Focus on Footwear: The Trouble with Flip-Flops

Focus on Footwear: The Trouble with Flip-Flops

red-flip-flops
red-flip-flops

Ask just about any chiropractor which type of footwear is the worst for your feet and back, and you’ll likely hear about two culprits: high heels and flip-flops. While high heels spell trouble for women, flip-flops are worn by men, women, teenagers, and children, making them a more ubiquitous health hazard than any other commonly worn type of footwear. So what exactly is the trouble with flip-flops? Why do chiropractors advise so strongly against wearing them? In a nutshell, flip-flops not only lack a protective shell or any sort of support, but they force wearers to walk unnaturally, causing numerous foot, leg, and back problems.

Shoes are designed to perform two basic functions. One function is to offer shock absorption; the other is to provide a solid, stable surface that your foot can push off from. Flip-flops, however, provide neither shock absorption nor stability. They are essentially just covers for the bottoms of your feet.

Flip-flop manufacturers have tried to address the issues of shock absorption and stability, with minimal success. A few of the more pricey brands offer some arch support, and some have more cushioning—but no flip-flops can compare to sneakers in terms of support and shock absorption. If your footwear cannot perform its two basic functions, you could find yourself in pain, not only in your foot but up your entire leg and into the knee, hip, and back.

Without a suitable arch or appropriate shock absorption, you are forced to walk differently, which can negatively affect the ligaments, bones, and muscles in the foot by making them work harder than they are used to. Overuse can even result in stress fractures in the bones of the feet.

Flip-flop wearers must walk abnormally in order to keep their flip-flops on. A study conducted by Auburn University found that the average flip-flop wearer takes shorter steps than those who wear other footwear. The study also found that flip-flop wearers hit their heels to the ground with less vertical force, which throws off a person’s natural gait and can cause pain and other issues in the feet, ankle, legs, hips, and back.

All flip-flops come with a small strip of material that the toes must grip in order to keep the footwear in place. This repetitive gripping causes muscle overuse and can result in tendonitis, a painful condition wherein tendons become inflamed. Regular use of flip-flops can also cause or exacerbate bunions and hammer toe. Other flip-flop related maladies include plantar fasciitis, splinters, blisters, and burns due to flip-flops’ lack of protection.

Lastly, flip-flops are a breeding ground for bacteria—sometimes dangerous types. In fact, a 2009 study from the University of Miami found that even just one pair of flip-flops can contain over 18,000 bacteria, including Staphylococcus and bacteria from fecal matter.

If you feel you must wear flip-flops, consider asking your chiropractor for recommendations on which brands to look at. Additionally, you should wear them sporadically and avoid wearing them on any days on which you will be doing a lot of walking. There are other sandals that are better for your feet, so consider them as an alternative to flip-flops.

 

When It Comes to Nutritional Supplements, Quality Counts!

When It Comes to Nutritional Supplements, Quality Counts!

nutritional-supplements-multi-colo
nutritional-supplements-multi-colo

Nutritional supplements are one way that many of us try to improve our health and to support our efforts to lose weight, stop smoking, and more. Although using good quality supplements can be beneficial to your health, it can be difficult to determine which ones really fit the bill. Supplement makers are lightly regulated relative to the pharmaceutical industry, and there have been specific ingredients and some products pulled from the store shelves only after they have proved harmful to a number of people. When the New York Attorney General recently revealed the results of a probe into supplement sales at four top national retailers and found that many products didn’t actually contain the correct ingredients, it came as no surprise to some experts who have worried about poor quality control and manufacturer fraud for years.

A Matter of Omission

While many of us might be more concerned about what’s in a supplement that shouldn’t be, it can also be a big problem if the product doesn’t actually contain the key ingredients listed on the label. If an individual is depending on a particular supplement to remain healthy, the lack of key ingredients could have serious consequences that the user may not be aware of. In a number of cases, key ingredients had apparently been replaced with cheap fillers or other alternatives that not only failed to meet the specific nutritional need but that also had the potential to cause harm to some consumers.

Herbal Ingredients: What You May Not Know

Many supplements use herbs in their products as their main ingredients. Because these herbs are “all natural”, many people mistakenly believe that they cannot harm you or have side effects similar to those of prescription drugs. In reality, herbs can and do interact with each other, with other foods and with medications to produce unexpected results. And this is true even when nutritional supplements are properly labelled. When supplements are manufactured poorly and/or deliberately misrepresented through their labeling, this can make matters even worse.

