"Life is lived forward, but understood backward. It is not until we are down the road and we stand on the mountain looking back through the valley that we can appreciate the terrain God has allowed us to scale.” Jill Savage

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

A Veggie for your Liver

RealAge

A Veggie for Your Liver
By RealAge

The dilemma: Wine is good for your heart, but not so great for your liver.

The solution: Eat some asparagus. Sounds quirky, but the theory might hold water.

Enzymes in Asparagus
Okay, it's not quite that simple. But in a recent cell study, asparagus extract boosted the activities of ADH and ALDH, two major ethanol-metabolizing enzymes in the liver. Both of these enzymes help mop up excess ethanol -- the stuff that puts the kick in your glass of wine but stresses your liver -- and its toxic metabolite, acetaldehyde. Asparagus also packs a powerful antioxidant punch. Find out if it's better to eat your asparagus steamed or raw.

Great Greens
If you can find the leaves of asparagus, they contain more amino acids and minerals than the young shoots do. But either way, asparagus is good for your entire body. Here's how it keeps all of you humming:

It has folate for your pancreas. Find out how much folate is in half a cup.
It has glutathione for healthy eyes. Get up to speed on all the healthy-vision nutrients.
It has vitamin E to spice up your sex life. Check out the other frisky-fueling foods on our "dirty dozen" list.
It has helpful prebiotics for your gut. Find out what other foods keep your digestive system blissed out.
RealAge Benefit:
Eating a diverse diet that includes 5 servings of vegetables per day can make your RealAge as much as 4 years younger.



Happy Birthday Patricia O'Neal

Personal life from Wikipedai
During the filming of The Fountainhead (1949), Neal had an affair with her married co-star, Gary Cooper, whom she had met in 1947 when she was 21 and he was 46. By 1950, Cooper's wife, Veronica, had found out about the relationship and sent Neal a telegram demanding they end it. Neal became pregnant by Cooper, but he persuaded her to have an abortion.

The affair ended, but not before Cooper's daughter, Maria (now Maria Cooper Janis, born 1937), spat at Neal in public. Years after Cooper's death, Maria and her mother Veronica reconciled with Neal.

Neal met British writer Roald Dahl at a dinner party hosted by Lillian Hellman in 1951. They married on July 2, 1953, at Trinity Church in New York. In 1961 and 1962 she suffered the death of one child and a grievous injury to another. Her daughter, Olivia, died from measles encephalitis and her son Theo's carriage was hit by a taxi when he was just four months old. The marriage produced five children.

While pregnant in 1965, Neal suffered three burst cerebral aneurysms, and was in a coma for three weeks. Dahl directed her rehabilitation and she subsequently relearned to walk and talk ("I think I'm just stubborn, that's all"). On August 4, 1965, she gave birth to a healthy daughter, Lucy.

7 comments:

Angela said...

The first time I had asparagus was 15 years ago when we lived in Maryland. One of the lawyers I worked for grew it in his garden and gave me some. It is so much better fresh from the garden. I sometimes buy it at Sams. I didn't know that it was that good for you! I will have to start buying it more often.

Hugs,
Angela

Stella said...

Love fresh asparagus but can't handle canned at all. I always buy it in season and steam it lightly.

betty said...

love asparagus! when we lived in Oregon, it grew wild in the pear orchards and people could go and pick it when it ripened; it was good for the pear trees. The growers treated it like weeds, can you imagine?

betty

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

Veggies rule! About five or six years ago I changed my diet to stay off the cholesterol meds. Successfully I might say. Ozark farm chick pats self on the back here. I totally agree veggies and water are our friend!

You have the best day gettin' to know your veggies better! LOL

God bless you dear one!!!

JeanMac said...

I love asparagus and enjoy a glass of wine - it's a win - win!

^..^Corgidogmama said...

How interesting about the veggie, and Patricia Neal!

Buttercup said...

I'm not a big asparagus fan, but the first minute I see the spring crop I'm there. Fascinating article.