That's Fit

My son started soccer practice last night and we were both so happy. There's a lull over the summer months where my son doesn't have any organized sports in season, and we both miss it terribly. But last night, I remembered what a time crunch it is planning for meals when there are practices to consider.

My son and I usually eat dinner at 7 p.m. -- smack in the middle of his soccer practice. It's too early for us to eat dinner before practice, so I like to make sure my son has a healthy snack before to keep him energized and curb his hunger during practice. We don't get too creative with the snacks, either. A piece of fruit -- usually an apple or a banana -- is my son's pre-practice snack of choice.

According to Healthcastle, the plain-Jane popular fruits pack a powerful nutritional punch. Check out the gallery to see the details.

In my expert opinion, yes! Disney World is the healthiest place on earth. I just returned from a five-night, six-day vacation with my husband and two children and was blown away by the amount of physical activity both offered and required of ourselves in order to indulge in the full Disney experience.

We pushed our double-stroller miles through two theme parks, climbed thousands of stairs and jumped an equal amount of waves at two water-parks, danced our tushies off to live bands at various Disney resorts, and played game after game with our children as we giggled, oohed and ahhed at all the Disney magic. As a fitness trainer, one of my biggest obstacles is convincing my clients not to trash their fitness efforts when they head out on vacation. Disney offers the perfect opportunity to not only maintain one's fitness level, but improve it.

The physical adventures are endless, and Disney World has made a deliberate effort to increase the availability of legitimately nutritious, low fat, and lower sugar foods. Fruit stands have popped up all over the theme parks, and children's dining has switched from burgers and fries to grilled chicken with carrots and grapes offered as side dishes. Soda has been dumped for low fat milk! I can't get food that "clean" in my own neighborhood, unless I cook it myself! Of course, the old junkie favorites like popcorn, fries, and ice cream are still available, but if you do care about your health and want to maintain it on vacation ... Disney makes it easy.

A new study from the University of California Irvine suggests that a diet rich in grapes may help reduce the risk of colon cancer. This form of cancer, which is the third most common form, kills a half a million people worldwide each year.

Using a freeze-dried grape powder mixed with water in place of actual grapes, researchers had volunteers consume 80g worth of the mix. After a mere two weeks, biopsies were taken and, amazingly, the researchers found that the genes responsible for colon cancer cell growth had been reduced by 47 percent in healthy tissue.

This study followed up on previous in vitro studies showing resveratol, an antioxidant found in grapes, blocks cellular signaling pathways that lead to the development of colon cancer.

In our house, we tend to keep food in our fridge for longer than most people. It's part laziness, part iron stomachs and part frugality, but whatever the cause, I'm often left scratching my head wondering if I should use a certain ingredient in my next meal. But I recently came across this handy timeline for storing common fruits and veggies:

• Carrot (peeled): 51 days
  
• Tomato: 36 days
  
• Garlic: 30 days
• Broccoli: 27 days
• Strawberry: 22 days
  
• Asparagus: 22 days
• Spinach: 19 days
• Grapes (black and green): 14 days
• Peppers (red and green): 14 days
• Cucumber: 8 days
• Lettuce: 8 days

Surprising, yes? I thought the times on many of these were much shorter. This is good news though, particularly for those month-old carrots in the back of my fridge.

Did you just eat a Big Mac? If so, what should you do next? According to new research, the answer to that question is to grab yourself something else to eat right away -- only this time, make sure that it's healthy!

Eating antioxidant-rich foods like kiwi, blueberries, cherries, nuts, tea, and grapes during meals can help reduce the oxidative stress caused by foods containing high amounts of saturated fat and fast-digesting sugars, say researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Vascular inflammation and a number of other diseases can result from consistently high oxidative stress levels, which is why it may be a good idea to add an antioxidant-rich food to your next order of Chicken McNuggets. However, the calories and fat will still do a number on your waistline, as there's not much the antioxidant-rich foods can do to help you in that regard.

Martha mentioned recently the potential that one day, we may need only a pill to maintain a healthy weight and live a long life. Wouldn't that be grand? Maybe. But I'm here to tell you we're a long way off from such a dream. That magic pill, likely to house the supplement Resveratrol, isn't quite ready for human use.

Resveratrol, a natural substance that comes from the skin of red grapes, has been shown in studies to keep mice thin, boost their energy, and extend their lives, all while protecting them from the dangers of an unhealthy diet. Resveratrol also helped mice maintain their motor skills as they aged. There have been no similar studies in humans.

Don't pop that cork and conduct your own studies just yet. You'd have to down 1,000 bottles of red wine to consume as much Resveratrol as each mouse was given. Until further notice, just stick with a handful of red grapes. The fiber, vitamin B, and manganese packed into this juicy fruit is good enough for now.

That's right -- eat all those grapes, please! A new study suggested that grape consumption may prevent colon cancer. Specifically, a diet that contains a copious amount of grapes would be a good thing for those possibly predisposed to colon cancer.

Grapes are delicious and nutritious (sorry if that sounds cheesy), and this report confirms what many naturopaths have said for a long time. That is, grapes contain quite a few components that are avid cancer fighters and are also potent antioxidants.

I volunteered to bring cut-up fruits and veggies for my first-grader's Fall celebration on October 31. I don't want to be the mom bringing sugar cookies, a bag of fun-sized candy, or ultra-sweet juice. I want to be the mom who entices kids with nutritious options. Can I do it? Joey's teacher isn't so sure. She told me today she wants to offer healthy choices for her students -- but she doesn't think many will opt for what I bring. That's OK. I'm willing to a step into uncharted territory anyway. I tend to think some of the kids may be tempted by my apple slices and grapes, my baby carrots and cherry tomatoes. Call me an optimist.

