Indulge in a Heart-Healthy Treat ♥

Indulge in a Heart-Healthy Treat

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Chocolate.

We all love it. 

Most of us crave it – especially women.

It is the most popular Valentine’s Day gift.  About 58 million pounds of chocolate are purchased the week of Valentine’s Day

But did you know that DARK chocolate can have incredible health benefits?

That’s right!  Choose dark chocolate that isn’t combined with milk, sugar, and fat and enjoy the health benefits that chocolate can offer.

Just a teaspoon of natural cocoa powder can boost arterial function within hours of consumption.  Studies show that raw, unprocessed cocoa beans contain more antioxidant activity that even blueberries and acai berries.  That’s impressive!

Your challenge this week is to find ways to enjoy dark chocolate in healthful ways.  Enjoy dark chocolate in banana nice cream, chocolate chia pudding, in a smoothie, or black bean brownies. 

Cacao powder and cacao nibs are my favorite way to enjoy chocolate without the milk, sugar, & fat.  Cacao nibs are simply cacao beans crushed into small pieces.  Cacao powder is basically the cacao beans ground into powder.

This week, in honor of Valentine’s day I made some chocolate hearts using three of my favorite superfoods:  Cacao powder, GOJI Berries, and Cacao Nibs.  These bites are perfect for an after dinner treat when you want a bit of chocolate.

Click for recipe.

How will you enjoy heart-healthy chocolate this week?

Need more Cacao Recipes?

Let me know in the comments below.

Be sure to hit the LIKE button below :)

Non-starchy Vegetables

Monday Challenge:
Non-Starchy Vegetables

Have you tried long sweet peppers? I started seeing them at ALDI's market last summer and absolutely love them. They're super sweet and great for snacking on - try them!

Peppers, like these sweet peppers, are classified as non-starchy vegetables. Non-starchy vegetables are plants that are too low in calorie content to form the center of a meal but they do provide valuable contributions of vitamins, minerals, fiber, water, essential fat, protein, and other phyto-nutrients.

Think of non-starchy vegetables as foods that have extremely high micronutrients per calorie. Micronutrients are vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. To combat disease and for optimal health you want to consume foods high in micronutrients.

Animal products, including meat, eggs, dairy, and fish are very low in vitamins and minerals compared with plant foods. And they completely lack antioxidants and phytonutrients. Refined grains, oils, and sweeteners also lack micronutrients.

This week, pump up your nutrition by including more non-starchy vegetables in your meals. For lunch and dinner, fill half you plate with non-starchy vegetables.

Eat them raw or cooked. Enjoy them as snacks.

Eat plenty of salads with leafy greens. Include non-starchy vegetables in sandwiches, soups, and stews. Use zucchini spirals or cauliflower rice in your pasta dishes.

Can you fill half your lunch and dinner plate this week with non-starchy vegetables?

How you feel after just one week of making this change?

Leave a comment below.

*and hit the “like” button :)

ROY G BIV

ROY G BIV

Do you remember Roy G Biv from school?

It’s not a person but a mnemonic that helps you remember the order of the colors of the rainbow. So it's red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. I don’t know why I remember this but I just do.

When it comes to nutrition Roy G Biv is good to know. I’m sure you’ve heard that you should “Eat the Rainbow.” But what does that mean exactly?

Superfoods are awesome and I do make room for them in my budget but they're not required for healthy eating. Instead focus on everyday, affordable superfoods in all colors of the rainbow. Think red peppers, kale, spinach, broccoli, sweet potatoes and other nutrient-dense plant foods along with immunity-boosting and disease-fighting foods like onion, garlic and ginger.

Most grocery stores have their produce section right as you enter. That’s because we are drawn to the fresh vibrant colors of the food. Foods that are vibrantly colored are generally more appealing. A bright yellow banana appeals to us more than an unripe green banana. Red onions are visually more appealing than white. Purple cabbage is more appealing than green.

The same food can have a different nutritional profile for each color:

Red peppers pack the most nutrition, because they've been on the vine longest. Green peppers are harvested earlier, before they have a chance to turn yellow, orange, and then red. Compared to green bell peppers, the red ones have almost 11 times more beta-carotene and 1.5 times more vitamin C.

Although all types of grapes are healthy, red grapes and Concord grapes are higher in flavonoids and phytonutrients, including resveratrol than green grapes.

Sweet potatoes with orange flesh are richest in beta-carotene. Sweet potatoes with purple flesh are richer in anthocyanins. Beta-carotene and anthocyanins are naturally occurring plant phyto- chemicals that give vegetables their bright colors.

Orange carrots have high levels of beta-carotene while purple carrots are packed with anthocyanins, which may prevent heart disease. Red carrots contain lycopene, linked to lower risk of certain cancers.

Red onions are more effective at killing human cancer cells compared with other onions thanks to their higher levels of the antioxidants quercetin and anthocyanin.

These are just a few examples of the power of the rainbow in whole foods. When building your meals, keep in mind that the more colorful your meal is, the more likely it is to have an abundance of cancer-fighting nutrients.

You may not often see some of these colorful foods available at your local grocer but when you do I encourage you to try them out.

This week, challenge yourself to make your meals colorful.

I’d love to hear about your colorful meals - leave a comment below.

*and hit the “like” button :)

10 Ways To Get More Antioxidants Into Your Diet

Worried about the recent coronavirus surge?  Take steps to improve and maintain your health.   

It’s no secret that antioxidants are incredibly beneficial to good health. It’s believed the antioxidants in food can help prevent cancer, reverse or slow aging, enhance your immune system, increase your energy and improve heart and other organ health.

Given all we know about antioxidants and their beneficial properties, it’s amazing more people don’t get enough fruits and vegetables, the primary sources of antioxidants. Experts recommend a minimum of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, but say getting 7-10 servings is best.

