According to the YMCA, April 27th is officially Healthy Kids Day®. It’s a day where “Y” organizations all across the country plan activities to help promote active minds and healthy bodies to raise awareness about the importance of improving the health and well-being of all children. If you want to join in on the celebration, please check out your local Y to see what they may have planned.
One way to promote health and well-being in children is through diet and nutrition. Wild Blueberries make a great addition to any healthy eating plan you create for your children – upping the nutrition in foods kids love like pancakes, smoothies, popsicles, and yogurt parfaits. Recent research has shown that the pigments called anthocyanins that make Wild Blueberries purple-blue can help improve memory and concentration in children. They can also boost mood impacting executive function, which relates to decision-making. Plus, Wild Blueberries taste great. Frozen Wild Blueberries are never bland like their fresh counterparts can be and are known for their more intense blueberry flavor that’s part-sweet and part-tang.
To help you step up your child’s nutrition game in time for Healthy Kids Day – and for every day after, here are four recipes that are sure to please even the pickiest of eaters.
Kids love fruit leathers, but if you’re a parent like me, you’re not a fan of the prepackaged options filled with artificial ingredients found in most grocery stores. You don’t have to deny your kids these fun little snacks. Instead, make them at home using this simple recipe from Sally Kuzemchak, MS, RD, of Real Mom Nutrition. To make it even more fun, involve the kids. They’ll feel super special, especially when they share them with friends after school or at practice.
Warmer days are just around the corner here in Maine, which means we’ve started dreaming of refreshing summer treats like these Wild Blueberry Yogurt Pops from Lindsay Livingston, RD, of The Lean Green Bean. Made with yogurt, frozen Wild Blueberries, lemon zest, maple syrup, and chia seeds, you can turn the sweetness dial-up or down based on the yogurt you use. This recipe includes a protein powder to give you extra energy, but it’s an optional ingredient. Now, name one kid who doesn’t love a popsicle. They’ll be screaming for more of this pretty, fro-yo popsicle treat.
Smoothies are an easy way to get more nutrients like calcium, fiber, and vitamins in your kids. All it takes is having a few key ingredients around to create delicious, easily portable smoothies your children will love. This Kid-friendly Wild Blueberry & Kefir Smoothie recipe from Sally Kuzemchak, MS, RD, of Real Mom Nutrition is one of our favorites. It uses fiber-rich Wild Blueberries and pro-biotic kefir to help take care of little tummies, and a handful of iron-rich spinach that disappears because of the incredible color of the wild blues. We love Sally and her words of wisdom, ‘how did people feed their kids before smoothies came along?’.
Get even the stubbornest of sleepy heads out of bed in the morning with this Wild Blueberry and Chocolate Skillet Pancake. Danielle Omar MS, RDN of Food Confidence created this easy-to-make recipe using frozen Wild Blueberries (and dark chocolate) that’s tasty and rich in flavonoids. Research has documented the positive effects of flavonoids on brain health – flavonoids as part of a healthy, mixed diet might help prevent low mood and depression in young people. Wild Blueberries are loaded with a type of flavonoid called anthocyanins that gives them their deep blue pigment. And about that dark chocolate… its full of flavanols that can help raise serotonin – the “feel good” neurotransmitter. The kiddos will love how delicious this pancake is and you’ll love knowing that you’re giving them a good start to their day.
It’s back-to-school season and that means packing lunches, again! For many parents, packing the lunchbox can send the heart into nervous palpitations. But for registered dietitian Liz Weiss, it’s an art form. After reading her lunchbox ideas, your anxiety will magically transform into inspiration.
Liz Weiss, RD
Liz is an award-winning broadcast journalist, cookbook author, and radio show host who started Meal Makeover Moms’ Kitchen, a leading blog for parents in search of better ways to feed their family a super-nutritious diet. She’s also the co-author of two great books: No Whine with Dinner: 150 Healthy, Kid-Tested Recipes from The Meal Makeover Moms and The Moms’ Guide to Meal Makeovers: Improving the Way Your Family Eats, One Meal at a Time and she recently released a mobile recipe app called, Meal Makeovers. You can read more about Liz at http://mealmakeovermoms.com/ and you can download the Meal Makeover app here.
