Plums’ antioxidant activity is comparable to that of blueberries, say researchers, and the stone fruit offers shoppers a more affordable alternative to the often expensive berry.
Plums are the new blueberry?
Lately, blueberries have been the antioxidant superstars, but they’ll have to make way for plums, says Dr. Luis Cisneros, Texas AgriLife Research food scientist. “Stone fruits are super fruits with plums as emerging stars.” Plums’ antioxidant activity is comparable to that of blueberries, says Cisneros, and the stone fruit offers shoppers a more affordable alternative. “People tend to eat just a few blueberries at a time–a few on the cereal or as an ingredient mixed with lots of sugar,” he says. “But people will eat a whole plum at once and get the full benefit.”
Unlocking garlic’s secrets
Canadian researchers say they’ve figured out what makes garlic such a nutritional superstar (it has been credited with lowering blood pressure, slowing artherosclerosis, and preventing some cancers). ”While garlic has been used as a herbal medicine for centuries and there are many garlic supplements on the market, until now there has been no convincing explanation as to why garlic is beneficial,” says Dr. Derek Pratt, chemistry professor at Queen’s in Kingston, Ontario. Researchers knew garlic contains the organic compound allicin, gives the allium its signature flavor and aroma, but they didn’t know how it generated garlic’s strong antioxidant response. Pratt and his team discovered that garlic’s allicin decomposes quickly to generate a potent antioxidant to trap free radicals.
Trans-fat confusion
The good news in the new issue of the Journal of Clinical Nutrition is that 92 percent of Americans are aware of trans fats (up from 84 percent in 2006), and about one-third of people have changed their buying habits to choose zero-trans-fats foods. The bad news: About 80 percent of us can’t name three foods that contain trans fats. Here’s a cheat sheet, in case anyone gives you a pop quiz:
- Meat and dairy products contain small amounts of naturally occurring trans fats.
- Trans fats are present in any food that contains partially hydrogenated oil. That can include cookies, crackers, pastries, and fried foods.