Need an example? Consider the consumer who believes that she is purchasing an herbal supplement that is wheat-free when. Now suppose that the supplement contains NONE of the herb listed as the primary ingredient but that it DOES contain wheat. If the consumer has a wheat allergy or is on a gluten-free diet, taking these supplements could cause health problems that would be both serious and completely unexpected. In the New York Attorney General’s investigation, some of the products that were found to be improperly labeled were:

  • Ginkgo Biloba
  • John’s Wart
  • Valerian Root
  • Probiotics
  • Ginseng
  • Garlic
  • Saw Palmetto
  • Echinacea

Protecting Yourself from Low Quality Supplements

By now it should be clear that choosing a nutritional supplement isn’t only a matter of selecting the right type to get the health benefits you’re looking for. It’s also a matter of purchasing a high-quality product that contains ONLY what it should. However, the current regulatory approach—essentially self-regulation–doesn’t inspire confidence and leaves consumers more vulnerable to shortcuts in manufacturing and quality control as well as deliberate misrepresentation or fraud.

What can be done? Several very well-regarded companies manufacture high-quality nutritional supplements to the same standard as heavily regulated pharmaceutical firms. Many of these companies distribute their products exclusively through the offices of healthcare professionals, including chiropractic physicians and nutritionists. If you’re interested in learning more about nutritional supplements and what you can do to be sure that the ones you take are safe and effective, we encourage you to call or visit our office today!

Why Having a Catch is Good for You at Any Age

Why Having a Catch is Good for You at Any Age

boy-with-football
boy-with-football

Having a catch is a classic familial activity—the image of a father having a catch with his son or daughter often comes to mind—but there’s more to having a catch than parental bonding. In fact, the ability to throw and catch is good for physical and brain development, as it fosters the brain and body connection. Throwing and catching involves anticipation, advanced planning, and physical movement, and it has been shown to boost cognitive development for young people. For adults, maintaining hand-eye coordination has been found to even slow down aging. Read on to learn more about why having a catch is good for you at any age.

For young children, playing a throwing and catching game is great for brain development and hand-eye coordination, which, according to Psychology Today, leads to overall better cognitive and social skills. Having a catch regularly will help a child improve hand-eye coordination. Developing hand-eye coordination in toddlers is a practical way that parents can give children every advantage for learning and creating social connections while laying the neural groundwork for increasing their overall potential. Planning a throw and then coordinating the muscles to execute that throw is a fun way for kids to train their brains to use their hands and mental skills simultaneously.

Having a catch also gives a child the improved ability to focus on more than one thing at once. Throwing a ball is not just physical—a child has to plan (often subconsciously through practice) how much force to put in each toss, where to aim to keep the ball from going too high or low, and when to release the ball. All these tasks are eventually intuitive and are taken for granted as people age, but it does take skill to throw a ball correctly, and developing this skill trains the brain to perform in other areas as well.

Having a catch isn’t just good for kids, though. In addition to the fresh air and exercise that having a catch gives adults, the act of throwing and catching can help avert the decrease in hand function that is associated with aging. According to a 1992 study published in the Journal of American Physical Therapy Association, as people age, they experience changes in coordination, visual, touch, and auditory processes, as well as changes in the muscular, skeletal, and nervous systems. The decline in speed and coordination of movement are related to a decline in neuromuscular function, which happens as people get older. Sensory processes that are impaired are a factor in decreased motor coordination, resulting in decreased hand-eye coordination as age increases. However, performing hand-eye coordination-building exercises such as catching and throwing can slow these downward trends and help a person stay agile longer.

A regular game of catch can also improve an adult’s eyesight, and a variety of ball activities and exercises can be used to improve hand-eye coordination. Catching, rolling, and throwing are all useful in improving a person’s eyesight, due to the fact that one’s eyes are required to track the ball’s movement and then coordinate with the hands on what they should do next.

Having a catch isn’t just beneficial for one’s health—it’s actually fun. Research has repeatedly shown that fun exercise is the best kind, because it keeps people coming back for more. Consider a game of catch the next time you’re looking for a fun way to get some good exercise, and remember to keep your eye on the ball.

Overuse Injuries in Young Athletes: An Introduction for Parents

Overuse Injuries in Young Athletes: An Introduction for Parents

youth-soccer
youth-soccer

There’s a curious dynamic at work in youth sports these days. Maybe you’ve noticed?

