Eating For Success: Breakfast For The Busy Corporate

The first place that we cut corners when we are busy or stressed is our eating and in particular our breakfast. The food you eat forms the very building blocks of your body, but most of us have lost sight of the fact that food is fuel and that the purpose of eating is to provide our bodies with the tools they need for energy, functioning, building and maintenance. We eat for a variety of different reasons, none of which relate to the idea of providing our bodies with quality fuel. We eat unconsciously, we use food to fill emotional voids or to be sociable and we fill our bodies with things that we all know aren''t good for us ? in effect, rather than using food as essential fuel, we use it to inflict damage on ourselves.

Here are 3 options for a quick and easy, healthy breakfast to kick start your day. All recipes take only five minutes or less to prepare.

1. Protein Power Shake ? Mix in a blender ? 1 piece of fruit i.e. banana or mango are divine

1. 1 handful of almonds (for protein and good fats)
2. Milk or Water for liquid (I use water to save the extra calories)
3. 1 dessertspoon of flaxseed oil (for good fats)
4. Cinnamon or nutmeg to taste

2. Protein Pan Cakes ?

1. Beat 2 tablespoons of raw rolled oats into 2 egg whites and cook on a hot pan (no oil)
2. Top with a piece of fruit chopped up, low fat cottage cheese and some real maple syrup or honey.

3. Cottage Cheese, Nuts and Fruit ? This is the quickest, cut up a piece of fruit, top with a handful of raw almonds and some low fat cottage cheese. Eat and go.

All of these quick breakfasts can be prepared and eaten at home in a space where you can mentally prepare for the day. Eating on the run at work is not feeding your body energy.

Start the day with a simple breakfast at home.

Life Balancing expert Jennifer Jefferies is one of Australia''s best-known authors and speakers. Jennifer''s simple, practical and proven 7 Steps to Sanity can help bring balance to anyone who wants to have it all without sacrificing their health, sanity or sense of humour along the way. Jennifer is a qualified health practitioner, who speaks to corporations throughout Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, sharing practical real-life strategies that help people to improve their health, wellbeing and productivity by finding balance in their lives.

Jennifer has also written numerous books and e-books and life balancing products. You can contact Jennifer at:

Jennifer Jefferies International Pty Ltd
Po Box 4298,
Elanora, QLD 4221 Australia
Phone: +61 7 55986035
http://www.jenniferjefferies.com', 190, 'Eating For Success: Breakfast For The Busy Corporate, Nutrition, Nutrition articles, Nutrition information, about Nutrition, what is Nutrition, Nutrition Information', 'Eating For Success: Breakfast For The Busy Corporate plus articles and information on Nutrition'

Gift Basket Idea for Senior Citizens

Evidence for the importance of fruit and vegetable intake to health and quality of life with aging is widely recognized. Consuming fruits and vegetables can reduce an individual''s risk of cardiovascular disease and many cancers.

Furthermore, fruits and vegetables are important components of diets for the secondary prevention of diabetes and hypertension. Of course, with diabetes, you want to use the low glycemic fruits. The highest sugar fruits are melons. Diets rich in nutrients and phytochemicals found in fruits and vegetables have also been associated with delay or decreased risk of conditions associated with aging such as cataracts, diverticulosis, degeneration in neurological and cognitive performance, decline in bone mass, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Diets that are high in fruits and vegetables lower an individual''s risk of chronic disease and contribute to healthy aging. Homebound seniors often have low intake of fruits and vegetables and limited access to fruits and vegetables with the most protective nutrients and phytochemicals.

Wouldn''t it be a great idea to send someone you know who is a Senior Citizen or someone you know in your community that would benefit from a nice, juicy fruit gift basket?

Once a year, our home care agency sends a Thanksgiving gift Basket and Christmas gift basket to one of our patients who can really benefit from receiving one of these gift baskets. It not only makes them feel special, but they get a nutrition meal.

If you don''t know what to give your friend for the holidays, consider a fruit and vegetable gift basket.

