Study says microgreens are the new nutritional powerhouse

By Carrie Murphy for Blisstree.com

Baby spinach and baby lettuce are de rigeur in every grocery store, but a new study says that even younger greens might give us more nutritional benefits.

Enter microgreens. These tiny leaves that are less than 14 days old can provide people with lots and lots of nutrients, possibly even more than baby or full-size varieties of leafy greens.

The study, conducted by USDA researcher Gene Lester at the University of Maryland College Park, looked at 25 different varieties of very young greens, aka microgreens. The results, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, are pretty amazing. Researchers found that microgreens generally had four to six times the amounts of vitamins as fully mature greens of the same plant. That means tiny little baby leaves, which have barely been exposed to sunlight, can potentially provide people with large amounts of vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta carotene.

And people are already growing microgreens. Brendan Davison grows microgreens in East Hampton, N.Y., and sells them to restaurants in the area. He says:

“I deliver the greens in the tray that they’re grown in, so I’m bringing the farm to the kitchen. The chefs can cut what they want with scissors right onto the plate, so they’re live and fresh.”

Keep reading for more on these power-packed plants…

The ascent of ferment

By Merritt Watts for Q.Equinox.com

When canning made a comeback, foodies were salivating at the abundance of artisanal jams and pickles so ubiquitous that they were worthy of a “Portlandia” sketch. Little did they know, the trend would also help rediscover one of the healthiest foods around — fermented vegetables.

Sauerkraut and kimchi (a traditional Korean mixture of fermented cabbage and radishes), may not sound like the stuff of health-food legend, but they’re some of the best sources of probiotics and nutrients, especially when made with the traditional methods that are gaining ground with today’s artisanal food makers.

Thanks to smart marketing, yogurt is the food that’s synonymous with probiotics (the healthy bacteria that has been shown to help boost immunity and address digestive issues), but that doesn’t mean it has a monopoly on the beneficial-bacteria market. Fermented vegetables contain the same cultures, and are perfect options for the dairy-averse, vegans, or people who just want an extra dose of probiotics without the extra sugar that often comes with yogurt. (A cup of ‘kraut has 27 calories and 2.5 grams of sugar. Compare that to the same amount of plain, low-fat yogurt, which contains 154 calories and 17 grams of sugar.)

Keep reading for more health benefits of fermented foods…

New twists on a snack staple: 3 healthy popcorn recipes

By Well+Good NYC

Nutritionist and personal chef Natalia Hancock knows that snacking is part of the human condition. “We’re programmed to seek out food; the trick is to munch on snacks that are healthy and easy.”

When creating Rouge Tomate’s bar menu (Hancock is the culinary nutritionist for this healthy Michelin-starred, Upper East Side restaurant), she rejected calorically dense bar nuts in favor of humble popcorn, a whole grain with a generous dose of fiber. But Hancock purified, and glamorized, this movie snack staple by replacing butter with olive oil and adding unusual seasonings.

Replace your $300 Kitchen-Aid with a $30 air popper

 

Why to sneak your homemade popcorn into the movies: According to Hancock, movie theater popcorn is usually popped in refined coconut oil, so it absorbs lots of saturated fat.  A medium-sized movie popcorn is well over 1,000 calories and can have more than 50g of saturated fat.  In comparison, one cup of air-popped plain popcorn is just 31 calories, and it doesn’t taste like styrofoam packing like the AMC variety. Two cups is a serving, says Hancock, but if you feel the need to pig out, popcorn is a safe food to overdo it on.

Keep reading…

Are you an emotional eater?

By Well+Good NYC

Prone to stopping at 16 Handles after a fight with your significant other? So are most of us, says Jenny Taitz, Psy.D., a clinical psychologist based in Midtown Manhattan.

In her new book, End Emotional Eating, Dr. Taitz (who’s also a SoulCycle devotee and a yogi) uses approachable psychological therapies to help people develop healthier relationships with food. And she busts a few myths along the way.

For starters, emotional eating is common among people of all shapes and sizes—even healthy types—and it can take on different forms.

You may snack at work because you’re stressed or bored, binge at night because you’re lonely, or deny yourself food because you feel rejected and unloved after a bad date. These are situations where you’re not hungry; you’re managing feelings with food, she explains.

The (temporary) anxiety relief eating brings may not seem that bad to most of us, but “the problem is that it gets in the way of listening to our emotions,” says Dr. Taitz. “Our emotions provide us with such meaningful information, and if we avoid them, we lose that information.”

So that sinking feeling at work, for example, may be telling you you’re unhappy with your career choice and should consider other options—and if you crush it with a croissant, it will be back before the butter leaves your bloodstream.

