Juice it UP!

Raw foods put you back in touch with food’s real taste, real texture, and whole fiber.
Eating raw foods allows you to keep a good balance of enzymes in your system as
well. When you combine a diet higher in raw foods with the use of juicing, you
get the added advantage of concentrated vitamins and minerals in a readily
bioavailable form. Click here for the Best Blender around!

Related articles

• Juice it UP! (mswilder28.wordpress.com)
• What Are Raw Foods? (eatrightforyourbody.wordpress.com)

Should You Quit Taking Vitamins?

Well, there is this: A recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that taking multivitamins and other supplements may actually shorten your life. Uh-oh.

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/menshealth/should-you-quit-taking-vitamins

See Juice Plus+ on Lifetime Television next Monday, October 31

As many of you know, Juice Plus+ has partnered with Lifetime Television’s The Balancing Act to help spread the word on the importance of eating more fruits and vegetables — especially when it comes to our children.

 

The Balancing Act is Lifetime’s morning show created especially for today’s busy woman. Juice Plus+ pediatrician Valerie Miles, M.D. and “mom on a mission” Toni Olson appear in a segment on children’s health which will air again on Monday, October 31. The first airing was on October 3.

 

Time:

7:00 – 8:00 am Eastern and Pacific

6:00 – 7:00 am Central

5:00 – 6:00 am Mountain

 

Check your local cable or satellite television listings for the Lifetime channel number in your area.

 

The Balancing Act is viewed by 2.7 million women nationwide, every day.

 

You can now find a “call out” to watch the video on the homepages of JuicePlus.com, your personalized Juice Plus+ website, and the Children’s Health Study website. We’ve also posted the segment on the Juice Plus+ YouTube Channel and Juice Plus+ Facebook page. Our segment will also appear and be archived on The Balancing Act website (TheBalancingAct.com).

 

In addition to the two television airings and the on-going video links, Juice Plus+ will also appear in The Balancing Act newsletters and magazines and on their social media sites. Stay tuned for complete details.

Why We Need Juice Plus NOW, more than ever

We all know that these are challenging economic times. While there are many positive signs of economic recovery, the official jobless rate is still hovering around 10%. Most families have been forced to cut back and trim their budgets. And yet, sales of dietary supplements rose 6.5% in 2010 over 2009! It is now estimated that fully two-thirds of adult Americans regularly take some type of dietary supplement. When asked “Why?” the most common response is, “Because I know I don’t eat as healthy as I should.”

                People see supplementation as a hedge against a less-than-perfect lifestyle. It appears to make sense. In times like these who can afford to get sick? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2008 estimated that the average cost of a doctor visit was $174.00; an average prescription over $54.00; the average OTC medicine $25.00; and the cost of a day of work missed $150.00. That’s a lot of money that can really add up for a family.

 

                When people say they take supplements because they know they don’t eat right, what are they really saying? We know, don’t we? We know that the single biggest deficiency in the modern diet is the low regular consumption of fruits and vegetables. In fact, the newest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, published at the end of 2010 by the USDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, now recommends 9 – 13 servings of fruits and vegetables daily. The average American does not get anywhere close to the recommended amount. We need something to fill the gap. What Americans really need to supplement their diet is Juice Plus+®!  

 

First of all, Juice Plus+® is a whole food based product made from juicing a wide variety of nutritionally dense fruits and vegetables. Secondly, it is backed by 22+ independent, published, peer-reviewed clinical studies conducted at some of the best universities and research centers all over the world. These studies show that Juice Plus+® delivers many of the same type of health benefits that people get from a diet rich in fruits and vegetables:

 

-          Increased levels of Antioxidants in the body

-          Reduction of Oxidative Stress

-          Support of a Healthy Immune System

-          Protection of DNA

-          Improvement of Key Indicators of Cardiovascular wellness

-          Positive impact on Markers of Chronic Inflammation

-          Improvement of several Markers of Skin Health

-          Reduction of days with Moderate to Severe Cold Symptoms

 

No other name-brand nutritional support product can make these statements, because none has ever had this quantity and quality of scientific research behind it.  