Home delivery of fruits and vegetables is an effective way to increase fruit and vegetable intake in homebound seniors.

Copyright 2005 Fern Kuhn, RN
Specializing in Diabetes

http://www.diabetestestingcenter.com
http://www.attentiondeficitdisordercenter.com
http://www.acidrefluxandgerd.com

You may reprint this article as long as you keep the links active.', 190, 'Gift Basket Idea for Senior Citizens, Nutrition, Nutrition articles, Nutrition information, about Nutrition, what is Nutrition, Nutrition Information', 'Gift Basket Idea for Senior Citizens plus articles and information on Nutrition'

The History of the Acai Berry

The acai (ah-sigh-ee) berry has been around for thousands of years and not until the 1990''s was it introduced to the western world. The acai berry was found to possess tremendous health properties. The acai berry was first used by the tribes of the Amazon jungle as a cure for various ailments. It is estimated that the indigenous tribes people routinely use up to 2,000 of the 3,000 known rainforest fruits for medicinal purposes.

The Amazon borders eight different countries and has the world''s largest river basin. Not only does the Amazon supply one fifth of the worlds freshwater, it has the highest diversity of birds and freshwater fish. The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world where one third of all animal and plant species live. The acai berry is just one of these fruits that has been discovered in this vast region. The Shuar tribes are one of these Amazonian tribes that have for centuries, through tradition, kept the use of plants (acai berry) for medicinal purposes.

Shuar medicine men or women are called uwishin (oo-wee- sheen'') a healer that works with medicinal plants, somebody who knows all the secrets of the rainforests. Uwishin, have a great deal of knowledge of medicinal plants and their cures, they learn from others, and through experiments from the plants themselves. One plant removes snakes venom from the body. It is the work of the uwishin to research and find solutions to illness.

The acai berry was discovered to have natural antioxidant properties, as well as being a natural cholesterol controller. When eaten it helps reduce the bad cholesterol in our blood and increases the good cholesterol. The tribes of the Amazon knew of these properties and found out that it helped build the immune system, fight infection, protect the heart, and control prostate enlargement (nature''s viagra). It was a great energy food for the tribes-people. The acai berry, which is a palm fruit, was traditionally pulped to make wine that was rich in minerals. The acai berry was also discovered to fight schistosomosis, which is transmitted by snails. Schistosomosis affecting more than 10 million Brazilians. The aca¨ª berry is also used to produce an antibiotic that helps to fight against ''Staphylococcus aureus,'' a common infection contracted mainly in hospitals. A berry so useful but only known to the traditional tribes men and woman of the Amazon, a lost secret.

The aca¨ª berry comes from a palm that has a long thin trunk up to 25m high with a group of branches at the top from which hangs ribbon-like leaves. Aca¨ª berries hang from these branches in clusters that look like groups of bluebottles. Traditionally the acai berries would be picked by hand and the tribe''s men would shimmy up the tree and cut the branches from the top of the palm tree rich in acai berries. Now that the acai berry has been discovered as a highly sort after crop by the population of Brazil it is mass produced, as it only has a 24 hour life span in which the properties of the juice are still active. The acai berries must be loaded into baskets and onto boats soon after picking. To get it to the markets in Belem''s they would have to transport the acai berries over night.

Each acai palm tree produces round about 20 kg of fruit per year and the wine produced by this fruit has become the most important product in terms of finance after wood forest products. Belem in Brazil now employs over 30,000 people on a daily basis to keep up with its enormous demand.

So we know where it comes from, what about it''s recent history? After being introduced into the western world it was realised by the modern beach going Brazilian surfer as a natural way to regain energy. The acai berry was pulped and frozen to keep it fresh and became a natural additive to the smoothies drunk along the beaches of Brazil. It was known to help your prostate and was seen as a natural viagra for the boys of the beach. It soon became a drink for the trendy, for the sand and surf brigade.

