Because Knowledge is Power
 

Fall Produce I’m LOVING Right Now

Beets

 

These root veggies are packed with natural nitrates, which are getting lots of attention for lowering blood pressure which is heart healthy! Nitrates in beets are also known to boost your performance at the gym or running after the kids, so pre-activity is a great time to have some.

 

Antioxidant rich beets, like cherries,  help prevent post workout aches and pains from muscle soreness. – I am always less sore if I down some beet juice right after a run or tough workout.

 

Beets are  full of good carbohydrates for sustained energy whenever you eat or drink it.

 

How to eat beets? I love canned beets tossed with olive oil and touch of salt

 

Or drink beets? Boil and puree them yourself to add to your  morning juice or smoothie, or just drink the juice straight after a tough workout!

 

Apples

 

Listen, there’s a reason the saying goes “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”…..

 

If you’re hungry but not too hungry, reaching for an apple, as opposed to almost everything else out thee, will help you keep a healthy weight.

 

Apples are packed with fiber which keeps us full longer and makes a perfect on the go snack to grab. Add some nuts or a piece of low fat cheese to that apple and you have the perfect  “tide me over” late afternoon snack.

 

I don’t eat apples because I’m allergic. I love them and I miss them every day, but the fall is especially hard. They’re everywhere! Gloriously red and green and every color in between.

 

Pumpkins

 

Yes of course Fall’s prodigal produce the pumpkin!

 

Like the other members of the calabasas family(in Spanish calabasas is the same word used for pumpkin, zucchini, and acorn squash), pumpkin is all fiber and micronutrients.  One of those micronutrients is potassium, which your muscles need to work efficiently, your heart being the most important muscle arguably.

 

Pumpkin puree can be eaten with lots of dishes, and of course made into pumpkin pie.

 

The real star of the pumpkin is actually the pumpkin seeds!  They are jam-packed with all the micronutrients we need, from copper to manganese to zinc, and also have protein!

 

So don’t forget pumpkin seeds – you can scoop them out, clean and drain them in a colander, and you have the perfect snack.

 

Clementines

 

They’re in our lunchboxes, our snack bags, at the bottom of my purse and what I have 3 of as soon as I feel like I’m getting sick. It always works. That’s because they’re packed with vitamin C to boost our immunity.

The fruit can also create and maintain collagen, an essential protein found in hair and skin, and the main player in healthy joints and fewer wrinkles.

Written by

0phthalmologist & Health Professional