15-Minute Halibut Salad - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

healthy food tip and recipe
July 26, 2013

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Healthy Saute is essentially a way of lightly steaming Bok Choy that greatly enhances its flavor. Studies have found that steamed cabbage can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits ... For more see What's New and Beneficial about Cabbage.

Today's Recipe

If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...

This is a great recipe to help add more omega-3 fatty acids to your meal. Combined with the salad greens, you get a wide range of nutrients that will work together synergistically towards optimal health. Enjoy!

15-Minute Halibut Salad

Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 medium cloves garlic, pressed
• 1/2 lb mixed salad greens
• 4 - 6 oz halibut steaks or fillets
• 1 TBS + 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• salt and cracked black pepper to taste
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 3 TBS fresh chopped sage (or 3 tsp dried sage)
• *optional 3 TBS extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Press garlic and let it sit for 5 minutes to bring out its health-promoting properties.
2. Rinse and dry salad greens by using salad spinner if possible. Place greens mixture on 4 plates.
3. Rub halibut with 1 TBS lemon juice and season with a little salt and pepper.
4. Heat broth and add halibut; cover and cook for 10 minutes for each inch of thickness.
5. Remove fish from pan and place on salad greens.
6. Discard extra broth or use for soup. In same pan add garlic, sage and 1/4 cup lemon juice to hot pan and heat for about 30 seconds.
7. If you'd like to add olive oil, do so after turning off heat. Stir mixture together for a few seconds and then drizzle over salad. Season with salt and cracked black pepper.

Serves 4 Printer Friendly Version of 15-Minute Halibut Salad
In-Depth Nutritional Profile for 15-Minute Halibut Salad

Healthy Food Tip

Can you give me some tips to help me meet my water consumption goals?

How many times have you been told to make sure you drink eight cups of water each day? Yet, how many days have you actually finished eight cups? Ensuring that you drink adequate amounts of water can be challenging.
But since high-quality water is definitely a cornerstone of nutrition, and about 60% of our total body weight, we wanted to share with you some easy-to-follow tips to help you reach your water intake goals and ensure that you are benefiting the most from your water consumption. When following these tips, however, always try to keep in mind how critical it is to start out with high-quality water!
In most cases, "high-quality" means filtered water, spring water, or natural mineral waters. Mineral waters can provide special benefits for the exact reason implied in their name—you'll find calcium, magnesium, and several other minerals to be supplied in significant amounts by these waters. What "high-quality" almost never means is plain, unfiltered tap water. Plain tap water may contain a variety of contaminants, including pesticide residues and heavy metals, although quality varies between municipalities. With this critical water quality step in mind, here are some easy-to-follow tips:

• Bring filtered or bottled water with you whenever you will have to sit for prolonged periods of time. These include times at work or movies, on car trips or commutes to and from work, bus rides, or just TV watching. Sip continuously during these times.
• Maximize water drinking at times of excessive water loss. For example, if you perspire after yard work or exercise, that's a perfect time to follow your thirst and increase your water intake.
• Be consistent, and keep your water intake adequate on a morning-afternoon-and-evening basis. Although the exact amount of water needed each day may vary, you can use a general guideline of about 13 cups of water each day for men and 9 cups for women, matching the suggestions set by the National Academy of Sciences in its Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) recommendations
• Be careful drinking too much water too late in the day. Experiencing sleep interruptions because you need to wake up to go to the bathroom will not help your overall health.
• Think of water as a nutritional necessity—the same as vitamin C, or calcium, or protein, or any other nutrient. It's equally essential!

Although it's possible to drink too much water, it's highly unlikely that you will do so! "Water intoxication," as it's commonly called in the medical world, usually involves imbalance in some of the body's physiological systems and not just excessive intake of water. Therefore, drinking more than eight glasses of water each day, if following the guidelines noted above, should be fine for most people.

Insight of the Day July 25, 2013 - Quote by Jenny Craig

"It's not what you do once in a while; it's what you do day in and day out that makes the difference."

Jenny Craig
Weight Loss Guru

Calabacitas (Mexican-flavored vegetable side dish) - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

healthy food tip and recipe
July 25, 2013

Check Out What's New On Our Website

Healthy Saute is essentially a way of lightly steaming Bok Choy that greatly enhances its flavor. Studies have found that steamed cabbage can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits ... For more see What's New and Beneficial about Cabbage.

Today's Recipe

If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...

This South-of-the-Border variation to your Healthiest Way of Eating is a great way to add a variety of vegetables to your meal.

Calabacitas (Mexican-flavored vegetable side dish)

Prep and Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, cut in half and sliced thin
• 4 medium cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cups zucchini, diced into 1/2 -inch cubes
• 2 cups yellow squash, diced in 1-inch cubes
• 15 oz can (BPA free) diced tomatoes, drained
• 4 oz can (BPA free) of diced green chili
• 1 TBS + 3 TBS chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 3 TBS fresh chopped fresh oregano (or 1 TBS dried oregano)
• salt and black pepper to taste
• *Optional: drizzle with olive oil before serving

Directions:

1. Slice onion and chop garlic and let sit for at least 5 minutes to bring out their health-promoting benefits.
2. Prepare all the vegetables.
3. Heat 1 TBS broth in 11-12 inch stainless steel skillet. Healthy Sauté onions in broth over medium heat for about 5 minutes stirring frequently, until translucent. Add garlic and sauté for another minute.
4. Add zucchini, yellow squash, remaining broth, green chili, and cook for another 3 minutes or so until vegetables are tender, stirring often. Add tomatoes and continue to cook for another couple of minutes.
5. Stir in herbs, salt, and pepper.

