Posts Tagged ‘fruit’

8 Healthy Office Snacks

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

Don’t get caught in front of the vending machine again. Pack these eight healthy snacks (each less than 200 calories) to keep you feeling full and satisfied throughout the work day

Desktop Snacks


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Working eight or more hours a day can make it difficult to eat healthfully unless you plan ahead. Research shows that eating every four hours helps to keep your metabolism charged and your energy level high. Before you dig in your drawer for spare change and head to the vending machine, plan ahead and stash low-calorie, nutritious snacks in a cabinet, drawer, or your briefcase. Each of these snacks has less than 200 calories and are sure to satisfy when the 3 p.m. cravings hit.

Whole Wheat Crackers and

Peanut Butter

Save your quarters by skipping the vending machine’s peanut butter crackers and packing your own nutritious snack. For a hunger-curbing option, try 10 multigrain wheat crackers (such as Multigrain Wheat Thins) and a tablespoon of peanut butter. This nutrient-rich snack rings in at just 193 calories and offers 2 grams of fiber. The combination of complex carbs and protein help to keep your blood sugar stable and keep you feeling full longer

Fruit

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Grab an apple, banana, pear, grapes, or other portable fruit as you dash out the door every morning. If you grab a different fruit every day (and change with the seasons), you’ll obtain a good variety of nutrients plus fiber, and won’t get bored with the same old snack. The average serving of fruit is around 70 calories so pair with a cup of fat-free milk (about 90 calories) for a protein boost as well as extra calcium and vitamin D. This protein and fiber combination will keep you feeling full and prevent mindless eating.

Popcorn with Parmesan

Take regular bagged popcorn to the next level by topping with 2 tablespoons of shredded Parmesan cheese. The nutty flavor of the popcorn pairs well with the rich flavor of Parmesan resulting in a quick, 150-calorie snack. Simply top 3½ cups of 94%-fat-free popcorn with the cheese and your snack is served. If you don’t have an office fridge to stash your Parm, nosh on just the popcorn for only 100 calories. This salty snack counts as one of your three daily servings of whole grains and helps to increase your energy and mood.

Nuts

Make the swap and choose nuts over chips for a crunchy alternative. Nuts are rich in heart-healthy fats but are calorically dense (about 170 calories per ounce) so measure out an ounce (about 24 almonds) and stick to that amount instead of feasting on the entire bag. Stash premeasured baggies of nuts in an office drawer or in your purse to nibble on when the 3 p.m. hunger pains hit. Almonds and other nuts are a naturally high source of vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, and potassium and are rich in protein and fiber

Instant Oatmeal

oatmeal

When you’re in a rush at work and want something warm and comforting, heat a packet of plain instant oatmeal (just 110 calories) in the microwave for a quick and satisfying treat. Choose plain oatmeal and add your own flavorings to control the calorie and sugar content. Top with a 42 calorie mini box of raisins for a sweet flavor and added nutrients or sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg. Doubling as a fiber-rich breakfast or daytime snack, oatmeal helps lower cholesterol and reduces the risk of heart disease.

Mini Pitas with Hummus

Use mini pita pockets to scoop up creamy hummus. Whether you make your own hummus or choose a favorite brand at the grocery store, hummus is made from chickpeas, a great source of soluble fiber. This soluble fiber helps to lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease. Pair one serving of hummus, 2 tablespoons, with 3 mini pita rounds for a 150 calorie snack. If you want a protein boost, fill the mini pita pockets with an ounce of low-sodium deli ham or turkey. The fiber and protein combo gives the snack some staying power to keep you feeling full longer.

Snack Bars

snack-bars

If you’re having a sweet attack and are looking for a healthy “bar” that isn’t loaded with sugar, reach for one that is all natural. Brands like LaraBar and KIND are good sources of fiber, contain no added sugar, and are made from whole, natural ingredients like dates, almonds, cashews, and cranberries. These bars are rich in fiber, low in sodium, loaded with vitamins and minerals, and run around 200 calories per serving. Pack these convenient bars in a purse or pocket for an instantly sweet and filling snack.

Veggies with Ranch

Beat the high-fat, high-sodium snacks featured at the convenience store and pack a container of fresh veggies like carrots, celery, and grape tomatoes. Raw veggies fill you up because of their high water and fiber content. If you struggle eating veggies in the buff, try dipping them in 2 tablespoons of low-fat Ranch dressing (80 calories), hummus (70 calories), or salsa (10 calories).

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The industrialization of food: what do we know? Part II

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Often the long nearness between various food and those that are consuming them creates complex communication systems along the food chain, so that the creatures come to know that certain elements are edible guided by taste, smell and color. Very often, even foods emit these signals, because it is in their interest to be eaten.

