Anti-Aging Foods

“Pee-cans” or “Puh-cons”? Anyway you say them, pecans are delicious and nutritious!

NYC LOVES Georgia Pecans!

Participants in the Fitness Magazine Mind, Body and Soul Games stopped by the Georgia Pecan booth for a quick and healthy snack. Pecans are loaded with antioxidants and healthy monounsaturated fats which help reduce inflammation making pecans a perfect post-recovery food. Pecans also contain the plant chemical beta-sitosterol which helps lower cholesterol and may help keep prostate glands’ healthy.

For great pecan recipes, visit http://www.georgiapecansfit.org/

*In the interest of full disclosure, I provide spokesperson services for the Georgia Pecan Commission.

Spices to End Your Pain & (digestive) Suffering

Two new studies provide further evidence that herbs and spices such as ginger and peppers can be beneficial for improving digestion and reducing pain.

A study in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, found that black  and  red pepper contain the bioactive compounds piperine and capsaicin (found in black and red pepper, respectively) which favorably impact gastrointestinal health by reducing inflammation in the digestive tract. Researchers fed the spices to rats at levels comparable to what is normally consumed in the Indian diet. After eight weeks, the spices significantly increased antioxidant activity in the digestive tract which reduced oxidative stress and inflammation. 

Source:  Prakash UN, Srinivasan K. Gastrointestinal protective effect of dietary spices during ethanol-induced oxidant stress in experimental rats. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. 2010;35:134-141.

Another study featured in the Journal of Pain  found that ginger may reduce muscle pain caused by rigorous exercise. Researchers gave human subjects 2 grams of raw or heat-treated ginger supplements for 11 consecutive days. On day eight, subjects lifted heavy weights to produce sore arm muscles. Those groups consuming ginger experienced a 20 percent reduction in pain after weight training compared to those groups that didn’t.

Source:  Black CD, Herring MP, Hurley DJ, O’Connor PJ. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) reduces muscle pain caused by eccentric exercise. Journal of Pain. 2010. [Epub ahead of print.]

You can read more about these great spices and how to incorporate them into your diet, deliciously, in my books 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life and 101 Optimal Life Foods . www.spicesforhealth.com is a great website for more information on the health benefits of herbs and spices!