And after cutting into it, how does each day in the fridge affect its nutrients? How much is lost each day? And for other fruit, in general, the same question above. Is it worth it to eat fruit when it's past it's prime?

Answer:  That's an excellent question, but one that there is no definitive answer for, at least without coming into your kitchen to analyze the watermelon and the circumstances which surround it (temperature of your fridge, covered/uncovered, etc.). Generally, the more ripe an uncut fruit is, the more nutrients it develops; but once you cut a fruit or vegetable, the enzymes and the water-soluble nutrients (vitamin C, B vitamins) will deteriorate, sometimes quite rapidly. Fruit, especially colorful fruit, however, is rich in phytochemicals – nutrients that are responsible for the pigment and structure of the fruit – and these phytochemicals (thousands of nutrients) are not damaged with exposure to air from cutting or from the passing of time. In fact, one study indicates that some nutrients in watermelon actually increase as time goes on (and in this particular case, with exposure to light). Basically, if it's still edible, go ahead and eat it. If it's getting to the point where eating the fruit is not an enjoyable experience, put it in the blender or juicer and drink the powerful phytochemicals it provides instead.

Read more about the health benefits of watermelon

Ways to enjoy watermelon:

Probiotic Watermelon Float with Lime and Raspberries

Spicy Watermelon Juice Recipe with Coconut Water and Jalapeno

Minty Watermelon & Feta Cheese Salad

The post How Quickly Does Fruit Lose Its Nutrients? appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

The Relationship Between Protein and Hormones

Throughout any period of physical change, protein is a key ingredient. Many hormones are made from protein, including sex hormones, thyroid and adrenal hormones, insulin, and glucagon. Each of these hormones plays an important role during menopause and can dramatically affect energy levels, metabolism, and health.

Estrogen and progesterone affect how cells respond to insulin. After menopause, changes in the levels of these hormones can trigger more severe fluctuations in blood glucose levels, potentially increasing a woman’s risk of developing diabetes. Including some protein with each meal stimulates insulin production and helps to balance blood sugar levels, preventing the sudden rise and fall of blood glucose that a carbohydrate-based meal can cause.

When estrogen levels decline, women experience a progressive decrease in muscle mass (sarcopenia), strength, and bone density. As a result, they become more susceptible to falling, fractures, and osteoporosis. Exercise becomes more important than ever, but it is more challenging to maintain weight and muscle tone. In people of all ages, protein helps maintain muscle mass.

Natural Hormone Solutions for Perimenopause with Suzanne Somers

How Much Protein Do We Need During Menopause

To combat sarcopenia and accommodate for other hormonal and physical changes, the body’s protein needs increase during menopause. Healthy older adults should consume 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily—more than the recommended intake of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight for younger adults. Based on the higher recommendation, a 150 lb (68 kg) female should aim for a protein intake of 68 to 82 grams per day (some experts have even recommended up to 100 grams).

The Right Protein Options

High-quality proteins are found in meats, poultry, fish, dairy products, nuts, seeds, legumes, and in smaller quantities, starches, and vegetables. Sprouting grains increase their protein content.

Protein powders are a convenient and healthy way to boost intake of this essential nutrient. While whey protein has been considered the gold standard of protein supplements, pea protein’s arginine content is almost three times higher. The amino acid is essential for building and maintaining muscle mass and might be a better option for women during mid-life.

Read 5 Surprising Ways to Use Protein Powder

When to Eat Your Protein

Just as important as the overall amount of protein is its distribution throughout the day. The body can use only 25 to 35 grams of protein every four to five hours. When too much protein is consumed, the excess is excreted via the urine. That means, overloading on protein by eating a 6-ounce steak or adding an extra scoop of protein powder to a shake won’t help. Instead, consuming protein throughout the day minimizes protein losses and maximizes its efficiency.

Example Menu to Reach Your Protein Goals

Here is an example of a menu that prioritizes protein:

Read 6 Powerhouse Vegetables to Add to Your Grill

The Bottom Line

Balance quality protein foods with plenty of colorful and cruciferous vegetables, fruit, healthy fats—including omega-3, an essential fatty acid that can help manage menopausal symptoms and reduce inflammation, and prebiotics and probiotic food sources to protect gut health.

