Archive For The “Health” Category
Published research from Stanford University reafirms what I have believed to 
be true for years. While organic fresh fruits and vegetables are touted by many to be more safe and more nutritious than conventional fresh produce, findings do not support that popular notion.
What you often can count on is organic produce costing more than regularly grown produce. While the research affirms the fact that certified organic produce has less pesticide residues than conventional food, it is no big deal. The pesticide residues on conventional produce are well within Federal requirements. These residues are so low they are not harmful.
I have met and got to know many large, commerical growers of produce over the years. They are for the most part, good, honest, decent people. They have families and would never intentionally risk the lives of consumers or their families or friends by excessively using pesticides and other chemicals.
The research was published September 4 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Does organic produce taste better than convention produce? Sometimes, sometimes not. It is similar to buying a branded fruit or vegetable versus a generic brand in your supermarket. The branded item may cost more, but by no means is it assured of tasting better than a similar non-branded product.
Over the decades less and less pesticides have been used on conventional fresh fruits and vegetables, as technology and advances in agriculture have progressed. A noble goal is that someday it will be economically viable to grow fresh produce without the use of any chemicals.
Meanwhile, I will continue to base my produce shopping decisions on quality and price. — Bill Martin
Pictured here is a seeded watermelon. Don’t see ’em near as much as you used 
to. They have kind of gone the way of “plucking” a watermelon before you buy it. Remember that? Try plucking one today, and you just might be arrested (plucking is using a knife to cut a triangular piece out of the watermelon to taste to see if it’s worth buying). I never was very good at thumping melons to see if they were ripe. I generally just go by color and making sure they don’t have any soft spots. Anyway, I’ve had bought my share of watermelons over the 10 weeks or so. Some were good and others not so good.
This is first seeded watermelon I’ve purchased this year. Seedless melons are just about all the produce departments in stores sell anymore. They assume we consumers are simply too lazy to be bothered with spitting out seeds. Anyway, the seeded melon was as good as any watermelon I’ve had this summer – and was better than most. It was shipped out of Edinburg, TX. Enjoy watermelons while you can, supplies and quality often diminshed after Labor Day.
Another item that has had fantastic quality this summer are cherries – first out of California and now they are coming out of Washington state and Oregon. A record crop has resulted in reasonable retail prices. Like watermelons, enjoy the Northwest cherries while you can. They will be vanishing from your local supermarket by Labor Day.
Another great buy now in retail stores are California grapes, both red and green. They will typically be available through the end of the year, although supplies in the fall drop and prices trend up. But right now, a record crop is being harvested, quality is excellent and prices good. Let’s hope the heat in the San Joaquin Valley subsides some and doesn’t take a toll of the quality of what is a fruit that has excellent eating.
Some of the most reasonably price fruit items in local supermarkets now are strawberries, raspberries and grapes. Apples will be 
an interesting item to watch this fall.
Strawberries have been a frustrating item at best this summer. No one likes to waste their hard earned dollars on something that doesn’t have the taste or durability (shelf life). My purchase of strawsberries have been all over the board, ranging from good (not great) to very disappointing. I tend to think labels or brands can be a bit over rated. A top brand may or may not be better than a generic fruit or even a lesser known brand. However, this year I have found Discroll brand strawberries have been more consistently good. My big disappointement has been with the Red Blossom brand. More often than not, it has left me wishing I’d left it on the supermarket shelf.
The fall strawberry crop out of California is projected to stronger this year, and growers are predicting improved quality and flavor through August and September. I hope they are right!
Another favorite of mine are raspberries. Even with the Driscoll brand, “razz” is so perishable you really need to check the clamshell package for excessive moisture from the berries — and for mold. Still, no one does a better job with raspberries than Driscoll.
Table grapes from California’s San Joaquin Valley are available and a possible record setting crop is translating into attractive retail prices. Just bought some red grapes and the high sugar content makes them oh so sweet!
Finally, apple lovers are looking forward to the new crop which is now arriving at stores. On July 20 hail storms did some significant damage to some orchards in Washington state. Still, there will be plenty of apples because Washington was poised to have a historic crop. Even though the weather damage may reduce the crop by as much as 25 percent, it was so huge, that there will still be plenty of the fruit.
Something to keep in mind. Some orchards were hit much harder than others. To save as much of their crop as possible, you could be seeing some “high grade” bags of apples in your stores. This is simply a fancy name for some fruit that is less than fancy. It is apples that have some “dimples” from minor hits by hail. These dimples will turn brown and have a russetted look. They should have a lower price because they aren’t as “pretty,” although the eating quality should still be fine.
