It’s the third week of January. Have you thrown your New Year’s resolutions in the trash yet? Many people have by now. That’s one of the reasons I’m not a fan of diets. I like small and simple changes that don’t overwhelm you. Life can be overwhelming enough. Weight is the big focus at the beginning of the year but weight is just part of the picture. I want you to think about your overall health. Do you know your total cholesterol number and whether the good and evil cholesterol levels (HDL and LDL) are where they need to be? What’s your blood pressure? When was the last time you had it checked? I’m talking outside of your doctor’s office. After all, white coat hypertension can push blood pressure up abnormally. White coat hypertension is the stress you feel when the doc comes in the room to see you and you can’t remember all you wanted to discuss.
Are you shaking your head and saying to me, “I have no clue?” Your energy level and day to day health are affected by more than weight. So take some time for you…just like an oil change for your car, everyone needs preventive maintenance. If you don’t take the time for you, it’s not going to happen, right? You’re worth it…ok? You can find helpful information about all things heart related….your heart, cholesterol, blood pressure and related questions at hearthub.org part of the American Heart Association.
I bet if I ask you what food has a negative effect on your heart and health, you could easily tell me……pastries and goodies made with trans fat, double stacked cheeseburgers, sausage. But what about food that is beneficial to your heart and health? This week on my podcast, Margit Ragland, Health Director at Family Circle joins me to discuss must-have foods that benefit the heart. I don’t like to focus on what not to do but rather the steps you can take to make a difference in your health starting today. A few of the foods we take a look at include:
Red bell peppers, grapefruit, strawberries, mixed salad greens, kale, spinach, broccoli
Asparagus, orange juice
Guacamole
Salsa
Pudding, nonfat milk and low-fat yogurt
Canned or pouch tuna and salmon
Be sure andcheck out our Cyber Weight Loss Club. Share your story and photos and we’ll enter you in a drawing at the end of January to win a copy of the book by TV’s The Biggest Loser, Ali Vincent called Believe It, Be It.
Family Circle shares an easy way to get your heart healthy fish with a recipe for Teriyaki Salmon with glazed broccoli salad. Pick up the February issue of Family Circle for a full list and discussion of the heart healthy foods we talk about plus others that will surprise you.
Are you excited about the New Year? 2010 is just two days away. I always look forward to the New Year which brings a fresh approach and a new look at areas in life that may have gone a little stale…know what I mean? If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I’m not about gimmicks, miracle diet pills and products or diets that don’t work. I’m all about real life and how to make tweaks in your life so you feel better, have more energy and enjoy every day…not to mention eat good food. So how’s this for a ‘diet?’ All food is allowed….nothing is prohibited. Otherwise the denial, deprivation and overeating cycle sets in. You deny yourself something you really want to eat and then begin to feel deprived. Finally you can’t stand it any longer so you overeat on the food you denied yourself to begin with and the vicious cycle starts. You don’t win…ever.
In the January 2010 issue of Family Circle magazine, there’s a nice article on smart eating. This week’s podcast welcomes my regular guest, Margit Ragland, senior editor at Family Circle to chat on smart eating tips. Get your New Year’s health on and try these four tips this January.
1. Leave two bites at every meal (about 100 calories total per day). Cutting just 100 calories every day in 2010 results in a ten pound weight loss. Not bad. How would you like to weigh 10 pounds less at the end of next year and accomplish this by slightly cutting your portions?
2. Cook at home one more night each week. Most home cooked meals tend to be lower in fat and calories plus smaller in portion than what you typically get eating out.
3. Turn off the kitchen lights at 8 p.m. Cut out mindless eating at night.
4. Serve your meals on eight inch salad plates. Compared to a standard dinner plate size of 10 inches (or more), the smaller size looks like more food and you have less room to load up.
To start the New Year off right, we have a new spin on eggplant parmesan. Be sure and try the Panko-Crusted Eggplant Parmesan recipe posted at the WDBO.com Nutrition & Health Center.
I look forward to my favorite comfort foods this special time of year. Don’t you? My top three are probably Southern pecan pie, homemade cornbread dressing and sweet potato casserole or maybe Christmas Stollen, the yeast bread I’ve talked about before. As you can tell, I have quite a few. Many of the most popular holiday foods are not only delicious but super healthy.
Among my list of super foods are cranberries, pumpkin, sweet potatoes and potatoes, baked apples, and pecans.
What makes cranberries carry the popular title of a super fruit? The United States Department of Agriculture or USDA has a list of common foods and their antioxidant rating. Cranberries have a high ranking in what is called the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity score or ORAC score. They contain proanthocyanidins, a naturally occurring antioxidant that may help protect against urinary tract infections by preventing bacteria from sticking to cells in the urinary tract.
