Best Week for Grapes.... Hurry!

It's true... This week is the peak for grapes. Go get some!!! But get red...more on that in a minute.

I forget that not everyone talks about nutrition stuff everyday, and I've had more nutrition questions than usual from friends lately. So,I'll throw in some random info every now and then. I'd be happy to answer more questions here too. I take for granted what I do sometimes.

Today I was refreshing my memory on all the benefits of Resveratrol. This is a compound found mostly in grapes and some in peanuts. It's actually in over 70 plants, but I don't recommend eating spruce or lilies. Besides heart disease and cancer, this compound is also strongly linked to decrease in Alzheimer's disease, stroke, hypertension, and improvement in lung health.

Red grapes are the most accessible source of Resveratrol...which means red wine is a good source too. It's in the skin of red ones and very little in green grapes. It's the resveratrol in red wine that makes it beneficial for heart health and one of the reasons the French have lower incidence of heart disease despite their generally high fat diet. It helps to keep the heart muscles flexible. It's also been shown that this compound which is actually a flavanoid prevented cancer in all 3 phases: initiation, promotion and progression.

Time out: I just realized I've been listening to the same song on repeat without realizing it for 1/2 hr. I'm so relieved that I'm not tired of Brooke Fraser...just tired of song 1. I was going to very sad if my time with her was coming to an end!

All of the above about grapes is pretty convincing even to me who's writing it, but the most important part of the flavanoids are their ability to decrease inflammation. The bottom line on all chronic diseases (heart disease, diabetes, fibromyalsia and a lot of gastrointestinal stuff)is inflammation. Our diets high in white sugar, white flour and saturated fat while low in anti-oxidants (flavanoids), whole grains and unsaturated fats are to blame.

Now, you just thought. "So if it tastes good spit it out," or "So you want me to eat tree bark and carrots?" Like I haven't heard that before! For majority of people the appropriate response here is... LAME! Stop whining. I eat plenty of processed food... in fact I fed people this past week lots of sugar--but if anyone notices, there was always fruit too! It all fits, just not as staples or in place of fruits and vegetables. And you can reduce the sugar, fat and sub 1/3 to 1/2 whole wheat flour in almost any recipe. I do it a lot. None of you have ever known the difference!

Really the ideas is very simple...eat real food. If majority of what you eat can sit on a shelf for 6 months and still be in perfect condition, that is actually a problem. It's great for manufactures but it's going to be the death of you. Real food spoils. Real food has to be touched and handled and may take some thought process or care.

One more thought about grapes... if you have the chance, buy them organic. It's one of the "dirty dozen," fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide levels.

Go get grapes.