 

I have had the privilege of working in the dietary supplement industry for over 20 years. In that time I have come to know many of the executives of the best companies in the industry. All of the leading companies, including NSA are members of trade associations who work diligently to: 

 

1.     Improve the manufacturing and quality standards of our industry,

2.     Help increase consumer confidence in our products, and

3.     Create an environment which allows member companies to operate with reasonable legislation and regulation.  

 

The top companies in our industry are also committed to science. But one of the biggest challenges for the industry is trying to consistently demonstrate the efficacy of its products through credible, independent, peer-reviewed, published clinical research. In fact much of the industry’s public relations efforts are devoted to defending research on vitamin / mineral ingredients that did not achieve a positive result.   There is no other name brand nutritional support product that has more credible, third-party, published, peer-reviewed science than Juice Plus+®.

 

        We are so fortunate to be part of a company that is having a positive impact on the lives of people all over the world. Juice Plus+® really is making a difference in the health of families world-wide. Here is just a sample of benefits reported to the Juice Plus+® Children’s Health Study, based on nearly   200,000 responses. After 4 – 8 months of consistently taking Juice Plus+® families report:

       

	Children	Adults
Eating more fruits and vegetables	51%	61%
Taking less prescriptions or OTC medication	46%	34%
Fewer doctor visits	55%	42%
Less school or work missed	48%	43%

 

This data translates not only to healthier families and better quality of life, but also represents a tremendous savings of real dollars to these Juice Plus+® families. JuicePlus+® really is what America needs to bridge the most glaring nutritional gap in our diets. Through the Juice Plus+® products, NSA offers people scientifically proven benefits and hope of a better quality of life. We can all be proud of the fact that we represent a company and a product that is making a difference. We all play an important role in providing the nutritional support that people need today more than ever before: Juice Plus+®.

 

John J. Blair,

Sr. VP of Product and Research for NSA, LLC.

Fitness – 24 Hour Fitness Blog & Forum Home

Fitness – 24 Hour Fitness Blog & Forum Home.

Recipe of the Month Pumpkin Shake!

                            Recipe of the Month!                                     

Pumpkin Shake!

1
scoop of JP+ Vanilla Complete

1
tsp. vanilla extract

ice

coconut
milk (just to make it the consistency you want)

1/2
tsp. pumpkin pie spice or more to taste

1/4
tsp. cinnamon

3
Tbsp. pureed pumpkin

10 “Eat Clean Recipes”Phytonutrient-Rich “No-Milk” Shakes Using Juice Plus+ Complete

10 “Eat Clean Recipes”

Phytonutrient-Rich “No-Milk” Shakes Using Juice Plus+ Complete

Why “No Milk” While we don’t
completely avoid dairy, Andy and I have decreased our dairy consumption
substantially over the years. We now mostly use just a little cheese here and
there for flavor, but no milk at all. If we buy yogurt we buy only organic
grass-fed, but this isn’t the easiest to find. And, since between 30 and 50
million people in the United States are lactose intolerant I think it’s best to
provide lactose-free shake recipes. We prefer plant-based phytonutrient-rich
almond milk and hemp milk to dairy milk (both are easy to find in any
supermarket and come in soft box containers.) You could also use unsweetened
soy milk if you prefer (such as Silk brand) but since Juice Plus+ Complete
includes soy we think it’s a good idea to incorporate hemp milk or almond milk
for diversification.

What
are Hemp Seeds?
We use hemp seeds in most of the recipes because they are super nutrient-dense.
They are rich in essential omega-3 and omega-6 fats and contain about 25%
protein and 10 to 15% fiber. Hemp seeds add a nutty, rich taste to shakes and
also provide a rich array of minerals, particularly potassium, magnesium and
calcium.Hemp seeds can be purchased in nutrition stores or Whole
Foods Market. They are also available online at www.nutiva.com
(look for Nutiva “Organic Shelled Hempseed”) For more
information on Hemp Seeds click HERE.

**All recipes are
vegan, gluten-free, wheat-free and dairy-free

Recipes
for Vanilla Juice Plus+ Complete:

1.
Cinnamon-Blueberry Sensation

1 scoop Vanilla Juice
Plus+ Complete

1/2 cup hemp milk or
almond milk

1/2 cup frozen
blueberries

1/4 teaspoon
cinnamon, plus more to taste

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons hemp
seeds

For additional
sweetness use Truvia or Purevia to taste (both are made from Stevia)

Blend ingredients for
30-40 seconds in a high speed blender.

