Risk of cardiovascular disease

This post was originally published as Cut Belly Fat w/ Tart Cherries by Laurel on Health Food.

Natural News posted a new cherry study from the University of Michigan. Researchers found that adding tart cherries to your diet may help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. The study fed mice one of two diets: a high fat, moderate carbs diet (45% calories from fat, 40% calories from carbs) OR a low fat, high carbs diet (10% calories from fat, 75% calories from carbs).

Mice that were given added cherry powder to either diet had an 11% reduction in cholesterol after three months. In addition, the mice who had cherry powder had 54% body fat compared to 63% body fat in the mice that did not eat cherry powder. Most of the fat reduction was around the belly area of the mice.

The mice that ate cherry also had a 40% reduction in the TNF-alpha inflammation marker and 31% reduction in the IL-6 inflammation marker. The researchers found that “the activity of the genes producing these two compounds was reduced in the mice, suggesting that tart cherries may reduce inflammation at a systemic level.” (Natural News)

If you’re interested in learning more about tart cherries, check out this great informational page on About.com’s alternative medicine site: What are Tart Cherries and Tart Cherry Juice?

You can probably find tart cherries at your local health food store. I also searched online and found them on Amazon. You can get dried tart cherries, tart cherry juice, etc. I also wasn’t surprised to find tart cherries in a pill form.

Update: This article was featured on the Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog Carnival 98.

Mushrooms are a super healthy food packed with iron

This post was originally published as  Mushroom Love by Laurel on Health Food blog.

During vacation I caught one of Jamie Oliver’s food shows, Jamie at Home, on the Food Network and it was an episode all about mushrooms. Jamie knows a guy who’s a wild mushroom expert, and the two of them went out in the woods to pick fresh wild mushrooms for the recipes. One of my favorites was a simple mushroom bruschetta that they made sitting right in the middle of the forest with a portable sauté pan. Awesome. My sister and I were drooling over it!

Mushrooms are a super healthy food packed with iron, zinc, fiber, antioxidants, and more. They are low in calories and make a great substitute for meat (such as a portobello mushroom burger). Research shows they have strong anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties as well as several other disease fighting benefits.

Here’s a link to Jamie’s Ultimate Mushroom Bruschetta. I made it last weekend using a mix of shiitake, portobello, and oyster mushrooms. I left out the parsley and used extra fresh thyme leaves since I had it in the house. I also used whole grain bread and a small pinch of red pepper flakes instead of a dried chili.

Mushroom Bruschetta, recipe by Jamie Oliver