Vitamin Water: Beware!

Consumers beware! Don't be misled by marketing.

 

 

"Vitaminwater's sugar content more than offsets any advertised health benefits provided by the nutrients in the drink: 33 grams of sugar and 125 calories, for every 20-ounce bottle. Vitaminwater name misleads consumers since that key third ingredient, sugar, is conveniently absent from the title."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2007106,00.html#ixzz2IlnCnSJ4

 

February is American Heart Month

Starting in 1963, Congress has proclaimed February "American Heart Month" to help urge Americans to join the battle against the number one killer in the United States: cardiovascular disease. Heart disease, including stroke, is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States. These diseases, the nation's No. 1 and No. 3 killers, claim more than 865,000 American lives a year.

"Heart disease doesn’t just start one day in your 40's or 50's. It can be the result of not taking care of yourself over your lifetime - not being physically active, smoking, high stress levels and not eating a nutritious diet,” said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck. “What you do in your teens, 20's and 30's can impact your health as you get older. It is important that all age groups embrace a healthy lifestyle and work to lower the chance of having a heart attack or stroke.”.

Nutritionally, heart health is maintained by:

• Saturated fat and trans fat raise bad (LDL) cholesterol, increasing risk of heart disease.
• Mono and Poly – unsaturated fats can lower bad (LDL) cholesterol, helping to lower risk of heart disease.
• Omega-3 fatty acids not only lower bad cholesterol, they can also raisin good (HDL) cholesterol. Incorporate fish and flaxseed into your diet.
• Increasing potassium helps to lower blood pressure, having a direct impact on the risk of heart disease.
• Choose foods that are lower in salt by reading nutrition fact lables on food and beverage packages.
• Eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables; choose whole grain, high-fiber foods; limit saturated fat, cholesterol, and sugar; avoid trans fatty acids.

Heart disease and stroke are actually preventable! Eat for a healthy heart. For more information visit the American Heart Association's website at: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/Nutrition-Center_UCM_001188_SubHomePage.jsp

Overnight Crockpot "Baked" Oatmeal

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Ingredients
2 apples - peeled, cored & cut into 1/2-inch pieces (2 1/2 to 3 cups chopped apples, total)
1 1/2 cups fat free or non-dairy milk
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup uncooked steel-cut oats
2 TB dark brown sugar, or honey
1 1/2 TB coconut oil
1/2 TSP cinnamon
1 TB ground flaxseed
1/4 TSP salt

Directions
Coat inside of 3 1/2 quart (or larger) crockpot with coconut oil. Add all ingredients to crockpot. Stir, cover and cook on low for 7-hours. Spoon into oatmeal bowls; add additional toppings such as nuts or raisins, if desired. Store leftovers in refrigerator. Freezes well.


Banana & Coconut Milk Oatmeal

Ingredients
2 medium ripe bananas, sliced (approximately 2 cups total)
2 14-ounce cans light coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup steel-cut oats
2 TB dark brown sugar, or honey
1 1/2 TB coconut oil
1/2 TSP cinnamon
1/4 TSP nutmeg
1/2 TSP vanilla
1 TB ground flaxseed
1/4 TSP salt

Directions
Coat inside of 3 1/2 quart (or larger) crockpot with coconut oil. Add all ingredients to crockpot. Stir, cover and cook on low for 7-hours. Spoon into oatmeal bowls; add additional toppings such as more sliced banana, chopped nuts, shredded coconut - if desired. Store leftovers in fridge. Freezes well.

Heart-Healthy Baking Essentials

These heart-healthy baking essentials will help you trim fat and sodium, plus boost fiber, antioxidants, and whole grains in favorite recipes!

Unsweetened Applesauce

Baking tip: Cut fat and boost vitamin C in baked goods by using unsweetened applesauce to replace half or more of the butter, shortening, or oil.

 

 



Cocoa, Unsweetened
Baking tip: Use 3 tablespoons of this antioxidant-rich cocoa plus 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to replace 1 ounce of unsweetened baking chocolate.

Ener-G Baking Soda
Baking tip: This baking soda substitute saves you more than 1,200 mg of sodium per teaspoon, so it's a smart swap if you bake a lot.