———————————————————————————-

2.
Lemon-Peach Pie Smoothie

1 scoop Vanilla Juice
Plus+ Complete

1/2 cup hemp milk or
almond milk

1/2 cup frozen
peaches

1/4 teaspoon pure
lemon extract

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons hemp
seeds

For additional
sweetness use Truvia or Purevia to taste (both are made from Stevia)

Blend ingredients for
30-40 seconds in a high speed blender.

———————————————————————————-

3.
Raspberries and Cream Smoothie

1 scoop Vanilla Juice
Plus+ Complete

1/2 cup hemp milk or
almond milk

1/2 cup frozen
raspberries

1/4 teaspoon pure
almond extract

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons hemp
seeds

For additional
sweetness use Truvia or Purevia to taste (both are made from Stevia)

Blend ingredients for
30-40 seconds in a high speed blender.

———————————————————————————

4.
Coconut-Mango Delight

1 scoop Vanilla Juice
Plus+ Complete

1/2 cup hemp milk or
almond milk

1/2 cup frozen mango
chunks

1/4 teaspoon pure
lemon extract

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons
unsweetened, un-sulfured raw shredded coconut

For additional
sweetness use Truvia or Purevia to taste (both are made from Stevia)

Blend ingredients for
30-40 seconds in a high speed blender.

———————————————————————————-

5.
Orange Vanilla “Dreamsicle”

1 scoop Vanilla Juice
Plus+ Complete

1/2 cup hemp milk or
almond milk

1 whole orange,
peeled and cut into chunks

1/4 teaspoon pure
lemon extract

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon hemp
seeds

For additional
sweetness use Truvia or Purevia to taste (both are made from Stevia)

Blend ingredients for
30-40 seconds in a high speed blender.

———————————————————————————-

6.
Coconut-Pineapple Lime Slushy

1 scoop Vanilla Juice
Plus+ Complete

1/2 cup hemp milk or
almond milk

3/4 cup frozen
pineapple chunks

1/4 teaspoon pure
lemon extract

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons
unsweetened, un-sulfured raw shredded coconut

Juice from 1/4 of a
lime

For additional
sweetness use Truvia or Purevia to taste (both are made from Stevia)

Blend ingredients for
30-40 seconds in a high speed blender.

———————————————————————————-

Recipes
for Chocolate Juice Plus+ Complete

7. To
Die for Chocolaty Peanut Butter Banana Shake

1 scoop Chocolate
Juice Plus+ Complete

1/2 frozen banana,
cut into chunks

1/2 cup hemp milk or
almond milk

2 teaspoons
all-natural peanut butter

1/4 cup water

2 teaspoons
unsweetened cocoa powder (such as Ghirardelli brand), optional

For additional
sweetness use Truvia or Purevia to taste (both are made from Stevia)

Blend ingredients for
30-40 seconds in a high speed blender.

———————————————————————————-

8.
German Chocolate Cherry Cake

1 scoop Chocolate
Juice Plus+ Complete

1/2 cup frozen
cherries

1/2 cup almond milk

2 teaspoons almond
butter

1/4 cup water

2 teaspoons
unsweetened cocoa powder (such as Ghirardelli brand), optional

For additional
sweetness use Truvia or Purevia to taste (both are made from Stevia)

Blend ingredients for
30-40 seconds in a high speed blender.

———————————————————————————-

9. Next
Best Thing to an “Almond Joy”

1 scoop Chocolate
Juice Plus+ Complete

1/2 cup almond milk

1 tablespoon almond
butter

1/4 teaspoon pure
almond extract

2 tablespoons
unsweetened, un-sulfured raw shredded coconut

1/2 cup ice cubes

For additional
sweetness use Truvia or Purevia to taste (both are made from Stevia)

Blend ingredients for
30-40 seconds in a high speed blender.

————————————————————

10.
Chocolate-Almond Raspberry Decadence

1 scoop Chocolate
Juice Plus+ Complete

1/2 cup almond milk

1 tablespoon almond
butter

3/4 cup frozen
raspberries

1/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon pure
almond extract

1 tablespoon hemp
seeds

For additional
sweetness use Truvia or Purevia to taste (both are made from Stevia)

Blend ingredients for 30-40 seconds in
a high speed blender.

Obesity and Your Grocery List

Obesity and your grocery list

Published Sunday October 16, 2011
By Shannon Muhs

A major front in the war against obesity can be found in a task you probably complete at least once a week: Shopping for groceries.

Keeping fresh, healthy foods on hand instead of seductive, fat-laden snacks helps arm you for the fight.