Serves 4 Printer Friendly Version of Calabacitas (Mexican-flavored vegetable side dish)
In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Calabacitas (Mexican-flavored vegetable side dish)

Healthy Food Tip

Can you give me some tips on how to purchase fresh nutrient-rich vegetables while still staying on my relatively restricted budget?

Here are some suggestions for how to reduce the costs associated with purchasing nutrient-rich vegetables:
Since the price of vegetables varies depending on the area in which you live, we would suggest that you see which vegetables are less expensive in your local market, and then look in the World's Healthiest Foods book or website to check the nutritional value of those vegetables. If the vegetable(s) in question are not featured in the book or website, you can also look them up on the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference located at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/, which is free and easy to use.
When vegetables are in season, they are usually less expensive and can also be counted on to taste better. This seasonal aspect of vegetables can be confusing, however, since most grocery stores are filled year-round with vegetables that are not truly seasonal.
That is why looking for local farmers' markets near your home is a great way to buy vegetables seasonally. Vegetables sold at these kinds of markets are very likely to have been grown within driving distance of your home. This usually guarantees that they are fresher, and because of the reduced transportation costs, they are usually less expensive. Many farmers' markets also have organic vegetables available. If you live in a more rural area and have access to transportation, you could also check to see if there are any local farms that have farm stands.
Finally, if you cannot find fresh vegetables that fit your budget, you should consider purchasing frozen vegetables. Frozen organic vegetables are getting easier and easier to find, and there are a surprising number of nutrients that stay fairly stable during the freezing process. While not as good as fresh vegetables, the frozen variety are far better from a nutritional standpoint than most people expect, and, particularly when organic, can make a very nourishing alternative.

Insight of the Day July 24, 2013 - Quote by Jonathan Fields

"Don't try to be different, own the fact you already are."

Jonathan Fields
Author and Speaker

Grapefruit Arugula Salad - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

healthy food tip and recipe
July 24, 2013

Check Out What's New On Our Website

Healthy Saute is essentially a way of lightly steaming Bok Choy that greatly enhances its flavor. Studies have found that steamed cabbage can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits ... For more see What's New and Beneficial about Cabbage.

Today's Recipe

If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...

The grapefruit and arugula are a great combination for a unique and easy-to-prepare salad that can accompany almost any meal. Enjoy!

Grapefruit Arugula Salad

Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pink grapefruit
• 1 large bunch arugula (about 4 cups)
• 1 bunch watercress (about 2 cups)
• 2 TBS coarsely chopped walnuts
• Dressing
• 2 TBS lemon juice
• 2 tsp honey
• 2 tsp prepared Dijon mustard
• 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Peel grapefruit and cut out each section between the membrane.
2. Prepare arugula by tearing into pieces, washing and drying. Cut off tops of watercress and wash and spin dry along with the arugula. A salad spinner is the best way of doing this.
3. Mix together dressing ingredients, toss with salad greens and grapefruit sections and top with chopped walnuts. Serves 4

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In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Grapefruit Arugula Salad

Healthy Food Tip

Can you eat too many sunflower seeds?

Yes, a person can eat too many sunflower seeds. It's possible to eat too much of any individual food. That's why it's so important for each of us to develop our own individual Healthiest Way of Eating. In the specific case of sunflower seeds, here are some of the ways in which too many sunflower seeds might become problematic.
First is the issue of calories. One cup of sunflower seeds contains approximately 800 calories. That amount is 40% of an entire day's calories if you are following a 2,000-calorie diet. You would only be left with 1,200 calories' worth of food to provide you with all of the nutrients that are missing from sunflower seeds. Even though sunflower seeds are a very nutrient-rich food, there are many important nutrients that sunflower seeds do not contain, or contain in extremely small amounts. These nutrients include vitamin C, vitamin K, beta-carotene, and many others (particularly in the phytonutrient category, including lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthan, and a wide variety of flavonoids). It would be very difficult for a person to get optimal amounts of these other nutrients from the calories that remained after consuming 800 calories' worth of sunflower seeds.
Second is the issue of balance. In and of themselves, sunflower seeds cannot provide a person with the correct balance of nutrients. A person might need a very different ratio of calcium-to-magnesium than the ratio that sunflower seeds provide. The same might be true for a ratio of zinc-to-copper, or a ratio of protein-to-carbohydrate. As nutrient-rich as sunflower seeds are in certain nutrient areas, they are unlikely to help a diet become balanced if they take up 40% of the total calories in that diet.
Finally, there is the question of purpose. What would be the purpose of consuming as many sunflower seeds as a person wanted, especially if that amount was unhealthy? Excessive consumption of any food—even a very healthy food like sunflower seeds—can sometimes involve an approach that works against our best interests. For example, there are times when we might crave and overconsume a food when we actually have an allergy to that food. (While sunflower seeds are not a commonly allergenic food, this pattern could still be possible.) At times, we may also overconsume a food that is especially convenient and easy to grab, just as a way of making do when we haven't done any food planning for the day.
All of these issues point to the same conclusion: eating too much of a single food—even a healthy food like sunflower seeds—carries along with it some added risks in terms of nourishment and well-being. We're much better off keeping our favorite food consumption in a moderate range and increasing the frequency with which we eat those favorite foods.
For more information on this topic, see:

• Sunflower seeds

15-Minute Healthy Sauteed Chicken & Bok Choy - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

healthy food tip and recipe
July 23, 2013

Check Out What's New On Our Website

Healthy Saute is essentially a way of lightly steaming Bok Choy that greatly enhances its flavor. Studies have found that steamed cabbage can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits ... For more see What's New and Beneficial about Cabbage.

