Food Facts

Celery is filling, has few calories and contains many vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. But did you know that the leaves are the most nutritious? According to the March ’13 Reader’s Digest, it’s the celery leaves that contain the most calcium, iron, potassium, beta-carotene and vitamin C.

Coconut oil often gets a bad rap because of its saturated fat—more than butter—but the heart-disease risk from that is unfounded. According to the May/June ’13 Well Being Journal, “[Coconut] is the staple food of many Pacific Island groups. Cardiovascular disease and other degenerative diseases are absent in these populations even though 35 to 50 percent of their diet consists of coconut oil. The Okinawan Japanese people are the longest living people on Earth. Of those Japanese groups studied, those who ate the most eggs, butter, whole milk and cheese and fish had a 28 percent lower risk of stroke than those who ate the least.”

Hyaluronic acid is derived from specific root vegetables and appears to be a godsend for joint pain. According to the September ’12 Better Nutrition, it is found in almost every cell of the body, specifically in joints. “The loss of HA within joints appears to be a major contributor to osteoarthritis.” A number of studies confirm the benefits of HA supplementation: “Subjects who had the most severe pain saw significant reductions in their pain and total symptom scores with 200 milligrams of HA.”

—Becky Holman
www.OldSchoolNewBody.com