Healthier Eating Choices Begin Today (Day 3)

    

January 3, 2014

      One of my first plans for eating healthy for 2014 is to add a fruit or vegetable to every meal, every day.  We all know that not all fruits and vegetables are created equal, so I began to research which fruits and vegetables would be best added to my diet daily.  The top ten healthiest fruits and vegetables according to the first website I looked at listed berries such as blue berries, and raspberries because of the high fiber and antioxidant content.  They also listed organic kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and garlic.  Oranges, red bell peppers and spinach also topped the list.  Egg plant finished the top ten. 
    
     The second website I read www.livestrong.com listed pomegranates, kale, broccoli, blue berries, black berries, raspberries, tomatoes, avocados,  Brussels sprouts, and apples as being the top 10 healthiest.  This website includes that the benefits are warding off cancer and other chronic diseases, as well as preventing heart disease (this will probably help my a fib), will help those who suffer from arthritis, add many vitamins and minerals to your diet, and fiber.

     One thing I really want to keep in mind when choosing my fruits and vegetables, is how healthy those fruits and vegetables are in how they were raised and harvested.  I have heard about the dirty dozen list of produce on the shelves.  With cancer being rampant these days, touching the lives of everyone, no one can be too safe or healthy.  www.pbs.org reports a list titled "The Dirty Dozen and the Clean Thirteen".  According to PBS the dirty dozen on our list should be chosen as organic off the produce shelves in order to ensure there are no cancer or disease causing pesticides on the foods that we consume.  That list consists of celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines, sweet bell peppers, kale, spinach, collard greens, cherries, potatoes, imported grapes, and lettuce.  On the other hand the clean thirteen, after being tested for chemicals had little to no traces of chemicals present and are safe to eat.  This list includes non-organic onions, avocado, sweet corn, pineapple, mango, sweetpeas, asparagus, kiwi, cabbage, egg plant, cantelope, watermelon, grape fruit, sweet potato and sweet onion. 

     I have always been one to wash all of my produce before eating it, falsely believing that this would make my food safer to eat.  However the USDA's list was tested after pressure washing the produce with a high pressure washer that none of us have available in our kitchens.  This has prompted me to make this list and keep it in my purse for future reference.  My new year WILL be healthier!

     What ways do you plan to make your life healthier this year?  Have you included your diet as part of that plan?  As for me, I am going to ring in the new year with "bell peppers"!  Good luck friends!

Galatians 5:22-23 But the holy spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  There is no law against these things!