Saturn peaches are among the very best of the white-flesh varieties. It has an 
unusually flat shape, and are named for their resemblance to the rings of Saturn. It also is called Doughnut peaches. In fact, many supermarkets package the flat peaches in long boxes like those used for doughnuts, and market them as a good-for-you snack food.
unusually flat shape, and are named for their resemblance to the rings of Saturn. It also is called Doughnut peaches. In fact, many supermarkets package the flat peaches in long boxes like those used for doughnuts, and market them as a good-for-you snack food.Some reason to check out Saturn Peaches:
1. They often taste better than other peaches. They’re sweeter, with almond overtones.
2. They are lower in acid than other peaches.
3. The pit doesn’t cling to the flesh, so it’s easy to pop out with your thumb.
4. The fruit’s thin, red skin has little or no fuzz, so it doesn’t have to be peeled.
5. Their small size lends itself to being eaten out of hand.
2. They are lower in acid than other peaches.
3. The pit doesn’t cling to the flesh, so it’s easy to pop out with your thumb.
4. The fruit’s thin, red skin has little or no fuzz, so it doesn’t have to be peeled.
5. Their small size lends itself to being eaten out of hand.
Here’s some items that are now available in your local supermarket, or will be 
available soon.
Starkrimson pears are among the first to be harvested early in the season and have a crimson red color that brightens as its ripens. They have a juicy texture and sweet flavor. Starkrimson pears are recognizable by their unique color and thick, stocky stem with a neck that appears to be growing up and around it.
Bosc pears are large with an elongated neck and have a distinct bronze/yellow color.
Bartlett is among the top pears in the U.S. Bartlett pears are bell-shaped with a classic sweet pear flavor and smooth, buttery texture. Bartlett pears are excellent for fresh eating and are a common pear used for canning.
Bartlett pears are the most popular of the pear varieties. They are picked at full mataurity in August and will ripen from green to yellow by the time they reach your supermarket shelves. The Bartlett is a classic pear for canning and is great for fresh eating, pies and sauce.
Sweet onions from the Vidalia, GA area are pretty much history because of a smaller crop and the season ending earlier than normal. While it may be the most famous of the sweet onions, a number of other states have established themselves in the past decade or so as providing consumers with some pretty tasty sweet onions themselves. South Texas also grows a good sweet onions, but it has ended like Vidalia.
California is now providing sweet onions and will do so into August.
One alleged “sweet onion” I would avoid are those from Colorado. Every year the Rocky Mountain state has bags of onions in my local supermarket labeled “sweet” and they never fail to disappoint, much less set my mouth on fire.
One of the best sweet onions coming on before long I’ve been pleased with from year to year is from the Skagit Valley in Washington state.
One of the better imported sweet onions that should be in your stores by early August are from Peru. Sometimes, they are lacking a little sweetness at the start of the season, but get better as we move closer to fall.
You should also be seeing some good reasonable retail prices on table grapes from California, especially with the red grapes right now. Soon to follow will be the yellow seedless grapes. With a good chance for a record crop from California, there should be some good prices on grapes this summer.
Another good buy in the coming weeks and months should be on potatoes with the new crop set to start. The USA has over one million acres of spuds planted, which is 46,000 more acres than at this time last year.
This is the most fun time of the year buy fresh produce, unless of course you 
are growing your own. Home grown tomatoes can’t be beat. Eat ’em like apples!
Here in Oklahoma for only a few weeks, we savor our Porter peaches, grown around the small town of Porter, OK on the Arkansas-Oklahoma state line. Nothing compares! Wish I could say the same for peaches coming from both coasts. Their quality has been all over the board this summer. Some has been juicy and sweet, while others have been dry and tastless.
The same goes for strawberries, although they have been disappointing more often than not.
The pleasant surprises for me in the produce departments this summer has been the seedless watermelons, and the bing cherries – both from California and Washington state. The melons and cherries have been reasonably priced and the quality has been quite good. Watermelons are now coming out of areas such as the bootheel of Missouri as well as Illinois and Indiana.
Kiwifruit has been a great buy for months. I pick it up regularly at three for a dollar. It hasn’t mattered whether it has been from California, Mexico, Chile, etc. It has all been good….Another excellent buy are avocados! I have had them from both California and Mexico recently. They are great in salads. I also love to spread them on crackers and have with a glass of red wine.
Looking for healthy food in your local supermarket produce department. 
Nuts are often cited for healthy reasons – and a new study on pistachios is favorable.
A Pennsylvania State University study published online this month in Hypertension, an American Heart Association Journal, reveals that including pistachios in a healthy diet may positively reduce the body’s response to the stresses of everyday life.
Adults with elevated cholesterol were enrolled in a randomized, controlled clinical trial comparing diets containing pistachios to a low fat diet. The results show that a healthy diet supplemented with pistachios helps decrease systolic blood pressure, peripheral vascular resistance and heart rate during acute stress. Cardiovascular responses were measured while participants engaged in a challenging mental arithmetic test and again as they immersed their foot in cold water.