On the one hand, public health officials are worried about a broad decline in team sport participation among children. According to a recent survey, the number of kids between the ages of 6 and 17 who play organized baseball, basketball, football, and soccer fell about 4% between 2008 and 2012.

And on the other hand, healthcare professionals are also worried about many of the estimated 60 million children in the U.S. who do play organized team sports. They see signs that young athletes may be taking their sports too seriously—training too hard, playing too much and specializing too early in life. The popular media offers many statistics and anecdotes that seem to point in this direction:

  • “While injuries from recreational activities such as biking have fallen over the last decade, team sports including football and soccer saw injuries rise by 22.8% and 10.8% respectively…” (Wall Street Journal)
  • “While concussions account for about 15% of youth sports injuries, experts say many sports carry risks for musculoskeletal injuries, in large part due to increased emphasis on year-round competition, single-sport concentration and intense training regimens, even for pre-teen athletes.” (Wall Street Journal)
  • “Overuse and overtraining are also major concerns… As children become good at competitive sports, there is sometimes an impulse to keep them in the same sport year round, which may not be the healthiest thing for a young athlete.” (HealthDay News)

What’s more alarming to physicians than the number of youth sports injuries is the nature of those injuries. A troubling new pattern seems to be emerging. According to Dr. Amy Valasek, a sports medicine expert at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, only about half the sports injuries she sees are the sorts of sprains, strains, fractures and concussions that have traditionally been common among young athletes. 50% to 60% of them are related to overuse. Because the musculoskeletal system of children and teenagers is still growing, they may be especially susceptible to these kinds of injuries.

Unsurprisingly, each sport has its own risk profile when it comes to overuse injuries. For instance, overuse injuries of the shin and knees are most common to runners. Baseball, softball and football players often have elbow and shoulder injuries. Cheerleaders, skaters and dancers are prone to ankle injuries. And gymnasts frequently encounter wrist injuries as a result of the extreme demands their sport places on this particular part of the body.

In addition, doctors say they tend to these types of overuse injuries more often in children who play one sport year-round or play over multiple consecutive seasons without taking a break rather than in those who participate in a variety of athletic activities. Recent research found serious overuse injuries are 2.3 times more common in young, single-sport athletes than they are in more well-rounded athletes, even after accounting for the number of hours committed.

There may be several reasons for the apparent trend in overuse injuries. Experts believe that there’s growing pressure among athletes to specialize in one sport—and sometimes even in one position—at a younger and younger age. They also believe that youth training programs and competition schedules are simply becoming more demanding. At the same time, though, it’s likely that many managers and coaches at this level (not to mention parents) don’t fully understand the risks and don’t work with their young athletes to build healthy training and injury prevention habits. And when they are injured, it’s not uncommon for children to return to practice before their injuries are completely healed.

So what’s the best advice for the parents of a talented (or even just enthusiastic) young athlete?

  • Encourage a wide variety of athletic activities and well-rounded development. Evidence suggests that playing more sports leads to fewer overuse injuries, lower burnout rates and better overall performance in the long run. While there’s no hard-and-fast “rule,” many experts suggest that children and parents avoid specializing in a single sport before the age of 14.
  • Take time off. The American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness advises that children practice no more than five days per week and take at least one day off from any organized training. Some experts offer an alternative rule-of-thumb: young athletes shouldn’t participate in a sports more hours a week than their age. The Council also suggests a 2- to 3-month break to recover between seasons.
  • Teach—and practice—injury prevention from an early age. Warm-ups and whole-body stretches should become lifelong habits.
  • Be sure your athlete understands what overuse injuries are, how to recognize them and how they should be treated.

Additional Resources

Intense, Specialized Training in Young Athletes Linked to Serious Overuse Injuries. http://www.newswise.com/articles/intense-specialized-training-in-young-athletes-linked-to-serious-overuse-injuries

Sports Should Be Child’s Play. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/11/opinion/sports-should-be-childs-play.html

Guidelines for Young Athletes to Reduce Injuries. http://online.wsj.com/articles/guidelines-for-young-athletes-to-reduce-injuries-1416869652

Balance, Reflexes and Senior Health

Balance, Reflexes and Senior Health

middle-aged-yoga-woman-200-300It’s sad but true: As we get older, our balance tends to deteriorate and our reflexes tend to slow. When you’re aware that it’s happening, it can be very frustrating. But when you’re not aware of these gradual changes, they can actually be dangerous as well. This is especially true as you exit middle age.