Meal Makeover Moms App
Here’s some of the wisdom Liz shared with us about packing lunches.
How do you get inspired with packing a good lunchbox? To get inspired I think about color, flavor, nutrition, and seasonality. I really like to include all of the senses – smell, sight, touch, and taste when thinking about the lunch box.
What has worked for you in the past? I have found that it’s really helpful to include my kids in the process. I do this by simply asking them: “What do you want for lunch?” The last thing we want –or I want as a dietitian – is to throw away food or for a child to not eat something because it’s not appealing. Plus, if they don’t eat what you packed for lunch they are getting no nutritional benefit. One of the most important ways to get children excited is to present the food in a kid-appealing way. For example if you’re going to slice up apples, put a little lemon on them so they don’t turn brown. Put grapes in a small container. Think about how you package your food. Use small containers and put a little utensil in there. Make it cute and playful. That’s why Bento Box Lunches are so appealing. Kids like to play, so it pays off to think about finger foods –something easy to pick up and bite into. Most young kids are either missing teeth or they have braces – and it’s important to be mindful and make sure they are physically able to eat the food you pack. For example, I would never send young kids to school with whole pieces of fruit like apples.
How important is it to be organized?
It’s very important. As moms we really relish our sleep. If you can get 5-10 extra minutes of sleep in the morning, wouldn’t you want that? Pack shelf-stable milk boxes in the fridge before going to bed. That way it will be cold in the morning and will help keep your kid’s lunch cold. If you’re packing sandwiches, wash and dry the lettuce leaves the night before, and have them in a bag ready to go. Cut up your veggies the night before – have bell peppers, carrots, and cucumbers ready with a small container of dip. Recently, I sent my son to school with pasta salad. I boiled the whole wheat pasta the night before and it was ready to go in the morning.
Can you provide a few simple ideas for recipes? There are lots of lunchbox recipes on my website. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Yogurt, granola and fruit cup— morning snack time at school is a perfect time to integrate some healthy options. I like to pack a small container of yogurt and pour some frozen wild blueberries over the top. Then I add a second container of granola to sprinkle on the top.
Pasta salad—I’m all about whole grains, so I start with a whole-wheat rotini. Then I add all-natural deli ham, feta cheese, diced bell peppers, zucchini ribbons, corn on the cob (leftover from last night’s dinner), and some Italian dressing. This is simple and delicious.
Kebabs — These are a favorite. I use cheese cubes, leftover chicken or deli meats like turkey or chicken. Then I add grapes, melon cubes or berries in between.
Chicken salad — Here’s an easy one. I use cubed chicken mixed with plain Greek yogurt, some low-fat mayonnaise. Then I add nuts, dicedgrapes or apples, or diced avocado.
Quesadillas – These are a hit for lunch and offer a nice change of scenery from the standard lunch. I heat the tortilla and then I add beans, veggies, cheese, and BBQ sauce and wrap these hot in foil.
What are some common lunchbox mistakes? Packing too much food is a common mistake. Kids have about 20 minutes to eat so I encourage parents to pack the right amount of food for their child and prepare it in bite-sized pieces. Be sure to observe what comes back in the lunch box – this can be very telling. A lot of parents tend to focus on refined carbs because they are easy– they will pack a bagel with cream cheese, a juice box, and a bag of chips. The challenge when packing a bagel/juice box/bag of chips is that it lacks color and nutrition, so focus on a rainbow of colors instead!
What is the trick to keeping it healthy? Make sure you have fresh fruit and a veggie in your lunch box. Some parents consider juice to be a fruit serving, but it’s best to think about fresh, frozen, or dried fruit as a true serving. Don’t forget about snacks. I view snacks as a mini-meal. Snack time is an opportunity to weave in ingredients that are missing in the diet. If they are not getting veggies or fruit in the morning, make sure they’re an option as a snack. One of my favorite snacks is my Mini Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins.