The fact that a fruit is ripe is signaled by a specific odor (a seductive aroma that reaches quite large distances), color (a shade that stands out from the green mass) or taste (usually sweet).

fruits

Usually, maturity, is when the plant seeds are ready to unwind and to germinate, is the period when the fruit has the highest concentration of nutrients and therefore the interests of plants (spreading the seeds) coincides with (the feeding) of the consumer. As a result of the previously received signals from various fruits and vegetables, our body has established that a fruit is edible, it occurs for enzymes and acids required for its decomposition. Health depends largely on the body’s ability to decode these biological signals: this fruit seems ripe, that there seems altered, that cow looks good.

This process is much easier when you know for a long time a particular food product and much more difficult if the food that you have to deal with was created just to fool your senses, using, for example, artificial flavors or synthetic  sweeteners. Food products that are fooling our senses are difficult issues of Western food to manage. It is important to note that the ecological relationships involve, at least in the first instance, those creatures that eat whole foods, not the nutrients or chemical elements contained in them.

Even if, eventually, once they have reached in our body, food is decomposed into simple chemical elements such as maize, for example, is mostly reduced to simple sugars, the whole food qualities are not unimportant. For example, the quantity and the structure of corn fiber will determine the speed with which will be released and absorbed the sugars that it contains, this is an essential aspect for the metabolism of insulin. A chemist will tell you that once in the blood the corn starch will turn into glucose, but such a reductionist view overlooks the complex and variable process that it assumes this transformation. Despite the nutritional labels, not all carbs are equal.

people-eating-corn

In other words, our body has an old and lasting relationship with maize, but not with the corn syrup with high fructose. Perhaps at some point humans will create this type of relationship with corn syrup with high fructose (as people will develop superhuman insulin systems to cope with the regular flow of pure fructose and glucose), but for now, this interaction make us sick because our body doesn’t know how to deal with all biological innovations.

In the same way, the human bodies that can handle chewing coca leaves - an old relationship met between indigenous and coca plant in some parts of South America -can not cope with cocaine or crack cocaine, even if those are three substances containing the same active elements. Maybe that reductionism, as a way of understanding, is a harmless vision or even required vision in terms of food and drugs, but the applied reductionism means to reduce food or narcotic plants to the chemical elements that they contain, and this can create problems.

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Fresh Juices

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

Freshly made juices represent a very reliable source of vitamins and minerals. Vitamins activate enzymes which act as catalysts in hundreds of thousands of chemical reactions that take place throughout our body. Enzymes are energy producers and are essential for the digestion process.
Minerals and vitamins are best absorbed when consumed in the form of fresh squeezed juices. It’s a healthier manner for getting our body the nutrients it needs, than by consuming fruits and vegetables whole. By blending fruits and vegetables to make juices and smoothies, fibers are broke down and nutrients are released.


For instance, spinach helps with hormone detoxifying, beetroot improves the digestion process, strawberries improve general health state, bananas have a high potassium content.  Strawberries protect us  against inflammation and all sorts of heart diseases, while potassium rich banana decreases blood pressure and cholesterol levels .

Juicing Tips

  • Wash the fruits and vegetables thoroughly before juicing. Remove damaged portions, if any.
  • Use organic produce where possible.
  • Juice with stems and leaves. Remove the stems and leaves of carrots, as they are toxic. The leaves of celery are bitter so you may remove them.
  • You may use seeds of lemon, lime, oranges, etc. Do not use apple seeds, as they are toxic.
  • Do not use the skins of orange and grapefruits, as they are toxic. Do not throw away the white pithy part as they are a source of vitamin C and bioflvonoids.
  • You can garnish the juices with black pepper, salt, lemon juice, parsley, cilantro (coriander), cinnamon, etc.
Enjoy!

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More about yogurt…

Friday, September 4th, 2009

Continuing our discussion regarding milk and dairies, here are some advantages and disadvantages when consuming these products

Disadvantages

-lactose intolerance represents the impossibility to digest carbohydrates from milk due to the lack of an enzyme called lactose.

- during the proccess of milk transformation into yogurt lactose is degraded so persons with lactose intolerance may consume any dairy, except for milk

- proteins from milk may give allergies and, in this case, dairies have to be eliminated from your diet

- if you have high cholesterol and trigliceride levels, you shouldn’t consume dairies due to their high lipid content

- fruit or muesli yogurt has a very high sugar content, so if you’ re on a diet, be careful when consuming these products…

Recommended associations:

- try dairies and yogurt with bread, pasta or rice

-dairies don’t contain vitamin C or fibers, so add cereals, muesli of fruits to your fresh milk, yogurt or cream

Culinary secrets

-use milk enriched with D vitamin to increase Calcium absorption and fixation

- vitamin B2 from milk is sun sensitive so keep it away from sunlight

- the yellow color in butter is given by the amount of carotene in the caw’s food

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