Tag: nutrition

Once upon a time, when you bought broccoli you bought the whole vegetable, stems and crowns. Then it became customary for grocery store produce departments to separate the crowns from the stems and to sell the crowns at a premium.

I’m not a fan of this practice, because I like both parts of the broccoli plant. The stems and crowns are equally nutritious when it comes to calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, protein and vitamin A. The only nutrient that appears to be more concentrated in the crowns is beta carotene.

~Martha Rose Shulman~

Welcome to the Health and Fitness News, a weekly diary which is cross-posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette. It is open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.

Ranch dressing for dipping makes almost any vegetable more appealing to children, but commercially prepared ranch dressings have nutritional drawbacks. So here’s a salad dressing base made with yogurt and white beans that can be the foundation of a healthful ranch dressing as well as a few variants. {..]

I’ve been making spreads with white beans and yogurt forever, but I hadn’t thought about thinning out the mixture for a salad dressing until Ms. (Lisa) Feldman presented 12 dressings using her base at the Culinary Institute of America’s “Healthy Flavors, Healthy Kids” conference last May in San Antonio. I’ve adapted several of Ms. Feldman’s ideas for this week’s Recipes for Health.

~Martha Rose Shulman~

Welcome to the Health and Fitness News, a weekly diary which is cross-posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette. It is open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.

For years, nutritionists have been urging us to eat nuts in place of high-carb and sugary snacks. Regulators allow purveyors of peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts and pecans to make claims that these nuts, as part of a diet low in saturated fats and cholesterol, may help reduce the risk of heart disease.

Seeds like pumpkin, sunflower, chia and sesame would be worthy candidates for a similar push, since they too are loaded with many of the same nutrients – protein and fiber, calcium and vitamin E, healthy fats and omega-3 fatty acids. And oh, yes, they taste wonderful (at least sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds do – chia seeds are so small I can’t exactly tell what they taste like).

~Martha Rose Shulman~

Welcome to the Health and Fitness News, a weekly diary which is cross-posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette. It is open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.

On these nights I don’t want to get down another frying pan or saucepan. I crave a sandwich, and I turn lovingly to my toaster oven. I rummage in the refrigerator – there is always something, like greens I’ve blanched, a roasted red pepper, a box of mushrooms that are beginning to shrivel, or a hunk of butternut squash left over from another recipe test. I try to keep my refrigerator stocked with a few different cheeses – goat cheese and feta, a blue of some kind, Gruyère and Parmesan. This year, because my son went away to boarding school and I can’t go through a loaf of bread before it goes stale, I’ve begun to keep loaves of sliced whole-wheat country bread in the freezer, so that I can pull it out by the slice when I need it.

~Martha Rosle Shuman~

Welcome to the Health and Fitness News, a weekly diary which is cross-posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette. It is open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.

I don’t put much stock in the concept of “super foods,” but if you do, blueberries should be on your list. Their health benefits are well documented in the scientific literature. One study, published last year in BMJ, showed a correlation between the consumption of blueberries, apples and grapes, but especially blueberries, and a significantly lower risk of Type 2 diabetes. Scientists who are looking at foods that contain fibers that nourish probiotics, or beneficial microflora, in our lower intestines are finding that blueberries and other berries have a lot of potential in this area. [..]

One great thing about blueberries and blackberries is that they freeze exceptionally well, especially blueberries. All you have to do is make sure they are dry and seal them airtight in freezer bags or containers. You can throw them, frozen, right into baked goods. Toss them first with a very small amount of flour if you don’t want them to bleed when they bake.

~Martha Rose Shulman~

Welcome to the Health and Fitness News, a weekly diary which is cross-posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette. It is open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.

I come back to burgers in this column every year or two. My quest for good vegetarian burgers has nothing to do with wanting to create something that resembles a hamburger or turkey burger. Why try to mimic meat? Rather, my vegetarian cooking is about produce, which, it turns out, can be the foundation for a great burger.