Today's Recipe

If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...

My Healthy Sauté cooking method avoids the necessity to use heated oils that can be damaging to your health. This one dish meal is easy to prepare and contains only 180 calories!

15-Minute Healthy Sautéed Chicken & Bok Choy

Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 TBS low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 cup chopped scallions
• 2 TBS fresh minced ginger
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1½ cups sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms
• 4 cups chopped bok choy
• 2 TBS soy sauce
• 1 TBS rice vinegar
• salt and white pepper to taste
• pinch of red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Heat broth in a stainless steel skillet.
2. When broth begins to steam, add scallions and Healthy Saute for 2 minutes.
3. Add ginger and continue to sauté for another minute.
4. Add chicken and continue to sauté.
5. After 2-3 minutes, add shiitake mushrooms and bok choy. Continue to sauté for another 3-4 minutes, and then add soy sauce, rice vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Serves 4 Printer Friendly Version of 15-Minute Healthy Sautéed Chicken & Bok Choy
In-Depth Nutritional Profile for 15-Minute Healthy Sautéed Chicken & Bok Choy

Healthy Food Tip

The Latest News about Cabbage

Cancer prevention tops all other areas of health research with regard to cabbage and its outstanding benefits. More than 475 studies have examined the role of this cruciferous vegetable in cancer prevention (and in some cases, cancer treatment). The uniqueness of cabbage in cancer prevention is due to the three different types of nutrient richness found in this widely enjoyed food. The three types are (1) antioxidant richness, (2) anti-inflammatory richness, and (3) richness in glucosinolates.

What's New and Beneficial About Cabbage

• Cabbage can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits if you will cook it by steaming. The fiber-related components in cabbage do a better job of binding together with bile acids in your digestive tract when they've been steamed. When this binding process takes place, it's easier for bile acids to be excreted, and the result is a lowering of your cholesterol levels. Raw cabbage still has cholesterol-lowering ability-just not as much as steamed cabbage.
• Researchers now realize that different types of cabbage (red, green, and Savoy) contain different patterns of glucosinolates. This new knowledge means that your broadest health benefits from cabbage are likely to come from inclusion of all varieties in your diet.
• Cabbage in general-but also Savoy cabbage in particular-turns out to be an especially good source of sinigrin. Sinigrin is one of the cabbage glucosinolates that has received special attention in cancer prevention research. The sinigrin in cabbage can be converted into allyl-isothiocyanate, or AITC. This isothiocyanate compound has shown unique cancer preventive properties with respect to bladder cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer.
• In one recent study, short-cooked and raw cabbage were the only types of cabbage to show cancer-preventive benefits-long-cooked cabbage failed to demonstrate measurable benefits.
• New research shows that steaming is a better cooking method than microwaving if you want to maximize the health benefits of glucosinolates found in cabbage. That's because two minutes of microwaving destroys the same amount of myrosinase enzymes as seven minutes of steaming, and you need those myrosinase enzymes to help convert cabbage's glucosinolates into cancer-preventive compounds.
• Our Healthy Sauté method, which we recommend for cabbage, is very similar to steaming and enhances the flavor of cabbage. See the "How to Enjoy" section of our cabbage write-up for more details.

WHFoods Recommendations

You'll want to include cabbage as one of the cruciferous vegetables you eat on a regular basis if you want to receive the fantastic health benefits provided by the cruciferous vegetable family. At a minimum, include cruciferous vegetables as part of your diet 2-3 times per week, and make the serving size at least 1-1/2 cups. Even better from a health standpoint, enjoy cabbage and other vegetables from the cruciferous vegetable group 4-5 times per week, and increase your serving size to 2 cups.
Traditional methods of steaming or boiling make cabbage watery. To retain the maximum number of nutrients and flavor we recommend Healthy Sautéeing cabbage. Slice cabbage into 1/4 -inch slices and let sit for 5 minutes to enhance its health-promoting benefits before cooking.
Our Chinese Chicken Cabbage Salad recipe is a great example of how to enjoy the delicate flavor of napa cabbage in your favorite salad. It is a milder tasting variety of cabbage that boasts the highest concentration of folate.
Enjoy the mild flavor of bok choy by using our Healthy Sauté method of cooking. Bok choy is the #1 vegetable in China and has a higher concentration of beta-carotene and vitamin A than any other variety of cabbage. Our 4-Minute Healthy Sautéed Bok Choy recipe will give you great tasting bok choy in a matter of minutes!

Cruciferous Vegetable Benefits

All cruciferous vegetables-including cabbage-provide integrated nourishment across a wide variety of nutritional categories and provide broad support across a wide variety of body systems as well. For more on cruciferous vegetables see:

• Eating Healthy with Cruciferous Vegetables
• Feeling Great with Cruciferous Vegetables

Health Benefits

Cabbage provides numerous health benefits including:

• Anti-inflammatory benefits
• Antioxidant properties
• Detoxification benefits
• Cancer prevention
• Cardiovascular support
• Digestive support

For more details on cabbage's health benefits, see this section of our Cabbage write-up.

