I recently wrote a post weighing the nutrition of cantaloupe versus honeydew melons and I had more than one person ask "what about watermelon." While it's my opinion that cantaloupe and honeydew are the "best" melons by far, the masses prefer watermelon.

Watermelon is often thought of as an empty food - mostly water, sweet taste, but not much in the way of nutrition. This simply isn't the case. In fact, all the water taking up space in these pink, fleshy melons make them a really nutrient-dense food. Nutrient density is measured by nutrient to calorie ratio, so since water has no calories, watermelon is really nutrient dense! Keep reading to find out all the health benefits.

Although a watermelon is sweeter than an apple, it actually contains about half as much fruit sugar. And while it's somewhat tricky to find an organic watermelon, come August you'll be able to get local ones. And here is some more good news: Watermelons are on the Environmental Working Group's list of the "Clean 15" conventionally grown fruits and vegetables with the least amount of residual pesticides.

Ah, barbecue season. It's a great time to get together with friends and hang out in the backyard. Walking through neighborhoods, the unmistakable smell of a charcoal wafts past every so often -- it's a smell that means summer. There's something quite primal about the idea of cooking outdoors over an open fire -- just think, this is the way our ancestors have cooked for thousands upon thousands of years.

But like everything else, the modern barbecue has come to be part of the processed food feeding frenzy that's every holistic nutritionist's nightmare (or mine, anyway). Meats get slathered in sugary sauces and wrapped in cheap white bread products with processed deli salads and condiments on the side. Not exactly what our primal ancestors were dining on, huh?

Here are a few tips for helping your barbecue resemble a healthy meal. After all, it's a good idea to take in good quality food that nourishes the body while you're enjoying all that outdoor air.

We talk about beets a lot on That's Fit.ca and our enthusiasm for this vibrant root vegetable shows no signs of abating, here's why: The beet is truly a nutritional powerhouse. Beet juice can boost athletic endurance and beets are loaded with antioxidant carotenoid phytonutrients, including lutein and zeaxanthin for eye health. They're packed with B vitamins and vitamin C, calcium, iron, copper, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous and the always important zinc. Beets are also a great source of betaine, which stimulates liver function, lowers inflammation and protects bile ducts. Beets build and detoxify the blood.

With that knowledge you are probably keen to add more beets to your diet, but how? One can only consume so many boiled or roasted beets before growing bored, so here are five creative ideas on how to get more of these nutrient bombs into your day.

Juicing - Beet juice is one of the better ways to maximize all the nutrition in beets. A few ounces of organic beet juice is akin to taking a multivitamin and a liver tonic. And because they're sweet, any juice you add them to is going to be tasty. Don't forget, you can juice the beet's greens too.

Smoothie - If you're like me, you've got a high-powered blender that can tear through a chunk of beet as though it was an over-boiled potato. But since you're probably not like me, your standard blender might need a bit of help. Cut beets into small pieces or even grate them before adding them to your smoothie or it may end up chunkier than you like. Adding whole beets to smoothies instead of just juicing them means you get all their nutritious components plus the valuable fibre.

Trying to cut down on sugar but wondering how to indulge your sweet tooth? Holistic nutritionist Ricki Heller's cookbook, Sweet Freedom: Desserts You'll Love Without Wheat, Eggs, Dairy or Refined Sugar, offers healthier options to fulfill all your dessert cravings.

Q: Can you explain the food philosophy behind your cookbook?

A: I eat and cook with foods that are whole, natural and as unprocessed as possible-that is, "real" foods. I find that food this way tastes the best, and it is definitely the healthiest way to eat. I try to use foods as close as possible to the state in which they occur in nature. In other words, a whole apple (with skin) is preferable to prepared apple sauce; cooked whole grain brown rice is preferable to white rice, which is preferable to rice flour, and so on. In baking, this principle translates to using whole grain flours (such as spelt, oat, barley) and natural sweeteners (such as pure maple syrup, agave nectar, brown rice syrup, dates, and so on) along with other whole-foods ingredients. Many of my recipes include whole fruits for added sweetness and their vitamins, minerals and antioxidant properties; or perhaps some atypical ingredients such as avocado, tomato, or even spinach (hidden in muffins or cupcakes) because of the incredible health-promoting qualities they confer.

