Fit For You NYC

Keeping New York Fit!!

Mushrooms: Not Nutritional Nothings

 Some people think they’re nutritional nothings. But jazzing up pizza, soup, and sandwiches with mushrooms could mean a big something for your heart . . .

. . . and that "something" is clearer arteries. A potent antioxidant in mushrooms could help cut down on risky plaque buildup.

A Whole Lotta Ergo
Mushrooms may be the top source of ergothioneine. And in a lab study, the substance reigned supreme in inhibiting adhesion molecules -- the ones responsible for helping plaque-forming cells latch onto blood vessel walls. Ergothioneine is found in other foods, too, like wheat germ and chicken liver. But the amount in white button mushrooms is 4 to 12 times higher, and meaty portobello mushrooms have even more.

Cancer Prevention, Too?
White button mushrooms may also have cancer-fighting powers. In animal studies, powdered white mushrooms ramped up production of natural killer cells that help protect against tumors.

Diet vs. Exercise: Which Is the Champ?

 

Great news! You don’t have to starve yourself to get that perfect, fat-free frame. In fact, you shouldn’t.

Because even if you lose weight through dieting alone, your body won’t burn fat any easier. To rev up your fat-burning engines, focus less on how often you empty your plate and more on how often you fill your walking shoes.

Fat Burning and More
When a group of sedentary and overweight older adults recently tested three weight loss systems -- exercise only (mostly walking), diet only, and exercise plus diet -- there was no question about the results. When it came to fat burning, the walkers won hands down over those who simply watched what they ate. The bodies of the people who strutted their stuff used more fat to fuel their activity.

A Little Goes a Long Way
Just 30 minutes of daily walking gives you a host of health benefits besides extra fat burning, including more disease protection and better stress stomping.

The Fruit That Fights the Flu

Once November hits, the rest of the year is a giant sprint to the Dick Clark ball-dropping finish line. Here’s the game plan for keeping healthy through it.
Start by getting a flu shot. Then, buy yourself a bag of apples and munch away. The quercetin in apples may help bolster your immune system during vulnerable times.

Boon to Immunity
Yep. Apples (and red onions, broccoli, and tea) are great sources of quercetin -- a flavonoid that may stave off the influenza virus when the body is under stress. In a recent animal study, quercetin did just that: The normal dip in immunity that comes with physical fatigue was pretty much cancelled out by the flavonoid. If it works as well in humans, quercetin could help power the body through both physical and psychological stress.

The 4-Week Plan to Younger Arteries

The goal: You want your blood to flow more freely through your arteries, like it did when you were a kid. The plan: Eat 8 nuts a day for 4 weeks.

Yep, it could be that simple. When people in a study replaced some of the monounsaturated fats in their diets with 8 to 13 walnuts a day, their blood vessels expanded after just a few weeks, allowing better blood flow.