Category Archives: vegetables

October 13, 2019 · 12:36 am

Experiment hikes veggie consumption

Most people want to eat healthier, but efforts to encourage healthy eating by providing nutrition information have not changed habits much. A new study suggests that labels emphasizing taste and positive experience could help. In other words, changing the focus to form over substance.

Eating well isn’t always easy, and the reality is simply telling people which foods to avoid doesn’t do much to get them to eat better. What does work, Stanford psychologists now argue, is highlighting how tasty nutritious food can be. Evocative labels such as “twisted citrus glazed carrots” and “ultimate chargrilled asparagus” can get people to choose and consume more vegetables than they otherwise would – as long as the food is prepared flavorfully.

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“This is radically different from our current cultural approach to healthy eating which, by focusing on health to the neglect of taste, inadvertently instills the mindset that healthy eating is tasteless and depriving,” said Alia Crum, an assistant professor of psychology and the senior author on the new paper. “And yet in retrospect it’s like, of course, why haven’t we been focusing on making healthy foods more delicious and indulgent all along?” Continue reading →

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Filed under healthy food choices, vegetable consumption, vegetables

Tagged as healthy food choices, vegetable consumption, vegetables

June 22, 2019 · 12:09 am

Strategies to curb poor food choices

You can’t outrun a bad diet. Words to live by. And, why not start early, like with our kids.

two people holding chips and fried chicken

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What’s the best way to prevent children from overloading on bad food choices? Flinders University in Adelaide South Australia researchers have found that promoting substitution is the answer to turn around children’s excessive consumption of nutrient-poor foods and beverages – resulting in nutritional benefits that are even better than reducing intake of these discretionary food and drink choices.

Flinders University researchers studied the impact on the energy and nutrient intakes of more than 2000 Australian 2- to 18-year-olds through simulations of three dietary strategies. Continue reading →

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Filed under junk food, junk food calories, nutrients, nutrition, vegetables, whole grains

Tagged as calories, junk food, nutrients, nutrition, vegetables, whole grains

July 31, 2018 · 12:08 am

Tufts on the Mediterranean Diet

Among the dietary patterns specifically recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) is the Mediterranean-style diet, which has been linked to reduced risks of heart disease and cognitive decline.

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A healthy Mediterranean-style diet includes many of the same key ingredients found in MyPlate for Older Adults. The chief difference between a Mediterranean-style diet and other healthy-eating plans is the emphasis on unsaturated fats found in plant foods, especially monounsaturated fat in the form of olive oil. All healthy diets recommend limiting foods high in saturated fat, such as fatty meats and full-fat dairy, minimizing added sugar, and avoiding processed foods.

Eating More Like a Mediterranean

To move your diet in a Mediterranean-style direction, try these suggestions:

1 Eat plenty of vegetables.
Try a simple plate of sliced fresh tomatoes drizzled with olive oil, or eat salads, garlicky greens, fragrant soups and stews, or oven-roasted medleys.
2 Change the way you think about meat.
If you eat meat, have smaller amounts – small strips of sirloin in a vegetable saute, for example – or substitute skinless chicken breast or fish for red meat in a few meals each week. Continue reading →

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Filed under dairy products, dessert, meat, Mediterranean Diet, seafood, vegetables

Tagged as dairy products, dessert, meat, Mediterranean Diet, seafood, vegetables

April 9, 2017 · 5:16 am

Some fruit and veggies may lower blood pressure

Here is yet another reason to be sad about the SAD – Standard American Diet.

A new study by Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California researcher links increased dietary potassium with lower hypertension.

Consuming potassium-rich foods like sweet potatoes, avocados, spinach, beans, bananas — and even coffee — could be key to lowering blood pressure, according to a USC researcher.

“Decreasing sodium intake is a well-established way to lower blood pressure,” said Alicia McDonough, professor of cell and neurobiology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, “but evidence suggests that increasing dietary potassium may have an equally important effect on hypertension.” Continue reading →

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Filed under blood pressure, fruits, healthy fruits, high blood pressure, vegetables

Tagged as beans, fruit, high blood pressure, University of Southern California, vegetables

December 12, 2014 · 9:05 pm

Green Vegetables Could Improve Heart’s Efficiency

Commenting on the results, Dr Murray, who worked on all three studies, said: “There have been a great many findings demonstrating a role for nitrate in reducing blood pressure and regulating the body’s metabolism. These studies represent three further ways in which simple changes in the diet can modify people’s risk of type 2 diabetes and obesity as well as potentially alleviating symptoms of existing cardiovascular conditions to achieve an overall healthier life.”

Cooking with Kathy Man

Green veg contains nitrate could improve heart’s efficiency, blood supply to organs and reduce risk of diabetes and obesity

In three independent studies, scientists from the Universities of Southampton and Cambridge have identified how a simple chemical called nitrate, found in leafy green vegetables, can help thin blood ensuring oxygen can be delivered to all corners of the body efficiently. Reducing the thickness of blood may also decrease instances of dangerous clots forming and reduce the risk of stroke and heart attacks.

The same researchers, part-funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), also found nitrate can help the diseased heart to function more efficiently, help produce more of a compound that widens and opens blood vessels and help change bad white fat cells into good brown, fat-burning cells, which could combat obesity and reduce risk of type 2 diabetes.

In the first (1) study published this week in the Journal…

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8 Super Foods for Trimming Your Waistline – Infographic

These are all available at your local grocer, so you can start today.

Please don’t forget that intelligent eating is only half the answer for good health and weight control. You also need to work out. Exercise doesn’t just help you to keep your weight and waistline down, it slows aging, reduces stress and even creates new brain cells to keep your brain clicking along, too. Check out my Page – Important Facts About Your Brain (and Exercise) for more useful information.