Here is a simple recipe for fresh cranberries that you’ll love and can make year around. Fresh cranberries will keep in the freezer for about a year so you can enjoy them anytime. I’m not a stickler about amounts in this recipe thus one reason it’s so easy. Basically, I wash a package of fresh cranberries and place them in a saucepan. Then I add the zest of an orange and a lemon. After you zest the fruit, cut it in half and squeeze the juice into the pan. Add an additional cup of orange juice and some sugar…about ½ cup or more. Remember that fresh cranberries are very tart so you need the sweetness of the sugar. The orange juice provides a little sweetness. Bring the mixture to a bubbling or rolling boil for 3 or 4 minutes until the berries begin to burst. Remove the cranberries from the heat and cool. That’s it. After 30 minutes or so, taste the mixture and see if it’s sweet enough. Remember, it’s a cranberry relish so you want it somewhat tart. It will jell slightly when cold and makes a great side to turkey or pork. I like it as a spread on my turkey sandwiches. And yes, this recipe is posted at the WDBO Nutrition & Health Center.
Next up on my list of powerful holiday super foods is pumpkin. When you have that slice of pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread pudding, remind yourself that the pumpkin you’ve just eaten is a valid source of vitamin A for healthy eyes and contains fiber which most of us need a lot more of. The bright orange color tells you that pumpkin naturally contains alpha and beta carotene and other carotenoids tied to good health plus iron and potassium.
Let’s not forget sweet potatoes, another super food. When you cut the sweet potato open, the bright orange color means vitamin A and beta carotene just like you find in pumpkin in chart topping amounts. Plus a medium sweet potato contains almost four grams of fiber. Fiber is like a chocolate chip cookie to your colon. Your colon loves fiber as it helps reduce the risk for some cancers plus it helps keep your colon healthy. By the way, it’s so easy to microwave a sweet potato. Prick it four or five times with a fork so it doesn’t explode, place it on a paper towel or microwave-safe dish and microwave on high for about four to five minutes.
Let’s not forget potatoes. Just like bread, potatoes are popular and back in a big way. Why? Let’s peel back the truth. How about 110 calories for a medium size spud, naturally fat free, plus 45% of the vitamin C you need daily and more potassium than a banana when you eat the skin. Did I mention nearly five grams of fiber? From yellow Yukon golds to the ever popular Russet or the colorful blue and purple potatoes, there’s a choice for everyone and every dish. Running short on time? How about two quick-fix microwave recipes for Mashed Potatoes and Roasted-Style Potatoes from the United States Potato Board? We just posted the recipes at WDBO.com’s Nutrition & Health Center. Be sure and follow the easy directions as you are NOT going to poke holes in the potatoes before your microwave them for mashing. The steam stays inside the potato and prepares them for mashing.
Next up are apples. Granny smith, red delicious and other apples have significant antioxidant levels. You may have heard that apples are part of a cholesterol lowering diet. This is because apples are a source of soluble fiber that works in your body similar to a sponge to help mop up excess cholesterol. Baked apples never looked so good! Toss a few pecans with chopped dates and a little brown sugar into the center of the apple before baking it.
Nuts have received a lot of attention lately for their heart health benefits. Pecans, the staple in pecan pie, pecan squares and other foods like baked apples, contain both heart healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats along with antioxidants, vitamin E and fiber. Nuts are calorie dense so you do have to be aware of the amount you eat.
Thanks for stopping by for a little holiday cheer. Are you ready to start your ovens? The holidays are here and it’s time to cook. Let’s talk about easy tips for healthy holiday cooking that let you enjoy the feast and festivities and not increase your dress or pant size. I love to eat and I look forward to my favorite comfort foods this special time of year. Don’t you? My grandmother and my mother both made this festive yeast bread called Christmas Stollen. It’s a German recipe filled with pecans, cinnamon, dried cherries, apricots and raisins. I can almost smell it coming out of the oven. I’ve learned to make it with a few little tweaks of my own so I carry on their tradition of a spicy cinnamon, buttery yeast bread but with a healthier spin. Small changes in recipes yield big rewards when it comes to cutting calories and fat without sacrificing flavor.
So, tip number one to keep the flavor and perk up the health benefits in your holiday cooking:
1. Switch from candied fruit such as lemon, orange and cherries that are typically used in fruit cake to dried fruit such as plums, blueberries, apricots, and cherries. Easy switch… big flavor. I did this in my Mom’s Christmas Stollen recipe and it gives the bread an updated appeal with the health benefit of the antioxidants from the dried fruit.
2. Nutrition is about making smart choices, not about deprivation such as you feel when you’re on a diet. It’s about real, delicious food made with healthful ingredients. Kick up the nutrition in your recipes by adding vegetables, fruit and nuts. For example, add nuts to pumpkin, banana or zucchini breads; diced green pepper, carrots, onions and garlic to pasta sauce; your favorite chopped vegetables to omelets or scrambled eggs; dried plums or blueberries to yogurt, oatmeal or cereal. All of these efforts add up and make it easy to fit more fruit and vegetables into your busy day.
