Originally published in Well+Good.

What do French fries, a bottle of wine, and chronic stress have in common? They’re all causes of inflammation. (And you don’t want that, since inflammation is the root of pretty much every degenerative illness.)

But there’s an awesome antidote emerging—and it comes from the spice rack: turmeric.

With some promising research backing its benefits, turmeric—that very same staple of Asian and Indian cuisine—is becoming a trendy nutritional supplement. What can it do besides give your curries that signature shade of yellow?

Wellness gurus point to a megastudy that surveyed more than 700 research papers on turmeric, and concluded that curcumin (an antioxidant found in turmeric) has substantial disease-prevention powers and other benefits. Here are just some of them:

1. “It guards against cancer, arthritis, and Alzheimer’s,” says Frank Lipman, MD, who personally takes two turmeric supplements a day. The megastudy also showed turmeric outperformed many pharmaceuticals, and with almost no side effects.

2. Turmeric can do wonders for inflammation-related skin-care concerns, like psoriasis, acne, and sun damage. That’s why Nicholas Perricone, MD, adds it to his sunscreens as well as his diet.

3. And one of the most recent studies to tout turmeric’s benefits and other antioxidant spices, showed that they reduced the negative effects of high-fat meals, lowering insulin response by about 20 percent. We expect a full-on turmeric boom when word gets out about this one!

So how much turmeric should you take to help manage your stress and inflammation? Dr. Andrew Weil, who’s written extensively about turmeric, recommends 400 to 600 milligrams three times per day. (Look for 95 percent curcuminoids on the label, and for piperine, a component of black pepper, that helps facilitate absorption.) Or sip on a Turmeric Live juice, sold at yoga studios, after class.

Originally published in Well+Good.

Aimée, 32, a health-conscious web designer living in downtown Manhattan, has been spiking her boyfriend’s smoothie with a nutritional supplement. Not with wheat germ, but with Maca. “We’ve both noticed a serious boost in our energy—which is great for my yoga class because I like a fast-paced vinyasa flow—and the romps in the bedroom have been a serious perk!”

Due to its growing popularity as a “vitality enhancer,” Maca is no longer an ancient, ignored superfood. It’s busting out of the history books, popping up on smoothie menus, and appearing in Manhattan kitchen cupboards.

Yvette Rose, founder of Joulebody Kickstart Cleanse, says it’s a better pick-me-up than caffeine. She sprinkles it over her morning oatmeal or adds it to a smoothie. “It’s really easy to add to food, and you’ll notice the benefits almost instantly,” she says.

Just what are those benefits? Peruvian women have long attested to Maca’s super powers in the bedroom (like for 2,600 years), and have been using it for fertility, libido, and treating PMS and menopausal symptoms. New York women are giving it a go, too.

Contemporary nutrition calls Maca an adaptogen, meaning it improves balance in the body where it’s needed or normalizes it under stress. But then Maca goes one better by promoting endurance, energy, stamina, as well as erections and sperm count (especially in rats). And some studies show that Maca is a mood and immunity booster. Name a New Yorker who doesn’t need that?

Want to try a modicum of Maca for you or, er, a friend? Start with one tablespoon of the organic root powder, using a well-known organic brand like Navitas Naturals. You can bump it up to two tablespoons after a couple weeks.

A quirky thing about superfoods like Maca is that their efficacy is sometimes higher when used inconsistently, so try using this one a few times a week rather than making it a daily ritual.

Originally published in Well+Good.

If you’re not already drinking lemon water daily, it’s going to be your BFF this holiday season.

Squeezing a wedge or two of lemon into a glass of water is a super easy way to counteract the damage done by the holiday dessert table.

Why? In addition to being a top alkalizer (meaning it counterbalances your pH against acid-forming foods like sugar, alcohol, and fats), lemon water aids the digestive system, sparks your metabolism, and neutralizes stored toxins.

In other words, lemon water supports the work your over-taxed organs have to do to process your processed-food snacks. (This is why your acupuncturist might like you to start the day with it, too.)

So sipping some lemon water in between holiday cocktails—and or at your desk between the rounds of office cookies and cupcakes—helps your body handle the stress of indulging (and shake the guilt).

And a bonus for sippers: This could be your first holiday season with way less bloating or breakouts, and you may even skip the annual round of the sniffles.

Originally published in Well+Good.

Move over agave. Coconut sugar, now popping up in health-food stores and trendy health-driven restaurants, looks to be the best way to get your sugar-fix without a guilty conscience—or a sugar crash.

Unlike agave, which is 90 percent fructose, this up-and-coming sweetener—also called coconut palm sugar—contains less than 9 percent of that potentially triglyceride-forming substance.

Another reason for filling your sugar bowl with coconut sugar? It’s also got a considerably lower glycemic index (35) than agave (42), honey (55), and cane sugar (68).

Coconut sugar isn’t from the coconut itself. It’s drawn from the sap of the coconut palm tree buds. It’s similar in taste and color to brown sugar with an almost-caramel flavor. So it doesn’t have or impart a coconut flavor to baked goods, where you can just swap it for granulated sugar in recipes or anything else you’d use sugar for.

But it looks like coconut sugar can add more than sweetness to your morning coffee. It’s loaded with minerals, such as potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron, and B vitamins, which is why you may hear some sugar connoisseurs calling it a “whole food sugar.” Something you (and the coconut sugar lobby) can feel good about.

Something about coconut palms (Coco Nucifera) make an environmentally savvy sugar, too. They grow anywhere (even sand), use very little water, and are almost twice as productive as sugarcane, according to Big Tree Farms, a popular organic brand.

When you consider coconut sugar’s pretty healthy profile—and all the holiday baking around the corner, it’s a pretty sweet solution.

Originally published in Well + Good.

As the temperature rises, so do our cravings for sweet, cooling treats.

Fruit, of course, is the healthy way to go. But not everything from the produce aisle is created equal.

Some of the most commonly purchased fruits are actually the highest in sugar, like bananas (28 grams of sugar per cup) and grapes (23 g). Ditto tropics-born favorites like mango (24 g) and pineapple (25 g).

To avoid a serious blood-sugar spike, here are the top three fruits we’re gushing over for summer—containing the lowest sugar content and some seriously juicy benefits:

Strawberries. Their lipstick-red color is due to phenolic acid, a big-deal antioxidant that plays a major role in helping regulate blood sugar response. When consumed at least three times a week, their powerful anti-inflammatory properties kick in.
Sugar content: Seven grams per cup.
Tip: Eat for dessert and get the benefits of digestive enzymes.

Apples. An apple a day indeed keeps the doctor away with its antioxidant-rich nutrients. Quercetin and other flavonoids slow digestion, preventing a hard-core sugar spike.
Sugar content: Eleven grams per cup.
Tip: Replenish glucose after a workout with green apples.

Cantaloupe. Improve eye-sight with beta-carotene-packed cantaloupe and boost immunity with its high vitamin-C content. Sugar content: Thirteen grams per cup.
Tip: Freeze tiny ice-cream-style scoops of cantaloupe for a frozen treat.
—Jennifer Kass

For a summer smoothie recipe using low-sugar fruit, click here.