One difficulty I’ve experienced with vegetable-based burgers has been getting the right consistency, so that they hold together when you brown them. The solution to this occasional problem came in the form of some incredible patties that the chef Suvir Saran demonstrated this spring at the “Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives” conference at the Culinary Institute of America in the Napa Valley. He used farro, sweet potatoes, mushrooms and peanuts in his burgers, and they were flawless.

~Martha Rose Shulman~

Welcome to the Health and Fitness News, a weekly diary which is cross-posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette. It is open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.

I’ve long been aware of the term “probiotics” (is there anybody who watches television who hasn’t seen Jamie Lee Curtis touting them in those old ads for Activia yogurt?), the beneficial microbes in our guts, and also in fermented foods like miso and kimchi, that some experts believe play a significant role in gut health and in keeping our immune system robust. But I’d never heard the word “prebiotics” until I attended a talk by the Stanford nutritionist Jo Ann Hattner, who has written (with Susan Anderes) an interesting guide called “Gut Insight: Probiotics and Prebiotics for Digestive Health and Well-Being.”

~Martha Rose Shulman~

Welcome to the Health and Fitness News, a weekly diary which is cross-posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette. It is open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.

I’ve never been one to eat or drink a particular food just because it’s good for you. So for years I’ve been rolling my eyes whenever anyone starts talking about green smoothies or green drinks. I love greens, but not in my morning smoothie.  [..]

The drinks are loaded with phytonutrients, and they’re filling. They are definitely meals in a glass. When I was testing the recipes I enjoyed every sip and felt very energetic for hours afterward. So, no more rolling my eyes: I’m a green smoothie convert.

~Martha Rose Shulman~

Welcome to the Health and Fitness News, a weekly diary which is cross-posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette. It is open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.

My quiches are delicious vehicles for vegetables. Right now this means fat spears of asparagus and sweet spring onions, green garlic and lush bunches of spinach. I also slipped in a few other vegetables that we can get year-round in the supermarket, like cabbage and red peppers. I used lots of scallions too, but they were fat ones from the farmers’ market, not the thin scallions from the supermarket, though they work too; you just need more of them.

These tarts have everything necessary for a satisfying main dish – protein from the dairy, delicious vegetables cooked in olive oil with fresh herbs, and a little bit of indulgence in the presence of an almost classic French pastry (though with a nutty whole-wheat twist).

Martha Rose Shulman

Welcome to the Health and Fitness News, a weekly diary which is cross-posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette. It is open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.

The Hass avocados I’ve been working with lately are nutty and rich, and I’ve been doing a lot more than slicing them up for sandwiches and mashing them for guacamole. I’ve been blending them with tomatillos and chiles into creamy salsas, and making surprising salads. One of them is a Chilean cabbage slaw that the chef Iliana de la Vega made at the recent “Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives” conference at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley. That was a revelation – coleslaw meets guacamole, two of my favorite dishes rolled into one.

Although we are now seeing studies showing that saturated fats might not be so bad after all, I hesitate to say that avocados are filled with “good fats.” But the fact is, they are. The fats in avocados, which include a generous amount of a monounsaturated fatty acid called oleic acid, aid in the absorption not only of their own many fat-soluble phytonutrients, including antioxidants such as alpha- and beta-carotene and lutein, but also the nutrients in the foods you combine avocados with.

~Martha Rose Shulman~

Welcome to the Health and Fitness News, a weekly diary which is cross-posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette. It is open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.

These five recipes from Martha Rose Shulman’s Recipes for Health in the New York Times were from the “Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives” conference at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, an event that bridges health care, nutrition science and cooking.

Welcome to the Health and Fitness News, a weekly diary which is cross-posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette. It is open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.

Fruit compotes make great compromise desserts; they’re sweet, but not as sweet as sorbets, and like sorbets they don’t require flour, butter or pastry skills. [..]

Early spring is an in-between time for fruit. Stone fruits aren’t ready yet and it’s not really apple, pear or citrus season either, though all of those fall-winter fruits are still available.

~Martha Rose Shulman~