ALCOHOL, DEMENTIA AND ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

Alcohol, even in small amounts, destroys brain cells.  While a healthy person can withstand this brain cell loss while drinking moderately, an Alzheimer's - or any patient with dementia - patients must not drink alcohol even in small amounts.  Not only will drinking alcohol cause a more rapid progression of the disease, it can also interact with the antidepressants and other medications the patient is probably taking.  Do yourself and your relatives or friends who suffer from dementia and/or Alzheimer's a favor by keeping them away from all alcohol.

          

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TABLE SALT

Are you one of those people who grabs the saltshaker and salts their food without ever tasting it?  If you are, STOP IT!  Most of us get way more salt than is recommend.  Salt is a preservative, so it is prevalent in almost everything we purchase to eat.  The American Heart Association recommends a maximum of 1,500 milligrams (mg) daily.  Are you aware that 1/2 teaspoon of salt is about 1,200 mg?  Do not resalt your food and if you are one who does salt everything, start out by cutting the amount of salt you apply in half.  Wean yourself of this nasty habit.  Your body will thank you!

NOTE: If your doctor has told you to get more salt in your diet, follow his/her advice. My husband was one of those people, so I know this does happen.

STORING GARLIC

 Do you refrigerate your fresh garlic bulbs? I hope not. Fresh garlic bulbs should be kept in a cool dry place. Keep them in your pantry in a ventilated container; airtight containers will cause them to mold pretty quickly. Garlic stored properly should keep for months. But once you have broken into the head of garlic, all cloves should be used in about 10 days.

Remember Garlic is a superfood. Use is regularly!

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REASONS TO EAT MORE CANTALOUPE

Studies at Kansas State University showed that a carcinogen in cigarette smoke depletes Vitamin A, which may lead to emphysema and lung inflammation.  Not only is cantaloupe a rich source of vitamin A which can help make up for this deficiency for anyone exposed to second-hand smoke, it is also an anti-inflammatory.  The American Cancer Society also suggests eating melons to protect against colorectal cancer.  And the best part?  Cantaloupe tastes great, too.

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DON'T OBSESS OVER YOUR DIET!

"Obsessing over being healthy can make you less likely to stick with good habits.  It can leave a busy person so defeated that you adopt a 'screw it all' mentality" -  Susan Love M.D.  Don't obsess.  Just do the best you can with whatever circumstance you find yourself in.  Even 'fast food' restaurants offer side salads (and they give you the dressing on the side so you can determine how much, if any, to use!), often baked potatoes, apple dippers or other fruits, etc.  Try to make sure you eat a fruit or vegetable at every meal and don't obsess about every meal!!

WHAT IS PURE CHOCOLATE & WHICH CHOCOLATE ISN'T CHOCOLATE?

Since we just came out of the holiday season where you may have received or been given chocolates, I thought we would talk about what chocolate really is. Chocolate comes from a tropical bean known as the Cacao or Cocoa Bean; the name literally means 'food of the gods' and I know many of you agree!  So do I!  To get to the chocolate that is on our retail shelves, the first process these beans go through is roasting and cracking.  This process separates the shell from the meat of the bean.  We know this meat as nibs.  The nibs are then ground which melts the naturally present cocoa butter to produce a dark brown paste.  This paste is known as chocolate liquor. This means chocolate liquor is the first of the natural products that comes from the nibs or meat of the cocoa beans.  This is pure natural chocolate without any sugar or added ingredients.  When chocolate liquor is molded and allowed to solidify, you get pure, unadulterated chocolate.  This is the unsweetened chocolate which we readily find on our grocers' shelves.  It is usually wrapped in thin papers and sold in boxes as baking chocolate.  If you are planning to bake or cook using chocolate, this is a recommended source.  At this point, you have total control over any sugars or additives going into your chocolate.  This chocolate still contains its natural cocoa butter and is approximately 50% cocoa butter.

To get Cocoa Powder, the other pure chocolate recommended for cooking and baking, the chocolate liquor or unsweetened chocolate is pressed to extract most of the cocoa butter leaving the dry cocoa powder.  This is a much more reduced-fat (it is not fat-free) product.

The extracted cocoa butter is used to produce other chocolate products such as semisweet and bittersweet chocolate.  To get these products sugar and some of the extracted cocoa butter is added to the chocolate liquor.  You can see where I am going here!  When you want chocolate, pay attention to which chocolate you are buying.  You can quickly go from a natural healthy product to one with all kinds of sweeteners and additives.

Cacao Beans 

Bittersweet chocolate must contain at least 35% cocoa butter while semisweet, the most versatile and often used chocolate, can contain anywhere between 15% and 35%.  Learn to read the labels! Milk chocolate must contain at least 10% chocolate liquor or true chocolate. White chocolate is not true chocolate because it contains no chocolate liquor.  It consists of sugar, milk solids, and cocoa butter.

Note: This is a repost from 4-years-ago.

WISHING YOU A VERY HEALTHY 2022