Let’s take a mental tour through my grocery store and find the best picks for a healthy diet with weight control in mind.

First, you have to prepare for battle: Start with a healthy eating plan; make a list; and shop with a comfortably full stomach.  Talk with a registered dietitian if you need help with an eating plan that’s right for you.

Once you’re in the store, start in the produce aisle. Load up on fresh fruits and veggies. They are more nutrient-dense than canned fruits and juices. Take advantage of what’s in season and on sale. To get the most nutrients, make sure the fruits and veggies in your cart are varied in color.

Some examples:

• Red – apples, watermelon
• Orange – peaches, carrots, sweet potatoes
• Yellow – yellow squash
• Green – spinach, leafy greens, green beans
• Blue – blueberries
• Purple – cabbage, beets, grapes

If you don’t know how to cook many vegetables, pick a new one each week. Learn how to cook and try it.  Remember, you can opt for frozen veggies. They have almost as many nutrients as fresh and are more convenient at times.

I’ve had shoppers complain that they don’t eat the fruits and veggies after they buy them. The produce sits in the refrigerator until it spoils and has to be thrown out.  To that, I say, remember the healthy eating plan.  Make sure you consume the produce you buy by choosing fresh fruits as snacks and always including a serving of vegetables with your lunch and dinner.

Also in the produce section, remember fresh herbs and spices that can add flavor to your foods.

Let’s move on to buying meat, fish and poultry. Choose lean meats.  Some examples:

• turkey breast from the deli, ground turkey, chicken breast.
• salmon from seafood counter or freezer, canned tuna packed in water or tuna steaks from seafood counter or freezer, shrimp (not breaded), white fish (tilapia, swai)
• pork tenderloin, pork loin chops
• 90-percent lean ground beef, sirloin steak, round cuts of beef, any roast cut, filet mignon, stew meat

Now we’re at the dairy case. Here, we need to choose non-fat or low-fat options. Some examples:

• Skim milk, 1-percent milk
• Non-fat light yogurt
• Non-fat Greek yogurt
• Low-fat cottage cheese
• Low-fat cheese
• Part-skim mozzarella cheese
• Light mozzarella string cheese

Choose a light tub margarine or butter blend.  Remember, portion control is important with these selections.

Choose Omega eggs for a source of healthy omega 3 fatty acids.  If you need to cut fat intake at breakfast, choose an egg substitute, like Egg Beaters.

Next is the bread aisle. We’ll choose  “light” or “thin” items made with 100-percent whole grain.  Light means half the calories, half the carbohydrates.  Thin buns or bagels follow this same concept.  Choose a low-fat, higher-fiber tortilla.

Condiments can be a minefield. Be sure to choose light or reduced fat when it comes to salad dressings, mayonnaise and Alfredo sauce. Also choose low-sugar or fruit-only jams or jellies.

If you are buying peanut butter, pick a natural one or choose almond or cashew butter instead of peanut.  Remember portion control here, too.

PB2,  a new product within the last couple of years, is a powdered peanut butter with most of the oil removed. You mix it with water to make a very low-fat — and, therefore, low-calorie — peanut butter.

Now we must run that gauntlet known as the cereal aisle. This can be  dangerous. The best options are whole-grain oatmeal or whole, multigrain hot cereal, unfrosted shredded wheat and wheat puffs. Some guidelines for next-best picks: Check labels for those that offer five or more grams of fiber per serving and fewer than 10 grams of sugar per cup.  Remember to measure the portion or see if your meal plan allows for you to have two portions.

Love the pasta aisle? Consider looking instead for a newer product in the HealthMarket: Shirataki pasta is made from the soluble fiber glucomannan.  No calories per serving, very low carbohydrate, no fat or protein.

As fierce as you remain, you likely won’t escape the grocery store without at least looking at the snacks options. Stay strong, and skip buying them or limit what you choose. Hy-Vee’s NuVal™ scoring  system comes in very handy here!  The higher the  score, the more nutritious the food. If you must buy some snacks, follow these guidelines:

• Pick baked or reduced-fat chips. Picking one with fiber is a bonus.  Examples: whole-grain tortillas chips, multi-grain chips.
• Choose granola bars with the best NuVal score you can find.  Also look for those with two grams or more of fiber per serving and no more than half  of the total carbohydrates grams coming from sugar.
• Look for natural popcorn with no butter or only light butter (and then refrain from adding it yourself!).
• Look for light ice cream or reduced-calorie ice cream treats.  Here, you need to look at both fat and  carbohydrates.  Be careful of front labels touting “no sugar added”  because those options often have more fat and saturated fat.

