The sweet potato, this wonderful elongated orange vegetable, is such a treat to eat.  It is not necessary, as the custom dictates, to add even more sweet ingredients like marshmallows, maple syrup and brown sugar.

Sweet potatoes are a powerhouse of healthy eating just consumed on their own.  The orange color, of course, indicates that the sweet potato is full of beta-carotene.  This nutrient with its antioxidant properties is converted into vitamin A, so important in linking it to a lower risk of cancer, especially lung cancer.

Cardio-vascular disease is also improved when eating this food. The sweet potato is also beneficial for the eyes, helping to improve eye disease such as macular degeneration because of the lutin that it contains.  In addition, it is loaded with cholesterol-lowering fiber and has a lot of potassium as well, so necessary in lowering blood pressure.

Sweet potatoes are only distantly related to the white potato but they are just as easy to prepare and bring so much more to the body.

Add sweet potatoes around a roast to add taste and nutrition to your meal.  Use your imagination and prepare them in the same way as you would white potatoes. – Remembering that the health benefits are much greater.

Grandma Nature

It seems that often when there is a special occasion or fancy event smoked salmon will be on the menu.  It could be called the caviar of today.

How healthy salmon is! It is a delight for us as we age.  For once, fat is good. (The right kind, that is.) We have been hearing so much about the omega-3 fatty foods, and salmon is one of them.  It is a wonder drug for cardio-vascular health, keeping the heart in tip-top shape, raising good cholesterol and lowering blood pressure.

Being a fatty fish, salmon is helpful in easing inflammation and curing arthritis.  Alzheimer’s is also a disease where the fatty fish may be effective.

Salmon may be eaten in many different ways, smoked, baked, cold, and hot.  Enjoying oily fish once or twice a week is a beneficial way to improve your health.

It is true, however, that on some fish farms dyes are used along with antibiotics to help raise the fish, so wild salmon is the healthiest.

In any event, you cannot go wrong by enjoying salmon – the fatty fish!

Grandma Nature

When shopping in the grocery store from September to January you will probably see round red items in the fruit department.  They look like miniature pumpkins except for the color.  The skin is very hard and should you not be familiar with them, they are pomegranates.

When cut in half, they offer a lovely surprise!  The fruit is brimming with many beautiful shiny little dark red seeds.  Do not throw these seeds away!  This is the fruit, and what a fruit it is for good health.  The pomegranate is the oldest cultivated fruit and was thought to have healing powers. Today these healing powers have been proven, through many studies, to be correct.

Pomegranates are so rich in antioxidants that they surmount red wine and green tea.  Known as having anti-inflammatory properties, they are one of the most valuable foods for preventing heart disease.

Studies have shown as well that pomegranate juice helps to prevent or contain cancer, especially prostate cancer, but could be beneficial for other types as well.  As if these attributes were not enough this amazing fruit is saturated with vitamins A, C and E as well as potassium, making it important in lowering blood pressure.

Apart from juice, the seeds can be put on a green salad, for example, to accompany a festive meal.  They may also be added to rice to give a zesty flavor.  Chefs are finding more and more ways to use the pomegranate in their cuisine.  Why don’t you try the pomegranate as well and reward your body?

Grandma Nature

Celery is a versatile vegetable, which has green stalks and white bulbs.   Both varieties are very nutritious and can be prepared in various ways, either cooked or raw. The bulb is consumed most often in wintertime with other cooked vegetables.  Green celery stalks are added to salads, stuffed as an appetizer or cooked in small pieces to make a decorative vegetable accompaniment to a meal.

Celery is a very ancient vegetable and was highly respected in antiquity because of its virtues.  These virtues are especially interesting to us as we age.  Celery is known to be a diuretic as well as a stimulant and anti-rhumatismal food.  It is rich in potassium, good for lowering blood pressure, and is rich in fibers, vitamins and minerals, all essential for a healthy body.  Studies have shown that celery has various anti-cancer compounds as well.

In addition it is one of the vegetables that is very low in calories.

Always available in food shops, celery is convenient to have on hand in order to enrich your meals and enhance your health.

Grandma Nature