3. Mom’s Christmas Stollen recipe also called for 1 cup of whole milk. Replace whole milk with 1% or skim milk. For most recipes, you won’t notice a taste difference and you still get the protein, calcium and vitamin D but your hips and heart will notice the drop in total fat and saturated fat. Cut the fat and saturated fat with all your diary choices. For example, when I make dark chocolate fondue and the recipe calls for evaporated milk, I use skimmed evaporated milk. For a key lime pie, I use fat free sweetened condensed milk. For mac and cheese, try reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese (not fat free) and use part-skim ricotta for manicotti and lasagna. The reduction in total fat and saturated fat adds up quickly without you feeling deprived of anything.
By the way, do you have guests spending the night and want to impress them for breakfast? Mix up pumpkin pancakes. The recipe is posted at the WDBO.com Nutrition & Health Center along with others we’ll talk about today. You can make the pancake batter up the night before. Just make sure you have the ingredients on hand. If you’ve never made pancakes, they’re much easier than you think. The point to remember is to flip them only once on the griddle or skillet. Wait until you see bubbles around the edges and then flip and cook the other side. The recipe includes canned pumpkin, cinnamon and vanilla yogurt. Pumpkin is a source of vitamin A for healthy eyes and contains fiber which most of us need a lot more of. The bright orange color tells you that pumpkin naturally contains alpha and beta carotene and other carotenoids tied to good health. I use skim milk instead of 1% and add raisins to my batter instead of making the topping. These pancakes are a winner at my house.
4. Focus on the fat. Did you know that one tablespoon of regular butter contains 11 grams of fat with seven of them being saturated fat? Saturated fat is the least healthy type of fat and known for clogging arteries. Light butter with added oil such as olive or canola brings down the saturated fat content and is a better choice along with light spreads made from heart healthy oils such as soybean, canola, and olive. Light spreads are typically even lower in saturated fat than light butters. Both light spreads and light butter work well on toast, muffins, corn on the cob and vegetables but remember that light butter and light spreads are not the best choice for baking. The water content affects the outcome of the recipe.
5. Consider baking with a spread. There are many choices in the spread aisle and the lingo can be confusing. Be a label sleuth. Here’s the bottom line you need to know. You want a spread that is made with healthy oils such as canola, olive and soybean, contains no added trans fat (aka partially hydrogenated oil), and has the least amount of saturated fat. I’m talking 2 grams or less of saturated fat per tablespoon. That will cull down the selection pretty quickly. Yesterday I was doing an interview for a magazine and one of the questions asked was if you can substitute spreads for butter when baking. The writer had an apple crisp recipe that called for a stick of butter and she was concerned for her father had a heart attack recently. Yes, regular spreads bake cakes, cookies and fruit crumbles or crisps beautifully without all the artery-clogging saturated fat.
I’ve posted a number of recipes on the WDBO.com Nutrition & Health Center for you to try this holiday season that use spreads low in saturated fat and free of trans fat including Promise and I Can’t believe It’s Not Butter! Try the oven-baked harvest apples, banana, date & walnut muffins, honey & orange mini cakes, and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies (yes, I add chocolate chips to the batter). The parmesan-crusted sweet potato fries make a tasty side for your leftover turkey sandwiches. Let me know which recipes are your favorites and have fun in the kitchen with your family and friends.
Can drinking water be cool? You bet it can when it’s infused with fruit, vegetables and herbs to create extraordinary thirst-quenching beverages. How does Blueberry Twist sound or Honeydew-Mint Mist? My guest on this week’s podcast is Brian Preston-Campbell author of the new book Cool Waters, 50 Refreshing, Healthy, Homemade Thirst Quenchers. Brian is a professional food stylist and former chef who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. He has brought his talent for food styling to ad campaigns for companies such a Starbucks and Godiva.
The photographs are delicious as are the recipes which are caffeine free with no added sugar. You can enjoy your refreshing beverage while keeping down the calories you consume. A terrific feature is that each recipe has food pairings listed at the bottom. Useful and fun, the food pairings help you put together quick menu ideas.
One of my favorite recipes is ‘Squirt of Citrus’ which is just as it sounds…the ingredients include the juice from a fresh orange, lime, lemon and grapefruit. Be sure and check out the Nutrition& Health Center at WDBO.com for a few of Brian’s recipes.
It’s the third week of January. Have you thrown your New Year’s resolutions in the trash yet? Many people have by now. That’s one of the reasons I’m not a fan of diets. I like small and simple changes that don’t overwhelm you. Life can be overwhelming enough. Weight is the big focus at the beginning of the year but weight is just part of the picture. I want you to think about your overall health. Do you know your total cholesterol number and whether the good and evil cholesterol levels (HDL and LDL) are where they need to be? What’s your blood pressure? When was the last time you had it checked? I’m talking outside of your doctor’s office. After all, white coat hypertension can push blood pressure up abnormally. White coat hypertension is the stress you feel when the doc comes in the room to see you and you can’t remember all you wanted to discuss.
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