The researches soon got hold of this magic acai berry and realised that it would be of great importance in the well-being and health of the western world, our diets are often over filled with fat and fast food, acai is naturally full with energy, it has a vibrant taste of berries with a hint of chocolate, is rich in proteins, fibre, vitamin E, minerals and essential Omega oils to reduce our bad cholesterol caused by our western diets. The acai berries fatty acid ratio resembles that of olive oil this is thought to be a contributing factor to low incidence of heart disease in Mediterranean populations. The acai berry contains similar properties as red wine in controlling fats in the blood and is a fair contributor to go up against the wine diets of the Mediterranean people.

Known as the miracle fruit, acai berries also helps in preventing cancer due to it''s antioxidant properties that are five times more potent than gingko biloba, a commonly used herbal therapy product.

Acai berry juice has been introduced into other products like bars and health snacks to be sold at gyms and health spars. It''s history is important as by studying the effects that the berry has had on the tribesmen in the Amazon we have discovered that it''s traditional use as an energy booster for hunting and good libido has lead to acai berry juice to being a very commercially viable product.

It''s most recent history is that it has been endorsed by such talk show hosts as Oprah Winfrey and has been seen as a feature on her show, a berry with star success. So lets say good bye to guranum and hello to the acai berry.

Todd Levering is a raw organic health food advocate and owner of several health clubs around Seattle, WA. He''s mostly known for promoting the health benefits of the Acai berry for it''s natural antioxidant properties and the powerful beverage Xocai, which contains Acai. To learn more from Todd about this amazing new beverage, please visit: http://acaipro.com', 190, 'The History of the Acai Berry, Nutrition, Nutrition articles, Nutrition information, about Nutrition, what is Nutrition, Nutrition Information', 'The History of the Acai Berry plus articles and information on Nutrition'

Improve Your Eating Habits.

1. Water. If you''re thirsty you''re already dehydrated. The majority of us don''t tend to drink enough during the day. If you drink a lot of tea and coffee to keep you going then these have a diuretic effect so you should be drinking water to compensate.

Have a glass of water first thing in the morning and last thing at night ? your body loses a lot of water while you''re asleep ? not only if it''s warm and you sweat a lot but just going 8 hours (if you''re so lucky) without food or drink it''s going to be dehydrated.

Dehydration can also be mistaken for hunger ? have a glass of water first before reaching for a snack or eating a meal.

2. Fruit & Veg. Fruit and vegetables provide you with vitamins, minerals and fibre to help keep your body healthy. Eat a piece of fruit or drink fresh juice for breakfast. Fresh berries on muesli or porridge or cereal. Have fruit as a snack during the day and salad and vegetables with your main meals.

If you can, buy organic and wash fruit and vegetables before eating unless your peeling them. Pesticide residues are more likely to remain on the skin and fruits such as apples are often treated in storage.

3. Avoid processed food. With the increased reliance on ready-prepared meals, take-aways and convenience food to save time there is an increase in the amount of processed food that people eat.

Before you buy that convenience meal ? check the label. How much sugar, salt, hydrogenated fat, E preservatives, colouring does it contain? Because it''s processed ? a lot of the flavour and goodness is lost and has to be added. Because it needs to survive transport, increased shelf-life and cooking fats and preservatives are added. And how much does it really cost. Cooking simple meals such as stir-fries and casseroles are just as convenient and so much better for you.

4. Fresh Juice. One great way to kick-start your day and gently wake up your digestive system is to have a fresh juice every morning. I don''t mean orange juice with your breakfast but fresh vegetable juices. Invest in a good juicer, buy local organic produce and find out how good fresh juice is.

An easy recipe you can have every day is one apple, one carrot (peeled), stick of celery, cube of ginger and thick slice of lemon (remove rind).

5. Fish. Eat fish at least once a week. It contains healthy Omega 3 oils, which are good for your joints, and nerves. Flax and hemp oils offer an alternative for non-fish eaters.

