CRNA Wellness: Nutrition

Gary, Gary, quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
With onions, tomatoes,
Vine-ripe sweet potatoes,
And lima beans all in a row.

April is the time to plan ‘n’ plant the garden.  The delightful thing about your garden is that it will provide a solitary escape after a 50-hour work week.  Or it will serve as a dual retreat for you and your partner.  And, it’s sure to be a family affair in which everyone can select some favorite veggies to coax and encourage to fruition. When you grow things, you grow, and when you grow, your body heals.

Sweet potatoes are an amazing garden food, big on nutrients and huge on color.  There are lots of varieties but pick one that grows well in your soil.  Beta carotene has enjoyed solid mag’ rap in the last ten years having been praised and criticized nearly equally.  The truth about  sweet potatoes is that in addition to the starch and sugar, the abundance of A, C and beta carotene make every sweet sensation worthwhile.  I recommend that my clients consume at least one serving of a variety of sweet potato each week.  Prepare it clean – bake without butter, boil and peel, microwave in a potato bag and slice, cut into strips and bake as fries.  You don’t need salt, fats, or seasonings of any kind to enhance the flavor of this already sweet, generous source of nutrients.   Click here to learn about Sweet Potato nutrients.

Green beans provide a rich supply of vitamins A and C that do not stick to your ribs or add unwanted calories to your spring plate.  You can plant pole beans or traditional snap beans in a raised garden.  But if you have room for rows and rows of snaps, haricot verts or favas, go ahead and plant the seeds, fertilize, water, watch for worms, harvest and enjoy.  Eat them fresh-steamed next to your grilled tuna, or stir fry them with onions and mushrooms.  Cut and drop raw into veggie soup or snip, steam and eat them with your fingers in front of HGTV.  If you get at this early in the season, you may have time to plant a second crop.   Click here to learn about Green Bean nutrients.

Yellow zucchini is becoming more and more expensive to purchase, so you may as well grow your own and eat the best.  Like sweet potatoes, the vines take up some space but vertical gardening is always a space-saving option.  Packed with vitamin A and plenty of C, this vegan delight is so low in calories that you can eat a bowlful of sunshine several times a week.  Stir fry it, steam it, slice it and grill it with olive oil or flavored Pam, and use the leftover slices on a fresh veggie sandwich.  Watery and lightweight, zucchini begs to be undercooked.  Your lean machine will love both  yellow and green.  Click here to learn about Zucchini nutrients.

Tomatoes are a thing of beauty in your diet and on your table.  By now most guys know the health benefits of lypocene to the prostate, and both genders are continually reminded through research studies of the cancer preventative capacity in a snappy tomato.  There is some proof that cooked tomatoes are a better option than raw but all kinds, sizes and methods of prep are tasty and healthful.  Think A (B) C then go ahead, prepare a big old ground white turkey burger, slap on a thick slice of Beefsteak tomato, put on a layer of avocado and support it all with an unbuttered whole wheat bun and some leafy lettuce…serve steamed broccoli florets as a healthy side, and indulge. You’re a Garden Gourmet!  Click here to learn about tomato nutrients.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With orange, green, yellow, red,
A rainbow in the bed,
With rich vitamins all in a row.

Gardening is an art form that delivers pleasure to every sense. Feel the cool rich earth slipping between your fingers, see the tiny sprouts and watch them flourish, hear the sweet songbirds nearby, then smell and taste the results of your labor.  There is no place on earth like a garden for feeding both mind and body.  This, you understand, because you’re a healer.

Read Liz’s daily column lizlines at www.bdyfrm.com