Antioxidants

The smells of garlic, onions and olive oil filled a large conference room at Robinwood Medical Center Thursday as a sold-out audience of 200 watched a chef prepare a Mediterranean cod recipe. Fortunately, there were enough servings for everyone waiting at a buffet at the back of the room as soon as the demonstration was over. The presentation, titled "Wisdom from the Heart: Heart Healthy Eating," was part of a women's health forum presented by Washington County Hospital Cardiac Rehabilitation and Congestive Heart Failure programs and Women's Specialty Associates.

The vegetables listed here hold the top positions in the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest's scorecard for vegetables, based on how much they contribute to a person's dietary needs. Each vegetable was allotted points corresponding to the percentage they provide of the U.S. government's recommended daily amounts of fiber and five nutrients - vitamin C, folate, potassium, calcium and iron - and of carotenoids, which convert to vitamin A. While there are many other beneficial things in vegetables, the Center for Science in the Public Interest focused on those seven areas for two reasons.

kristinw@herald-mail.com Ahh, August. The harvest month. From now until September, family gardens and farmers markets will brim with fresh fruits and vegetables begging to be eaten. Tomatoes beckon with an unmistakably sweet, yet slightly tart smell, and green beans promise a crunchy, snappy texture. But it's not just the super fresh tastes and smells that make harvest vegetables so wonderful. They are packed with vitamins and nutrients that can fight disease, cleanse body systems and restore memory functions.

katec@herald-mail.com Dried plums are good for you. What's a dried plum? It's a prune, of course. Stop wrinkling your nose. Stop snickering. Dried plums taste good, and they're nutritious. Really nutritious. But for years, the prune name and its associations have gotten in the way of people eating them. In June 2000, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted the California Dried Plum Board, formerly the California Prune Board, permission to call prunes dried plums.

andrear@herald-mail.com The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proclaimed July National Blueberry Month - a time to celebrate a native North American fruit produced in 35 states. The North American blueberry harvest runs from mid-April through early October, with peak pickin's in July, according to information from the North American Blueberry Council, www.blueberry.org , and the California-based U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council, www.ushbc.org on the Web. Both organizations trace the use of blueberries on the continent to American Indians, who were using blueberries for cooking and healing year-round by the time the Pilgrims arrived in North America.

Lafayette M. Hershaw: Pioneer for Freedom HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. - Lafayette M. Hershaw devoted his life to making a difference in the lives of fellow African Americans. As a founding member of the Niagara Movement, he helped to shape the modern civil rights era. Opening and reception 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3. Second floor of John Brown Museum, Shenandoah Street, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Exhibit is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily throughout February. Call 304-535-6029.

materials courtesy of Cherry Marketing Institute, Northwest Cherry Growers Because they're versatile, flavorful and nutritious, cherries make a great snack for warm- weather activities or an irresistible centerpiece at pool parties and backyard barbecues. There are two kinds of cherries -sweet and tart. Each has its own distinctive uses, but both offer the same wholesome goodness. They have no fat and are low in calories. That makes cherries fit right in with American's increased focus on health.

Smith Elliott Kearns & Co. The staff of the Hagerstown office of Smith Elliott Kearns & Co. recently collected donations to support The Salvation Army. Staff members donated canned food items and the partner group added a cash donation. Gary Lloyd of The Salvation Army received the donations from Bill Fritts, managing member of Smith Elliott Kearns & Co.'s Hagerstown office. Tim's Tax Service LLC FUNKSTOWN - The Bottom Line, at 4 E. Baltimore St. in Funkstown, is now known as Tim's Tax Service LLC, The New Bottom Line.

With the holiday season in full swing, there are a plethora of tasty options to eat and pack on some year-end pounds. I'm sure you've read plenty of advice on what not to eat, but not a lot on what is good for you. Believe it or not, there are traditional foods you can eat during the holidays, here are the top five. Sweet potatoes Sweet potatoes are power packed with beta carotene, vitamin C, fiber and potassium. They taste sweet like dessert because of an enzyme that converts the potato's starches into sugar as it matures and as it cooks.

HAGERSTOWN - Valentine's Day might be a holiday perpetuated by confectioners and greeting card companies, but the link between chocolate and love is no mere sales ploy, herbal medicine expert Lissa Jean-Jacques Butler said Sunday. Chocolate has long been considered an aphrodisiac because it contains phenylethylamine, the same chemical released in the brain when people are falling in love, Butler said during a talk on herbal aphrodisiacs at the Washington County Free Library's main branch.