The post Protein Needs During Menopause and Beyond appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

If your body says, “Nooo, not before a cuppa joe,” each morning, try this before your caffeine fix: Drink a glass of water with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice (about half a lemon) about 20 minutes before eating or drinking anything else. If you're trying this for the first time, begin with a quarter of a lemon and over several days, work your way up to half a lemon. Freshly squeezed lime juice works just as well if that is your preference.

1. It gives you an energy boost. So much so, you may not even miss your morning coffee. Relying on caffeine has long-term consequences, including taking a toll on your adrenal glands (which are already overworked thanks to stress, late nights, and too many stimulants). Instead, lemon water oxygenates and energizes the body – a great jump start to your day.

2. It promotes good digestion. According to Dr. Jonn Matsen, ND, lemon water stimulates the stomach to increase its production of digestive juices and improves peristalsis, the muscular contractions that push food through the entire digestive system. Improved digestion means better nutrient absorption and less bloating.

3. It stimulates elimination. So does coffee, you say? Yes, but coffee acts as a laxative, unnaturally ‘shaking things up’ in your colon to move them out. A simple glass of lemon water stimulates the liver’s production of bile. This, combined with improved peristalsis of the entire digestive system, is a more natural method of waste removal. Lemon water also acts as a mild diuretic, increasing the frequency of urination and gently flushing out toxins from the urinary tract. The result: better waste and waist management.

4. It gives your immune system a boost. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice gives you a shot of the antioxidant vitamin C (about 44.5 mg per lemon), but more importantly, it helps the body maintain a balanced pH. Although a lemon tastes acidic, inside the body it is alkaline – and an alkaline body is an important key to good health.

5. It helps detoxify the liver. With more than 500 functions, the liver is a very busy organ. Its most important role is to filter the blood of waste products, drugs, pesticides, and other poisons. The two-phase process needs bile to carry the neutralized toxins into the intestines for safe removal. Lemon juice is a powerful cholagogue, a substance that stimulates bile production and promotes the flow of bile into the small intestine. A morning glass of lemon water gently detoxifies the liver – and thus, the entire body.

6. It helps you lose weight. The liver is an important fat-burning organ. It regulates fat metabolism, breaking down fats and shipping them out via the large intestine. A daily glass of lemon water stimulates fat loss and may also help rid your legs and other body parts of stubborn cellulite.

7. Better skin. The detoxifying action of drinking lemon water will release impurities through every exit point (or detoxification channel), including the skin. You may experience a mild bout of acne at first, but that will soon be replaced with healthy glowing skin.

8. Hydration. Lemon makes water taste better, and if it tastes better, you’re likely to drink more of it. Plus, it’s virtually calorie-free. We recommend starting your day with a glass, but if you enjoy it, drink it throughout the day.

Bottom Line

There are a lot of good reasons to start your day with lemon water. Will you be picking up this habit?

The post 8 Reasons to Start Your Day With Lemon Water appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

What type of substance is Gelatin?

A: Gelatin is commonly used in foods, nutritional supplements (gel caps), drugs, and photographic film. It is a colorless protein formed by boiling the specially prepared hides, bones, and connective tissue (tendons) of animals. There are no known drug or nutrient interactions associated with gelatin, but some people are allergic to gelatin made from cows. There are some health benefits to using gelatin. Two of the amino acids (proteins) found in gelatin are substances the human body uses to make collagen, a primary component of connective tissues such as cartilage. Though there is little evidence, theoretically, gelatin might play a role in rebuilding arthritic joints and promoting the growth of healthy skin and nails.

Vegetarian alternatives to gelatin include the seaweed, Agar-Agar, kuzu root, guar gum, and carrageenan. Kosher gelatin is available also and should be indicated on labels.

Bottom line

Gelatin is a natural substance that may help strengthen your skin, nails, and bones. If you are vegetarian, vegan, or keep kosher, read labels carefully.

