Carrots - What do you know Question 3

Do carrots really help your vision or is this just a wives tale?

Yes they do help vision. In addition to the large amount of beta carotene that carrots contain, they also contain Vitamin A which is need in the retina of the eye. They promote better eye health and they also help with night vision.

10 Healthy Foods for Less #9

My last healthy fruit that can be fairly economical to buy is Kiwi. It is packed with antioxidants like Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Vitamin A and Vitamin K.

Kiwi's contain as much potassium as bananas are are better for you. They are rich with antioxidants and help the immune system.

10 Healthy Foods for Less #6

A food similar to yesterday's food is pumpkin. Obviously these aren't always available, but in the Fall there is usually lots to go around at a very reasonable price. Buy some extra and freeze it or can it. One small or medium pumpkin will yield lots of pumpkin that you can eat year around.

Pumpkin has lots of Vitamin A and Vitamin C and is loaded with fiber. You can eat it similarly to sweet potatoes.

10 Healthy Foods for Less #5

Another very healthy food is sweet potatoes. These can be expensive if not in season or locally grown. Sweet potatoes are high in Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Plus they are an excellent source of fiber.

To maximize the benefits, avoid boiling them as this leaches out some of the nutrients. Bake them and be sure to eat the skins as this is where most of the nutrients are. These are a great substitute for regular potatoes and much better for you.

You can also wash them and cut them into what look like french fries. Instead of frying them - be sure to leave the skins on - coat a pan with olive oil, a small amount, and put them in the oven to bake. Everyone in our household loves these.

10 Healthy Foods for Less #2

The next healthy food is beets. These are best when you can buy locally grown in season. Beets are very high in fiber, Vitamin A and Vitamin C. They also have anti-inflammatory properties.

Again, if you can buy them fresh instead of canned, they are usually less expensive. I often cook them and cut them up with greens, a couple boiled eggs and onion. You can use a little mayonaise, or what we like best is a little olive oil and lemon or lime juice. Makes a tasty salad or sometimes we just eat this as our main course.

A word of warning. Beets will give the stool a bright red color and the water in the toilet will look like bright red blood. Don't be alarmed, this is just from the beets.

More Healthy Foods

My food for today is broccoli. Yes, I know we have had presidents who don't like it. But the fact is that broccoli contains lots of antioxidants and is one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat. Broccoli has anti-cancer properties and contains Vitamins A, C, & K as well as folate and fiber. It is a great source of fiber.

Additionally, broccoli has properties that kill Helicobacter pylori (H pylori). H pylori plays a role in stomach ulcers and stomach cancer.

Eating it raw is great because all of the nutrients are there. But you can also cook it, steam it, or add it to casseroles, chili, sloppy joes and soups.

A word about the Vitamin K. If you eat broccoli on a regular basis say 2-3 times per week and you are pu on coumadin or warfarin, continue to eat the broccoli just as you have. While it will interfer with the coumadin, your dose will be adjusted by the doctor according to blood tests. It is far better to continue eating the broccoli that to stop it because of coumadin. Just be consistant with how much you eat each week.

Benefits of Butternut Squash

A great treat in the fall is butternut squash. It is packed with nutrients that help you stay well.

Beta-carotene is present in the squash and your body converts this into Vitamin A. This helps your body ward off skin disorders, age related vision loss and even leukemia.

Smoking creates a Vitamin A deficiency which can lead to emphysema. Eating food rich in Vitamin A can reduce the chances of developing this disease.

The other powerful piece about butternut squash is that it contains potassium and fiber. This is an excellent source of potassium - better than bananas. It also contains folate which helps prevent heart disease.

So get some butternut squash!

Other Uses of Vitamin E

I already mentioned the fact that Vitamin E can be helpful to prevent a heart attack or a stroke. There are other things that Vitamin E is thought to help as well.

Vitamin E is believed to help with pain, particularly menstrual pain and post menstrual pain. It can also be helpful with muscle and joint pain. There is some evidence that it may be helpful in dementia. My advice would be to take it and hopefully prevent the dementia, but there is no evidence to support that at this time. It would stand to reason however, if Vitamin E is an antioxidant, it may prevent damage from free radicals in the brain which may be the cause of dementia.

Because it is an antioxidant, you should be taking it especially if you have the flu to hlep the immne system combat the flu virus. Vitamin E is thought to enhance antibody production in the immune system.

In addition, Vitamin E is thought to help individuals with eczema and asthma. Both of which have an immune component.

You may have seen hand creams over the counter which are fortified with Vitamin E. It is believed that Vitamin E on the skin assists with healing and deceasing scar tissue formation.

Vitamin E is also essential to protect Vitamin A and C.

Vitamin A Continued

In addition to vision, Vitamin A has other effects on our bodies. The role of this vitamin in tissue repair and growth is very important. This is particularly true of the skin and we are all aware of the use of Vitamin A on the skin in the form of retinol which is used to resurface and rejuvenate the skin. It is often referred to as anti-aging in skin care products.

Vitamin A also assists in the formation of strong bones and teeth.

A word of caution, the retinal form of Vitamin A can become toxic if you get too much. The animal form is the one to be concerned with as it can lead to osteoporosis and bone degeneration when taken in excessive amounts. The Beta carotene form is not so harmful, but when taken in excessive amounts leads to the skin turning an orange-yellow color.

Vitamin A

Did you ever wonder why milk is fortified with Vitamin A? The reason is to control vitamin A deficiency. In third world countries, vitamin A deficiency is still very prevalent. The reason is that many children and adults in these countries do not consume adequate amounts of Vitamin A in their diets. Secondarily, individuals may become Vitamin A deficient by not absorbing Vitamin A.

Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin that is found in dark green and yellow vegetables, orange and yellow fruits, egg yolks, and liver. Some of the better sources are yams, sweet potatoes, spinach, carrots, cantaloupe and dried apricots.

So why is vitamin A important. Vitamin A is retinol or retinal, this form is found in animal sources such as liver. The plant form of Vitamin A is Beta carotene. You might guess from the animal form that this particular vitamin is important for the retina or vision. Deficiency can lead to blindness, specifically night blindness. So remember when you were told or you heard that carrots were good for you because they helped you see better. Well they don't necessarily help you see better, but they do help prevent night blindness.

More tomorrow on Vitamin A