nutrition

A recent study shows that children brought up on a mediterranean diet, rich in fresh fruits vegetables and nuts, and low in trans fats like margarine, are less likely to develop respiratory allergies.

See the news item here.

As Scott mentioned in his comment to my first post in the Sunday sleep series, eating too close to bedtime encourages insomnia. I’d like to go into a little more detail about food and sleep, today.

Going to bed on a full stomach will certainly disrupt your sleep, as well as your digestion. Eating sweets just before bed may help you get to sleep after the sugar rush slows down, but then the drop in blood sugar will disrupt your sleep later in the night.

So how can food help you sleep better? First I need to talk a little about brain chemistry. Melatonin, as I mentioned in my Sleeping in the dark post, is one of the most important brain chemicals for sleep. It is made from serotonin, an important antidepressant chemical, that helps us feel calm. Serotonin is made from tryptophan, an important amino acid we get from protein.Most protein foods have plenty of tryptophan, including beans, nuts and seeds. Other sources are oats and spinach.

One reason eating sweets helps you sleep is that the increase in insulin causes the body to extract the tryptophan, making it available for serotonin production. However, as I said, eating sweets will have negative effects in the long run.

Here are the steps to using food to help you sleep:

• Eat plenty of protein and other tryptophan rich foods every day.

• Avoid simple and processed carbohydrates, such as sweets, pasta and white bread.

• Have dinner four to five hours before bed.

• Have a carbohydrate snack about two hours before bed. This snack needs to be small and high in fiber and/or a small amount of fat, so it is released slowly in the blood stream. A small potato with the skin on, a half serving of oatmeal, or a slice of whole grain bread with butter are good options.

Eating this way will encourage serotonin production in the evening, leading to a peaceful sleep.

Ground flax seeds are a great nutritional supplement to most people’s diet. Flax oil is not.

The Good:

• Flax is high in ALA, an essential fatty acid that has some health benefits.

• Flax is high in protein

• Flax is high in lignans, a phytonutrient that protects against breast cancer and other estrogen related cancers.

• Eating ground flax seeds slows the growth of prostate cancer.

• Flax is a good source of many vitamins.

• Flax improves cardiovascular and colon health.

The Bad:

• Most of the benefits of ALA are only realized after being converted to EPA and DHA, which the human body does very poorly. Fish oils are a much better source of these fatty acids.

• The oils in flax seeds go rancid very quickly. Flax oil is almost useless for this reason. If you use ground flax seeds, it is best to use them immediately after grinding. Otherwise store them in an airtight, opaque container, in the refrigerator.

• Flax seed oil actually increases the risk of prostate cancer. This may be due to an excess of ALA in the body. Ground flax seeds do not seem to have this problem.

If you are going to eat flax seeds, the ideal amount is about two tablespoons a day, of ground flax seeds. Although flax oil is very unstable, it seems that the seeds are much less so. Apparently it is ok to eat flax seeds after cooking them. People who find raw flax seeds to be too laxative, have no problem with eating them cooked. So put them in muffins or sprinkle them raw on your cereal or salad.

When you peel your fruits and vegetables you are removing some of the most nutritious part of your food. Many of the vitamins, minerals, and cancer fighting phytonutrients are most concentrated in the skins of fruits and vegetables. Skins and peels are also high in fiber. Eating your peels improves your immune system, helps control allergy symptoms, and helps protect your body against cancer and heart disease.

• Apple peels are a good source of pectin, a fiber that helps control cholesterol and blood sugar. They are also much more concentrated in antioxidants than the rest of the apple, and research has found that they have anti-cancer effects.

• Potato peels are richer in iron and B vitamins than the flesh of the potato. The peel is also rich in antioxidants, fiber, and potassium.

• Citrus peels are high in several antioxidant chemicals. The white part of the peel is high in bioflavonoids, which have anti-inflammatory and antihistamine actions. They alsostrengthen the blood vessels and improve the effectiveness of vitamin C. According to Chinese medicine, citrus peels improve digestion.

• Tomato peels enhance the ability of the body to use the lycopene in the rest of the tomatoes. Lycopene is a well known anti-oxidant that helps to prevent cancer and heart disease.

If you are eating the peels, it is even more important to buy only organic fruits and vegetables. The pesticide residues are not easily washed off.

For more on the benefits of organic produce, see this post.