"Can You Eat Too Much Yogurt?" And Other "Who Knew?" Food Quesions

Q. Can too much yogurt be bad for you? I've been eating two to three containers a day lately. I usually eat flavored yogurt.
-- Janelle, via e-mail

A. As long as it's low-fat, yogurt is an excellent package of calcium, protein, and carbs. So we're not concerned with the amount you're eating. But we are a little worried about the flavoring. Some of the most popular brands of flavored yogurt contain high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a commercial sweetener that has two bad habits: It inhibits a hormone (leptin) that tries to tell you when you're full. And some studies indicate it never shuts off another hormone (ghrelin) that insists you're hungry -- so even after you've scraped the container clean, you may still think you want more. Better: Add your own fruit to plain (no sugar added) low-fat yogurt. Delish.

Q. I've been eating a lot of processed foods lately and feel like I need to clean out my body. Will a detox diet work?
-- Mary Lynne, Bronxville, NY

A: Processed foods throw your liver into a tizzy. It doesn't understand how to metabolize all of the chemical additives these foods contain, so it treats them like toxins. And most processed foods help age your arteries and immune system, which makes heart attacks, strokes, memory loss, impotence, and even skin wrinkling more likely. So it's great that you want to dump them.

That said, studies fail to show any health benefits from short-term detox diets (not that you should do them long term!). But there is a way they can be useful: They cleanse your intestines and reboot your taste buds, so you can return to eating normally with a heightened appreciation of simple, fresh, real food. If you want to try this, drink just water and coffee for half a day to "detox" your intestines. Then, start eating healthy, unprocessed foods and take a drugstore probiotic supplement, like Sustenex, that contains Bacillus coagulans (or another lactobacillus spore). It will repopulate your gut with beneficial bacteria. Congrats! You're on your way to a healthier you.

Q: What can I eat to improve my memory?
-- Anonymous

A: Put some succulent salmon on your plate, add a salad sprinkled with walnuts, finish your meal with some dark chocolate, and you'll be well on your way to remembering what you told your boss last time you took a "sick" day or recalling whether you bought milk this week.

Why? Some memory loss is related to the blockage of small blood vessels, so one of the keys to preventing that loss is to keep your arteries young and clear. Omega-3 fatty acids -- the kind found in fish, walnuts, canola oil, avocados, and almonds -- help keep your mental powers strong because they help keep your arteries clear. Flavonoids -- dark chocolate contains those -- also protect your arteries. So aim for three servings of fish a week (a serving is about the size of your palm), an ounce of nuts a day (about 12 walnuts or 24 almonds), and an ounce of dark chocolate a day (at least 70% cocoa).

What may also be helpful: 1 cup a day of soybeans; 2 tablespoons of spaghetti sauce or 8 ounces of tomato juice; up to 6 cups of coffee (if you tolerate it well); and a serving of curry or 1 teaspoon of turmeric-containing mustard (turmeric is the spice that makes curries and some mustards -- check labels -- both yellow and irresistible). All do good things for your arteries, too, which means your brain -- and your heart and your whole body -- benefit. Soon, you won't forget to buy Twinkies. You'll be more than smart enough not to put them in your cart.

Q: I heard that lycopene does nothing to prevent prostate cancer. Does this mean that pizza is bad for me again?
-- Ted, Indianapolis, IN

A: While lycopene -- the nutrient in cooked tomatoes that made men everywhere hope they could chalk up pizza as a health food -- looked promising for a while as a protector against prostate cancer, a large study has since suggested that it doesn't really help in that department. But don't exile cooked tomatoes from your diet. In reasonable quantities, lycopene has been shown to reduce the aging of your arteries, and tomatoes may contain other nutrients with potent health effects.