Read this next: 7 Ingredients To Avoid Always

The post What is Gelatin Made of? appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

Packed with antioxidants, cranberries have one of the highest scores on the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) scale, scoring even higher than blueberries and blackberries! This is important for combating free radicals that our body produces as a result of stress, exposure to toxins, and lifestyle choices that might not be the best ones for us.

The Cranberry Institute provides information about ongoing research on the various properties of the tart-tasting berry.

Here are five of the most important health benefits that have been identified:

1. Cranberry Juice Helps Prevent UTIs

A Japanese study found that women aged 50 and over who drank 4 ounces of cranberry juice daily for six months suffered from fewer urinary tract infections than women drinking a placebo beverage. Another study showed that children who drank cranberry juice daily had a 65 percent lower incidence of UTIs than children in the placebo group.

2. Cardiovascular Benefits for Postmenopausal Women

Researchers at the University of Hong Kong found that cranberry juice improved vascular function and cholesterol profiles in an animal study. They concluded that the beverage may be beneficial for postmenopausal women, helping to combat potential risk factors for cardiovascular disease by protecting LDL-cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol) from being oxidized.

3. Powerful Antioxidants

Cranberries contain the flavonoid proanthocyanidins (PACs). Their unusual structure offers bacterial anti-adhesive properties that may help prevent the adhesion of certain harmful bacteria. Utiva offers a dose of 36 PACs in their UTI formula and this is the dose shown to improve symptoms of UTIs.

4. Fewer Dental Cavities

Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (2002) reported that saliva samples from subjects using a mouthwash containing properties extracted from cranberry showed a reduction in Streptococcus mutans colony forming units compared with the placebo group (unpublished data). A large percentage of dental caries (cavities) can be attributed to S. mutans.

5. Ulcer Prevention

A constituent of cranberry juice has been shown to inhibit the adhesion of Helicobacter pylori to human gastric mucus in vitro, suggesting that cranberry may be beneficial in the prevention of peptic ulcers.

Food or Supplement, and How Much?

Most of the research on cranberries indicates that the most powerful effects result from ingesting the whole food rather than from taking extracts or supplements. The health benefits listed above can be attained from these amounts:

• ¼ cup fresh cranberries
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries (unsweetened)
• ¼ cup cranberry sauce
• 2 oz. 100% cranberry juice
• 8 oz. 27% cranberry juice cocktail.

Bottom Line

Whether they’re used in your baking (biscotti, anyone?), cooking, stuffing, or as a snack, cranberries are good for you!

Continue to enjoy the health benefits of cranberries even after the holidays with these great suggestions:

• Add a handful to your morning bowl of oatmeal
• Add a tablespoon to muffin recipes
• Include them in a trail mix
• Sprinkle them over a salad
• Mix some cranberries into a rice or quinoa dish
• Toss some into a casserole dish with cubed sweet potatoes or butternut squash.

Photo credits: JLM Photography, Christi @ Love From The Oven

Recipe ideas for cranberries:

Sparkling Cranberry Sangria

All Natural Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Gluten-Free Orange-Cranberry Bread Recipe

The post 5 Health Benefits of Cranberries appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

A: Cornmeal has a glycemic index score of 69, the same as whole wheat bread. This score is considered to be a little high, meaning that if cornmeal is eaten on its own, it will cause blood sugar levels to rise quickly. Most cornbread recipes include sugar (on average, 2/3 cup), which considerably raises the glycemic score. Your husband can enjoy a small slice of cornbread occasionally, as long as it's part of a meal that is balanced with fiber and protein – half a cup of beans, some avocado and chicken will do the trick.

The post Is corn meal bad for high blood sugar? appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

The results of a recently published study links reading nutrition labels with preventing obesity. The international team of researchers, headed by the University of Santiago de Compostela, looked at data taken from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The researchers found that reading nutrition labels lowers the average body mass index for women by 1.49 points. This translates into 8.6 pounds less for an American woman who is 162 pounds and 5.3 feet tall. For men the results are far less.

