Welcome
Who says we have to suffer...to live a healthy happy vibrant life?
Red wine and dark chocolate... might seem decadent...but these guilty pleasures also might help us live longer...and healthier lives. Red wine and dark chocolate definitely improve an evening..but they also contain resveratrol..which lowers blood sugar. Red wine is a great source of catechins..which boost protective HDL cholesterol. Green tea? Protects your brain..helps you live longer..and soothes your spirit.
Red Wine, Green Tea and Dark Chocolate, the blog, is about living the good life...a life we create with our thoughts and our choices...and having fun the whole while!
I say lets make the thoughts good ones..and let the choices be healthy...exciting...and delicious! Bon Appetit!
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Vitamin D Linked to Lower Rates of Tooth Decay
Folate and Vitamin B-12 Linked to Depression

The results from the study showed the subjects with the highest folate intake had a 50% lower risk for melancholic depressive symptoms, compared to those with the lowest intake. And the people who had the highest vitamin B12 levels had a 3 times lower risk for melancholic depressive symptoms than those with the lowest levels.
Journal of Affective Disorders 2012
Foods high in rutin can help prevent blood clots.
Among the more than 5,000 compounds that were screened by researchers,, quercetin-3-rutinoside (rutin) emerged as the most potent agent to prevent blood clots.
6000 Steps May Save Your Life

For most people, that is the equivalent of walking for about an hour a day.
Studies suggest that people who set themselves goals with a pedometer are more likely to increase their levels of physical activity, lose weight and lower their blood pressure.
But setting yourself a goal of walking for an hour a day can be rather daunting if you are just starting out. It might be easier to achieve such a goal if you break it down and find ways to add in extra steps to what you already do: ten minutes here, and ten minutes there, for instance.
People who have used pedometers successfully to increase their daily activity do things like:
- Park further away from entrances, eg at the supermarket or workplace,
- Use the stairs rather than the elevator,
- Take a walk at break times, and
- Enjoy a stroll in the evening, for instance after dinner, with family or friends.
Grapefruit Juice Mixed With Prescription Drugs Can Be Deadly

Serious side effects of mixing grapefruit juice with certain prescription drugs include:
- respiratory failure
- gastrointestinal bleeding
- bone marrow suppression in patients with weak immune systems
- renal toxicity
- acute kidney failure
- sudden death
- According to the new findings, over 85 different medications may have interactions with grapefruit, and 43 can have harmful effects. Seville oranges, which is found in marmalade, as well as limes and pomelos have the active ingredients, or furanocoumarins - substances which naturally occur in grapefruit. They irreversibly inhibit the drug metabolizing CYP3A4 enzyme that inactivates the effects of approximately half of all medications.
Medications that mix with these substances have three traits:- They are given as oral drugs.
- They possess very low to middle bioavailability (the percentage of the oral dose of the medication which is soaked into the blood circulation unaltered).
- They go through drug metabolism in the gastrointestinal tract by CYP3A4.
Taking regular amounts of medications on a daily basis can increase side effects. For example, when Simvastin, a popular statin, is mixed with one 200-mL glass of grapefruit juice for 3 days, it results in a 330% systematic concentration of the medication in comparison with water.
Adults over the age of 45 are the most common buyers of grapefruit and also tend to be prescribed the most medications. The population of adults over 45 is extremely large, therefore, many of these interactions are likely to occur. The report notes that older adults are more likely to have decreased capability to endure extreme systematic drug concentrations, making them more likely to experience these adverse effects.
Newly Discovered Effects Of Vitamin D On Cancer
The sunshine vitamin acts by several mechanisms to inhibit both the production and function of the protein cMYC. cMYC drives cell division and is active at elevated levels in more than half of all cancers.
lthough vitamin D can be obtained from limited dietary sources and directly from exposure to the sun during the spring and summer months, the combination of poor dietary intake and sun avoidance has created vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency in large proportions of many populations worldwide. It is known that vitamin D has a wide range of physiological effects and that correlations exist between insufficient amounts of vitamin D and an increased incidence of a number of cancers. These correlations are particularly strong for cancers of the digestive tract, including colon cancer.
Source: McGill University
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Do not buy into IOM's new advice on vitamin D.
Ignore them please. Or should I say follow them at your own peril.
They are saying that if we just reduce the definition of adequacy regarding our level of vitamin D from 30 ng/ml to 20 ng/ml that 80% of Americans will not need supplements.
In other words, 80% of Americans are at or above 20 ng/ml so lets just call that OK.
But it isn't ok. Being at 30 ng/ml ( compared to being deficient) is linked to dramatically reduced incidence of heart attack, stroke, major cardiovascular events, respiratory infections and rates of major cancers.
DO NOT accept a reduced standard. It is the equivalent of austerity measures for your health. It is nutritional foolishness. old school thinking. All of the noted vitamin D experts challenge this mindset. And I agree with them.
Keep your target level of vitamin D ( measured as 25OH D) at or above 30 ng/ml. Normal range is 30-100 ng/ml. Anything less is a call to action.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
High Carb Diet Bad For Elderly Cognitive Function
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Just say no! |
Fruits and Vegetables: Seven-A-Day for Happiness and Mental Health

Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Taking statins? Also take Coenzyme Q10 and Vitamin D

Monday, September 10, 2012
Asthma patients breathe easier when they eat more vegetables and fruit.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Higher vitamin D levels associated with lower tumor size and better overall survival in breast cancer patients.

Reduce breast cancer risk with exercise.
Folic acid supplementation may reduce progression of atherosclerosis.

Reduced stroke risk associated with B vitamin supplementation.
Vitamin C and E supplementation is beneficial for oral contraceptive users.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Mixed Berry~Fruit Tart
Monday, April 30, 2012
Berries: The New Brain Food!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Another reason to walk.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012
More trans fat intake linked to aggression and irritability.

Yet another reason to avoid fast foods. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown – by each of a range of measures, in men and women of all ages, in Caucasians and minorities – that consumption of dietary trans fatty acids (dTFAs) is associated with irritability and aggression.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Red Meat Linked to Increased Mortality Risk

Sugary beverages linked to increased heart risk in men.

Monday, February 27, 2012
A Lovely Book and a Lovely Person


I can't wait till my travel schedule eases up and I can get back to my kitchen and try some of these delicious fresh and natural dishes!