Choosing healthy foods is only one part of the battle against obesity. You also must remember portion control and eat only when you are hungry, stopping when you’re full.

Finding Joy

Finding Joy

by Dr. John C. Maxwell

The pursuit of happiness. It’s one of our unalienable rights spelled out in The Declaration of Independence, but what does it mean to pursue happiness? When so many of us are unhappy and empty, how can we find joy?

To begin with, we must learn to reconcile the ambition to do with a willingness to be.

As change agents, leaders sense all is not well in the world. We see problems and search for solutions. Yet, if we only focus only on what is wrong, we miss the joy of the blessings in our lives – family, friendship, health, and freedom. We have to offset our discontent with the status quo by finding contentment in the life we have been given.

As leaders, we are lean and hungry, looking for opportunities to improve and grow. However, we find joy by being comfortable in our own skin. Happiness comes when we learn to take pride in our talents and to smile at our quirks.

We have an inner drive to do something – a restlessness to make something happen. At the same time, joy is discovered in the peaceful quiet of a soul at rest. Alongside our restlessness for change, we have a need for relaxation and recreation.

We won’t fully experience joy until we’ve answered life’s biggest question: Why am I here?

Without a life purpose, we flounder around without direction or joy. Life coach SuEllen Williams encourages clients to write out their life story in five-year increments, noting life-altering events and influential people. During the exercise, clients will often discover a predominant theme that has brought them fulfillment. By re-aligning with what has brought meaning in the past, Williams feels her clients put themselves on track toward the pursuit of happiness.

If we don’t nourish ourselves, joy will elude us.

We nourish ourselves whenever we enter into activities that build our energy reserves. Consider this list of common nourishment sources:

1. Music – What songs lift me?
2. Thoughts – What thoughts speak to me?
3. Experiences – What experiences rejuvenate me?
4. Friends – What people encourage me?
5. Recreation – What recreation re-creates me?
6. Soul – What spiritual exercises strengthen me?
7. Hopes – What dreams inspire me?
8. Home – What family members care for me?
9. Giftedness – What gifts activate me?
10. Memories – What memories make me smile?

To find joy, we must clean up our vocabulary.

We pursue happiness when we banish the shoulda, coulda, wouldas in life and decide that everything is fine the way it is. To reconstruct our vocabulary, it’s important to understand the difference between facts of life and problems. A fact of life is something we cannot change, but we can adjust our attitude about it. A problem is something we can change, and becomes possible when we take responsibility to fix it.

To discover joy, it’s important to celebrate success.

Timing is critical to celebration. Be sure to celebrate after the fact and not before the job is done.

The Kentucky Wildcat football team learned this lesson the hard way. In 2002, the Wildcats led the heavily favored Louisiana State Tigers 30-27 with two seconds left to play. The Tigers had the ball, but they were 75 yards away from the end zone – an impossible distance to cover in one play.

Wildcat players dumped Gatorade on their coach to celebrate the win. Kentucky students poured out of the stands and waited to charge onto the field after the final whistle. The Kentucky quarterback waved his arms toward the adoring fans in a salute of victory.

Then, the impossible happened. The LSU quarterback lofted the football as far as he could throw it. The ball bounced off the fingertips of a mob of players, and landed in the waiting arms of an LSU receiver who raced to the end zone! LSU had won the game on a desperation pass!

Shocked and silent, the Kentucky fans were left to stare at their soggy coach as the LSU Tiger players celebrated their stunning, last-second victory.

In closing, happiness doesn’t always find us, we have to pursue it. Doing so involves a number of steps:

1. Willingness to Be Who We Are
2. Searching for a Life Purpose
3. Nourishing Ourselves Regularly
4. Cleaning Up Our Vocabulary
5. Celebrating Success

In this edition of Leadership Wired, I hope I’ve given you some helpful tips on chasing down joy. Best wishes as you pursue happiness!

Heart Disease Death Rate Drops With Each Added Fruit and Veggie Serving

By COURTNEY HUTCHISON, ABC News Medical Unit
Jan. 19, 2011

It’s time to make friends with the produce aisle: pumping your diet with fruits and vegetables isn’t just good for your waistline — it could save your life, according to new research from the University of Oxford.