The abstract for the study states that nutrition labels "play a role in reducing obesity among users of nutrition labels, notably among women." The abstract, and the study itself, makes clear that nutrition labels by themselves will not solve the obesity problem in the U.S. but are a tool to reduce obesity. As the abstract declares, "These findings imply that health education campaigns can employ nutritional labels as one of the instruments for reducing obesity."

Read more about obesity

"Obesity is one of the most serious health problems in modern day USA," says María Loureiro lead author of the study. Loureiro points out that from 2009 to 2010 over a third (37 percent) of adults in the U.S. were obese, and 17 percent of children and adolescents.

The study can be used "as a mechanism to prevent obesity," Loureiro says. "We have seen that those who read food labels are those who live in urban areas, those with high school and high education. As we would hope therefore, campaigns and public policy can be designed to promote the use of nutritional labeling on menus at restaurants and other public establishments for the benefit of those who usually eat out."

In California, chain restaurants are required to provide calorie information for each menu item. Signed into law in 2008 by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the law went into effect in the beginning of 2010. Given that California is the most populous state, perhaps other states will follow suit.

Read more about Chipotle labeling GMOs

Read more articles:

7 Scary Food Additives to Avoid

My Journey to GMO-Free and Why It’s SO Important

Label Loophole: Why Trans Fat-Free Foods Are Often Far From It

Photo Credit: cote

The post Reading Food Labels Helps to Prevent Obesity appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

When food is processed, it loses its natural flavor, and when it sits on a store shelf for weeks, natural chemicals in food begin to deteriorate, reducing their shelf life and affecting the way they taste. That’s where the flavor industry comes in.

What are artificial flavors?

In the food industry, flavors can be categorized as artificial flavors, natural flavors, and spices. Flavors are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are either “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) substances or food additives, which must be approved by the FDA.

Artificial flavors in food

You may already be aware of the health hazards and addictive qualities associated with certain flavor additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) and various sources of sodium. You also may have noticed that many food labels list the terms ‘artificial flavors’, ‘natural flavors’ or ‘contains artificial and natural flavors’ – without disclosing exactly what those flavors are.

Artificial flavors are additives designed to mimic the taste of natural ingredients. They are a cheap way for manufacturers to make something taste like strawberry, for example, without actually using any real strawberries.

What is artificial flavor?

The FDA’s definition of artificial flavoring is as follows: “The termartificial flavor or artificial flavoring means any substance, the function of which is to impart flavor, which is not derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof.”

In other words, ingredients that comprise artificial flavors are chemicals that were not originally sourced from nature.

Artificial flavors are proprietary chemical formulas owned by the flavor companies that create them. The demand for top-secret recipes made by flavor manufacturers (such as Givaudan) has produced a multi-billion industry, an industry shrouded in secrecy – and with good reason. Flavor companies employ a range of experts from chemists to chefs to ‘cook up’ novel flavors from an assortment of 1,300 FDA-approved ingredients. They don’t want to disclose their recipes, and consumers don’t like knowing that the delicious chicken flavor in their Stouffer’s dinner comes from a mix of chemicals rather than the real thing.

Unfortunately, the FDA does not require flavor companies to disclose ingredients as long as all the ingredients have been deemed GRAS. This protects the proprietary formulas, but allows for many chemicals to be hidden under the word ‘flavor’ on the ingredients list.

Read more about crazy places artificial flavors are hiding

For consumers, this is unfortunate, since even food manufacturers are not aware of the specific ingredients that comprise the flavors used in their products.

Artificial flavors are known to cause many adverse reactions, including:

• Allergic reactions
• Chest pain
• DNA damage
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Depression of the nervous system
• Brain damage

Other symptoms include seizures, nausea, dizziness, and more. Without labeling the specific ingredients in artificial flavors, identifying the root cause of your symptom(s) is near impossible.

According to the USDA National Organic Program:

“Aliphatic acyclic and acyclic alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids and related esters, lactones, ketals, and acetals comprise more than 700 of the 1,323 chemically defined flavoring substances in the United States. Additional structural categories include aromatic, heteroaromatic, and heterocyclic substances with characteristic organoleptic properties."

