In The News: Fruits, Especially Berries, Hot Topics Of Research This Month!

Studies focusing on fruit intake, namely berries, have been plentiful in the news lately- linking fruit consumption to promoting brain health and protecting against diabetes as well as heart attacks.  This is not surprising because there has been years of great data on fruits and veggies and their positive effects on the body.  Eating a variety of fruits (and vegetables) daily supplies plenty of vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals and it seems like everyday more exciting research comes to light about their amazing powers!

Check out THIS RECENT REVIEW ARTICLE, that summarizes how eating berry fruits is great for the brain and may help prevent age-related memory loss and other changes.  Berries are quite the superfood, also evidenced by a STUDY released early this year noting that eating three or more servings of blueberries and strawberries per week may help women reduce their risk of a heart attack by as much as one-third!

Eating more fruit is also linked to a lowering ones risk of Type 2 Diabetes, according to a NEW STUDY led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers.  People who ate at least two servings each week of whole fruits — namely blueberries, grapes, and apples — reduced their risk for type 2 diabetes by as much as 23%! The key here is eating whole fruits NOT juices because the researchers found quite the opposite with higher juice intake.....those who consumed one or more servings of fruit juice per day actually increased their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by as much as 21%.  In fact, replacing three servings of juice per week for whole fruits would result in a 7% reduction in diabetes risk!

So grab a piece of fruit and enjoy!  And try some of my fruity recipes like Quadruple Spinach Berry Salad, Raspberry Yogurt Pops, Winter Fruit Salad or Oat Pancakes!

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Non- Instant Oats....In An Instant!

Tired of those instant oatmeal packets?? If you prefer the hearty texture and filling nature of old fashioned rolled oats to instant but lack the time to prepare them I have an answer for you- SOAKING!  Soaking rolled oats 12-24 hours (or at least overnight) hydrates and fluffs them up quite nicely, so part of the “cooking” is done for you.

Here’s what you do:

1.)    Soaking process

Add 1 cup oats to a bowl/container, cover with 2 cups warm filtered water.  (If you want to soak more than 1 cup, then just add 2 cups of water to every additional cup of dry oats you want to soak. 

Cover with a towel or lid and soak 12-24 hours on the counter top.

2.)    Preparation.  Rinse and drain the oats in a strainer/colander and then you can cook them in a pot or microwave. 1 cup dry rolled oats yield about 1.5 cups after soaking. Add the desired amount of liquid (like milk or water, which is generally not much since the oats are already hydrated) and cook on the stove top on medium heat for 2-3 minutes.  Even faster, put the oats in a microwave dish and heat in high for about 1 minute per ½ cup of soaked oats.  You can add a splash of liquid before heating if you like them moist/more soupy.  If you microwave them without liquid they have a more separated/flaky texture like brown rice. 

3.)    Add your favorite toppings if desired and serve!!  That’s it. Soaking reminds me of the crockpot theory, leaving them to soak is doing a lot of the work for you.

Another thing to note: There is some research that suggests that fermenting oats improves there digestibility and makes them more nutritious. If you are interested in this and/or find oats difficult to digest you can take things a step further, and ferment the oats, which involves adding an acid, like lemon juice, whey, kefir or vinegar and a little bit of flour before soaking.  There is more information on this process HERE and I may possibly write a post on it in the future as well. 

Nutrition Info:

One cup dry oats Calories 300  Protein  g Carb  g Fiber 8  g Sugars 0 g Fat  g Saturated fat g Sodium  0 mg

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Recipe ReDux Post # 16: "Carrot Cake” Yogurt

The Recipe ReDux theme for August was “food in a jar”.  I was excited to develop a recipe incorporating this super fun concept, in fact it was the perfect opportunity to finalize one that I have been working on lately.  My daughter loves to eat yogurt and I am always attempting come up with creative ways to serve it.  One night after she had finished dinner and asked for her yogurt, I spied some leftover grated carrots in the fridge that I had used to make muffins with. I threw some in with the vanilla yogurt, along with some raisins and she loved it.  The next time I added walnuts to the mix along with some spices and “Carrot Cake Yogurt” has now become one of her favorite yogurt treats. I enjoy it as well and happy to serve it often since it is chocked full of antioxidants, fiber, omega 3 fats, protein and calcium!  It’s super easy to make too!  So stir some up and check out the other cool jar recipes created by the awesome Recipe Redux group.

Ingredients:

6 ounces vanilla flavored nonfat yogurt (Greek or regular)

¼ cup finely grated carrot

1 tablespoon raisins, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped walnuts

1 dash each of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger (optional)

(you can also add a dash of sweetener if desired)

Directions:

Mix all the above in a small bowl and enjoy! Store in the fridge if not eating immediately.

Makes 1 serving

Serving size: the entire recipe Calories 250 Protein 14 g Carb 38 g Fiber 2 g Sugars 29 g Fat 5 g Saturated fat 0.5 g Sodium 25 mg*

*results will vary based on yogurt used 

An InLinkz Link-up

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Nutrition 411- Super Snacks!

Being a registered dietitian and a mom, I am constantly being asked about ideas for healthy, easy and yummy snacks to bring to school. work, while traveling etc.  I have been meaning to highlight some recipes and product ideas on this topic and I got just the motivational nudge I needed the other day...  The kind folks at Udi's offered to send me some of their new and current gluten-free snack foods to blog about as well as post some of my own recipes- a perfect win-win!! I really enjoyed trying some of their breads/rolls in my June BBQ post so I was seriously stoked to check out some of their snack foods as well!!