Here are three of Dr. Taitz’s strategies for ending emotional eating habits and creating healthier ones:

Dr. Taitz: “You can’t manage your emotions intelligently without knowing what you’re feeling.”

 

1. Apply mindfulness to your meals. Mindfulness is a Buddhist and yogic concept, but it’s also the basis of many of modern approaches to psychology. What it really means is being fully present in the moment, including when you eat. This will help you recognize when you’re truly physically hungry and when emotions are taking over.

2. Observe and describe your feelings. When you’re in a situation that often leads to emotional eating, “take a step back and get a sense of the facts,” says Dr. Taitz. Research has shown that identifying and describing emotions you’re experiencing is the first step towards regulating them. Dr. Taitz recommends using a strategy called SIFT or Situation-Interpretation-Feeling-Tendency. That could look like this: “Guy doesn’t call. That means he doesn’t like me. I feel rejected and sad. Go eat ice cream.” If you recognize the feelings and patterns, she says, you can begin to work on the tendencies that result. “You can’t manage your emotions intelligently without knowing what you’re feeling.”

Keep reading for 2 more here…

How to eat for better sleep

By Markham Heid for Prevention.com

Is there anything more elusive than a good night’s sleep? Ask most people, and the answer is a big, sleepy no. But here’s the good news: The foods you eat and—and more importantly when you eat them—can help “reset” your body’s sleep clock, according to a new study from the United Kingdom.

A single night of poor sleep is enough to throw off your body’s circadian rhythms, which determine when you feel sleepy and when you feel alert and awake, says study author Felino Cagampang, PhD, a senior lecturer at the University of Southampton. While exposure to sunlight plays a large role in regulating your sleep cycle, Cagampang’s research team found that your diet can actually override your circadian clock, and can help you overcome jet lag, a wonky work schedule, or a few nights of inconsistent sleep.

• Are You Dead Tired?
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More from Prevention.com: The Noise That Will Help You Sleep Better

How? It’s complicated, but it has to do with something called the “food entrainable clock,” which is regulated by your brain’s hypothalamic region, Cagampang says. Put simply, eating trumps sleeping when it comes to your brain’s survival hierarchies, and so your body’s food clock is able to dictate terms to your body’s sleep clock, says Cagampang.

He offers the following advice for those of us hoping to corral wayward sleep patterns:

• Stop eating 12 hours before breakfast. As the word “breakfast” implies, your body recognizes morning as the time when you “break” your longest “fast” of the day, Cagampang says. So for optimal sleep, you should be eating during daylight hours and fasting when it’s dark.
• Your morning meal should be the biggest. Morning is the optimal time to power-up on carbs, proteins, and other nutritional energy sources, Cagampang says. You need that energy while you’re awake, not at night when you’re preparing to sleep. Try to cut back on carbs and protein in the late afternoon and evening as you prepare to sleep, or else you’ll signal to your body that you plan to be awake for a while, he says.
• Avoid saturated fats—especially at night. Studies have shown that foods containing saturated fat, such as red meat, pork, lamb, and most dairy products, disrupt circadian rhythms, and so eating them near bedtime may prevent you from falling asleep, Cagampang says. (See how even a little saturated fat can damage your heart.)

Most people who go gluten-free don’t have celiac disease

By Well+Good NYC

It seems like everyone is giving up gluten these days. But according to a study published July 31 in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, less than one percent of the population actually has celiac disease, and the majority of the people swearing off wheat are not those who are diagnosed.

The study: Researchers from the Mayo Clinic wanted to estimate the prevalence of celiac disease in the United States. They tested about 7,800 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for celiac disease, and also noted whether they had previously been diagnosed and which participants followed a gluten-free diet.

Keep reading…

Why you should eat more eggplant while it’s in season

By Keri Glassman, MS, RD for Q.Equinox.com

Mad Apples. That’s the name this oversized crop was given hundreds of years ago when they were thought to make those who ate them go crazy.

Today, they’re known as eggplants, or aubergines—a tomato-relative with a deep purple skin and a surplus of nutrients beneath. Despite their status as a fruit, eggplants are tough enough to be cooked like a vegetable and have a signature taste and texture: slightly bitter, bland and spongy (ideal for absorbing the distinct flavors of all the ingredients you cook them with.)

Eggplants are also earning a reputation as the new brain food. Among their many phytonutrients, one called nasunin protects our brain cells from oxidation. Nasunin won’t just keep your brain sharp, it also acts as an iron chelator, meaning it binds to iron, eliminating it from the body. Though iron is good for you, too much can increase free radical production, which in turn increases your risk for heart disease, cancer and aging.