Hi Doug,
Do you think we really need vitamin supplements? It seems to me that we never would have evolved to the point we are now if extra vitamins in our diets were necessary.
Lee


Hello Lee,

In an ideal world, we would get all our necessary nutrients from the foods that we eat and not need to supplement our diets with anything. Unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world. In fact, we live so far from an ideal world that I personally think we all need to be supplementing.

To really assess this question, however, we need to look at who is asking. Does an indigenous person, living on the land their family has grown food on for generations, in a sustainable manner, in pristine soils, untouched by pollution and modern convenience foods need to be supplementing? Possibly not. Do you know anyone who's actually living this way? Not likely.

It would be nice if getting all the nutrients we need on a daily basis was something we didn't need to worry about, but our food, and our world, have changed considerably.

I get a lot of questions from people wondering what things they can do on a daily basis that will have an overall beneficial effect on their health. They may not be ready to make major changes in their lives, or more specifically their diets, but nonetheless are concerned about their health and want to start with small changes.

In addition to recommending a mug of lemon and water in the morning as a quick way to alkalize and detoxify, I also tell people about flaxseed tea. These are a couple of the simplest and most effective habits you can cultivate for subtle health improvements. They aren't weight loss miracles or a way to cure diabetes, but they do make subtle changes that lead toward a positive state of health when combined with a clean diet and a healthy outlook.

Flaxseed tea is easy to prepare and has lot of health benefits. It's not the tastiest thing in the world, but the flavour is mild and inoffensive and it doesn't take long to cultivate a taste for it. Simply steep one teaspoon of ground flaxseeds in one cup of water (or two teaspoons in two cups). That's it. You can also add a little cinnamon for flavour and blood sugar regulation. Or, you can add ground flaxseeds to your existing favourite tea

By far my favourite herb to use in cooking is rosemary. It's in almost everything I make - I just love the taste and that amazing savoury aroma. When I was staying in California, on the hottest days of the year you could smell the wild rosemary all around you. It always made me hungry!

Rosemary has amazing anti-microbial properties. Its essential oils are often used, in more naturally inclined locales, as an antibacterial solvent. It's also an antioxidant and an antispasmodic, relieving cramps and muscle spasms in the digestive tract. It can also be used as a carminative, removing or preventing gas formation in the gastrointestinal tract.

A cup of rosemary tea has been found to be as effective as aspirin for headaches and other inflammatory symptoms. Rosemary can also protect the body from free radical damage caused by radiation. And if your house smells bad, keeping a rosemary plant indoors acts as a natural air freshener.

You've just had a great workout. You really worked up a sweat and you know you did some good damage to those muscles. Now, you're thirsty, hungry and fatigued, so what should you reach for?

If you're like millions of North Americans, you'll probably go for a fluorescent-coloured "sports" beverage because the advertising campaigns have convinced you that they're better than water. It seems most of us have bought the line that these lab creations are superior at hydrating than the stuff created by nature that we've been surviving on for millennia.

But ask yourself this: Are sugary, artificially-coloured and flavoured, processed beverages really the best thing for your body after you work out? Are they good for you at any time? You obviously care about your body or you wouldn't be sweating so hard to keeping it healthy - so why feed it something that's hindering its healthy function?

Fortunately, there alternatives to these flashy sports drinks.

Hi Doug,
I recently tried to cut coffee out of my diet completely and so I switched to green tea. But I didn't realize how much caffeine was in green tea! I kind of feel like I failed on this. I've read your posts before and know that you feel strongly that people should cut coffee out of their diets because of the caffeine, but I think you aren't as opposed to green tea, which also has caffeine. Why is that?
Julia


Hello Julia,

First of all, congrats on the coffee elimination! I really think you're looking at this the wrong way. The fact that you were able to switch out coffee for green tea is not a failure at all, but a roaring success. Coffee is a highly addictive substance, so you need to celebrate your new found freedom.

Eliminating coffee from your diet is a slow process and one that takes some time. Moving to green tea is part of that process and should be looked at as a necessary step for some people. Check out my previous post 5 Tips For Getting Off Coffee for more details on these steps.