6. Eat regularly. Get into the habit of eating breakfast. Your body has been without food over night ? break the fast with a glass of fresh juice (see above) and then a healthy bowl of cereal, muesli or porridge (avoid those loaded with salt and sugar). Try to eat every 2-3 hours ? little and often ? to avoid your blood sugar levels fluctuating too much. Don''t eat a heavy meal late in the evening. Your body will naturally be slowing down at that time and food eaten late is more likely to be stored as fat.

7. Alcohol. There''s nothing wrong with the odd glass of wine, in fact these days it''s seen to be healthy for the anti-oxidants it contains. Excess alcohol causes your kidneys and liver to work overtime to rid the body of the toxins. Know your limits and drink water to help your body eliminate the toxins.

8. Sugar and Salt. These two ingredients are added to most processed food. They add flavour and act as a preservative but they can be present even in foods you don''t expect or are labelled in ways that you don''t recognise. Sugar is empty calories, in it''s basic form it contains little nutritional value. Natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables are all you need. Avoid adding sugar to food and drinks and avoid synthetic replacements. Watch your salt limits too.

9. Know what you''re eating. Be aware of the food that you''re putting in your body. Read the food labels if you buy tinned, processed produce to be aware of how much salt, sugar and fat is in the food you buy. Buy organic meat whenever possible to avoid the steroids, hormones and anti-biotics that are in factory farmed meat. Know how much sugar, salt and fat you should be eating.

10. Balanced diet. One of the most important ways to improve your eating habits is to have a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, whole food, fish and meat, nuts and seeds. Everything in moderation. Keep fatty and sugary foods low but if you enjoy chocolate, cakes and curries there''s nothing wrong with having one once in a while.

If you''d like help in putting some structure in place to organise your health ? contact me through my website.

Clare Evans ? Do more of what you want, less of what you don''t.
http://www.clareevans.co.uk.

Clare is a Personal and Business Coach who works with individuals and small business owners to help them organise their time more effectively and create a better work life balance - enabling them to spend more time doing what they want and less time doing what they don''t.

Contact me today to find out how to create balance in your life.
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Factors that Affect the Nutritional Requirements of an Individual.

The factors that affect the nutritional requirements of an individual are the quality and quantity of the food they eat, the efficiency of their digestive system in absorbing and utilizing eaten food and biochemical availability.

The quality of food that we eat can vary depending on the soil and growing conditions of that food. Soil that has been overworked and chemicals added and also drugs and antibiotics that have been given to livestock and crops to aid growth are all factors that affect nutrition in our food and can affect our own body''s biochemistry. Nutritional quality of our food can be affected by the manufacturing process, storage and preparation of our food.

The quantity of food that we eat also influences our nutritional status. In developing countries malnutrition is a huge problem but in developed countries under nutrition can occur due to dependency on heavy refined processed foods.

The efficiency of our digestive system affects our nutritional status. Bad condition of our intestines will reduce the absorption of digested foods into our blood stream. Metabolic faults, sensitivity to certain food and the presence of substances like tea and coffee can affect the absorption rate of certain nutrients.

Biochemical availability is the optimum range of intake of a person essential nutritional requirement. This nutritional requirement is influenced by age, growth, sex, pregnancy and breastfeeding, illness, psychological and emotional stress, activity level and other factors like smoking and drinking.

Nutritional requirements change as a person gets older, because the elderly use a lot of medication their absorption, excretion and utilization of nutrients can be affected. Growing children have different nutritional needs to that of adults. For example, a growing infant requires a higher intake of essential fatty acids than that of an adult. In the same way there are different nutrition requirements for young and old there are also very different requirements between the sexes. For example, a woman''s nutritional requirements can vary throughout her menstrual cycle, also a woman who is pregnant or breastfeeding has different nutritional requirement to that of one who is not. Nutritional requirement vary depending on whether someone is healthy or ill. As diseases are unique so are the nutritional requirements needed whilst that person is ill. The same applies to psychological and emotional stress. When people are affected by stress their appetite is affected, this results in less intake of food which in turn results in less nutrients being absorbed.

