Category: Eat it or Leave it

Breadfruit, also known by its Hawaiian name, ‘ulu, can grow as big as a small basketball and has numerous nutritional benefits. (Photo courtesy of Hawai’i ‘Ulu Cooperative) Pineapples and Hawaii may go together like leis at a luau, but there’s a far less iconic fruit growing in the South Pacific that Hawaiians have revered for…

(tbralnina/iStock via Getty Images) Lea en español People seeking straightforward nutrition advice might have a bone to pick with calcium, a building block of health that can start to seem like a piece from a complicated puzzle. Luckily, the basics – such as understanding why you need it and how to make sure you’re getting…

(Lecic/iStock via Getty Images) Stories about spinach often reference Popeye, the sailor who gobbled it by the can to gain immense strength. But if you need to bring a cartoon character into a conversation about healthy eating, consider the Hulk. In addition to their shared hue, spinach packs a nutritional punch that looms large even…

(sixcube/iStock via Getty Images) If you say “potato,” and then say “healthy,” some people might call your thinking half-baked. At best, potatoes often are seen as a starchy vegetable that lacks the status of dietary rock stars like leafy greens or carrots. At worst, taters are the basis for all kinds of salty, fatty snacks…

(wingedwolf/iStock via Getty Images) Lea en español A summary of sugar’s health effects can sound like the tagline for a Hollywood thriller: “It’s sweet and alluring. It’s a master of disguise. And tonight – it’s hiding in your refrigerator.” OK, maybe not a successful thriller. But like a double agent, sugar can be both beneficial…

(rustyl3599/iStock via Getty Images) Lea en español The fall harvests usher in loads of pumpkins into grocery stores. But a smooth-skinned tropical fruit also vies for a consumer’s attention: papaya. The orange and green fruit is originally from Central America and southern Mexico, but papaya now grows in several tropical and subtropical countries, such as…

(MangoStar_Studio/iStock via Getty Images) Lea en español For more than half a century, scientists have debated the role of dietary cholesterol in a healthy diet. Because it was often associated with saturated fat, limiting dietary cholesterol – especially by restricting egg consumption – seemed to benefit heart-health efforts. More recently, accumulating data has caused researchers…

(bit245/iStock via Getty Images) If you get cross-eyed thinking about carbohydrates, that’s understandable. They can be, quite literally, both simple and complex. They abound in snacks that nobody would call healthy but also appear in foods considered essential to good health. “It gets a little confusing,” said Andrew Odegaard, associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics…