June Health Notes

Lots of rain produces lots of mushrooms. These are not edible to my knowledge. Many other mushrooms are and reportedly have great health benefits.

I have written in the past about diet and health outcomes. Six months ago I had blood work done that show high markers for potential heart issues. I am not interested in having a heart attack!  After a bit of research and some reading, I increased my veggie intake to nearly 6 cups a day. If the veggie is cooked, 1/2 cup counts a whole cup fresh. Yes, that is a lot of veggies, and they are mostly green. No root tubers, such as potatoes or sweet potatoes, they don’t count.

The results were an astounding 60% decrease in the blood marker putting me in the green zone for this maker. Not too shabby. All my other cholesterol markers improved at the same time. Over all cholesterol dropped too. Unfortunately we didn’t measure A1C, I’ll get that next time. I am keeping up the 6 or more cups of green veggies a day.

Dr. Terry Wahls is who I learned about this from. She is a researcher who focuses on MS and other autoimmune issues. She cured her MS with a diet of 9 cups of veggies daily. I do not have MS but do have an autoimmune issue and am not sure I could eat 9 cups of veggies a day either. That is a lot of food.

The take away: no matter what increase your green veggies. If raw is an issue go for cooked. The health benefits are astounding. At the same time make sure you are getting enough protein, at least half your weight in grams daily. Lastly, drink half your weight in ounces of water daily.