Nutrition For Life

If you’re searching for the perfect cookware, or worried about the health hazards you’ve heard about aluminum or Teflon, check out this list of pros, cons and real facts about the many types of cookware on the market.

Aluminum cookware and bakeware is made of cast or sheet aluminum.
Pros: Inexpensive, lightweight, good thermal conductivity, doesn’t rust, corrosion resistant.
Cons: Can be reactive, especially with acidic foods, changing the taste of the food.
Fact: Claims have been made linking aluminum to Alzheimer’s disease and other health problems, but these claims have been unsubstantiated by scientific research. In fact, according to the FDA, taking one antacid or aspirin tablet provides the body with far more aluminum than cooking and storing an entire day’s meals in aluminum.
Tip: If you’re set on aluminum cookware, only use it if it’s in good condition, never use it for food storage, and avoid using it to cook foods that are acidic or salty (such as tomato sauce or salad dressing). Read more…

THE RECIPE: Broccoli and Chicken Noodle Soup

THE DILEMMA: Several ingredients contributed to the soup’s heavy nutritional report card: processed cheese, butter, whole milk, and half-and-half add a hefty amount of fat. Its canned cream of mushroom soup, regular chicken broth, and processed cheese added significant sodium.

THE SOLUTION: The soup’s base warranted the bulk of our attention. We halved the amount of processed cheese and swapped to a lighter version, maintaining a satisfying taste and texture but cutting 79 calories, seven fat grams (five grams of which were saturated), and 286 milligrams of sodium per serving. We made a white sauce for the soup’s base with just three tablespoons of butter and a little flour to thicken low-fat milk; omitting the can of soup cut 25 calories per bowlful. Read more…

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it 937 times: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Why? You just spend eight hours with no food or water. You’re dehydrated, your blood sugar is low and you have little energy. And now it’s time to hurry the kids off to school before the eight-hour workday. More so than any other point in the day, you need nourishment. Right now.

Besides, eating breakfast actually helps you lose weight. Those who skip the meal tend to snack before lunch and throughout the day, usually on unhealthy, high-calorie foods. Breakfast eaters typically cruise until lunch, while beaming with energy.

So what are some unhealthy breakfast ideas? Scratch that – healthy and quick ideas? Here are some of our favorites:

* Prepare a casserole the night before. Pop it in the microwave when you wake up and it will be ready to go when you are.
* Incorporate complex carbohydrates, such as whole wheat toast and bagels. Spread peanut butter and raisins on top of either for added flavor.
* Bake bran muffins early in the week, then grab one or two each morning. Or check out a local bakery for healthy varieties.
* Make waffles Sunday morning and freeze the leftovers. You can pop ‘em in the toaster for a homemade breakfast. Also, grocery stores sell frozen whole grain selections.
* Have you ever tried a tortilla for breakfast? Wrap up cold turkey and cheese, grab an apple and you’re on your way.
* Don’t forget cold cereal. We’re not talking about those covered with sugar, but the healthy variety. Items such as Wheaties and Cheerios are always good choices.
* Whole-egg or egg white omelets with fresh or frozen veggies (carrots, broccoli, celery, peppers, onions and even black beans make great additions).
* Make a shake or a smoothie. Blend fruit and yogurt and then drink it in the car. A side option is a small bag of finger foods, such as a mixture of granola and grapes.

Sticking with a healthy eating plan is hard work. There is no way around that, but for many it means giving up the foods that they love the most. But, you don’t have to do that! If you are limiting yourself so much that healthy eating becomes more of a hindrance than a help, then your good habits won’t last long. So what does this mean? You can still eat dessert– and enjoy it! Learn some smart substitutions to make your dessert a healthy part of your day.

The key to including dessert is to enjoy that sweet treat without overloading on calories, fat, and sugar. Desserts can often make it hard to maintain a healthy weight. But who wants to give up their favorite foods? Willpower is hard to fight against. As with many things in life, moderation is key, so you’ll need to stop yourself before you overindulge. Try sensible portions; you can eat 1 slice of pie and still be in your calorie range for the day.

Not every chocolate cake or banana nut muffin is created equal. Look for things without a lot of butter, nuts, or creamy frosting. Since feeling guilty can ruin a good meal, why not try some of our ideas instead of your “regular” desserts?

Try:

* Low fat cookie
* Frozen 100% juice bar
* Fresh berries with low fat creamer
* A few pieces of chocolate
* Frozen grapes
* Angel food cake
* Pudding made with skim milk
* Nondairy frozen dessert
* Low fat ice cream or sorbet
* Pieces of fruit

If you are the one doing the cooking, there are lots of ways to make your favorite recipes healthier.

Use:

* Egg substitutes or egg whites instead of whole eggs.
* Apple sauce or prune puree instead of oil when baking to naturally trap moisture into your cakes and breads.
* Less sugar. A lot of recipes call for much more sugar than is needed. You might even like it better!
* Fruit-based desserts. Although you still have to be careful, these desserts often have less calories and fat than a chocolate or cream based one.

Dig out the blender! (Don’t worry, nothing high-tech.) Throw in a few simple, nutritious ingredients, give it a whirl and you’ve got a super-quick breakfast, snack, or mini-meal. Who can resist these icy cold, frothy concoctions, fondly known as “smoothies”? Kids as well as adults love them! Follow these simple guidelines and blend up your own batch today.