When my sister shared grapes and cookies for her daughter's preschool birthday party recently, little hands fought for the grapes -- not the cookies. Won't six-year-olds do the same? I can only hope.

What's your vote? Will Joey and his pals reach for the wholesome food, or not?

Halloween is upon us. And I'm scared. Not because of ghosts, goblins, witches, and warlocks, though. It's the candy that does it for me -- the sheer excess of sugar that will fill my kids' treat buckets on the night of trick-or-treat. My boys, who will quickly become beggars, will know no limits and will haunt me for weeks with their sweet requests. I haven't yet decided how I'll manage to trash a good portion of the goo my guys will score on this spooky night. But I do know I'd love it if nutritious treats could somehow find a place in the Halloween tradition. Maybe I need to nix the whole door-to-door thing and host my own little healthy hang-out -- complete with these Halloween treats.

• Organic apples, pears, and other fruits could be provided for easy munching. A little caramel dipping sauce could spice things up a bit.

• A handful of salt-free pretzels, sesame seeds, whole grain cereal, dried cranberries, and other dried fruits would make a perfect crunchy mix.
  

• Seedless grapes added to flavored sugar-free Jello could be the start of one favorite fruity indulgence.

There are many horribly healthy options out there. But will they -- can they -- ever replace what what kids have come to love so much about Halloween? It's the candy that keeps them coming back for more.

It's the candy that keeps me afraid of those knocks on the door.

My sister visited her daughter's preschool class just recently for her little one's third birthday celebration. It's customary at this school for parents to bring in a birthday snack for classmates to share. My sister was all too happy to participate in this ritual, and she went armed with her camera, a bunch of Halloween-inspired sugar cookies, and a healthy helping of grapes.

You'd think the kids would gobble up those cookies, right? That's what I thought. Until my sister told me they scarfed down the grapes instead. They couldn't get enough of them, in fact, and some children passed on the sugary treat altogether. How great is that?

Sometimes, I don't think we give kids enough credit. We label them picky eaters and believe they'll only consume dry cheerios, goldfish crackers, and other packaged snacks. But when it comes down to it, I suspect kids might choose what's good for them if given a chance. So why not give them the chance? Go ahead. Try. Call it an experiment. Place some fruit or crunchy veggies in front of your kiddos at snack time and see what they do. Make it exciting and smear some peanut butter on an apple -- tastes a bit like a caramel apple -- or spread some low-fat cottage cheese on a cucumber slice. You might be surprised at what passes as a legitimate snack in your household. And if you work in a preschool, I urge you to introduce whole foods into your program. Ditch the Oreo cookies, the Skittles you use to reward your students, the loaded-with-sugar fruit juice. It's simple really. Healthy stuff is better. Even three-year-olds know it.

For an extra kick in the right direction, pop in here at Meals Matter for some smart snacking tips.

Six-year-old Joey is having a friend over after school today. So I asked him this morning, "What would you like to have for a snack this afternoon?" I thought I might provide a special treat -- a healthy one -- for him to share with his new buddy. He tried for cookies. "Nope," I told him. "Why?" he asked. "Is it because I'll just keep eating and eating them?"

That's exactly why.

Joey knows no limits when it comes to junk food. He'll eat and eat and eat until I forcefully stop his madness. And if he isn't eating, he's begging for the sweet stuff. So we don't keep anything of the sort in our house. It's just so much easier that way. If it's not here, it's not here. He can't beg for it. He can't eat it.

Emptying our pantry of crappy snacks has done wonders for the healthy spirit in our family. And slowly, Joey is becoming happy with good, whole, nutritious food. So much so that once I denied his request for cookies, he suggested we have a fruit salad. It's our latest, greatest household snack, and it appears our new habit is catching on.

"We could have strawberries and watermelon and grapes," Joey shared with me as we drove to school. "We sure can," I happily replied.

Already, I can't wait to slice up our favorite fruits. I plan to put them in separate bowls so my gathering of boys can pick and choose and create their own unique salads. It makes me happy to know I'll be serving up something entirely healthy. It makes me even happier my kid came up with the idea.

Next time you're running a marathon, get your fill of grapes beforehand. Why? Well, you may already know that Grapes are being touted as the new superfood because of a thing called Resveratrol, a nutrient that helps slow down the aging process. And resveratrol, it's now being said, is good for endurance too. Apparently, it increases the production of SIRT1, and this is linked to increased energy expenditure. So for increased energy and metabolism, why not grab a handful of grapes, or even some wine? It's still just preliminary findings, but apparently mice given Resveratrol have exhibited a number of benefits, including improved endurance and decreased amounts of fat.

Impressive, huh?

Orange juice is a staple of breakfast everywhere, and we seem to take for granted that its good for us. True, it has lots of vitamin C, but what if I told you there is an even healthier juice out there? Grape juice has been getting lots of good publicity lately, because of a substance in it called resveratrol. Resveratrol has been touted as an anti-aging elixir, and it has a number of other benefits.

So does that go for another version of grape juice -- wine? As it happens, the answer is YES! So drink up -- in moderation, of course -- and let those antioxidants go to work.

Good news for health-conscious types who have been interested in getting some of the health benefits of red wine that have been all over the news recently, but aren't so interested in drinking alcohol on a regular basis. According to a new study, many of the heart and artery benefits attributed to drinking red wine can also be had by drinking Concord grape juice.

Researchers say the benefit must be in the grapes, and not in the wine itself. I believe it (it's not such a huge leap) and it's good to know that such a long-time "staple" can be even healthier than previously thought.