The study conducted at Pennsylvania State University by Drs. Sheila G. West and Penny M. Kris-Etherton and colleagues examined how diets containing pistachios
(one-and-a-half and three ounces per day) versus a low-fat diet without pistachios, affect responses to stress on subjects with elevated LDL cholesterol, but normal blood pressure. This study is the first to show that including both salted and unsalted pistachios in a healthy diet helps reduce blood pressure and lessen the vascular load on the heart.
The people in the study were healthy, non-smoking men and women with elevated LDL cholesterol (commonly regarded as bad cholesterol) but normal blood pressure. All of the meals were provided and calorie levels were customized to maintain body weight. Pistachios were substituted for other foods in the diet to prevent weight gain. Participants followed three different diets – one low fat diet (25% fat ) without pistachios, and two with different levels of pistachios (approximately 1.5 oz or 10% of calories from pistachios and 3.0 oz or (20% of calories from pistachios). The pistachio diets contained higher amounts of potassium, healthy fats and protein. All diets were rich in fruit, vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains, consistent with current food-based dietary recommendations. Participant demographics and the diet design have been published previously.2
“Daily events, such as work stress, a tight deadline, or public speaking can increase blood pressure, and we know that we can’t avoid all of the stressors in our lives. These results are significant because they show that physiological responses to stress are affected by the foods we eat,” stated Sheila West, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biobehavioral Health and the study’s lead author. Dr. West continues, “These changes in blood pressure occurred even though self-reported mood, anxiety, and tension were not changed.”
The largest drop in blood pressure, – 4.8 mm Hg, was associated with eating about one-and-a-half ounces of pistachios a day versus a -1.8 mm Hg on the low-fat diet and, -2.4 mm Hg, three ounces of pistachios per day. The diet containing three ounces of pistachios resulted in a significant decrease in peripheral vascular resistance, a measure of artery stiffness and heart rate versus the control diet. Fifty percent of the pistachios were given salted as a snack and the other half were unsalted and incorporated into recipes. Interestingly, although high sodium intake is typically associated with high blood pressure, the largest drop in in blood pressure was not associated with the lowest sodium diet. Pistachios do provide potassium (8% Daily Value) and magnesium (8% Daily Value) which are important in maintaining a healthy blood pressure.
“In addition, these results are very exciting because they demonstrate further benefits of pistachios on another risk factor for cardiovascular disease,” added Penny M. Kris-Etherton, Ph.D., R.D., Distinguished Professor of Nutrition, and a lead researcher for the study. Dr. Kris-Etherton adds, “Our previous research suggests including pistachios in a healthy diet lowers LDL cholesterol in a dose-response fashion2 and increases antioxidants in the blood.”
“This research adds to the growing body of literature on the health benefits of pistachios,” added Constance J. Geiger, Ph.D., R.D. who serves as a nutrition research consultant with the American Pistachio Growers. Dr. Geiger continues, “Nuts, such as pistachios, are an important part of a healthy diet.”
For more information and to read the full study, go to hyper.ahajournals.org.1
About the Study
The research support was provided by the Western Pistachio Association, now known as the American Pistachio Growers, with partial support from the NIH-supported General Clinical Research Center at Pennsylvania State University. It was first reported on in 2007. It is relevant because lowering blood pressure may reduce the risk for stroke and heart disease.
Pistachios Pack Powerful Nutrition
In recent years the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognized that tree nuts, including pistachios, may help reduce the risk of heart disease when eaten as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Since then, the American Pistachio Growers have committed to learning more about the nutritional benefits of pistachios and the nuts’ impact on other health issues affecting Americans today.
Pistachio Facts
Pistachios are a naturally cholesterol-free and sodium-free snack that contains just 1.5 grams of saturated fat and 13 grams of fat per serving, the majority of which comes from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. A one-ounce serving of pistachios equals 49 nuts, which is more nuts per serving than any other snack nut. One serving has as much potassium (290mg, 8 percent) as an orange (250 mg, 7 percent) and 3 g of fiber making it a nutritious snack choice or ingredient to incorporate into daily diets.
About American Pistachio Growers
American Pistachio Growers (APG) is a voluntary trade association representing members who are pistachio growers, processors and industry partners in California, Arizona and New Mexico. These states represent 100% of the domestic commercial pistachio production. APG pistachios are the “Official Snack” of both USA men’s and women’s water polo teams and Miss California. For more information, visit http://www.AmericanPistachios.org.
___________________________________
¹West SG, Gebaurer SK, Kay CD, Bagshaw DM, Savastano DM, Diefenbach C, Kris-Etherton P. Diets Containing Pistachios Reduce Systolic Blood Pressure and Peripheral Vascular Responses to Stress in Adults with Dyslipidemia. Hypertension. 2012 Jun 4. [Epub ahead of print] doi:10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.111.182147
2Gebauer SK, West SG, Kay CD, Alaupovic P, Bagshaw D, Kris-Etherton PM. “Effects of pistachios on cardiovascular disease risk factors and potential mechanisms of action: A dose-response study.” Amer J Clin Nutr. 2008;88:651–9.
