and what makes whole grain healthy in the first place.   That said, I thought I’d use this blog to expand on the topic.   If I’ve succeeded, you’ll learn that whole grains are not luxury items, but instead are critical components to good health that should be incorporated into your every meal; ideally replacing far less healthy refined grains.   What exactly is a whole grain and how do whole grains differ from refined grains?   Basically, a grain consists of three “layers,” each layer consisting of a unique assortment of nutrients.   When a grain food contains the intact grain, or at least all parts of the grain in its original proportions, the food is considered to be a whole grain.   Through the process of refining, however, two layers...