Nutritional Profile

Cabbage is an excellent source of immune-supportive vitamin C and anti-inflammatory vitamin K. it is a very good source of digestive-health-supporting fiber, enzyme-activating manganese, and heart-healthy vitamin B6, folate, and omega-3 fatty acids. Additionally, it is a good source of energy-producing vitamin B1 and vitamin B2, free-radical-scavenging vitamin A (through its concentration of carotenoid phytonutrients), bone-healthy calcium and magnesium, and muscular-system supporting potassium and protein.

Cabbage as a "Goitrogenic" Food

Cabbage is sometimes referred to as a "goitrogenic" food. Yet, contrary to popular belief, according to the latest studies, foods themselves-cabbage included-are not "goitrogenic" in the sense of causing goiter whenever they are consumed, or even when they are consumed in excess. In fact, most foods that are commonly called "goitrogenic"-such as the cruciferous vegetables (including broccoli, kale, and cauliflower) and soyfoods-do not interfere with thyroid function in healthy persons even when they are consumed on a daily basis. Nor is it scientifically correct to say that foods "contain goitrogens," at least not if you are thinking about goitrogens as a category of substances like proteins, carbohydrates, or vitamins. With respect to the health of our thyroid gland, all that can be contained in a food are nutrients that provide us with a variety of health benefits but which, under certain circumstances, can also interfere with thyroid function. The term "goitrogenic food" m akes it sound as if something is wrong with the food, but that is simply not the case. What causes problems for certain individuals is not the food itself but the mismatched nature of certain substances within the food to their unique health circumstances. For more, see an An Up-to-Date Look at Goitrogenic Substances in Food

Insight for the Day July 23, 2013 - Quote from Melody Beattie

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend."

Melody Beattie
Author

Spot Prices Monday July 22nd, 2013

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Spot Prices as of close of trading in New York Monday, July 22, 2013 Updated 7/22/2013 Today Change Week Ago Month Ago Year Ago GOLD $1,337.75 +$42.55 $1,285.20 $1,293.70 $1,583.70 SILVER $20.59 +$0.99 $19.95 $20.06 $27.33 PLATINUM $1,450.40 +$17.40 $1,424.30 $1,372.00 $1,416.20 PALLADIUM $753.40 +$1.40 $733.50 $672.00 $576.50 GOLD/SILVER RATIO 64.97

CMI Gold & Silver President, Bill Haynes, is featured on the Weekly Metals Wrap Up online radio program with King World News. Tune in each week for insight and commentary on the metals market. Listen the Latest Broadcast Broadcast Archives Bernanke: Pedal to the metal Singaporeans line up to buy gold HR 684: a disaster for gold/silver investors It’s debt ceiling time again Universities’ endowment funds dump Treasuries

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Life After 50: Think You Have a Drinking Problem? How To Know And What To Do

We've all read the studies: moderate alcohol consumption can be part of a healthy lifestyle for many people. Men who have two drinks a day and women who have one are less prone to heart disease, diabetes, gallstones, arthritis and even Alzheimer's.

But sometimes too much Pinot Noir can be too much of a good thing. As daily consumption increases, the benefits are replaced by risks.

Drinking is on the rise in people over 50 and seems to climb as we get older. Some studies cite retirement, loss of job, divorce and death or declining health of a loved one as just a few of the reasons why. In 2010, 16 percent of people over 65 had a daily drink, compared to 10 percent of 45 to 64 year olds and 2 percent of 16 to 24 year olds. And gender is a factor: women between 45 and 64 drink more than any other age group.

Click here to read more......

Minted Garbanzo Bean Salad - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

Today's Recipe

If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...

This salad can be kept in your refrigerator for a few days getting more flavorful as it marinates. It's a great lunch or dinner addition to your Healthiest Way of Eating.

Minted Garbanzo Bean Salad

Prep and Cook Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 medium fresh tomatoes, seeds and excess pulp removed, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 cups peeled diced cucumber, (cut lengthwise and scoop out seeds), diced into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 medium onion, finely minced
• 2 medium cloves garlic, pressed
• 2 cups garbanzo beans or 1 15oz can garbanzo beans(BPA free), rinsed and drained well
• 3 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 2-1/2 TBS chopped fresh mint
• 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• salt and cracked black pepper to taste
• 1 medium head romaine lettuce, use tender whole leaves for bed

Directions:

1. Mince onion and press garlic and let sit for 5 minutes to bring out their health-promoting benefits.
2. Mix all ingredients except lettuce together and chill. This is best if it chills for at least 15 minutes. Serve on a bed of lettuce.

Serves 4 Printer Friendly Version of Minted Garbanzo Bean Salad
In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Minted Garbanzo Bean Salad

Healthy Food Tip

Can you be certain that your organically grown foods are truly organic?

Ever since the National Organic Foods Production Act was added as an amendment to the 1990 Farm Bill and passed by the U.S. Congress, there has been a solid platform for increasing our confidence about organically grown foods in the U.S. By the year 2002, the full impact of the organics law had taken affect, and since that time, we've been able to place a fundamental amount of trust in foods that have been certified as organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its National Organics Program.
Have you ever have noticed that organically grown fruits and vegetables are being segregated from conventionally grown foods in your local market? This is because there is a $10,000 fine if food represented as organic is contaminated with non-organic compounds. Separate tubs are used to trim and clean the produce and if organic foods are displayed in an area that previously displayed non-organic produce, the mats on which they are placed must be replaced and the area thoroughly cleaned with a mild bleach solution. If these foods accidentally become contaminated during their handling, they are sold as conventional (non-organic) produce.