Keep reading for more health benefits of eggplant, and a simple summer recipe…

10 healthy uses for apple cider vinegar

By Well+Good NYC

The apple cider vinegar stocked in your cupboard may play a starring role in your salad dressing, but it’s also enjoyed a long run as the basis of many health remedies. (The organic, unfiltered kind, that is.)

Apple cider vinegar’s strong suit is balancing pH levels, and creating a healthy, alkalized state when you eat or drink it—or use it a skin-care product. (You want to be more alkaline than acidic for a trillion health reasons, some experts say.)

It’s also pretty renowned in natural-health circles for curbing digestive issues, spiking weight loss, promoting great skin, and banishing a handful of other pesky afflictions.

And in the medical community, small research studies point to its promise for lessening symptoms of diabetes and obesity.

Wonder how it can help you? Here are ten reasons to add apple cider vinegar to more than just your salad dressing:

1. Digestion and food poisoning. Vinegar contains malic acid, which can help common digestive issues like constipation or acid-reflux. And because it’s a trifecta of antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral properties, a tablespoon or two in a 8 oz. glass of water may even help with a case of food poisoning.

2. Sleep issues. Many people swear by a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a cup of hot water with honey before bed, citing its sleep-inducing powers and that it promotes a more restful night’s sleep.

For a balancing elixir, dilute a couple teaspoons of organic unfiltered apple cider vinegar in tepid or warm water with lemon in the morning.

 

3. Diabetes. A 2007 study published in Diabetes Care, showed potential for apple cider vinegar as a tool to lower glucose levels. (Note that it can interfere with diabetes medication, if you are taking them. )

4. High cholesterol. Its high levels of pectin can help regulate blood pressure and lower cholesterol, showed a 2006 study done with rats.

5. Bones and teeth. Apple cider vinegar has the capacity to extract calcium from fruits, vegetables, and meat in your diet, thereby helping strengthen your bones and teeth.

Keep reading for 5 more here…

Study says almonds have less calories than we thought

By Briana Rognlin for Blisstree.com

Almonds are a perennial favorite on healthy snack lists, but when you’re watching portion size carefully, a single serving can be depressingly small. And although we could munch the damn things all day long, most of us fear that we’re doing ourselves harm with the calorie- and fat-dense food.

But a new study says we can be at least a little less concerned; apparently, almonds have less calories than we thought.

The study authors set out to determine whether the traditional measure of calories–called “Atwater factors”–might be inaccurate for certain food groups. To do so, they measured the “metabolizable energy content” of almonds by analyzing fecal matter, urine, and blood samples of study subjects who ate consistent, specifically set amounts of almonds.

Their findings show that 30 almonds contain 165 calories, where Atwater factors said that only 23 almonds contain 165 calories.

Keep reading…

Vitamin D Foods

By VIBRANT BEAUTY

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble nutrition can be obtained from a wide variety of sources like food, sunlight and vitamin supplements. Our body can produce its own vitamin D if exposed directly to the sun. Once the ultraviolet rays from the sun touch the skin, it initiates it to produce vitamin D for the body to use. There is no overdose of vitamin D from the sun since thebody regulates the vitamin D it produces in such a way that the body will generate just enough of what is needed. If a person does not get enough sunshine then other measures must be pursued such as eating more vitamin D foods.

What does vitamin D do? The benefits of vitamin D on the body are numerous. It benefits the overall health of the different organs of the body from the bones to skin. It also has beneficial effects on the emotional state of a person. Vitamin deficiency, more specifically vitamin D deficient people are more prone to depression especially as they grow older. Vitamin D also has beneficial effects on the bones of a person. It helps in the absorption of calcium in the intestine therefore maintaining a balance of calcium in the bones. Lack of vitamin D can hinder the proper absorption of calcium. It is therefore recommended that vitamin D be taken in sufficient amounts alongside calcium supplements for proper absorption.

There are numerous diseases that can be prevented by ample amounts of vitamin D. Among the ailments that can be prevented are osteoporosis, depression, rickets and certain kinds of cancers like breast cancer, colon cancer, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer.

Exposure to direct sunlight is essential to get ample amounts of vitamin D into our system. But there are good sources of vitamin D in our diet. The recommended dietary reference intake of vitamin D assuming that a person has little or no exposure to sunlight and all are from food sources is about  600 IU/day for people one to seventy years of age.

The best source of vitamin D perhaps that can be obtained from food sources is pure cod liver oil. One tablespoon of cod liver oil contains about 1,360 IU already. This is more than the recommended dietary reference intake.

Fatty fishes like salmon, sardines and tuna are good sources of vitamin D. Salmon is a good source of vitamin D. About 3.5 ounces of salmon contains 340 IU of vitamin D. Three and a half ounces of tuna and mackerel on the other hand contain about 235 IU and 345 IU respectively.