Archive Year 2013 month 1

I’m pregnant with baby #2, due in March!  For the past 8 months, I’ve been devoted to giving this baby the best start to life.

Let’s talk Prenatal Supplements:  It all starts with a quality prenatal supplement.  Even with the most solid diet, there are a handful of nutrients especially important during pregnancy.  All pregnant women need more iron and folic acid.  There are so many prenatal vitamins on the market, how do you go about choosing a quality prenatal supplement?  Choose a prenatal vitamin that includes only the most active or absorbable forms of nutrients.  For example,

What's up with my strong cravings for all things dairy right now??  Well, I did some investigating and check this out:

Did you know, the amount of calcium your intestines absorb during pregnancy doubles?!   

Another fun fact…about 80% of the calcium present in the baby’s skeleton at the end of pregnancy crossed the placenta during the third trimester  and is mostly derived from the calcium in mom’s diet during pregnancy.  The calcium mom eats seems to be the main way our bodies adapt to meet those high calcium demands'

Those winter blues setting in?  Are any foods natural mood boosters?  Yes!   Try eating like a Spaniard, an Italian or a Greek.  In a study of more than 11,000 people, those who stuck to a Mediterranean diet scored higher on markers of mental health than their counterparts who ate a more Western diet (1).  How to eat the Mediterranean way?  Pack your diet with fruits, veggies, beans, nuts, and whole grains.  Use olive oil instead of saturated fats like butter.  Eat fish more frequently than red meat, and for all you wine lovers, drinking about 1 cup of red wine daily is also a perk of the Mediterranean diet. 

Though researchers couldn’t

Have you heard the news?  Turmeric is a noteworthy spice you’ll want to include regularly in your diet.  Turmeric is the bright, golden-colored spice prominently used in Indian curry dishes.  While brilliantly colored, it has a very mild flavor.

For centuries, turmeric has been used as an herbal remedy. More recent studies show its potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and anticancer properties.  Turmeric’s primary active ingredient responsible for its amazing medicinal properties is curcumin (not to be confused with spicy capsaician).

Ten reasons why you should include this Spice For Life in your diet.  They speak for themselves!

1.  Inflammation fighter:

Hi friends, I’m Kelly Harrington!  Welcome to the Healthy Goods blog.  I hope you find lots of useful and interesting nutrition and supplement information here.  My aim is to provide you with no-nonsense nutrition information that’s easy-to-read, easy-to-understand, and easy to put into practice.

On the Healthy Goods blog you'll read cool information about:

• utilizing food and specific nutrients to support health concerns
• how to get the most out of your supplements
• hot nutrition topics

Over the next few months, you may notice a trend in the blog topics as my life is about to become very crazy with baby boy #2 due in'

If you missed the xenoestrogens blog (Part 1) about Bisphenol A (BPA) and its health consequences, you can find it here.  BPA is everywhere.  More than likely, all of us are exposed to BPA fairly regularly.  Are there any diet-related remedies for eliminating this toxin already in our bodies?  There just may be!  PROBIOTICS!

Specific probiotics:  Bifidobacterium breve and Lactobacillus casei are two beneficial bacterial strains shown to reduce intestinal absorption of BPA by carrying it out of your