TLN Health News Heads Up: The 10 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating

WebMD Feature from "Men's Health" Magazine

Want to do your body a world of good? It's as easy as expanding your grocery list

Although some guys aren't opposed to smoking some weed, most wouldn't think of eating one. It's a shame, really, since a succulent weed named purslane is not only delicious but also among the world's healthiest foods.

Of course, there are many superfoods that never see the inside of a shopping cart. Some you've never heard of, and others you've simply forgotten about. That's why we've rounded up the best of the bunch. Make a place for them on your table and you'll instantly upgrade your health -- without a prescription.

[TLN Editor] In spirit of the season...

#10 Pumpkin Seeds

These jack-o'-lantern waste products are the most nutritious part of the pumpkin.

Why they're healthy: Downing pumpkin seeds is the easiest way to consume more magnesium. That's important because French researchers recently determined that men with the highest levels of magnesium in their blood have a 40 percent lower risk of early death than those with the lowest levels. And on average, men consume 353 mg of the mineral daily, well under the 420 mg minimum recommended by the USDA.

How to eat them: Whole, shells and all. (The shells provide extra fiber.) Roasted pumpkin seeds contain 150 mg of magnesium per ounce; add them to your regular diet and you'll easily hit your daily target of 420 mg. Look for them in the snack or health-food section of your grocery store, next to the peanuts, almonds, and sunflower seeds.

Read Best Foods You Aren't Eating 1-9 at Web MD Health!

TLN Health News Heads-Up: Detox Diets: Purging the Myths

'Cleansing' diets may be worthless or even dangerous, experts warn.

By Richard Sine
WebMD Feature

Molly Davis lives a healthy lifestyle, but she decided recently that she wanted to help her body "perform optimally." What she needed, she thought, was a flush of her system. So the Atlanta-based advertising director chose what might be the most popular "detox" regimen, the Master Cleanse.

For 10 days, she ate no solid food. Instead, she drank at least eight glasses a day of a concoction combining lemon juice, water, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. In the mornings, she drank two full quarts of salt water. In the evenings, she drank a laxative tea.

The results were as dramatic as would be expected: "I felt like hell," Davis tells WebMD. She suffered from headaches, acne, and irritability. A strange whitish film covered her tongue.

Read this interesting and informative article in full at WebMD!

TLN Health News Heads Up: 15 Best Diet Tips Ever

Experts share their top tips for weight loss success.

By Kathleen M. Zelman, LD, RD, MPH
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic-Feature

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Everyone knows the keys to losing weight: Eat less and exercise more. Sounds simple enough, but in the context of real life and its demands, it can be anything but simple. So how do successful losers do it? To find out, WebMD asked experts across the country for their best diet tips.

Here's what they said:

Best Diet Tip No. 1: Drink plenty of water or other calorie-free beverages.

Best Diet Tip No. 2: Think about what you can add to your diet, not what you should take away.

Best Diet Tip No. 3: Consider whether you're really hungry.

Best Diet Tip No. 4: Be choosy about nighttime snacks.

Best Diet Tip No. 5: Enjoy your favorite foods.

Best Diet Tip No. 6: Enjoy your treats away from home.

Best Diet Tip No. 7: Eat several mini-meals during the day.

Best Diet Tip No. 8: Eat protein at every meal.

Best Diet Tip No. 9: Spice it up.

Best Diet Tip No. 10: Stock your kitchen with healthy convenience foods.

Best Diet Tip No. 11: Order children’s portions at restaurants.

Best Diet Tip No. 12: Eat foods in season.

Best Diet Tip No. 13: Swap a cup of pasta for a cup of vegetables.

Best Diet Tip No. 14: Use non-food alternatives to cope with stress.

Best Diet Tip No. 15: Be physically active.

Read the complete article and Best Diet Tip explanations at WebMD!

TLN Health News Heads Up: A Healthier Bowl of Pasta

Whole-grain and higher-fiber pastas are healthier. But how do they taste?

By Elaine Magee, RD, MPH WebMD Weight Loss Clinic - Expert Column
Reviewed by Kathleen M. Zelman, LD, RD, MPH

It’s brown, and it sometimes feels like it’s biting you back when you bite into it. It comes in many shapes and types. It can single-handedly boost the fiber and nutrients in any meal that features it. It's whole-grain or high-fiber pasta, and it's coming to a supermarket near you (if it's not there already)!

You know you're onto something when a major brand jumps on the bandwagon, right? Well, not too long ago, Barilla (which is as much fun to say with an Italian accent as it is to eat) came out with a higher-fiber line of pasta, Barilla Plus.

But do these new healthier pastas pass the taste test?
Well, pasta (like most foods) is all about three things: color, flavor, and texture. Most Americans are used to white, tender, pleasantly neutral-tasting pasta. Not everyone is going to eat 100% whole-wheat pasta and love it. But there are options out there.

Barilla Plus is the brand I think is most similar in look and feel to white-flour pasta. This company was definitely thinking outside the pasta box when they formulated this new product. They added a grain and legume flour blend that includes lentils, chickpeas, egg whites, spelt, barley, flaxseed, oat fiber and oats. The egg whites and the legumes boost the protein, the barley and oats boost the soluble fiber, and the flaxseed provides some healthy plant omega-3s.
And how does it taste? This pasta is similar indeed to regular pasta -- even passable to most kids, I suspect.

Read the complete article at WebMD!

Barilla Plus is a TLN Approved Product!