7. What are some of the worst lunch boxes you’ve seen?
I’ve seen a morning snack of Hawaiian punch and chips. I’ve also seen Gatorade and chocolate chip cookies. These “snacks” bring calories and sugar to the diet, but not much more. Remember that kids are small, and it doesn’t take much to fill their stomachs – so every bite should be packed with nutrition – think nutrient rich and the colors of the rainbow. Every time you pack that lunchbox ask yourself: “What is this ingredient doing for my child?”
What are favorite things to pack for your kids’ lunches? What’s the worst lunch box you’ve ever seen?
Resolve to Step Up Your Anti-aging Efforts in 2013
If 2013 is your year to look better, feel younger, and be healthier, overhauling your diet might be in order. A healthy diet is the closest thing we have to a ticket to longevity – not to mention a better life right now. We simply are what we eat, and today’s scientific research supports that our diet holds sway over our ability to prevent age-related issues, including illness, disease, and overall wellness.
Is health and longevity on your plate this year? It should be. Now is the perfect time to reset the clock on your health. Resolve to make your diet work for you, not against you, in the coming year.
Is Your Diet Aging You?
It could be. The health of your brain, the vitality of your skin, and your chances of experiencing chronic illness are directly influenced by what you put on your plate. When your intake of sugars, fats, and processed foods begins to overtake your intake fruits and vegetables, it means your diet has deteriorated. As a result, you may be putting yourself at risk for what you most want to avoid as you age.
Your Diet Affects Your Brain
Without a healthy brain, let’s face it, the rest just doesn’t matter. But having a diet of prevention now can help keep your brain healthy and nimble later. Eating for brain health is part of a fundamental strategy to help reverse the aging process. Here’s why: a diet rich in anthocyanin-rich foods has been shown to reverse memory loss and slow cognitive decline. In fact, new research into cognitive health such as the Nurse’s Study shows that eating anthocyanin-rich foods can affect intellectual performance, memory, and brain performance related to aging. And, dietary antioxidants have been shown to protect against inflammation, and inflammation is thought to be a leading factor in brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease.
Your Diet Affects Your Skin
What we show the world on the outside reflects our inside – that couldn’t be truer when it comes to our skin. Our cells are engaged in a battle against free radicals everyday. Oxidative stress is associated with cancer, heart disease and other diseases of aging. It’s also evident on our outermost layers of cells – free radical damage is the reason the sun and our environment leads to wrinkles and a dull complexion. High antioxidant foods help us in the fight against free radicals and act as anti-aging agents. Dietary antioxidants such as anthocyanins, flavonoids found in the skin pigments of some foods like the deeply-colored wild blueberry, have the ability to neutralize free radicals and help prevent cell damage, and that includes our aging epidermis, an external hallmark of our maturity.
Your Diet Affects Your Risk of Chronic Illness
Can we avoid the chronic illness that plagues us as we age? Some nutrition experts believe we can, and scientists continue to make efforts to isolate the compounds that act on our bodies to prevent aging and disease. What we already know, however, is that natural compounds found in fruits and vegetables can help us prevent chronic illness and promote healthy aging. Aging is often characterized by diseases that are the result of low grade chronic inflammation that occurs inside the body and causes heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and even arthritis. Eating antioxidant-rich foods daily has been shown to minimize oxidative strain inside the body, which is connected to chronic illnesses and aging.
Resolve to Age Better in 2013
Here are three simple steps you can take to make 2013 your best year yet in health and anti-aging efforts.
1. Get Your 5 Cups
Reaching (or even closing in on) your recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables will get you closer to your goal of healthy aging. This year, resolve to start eating a diet that combats age-related health risks by eating at a variety of colorful fruits and veggies and filling half your plate with them at every meal. According to the USDA dietary guidelines, that’s 2 cups of fruit and 3 cups of vegetables, on average, for a total of 5 cups every day. By getting your recommended cups per day, you’ll also get the added benefit of edging out less-than-healthy foods that are aging you too quickly. (That’s two resolutions for the price on one!)
