I recently heard my friend, physical therapist Alan Tyson, say that broccoli is his favorite pick for “green” food hands down.  Alan talks to his athletes and clients about nutrition almost as much as he talks about their injuries.  Here are Alan’s nine reasons we should be eating our broccoli:

1. Cancer Prevention Broccoli contains glucoraphanin, which the body processes into the anti-cancer compound sulforaphane. This compound rids the body of H. pylori, a bacterium found to highly increase the risk of gastric cancer. Furthermore, broccoli contains indole-3-carbinol, a powerful antioxidant compound and anti-carcinogen found to not only hinder the growth of breast, cervical and prostate cancer, but also boosts liver function. Broccoli shares these cancer fighting, immune boosting properties with other cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and cabbage.

2. Cholesterol Reduction Like many whole foods, broccoli is packed with soluble fiber that draws cholesterol out of your body. [Read more…]

My own version of Caprese Salad…

I love summer food. Especially salads. Fresh and colorful, summer produce and meats on the grill are delicious additions to an otherwise plain salad. My favorite salads are the those made from fresh ingredients. Following are some of my favorite summer salads (first one is my own version, the others come from great sources). These can be really easy if you are already grilling out chicken, steak or salmon. Just add the meat to the salad and you’ve got protein to boot!! I call these mom salads because even if the rest of the family doesn’t share our love for veggies and are content with the meat from the grill…we can create great salads to enjoy as a main course.

1. Whitney’s Caprese Salad

Ingredients: mozzarella balls, roma tomatoes, red onion, fresh garlic, fresh basil, edamame, salt and pepper, olive oil. [Read more…]

I realized long ago that I’m no Gumby. Unfortunately for way too long I have accepted that I can’t really do anything about my ability to be flexible. But that is changing. As I get older I am trying harder to change my non-Gumby status…and I am determined to become more flexible because I know that the implications are far greater than just not being able to touch to ground with my fingertips. The following is an article by Alan Tyson, a sports physical therapist and owner of Architech Sports.

By Alan Tyson
Stretching is typically the most overlooked part of an exercise routine. Many people do not stretch because the results are not seen for some time. Increasing the muscle length takes time and stretching must be done on a regular basis. How many times have you exercised regularly and then took a break for a week or two because something came up or you were recovering from an injury? What did it feel like the first time you returned to the gym or sport you were playing? It was much tougher wasn’t it? Muscles will conform to the actions and stresses placed on them, whether that means becoming toned, stronger, bigger or more flexible because of training or becoming weaker or tighter because of disuse or a sedentary lifestyle. [Read more…]