Humor in the Workplace, Employee Motivation: I Love My Job! Choose Your ...

Insight of the Day - Funny Monday - 7/22/13

"Happy employees are more for quality and outcome. They create an atmosphere that reduces conflict and turnover, which makes customers satisfied and happy."

Abe Bakhsheshy
Director of Customer Service, University of Utah Hospital

To see the funny video that relates to the quote above click here.

Garlic Dip with Crudites - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

healthy food tip and recipe
July 20, 2013

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Intake of cantaloupe has recently been found to lower risk of metabolic syndrome, a group of health problems that includes high blood fats, high blood sugars, high blood pressure and too much body fat ... For more see What's New and Beneficial about Cantaloupe.

Today's Recipe

If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...

For a great appetizer before dinner or as a snack any time of the day, try this quick and easy-to-make dip that goes with any type of fresh cut vegetables (such as carrots, celery, cucumbers, or bell peppers. Vegetable appetizers are a great way to curb your appetite before a meal.

Garlic Dip with Crudités

Prep and Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked or canned garbanzo beans (no BPA)
• 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Serve with sliced carrots, cucumbers, celery and/or sliced red bell peppers, or any raw vegetable of your choice.
Serves 8
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In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Garlic Dip with Crudités

Healthy Food Tip

Can too much fruit cause weight gain?

Can too much fruit cause weight gain?

Yes, too much fruit can cause weight gain. Too much intake of any food can cause weight gain, although some foods are much better to eat in excess than other foods.
Fresh fruits contain about 15-20 calories per ounce; for example, a medium-sized apple (weighing about 6 ounces) contains about 100 calories. Most people would be able to include about two times that level of fruit calories in a day of balanced food intake without overeating.
Fruit juice is a little different story because many people could drink one 12-ounce bottle of fruit juice at a single meal and that bottle by itself could contain about 200 calories (in unsweetened form). One bottle per day might work for some weight management plans, but it could also cause problems. This 12-ounce bottle could be too quickly consumed, provide too little satisfaction in terms of texture, chewing, and aroma, and be much less enjoyable overall. In any case, the juice would provide less complete nourishment than the whole fruit.
Dried fruit is the most problematic type of fruit in terms of calories. Six ounces of raisins contain about 500 calories. Most people would not be able to successfully fit this many calories of fruit into their Healthiest Way of Eating.
Weight gain occurs when a person consumes more calories than he or she expends. Therefore, let's say, hypothetically, that based upon your individual energy needs, you need to consume 2,000 calories to maintain your weight. If, in addition to your regular 2,000 calories, you ate 500 additional calories worth of fruit each day, in one week you would gain one pound. (One pound is roughly equal to 3,500 calories of excess energy stored up in the form of body fat.)
In general, although I encourage daily intake of fresh fruit as part of a Healthiest Way of Eating, it's much easier to "overdose" on fruits rather than vegetables when it comes to weight management and maintenance of an optimally nourishing diet. Vegetables generally contain about 5-10 calories per ounce—about half the calories of fruit. Always remember, however, that it's your overall eating plan and exercise plan that determines whether you'll gain or lose weight.

Empower Fitness Network Day 62 Post Workout Message By Gary Rabatin ( Th...

Insight for the Day 7/18/13 - Quote by Thornton Wilder

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of their treasures."

Thornton Wilder
1897-1975, Pulitzer Prize Winning Playwright and Novelist

Quick Broiled Chicken Breast with Honey-Mustard Sauce - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

Today's Recipe

If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...

Enhance the flavor of chicken with this special honey-mustard sauce and serve with spinach for a great tasting addition to your Healthiest Way of Eating. Enjoy!

Quick Broiled Chicken Breast with Honey-Mustard Sauce

Prep and Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless chicken breasts with skin
• 2+1 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2 1/2 TBS honey
• 2 TBS Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup sliced dried apricots
• 2 TBS coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 TBS chopped parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Quick Broiled Chicken

1. Preheat the broiler on high and place an all stainless steel skillet (be sure the handle is also stainless steel) or cast iron pan about 6 inches from the heat for about 10 minutes to get it very hot.
2. While the pan is heating, rinse and pat the chicken dry and season with 2 TBS lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
3. Leaving the skin on, place the breast skin side up on the hot pan. It is not necessary to turn the breast because it is cooking on both sides at once. Depending on the size, it should be cooked in about 7 minutes. Begin preparing the sauce while the chicken is cooking.
4. The breast is done when it is moist, yet its liquid runs clear when pierced. The inside temperature needs to reach 165°F (74°C). Remove the skin before serving; it is left on to keep it moist while broiling.

Honey-Mustard Sauce

1. For honey-mustard sauce, combine broth, 1TBS lemon juice, honey, and mustard in a small saucepan. Whisk together and bring to a boil on high heat. Once it comes to a boil, simmer for about 20 minutes. You want it to be reduced to a little less than half the volume you start with. This will thicken and intensify the flavor.
2. Add apricots and cook on high for another 5 minutes. When sauce is done, add chopped walnuts, parsley, salt ,and pepper. Serve over cooked spinach or other cooked greens.

