When a food item becomes a health trend, it starts popping up everywhere -- from energy drinks to sodas to diet pills, sometimes even in shampoo. Acai is one of the more recent nutrition trends ... but is it worth all of the fuss?

According to Dr. Mehmet Oz, acai berries are rich in antioxidants and are a very nutritious food. However, Dr. Oz states that acai is as good as any other healthful food, not any better. One reporter and her husband decided to try out the acai diet -- he took capsules and she used a powdered drink mix. Not only was it expensive, the drink was gritty, and neither saw any weight loss results. And the cleansing drink that came with the acai diet was completely gag-inducing.

The lesson here is to not go overboard. When nutrition news hits the media, the marketing folks clamor on board and try to sell as many products as possible based on very limited science. Acai is a great food to incorporate into your diet but if you're expecting it to help you magically drop excess pounds, cure disease and unclog your kitchen sink, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

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Smoothies are all the rage these days. Forget meals -- you can get all your nutrition in liquid form, served in a handy to-go cup. Not that there's anything wrong with giving in to the smoothie craze -- I myself have forgone the traditional meal in favour of a quick energy fix from the nearest smoothie vendor.

And there are smoothies to fit all needs -- whether you're looking to bulk up on protein, trim fat, get as many antioxidants as possible or fulfill all your daily fruit and veggie requirements in one drink. All that and they're usually absolutely delicious.

But conventional wisdom tells me that when something tastes good, it probably has lots of calories. Still, how many calories can there be in fruit juice and yogurt? What do you think?

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The blueberry muffin: an eternal favorite, bursting with moist flavor, sabotaging diets everywhere. Your love of blueberry muffins doesn't have to translate to bigger hips; you can have your muffin and your slim figure.

The trick is this: adding more nutritious ingredients while cutting out the excess bad fats and calories. In a past post, Jessica has rehabbed blueberry muffins into a pretty decent healthy breakfast treat. Let's take it several steps further.

Add more nutrition
Blueberries are one of the top antioxidants, but you can add more goodies to your muffins to make them even more nutritious:

• sunflower seeds, which also add a nice crunch, about 1/4 cup
  
• lemon peel and/or juice, zest and juice of one lemon
  
• whole oats, about 1/2 cup
• chunks of other fruits, like apple, pear or other berries
• nuts of your choice, 1/2 cup
• ground flax seeds, about 1/4 cup

I always thought blueberries were tops when it comes to antioxidants. Nope. The acai (pronounced "ah-sigh-EE") takes tops honors and may beat out every other fruit or vegetable by a mile, says RealAge. Consider this: The freeze-dried berry has 30 times the disease-preventing anthocyanins of red grapes. Sounds pretty good to me.

Acai berries are so good they can help lower cholesterol, minimize inflammation, fend off arthritis, and fight cancer -- in one study, the berry extract killed between 45 and 86% of a sample of human leukemia cells.

Antioxidants aside, acai berries are also full of B vitamins, magnesium, copper, zinc, phosphorus, and sulfur. Want to give them a try? Stop by your local health food store for juices, smoothies, and other products containing the nutritious fruit.

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I always find it easier to work the daily recommendation of 7 to 8 servings of fruit and vegetables into my meals during the summer. All sorts of fresh produce is in season at that time of year making it pretty simple to include a variety of fruits and veggies into meals or just as a quick snack.

Now that winter is approaching, it's a bit more difficult to incorporate tasty produce into your diet each day. Strawberries are one fruit that I love which can usually be found at the supermarket all year round. The superfood is great for you as it's full of fiber, folate, vitamin C and antioxidants, which look after your heart and help protect against cancer, among other benefits.

If you'd like to incorporate more of the ripe, red berry into your meals, why not try some of the strawberry-enhanced meal suggestions offered here. For breakfast you can enjoy an English muffin topped with low-fat cream cheese and fresh, sliced strawberries, add strawberries to your favorite salad at lunch and enjoy chicken, vegetable and strawberry kebabs at dinner.

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Just thought I'd share one of the cutest things that happen in my house. My husband has confiscated and is now in posession of my deodorant. Of course, he may get even with me for telling you this, but he uses my Lady Speed Stick and it works well. In fact, the reason he uses it is due to the men's deodorant creating a weird chemical reaction with his body. The 'guy stuff' would leave odd stains on his shirts and create funky odors.

What makes it all so great is that he's this big perfectly muscular and athletic guy who is a police officer. He's totally all the manly guy things in the world, but his armpits smell like strawberries and I think it's adorable. More importantly, the deodorant works and that's how this is all relevant to you. I buy the Lady Speed Stick clear drying deodorant in strawberry and it's awesome.

I spend all day in the gym and after he runs seven miles and lifts weights (then showers), Rob spends all day in a bullet proof vest. From what I've been told we don't smell half bad. The clear drying stuff is terrific because I wear a ton of tank tops and the last thing I'd want is yucky white stains on my shirts. Lady Speed Stick seem to cost less than the other deodorants on the shelf and it also comes in Cool Coconut, Berry Blossum and Pink Crush. The scents are fun, so give em a try. You can smell fruity instead of smelly too.

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There has been so much good press lately regarding the health benefits of fresh fruit, especially fresh raspberries and blueberries, that more and more shoppers are putting fruit on the weekly grocery list. Credited with helping in the fight against one of the biggest illnesses in this country, cancer, it's no wonder fresh fruit is getting so popular. So that's great and all, but there is a downside to this sudden interest in the produce aisle: prices are skyrocketing. Berries are flying by air, floating by sea, and traveling by truck from all over the world in an attempt to meet the drastically rising demand.

Of course it's never a good thing when prices at the grocery store go up, especially when it's related to something in the "health food" category. But hopefully people won't get too discouraged -- spending a few extra bucks on fresh fruit is so much better for you than blowing it on a big bag of Doritos.

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