What You Eat Can Save Your Life

Finally, I can take a breath. It has been a busy winter. Following the successful Johns Hopkins Medicine women's health conferences in Baltimore, we got some respite from the snow and ice when we traveled to Florida to conduct A Woman’s Journey in Palm Beach, Naples and Sarasota. Regardless where the Johns Hopkins faculty and I travel, women are curious about medical discoveries and searching for information

Conversations with women around the country about new advances in women's health, reinforce the need for A Woman's Journey as a forum about health issues. No wonder. Every time I listen to a speaker at A Woman's Journey, I too gain valuable information. Did you know, for example, the more than one million Americans die annually because of poor dietary choices? At A Woman’s Journey Baltimore and Palm Beach, nutrition specialist, Lynda McIntyre, talked about foods that boost your immune system and combat disease. What I learned will change my diet.

• Beta-carotene increases our “t” fighter cells that help improve immunity and prevent cardiovascular disease.
• Mango and apricot, among other foods, can retard the growth of breast and colon cancer cells.
• Vitamin C not only boosts our immune system, it increases good/HDL cholesterol and cartilage synthesis, and reduces osteoarthritis and wrinkles.
• Garlic fights bacteria, but needs to sit on the counter and be oxidized before you cook it.

So, now I am going prepare my shopping list for the week, get a cup of green or oolong tea, and beginning planning for the next women's health program.

Leslie