Serves 4 Printer Friendly Version of Quick Broiled Chicken Breast with Honey-Mustard Sauce
In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Quick Broiled Chicken Breast with Honey-Mustard Sauce

Healthy Food Tip

Can the way different nutrients react with each other be problematic for your health?

If you are asking this question very broadly—not necessarily in the context of food—the answer is definitely "yes." Nutrients can undergo what are called "antagonisms" with each other. Nutrient antagonisms are interactions that prevent each nutrient from being fully active in our metabolism. (The opposite of nutrient antagonisms are called "synergisms." Sometimes nutrients cannot be fully active unless they are present in combination.) There are literally hundreds of nutrient antagonisms—so much so that very large research volumes (like Bodwell and Erdman's Nutrient Interactions, Marcel Dekker, New York, 1988) have been written on this topic.
However, if you were asking specifically about food and food nutrients, I would not ordinarily worry about the interactions based upon levels of nutrients that are present in natural, whole foods.
All whole, natural foods contain many different nutrients, and there will be natural antagonisms and synergisms among nutrients found within every whole food. There may be situations in which you want to avoid some foods specifically because of the nutrient antagonisms involved. For example, if you were very deficient in copper, but very well nourished in zinc, you might not want to regularly consume zinc-rich foods because zinc and copper are minerals that can interfere with each other metabolically. However, this type of situation would be unique to a particular individual at a particular time for reasons of personal health history, lifestyle, and genetic predisposition. A balanced Healthiest Way of Eating focused on whole, natural foods could not create this type of imbalance. One of the reasons I like whole, natural foods is that nature has taken care of the nutrient interactions for us. Nutrients are supposed to interact with each other while we are digesting food and also after we have absorbed it. In fact, the nutrients found in food were interacting with each other long before the food was ever harvested. Provided that a food is whole, natural, organically grown, and carefully handled post-harvest and during the preparation of a meal in our kitchen, we trust the naturally occurring nutrient interactions to work in support of our health.

Salad Nicoise - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

Today's Recipe

If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...

This is our easy-to-prepare, health-promoting version of this popular salad. It is a great salad to make with whatever ingredients you have on hand.

Salad Nicoise

Prep and Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 cups salad greens
• 3 oz cooked shrimp
• 1 small tomato, diced
• 1/4 cup kalamata olives, sliced
• 2 TBS chopped onions
• 1/2 cup cucumbers, diced
• 1 TBS of your favorite vinaigrette
• optional: chopped anchovies

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients and top with dressing.

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Healthy Food Tip

Can sea vegetables make important contributions to a diet?

Sea vegetables are a traditional food that has been consumed for thousands of years. They offer an array of nutrients that are well suited to promoting health, plus, they are delicious and versatile. When you incorporate them into your diet you'll see just how they increase not only the taste of your food but your overall well-being.

History

Eating sea vegetables as part of a healthy diet is nothing new. In fact, archaeological evidence suggests that Japanese cultures have been consuming sea vegetables for more than 10,000 years. While very popular in Asian cuisines, most regions and countries located by waters, including Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Iceland, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, and coastal South American countries have also been consuming sea vegetables since ancient times.

Types of sea vegetables

There are thousands of types of sea vegetables, each having a unique shape, taste and texture. Among the many varieties of sea vegetables that exist a wide range of them are enjoyed as foods. These include: nori, kelp, hijiki, kombu, wakame, arame and dulse.

A perfect mineral match

Consider the fact that our earth is about 60% water (primarily oceans) and our bodies are also about 60% water (fluids in and around our cells, and blood). Then examine the mineral profile of the oceans, the sea vegetables that grow in these oceans, and our blood. It's difficult to find any category of food that has as diverse a mineral composition as sea vegetables. It's also difficult to find any category of food whose overall mineral composition better matches that of human blood.

Sources of iodine

Although iodized salt has been the primary source of iodine in many U.S. meal plans for the past fifty years, excessive use of salt has also been a problem in the U.S. In many coastal communities around the world, and particularly in Asia, the primary sources of iodine in meal plans are sea vegetables. Outside of iodized salt, eggs, milk, and cheese are the primary sources of iodine in the U.S. diet, and consequently, individuals who do not consume eggs or cow's milk products may especially benefit from inclusion of sea vegetables in their meal plan. A note of caution is important, however, with respect to the iodine content of sea vegetables. The iodine content of sea vegetables can vary greatly—as much as 10-fold depending upon ocean conditions. Rather than simply counting on sea vegetables to provide you with the iodine you need, we encourage you to develop a more reliable overall plan together with your healthcare provider as a means to ensure you are getting the optimal amount of iodine you need to meet your individual health needs.

Unique nutrients in sea vegetables - sulfated polysaccharides

The nutritional uniqueness of sea vegetables also involves a category of nutrient called sulfated polysaccharides. This category of carbohydrate-related nutrients, also called fucans, has been studied for its anti-inflammatory properties, and fucan extracts from brown sea vegetables have been found to lower inflammatory activities of human proteins called complement proteins.

What you'll sea in the future

When it comes to sea vegetables, you can expect the evidence of their unique benefits to increase consistently over the next decade. The reason for this prediction? Scientists are just beginning to agree that sea vegetables aren't actually plants, but rather, algae. Algae are themselves fascinating to scientists, because they lie somewhere in between the world of plants and the world of animals. As scientists learn more and more about the unique biological category into which sea vegetables belong, more and more evidence about their nutritional uniqueness is a virtual guarantee.