A person activity level will affect their nutritional requirement. An athlete will need a different nutritional requirement to that of an office worker. Exercise improves metabolic efficiency in some people and increases nutrient requirement.

People may find that certain nutritional requirements are increase within their family. Genetics can play a part in an extra need for certain nutrients. Other factors such as using recreational drugs, smoking and drinking can affect nutrient requirements. Even beverages like Tea and Coffee can affect nutrient requirements; they both inhibit the absorption of Iron and Zinc.

Stewart Hare C.H.Ed Dip NutTh

Bespoke consultations for a healthier natural life

website: http://www.newbeingnutrition.com Get a free initial nutritional therapy diagnosis now...', 190, 'Factors that Affect the Nutritional Requirements of an Individual., Nutrition, Nutrition articles, Nutrition information, about Nutrition, what is Nutrition, Nutrition Information', 'Factors that Affect the Nutritional Requirements of an Individual. plus articles and information on Nutrition'

The Truth About the Meat You Eat

There are so many topics to discuss which affect our health that it is hard to choose just one at a time. My motto is Unhealthy Soil = Unhealthy Plants and Animals = Unhealthy People. With that in mind, let''s discuss meat, fish and meat substitutes. I just read an article by some well meaning person who was bragging that chicken and soy are good for you ? WRONG!

If you consider how our ancestors developed in the last 10,000+ years, you will realize they ate non-chemical meats, berries, and nuts ? things that they could forage. They ate deer, buffalo, birds and other types of meat. The common thing all these meat sources shared was that they were grass fed and loaded with Omega III''s and other beneficial fatty acids. However crude it was, they also caught fish. If they were inland it was fresh water, but if they were close to the ocean it was sea food.

The land was also untouched and the grasses and other plants grew and died and went back into the soil year after year. Because of this, the meat from the animals and fish in the streams (or sea food) were loaded with trace minerals. The nuts and berries were also loaded with trace minerals, vitamins, amino acids, and enzymes. With this combination, we had healthy soil, healthy plants and animals, and healthy people.

Fast forward to the present - what do we have today? Grain-fed chemical beef, chemical chicken, cancerous fish from fresh water, toxic sea food, no trace minerals from fruits and vegetables, and genetically engineered grains grown with toxic fertilizers,herbicides, pesticides and fungicides.

We see all kinds of articles suggesting that chicken is healthier than beef. Before you get all warm and fuzzy with this thought, think about the things that go into the average cattle and chicken diets before they get to your grocery shelves.

Are you ready for a picture of the preparation of cows and chickens before they make it to your dinner table?

The calves are born to mothers who have pesticide tags stuck in their ears for flies. They eat grass from land that has toxic fertilizers and is probably sprayed with herbicides to kill the weeds. (If the soil was healthy and fertile, you wouldn''t have weeds). The calves are supplemented with grains from fields without trace minerals and exposed to herbicides, pesticides and fungicides ? unhealthy plants.

They are weaned from their mothers and put into a feed lot. There they have steroids and/or hormones injected into their ears, are fed a very concentrated grain diet with a little fiber, and ingest antibiotics which are added to the food to prevent disease because they stand around without exercise putting excrement on each other.

They have chemical wormers sprayed on from their heads to their tails to prevent parasites. Their feed also has to be sprayed with Arm and Hammer (TM) baking soda to prevent gas (from the grain diet) that can kill them. Because of the super-acid stomach, they produce E-coli in their guts that if leaked into the meat can kill us. I need to add here that because of the grain diet these animals have no essential beneficial fatty acids ? the good stuff for our health.

Now, measure chickens against beef. Chickens have been bred to grow and mature quickly. With their diet (50% chemicals and grains grown with toxic chemicals) they mature in 6 weeks. They have to be harvested at 6 weeks because if they go to 8 weeks, they will die of heart attacks (the heart does not grow at the same speed as their bodies).

They also have part of their beaks removed so they don''t kill each other. They are confined in houses (usually 100 feet by 40 feet wide), and walk on manure and shavings from previous lots. One of my favorite things about their diets is the arsenic (a heavy metal) put into their feed to make them eat more. They stop feeding the arsenic 5 days before slaughter, and want you to believe that there is no residual in their bodies ? NOT TRUE!

