Foods/Food products you eat for health...

Is there a food or beverage that you consciously consume regularly for it’s real or supposed health benefits?

I have us on a diet high in green leafy vegetable such as escarole and spinach. We consume copious amounts of fresh garlic in veggies and salad dressings. Fresh fish, especially those high is omega 3s, is on the menu at least once a week. I drink green tea almost daily for it’s supposed anti-oxidant properties.

Now I’m looking to get food sources for vitamin D, as it is supposed to be very unfriendly to lots of types of cancer and Stacey and I have family histories with the big C. Shiitake mushrooms are a good source, but the SO doesn’t really like mushrooms of any sort.

I always keep this kind of thing in my mind when I make recipes and menus for the week. Not that we shun anything, we’re going out on a burger quest Saturday night, but I try to be keenly aware of what I put in the mix.

Discuss…

Oysters, caviar, foie gras, duck confit, artichokes and garlic-herb butter, Flannery rib-cap, wagyu porterhouse

Ditto…save the oysters.

What’s wrong with Oysters??

Dick, I have never really been able to like them. Fried…maybe once every couple of years. Raw, just can’t do it.

If you’ve had mostly Gulf oysters, i can certainly understand. I can barely tolerate them fried. We like Malpeques from Prince Edward Island. and Kumamotos and Fanny Bays from the Pacific Northwest.

Hmmm. Methinks my thread has been…

But Mark, my first reply was serious.

Those are all very delicious raw. They do a great selection of seasonal oysters at the Pluckemin Inn in Bedminster, NJ. I became a big fan of those ersters when I worked there.

But Dick, are those really healthy?

Hardboiled eggs (yes, eggs - pretty much a super food), Edamame, whole grain cereals

Salt, fat, sugar, chemicals, alcohol, protein and chocolate.

That’s essentially the food pyramid right there.

There’s also this one:

Mark-

They are for me. Of course, I don’t have a cholesterol, blood pressure, or other metabolic problem.

[ok.gif] [good.gif]

We tend to have broccoli or spinach with most meals cooked at home. Of course the spinach is sometimes sauteed with bacon…

I also eat Frosted Mini Wheats for breakfast for fiber. Whole wheat muffins, skim milk, bananas and fresh/seasonal fruit. Also tend to prepare tasty dishes with boneless skinless chicken breasts.

Other than that we DON’T use butter substitutes, low fat cheese, non fat sour cream, sugar substitutes, etc. Try to eat sensibly, exercise and everything will be okay.

Nothing particular but very little processed food. One green veggie if not two at dinner each night. I like to have bowls of grapes handy when the kids get home from school. If they see good food to snack on they will usually forget the cookies in the pantry

Chicken, wild fish (if the price is right), turkey, various vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, spinach), fruits (apples, oranges, avocado), some carbs although only low GI stuff like quinoa, skim milk, lentils, garlic, olive oil, supplements, salad-based meals and red wine.

However, my wife likes dessert (frozen yogurt); there’s really nothing healthy about that.

On the weekends, we’ll typically have red meat, cheese, cocktails, sweets and all the other no-nos.

Of course. that’s not to say that we don’t “cheat” during the week.

Actually, all kidding aside, I attribute my good health at age 68, to over thirty years of meals at home consisting of meat or fish and green vegetable. No bread, potatoes, rice or any carbos; almost no processed food, or stuff with preservatives, hormones, et al. However, all bets were off, when we went out for dinner, which was two or three times a week, sushi once a week and French or Italian the other times.

I also cycled 100-150 miles a week, until I got herniated cervical discs. During all that time my cholesterol was 110 and my blood pressure was 110/60. In the mid 90s Carollee’s blood pressure and cholesterol went out of sight, so we added pasta and risotto our diets. I gained 25 lbs or so, my cholesterol went to 130 and my blood pressure went to 120/70, mostly due to reduced cardio-vascular exercise.

Good genes, plus exercise, and good diet are a big help.

I get by on tons of Green Tea and steamed Broccoli.

When I was in Iraq I practically lived on chicken and broccoli and I lost 20 lbs almost immediately. I’m a fairly skinny guy to start with but that slimmed me down real good. I also spent 2 hours a day in the gym.

Oh… and there was no alcohol… except the occasional delicious bottles of Scotch that a few of my good friends here used to sneek by.

[gheyfight.gif]