"Are These Fatty Acids Making You Sick?"

Many of us know about about the benefit of Omega 3 fatty acids and EPA and DHA. Thousands of scientific studies have shown us the multiple ways Omega 3 fatty acids benefit us not only in our cardiovascular health, but improving our metabolism, boosting our immune system and reducing the risk of certain diseases.

What research also shows us is that we don’t get nearly enough Omega 3 fatty acids in our diets. Food manufacturers tend to remove this from food because Omega 3 fats are susceptible to spoiling and they want to keep their foods fresh for as long as possible.

Many estimates say we consume more than 30 times more Omega 6 fats than Omega 3 fats.

Consuming large quantities of Omega 6 fats scientists believe may trigger inflammation, sensitivity to pain and thickening of the blood.

Click here to continue reading

How To Color Code Your Menu

There you are at the food market, trying to put together a healthy diet for a week, which requires some forethought about what you'll be in the mood for a few days from now. It also has you thinking about how much of something you might need to get the daily nutrition requirements.

The good news is that it doesn't have to be that difficult. The HEALTHY foods you eat every day - fruits and veggies, meats and meat substitutes, dairy products and good grains - all contain vital nutrients that contribute to a healthy diet. And, some - particularly, those deeply colored fruits and veggies - are considered "superstars" in this area. In fact, your best bet is to think color!

The natural color of food is a reliable indicator of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients it supplies. Here's a quick snippit based on color:

Green - Those dark green veggies you eat like broccoli, spinach and sugar snap peas are high in vitamin C.

Red, yellow, orange - Fruits and vegetables of these colors, such as carrots, sweet peppers and sweet potatoes, are high in beta carotene or Vitamin A, and they can also be rich in vitamin C.

White - White fruits and veggies, like mushrooms, potatoes and bananas, supply B vitamins and many minerals. White dairy products - milk, yogurt and cheese - provide ample amounts of calcium (and are usually fortified with vitamin D).

Purple - Purple or purplish-blue foods, like grapes and blueberries, are best known for their anti-cancer and heart-helping antioxidants. And, like most other fruits and veggies, they're also high in vitamin C and fiber.

Brown - Brown foods in the form of nuts, seeds and grains supply E and B vitamins, which include folic acid. Brown and white foods like meat, fish, poultry, tofu and legumes are stand out sources of proteins and minerals like iron and zinc.

So, the more colors you toss into your basket, the better chance you have of meeting all of your nutritional needs. And remember that you don't have to meet the daily requirement for every single nutrient every single day.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Montclair/Lowry - Baseball Game Results

Team A - 10

Team B - 10

Looks like we're in for a rematch!

Nice effort everyone.

Keeping Your Heart Healthy

With Valentines Day upon us, we thought an article about keeing your ticker ticking and happy would be in order...

By Nancy Clark, MS RD CSSD

Although exercise is one of the best ways to improve heart health, even athletes are not immune from heart disease. You have undoubtedly heard reports of marathon runners who die of heart attacks and football players who have strokes. Women, like men, need to pay attention to heart disease; it is the number one killer of women, higher than all cancers combined.

To address the topic of heart disease among active people, the Sports and Cardiovascular Nutrition practice group of the American Dietetic Association (www.SCANdpg.org) featured heart health as the theme of their annual convention (April 2008, Boston). The following bits of information from that conference might inspire you eat wisely to keep your heart beating for a long and healthful lifetime.

• First of all, when it comes to heart disease, you should know your cholesterol numbers. Get your blood tested for total, LDL and HDL cholesterol. Having a low LDL is the primary goal for reducing heart disease. If your LDL is >160 mg/dL, the sooner you lower it to <100,>

• Foods that actively lower LDL include oats, barley, soy, beans, almonds/nuts and plant sterols/stanols (added to margarines such as Benecol). Although each single food might have only a small cholesterol-lowering effect—for example, consuming three glasses of soy milk a day might lower LDL by only five percent, combining several of these foods becomes very powerful.

• Oatmeal is easy to add into a sports nutrition plan. If cooking oats is not your style, simply eat them raw—mixed in with cold cereal. For example, Wheaties + raw oats + slivered almonds + (soy) milk + fruit creates an easy heart-healthy breakfast. Microwaving a packet of instant oatmeal (with a spoonful of peanut butter) creates a tasty, effective pre-exercise and/or afternoon snack.

• Inflammation, caused by cholesterol-filled plaques in blood vessels, plays a role in heart disease. Foods that reduce inflammation include salmon and other oily fish, walnuts, fiber-rich whole grains, fruits, vegetables and even dark chocolate. Among fruits and veggies, the Big Six are apricots, celery, oranges, tomatoes, broccoli and spinach. Eat them often!

• Humans cannot make omega-3s, that 's why we need to eat them. A healthy person can get the recommended intake from fish. Just eight ounces salmon (the richest source) provides a week’s worth of omega-3’s. (Cardiac patients need more, necessitating fish oil pills.) Salmon is also a rich source of vitamin D. Three ounces canned pink salmon provides the daily requirement for D, which protects against high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer and many other health issues.

• The risk of heart disease increases with age, particularly as women enter menopause. Menopause increases fat deposition in the trunk/waist area, more so than on the legs and arms. This abdominal fat is linked with heart disease.

And that's where Boot Camp comes in.