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• Potato tips
• Potatoes tips

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Written by Lisa Jillanza

Potatoes are one of the most popular vegetables in Americans homes and a quick and easy item to have on hand for meals. But did you know that there are some things that you should never do with potatoes?

Here are what you shouldn’t be doing with your spuds:

Never store your potatoes with your apples- apples produce high amounts of ethylene gas, which causes potatoes to spoil prematurely.

Never store them in a cold, dry environment – instead, keep them in cool, dark place away from other fruits and vegetables.

Never store potatoes near bananas, melons, onions, pears, peaches, avocados, and tomatoes – these also produce high levels of ethylene gas and should be stored separately.

• benefits of pumpkin
• pumpkin health benefits

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Written by Lisa Jillanza

Two delicious, and very similarly tasting, foods of fall – pumpkins and sweet potatoes – are both popular, but which one packs more of a nutritional punch?

Here we put these two fall favorites to the nutritional test…

Reducing the risk of chronic disease:

High amounts of beta-carotene are found in both pumpkins and sweet potatoes. Experts say that diets high in beta-carotene may reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer and protects against heart disease. One cup of cooked pumpkin contains 5,140 micrograms of beta-carotene and one cup of cooked sweet potatoes contains 31,000 micrograms of beta-carotene. Winner? Sweet potato.

Immunity-boosting vitamins:

Both pumpkins and sweet potatoes are both rich in vitamins that boost immunity, like vitamin A. One cup of cooked pumpkin contains 245% RDI (recommended daily intake) of vitamin A and 19% RDI of vitamin C.

Yet sweet potato knocks pumpkin out of the park with one cup providing 774% of vitamin A and 53% of vitamin C. Winner? Sweet potato.

Gut Health:

Good sources of fiber encourage a healthy gut. With 8.2 grams of fiber in one cup of sweet potato, this one once again beats out pumpkin with only 3 grams of fiber. Winner? Sweet potato.

The Final Result?

Although both vegetables are great fall food choices when you place them in a side-by-side comparison, sweet potatoes edge out pumpkin due to its nutritional make-up from vitamin A to fiber to protein. Pumpkin is a light, lower sugar option, but if you want a heavy, nutritious food that gives your body more nutrients then sweet potatoes is the choice to make.

Winner: Sweet Potato.

• healthy diet
• healthy foods
• Refrigerator food don'ts

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Written by Lisa Jillanza

Since 1913, refrigerators have been keeping our foods cold, but not everything stays fresher in the fridge!

Here are the top foods that you shouldn’t be keeping in your refrigerator, thereby keeping your foods fresher and freeing up some space on your shelves.

Avocados – they will reach their peak ripeness at room temperature.

Basil – best left at room temperature with stems submerged in water. (This is also true for many herbs.)

Bell peppers – the skin loses its crunch when kept at cold temperatures.

Cucumbers – keeping them in the fridge make them watery and pitted.

Pickles – they don’t need to be refrigerated because they are already preserved.

Onions – store them in a cool, dry place but never in a plastic bag or near potatoes.

Garlic – keep it in a cool, dry place so it doesn’t become rubbery.

Potatoes – best stored in a paper bag. The moisture in the fridge makes them gritty and sweet.

Tomatoes – store at room temperature for optimal flavor.

Bananas – need warmer temperatures to ripen.

Berries – stay fresher in room temperature, as the moisture will ruin them.

Citrus fruits – leave those on the counter and be sure to get rid of moldy ones, as the mold spreads quickly.

Melons – whole melons should be left at room temperature. Only refrigerate once they are cut.

Hot sauce – only creamy condiments should be refrigerated.

Soy sauce – thanks to fermentation, soy sauce can be left unrefrigerated for a year.

• Improve memory
• Memory loss
• Reasons for memory loss

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Written by Lisa Jillanza

We have all been there… we have walked into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator door and forget what we were going in there to get. Or we walked into a room and didn’t know why we went in that room in the first place. While many of us will instantly blame dementia or other memory loss conditions, experts say that there are several things, or a combination of things, that may be the culprit. Here are seven of them:

You are stressed or anxious- the stress hormone that keeps you all revved up, affects the hippocampus and the other parts of the brain that are involved in memory.

You’re feeling depressed – research shows a link between depression and cognitive impairments, including memory loss.

You’re a woman in or around menopause – among the many issues involving menopause, cognitive impairment is also on the list.

You’re not sleeping well or enough – poor sleep can affect your memory in a big way.

Maybe your medications are fogging your mind – certain medications (unfortunately those that help you combat depression, anxiety, and sleeplessness) are known to affect memory.

You could be drinking or partying too much - abusing alcohol or any substance (such as opioids) that can slow your central nervous system may affect memory as well.

Perhaps you have a thyroid issue – Hypothyroidism (which is when your thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone) not only causes forgetfulness and brain fog, but research has shown that the condition can result in shrinkage of the hippocampus.

• remove belly fat
• Burn belly fat
• Belly fat exercises

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Written by Lisa Jillanza

When most people begin their weight loss journey, they want to start with that stubborn belly fat. Research also shows that a larger waistline is linked to heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers.

So, crunches – and lots of them – is the workout routine for you, right? Wrong! In fact, spot reduction in exercise simply doesn’t exist. Instead, trainers suggest these core-focused exercises that will help combat fat throughout your body resulting in less belly fat. 

Burpees – this exercise works your core, chest, shoulders, lats, triceps, and quads. Great all-around exercise.

Mountain climbers – like burpees, this moving plank exercise works out a ton of different muscles.

Turkish Get-up – this 200-year-old exercise involves a kettle ball and is great for burning belly fat and conditioning your whole body.

Medicine ball burpees – experts suggest adding a medicine ball to your burpee to increase the intensity and boost your metabolism.

Sprawls – basically a burpee on steroids, it takes the traditional burpee to the next level by having you touch your chest to the ground, then push-up to plank as you continue the move.

Side-to-side medicine ball slams - medicine ball slams are a dynamic, explosive, and highly metabolic exercise that does not simply target one muscle group.

Overhead medicine ball slams – strengthens your core as it works against gravity. It also tests your endurance by getting your heart rate up every time you bring the ball above your head.

Russian twists - The Russian twist is a core exercise that improves oblique strength and definition. The move, typically performed with a medicine ball or plate, involves rotating your torso from side to side while holding a sit-up position with your feet off the ground.