Super Food!

Have you ever wondered what foods are especially good for you?Well here is a list of some of great Super Foods :

1.  Berries (especially Acai berries) contain tons of      anti-oxidants, which help to fight cancer within cells.
2. Spinach, besides the fact that it is a leafy green and is obviously good for you spinach high in many nutrients and values including vitamin K, which helps with bone and heart health.
3. Peppers, have tons of vitamins in them including capsaicin, which is an anti- oxidant and has been know to have weight-lose benefits 
4.  Broccoli, besides being full of vitamins it is also full of fiber, which helps to clean out your colon and prevent colon cancer.
5. Cinnamon, if you eat 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon a day studies have shown it can lower you cholesterol. Cinnamon is also, anti bacteria when added to other foods.

Fun Facts:

• Women stop absorbing calcium into their bones around the age of 23.
• Walking is the most common form of exercise (you can exercise while shopping!)
• Majority of diseases can be fought with a healthy diet and exercise. 

Information from:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/263839-nutrition-list-of-super-foods/

Image courtesy of: http://thingsmybellylikes.com/2012/08/30/the-surprising-superfood-you-need-to-get-in-your-diet/

Merciless Meat

Meat is becoming a more and more controversial topic everyday. We hear things on the news like salmonella, and mad cow disease, and E. coli but what does it all mean? Why is it happening? And how can we prevent it? Meat production industries are going through an immense change in their production; they have the demand to manufacture meat faster. By feeding cattle even chicken and other animals corn it makes them grow fatter faster. Plus, corn is cheap resource they can easily feed the animals. But cattle, as most animals were not meant to be consuming corn, so when they do they are more susceptible to carry E. coli. Feeding on corn also makes the cattle unhealthy and an unhealthy cow means unhealthy meat. The benefits to eating grass fed cattle are things such as less fatty meat, more omega- 3's, there’s four times more vitamin E than corn-fed, and all around healthier better meat. So, why is it that most American’s are purchasing and consuming corn-fed meat everyday and how can we stop it? Well when you’re at the grocery store look for USDA approved meat although it is slightly more expensive it’s worth it! Also, buy meat locally from famers markets or by purchasing your own cow. Finally, support restaurant such as Chipotle they buy all of their meat from small farmers will fresh not factory meat. I highly suggest that everyone should watch the documentary Food Inc. it is full of interesting information everybody should know about what they are eating. 

Fun Facts:

• We need about 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise each week
• The average person should be walking 10,000 steps everyday 
• women should be drinking 2.7 litters of water everyday and men 3.7 (higher altitudes need more) 

Information from:

Food Inc.

http://www.healthytheory.com/corn-fed-vs-grass-fed-beef

Image courtesy of: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/music_blog/archive/2012/07/930_coffee_brea_198.shtml

Bottled What?

Bottled water was such a great invention. It's so convenient, you can purchase it almost anywhere and it's handy to carry around. But what is really in the bottle you're drinking out of? Bottled water is regulated by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), whereas tap is regulated by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). The Safe Drinking Water Act give EPA the right to test requires testing by certified labs. If the lab finds any violations or contaminants they find the source and fix the problem. In comparison, the FDA regulates Bottled Water the same way they regulate food, therefore they cannot require lab testing of the water. Bottled Water companies who claim to be purified water could honestly be putting anything into pretty bottles. It is a common misconception that bottled water is better than tap water. Besides tap water contains Fluoride, which is good for our teeth! It helps to fight against cavities, because more people are drinking Bottled Water there is an epidemic of more cavities occurring. Drinking tap water is also better of the environment think about all the plastic bottles you use in a week? A year? By switching to tap water not only is it better for us it's saving the environment and our teeth! 

Fun Facts:

• Most restaurant entrees are two servings
• It's important to take care of you teeth! (As you swallow the plaque from you teeth it builds up in your heart and could lead to a heart attack)
• Fiber cleans out your colon preventing cancer!

Information from:

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/07/09/09greenwire-fewer-regulations-for-bottled-water-than-tap-g-33331.html

Image courtesy of: http://www.desertdentistry.com/75-2/

OMG! GMO?

Have you ever wondered what a GMO is? How it's made?  Well I've got some information for you. GMO stands for Genetically Mortified Organism, which basically means they have been genetically changed to grow faster and resist disease. GMO's are 80 percent of our packaged  foods. GMO's basically take the genes of one species and put it into another to make it into a super food. Unfortunately, because GMO's are not required to place labels on their packaging we have no idea that we are purchasing a genetically mortified food. Also, many restaurants use GMO's and do not have to tell customers whether they are using a GMO or not. This causes a problem. The first GMO to become commercially available was the tomato it was called The Flavr Savr, it is now referred to as the "fish tomato" because it has been genetically mortified with a gene found in fish. This was to allow the tomato to become more resistant to cold temperatures. Sadly, people who are allergic to fish were allergic to the tomato. On account that GMO's are not labeled people with allegories became sick and had no idea why. This teaches us that we need to be careful about the food that we are eating because of the lack of regulations on GMO's you never know what you're eating. It will be interesting once more research is done how GMO's could potentially affect our bodies and the environment.

Fun Facts:

• Most of the fiber in fruit is in the peel
• Breakfast helps maintain a healthy weight
• Vegetables lose tons of its nutritious value when cooked 

Information from:
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/genetically-modified-foods-pt-1
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/dna/pop_genetic_gallery/index.html

Image courtesy of: http://www.bodyfitsandiego.com/nutrition/

Introduction

My name is Ashley, and I decided to write this blog because I took a Nutrition course at the University of Colorado Boulder instructed by Dr. Suzanne Nelson. I learned valuable nutritional based knowledge most of which I believe everybody should be aware of in his or her day-to-day lives. This blog is not meant to persuade anybody into changing their lifestyle, but merely to present the facts. I want to teach my readers about what they are putting into their bodies everyday and how it could potentially affect them. I also have found that most of the topics I have chosen for this blog not only make a difference in our bodies, but also in the environment, which I believe is a win-win. At the end of each post I will post a couple of fun facts about nutrition just to further the readers knowledge and perhaps interest. Besides, everybody needs a party fact in their pocket! I will also post the links to where I am receiving my information incase anyone would like to further the research. Ultimately, I want this blog to be full of interesting, fun, nutrition knowledge without it feeling like your reading a research paper (snooze!). If anyone has any questions for me or wants to suggest a topic please feel free to leave a comment! Now lets get started!

Image courtesy of: http://www.bodyfitsandiego.com/nutrition/