For the Calorie Conscious
To help keep calories under control, avoid smoothies made with high-fat and high-calorie ingredients like ice cream, whole milk, and cream. Instead use low fat items such as skim milk, low fat yogurt, fat-free frozen vanilla yogurt, frozen ice milk, fruit juice, silken tofu, soymilk, soy yogurt, and rice milk. When a recipe calls for peanut butter, use it in moderation. (Although high in protein and the healthy monounsaturated fat, the calories can add up quickly, due to the total fat content.) And be careful with the portion size—one cup (8 ounces) is the standard, not the entire contents of the blender.

Fruitylicious!
The very best smoothie is creamy and thick, NOT watered-down or icy. A great trick for adding thickness to your smoothie—without adding additional calories—is to freeze the fruit before making the smoothie (or buy frozen fruit). Start in the fresh produce section of the grocery. Select berries, bananas, pineapple, kiwi, watermelon, cantaloupe, peaches, pears, plums, mango, anything. Grab the familiar as well as the unusual. When fresh stuff is unavailable or too pricey, check out the fruit choices in the freezer section. Canned fruit can also be used as a nutritious, tasty alternative, without the extra expense. Once you arrive home:

* Immediately place frozen fruit in the freezer.
* Open canned fruit and rinse off syrup.
* Lightly rinse the fresh fruit.
* Peel and remove the skin if necessary (banana, kiwi, melon, etc.).
* Cut larger fruit into (ice-cube size) chunks.
* Lightly spray a cookie sheet with a baking spray and arrange fruit in a single layer.
* Place cookie sheet in freezer.
* Once frozen, remove fruit from sheet, place in freezer bags, and return to freezer until ready to use. Read more…

Whether you’re overworked or just plain overstressed, time is valuable to all of us. When making a lifestyle change, it can easily seem overwhelming to include new habits like exercise and healthy eating into your jam-packed days. Between work, school, family and just keeping up—how are you also supposed to find time to prepare healthy meals and read all those labels in the grocery store? These tips will help you spend even less time in the grocery store, emerge with healthy ingredients, and cook diet-friendly meals in minutes.

Time-Saving Grocery Shopping

Keeping a grocery list may seem like a waste of time in the moment, but it will actually save you time while shopping. While any old list is better than none, here are some tips that will turn your list into time well spent.

1. Keep a running list. One of the best places to keep your grocery list is in the kitchen—on the fridge, on a bulletin or wipe board, or even on the pantry door. As you run out of items, add them to the list so you don’t have to remember them later. Then when you’re ready to shop, you’ll have a complete shopping list ready to go with you.

2. Organize your list. You can get through the store quickly if you organize your list in the same order that you typically navigate the grocery store. If you always start in the produce section, then start your list with these foods. If you hit the dairy section last, then add those foods to the bottom of the list. By listing items in order of the store layout, you can avoid retracing your steps to pick up things you missed.

3. Shop during “off” hours and days. You can usually get in and out of the store more quickly if you shop between Sunday and Wednesday, later in the evenings, or during the middle of the day, such as your lunch hour.

4. Avoid shopping when you are hungry. Studies show that when hungry people shop, they are more likely to purchase items that aren’t on their lists. When your belly is growling, you’re more likely to stray off of your list, notice other foods that you didn’t come in to get, and spend extra money overall. Try shopping after a meal or a small snack to stay focused and on track. Read more…

Would you be surprised to learn that you CAN feel good about fat in your food? Here’s a refresher on one source of fat – olive oil – the healthier oil of all oils and the natural juice of the olive fruit. Its most talked about benefit may be its ability to reduce the risk of heart disease by controlling LDLs (the bad cholesterol) and raising HDLs (the good cholesterol). But the list of benefits continues, and it just may prompt you to replace your use of margarine, butter, and vegetable oils with the favorite flavor of the Mediterranean.

The people of the Mediterranean have enjoyed the benefits of olive oil in their diets for thousands of years. Today, researchers have found evidence to support many of the healing claims assumed since ancient times. In addition to preventing heart disease (due to cholesterol control), olive oil is tolerated well by the stomach and has a positive effect on constipation. Olive oil activates the secretion of bile and pancreatic hormones and lowers the incidence of gallstones. It may be linked to reducing the risk of colon cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as with lowering high blood pressure. Read more…

If you’re trying to lighten your caloric load or lose weight, are you destined to days of tasteless cookies, or—worse—a life without sweets and treats?

Of course not! There are plenty of ways you can substitute lower-calorie ingredients and still create delicious and healthy treats.

Cooking is an art, but baking is a science. It requires careful formulas, precise measurement and a keen eye. Omitting high-fat ingredients or arbitrarily swapping them can yield flat, dull and downright inedible results. In baked goods, most of the calories come from three ingredients: butter or oil, eggs and sugar. This tasty trio is also where much of the flavor derives, and more importantly, these ingredients keep your muffins moist and your cookies from crumbling. So how do you reduce (or get rid) of these essential ingredients and without chewing on baked goods that look and taste like cardboard? Save yourself the guesswork and the trouble by sharing the 14 secrets to light baking done right. Read more…