Part of the reason it’s so frustrating to experience a decline in balance and reflexes is that—many times—it feels like there’s not very much we can do about it. And to a certain extent, decline really is almost inevitable. However, there is some good news. Even for middle-aged adults and seniors, there are numerous ways we can help maintain or even improve our sense of balance.

The Relationship Between Balance, Reflexes and Overall Well-Being

By the time we’re in our late 50s or early 60s, many of us will begin to have episodes where we feel dizzy or unsteady, or as if our surroundings are in motion. These feelings are triggered by gradual deterioration in the three major systems that work together to provide our balance and coordination— the visual system, the vestibular (inner ear) system, and the proprioceptive system (the sense of body position in space). A loss of balance makes falling more likely. And since our reflexes are also slowing, it becomes less likely that we will be able to catch ourselves if and when we do fall. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), roughly one-third of adults age 65 years and older fall each year. And among older adults, falls are actually the leading cause of injury-related deaths.

But even when they’re not fatal, falls can have serious consequences for an older person’s health and lifestyle. Falls can cause injuries that limit activity or make it more difficult to live independently while recovering. And when recovery is slow or incomplete, a lack of mobility can sometimes result in social isolation and depression. In some circumstances, the psychological effects may be more long-lasting than the physical ones. Fear of another fall and a loss of confidence can discourage seniors from returning to an active life—which actually tends to make balance and reflexes deteriorate faster. Unless something happens to change things, this can be the beginning of a downward spiral.

What Can Be Done?

Chiropractic physicians are specially trained to diagnose and treat conditions related to the musculoskeletal and nervous systems, and have a deep understanding of how these systems change as we age. We can work with you to develop a personalized plan to improve your overall musculoskeletal and nervous system health, including strength, range of motion, stamina, balance, coordination and speed.

Regular chiropractic care and massage therapy can be particularly useful in maintaining flexibility, improving circulation and increasing muscle tone.  Recent studies have identified strong links between the lifestyle habits we practice in young adulthood and middle age and overall health and wellness during our senior years. With this mind, a chiropractor can recommend specific nutritional and exercise strategies that can help in these key areas:

  • Building healthy bone and muscle mass as the foundation for an active lifestyle.
  •  Stimulating and reinforcing neural pathways associated with activities requiring good balance and quick reflexes.
  •  Achieving a healthy weight that reduces unnecessary wear-and-tear on joints.
  • Maintaining good overall cardiovascular fitness

 Exercises to Improve Balance and Reflexes

Fortunately, there is a wide variety of exercises, both physical and mental, that will help improve balance and reflexes. And most of them don’t even require a gym membership or any expensive equipment!  Here are just a few to consider:

  •  Jogging in the woods, where your body will need to react quickly to stimuli in the form of obstacles and uneven terrain. The more often you run in the forest, the quicker your reflexes will get.
  •  Bouncing a rubber ball on the floor, throwing it against a wall, or having a catch with a partner. These activities will all improve anticipation, reaction time, hand-eye coordination and lateral movement.
  •  Kicking a soccer ball back and forth with a partner or against a wall. Moving to the ball builds coordination while stopping it and striking it with either foot requires balance. The more quickly you pass the ball back and forth, the more your reflexes will improve over time.
  •  Practicing an appropriate form of yoga or tai chi can provide a wide range of health benefits, including improved balance and coordination.
  •  Playing some types of video games—especially those with motion controllers—can help improve reflexes as well as peripheral vision.

Remember—use common sense when choosing your activities. Be sure to ask your chiropractor for advice if you have any specific health conditions or if it’s been a while since you participated in any kind of strenuous physical activity.

Maintaining your musculoskeletal and nervous system health is one key to enjoying an active lifestyle at every stage of life.  We can design a program that will help you do that safely. Call or visit our office to learn more!

Best Exercises For Preventing Shin Splints

Best Exercises For Preventing Shin Splints

soccer-ball-on-shin-200-300Although you may have heard the term before, you may not know exactly what a “shin splint” is. It’s a common term for painful inflammation at the front of the tibia caused by strenuous activity. Medical professionals refer to it as medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS). The following exercises will not only help to prevent shin splints or MTSS, but the first two exercises can also help relieve some of the agony for those who are already suffering from the syndrome. If you already have shin splints, use care and restraint in performing these exercises.

Spread Toe Elevation – Stand with your heels together, toes pointed outward and rise slowly on your toes. Hold for a few moments and then lower your heels slowly to the floor. Perform ten times.

