Breathe in. Breathe out. There. You just supplied your body with much-needed oxygen, some of which will make its way to your cells. When your cells use the oxygen, however, they leave some free radicals behind. Antioxidants are a cleaning crew, of sorts -- they clear away all those unwanted visitors.

When it comes to getting your antioxidants, are you turning to produce and other natural sources? Or are you looking to processed foods?

As so often happens in the food industry, when a health-related item becomes somewhat trendy, everything from soda to candy will be labeled to match the trend. You may not have to think back too far to remember a time when you had never heard of antioxidants. But now that they're in the public eye, you can find a wide variety of products with labels touting their antioxidant power.

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While the area I live in may have made my exposure to this fruit a little slower than it was for most people, it's still a relatively new addition to the regular fruits and veggies on grocery store shelves. In a short span of time the bizarre-looking pomegranate has moved from exotic to mainstream.

The world of nutrition has its trends just like anything else, and pomegranates certainly had their day (or couple of years) in the sun. Pomegranates have been linked to health benefits for erectile dysfunction, cancer risk reduction, lung health, and other issues. And they certainly are good for you... not to mention tasty. (Though pomegranate juice can negatively interact with certain medications (such as some blood pressure meds), so check with your doctor.)

But when a food item becomes trendy, there is a bit of a halo effect; anything that has that item listed on the package automatically seems healthier and better for you. Health by association, if you will.

Have you ever heard the phrase "the whole truth and nothing but?" When it comes to many of the foods marketed to kids, the packaging is anything but the whole truth. As a parent, I know how frustrating it is when my son is bombarded with commercials for sugary or unhealthy treats on TV. Even if he never saw a commercial for anything, the packaging that's geared toward kids rarely holds healthy foods inside. Take fruit juice for example -- packaging for sugary, unnatural ingredient-laden juice boxes tends to be very kid oriented. When my son sees boxes with cool looking surfers riding a fruit juice wave, that's what he wants me to buy. But the 100% juice varieties that I do allow in his lunch box tend to be packaged in boxes with pictures of fruit -- not nearly as cool in my pre-teen son's eyes.

Even when a product is packaged to catch a kid's eye, they often have a claim -- such as low-fat or high in calcium -- that aims to make health-conscious parents feel a bit better about the choice. While the actual claim might be true, the whole truth about the product isn't that pretty. University of Calgary researchers found that 62% of kid-aimed food products that boast of nutritional benefits are actually of poor nutritional quality. Time has a list of nine items that have nutritional claims that might mislead parents into thinking the product is healthier than it actually is.

When it comes to buying food for your kids, stick to natural, unprocessed foods as much as possible. When buying packaged items, read the food label -- it's the only way to know the whole truth about the product you're buying.

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Not too long ago my son and I were grocery shopping. He pointed to a particular treat that he wanted to try, but instead of asking for it he said "That looks really good, but it creates too much container waste." I had to chuckle a bit. His statement either means I'm doing a good job of teaching him environmental responsibility or I'm a little over the top about it all.

Our nutrition habits are one area where we can reduce our impact on the environment. Healthcastle.com recently posted about five changes you can make for a lower carbon diet:

• Buy local. Visit your local farmer's market, but be sure to ask where the produce is from. (I know at the farmer's market near me there is at least one booth that ships produce in from around the country.)
• Go seasonal. Buying off-season means your produce was either shipped from a faraway locale or it was grown in a hot house.
  
• Avoid high carbon foods. Even if they're produced locally, meat and dairy are high carbon foods. Reduce your intact by minimizing portion sizes and serving vegetarian meals more often.
• Use fewer packaged foods. Not only are packaged foods big waste creators, they often have additives and artificial ingredients that aren't nutritionally beneficial.
  
• Bring home leftovers. If you've got leftovers at a restaurant, don't leave them behind -- it creates unnecessary waste and is a waste of money, too.

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