Nutrition Articles

Eating Healthy - Spotlight on Cranberries

The holidays are here, so most families are thinking about what side dishes to bring to the parties. Cranberries are staple ingredients for fixings, but what makes up this fan favorite?

• Cranberries contain high amounts of vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants. They also include only 45 calories per cup.
• Cranberry's juice can be used for the prevention of urinary tract infections and bacterial adhesion in the stomach.
• The same bacteria preventing ability of the cranberry juice can avert the formation of plaque, which leads to fewer cavities.

Recipe: Easy Cranberry Bread

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup butter

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon finely grated orange rind

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon, rind of

3/4 cup orange juice

1 3/4 cups cranberries, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a large bowl. Cut in butter until the mixture is crumbly. Add egg, finely grated orange peel, lemon peel, and orange juice all at once; carefully stir until the mixture is evenly moist. Fold in cranberries. Spoon and spread evenly into a greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

Recipe:  Cranberry Sauce

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

4 cups (1 12-oz package) fresh or frozen cranberries

Optional: Pecans, orange zest, raisins, currants, blueberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice.

Place the cranberries in a colander and rinse them. Pick out and discard any damaged or bruised cranberries. Put the water and sugar in a medium saucepan on high heat and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar.  Add the cranberries to the pot and return to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until most of the cranberries have burst.  Once the cranberries have burst you can leave the cranberry sauce as is, or dress it up with other ingredients. We like to mix in a half a cup of chopped pecans with a few strips of orange zest. Some people like adding raisins or currants, or even blueberries for added sweetness. You can also add holiday spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, or allspice. Remove the pot from heat. Let cool completely at room temperature, then transfer to a bowl to chill in the refrigerator.

Food for Thought

Top Reasons to Quit Soda Drinking, NOW

Gone are the days when everyone you ran into was drinking a sugary soda : whether regular or diet.  While you do still have those “die hards” who drink their soda every single chance they get, many others have caught onto all of the warnings that nutritionists have been telling us for years about the effects that soda has on our bodies.

But if you are still in the minority and enjoy your soda, here are some great reasons to quit drinking soda : both regular and diet : TODAY!

You eat less : in particular sweets.  At (on average) 150 calories per can, you can significantly reduce your sugar intake if you quit drinking soda.  The artificial sweeteners in diet soda are the worst for you, too, because they are 400 to 8,000 times sweeter than sugar.

You lose weight.  Even though diet drinks are calorie-free, they cause insulin to be released in your gut because of the artificial sweeteners and prevent weight loss.  Insulin is your body's primary fat storage so it will have the body hold onto any extra fat.

You improve your immune system.  The acidity in soda is bad for your digestive system, erodes tooth enamel, and worsens acid reflux.  Research shows that artificial sweeteners affect our healthy gut bacteria, which can greatly affect our immune system.

You stop your bones from breaking down.  The caramel color in soda contains artificially created phosphorus that can be bad for long-term bone health.

Eating Healthy - Spotlight on: Zucchini

Zucchini squash is one of the most popular summer squashes in America and Europe.  Almost all members of the squash family vegetables feature smooth skin, tender, crunchy flesh with small edible seeds and high moisture content.

Zucchini is one of the very low calorie vegetables, providing only 17 calories per 100 grams of zucchini.  It is also a very good source of potassium, an important intra-cellular electrolyte.

Zucchini is also rich in vitamins A and anti-oxidant vitamin C, plus they contain moderate levels of the B-complex group of vitamins and minerals like iron and zinc.

Recipe: Mom's Zucchini Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2 ¼ cups white sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup chopped walnuts

Grease 2 : 4x8 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Sift flour, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.  Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour into pans. Bake 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes.

Recipe: Japanese Onions and Zucchini

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 medium zucchinis cut into thin strips

2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Ground black pepper

Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add zucchini and cook, stirring about 1 minute. Stir in teriyaki sauce, soy sauce and sesame seeds.  Cook until zucchini are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in ground pepper and serve immediately.

Eating Healthy

Spotlight on: Bananas

Did you know that the banana is the most popular fruit eaten in the United States? It's so popular that bananas are eaten in more quantities than apples and oranges COMBINED!

Fun facts about bananas include:

We consume about 25 pounds of bananas per person each year.

• There are more than 1,000 varieties of bananas.
• Bananas don't grow on trees : trees have bark and banana plants don't have bark.
• Bananas are low in saturated fats, cholesterol and sodium.
• A large portion of the calories in bananas come from sugars.

Recipe: Classic Banana Bread

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
• 1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Cooking spray

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Spoon batter loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Recipe: Banana Chia Pudding

• 1 ½ cups vanilla-flavored flax milk
• 1 large banana cut in chunks
• 7 tablespoons chia seeds
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Put milk, banana, chia seeds, honey, vanilla extract, and sea salt in respective order in the blender; blend until smooth. Pour mixture into a bowl and refrigerate until thickened, at least 2 hours. Spoon mixture into small bowls to serve.

Reading and Understanding Food Labels

Reading and understanding food labels can be really tricky. However it is important especially for homemakers to know how to read and understand such nutritional labels. Basically, food labels provide a detailed and comprehensive account of what is included in a particular food item. In a similar manner, food labels also provide the types of vitamins, minerals and nutrients one can get from a particular food item.

The problem however is that food labels are often filled with unnecessary jargon that may confuse the average homemaker. Hence below are some tips on how to read and understand food labels in a clearer manner.

Always be a doubter

When it comes to food, giving the benefit of the doubt is not that wise. A good rule of thumb is to always know exactly what type of food you consume or what ingredients are included in the food you consume. You need to be always sure.

If you are in doubt as to what a particular food label means, try asking your dietician or even your general physician. Additionally, it would be a lot wiser if you do not simply believe everything that's being presented to you. Try to find out the truth yourself, with the Internet, it's a lot easier.

Know what ingredients are included

You need to also pay close attention to the ingredients included in the food item you are considering to buy. Find out how was it made and from what was it made. Needless to say, a potato chip does not necessarily contain potatoes. That's a bitter pill to swallow but that is how some food manufactures do business.

Apart from the actual ingredients, the nutrients contained should also be looked at. In general, opt for a food item that has greater amounts of vitamins and minerals compared to food items with heaps of carbohydrates and calories.

Check the serving size per calculation

Another important thing that you should consider is the serving size per calculation. Find out whether the food label is based per serving or if it's for the whole package. You need to be really cautious here as most food manufacturers use such trick whenever they're food are deemed unhealthy due to high amounts of calories.

Scrutinize the types of fat included

There are various types of fat and it is important that you find out what exact types are included in the food item you are considering to buy. There are healthy types and unhealthy ones so you need to really master the trick here. Basically, saturated fats, hydrogenated fats and tropical oils should be avoided as much as possible.

Do not forget the calories per serving

The calories per serving is another vital factor in food labels. Actually, it's the first thing that you should look at as calories are energy and unused energy will eventually make you fat. Make sure that the calories per serving is sufficient enough but not too high.

Since 1994, the United States Food and Drug Administration or FDA has obliged food manufacturers and distributors to put a food label at the back of their food items in order to equip consumers with the right knowledge on what they are eating and how healthy they are.

Now it's up to you to reap the benefits of the transparency created by the FDA.