Changing Ingredients For A Nutrient-Dense Diet

 

Photo Credit: Agriculture Society

'Are you thinking about making changes in your dietary choices that are more traditional and nutrient-dense? This process can seem daunting, even to the most experienced cook. But making those changes can cause a huge impact on your health – in ways you might never imagine.

It may seem like too much to go into your pantry, throw everything out, and start from scratch. But, just by making a few simple changes – like switching from rancid, genetically-modified, artificial fats such as shortening and canola oil to healthy fats like butter and tallow, you can lose that extra 20 pounds you’ve been fighting for the last decade, or perhaps reduce the amount of colds and flus you catch each year. The possibilities are endless!'

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Reductionism: Dinner Goes To Pieces

Apples, Raw, with Skin, USDA

'This reduction of food into aggregations of elements does not even acknowledge the benefit of the whole ingredient, let alone in a combination of ingredients. Pesto is a Genovese specialty that has become a prolific North American condiment.  Filtered through the nutritional reductionist's lens, this would be abbreviated to merely basil and pine nuts and their respective nutritional contributions. According to the USDA nutrition data base, basil has 6% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A. Pine nuts are rich in omega 3 fats.

But isn't this traditional, versatile food with its countless variations more than a couple of micronutrients piled atop pasta?  A more holistic approach would consider that even strictly nutritionally speaking, pesto is at the very least an ensemble piece and not a pair of individual characters monologuing at opposite ends of the stage.  For example, the fat in pine nuts would make more bio-available the fat soluble vitamin A in the basil. The basil's volatile essential oil fraction would prevent rancidity in the fat of the pine nut.'


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10 Reasons Why I Love Butter

1. Butter is real.

I love food that doesn't need an ingredient list. And butter is as simple as it comes: cream. That's it. No hydrogenation necessary, no flavor additives, no preservatives. Just my style.


2. It's delicious.

When it comes down to it, healthy food should taste amazing. And butter definitely fits that bill. Who doesn't like butter? Granted, I'm sure there are some folks out there who don't... but I've yet to meet one personally. Not only does real butter taste a million times better than any "buttery" spread out there, it also makes other food taste great too!


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Carrot Slaw

Photo Credit:http://vegetarianventures.com

'I’ve only eaten this by itself so far and it is delicious! To be honest, I don’t unusually think of carrots being able to hold their own but they manage to shine in this yummy recipe. The citrus and cranberries give it a great sweet kick as well so I think I will be putting these on some veggie dogs later this week (and for sure on my usual veggie sandwiches).'


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Beta-Carotene: Why Most of Your Vitamins Should Come From Food, Not Supplements

'One mantra we often hear from the natural health industry is "take your supplements." While a high quality supplement may provide you with some vitamins and minerals that you may be deficient in, it will never replace a well balanced diet and the delivery system that nature intended. A perfect example is the dark side of beta carotene intake.

 Consumption of high amounts of beta-carotene could pose a health risk to people by blocking the action of vitamin A rather than enhancing it, according to new research.

"The kind of dosages of beta-carotene we see in health supplements could be harmful, especially since most people believe that more is better," said nutritionist Albert Meades. "However, even natural foods containing high-amounts of beta-carotene can also cause harm if consumed in excess, for example juicing carrots multiple times per day...everyday," he added.'

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Let Food Be Thy Medicine: Top 10 Healing Foods Of The Decade

Photo Credit:http://mendyshealingjourney.blogspot.com/

 'Eat Food. Not Too much. Mostly Plants. -- Michael Pollan, renowned food expert and journalist, 2007 A.D.

'The healing properties of food have been reported by cultures worldwide throughout history. However, the past decade has presented an explosion of clinical research to show specifically what health benefits individual foods can offer, identifying the various nutrients and phytochemicals associated with these benefits.

Many fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed whole foods have properties that can benefit our health. Studies in the past decade have taken nutritional research beyond protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals. Chemicals in the plants called phytochemicals have been a specific focus in the past decade, offering benefits such as cancer prevention, cholesterol reduction, and hormone regulation, to name a few.

There is truly a cornucopia of nutritional benefits that have been discovered. Here are a few "superfoods" that have received a lot of press in the past decade for their research-supported health benefits:'

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