Oat Bran
Baking tip: Add cholesterol-lowering soluble fiber to your recipes by replacing a few tablespoons of flour with oat bran. It keeps baked goods moist, too.

Hain Featherweight Baking Powder
Baking tip: Replace your baking powder with this sodium-free version (made with potassium chloride) to save 480 mg of sodium per teaspoon. Note: Hain Featherweight Baking Powder has 70 milligrams of potassium per 1/8 teaspoon serving. Ask your doctor before using this product, as potassium can pose problems for people with kidney disease.

Organic Cold-Pressed Olive Oil
Baking tip: This oil is obtained by cold-pressing rather than chemical method. It's high in good monounsaturated fat, antioxidants, polyphenols and omega-3 fatty acids, which can promote cardiovascular health.

Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
Baking tips: Higher in fiber and antioxidants than refined (all-purpose) flour, whole wheat flour can replace refinded flour in recipes. White whole wheat flour bakes like traditional whole wheat flour but is light in color because it's from white wheat.

Swap Margarine [and butter] for Coconut Oil
The naturall occuring saturated fat in coconut oil is heart healthy. Nearly 50% of the fat in coconut oil is called lauric acid, which has unique health promoting properties. Your body converts lauric acid into monolaurin, which has anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-protozoa properties. Coconut oil is also nature's richest source of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), also called medium-chain triglycerides or MCTs.  MCTs actually boost your metabolism and help your body use fat for energy, as opposed to storing it.

Add Walnuts
Add chopped walnuts to your baking recipes to boost your intake of heart-healthy antioxidants and omega-3 fats

 



Tomatoes For Heart Health

 

If you want to cut your risk of heart disease - the number one killer in America - try stocking your pantry with tomatoes! A growing body of evidence indicates that if you eat more tomato products you can protect your heart in a number of ways, including fending off oxidative stress, reducing chronic inflammation, halting platelet aggregation, improving blood lipid profiles, and lowering blood pressure levels.

• Fighting Oxidative Stress. An important protective relationship from eating tomatoes is their effect on oxidative stress, which plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids found in tomato products have shown an effect of reducing both oxidative stress markers and the LDL-oxidization process. Researchers from Northern Ireland found that dietary intake of more than 40 mg/day of lycopene in a group of nonsmoking individuals significantly reduced the susceptibility of LDL to oxidation in a short-term intervention study. And scientists from New Zealand found that tomato juice increased plasma lycopene levels and the resistance of LDL to oxidation almost as effectively as supplementation with a high dose of vitamin E in patients with type 2 diabetes.
  
• Anti-inflammatory Power. Research points out that inflammation may be a significant root in the development of chronic diseases including CVD, cancer, obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, periodontal disease, rheumatoid arthritis, neurological degenerative disorders, and inflammatory bowel disorders. Dietary factors such as eating more tomato products can play a role in reducing inflammation. Using data from adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999 - 2004), consumption of processed tomatoes was associated with significantly lower serum C-reactive protein, a recognized biomarker of inflammation. Scientists investigated the effects of processed tomato products on vasodilatation and C-reactive protein in 56 overweight and obese adults. After consuming a low-tomato diet for three weeks, followed by either a six week high-tomato diet or low-tomato diet, the subjects’ responses were assessed after eating a high-fat meal. The high-tomato group had lower C-reactive protein levels and increased mean vessel diameter.
  
• Inhibiting Platelet Aggregation. Tomato products contain anti-platelet compounds that appear to inhibit thrombin-induced platelet aggregation, which may aid in the primary prevention of CVD. Scottish researchers discovered that tomatoes have the highest anti-platelet activity, according to a study that tested fruits in vitro for their anti-platelet properties. The anti-platelet components in tomatoes, which are water soluble, heat stable, and concentrated in the yellow fluid around the seeds, inhibited aggregation by up to 70%. According to the results of a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled crossover study in 90 healthy human subjects, tomato extract produced significant reductions in platelet aggregation three hours after supplementation.
  
