The important trace mineral, iron, performs a large number of roles in our bodies. It helps form hemoglobin in our red blood cells, boosts our immunity, maintains brain and endocrine function, and more. In fact, iron plays a small role in most biological functions, and no living organism can survive without it. Despite widespread understanding of its importance, however, iron remains the most common nutritional deficiency in the United States and the nation’s leading cause…
Dietary fiber is an essential nutrient that is best-known for helping our bodies to normalize bowel movements by sweeping the intestines of accumulated matter. However, fiber also has numerous other uses in the body. It binds itself to cancer-causing toxins in the colon, helps to stabilize blood glucose levels by absorbing sugar, and even helps to reduce total cholesterol by encouraging the liver to make more bile salts. Consequently, it is important that we eat…
Maqui is a tree that is native to the temperate rainforests of Chile and certain regions of southern Argentina. Its sweet-tasting berries, which resemble blackcurrants in size and color, have been consumed by Mapuche Indians for hundreds of years. Indeed, Mapuche warriors attribute renowned stamina and vigor to their consumption of maqui berries. Let’s take a closer look at the nutritional profile of these little-known fruits and find out why Chile’s indigenous people hold them…
Upon hearing the word “superfood,” a number of fruits and vegetables will probably enter your mind. The title has consistently been attached to the blueberry, for instance. There’s also the almond, the sweet potato, the avocado, kale, spirulina, chlorella, and of course, the “original” superfood, broccoli. While these foods are certainly nutritious, several lesser-known foods also match (and in some cases, exceed) them in the health department. Below are six prominent examples. Six Amazing Superfoods…
Blueberries are sweet, edible dark-blue berries of either high-growing or low-growing bushes. Blueberry bushes usually bear fruit at the height of the growing season, although their fruiting times are affected by external factors such as latitude and altitude, meaning that the bushes can fruit from as early as May, or as late as August. Most of the blueberries sold for human consumption today are sourced from eastern or northern North America (especially Maine, which produces…