Insight of the Day 7/16/13 - Quote by Martha Washington

"I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition."

Martha Washington
1731-1802, First Lady of the United States

Insight of the Day July 16t,2013 - Quote by Sonia Ricotti

"What I find amazing is that when you go out of your way to give to another person, you will also receive great things in your life. This is what is called the Law of Giving and Receiving. You may not receive from the people you are helping, but you will receive good things from other people and in other ways."

Sonia Ricotti
Bestselling Author of Unsinkable: How to Bounce Back Quickly When Life Knocks You Down

Golden Spinach and Sweet Potato Healthy Saute - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

healthy food tip and recipe
July 17, 2013

Check Out What's New On Our Website

Intake of cantaloupe has recently been found to lower risk of metabolic syndrome, a group of health problems that includes high blood fats, high blood sugars, high blood pressure and too much body fat ... For more see What's New and Beneficial about Cantaloupe.

Today's Recipe

If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...

Enjoy the combination of spices that gives this spinach and sweet potato dish a unique flavor. Spinach is one of the most nutrient-rich vegetables around and the sweet potatoes add fiber and an extra dose of health-promoting carotenoids to this dish. Enjoy!

Golden Spinach and Sweet Potato Healthy Sauté

Prep and Cook Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 medium cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup + 1 TBS chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cardamom
• 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 6 oz frozen spinach, thawed
• 2 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Chop onions and mince garlic and let sit for 5 minutes to bring out their health-promoting benefits.
2. Heat 1 TBS broth in a large stainless steel skillet. Healthy Sauté onion in broth over medium heat for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Add garlic and continue to sauté for another minute.
3. Add seasonings and lemon juice and stir to mix thoroughly. Add broth and sweet potatoes. Simmer covered over low heat, stirring occasionally, until sweet potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Uncover to allow sauce to thicken and cook another couple minutes.
4. Press water out of spinach and add to sweet potatoes. Cook uncovered for a 3-4 more minutes to allow sauce to thicken. Add cilantro, salt, and pepper.

Serves 4

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Healthy Food Tip

Can salmon be a good source of iodine?

If you are trying to maximize your iodine intake from fish, you'll probably want to stick with saltwater versus freshwater species since they tend to contain more iodine. Examples of saltwater fish include cod, halibut, and tuna. Examples of freshwater fish include lake trout and lake herring. Scallops, clams, shrimp, mussels, and oysters all come in both freshwater and saltwater varieties and the saltwater varieties are more likely to provide you with iodine than the freshwater ones. Since salmon go through both freshwater and saltwater phases during their lifecycle, they can vary widely in their iodine content for this reason. While not a reliable source, salmon can sometimes provide up to 60-70 micrograms of iodine in about 3-4 ounces of fish, or about 40% of the recommended daily value.

Cantaloupe with Lime and Mint - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

healthy food tip and recipe
July 16, 2013

Check Out What's New On Our Website

Intake of cantaloupe has recently been found to lower risk of metabolic syndrome, a group of health problems that includes high blood fats, high blood sugars, high blood pressure and too much body fat ... For more see What's New and Beneficial about Cantaloupe.

Today's Recipe

If you don't know what to serve for dessert tonight ...

This is a great way to enhance the flavor of cantaloupe.

Cantaloupe with Lime and Mint

Prep and Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cantaloupe
• 2 TBS fresh lime juice
• 4 mint leaves

Directions:

1. Cut cantaloupe in half and scoop out the seeds.
2. Sprinkle each half with 1 TBS lime juice.
3. Tear mint leaves by hand and sprinkle over cantaloupe.

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Healthy Food Tip

The Latest News About Cantaloupe

The name "cantaloupe" actually comes from the name of a town in Italy near Rome called Cantaloupo in Sabina, where seeds were brought from Armenia and planted in the Papal gardens during the 1400-1500's.) Cantaloupes are members of the cucurbit family of plants (Cucurbitaceae) that also includes cucumbers, pumpkins, squashes, gourds, and a long list of melons. Melons in this same plant family with cantaloupe include Watermelon and honeydew melon, along with crenshaw, casaba, Persian, and canary melon. Because many members of the cucurbit plant family can easily cross-pollinate, there are also many different hybrid melons in the marketplace that combine features of true cantaloupe with features of these other melons.