• Lipid Benefits. Another heart-health benefit of eating tomato products relates to their influence on lipid profile. A tomato-rich diet increased “good” HDL-cholesterol levels significantly by 15.2%, according to a study of the effects of a tomato-rich diet on lipid profile in 98 healthy volunteers for one month of follow-up. And in a diet intervention study, a three week low-tomato diet and a three week high-tomato diet was consumed by 21 healthy study subjects. Total cholesterol concentration was reduced by 5.9% and “bad” LDL cholesterol concentration by 12.9% with the high-tomato diet compared to the low-tomato diet.
  
• A Role in Hypertension. It shouldn’t be a surprise that potassium-rich tomatoes also have shown benefits in treating hypertension. A single-blind, placebo-controlled study including 31 subjects found that a short-term treatment with tomato extract can reduce blood pressure in patients with grade-1 hypertension, naive to drug therapy.

For more information, visit:  http://www.tomatowellness.com/tomato-health-nutrition

Kale & Kale Salad

Loaded with antioxidants, calcium and fiber, kale deserves to be as popular as its cousins spinach and chard. Here are some tips on how to get the most from this sometimes intimidating vegetable:

Select: There are seemingly endless varieties of kale, but some of the most common and tasty include curly, Tuscan, and Red Winter. Colors, which range from green to purple, should be as vibrant as possible. Choose a bunch that's crisp and free of tears.

Store: Freshness makes a big difference in quality with this vegetable. New leaves are earthy and pungent, but as they age, they become more bitter. Keep wrapped in a dampened paper towel in your fridge's crisper drawer for no more than three to four days.

Prepare: Give the bunch a quick rinse, then rip the stems and inner veins from the leaves by hand and discard. The stalks are edible but many people don't like the chewy texture (we personally juice the stalks!).

Serve: Kale leaves can be treated just like spinach: sauteed in a pan with a bit of olive oil, mixed in raw salad topped with a vinaigrette, or tossed into a breakfast omelet or soup. Or, make a healthy snack by simply tearing apary the leaves with your hands and spreading them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with a little salt and work the seasoning in the leaves with your fingers. Bakes at 300F for 7 minutes, or until crisp.

Nutritional value: One 1-cup serving of kale has 33 calories, 1g fiber, 21mcg folate, 329mg potassium.

Kale Salad

This raw kale salad wins over even the most skeptical of hearty-green newbies. It gets better after a night in the fridge. 

Ingredients
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, mashed
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of red pepper flakes
2 bunches kale, ribs removed and leaves sliced into 1/4-inch shreds
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tbsp whole wheat bread crumbs, toasted

Directions
In a large bowl, whisk together oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper flakes. Add kale and toss to coat. Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. Add grated cheese and breadcrumbs and toss. Serve.
Cover and refrigerate leftovers for two days.

Serves 8.

Healthy Eating Tip #1

To help encourage you, we'll be posting healthy eating tips on a regular basis.

Healthy Eating Tip #1

If you have butter in your fridge, I am challenging you to throw it out & stop using it!! Instead, invest in cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil and virgin coconut oi...l.

When cooking / sauteing something that normally calls for butter, replace it equally with cold-pressed olive oil. If you are baking something that calls for butter, replace it equally with the coconut oil (you can use coconut oil on toast in place of butter!).

These are very small changes but you will notice results! Why? Because Cold-pressed olive oil contains phenols & mono-unsaturated fat. Phenols suppress inflammation in the body. Mono-unsaturated fat encourages the release of fat from storage by increasing metabolism. Inflammation in the body is known to increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease and many cancers. Dairy products, including butter, have been shown to increase the inflammation in our bodies. On the other hand, cold-pressed olive oil suppress & fights inflammation in our bodies :)

Coconut oil is an abundant source of medium-chain fatty acids... these triglycerides work wonders for a sluggish metabolism. Coconut oil has also been shown to balance blood sugars, as it supplies the body with energy similar to blood glucose, but without having a negative impact on our blood sugar levels (ie: coconut oil prevents blood sugar highs & lows). Coconut oil also contains lauric acid and this protects against one of the hidden causes of weight gain, which is candida (yeast). Candida causes symptoms like fatigue, poor concentration, sugar & carb cravings (as yeast feeds off of sugar).

Note: Olive oil & coconut oil that have been highly refined will not have this same benefit, so cold-pressed olive oil and unrefined coconut oil are the way to go!