Blueberries: Healthy and Easy on the Tummy After WLS

All of my life I believed the best way to eat blueberries was with a muffin wrapped around them. No way could plain off-the-bush berries taste good. Well, lo and behold, I've been eating blueberries by the handful and they are fabulous! I can tolerate them with my gastric bypass system, I don't overeat or get sick with them. Best of all blueberries are in season now available at supermarkets and farm stands.

With flavors that range from mildly sweet to tart and tangy, blueberries are healthy superstars bursting with nutrition and flavor while being very low in calories. Blueberries are at their best from May through October when they are in season. Researchers at Tufts University say blueberries rank number one of fruits and vegetables when it comes to destroying harmful free radicals.

When purchasing: select blueberries that are firm and have a lively, uniform hue colored with a whitish bloom. Shake the container, noticing whether berries have the tendency to move freely; if they do not, this may indicate that they are soft and damaged or moldy. Avoid berries that appear dull in color or are soft and watery in texture. They should be free from moisture since the presence of water will cause the berries to decay.

Storing: Ripe blueberries should be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator where they will keep for about a week, although they will be freshest if consumed within a few days. Always check berries before storing and remove any damaged berries to prevent the spread of mold. But don't wash berries until right before eating as washing will remove the bloom that protects the fruit's skin from degradation. If kept out at room temperature for more than a day, the berries may spoil.

Ripe berries can also be frozen, although this will slightly change their texture and flavor. Before freezing, wash, drain and remove any damaged berries. To better ensure uniform texture upon thawing, spread the berries out on a cookie sheet or baking pan, place in the freezer until frozen, then put the berries in a plastic bag for storage in the freezer. Berries should last up to a year in the freezer.

An award winning journalist and former newspaper editor Kaye Bailey brings expertise in writing and personal experience with gastric bypass surgery to EzineArticles.com. Having spent most of her life overweight Ms. Bailey is strongly empathetic toward the obese, particularly overweight children. This compassion compelled her to found the website http://www.livingafterwls.com, a fast-growing resource of information, understanding and support for the weight loss surgery community.

The LivingAfterWLS.com site is complimented with daily blog. The blog, http://livingafterwls.blogspot.com offers readers the chance to comment or leave feedback about fresh content added daily. This site contains success stories and recipes, general information and WLS inspired topics. Complementing the site is a monthly newsletter titled "You Have Arrived" available exclusively to people who subscribe through the website or the blog.

In The News:

As Earth's tectonic plates dive beneath one another, they drag three times as much water into the planet's interior as previously thought.

Computer scientists have used various editions of The Bible to develop an algorithm that identifies different author’s writing styles, Inside Science reported.

Two great white sharks were located off the coast of North Carolina this week after the massive predators traveled more than a thousand miles from Canada to reach the coastal waters.

They may sound cute, but they could cause a "giant-sized problem."

Archaeologists have uncovered cave drawings in eastern France that are more than 12,000 years old, but were hidden for hundreds of years under graffiti from the 16th to 19th centuries.

OAKFIELD, N.Y. (AP) — Cows that can withstand hotter temperatures. Cows born without pesky horns. Pigs that never reach puberty.

A massive mola mola sunfish was confused for shark during an open water race in North Carolina on Saturday.

An enormous crater, measuring 19 miles in diameter, has been officially found in Greenland, hidden under the ice. The find was likely caused by an asteroid that hit the Earth "less than 3 million years ago," and is said to have "rocked the Northern Hemisphere."

If you're experiencing a spell of bad luck, many people may ask you the same question: is Mercury in retrograde?

The mummified bodies of three climbers who went missing 59 years ago on Mexico’s highest volcano have been recovered by an army unit.

Blueberries: Healthy and Easy on the Tummy After WLS

Nutrition Nutrition