Have a great day!

Tony

Eating Seven or More Portions of Fruit and Vegetables A Day Reduces Risk of Death By 42%

“We all know that eating fruit and vegetables is healthy, but the size of the effect is staggering,” says Dr Oyinlola Oyebode of UCL’s Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, lead author of the study. “The clear message here is that the more fruit and vegetables you eat, the less likely you are to die at any age. Vegetables have a larger effect than fruit, but fruit still makes a real difference. If you’re happy to snack on carrots or other vegetables, then that is a great choice but if you fancy something sweeter, a banana or any fruit will also do you good.”

Cooking with Kathy Man

Researchers at University College London used the Health Survey for England to study the eating habits of 65,226 people representative of the English population between 2001 and 2013, and found that the more fruit and vegetables they ate, the less likely they were to die at any age. Eating seven or more portions reduces the specific risks of death by cancer and heart disease by 25% and 31% respectively. The research also showed that vegetables have significantly higher health benefits than fruit.

This is the first study to link fruit and vegetable consumption with all-cause, cancer and heart disease deaths in a nationally-representative population, the first to quantify health benefits per-portion, and the first to identify the types of fruit and vegetable with the most benefit.

Compared to eating less than one portion of fruit and vegetables, the risk of death by any cause is reduced by 14% by eating…

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Filed under fruits, healthy fruits, vegetables

Tagged as aging, fruit, heart disease, vegetables

February 2, 2014 · 3:23 am

What are the Best and Worst Super Bowl Snacks?

Okay, the Big Day has finally arrived. It’s Super Bowl Sunday. Yay! The Broncos and Seahawks square off late this afternoon for what many consider the grandest prize in all sports, the Lombardi Trophy. Unlike most other football games, we will all be staying on our couches and watching the numerous commercials that interrupt the action. And, while watching this afternoon we will be snacking, whether we are home, at a friend’s place for a party or out at a bar with a giant flatscreen. Therein lies the rub. I love watching the game and have struggled through the ups and downs of the past season to get here, but, like you, I love to snack while watching the game.

Boiled Edamame with a dusting of coarse salt. Yum.

One of the best snacks that I will be munching on today, and I was surprised to learn that WebMD agrees with me, is Edamame, or soybeans in the pod. Costco sells them by the bag and it takes only five minutes to boil them up. Sushi places serve them with a dusting of giant salt crystals. You can match those by picking up some Coarse Kosher Salt at your supermarket. A four ounce serving of Edamame amounts to around 120 calories. There is also four grams of fat, no saturate fat or cholesterol, eight grams of sodium, 12 grams of carbohydrates, four grams of healthy vegetable fiber and 12 grams of body-building protein. The fact that the beans are still in the pod helps to make them a great finger food as you have to crack them out before you can eat the beans inside. For my money, this extra step adds to their appeal and it slows down my consumption to some extent.

On the negative side, one of the worst snacks according to WebMD, are Mozzarella Sticks. WebMD says, “There’s something about a stick of warm, gooey cheese that is irresistible — until you take a look at the nutritional facts. A typical order has 930 calories, 48 g of fat, and 2,640 mg of sodium. That puts mozzarella sticks pretty much on par with chicken wings.

For a slideshow of WebMD’s Best and Worst Appetizers click the link. The slideshow also gives the skinny on Onion Blossoms vs. Vegetable Kabobs, Spinach Artichoke Dip vs. Spinach Salad, Cheese Fries vs. Crab Cakes. Check out their entire spectrum at the link above to read them all.

Instead of beer or diet soda, do yourself a favor by drinking something healthy like coconut water or just plain ice water for something clean and healthy without any dangerous chemicals. Check out my Page – What’s wrong with Soft Drinks? also Snacking – the good, the bad, and the ugly for more on this topic.

Enjoy the game with a clean conscience.

Buon Appetito!

Tony

Are you pulling for the Broncos or Seahawks? I confess I am torn. As a long time NFL fan, I want to see Peyton Manning get his second ring. On the other hand on a personal basis, my former brother in law, Dan Quinn, who I have known since he was a teenager, is the mastermind of the Seahawk’s defense, their defensive coordinator. I would love to see Dan get his first Super Bowl ring.

Que sera, sera.

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Filed under calories, diet soda, sodium, Super Bowl, vegetables, Weight

Tagged as calorie counting, Dan Quinn, diet soda, Edamame, football games, healthy-living, Mozzarella Sticks, Peyton Manning, soft drinks, Super Bowl, Super Bowl appetizers, Super Bowl snacks, Super Bowl Sunday, webmd, weight

January 31, 2013 · 8:51 pm

Wow. Really good information on further benefits from eating fruits and vegetables.

Cooking with Kathy Man

Eating more fruit and vegetables may make young people calmer, happier and more energetic in their daily life, new research from the University of Otago suggests.

Department of Psychology researcher Dr Tamlin Conner, and Dr Caroline Horwath and Bonnie White from Otago’s Department of Human Nutrition, investigated the relationship between day-to-day emotions and food consumption.

The study is published in the British Journal of Health Psychology today.

A total of 281 young adults (with a mean age of 20 years) completed an internet-based daily food diary for 21 consecutive days. Prior to this, participants completed a questionnaire giving details of their age, gender, ethnicity, weight and height. Those with a history of an eating disorder were excluded.

On each of the 21 days participants logged into their diary each evening and rated how they felt using nine positive and nine negative adjectives. They were also asked five questions about what…

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