Tuck Toe Elevation – Start with your big toes together, heels spread apart, and rise slowly on your toes. Hold for a few moments and then lower your heels slowly to the floor. Perform ten times.

Edge of Oblivion – Don’t let the name scare you. By using this exercise, you can prevent future shin splints, sending them into oblivion! However, this might not be the best way to heal shin splints if you already have them. If that’s the situation you’re in, we’d suggest that you use the other two exercises instead.

  1. Find a sturdy step stool, stair or curb.
  2. Face downstairs or away from the stool or curb. Move your feet forward until only your heel is on the edge and most of your foot is dangling over empty air. For balance, hold onto the stair railing or maneuver your stool next to a wall.
  3. Start with legs straight and point your toes downward as far as they will go (without going so far as to slide off the step).
  4. Lift your toes as far as they will go.
  5. Repeat as rapidly as you can.
  6. Using a timer or watch, perform this exercise for a full 30 seconds. Make certain that you extend and flex fully each time.
  7. When done, bend your knees at a 45-degree angle and repeat 30 seconds of extensions and flexions. When done, you have completed one full set.
  8. Rest one to two minutes between sets and repeat until you’ve done three of these two-part sets.

If after the first set, you feel a burning sensation in your lower legs, then you’re likely doing it the right way. If at any point you feel damage is being done, discontinue the exercise.

Rediscovering Exercise After Years of Being Inactive? Take the SMART Approach

Rediscovering Exercise After Years of Being Inactive? Take the SMART Approach

Senior cycling group
Group of seniors in a spinning class

Artists who work with glass or metal know that you should not try to bend or shape the material while it remains cold and brittle. Glass will shatter. Metal will break or quickly show signs of fatigue and damage. Our bodies also need to be warmed up to change. They need the tender, loving care of an artist to reshape them. You are that artist. And sculpting your new body takes time, patience and persistence. And yes, it takes hard work.

You can’t expect your body to react well at the beginning if you ask it to do too much after years of inactivity. Using the following SMART approach to exercise will help you get back into an exercise routine and allow you to reach your goals:

Specific—It’s most effective set exercise goals that are well-defined rather than vague. Say you want to be a trim, 165 pounds of muscle and vibrant energy. This approach to defining your goal not only gives you a specific weight to shoot for, but also describes the feeling you want to go with it.

Measurable—This makes your goal even more concrete and will help you see the progress you’re making in an objective way. Not every approach to measurement uses numbers, but numerical criteria are usually the easiest to work with. This goes for measuring activity as well as measuring the results. For example, a 30-minute, brisk walk is measurable. If you’ve only walked 25 minutes, you know you’re not done. Keeping a journal helps you compare these details later.

Action-oriented—You have to put your dreams into action, and exercise is all about physical movement. But don’t let repetitive exercise become boring. Add different kinds of action. In fact, sports medicine doctors recommend varying the activity between stretching, light endurance, vigorous strength and other types of exercise. This helps to prevent heart attacks, sprains and other maladies from pushing too hard, too fast. It also helps to keep things more interesting.

Realistic—Never let anyone tell you that something cannot be done. By the same token, it never makes sense to ignore reality. If you are not realistic in your goals, you are setting yourself up for failure. Set a few attainable short-term goals when you are starting out in a new exercise program so you are more likely to stick with it as time goes on. It will help give you more confidence and you will be more motivated to set your goals a little higher each time.

Time-related—Set deadlines. This helps to keep you challenged so you keep moving forward. Naturally, any deadline needs to be realistic (see above). You should not expect to be running marathons in one month after a couple of decades of desk work, in-car commutes and armchair quarterbacking.

 

Chiropractic Expertise Helps Reduce Golf Injuries and Improve Player Performance

Chiropractic Expertise Helps Reduce Golf Injuries and Improve Player Performance

golfer-at-sunset
golfer-at-sunset

Can chiropractic care improve your golf game? As a golfer, you may have pondered this very question—and now you’re in luck. A recent Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) study showed that a combination of chiropractic care and stretching enables golfers to increase their drive distance by nearly 10%. PGA golfers such as Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington certainly believe this to be true, as they’ve incorporated chiropractic treatment into their training regimens for years. Unsurprisingly, the Titleist Performance Institute believes this to be true as well.