2. Load Up on Berries
Look to berries if you are aiming to make the most of your anti-aging efforts. Why berries? Berries are notorious for their powerful antioxidant benefits thanks to phytonutrients, which aid the process of neutralizing free radicals and are found in high concentrations in berries’ colorful skin. Berries have also been shown to have “synergy” with other foods and to help ameliorate the adverse effects of a meal that occurs with absorption. Wild blueberries in particular top the list of high-phyto berries. (They are also high in fiber and contribute to glycemic control.) If slowing the aging process is your resolution, “bathe your meal in berries” says superfood guru Steven Pratt – whether it’s breakfast, salads, entrees or desserts – you’ll be arming yourself against inflammation and the diseases of aging.
3. Be Antioxidant Savvy
In the quest to age well, make sure you know what foods provide the most powerful source of antioxidants. Deep pigments and colorful skin is often nature’s tip-off that a food has beneficial compounds. By knowing the amount of antioxidants in certain foods, you can get the biggest antioxidant bang from your dietary buck.
You can determine the antioxidant capacity of different fruits and vegetables by knowing their ORAC score. Find a list on the United States Department of Agriculture or by checking OracValues.com, and use your knowledge to start buying foods that promote disease prevention. Shop the produce section or the freezer section for fruits and vegetables – that’s where you’ll find the healthiest foods. And those are the ones you’ll want on your plate every day. Then, even while the calendar keeps moving forward, you’ll know you’re making efforts to turn back the clock.
Healthy Aging Research Scientists around the world are studying the ways in which natural compounds found in the foods we eat can help combat disease and promote health aging. For an in-depth look at hundreds of health-related blueberry studies, visit the Wild Blueberry Association Research Library™.
Our Kids Could Change the Course of Healthy Eating
The news has been grim: one in three American kids is overweight or obese, according to the American Heart Association. In Maine, more than half of all adults will be obese by 2030, wreaking havoc on the state’s health and its economy. With spiking obesity rates come unprecedented rates of Type 2 diabetes, higher incidences of heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and many weight-related conditions. For the first time in history, the younger generation may have a shorter lifespan than their parents.
Lamenting the poor health and nutrition of our youth seems to be part of the cultural script. There is no shortage of blame. Scientists have uncovered evidence that everything from gut bacteria and antibiotic use to sleep deprivation contributes to a population destined to be larger and sicker. While new factors emerge, others remain culpable, including portion sizes and endless exposure to nutritionally-poor processed foods and their mammoth advertising budgets. Add factors like fewer families cooking at home (and fewer kids learning to cook), tight budgets that lead us to less healthy choices, and less time being active, and we have a recipe for a nutritional doomsday for today’s youth.
At the same time, according to a Generational Consumer Trend Report issued this year by the food industry market research firm Technomi, today’s millennials consider healthy eating important. Young adults, says the report, have greater awareness of and appreciation for food and health-related issues. It may be that the younger generation is primed for better choices: general opinion suggests they are more open to receiving health messages and they possess a healthy skepticism when it comes to advertising claims. As a result, messages about the importance of fruit and vegetables and research about disease prevention may be getting through, starting trends in good health for the generations that follow.
Here in the land of wild blueberries, the University of Maine reports that more students are enrolling in their food and science program, for example. According to the report, enrollment in the program has been nudged by the importance of personal health and wellness for a new generation that has been seeking out whole, natural foods in an effort to be and feel well.
The news may represent a single point of light in a world of nutritional darkness, but it also may indicate real generational differences in the choices we make about food – differences for the better. In the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, signs of a hopeful, healthier future can be found in many places in the nation and locally.
A New World of Healthy Eating
Much of the focus on our kids’ eating has been on the schools, where poor options have been the rule rather than the exception. Choices in the lunch line are improving as schools join the movement to eliminate veggie stand-ins and offer more whole foods. In fact, childhood obesity rates have declined slightly in some cities and states that have taken on the issue of school lunch nutrition. Close to home, Maine Harvest Lunch puts local foods on school menus across the state at certain times in the school year. The initiative has prompted schools to purchase food from Maine farms and other food producers year round, causing a virtuous cycle within the industry. And, when school doors close, summer camps pick up where they left off, exposing kids to local produce and diverse, whole foods. That’s true especially in areas around Maine and Canada, where what goes on in the lunch room at meal time is as important as the activities outside.