Also, if you read on the label that store bought chicken is Free Range, don''t believe it. The latest deception is that they build a little sun room on the side of the industrial chicken house so the chickens can go into this room ? hence Free Range. Real Free Range chickens are allowed to graze on grass, eating bugs, and allowing their manure to fertilize the land as nature would normally allow.

Just in case you think that substituting soy beans for protein is a good thing, let me dispel that idea. Soy beans are for the most part (85%) genetically engineered. This means they can tolerate more herbicide, which you get to eat. Herbicides are a leading cause of cancer.

They are GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) because the large corporations who invented them did so to make money, not to feed the world or make a new nutritious food source. GMO foods have almost no nutrition. These corporations are trying to destroy our God-given plants, so we have to eat their dang foods! We still have no idea of the diseases that will crop up in people and animals because of these unnatural foods.

If the GMO is not enough, then think of the other toxic chemicals used to grow the crops. Remember that soy is also loaded with phytoestrogens. These estrogens can increase a woman''s breast size. Is that so they can get larger and then have a better chance of breast cancer?

As long as we are talking about phytoestrogens and soy, we need to consider soy milk for infants. If you have a new baby, would you go to the doctor and say "Doc, I feel strongly that my baby needs estrogens. Can you give me a script for the little tyke"? As silly as this sounds, that is what happens to babies on soy.

So I ask, what does the estrogen do to these babies? Does it make little girls mature at 7 and 8 years old? Does it make little boys more likely to become homosexual? I don''t have an answer ? just questions.

I also need to add that seafood can provide beneficial fatty acids, but how many PCB''s (polychlorinated biphenyls) and how much mercury do you want with your diet? PCB''s are a very toxic chemical associated with cancer by being stored in the fat of animals, fish and humans. This was banned in 1976, but has been dumped in our rivers and oceans. It doesn''t biodegrade easily and persists in the environment for many years. Mercury is a heavy metal from many sources, but is a common pollutant from smoke stacks of electric generating plants. Michigan has more falling with rain than the EPA says is safe.

The only salmon readily available that is free from chemicals (we have been polluting the oceans for years) is salmon from Alaskan waters.

Beef from the store is unhealthy. The plastic wrap and styrene containers leak gas and chemicals which cause cancer and depression. Even the organic beef from health stores is not healthy because the grain diet destroys the beneficial fatty acids ? no Omega III''s, CLA''s, etc. This being said, you can buy grass fed non-chemical beef from farmers all over the US, if you just take time to do learn how to find them.

The chicken in the stores is also unhealthy, but you can learn how to find pastured poultry. These are chickens that live on grass, bugs, and live healthy lives in the sunshine. You can find pasture chickens that produce healthy eggs. These eggs are wonderful with their bright orange, upright, great-tasting yellows.

It is hard to eliminate GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) like soy and corn, but it can be done. We don''t need grains in our diets. Grains are unhealthy for cows (they are grass eating machines) and they make them fat. Grains do the same to humans. They make us fat and unhealthy, particularly when grains are striped of all nutrition (white bread), pesticides and herbicides are left behind, and toxic fertilizers are used to grow the crops.

You might think when you buy a bag of fertilizer that you are getting 100% fertilizer, but that isn''t true. Fifty pounds of fertilizer will be made up of 1/3 to 2/3 industrial waste. The waste may be reasonably neutral, but it might be toxic with heavy metals ? lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and/or other toxins. When toxic metals can be passed off as trace minerals, they can be given to fertilizer manufacturers, added to fertilizers, and spread on our farm land and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is not involved.

If the waste was to go into a land fill, the EPA would be involved and the disposal would be very expensive. Mercury is one of the most abused metals in the food chain. When the government tried to clean up our air, they required scrubbers on the smoke stacks to collect the mercury. After collecting the mercury, the electric utilities had to get rid of the waste, so "look out farm land, look out food".