What's New and Beneficial About Cantaloupe

• Because the flesh of the cantaloupe is often pastel-like in color (compared to the more vibrant color of fruits like oranges), we sometimes forget how important cantaloupe can be as a fruit source of vitamin A (in the form of carotenoids). Researchers have recently measured the carotenoid contents of six different California-grown cantaloupe hybrids and discovered that their beta-carotene content can reach levels as high as 3,138 micrograms (per 100 grams of fresh weight). That's about 30 times higher than the beta-carotene content of fresh oranges. Although this nutrient richness of cantaloupe still does not place it in the beta-carotene range for fresh carrots here (about 8,300 micrograms), it's still an aspect of this delicious fruit that is all-too-frequently overlooked.
• At first, we were disappointed in the outcome of a recent French study that put cantaloupe at the very bottom of the fruits list in terms of its polyphenol content. In this French study, fruits like strawberries, lychees, and grapes came out far better in their concentration of antioxidant polyphenols than cantaloupe, and no fruit scored lower in its concentration of polyphenols. But then we read about the total amount of polyphenols that cantaloupe contributed to the average daily diet. When looked at in this practical context, cantaloupe ranked higher than many other commonly eaten fruits, including kiwi, grapefruit, and clementines. It also ranked higher than watermelon and pineapple. Obviously, the higher volume of cantaloupe consumed helped to offset its lower polyphenol concentration. This practical principle is important to remember. A health-supportive, whole food like fresh cantaloupe may show up as being lower in its concentration of certain nutrients (including total polyphenols), but because we often eat it in serving sizes that are relatively large, we often get substantial nutrient benefits, even in the case of nutrients found in lower concentrations.
• Intake of cantaloupe has recently been found to lower risk of metabolic syndrome. In a study involving hundreds of women living and teaching in Tehran, Iran, the lowest risk of metabolic syndrome was found to occur in women who ate the greatest amount of fruit. (In this study, the "greatest amount" meant a minimum of 12 ounces per day.) Five fruits contributed most to total fruit intake: apples, grapes, cantaloupe, watermelon, and bananas. Women who consumed the largest amounts of these fruits were also determined to have the healthiest levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in their bloodstream. CRP is an indicator very commonly used to assess levels of inflammation, and it's very likely that the anti-inflammatory phytonutrients in cantaloupe and other fruits contributed not only to these participants' healthy levels of CRP but also to their decreased risk of metabolic syndrome.

Insight of the Day - Funny Monday 7/15/13 - Quote by Orison Swett Marden

"Joyfulness keeps the heart and face young. A good laugh makes us better friends with ourselves and everybody around us."

Orison Swett Marden
1850-1924, Author and Founder of Success Magazine

Insight of the Day 7/11/13 - Quote by Stephen Covey

"I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions."

Stephen Covey
1932-2012, Educator, Author, and Speaker

My Prayers Goes to Cory Monteith and His Family and Especially Lea Michaels

This Makes Me Sad Even To The Point of Being Ashamed to Be White

Poached Eggs over Spinach & Mushrooms - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

healthy food tip and recipe

Today's Recipe If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...
Don't reserve this meal just for breakfast; it's great for lunch or dinner as well. You may not think to enjoy vegetables with eggs, but it is a wonderful combination and a way to include more vegetables in your Healthiest Way of Eating. Frozen vegetables are a good choice when fresh is not available and it is also very convenient when you don't have much time. Enjoy!

Poached Eggs over Spinach & Mushrooms
Prep and Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:

• 4 large free-range chicken eggs
• 1 tsp light vinegar, (rice, white wine, or apple cider)
• 1 TBS chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
• 1 medium tomato, seeds and excess pulp removed, chopped
• 3 medium cloves garlic, chopped
• 10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed and excess water removed
• salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Chop onions and garlic and let sit for 5 minutes to enhance their health-promoting properties.
2. Add 1 tsp vinegar to water in a 10-inch skillet.
3. While water is coming to a high simmer, in a separate skillet heat 1 TBS broth. Healthy Sauté onion and mushrooms in broth for 3 minutes over medium heat stirring frequently.
4. Add tomato, garlic, spinach, salt and pepper and sauté for another 2-3 minutes.
5. When water comes to a high simmer poach eggs for about 5 minutes, or until whites are firm. Remove from water with a slotted spoon and place over spinach mixture.

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Healthy Food Tip
Does orange juice from concentrate (without additional ingredients) have the same benefits as fresh orange juice?

The more processing that a food undergoes, the more potential there is for nutrient loss. Any juice will have fewer benefits than an equivalent amount of the whole food from which it is made (provided that there are whole food parts-such as pulp-never making it into the final juice). For example, whole, organic oranges always provide better nutrition than freshly squeezed organic orange juice, unless all of the pulp that would have been eaten with the whole orange was also consumed in the freshly squeezed juice.
Freshly squeezed organic orange juice provides better nutrition than organic orange juice made from concentrate because it takes processing to manufacture orange juice concentrate. However, the differences here may not be very dramatic. One cup of orange juice from concentrate, for example, contains about 100 milligrams of vitamin C and 40 micrograms of beta-carotene (according to the USDA's SR19 nutrient database). The same cup of freshly squeezed orange juice contains about 125 milligrams of vitamin C and 80 micrograms of beta-carotene.
I haven't seen data for other phytonutrients contained in fresh orange juice compared to orange juice from concentrate, but I suspect that cryptoxanthin, hesperidin, limonene, and other phytonutrients found in the orange are found in decreasing amounts as the processing of the orange increases and therefore that the orange juice concentrate would have less of these phytonutrients.
Even though processing does have an impact on the nutritional value of whole oranges, I do not believe that organic orange juice from concentrate is a bad dietary choice. Many supermarkets do carry cartons of fresh, organic orange juice that is not made from concentrate. If that is not available, I think that an organic orange juice made from concentrate is still a very high quality drink compared to dozens of other choices (such as fruit drinks and soda pop), and it provides a very significant and worthwhile amount of many nutrients.
With all fruit juices, you do need to be more careful about the amount you consume than you do with whole fruits. Many people wanting a snack would naturally eat one whole orange and then stop. In that one medium-sized orange, they would get about 100 calories and 18 grams of sugar. On the other hand, it's not hard to find a 16-ounce bottle of orange juice in many stores, which will provide about 225 calories and 42 grams of sugar!