Health Trivia

Did you know.....

..... of all the cooking oils, only real butter and coconut oil can handle the heat of cooking without turning into the dreaded trans-fat?  Even olive oil, which is still great for you as long as it's not heated.  Keep it for salads or dunking bread, but don't cook with it.

.... cod liver oil, which is a fantastic health supplement, turns rancid during the process of heating in order to put it into those convenient gelcaps?  Take your cod liver oil, but take it from a tablespoon, right out of a bottle.  Toss the gelcaps.

.... fresh eggs are good for you?  There's a component in egg yolks that is one of the best cholesterol-fighting substances available.  Science has long discarded the 'egg yolks are bad for cholesterol' line, but marketers are still using it to sell you artificial eggs or egg whites and sadly, many doctors haven't gotten the message, either.

.... you can boost your immunity to colds and flu and other such things by eating more of certain foods? Garlic;  mushrooms (any mushrooms, but shiitake, maitake and reishi have the biggest punch); yogurt that contains lactobacillus reuteri, which stimulates white blood cells.  Most brands don't contain this particular bacillus, so check the label. Stoneyfield Farms has it and so does Nancy's, if you can find it. Oats and barley, fish, black or green tea, beef, sweet potatoes all help keep you healthy.  And don't forget grandma's remedy of old fashioned chicken soup, which blocks migration of inflammatory white blood cells.  Garlic and onion added to the soup add flavor as well as even more immune-boosting power. 

.... using anti-bacterial soaps and gels can actually lower your immunity to colds and flue and other nasty bugs because those products kill off the good bugs as well as the bad bugs?  Your body's good bugs will fight off the bad bugs if your immune system is in good shape to begin with.

.... Grandma was right about something else, too. You are what you eat!  If you eat healthy foods, your body will be healthy.  If you eat junk food and processed foods, your body will be, well, junk.  Your body makes new cells every day.  It will make new cells tomorrow from the food you feed it today.  Think about that before you decide whether to take the shortcut at a drive-thru or take a little time and eat something healthy -- perhaps from the immune-fighting list above. (She says, as she opens a can of  very processed soup for lunch -- yuk! But, I had farm-fresh organic eggs scrambled in coconut oil for breakfast, will have beef with onions, garlic and mushrooms for dinner.  Nobody's perfect all the time!)

Just want y'all to stay good and healthy this winter, amigos.