Health benefits of almonds, broccoli, and red wine

After almonds, broccoli, and red wine appeared on the list of "power foods" dieters started asking us questions about their health benefits. Our readers' questions about nutrition values of almonds, broccoli, and red wine are answered by Tanya Zilberter, PhD

Almonds help reducing cholesterol better than oats and soy, the two recognized champions. Eating a handful of almonds with skins a day reduce risk of heart disease.

A study published in the May 2005 issue of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that almonds can reduce artery-damaging inflammation.

Another study involving overweight and obese people showed that an almond-enriched low calorie diet can help shed pounds more effectively than a low calorie diet alone. Dieters eating almonds had a 62% greater fat and inches loss(International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders, January 2, 2004)

More about almonds -> click here

Recent dieting trend turned to the benefits of red wine. The Mediterranean group of traditional diets have red wine on their staple food list, along with olive oil and fish. Research showed that having a glass of red wine daily can prevent heart disease.

More about red wine -> click here

Broccoli is considered a power food because of its exceptional nutritional value. As an article published in September 2004 issue of the Journal of Nutrition revealed, it contains plant chemicals with significant cancer-preventive effects.

More about broccoli -> click here

Broccoli is one of the small number of vegetables and fruits that significantly reduced the risk of heart disease, as showed research reported in May 4, 2004 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Here's an almost full list of nutrients in 1 cup of broccoli (first figure is amount; % is for Daily Values):

Calories 24.64
Calories from Fat 2.77
Total Fat 0.308g 0%
Saturated Fat 0.0475g 0%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.147g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0211g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 23.76mg 1%
Potassium 286mg 8%
Total Carbohydrate 4.61g 2%
Dietary Fiber 2.64g 11%
Protein 2.62g 5%

Are there any snacks that fit naturally in the Zone?

Q: What can I have for a snack and still stay in the Zone?

Answer:

On the Zone, every meal and snack should provide 40 percent of calories from carbohydrate, 30 per cent from protein and 30 per cent from fat - 40:30:30 ratio.

To make the Zone easier to follow, it's recommended that you divide your plate into three sectors: one for low-fat protein and the remaining two sections with vegetables and fruit. How to apply it to snacks?

Have a piece of low fat hard cheese, a halve avocado, and a handful of nuts. Or, mix 1/2 cup of low fat cottage cheese with 1/2 cup of berries (fresh or frozen and thawed) and add a handful soy nuts.

Tanya Zilberter, PhD

More about Zone snacks

Functional Foods

Q: What are functional foods? What is a typical example of a functional food?

A: The term Functional Foods is used to describe foods with added ingredients proved of being capable to produce certain health benefits...

Related articles:

GO-diet ::The PRE-biotic Inulin :: Functional Foods :: Probiotics

Out of various vegetables, fruits, nuts, and whole grains, many are very good for you. But some are better than others and some are so good that not only feed you but can heal and prevent diseases.

When a food is researched well enough and recognized as providing health benefits beyond basic nutrition (being healing and protective) - it is officially put on list of functional foods.

Here's a sample list of official functional foods:

apples
beef
cheese
berries
broccoli
carrots
chocolate
cinnamon
citrus
cocoa
collards
corn
cranberries
cruciferous vegetables (like cabbage and lettuce)
eggs (especially yolk)
flax seeds
garlic
grapes
honey
leeks
fish oils - e.g., sardines for your snack
lamb - e.g., cold cuts
oat
onions
peanuts
pears
psyllium husk - add it to your snack shakes
red grapes
rolled oats - e.g., as oat bars
rye - e.g., as whole rye bread or crackers
salmon
scallions
soy - e.g., soy nuts for your snack
spinach
strawberries
tea
tomatoes
tuna
walnuts
wheat
wheat bran
whole grains
wine
yogurt

Tanya Zilberter, PhD

Three ways to lose an EXTRA pound of fat each month!

By Jeff Wooten
eDiets Contributor

To get the support and assistance you need to drop those extra pounds, check out all that eDiets has to offer!

Three ways to lose an EXTRA pound of fat (at a minimum) each month!

By "extra," I mean aside from the fat you will already lose as a result of your daily exercise regimen. What I am talking about here is making a small change in your lifestyle to lose a ton (well, maybe not quite that much) of weight over the course of a few months.

So how do you do this? If you read my e-book, The 10 Most Notorious Fitness Myths of All Time (...So Far!), you will recall I mentioned that we burn on average about 100 calories per mile, whether we walk or run that mile. You can use this fact to your advantage.

The question then is how can you easily put on extra miles? It really isn't very difficult at all. All you have to do is set a goal of walking an extra mile each day. Not all at once, but throughout the day. To do this, simply change your daily habits. Consider doing the following:

1. Park in the back of the parking lots whenever you go out. This simple little trick not only racks up the mileage with minimal extra effort on your behalf, but it also can save you a lot of potential headaches. If you notice, many of the people that park in the spaces close to the door are very selfish. They fight like cats for those spaces, and they will wait forever for someone to pull out of a close space. You've seen them. They will hold up traffic for several minutes waiting for the person to relinquish that cherished close space.

Meanwhile, there can be many free spaces in the back. No one wants those spaces because it means extra walking. Believe me, you can park in the next parking lot and still be in the building long before the person that circles around waiting for that close space. Also, the door dings tend to happen in the spaces close to the door. Is there a correlation here?

2. Take the stairs instead of the elevators. I know it is tempting to ride the vertical car, but just stay focused on your goal. Remember, you are looking to change your lifestyle. This means you must "waste" energy throughout the day. Taking the stairs is one way to do this in a big way! When you take the stairs you are using your largest muscles (your legs and back) and getting back dividends!

3. When you are working, take a break and walk around for just a few minutes. If you took four or five breaks during your work day and took a leisurely walk for just five minutes each time, you would have walked an extra mile!

Now, if you make these three simple changes in your daily life, you will easily cover an extra mile or so each day. And that is a very conservative number. The fact is, it would more likely be several miles each day. However, if you covered just a little over one mile each day by making these three simple changes, it would add up to one pound of fat in a month! And that is fat that you will lose outside of your normal training.

So, follow this training advice and make these simple changes. It will pay off big time!

Jeff Wooten is a certified fitness trainer, certified specialist in martial arts conditioning and a licensed massage therapist. Jeff trains his clients in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he integrates personal training, martial arts techniques and bodywork therapy for a truly unique fitness experience.

Kick off an exercise and diet program with help from eDiets and reach your weight-loss goals! Visit eDiets to complete a free profile and get started today.