In addition to changes in the lunch line, educational programs for kids, legislation about food claims, and healthy eating role models are contributing to changing the food environment of young people and helping them develop a connection to their food sources. It’s these changes that make kids more likely to embrace diverse foods and eat more widely across the food, color, and nutrition spectrum and rely less on a traditional American diet full of fat, salt, and sugar.
Be Part of Positive Generational Change
Can a new generation change the course of our health? A case can be made that it can. Evidence of positive change can be found everywhere. And, the more we recognize the good nutritional choices kids and their families make – eating more fruits and vegetables, either fresh or fresh frozen and more whole, nutritionally-dense food – the more we can propagate good choices in our own families and communities.
Recently, a Wild About Health reader said she started using frozen wild blueberries and spinach in a “synergistic smoothie” every morning based on Dr. Daniel Nadeau’s recipe. She began making a little extra for her teenage daughter, a notorious breakfast-skipper, who loved them and started making them herself. Now, no matter what the rest of the day brings nutritionally, she knows they’ve both had at least 2-3 fruit and vegetable servings. We can all start being more aware of our own healthy eating, too, and model that behavior for our kids. We can challenge them to cook themselves, help them try new recipes, and enlist them to help us shop for whole foods whether local, fresh or frozen. We can let them stock the fruit bowl, or be in charge of buying their favorite frozen fruit to keep in the freezer for snacking. We can bake a fruit pie together, or involve them in picking up squash from local farmer’s market. We can learn not to dwell on the negative choices they make, and start noticing the positive ones, so we can nurture and build on them.
There’s no denying the perils that face the health of our nation’s youth. But a nutritional course correction could be just a generation away. The more we recognize positive change, the more we open the door for health and nutritional messages to get through so our kids can lead the way in the quest for a healthy future.
The Role of Fruits & Vegetables in Mental Health Research Intensifies
Crossing the border into the state of bliss can be as elusive as it is subjective. We might find joy in a chocolate cake today and in a visit with an old friend tomorrow. But regardless of the source of our smiles, most of us can agree that happiness is the result of positive feelings – joy, pleasure, satisfaction – and the absence of negative ones – like stress and depression – and it’s something all of us want more of. But in our endless pursuit of positive feelings, we might be overlooking a source of good cheer that’s right in front of us: our daily intake of fruits and vegetables.
Happiness and health have always partnered well. Being and feeling healthy is the essence of well being. So when a recent study indicated that happiness can result from eating 7 servings of fruits and vegetables every day, there was no reason to be taken by surprise.
Or was there? Is the idea that happiness is within our reach (and on our plates) groundbreaking? Or just old news?
The Research
The happiness study in question hinges on research conducted in Britain and slated for publication in Social Indicators Research. As part of the study, men and women ate from 0-8 servings of a variety of fruits and vegetables and reported on things like life satisfaction and feeling “low” as measures of their well being. The researchers found that the participants’ happiness improved the more fruits and veggies they ate, reaching their peak at 7 or 8 servings.
The effect of fruits and vegetables on mood was measurable and significant. And researchers involved in the study suggest a biochemical effect, not a psychological one. We already know that proper nutrition is important in preventing disease and slowing the aging process – but the case for nutritionally-dense food influencing our emotional state is compelling.
Unpacking the Food-Mood Relationship
There is a dearth of research into the effect of fruit and vegetable intake on emotional health. We know a great deal, however, about the relationship between nutritionally dense foods and the brain, a likely locus of happiness. For example:
Cups of fruit such as antioxidant-rich berries are known to help keep the mind clear and focused – this may contribute to happiness, or allow us to handle daily stressors better, which increases our happiness quotient.
Food can affect blood glucose levels, or trigger food sensitivities which can affect the way we feel, causing feelings of lethargy and illness.
Food could affect brain chemistry, too. Some researchers have found that increased levels of depression, anxiety, mood swings, hyperactivity and a wide variety of other mental and emotional problems can be tied to nutrition. (The first trial testing whether a healthy diet can improve the mental health of people with depression is planned by researchers is already in the works).