Sponsored by one of the most respected and popular purveyors of golf equipment and apparel, the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) has incorporated chiropractic as a fundamental part of its program since its founding in 2003. TPI was created to study how the human body functions—and functions at its best—when it comes to the game of golf. TPI believes that chiropractors have a unique and valuable perspective in this area given their expertise in human biomechanics as well as their specialized knowledge of the musculoskeletal system. At present, there are over 9,000 TPI-certified professionals in 57 countries, employing chiropractic and other methodologies to help golfers not only improve their performance, but also to avoid injury.

TPI’s work over the past decade has clearly demonstrated that chiropractors have even more to offer golfers than pain relief and rehab support. In fact, chiropractic physicians can actually help golfers to improve their game by identifying and correcting physical limitations that can adversely affect their swings. As an example, the TPI study mentioned above compared two groups of golfers: one practicing only stretching exercises, and the other practicing stretching exercises while receiving chiropractic spinal adjustments. Both groups performed three full swing maneuvers before and after each treatment, and the driving distances they achieved were recorded. After four weeks, the stretching-only group showed no improvement in swing performance, whereas the stretching plus chiropractic group achieved greater driving distance after each treatment.

This is important information for performance-oriented golfers, because although many of them rely on chiropractic care to help them when they are in pain or injured, they may not recognize that chiropractic care can help prevent problems and improve their game. But the TPI-certified chiropractors may to be able to do just that, offering tips and techniques that allow golfers to improve their joint function, customize and optimize their warm-up exercises, recover faster from injuries and soreness, and maximize their efficiency.

So if you’re a golfer, give your chiropractor a call and ask how he or she might be able to help you. Who knows—you might end up seeing your chiropractor to relieve your back or neck pain after an overly enthusiastic round of golf and find that he or she can help take a few strokes off your score!

 

Keys to Healthy “In-Season” Eating

Keys to Healthy “In-Season” Eating

vegetables detailsAlthough it may be tempting to pick up some fresh tomatoes or strawberries in the middle of winter, you might find yourself disappointed in their flavor. Thanks to the combination of industrial agriculture and global transportation, most fruits and vegetables are now available year round. However, this may not actually be as much of a good thing as it seems. Why? Not only is out-of-season produce less tasty, it is also usually not as nutritious as produce picked seasonally at its ultimate ripeness. There are plenty of winter vegetables and fruits now at their peak, and taking advantage of these sometimes neglected veggies can provide you with necessary nutrients that you may not get from produce at other times of the year.

Japanese organic farmer Masanobu Fukuoka noted that farmers were paid a premium for seasonal produce that could be supplied more than a month earlier than usual. He observed, though, that these early crops not only were reduced in flavor but also required a copious amount of energy use and chemicals. He noted that the farmers who produced their mandarin orange crop early had to use artificial colors and sweeteners to modify the early fruit so it would resemble that of the seasonal variety, resulting in both a poorer and more expensive product. Buying produce in season is both healthier and less expensive.

Apples, nuts and leeks, as well as a wide variety of squashes are all at their best. Winter butternut squash is low in calories too, at only 63 calories per cup. It also contains an abundant amount of vitamin A (beta-carotene) and potassium. Not only that, but you may be surprised to find that the amount of vitamin C contained in only a cup of squash provides half your daily requirement of vitamin C.

Kale is another incredibly healthy winter vegetable, filled with vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, B, C and K, calcium, copper and magnesium. Kale also is high in cancer-fighting phytonutrients called flavonoids, including quercetin and kaempferol. Kale also has demonstrated the ability to lower cholesterol. Cooked kale can be easily incorporated into mashed potatoes to make for a healthy side dish.

Leeks too are abundant at this time of year. They are one of the vegetables with the highest amount of vitamin K (good for bone health and vital for blood coagulation), and have a healthy amount of folate. A versatile member of the allium family (like onions and garlic), leeks can be incorporated into soups and stews in pretty much the same way you might typically use onions. They are also tasty on their own—just braise them a little liquid. If you’re willing to put just a bit more effort into preparation, creamed leaks is an even tastier alternative. Just clean and slice 2-3 leeks thinly, then sauté them in a little butter, add a couple of tablespoons of water, and cover for about 10 minutes, until cooked. Mix in a tablespoon of flour and about ½ cup of sour cream and you have an excellent side dish to serve along with fish or chicken.

Now is the time to appreciate these healthy winter vegetables, because all too soon the season will be over. But remember—there’s good news just around the corner… Before you know it, the strawberries you’ve been craving will be back in season!