While “5 a day” has traditionally been the mantra for fruit and veggie consumption, researchers found that those who consumed eight or more servings were 22 percent less likely to die from heart disease than those who consumed three or fewer servings a day.

Even among those who couldn’t manage the eight servings, more fruits and veggies consistently meant a lower risk; for every additional serving above two per day, researchers observed a four percent decrease in the rate of heart disease deaths.

Though past studies have linked the consumption of fruit and vegetables to heart health, many remain skeptical as to whether these foods have a direct protective effect on the heart. Given the size of Tuesday’s study (over 300,000 participants from eight different European countries) and the strength of its findings, some doctors feel that it may erase and remaining doubts concerning fruits and veggies, and cardiovascular health.

“This is probably the largest study of its type and should convince even the greatest skeptic of the value of fruits and veggies,” said Dr. Randall Zusman, director of the division of hypertension at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“This compares ‘enough’ fruit and vegetable intake to ‘more than enough’ and suggests that ‘more than enough’ is better,” said Dr. David Katz, director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center. This could have big implications considering that the U.S. population “doesn’t even approximate the ‘enough’ target” as it is.

The study, which was published Tuesday in the European Heart Journal, is part of the EPIC trial, a long-term study in Europe initially set up to track the effect of vegetable and fruit intake on cancer.

In the U.S., the recommended consumption of fruits and vegetables has often been promoted as “five a day”. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moved away from that recommendation in 2007, to a more flexible approach, dubbed Fruits & Veggies – More Matters.

Instead of a flat recommendation of five servings a day, the new program changes recommendations based on age, sex and activity level. For a 40-year-old sedentary man, recommendations are now two cups of fruits and three cups of vegetables a day; for a sedentary woman of that age, the recommendation is 1.5 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of veggies.

From 5 a Day to “the More the Better”

So what exactly would the eight portions a day observed in the study look like?

A day of eight servings amounts to about 23 ounces. Eating nearly a pound and a half of produce may sound daunting, but put it into real terms and it becomes more manageable:

“A large navel orange can easily weight close to 8 ounces and so does a large apple,” says Carla Wolper with the Obesity Research Center at St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital in New York. “That leaves a measly six ounces for salad, string beans, or other vegetables on the dinner plate, so yes people can easily eat this much,” she said.

Considering that the majority of the general population in the U.K. and the U.S. consume fewer than five recommended servings of fruits and vegetables per day, asking for eight may be a bit of a stretch, concedes Dr. Francesca Crowe, lead author on the study.

Given that each additional serving suggested an additional heart health benefit, “it may be a relatively simple public health goal to encourage everyone to increase their intake of [fruits and vegetables] by a portion per day,” she says.

 

What Are Fruits and Vegetables Doing?

We all know that fruits and veggies are good for us, but why would eating them prevent death from heart disease?

The evidence points to a number of ways that these foods could work to boost heart health.

It could be that vegetables and fruits contain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are having a specific effect on cardiovascular health, says Dr. Keith Ayoob, associate professor in the department of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

Another possible mechanism “is the impact of fruit and vegetables to lower inflammation, a known mechanism contributing to cardiovascular disease,” adds Dr. Stephen Devries, a preventive cardiologist at Northwestern Hospital.

 

No Harm in Piling on the Fruits and Veggies

It also may not be what fruits and veggies add to the diet, but what they replace. There’s less room in the diet for the high-fat, high-cholesterol, high-salt foods often associated with increased risk of heart disease when someone is consuming so many fruits and vegetables each day, doctors noted.

This makes for “lower blood pressure (because these foods are salt free), lower cholesterol (because they are fat free), lower weight (because they are likely to be associated with weight loss), [and] lower blood sugar (lower carbohydrate and sugar content),” says Zusman.

“Just by taking up a lot of room” in the stomach, [those] ounces of fruits and vegetables inherent in eight servings “will have a salutary effect vis-a-vis [cardiovascular disease],” Wolper says.

More importantly, there are few if any drawbacks to consuming a good amount of fruits and veggies .

“I tell my patients to eat whatever fruits and veggies they like at whatever means they can,” says Ayoob >. “They’re that good for you. Indeed Weight Watchers doesn’t even count them in their programs now. No one gains weight eating whole fruits and veggies.”