Artificial flavoring side effects

Many artificial flavors include ingredients that are also used to make artificial colors, such as tar and crude oil. Hence, the numerous health effects associated with them are not surprising. What is astounding, however, is that there is little documented research and practically no studies published on the effects of artificial flavors.

Read more about common food flavors and DNA damage

The food industry has bombarded our taste buds with flavor. Those who regularly eat – or are addicted to – processed foods lose their taste for real food. We lay blame on sugar and fat for the worldwide obesity epidemic, but ultimately, isn’t the flavor industry largely responsible for making processed food taste good?

Read this next: Are Kettle-Cooked Chips Healthier than Regular Potato Chips?

References

www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5088008

www.businessinsider.com/facts-about-natural-and-artificial-flavors-2014-1#ixzz33EJdzRKb

www.osha.gov/dts/shib/shib10142010.html

www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-the-difference-be-2002-07-29/

FDA’s list of synthetic flavors: www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=172.515&SearchTerm=synthetic%20flavoring

The post What are Artificial Flavors? appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

A: Echinacea works well as a preventive, but only if you take it before the virus takes hold. Oregano oil, on the other hand, which has been proven to rapidly kill bacteria, mold, fungus, and yeast quickly can be taken at any time. The human body tends to adapt to any herbal treatment within a three week period, so it isn't advisable to take any herb regularly without a break. With that said, since your office is a cesspool of viruses, I recommend taking oregano oil as directed on the bottle (if you can't tolerate the taste, try using capsules instead) every other day (once or twice a day) as a preventive. If you do become ill, take it daily until you are feeling better. Oil of oregano is my preference, but colloidal silver, grapefruit seed extract and olive leaf extract are also powerful treatments for cold/flu. Andrea and Randy interviewed an oregano oil company in one of their Naturally Savvy TV episodes. Click here to watch what they learned.

The post Should I Take Oil of Oregano? appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

Since MSG is only 12% sodium by weight versus sodium chloride, which is 39%, some food manufacturers argue that by using MSG, they can use less salt (sodium chloride) in their products. That’s why foods that frequently contain MSG are apt to be salty or savory tasting. They include canned soups, meats, and pasta, prepared dinners and side dishes, dry soup mixes, gravy and seasoning mixes, seasoned salty snacks and crackers, cured meats, smoked meats and sausages, diet foods, freeze-dried foods, frozen foods, prepared snacks, prepared salads, salad dressings and mayonnaise, croutons, bottled and canned sauces, and many seasoning blends. It’s also found in many fast foods and restaurant foods – even high end restaurants use it!

The Food and Drug Administration requires that foods containing added MSG list it in the ingredient panel on the packaging as monosodium glutamate. The average daily intake of MSG is estimated to be 0.3-1.0 g in industrialized countries, but it can be higher. So far, MSG doesn’t sound too bad, so why is it on our Scary Seven list?

The first reports that linked MSG consumption to the symptoms of a specific illness occurred in 1968 when Robert Ho Man Kwok identified an MSG symptom complex that he called Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.

Since then, MSG has been implicated in many health issues and side effects. Reported adverse reactions to MSG include:

Each person reacts to MSG in varying degrees. Some experience severe reactions, others do not notice any reaction at all. This is why MSG has been a source of great debate. Although the FDA recognizes that some people are more sensitive to monosodium glutamate, they consider it GRAS (generally recognized as safe).

Listen to your body. Whether you are aware of any reactions associated with an intake of MSG or not, pay attention to any physical symptoms or changes in your behavior within the hours following MSG intake. Symptoms could last for several hours and it could take up to 48 hours for symptoms to manifest!

MSG reactions are more likely to occur when a food or snack containing MSG is eaten on an empty stomach or when alcohol is included in the meal (beer and Doritos, anyone?).

Read more about other names for MSG

References:

jn.nutrition.org/content/130/4/1058S.full

www.truthinlabeling.org/Recog.html

www.fda.gov/food/ingredientspackaginglabeling/foodadditivesingredients/ucm328728.htm

www.allergyadvisor.com/educational/November03.htm

Image:

Michael

The post What is Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)? appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.