3Kay CD, Gebauer SK, West SG, Kris-Etherton PM. “Pistachios increase serum antioxidants and lower serum oxidized-LDL in hypercholesterolemic adults.” J Nutr. 2010;140:1093-98.
Source: American Pistachio Growers
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Besides being one of the better priced items in your produce deparment 
this year, a new study touts the benefits of eating kiwifrut..
Kiwifruit have long thought to be a nutritional powerhouse. But a new nutritional analysis published in the peer reviewed journal Nutrition Today further verifies that fact. The author of the paper, Dr. Keith Singletary, Professor Emeritus of Nutrition at the University of Illinois, found that in addition to its antioxidant benefits, kiwi fruit can also help the digestive tract and even your skin.
“Potential benefits include a rich source of antioxidants, improvement in gastrointestinal laxation, lowering of blood lipids, and alleviation of skin disorders,” as stated in the published paper titled, “Kiwifruit: Overview of Potential Health Benefits.”
The Nutrition Today paper stated that kiwifruit is also a rich source of vitamin C as well as folate, potassium and dietary fiber. The paper cited ongoing, preliminary research that is investigating other possible health benefits associated with kiwi consumption. “The fruit’s content of nutrients and biologically active phytochemicals has stimulated investigations into its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions that might then help prevent cardiovascular disease, cancer and other degenerative disorders.”
The California kiwifruit growers, as a member of the International Kiwifruit Organization (IKO), partnered with other kiwifruit growers around the world in conducting the research that further affirms these known potential nutritional benefits of consuming kiwifruit.
California represents 98% of U.S. kiwifruit production or about one-third of all the fresh kiwifruit supplies in the United States during the season. California farmers produce up to eight million trays of the nutritious fruit from September to May with its primary production in October and November. As domestic production from California has increased, kiwifruit has become an increasingly popular fruit for Americans.
The 2012/13 crop is well on its way into the growing season and the mild summer weather California has experienced thus far is sure to promote good size and great flavor.
The full Nutrition Today article can be viewed here.
Source: California Kiwifruit Growers
Remember when Wal-Mart introduced produce departments to their stores a 
number of years ago. They did an excellent job! You can thank a guy named Bruce Peterson for that. Anyway, Bruce left the huge chain a while back and Wal-Mart produce departments, at least in many stores, have went down hill. My local Wal-Mart often has substandard produce, and definately not enough staff to keep the shelves stocked properly, not only in produce, but in the grocery and other departments as well.
Anyway, I just bought my first peaches of the season at my local Wal-Mart. I purposely bought peaches from California, as well as – honestly I’m not sure where the 2nd peaches are from. The shipper is based in South Carolina, but he may be selling some peaches for growers in Georgia. The label didn’t say in which state the peaches were grown.
I would give the California peaches a “C” and the Eastern peaches a “C-minus.” The West Coast peaches had excess juice, which really tasted more like water. The East Coast peaches were seriously lacking in juice. Peaches from both California and South Carolina, or is it Georgia, were dry.
Looking at the photograph I took of a peach from California (on the right) and the East Coast peach (on the left), both have nice color, although both are lacking in size. Just goes to show, as Bo Diddley once sang, you can’t always judge a book by looking at the cover. Hopefully, both coasts will have better peach quality in coming days.
Buying two of my favorite fruits with any good taste has been a real challenge t
his year — until this week.
Finally had some cantaloupe from Costa Rica that was out of sight! I know when my cantaloupe is tasting as it should when I don’t have to sprinkle salt on it.
My next pleasant surprise came with California strawberries. I had began to think I’d just grown tired of eating strawberries, until this week. What finally hit me was I’d just grown weary of fruit lacking in taste. You’d cut one open and it there was more white color than red. This quart of clamshell strawberries also wasn’t detriorating. Lately it seemed I have to eat the whole quart at once because the next day, the fruit was be going to “crap.” I’ve had these strawberries at the house three days and they remain firm, tasty, with a beautiful red color — and no decay.
Maybe, they finally realized they should have been shipping it protected by Tectrol, which slows the aging process.
Another one of my favorites are watermelons. I often find it difficult to buy great tasting melons until around the 4th of July. You get all the early season stuff out of the way, and warmer, more consistent weather helps produce better watermelons.
Expect watermelon retail prices to be pretty stiff, especially in the eastern half of the USA. For various reasons, melon crops have been hit pretty hard and supplies will be much tighter than normal. Out West, supplies are much better and you may not face as much stick shock.