With so many face creams and beauty products on the product, it’s easy to forget that eating right may be the best thing we can do for our skin. Foods like “vegetables, nuts, and teas…may replace a trip to the spa.” Salmon and other foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids might help with wrinkles, and “spinach, broccoli, and Swiss chard” help ad shine to hair.

The key is to eating foods rich in antioxidants. Foods like green tea, citrus fruits, spinach, collard greens, and egg yolks can all “combat skin damage from the sun and aging.”

Image: sxc.hu.

We’re all feeling the pinch with the economy in the state it is right now, but experts say a healthy diet is still possible when money is tight. Shirley Kindrick, a registered dietician at the Ohio State University Medical Center, makes a good point. She says, “Selecting healthy food items is always important, but in an economy where money may be in short supply (and) families are under stress and people may be working longer hours or two jobs, a good diet is the basic foundation for staying healthy.”

Or, as my grandma used to say, you can’t burn the candle at both ends!

One tip for saving money while eating healthy is simply to serve a smaller portion of meat. Many people eat portions too large anyway, so instead serve a piece that is about as big as a deck of cards. She also recommends placing chopping up veggies in your dishes to bring them to life. Not only will they “bulk up” your dish, they’ll also be strategically placed in the food for those picky eaters among us.

Image: sxc.hu.

Good Food Near You. One of the hardest parts of eating healthy is eating out. Let’s face it, there aren’t very many healthy restaurants out there. When you’re constantly out and about the convenience of food-on-the-go is something that is hard to resist.

Good Foo Near You Logo

Even with nutritional data “Available” in restaurants you still don’t see this information when you need it.

When eating fat, fast foods is not an option and you wan to find something healthy to eat a good resource with that information ready at arms reach is a grand idea. The new iPhone and Blackberry App ‘Good Food Near You ‘ can help. Not only can you use this on your iPhone or Blackberry but you can use it at home before you go out. Not everyone has an iPhone or Blackberry so that makes it just that more convenient of an app.

All you do is dial in your zip code and it will bring up the popular restaurants in your area and tell you what the most healthy item on the menu is. It will also tell you the carb, calorie and fat content per serving! It uses the GPS on your mobile device to find the popular restaurants in your area, just in case you don;t know what zip you’re in. You know what else is great about this app? It’s FREE!

• Easily navigate restaurant menus to find healthy food options near your location
• Sort restaurant food by lowest fat, lowest calories or lowest carbs and advance your search by entering a specific nutritional value
• Search near your current location, enter another location or find good food near a popular landmark, university or airport

You can download the Good Food Near You App directly from their website at www.goodfoodnearyou.com or from iTunes.

Traveling and eating well do not often go hand in hand.  Business trips often require grabbing something quick at the airport or room service.

We know we should eat well and healthy, but we go back to that same old chain restaurant for the same old food because it’s simple and we don’t have to think about the decision.

A new site, GoodFoodNearYou, promises to do the research and deliver you information to make a healthy meal choice.  You can search the database by airport, university or attraction, or dig a little deeper with the advanced search option.  If you’re in the dark about what healthy choices are nearby, you can bring up a full listing of nearby choices.  If you know you a healthy choice offered at one of the chains, you can search that way as well.  Eat the same old thing, or try something new, the choice is yours.

How helpful is it?

I tried to look what was near by home airport, but it wasn’t one of the ones listed.  I checked a few other airports that I’m familiar with, and found the choices the same old stuff with nothing to compel me to try anything different.

GoodFoodNearYou acknowledges that it’s going to take awhile for the database to grow, and as it does we should see more local favorites and neighborhood dining included.

If you’re a fast food patron, you may find the site and its free mobile application helpful in making a healthier choice.

For right now, though, I’ll pass.  I’ll give it a try again when more choices are included.  Eating healthier at places I don’t patronize isn’t much help to me.

How about you?  Do you find this application helpful in eating healthier?

Photo credit:  SXC

I found a very nice read today, pointed out to me by Mike Street of Reader’s Digest Online: an article entitled 31 Simple Ways to Prevent Cancer. Some very practical tips presented in a sorta funny way but with a big ring of truth into it.

Besides, before we all get rattled by the recent cancer scare on cellphone use and other stuff, really the prevention (or at least reducing our risk of developing any cancer later in life) all boils down to the dietary and lifetsyle changes each of us are willing to take, IMHO.

Anyways, here goes in bullets only:

1. Serve sauerkraut at your next picnic.
2. Eat your fill of broccoli, but steam it rather than microwaving it.
3. Toast some Brazil nuts and sprinkle over your salad.
4. Pop a calcium supplement with vitamin D.
5. Add garlic to everything you eat.
6. Sauté two cloves of crushed garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil,
7. Every week, buy a cantaloupe at the grocery store and cut it up after you put away your groceries.
8. Mix half a cup of blueberries into your morning cereal.
9. Learn to eat artichokes tonight.
10. Coat barbecue food with a thick sauce.
11. Every time you go to the bathroom, stop by the kitchen or water cooler for a glass of water.
12. Take up a tea habit.
13. Have a beer tonight.
14. Throw some salmon on the grill tonight.
15. Take a multivitamin every morning.
16. Get about 15 minutes of sunlight on your skin each day.
17. Carry a shot glass in your beach bag.
18. Cut a kiwifruit in half, then scoop out the flesh with a spoon.
19. Use a condom and stick to one partner.
20. Cut out high-fat animal protein.
21. Have your partner feed you grapes.
22. Sprinkle scallions over your salad.
23. Make a batch of fresh lemonade or limeade.
24. Take a 30-minute walk every evening after dinner.
25. Buy organic foods.
26. Learn to love dandelions.
27. Buy clothes that don’t need to be dry-cleaned.
28. Choose cucumbers over pickles, fresh salmon over lox.
29. Switch from french fries and potato chips to mashed potatoes and pretzels.
30. Go for a spray-on tan.
31. Call up your bowling pal and hit the lanes.

My kind of list exactly. Yours too. Read the full details from RD.

Added by me 3 hours later after publishing, last in this list but certainly not the least:

32.  Stop smoking!

What was I thinking not adding this earlier?! Thanks a lot to commenter Kat for the reminder.