5-Minute Greek Garbanzo Bean Salad - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

healthy food tip and recipe
August 24, 2013

Check Out What's New On Our Website

Because olive extracts have now been shown to function as anti-histamines at a cellular level it is possible that olives may have a special role to play as part of an overall anti-allergenic diet. Find out What's New and Beneficial About Olives.

Today's Recipe

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

If you don't have time to cook your beans canned garbanzo beans (BPA- free) makes this Mediterranean-style salad an easy addition to your Healthiest Way of Eating.

5-Minute Greek Garbanzo Bean Salad

Prep and Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked or 1 15 oz can garbanzo beans (BPA-free), preferably organic
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1/2 medium red onion, chopped
• 2 TBS parsley, chopped
• 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• Optional:
• 1/4 cup feta cheese
• 6 sliced kalamata olives
• 1 tsp rosemary

Directions:

1. Press or mince garlic and let sit for at least 5 minutes to bring out its hidden health benefits.
2. Drain liquid from garbanzo beans and rinse under cold running water; this helps prevent intestinal gas.
3. Combine all ingredients with lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 2 Printer Friendly Version of 5-Minute Greek Garbanzo Bean Salad
In-Depth Nutritional Profile for 5-Minute Greek Garbanzo Bean Salad

Healthy Food Tip

Do I need to eat dairy products in order to prevent osteoporosis?

The very direct and simplified answer to this question is, "No, you do not need to eat dairy products in order to prevent osteoporosis." However, it is equally true that under certain circumstances, the inclusion of dairy products in your Healthiest Way of Eating might help you to lower your risk of osteoporosis.
In order to understand how consumption of dairy products is related to your risk of osteoporosis, there are several nutritional details that you are likely to find helpful. Osteoporosis-a condition in which minerals and other substances are lost from the bones, causing them to become thinner, more porous, and more easily broken-affects about 20-25 million Americans, primarily older women. It's this same group of women who have been mostly closely studied with respect to dairy products and risk of osteoporosis.

Four nutrients tell at least part of the story

Calcium, vitamin D, protein, and magnesium are four nutrients that tell at least part of the story about dairy consumption and osteoporosis risk. In our World's Healthiest Foods rating system, cow's milk rates as a very good source of calcium and vitamin D, a good source of protein, and not even close to a good source of magnesium. All of these nutrients have been studied individually in relationship to osteoporosis, but all of them also interact in various ways and their interaction tells an important part of the osteoporosis story.

Other nutrients important for bone health

Other bone-health promoting nutrients with clear roles to play in prevention of osteoporosis include boron, vitamin K, vitamin C, ipriflavone, silicon, and vitamins B6, B12, and folate. Not only is cow's milk less than ideal as a food source of these nutrients, but in some cases (like vitamin C) it is nearly devoid of the nutrient altogether.
Could you get enough of all nutrients-including calcium-without consuming cow's milk, or cow's milk yogurt, or cow's milk cheese? The answer is definitely "yes." In fact, most women in the world as a whole who do not develop osteoporosis also do not consume dairy products. Just how could you get enough calcium without consuming dairy products? Let's stay focused on this single nutrient for a moment, and consider the example below involving a dairy-free salad.

Plant foods as sources of calcium

As previously described, calcium is a mineral found in a wide variety of foods besides dairy products. Virtually all greens contain calcium. By "greens," I mean all the dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, chard, mustard greens, and collard greens as well as lettuces, like romaine. Shredded cabbage is also a source of calcium.
Virtually all nuts and seeds-and especially sesame seeds-contain calcium. So do most beans, including navy, pinto, kidney, and black and others. Additionally, tofu can also be an important source of calcium, particularly when the tofu has been calcium-precipitated (meaning that calcium was used to help convert the soy milk into tofu) it can provide a significant amount of calcium.

A dairy-free, high-calcium salad

Although none of the above non-dairy foods, all by itself, will provide a large percent of your total day's calcium, when these foods are combined, the total calcium they provide is actually higher than the amount in an 8-ounce glass of cow's milk. Let's take a salad as our example. Romaine lettuce contains 20 milligrams of calcium per cup. Using 2 cups of romaine lettuce as our salad base, we start off with 40 milligrams of calcium. A half-cup of chard leaves would bump us up another 25 milligrams, to 65 total. Adding one-half cup of organic soybeans we jump up 87 milligrams to 152 while sprinkling on 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds brings us up to 237 milligrams. To top it off, add one-third of a cup of kidney beans and we have a salad that provides a substantial 277 milligrams of calcium.
How does this amount compare to a glass of 2% cow's milk? In terms of total calcium, it's very similar! A glass of 2% has about 285-300 milligrams. And while it is true that our salad contains nearly twice as many calories as an 8-ounce glass of 2% cow's milk, it also contains a much wider variety of nutrients. These nutrients include fiber, which is absent in the cow's milk altogether, and vitamin C, which is over 10 times more plentiful in the romaine lettuce alone than in a cup of 2% milk. And, of course, our salad is a concentrated source of magnesium, with the soybeans alone containing 74 milligrams, more than twice the amount found in 8-ounce glass of milk.
As the salad above highlights, since many of the World's Healthiest Foods contain calcium alongside of other key bone-supporting nutrients, I believe that diets concentrated in these foods may help reduce risk of osteoporosis as effectively, or even more effectively, than cow's milk.

References

Bischoff-Ferrari HA. How to select the doses of vitamin D in the management of osteoporosis. Osteoporos Int 2007 Apr;18(4):401-7.
Boonen S, Vanderschueren D, Haentjens P, Lips P. Calcium and vitamin D in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis - a clinical update. J Intern Med 2006 Jun;259(6):539-52.
Dawson-Hughes B, Bischoff-Ferrari HA. Therapy of osteoporosis with calcium and vitamin D. J Bone Miner Res 2007 Dec;22 Suppl 2:V59-63.
Francis RM. Calcium, vitamin D and involutional osteoporosis. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 2006 Jan;9(1):13-7.
Kitchin B, Morgan SL. Not just calcium and vitamin D: other nutritional considerations in osteoporosis. Curr Rheumatol Rep 2007 Apr;9(1):85-92.
Vieth R. The role of vitamin D in the prevention of osteoporosis. Ann Med 2005;37(4):278-85.