We need carbs, but not unhealthy non-nutrient carbs loaded with chemicals.

So, some of the solutions to better eating and better health are grass-fed, non-confined beef, chicken, lamb, and pork. No grains ? particularly anything white. Buy as much organic food as possible and begin looking for "therapeutic food" (so healthful that it improves your health instead of hurting it) from producer networks.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Robert Bard OD is a licensed optometrist and has been for many years. For the past 20 years, he has been researching the effects of toxic chemicals on the environment, animals and people. He has become an avid reporter and speaker covering topics on toxic chemicals as they relate to food, disease, medicine, water and land. Along with his wife Judy, he raises miniature Hereford and Lowline cattle, as well as goats, that are grass fed without drugs or chemicals. He also restores hay meadows and pastures with organic fertilizers. For more information, visit Dr. Bob''s site at http://www.drbobthehealthbuilder.com and sign up for his free weekly newsletter.', 190, 'The Truth About the Meat You Eat, Nutrition, Nutrition articles, Nutrition information, about Nutrition, what is Nutrition, Nutrition Information', 'The Truth About the Meat You Eat plus articles and information on Nutrition'

Blueberries: Healthy and Easy on the Tummy After WLS

All of my life I believed the best way to eat blueberries was with a muffin wrapped around them. No way could plain off-the-bush berries taste good. Well, lo and behold, I''ve been eating blueberries by the handful and they are fabulous! I can tolerate them with my gastric bypass system, I don''t overeat or get sick with them. Best of all blueberries are in season now available at supermarkets and farm stands.

With flavors that range from mildly sweet to tart and tangy, blueberries are healthy superstars bursting with nutrition and flavor while being very low in calories. Blueberries are at their best from May through October when they are in season. Researchers at Tufts University say blueberries rank number one of fruits and vegetables when it comes to destroying harmful free radicals.

When purchasing: select blueberries that are firm and have a lively, uniform hue colored with a whitish bloom. Shake the container, noticing whether berries have the tendency to move freely; if they do not, this may indicate that they are soft and damaged or moldy. Avoid berries that appear dull in color or are soft and watery in texture. They should be free from moisture since the presence of water will cause the berries to decay.

Storing: Ripe blueberries should be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator where they will keep for about a week, although they will be freshest if consumed within a few days. Always check berries before storing and remove any damaged berries to prevent the spread of mold. But don''t wash berries until right before eating as washing will remove the bloom that protects the fruit''s skin from degradation. If kept out at room temperature for more than a day, the berries may spoil.

Ripe berries can also be frozen, although this will slightly change their texture and flavor. Before freezing, wash, drain and remove any damaged berries. To better ensure uniform texture upon thawing, spread the berries out on a cookie sheet or baking pan, place in the freezer until frozen, then put the berries in a plastic bag for storage in the freezer. Berries should last up to a year in the freezer.

Kaye Bailey © 2005 - All Rights Reserved

An award winning journalist and former newspaper editor Kaye Bailey brings expertise in writing and personal experience with gastric bypass surgery to EzineArticles.com. Having spent most of her life overweight Ms. Bailey is strongly empathetic toward the obese, particularly overweight children. This compassion compelled her to found the website http://www.livingafterwls.com, a fast-growing resource of information, understanding and support for the weight loss surgery community.

The LivingAfterWLS.com site is complimented with daily blog. The blog, http://livingafterwls.blogspot.com offers readers the chance to comment or leave feedback about fresh content added daily. This site contains success stories and recipes, general information and WLS inspired topics. Complementing the site is a monthly newsletter titled "You Have Arrived" available exclusively to people who subscribe through the website or the blog.', 190, 'Blueberries: Healthy and Easy on the Tummy After WLS, Nutrition, Nutrition articles, Nutrition information, about Nutrition, what is Nutrition, Nutrition Information', 'Blueberries: Healthy and Easy on the Tummy After WLS plus articles and information on Nutrition'