As for why green tea is acceptable while coffee isn't, it has to do with the physiological effect that the beverages have on the drinker...

As I was walking down Bloor Street in Toronto the other day with the warm sun on my face, it totally put a spring in my step and reminded me that winter is almost over. And as I mentioned last week, the warmer temperatures and bright sunshine make me crave lighter, fresh foods like tabuleh/tabouleh/tabouli.

Whatever way you spell it, I am certain about one thing: It's a really nice departure from usual salad recipes. This Middle Eastern dish is an all-in-one vegetarian meal that catapults you straight into spring with the wonderful freshness of the star ingredient, parsley.

Parsley is an unappreciated herb as it's usually just relegated to that of a garnish for fish, but as the Healthy Foodie recently pointed out, it's packed with nutrition benefits and it's high time we gave this herb the love and respect it deserves.

Parsley factoids:

• It's a relative of the celery family, a source of vitamin A, C, K, folate and iron.
• Contains the volatile oil myristicin, which has been shown to inhibit lung tumour formation in animal studies.
• It activates the enzyme glutathione-S-transferase, which helps attach the molecule glutathione (incredible antioxidant) to free radicals that would otherwise damage the body.
• The flavonoids in parsley called luteolin, have been shown to function as an antioxidant that combines with highly reactive oxygen-containing free radical molecules.
• It's a diuretic: Studies prove it's an effective natural way to reduce water retention, especially if you have swollen feet when pregnant or get bloated during certain times of the month (this is my personal health secret for combating bloating)

Recipe after the jump

Natasha Turner, N.D. is a Toronto-based naturopathic doctor. She is the founder of the Clear Medicine wellness boutique and author of the bestselling book The Hormone Diet. Each week in her column for That's Fit.ca, Dr. Turner advises readers on how to remedy common health issues as well as improve their overall health.


Very soon, for the first time in history, there will be more people over the age of 50 than under it. This means there will be a lot of women going into menopause which may explain why I get questions about this topic daily.

Q: Dear Dr. Turner, What are some things you can take to ease hot flashes and night sweats?
Thanks for your help!

A: Hot flashes can be very irritating because they disrupt sleep. They occur as estrogen levels change in the body, not because of a deficiency of estrogen, a common misconception. What you need to consider as possible treatments are anything that will help support a constant level of estrogen in your body.

Here are eight tips to follow to support your estrogen needs:

1. Pour on the flaxseeds. Add two to three tablespoons of flaxseeds to protein smoothies, salads, cereals, yogurt and oatmeal each day. They should be purchased ground, in a sealed container and kept in the freezer for freshness. You could also purchase whole flaxseeds and grind them yourself at home.

Natasha Turner, N.D. is a Toronto-based naturopathic doctor. She is the founder of the Clear Medicine wellness boutique and author of the bestselling book The Hormone Diet. Each week in her column for That's Fit.ca, Dr. Turner advises readers on how to remedy common health issues as well as improve their overall health.


The verdict is in; the latest research shows our favourite treats, in moderation, can be good for us!

Dark Chocolate: A one-inch square per day

A research team from the University of Helsinki, Finland, asked pregnant women to rate their stress levels and document their chocolate consumption. Guess what they found? Six months after birth, the mothers rated their infants' behaviour in various categories including fear, soothability, smiling and laughter. The babies born to women who had eaten chocolate daily during pregnancy smiled and laughed more and were more active. Even the babies of stressed women who had regularly consumed chocolate during pregnancy showed less fear of new situations than babies of stressed moms-to-be who abstained. Awesome news for new moms and chocoholics!

As far as superfoods go, goji berries are one of the best. They practically define the superfood category.

Also known as wolfberries, goji berries are one of the most nutritionally dense foods you can eat. They're usually found in health food stores or Asian markets in dried form, and look a little like small red raisins. Goji berry leaves can also be found as a tea.

The berries have reportedly been used in China and Tibet for 6000 years. Herbalists have prescribed them for liver protection, to help with eye sight, to improve fertility and sexual function, to boost immune function, improve circulation and to promote longevity. In vitro studies have found goji berry extracts may prevent cancer cell growth, bring down blood glucose levels and have a positive effect on cholesterol levels.