When I received their care package I was excited to get some of their simple but delicious Vanilla Granola plus another yummy flavor that I had not tried before- Blueberry Cashew Clusters, which has 10% of the Daily Value for Iron and 25% Daily Value for Zinc- 2 key minerals that can fall short in gluten-free diets.

A couple of new awesome snack products they sent me (which are quite tasty) were their Ancient Grains Crisps and Chewy Granola Bars. The Ancient Grains Crisps- (Aged Cheddar or Simply Sea Salt flavored) are a great chip alternative and are very reasonably low in calories, sodium and fat for a snack food. Their Granola Bars are chewy and not overly sweet, plus they have a decent 3 grams of fiber and 140 calories.

Some ridiculously amazing indulgences they sent me were some muffins and new cookie flavors that were really good and nice to have on hand for when I want an occasional sweet treat and don't want to bake it myself.

In general, the basic snacks that I tell my patients/friends/family to go with are fruit, nuts, low fat string cheese, air popped popcorn, PB+celery, carrots and hummus... For those not on gluten-free diets- whole wheat pretzels, 1/2 pita with veggies and hummus or light laughing cow cheese spread inside are other favorites.

For recipes check out my SNACKS section and learn about my favs like home made protein bars, smoothies and other yummy treats. I also wrote a snack article you can check out HERE.

Happy snacking and thanks Udi's!!

(Note: I was provided with products by Udi's to review but all of the views and opinions stated in this post are my own.)

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In The News: Get More Sleep AND Eat A Big Breakfast!

Two interesting pieces of research were in the news this week that I wanted to share.... First off,  "sleep deprivation is linked to junk food cravings"!  Researchers at UC Berkeley (where I got my nutrition degree-yay!) just released their study which showed that participants were more inclined to choose unhealthy snack and junk food when they were sleep deprived. Less healthy foods were more desirable after a lack of sleep. In addition to observing these eating behavior changes, participants also underwent  functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) first after a normal night’s sleep and next, after a sleepless night. Researchers found " impaired activity in the sleep-deprived brain’s frontal lobe, which governs complex decision-making, but increased activity in deeper brain centers that respond to rewards." So they were actually able to see changes in the brain to explain the poor food choices!You can read a summary of the study HERE and an abstract of the study itself is located HERE.

Another study released in the Journal of Obesity has shown that waking up and eating a larger breakfast (even as much as 700 calories), a modest lunch a smaller dinner promotes weight loss and may even reduce risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Two groups of women were each assigned to eat a 1400 calorie diet- the big breakfast group ate 700 calories at breakfast, 500 at lunch and 200 at dinner while the big dinner group ate 200 calories at breakfast, 500 at lunch and 700 at dinner. The result? The women from the big breakfast group lost more weight and had larger decreases in insulin, glucose and triglyceride levels than the women from the big dinner group. Check out a summary of the research HERE and the study's journal abstract HERE.

An for some healthy morning ideas to start the day out right, check out my Breakfast section!

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Raspberry Yogurt Pops

A healthy, delicious and easy to make frozen treat!

Ingredients:

Two 8 ounce containers of nonfat or lowfat raspberry yogurt (I used Trader Joes Organic low fat raspberry variety)

Generous ½ cup of fresh raspberries, washed and halved

Sweetener to taste, if desired, (I added 1 teaspoon of maple sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (also optional)

Six 3 ounce popsicle holders with sticks

Directions:

Mix all of the above ingredients in a small bowl. Carefully spoon all of the mixture into the popsicle holders, add sticks and freeze for 3-4 hours, until set.

Makes 6 popsicles

Serving size: 1 popsicle of recipe  Calories 70 Protein  3 g Carb  12 g Fiber 0 g Sugars 9 g Fat  1g Saturated fat 0 g Sodium 35 mg *

*Results will vary depending on type of yogurt used, above analysis done with low fat yogurt

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Lemon “Poppy Seed” Pancakes

I enjoyed the lemon + chia seed combo in the protein bar recipe tat I posted last month so I decided to try it in pancakes as well!

Ingredients:

1 cup oat flour (if you are on a gluten free diet use a brand such as Bob’s Red Mill or you can make your own to by grinding gluten free oats in food processor)
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
¼ cup egg whites
1 cup nonfat milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 teaspoons lemon zest (peel grated from fresh lemon)
2 teaspoon chia seeds

Directions:

In a small bowl combine the baking powder, flour and brown sugar together. To a larger bowl add the egg whites, vanilla, lemon zest, chia seeds and milk and whisk together. Then slowly whisk in the flour mixture until a smooth, thin batter is formed. Let stand for a few minutes. Add ¼ cup (for 1 pancake) to a non stick skillet, or one coated with cooking spray and heat on high heat for 1-2 minutes each side. Repeat with ¼ cup mixture 5 more times for a total of six small pancakes. Makes 6 pancakes.

Serving size: 1 pancake Calories 90 Protein 3 g Carb 13 g Fiber 2 g Sugars 6 g Fat 1.5 g Saturated fat 0 g Sodium 140 mg

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