There are 10 steps to getting more antioxidants into your diet.

1.Breakfast

Breakfast doesn’t have to be a hurried piece of toast on the way out the door. Throw some strawberries, an apple, handful of greens (spinach or kale), flax seeds, lemon, and ginger into a blender with some water; pour your delicious mixture into a cup and head out the door. You’ve just added  two servings of fruits and a veggie serving to your daily intake. Or throw some berries onto your cold or hot cereal.

If you tend to have no time in the morning, blend up a batch of your green juice the night before or make overnight oats and add berries and a banana in the mornings.  

2.Snacks

Here’s an easy way to get more antioxidants in your diet. How about a handful of raisins for a snack, or some fresh red grapes? Dip some strawberries in soy or coconut yogurt. You’ll feel decadent, but the berries provide the color you’re looking for. Need crunch? How about some baby carrots dipped in hummus? Consider a handful of pecans for crunch and a nice antioxidant boost.

3.Lunch and dinner

It might sound trite, but adding a salad to each of your main daily meals can add loads to your overall health and well-being. They don’t have to be boring, and they don’t have to be just salad greens. If you’re going classic, add some red pepper slices to your green salad, some tomatoes to the Greek salad, or tart cranberries to your field greens. Whip up a broccoli salad for lunch, or be adventurous and mix up a rice salad with a mélange of fresh vegetables like string beans, tomatoes, peppers and red onions.

4.Dessert

Berries, with a nice cashew cream are a wonderful way to end your day of healthy, antioxidant-rich eating.

5.Beverages

Replace your soda with tea or coffee, both of which boast antioxidant compounds. Green tea, one of the healthiest beverages we can drink, has been associated with about a 30 percent reduction in breast cancer risk, and may protect against gynecological malignancies, such as ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer, as well as lower our cholesterol, blood pressure blood sugar, and body fat. It may also protect the brain from both cognitive decline and stroke. Tea consumption has also been associated with decreased risk of diabetes, tooth loss, and up to half the risk of dying from pneumonia.

6.Think outside the box

We know we can get our antioxidant fix from berries, salads and the like, but researchers say powerful antioxidants can also be found in a variety of unexpected foods, like russet potatoes, artichokes, and small red beans. The beans, in fact, may have more antioxidant power than blueberries, experts say. So to your rice salad full of vegetables, add some beans for even more antioxidants.

7.Cook lightly

You think you’re being good, preparing vegetables each night for your family’s dinner. But if you’re overcooking the vegetables, you’re cooking out a lot of the beneficial properties of the antioxidants. Steam (don’t boil) vegetables, and stop cooking them when they will have all of their bright color and most of their bite.

8.Plant a garden

Experts believe that people who plant and harvest vegetables from their own yards are far more likely to eat more vegetables and fruits than people who buy their produce from the store. So plant a garden, watch it grow and eat the fruits (literally) of your labor.

9.Take your healthy diet on vacation

Too many of us consider going on vacation (or the holidays) an opportunity to take a vacation from everything, including healthy eating. Think of vacation as a way to be introduced to new foods. Order an interesting vegetable dish in a restaurant and then pay attention to how the chef prepared the dish.  Or try a new recipes to share with everyone like this Easy Beet Wonderdip from Forks Over Knives.

10.Learn to cook

If you’re cooking, you’re not opening bags and boxes. Cooking involves scrubbing and peeling vegetables, preparing whole foods and paying attention to how things are cooked. If you’re ordering out every night, you’re far less likely to be eating the whole foods and natural fruits and vegetables that provide the base for our antioxidant intake.

What will you do to get 10 daily servings of fruits and veggies? 

Need more ideas?

Send me an email or let me know in the comments below.

Myth #4: If it’s vegan it must be healthy.

Despite the increasing number of people adopting plant-based diets, there are still many myths about this way of eating.  One of those myths is "if it’s vegan it must be healthy" (Read about Myth #1 HERE ,  Myth #2 HERE & Myth #3 HERE).

There's no doubt that plant-based diets are good for your health.   Research shows that people following a balanced plant-based diet are consistently slimmer and healthier than meat eaters. We also have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, and a lot less inflammation.

Not all vegan foods are healthy or created equal. In fact, many are filled with chemicals, preservatives, and “bad” fats that have a shelf-life to last a century.  Foods like Oreos, Coca-Cola, and French fries, can be vegan but they are also highly processed.  Also be cautious of vegan desserts, mock meats and vegan frozen meals - many have excessive amounts of  added sugars, salt, and ingredients you can't recognize.

Regularly eating fried, fatty and processed foods with chemicals in them is harmful - these foods actually wipe out the health benefits gained from eating meat-free.

As a general rule, eating whole, plant-based foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, & legumes) is the best thing for your health.  If you do choose convenience foods from time-to-time, be sure to check your labels.  I like this rule of thumb from Michael Pollen’s book Food Rules:  “Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.” 

What are some processed foods that can occasionally be part of your healthy plant-based diet?  (use these foods with caution as they can be high in calories and/or sodium)

• Pretzels

• Baked tortilla or veggie chips

• Rice cakes 

• Fat free crackers

• Some fruit & nut bars (like Larabar - check ingredients)

• Store bought hummus or other spreads (try making your own)

• Plant-based milks (check the ingredient list)

• Whole grain breads like Dave's Killer Bread or Ezekial Bread

*Remember that foods like bread and crackers, even those made from whole grains, are still processed and can cause blood sugars to rise after eating.  For your best health, limit servings of these foods to once or twice a week.

Are there any processed or convenience vegan foods that you eat?  Ask yourself what you could try instead.  Need ideas?  Send me an email or let me know in the comments below.