Researchers continue to demonstrate protective effects of phytochemicals (found in high concentrations in wild blueberries) on the brain, and the body of research in the field of neuroscience supporting the benefits foods high in phytos is growing. Recent studies led by Dr. Robert Krikorian at University of Cincinnati, for example, suggest that regular consumption of wild blueberries may slow the loss of cognitive function and decrease depression in the elderly.
While these things contribute to our understanding of the connection between fruits and vegetable and happiness, researchers have yet to fully understand the reason for the results revealed in the Britain study. Until we know more about the impact of fruits and veggies on mood, pleasure, and mental illness, we might be best served to conduct a little research on ourselves.
Forging a Path to Happiness
What is your diet doing (or not doing) for your happiness quotient? It might be time to take a closer look.
Starting a food diary is the best way to research your own food-mood connection. Writing down what you eat will increase your awareness of your food intake and help you discern patterns between diet and things like energy levels, mood and feelings of well being. USDA Dietary Guidelines recommend “filling half your plate with fruits and vegetables at every meal” with the goal of 2 cups of fruit and 3 cups of vegetables, on average, for a total of 5 cups every day. By tracking what you eat every day, you’ll see if you fall short of the USDA recommendations and by how much.
Once you’ve tracked your diet for a week or so, make a change. Start by getting two cups of fruit a day, for example, or eliminate processed foods in favor of a fruit or vegetable. Evaluate the impact of this change on your mood, your sleep, and your stress level. While the kick of endorphins after eating something sugary, salty, or fatty is obvious, we can sometimes miss its cost to our general feelings of happiness and well being.
Get Happy – 5 Ways to Get Your 5
Start small. Starting at zero? Ease in with ½ cup of fruit, berries, or greens twice a week. Then, move to ½ cup every day. Baby steps make it easier to attain the recommended goal of 2 cups of fruit per day and 5 total cups of fruits and vegetables over the long term.
Sneak ’em. If you prefer to sneak fruits and veggies into your diet, kale chips and cauliflower popcorn were invented just for you. While whole fresh or fresh frozen foods are best, moving away from processed snacks in favor of homemade ones is a great way to start the process. Or, give a green smoothie a go for a mega-dose of fruits and vegetables masked as deliciousness.
Replace something. Having chips with lunch? Slice some carrots instead. Late-night ice cream a routine? Swap it for a ½ cup of fresh berries.
Choose what you like. Keen on tomatoes? Kiwis your weakness? Eating plenty of what you really like makes racking up the cups easy.
Bathe your meal in berries.Steven Pratt, author of the groundbreaking book on nutrition, SuperfoodsRx, suggests we “bathe our meals in berries” for optimal nutritional benefit and disease prevention. Berries such as wild blueberries have a high concentration of beneficial phytochemicals, making them more powerful than most other fruits when it comes to disease prevention. Douse a piece of fish with wild blueberry sauce, pair salads with berries, or cover desserts and breakfasts with them – using fresh frozen wild blueberries from the freezer (look for them in the frozen food section) is a convenient way to make them available by the cup at every meal.
A Month of Mood Boosters: Check out our month of ideas for incorporating fruits and vegetables into your meals – one for every day – or get started on your own list. Then, give us a comment that includes your favorite way of getting 5 cups a day. We might include it in an updated Month of Fruits and Veggies post! Photo courtesy of by estoril.
The 2012 TEDMED Conference, modeled after the famed TED talks, gathered thinkers and doers from around the world this past April to share exciting ideas and innovations in the fields of health and medicine.
Some videos from the conference, which was held at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and streamed live to audiences nationwide, have been made available to the public so an even wider population of people can take part in the presentations that addressed issues affecting all Americans, including innovations in disease prevention and cure, health care considerations and management, and pioneering ideas in diagnostics, genetics, medications and social issues.
If you are a health and medicine geek, you’ll want to browse the topics of these dynamic talks. Here are just some of the videos now online with ties to some of Wild About Health’s most talked about topics:
Judith Salerno & John Hoffman talk about the consequences of the obesity epidemic.
David Kirchhoff, the CEO of Weight Watchers talks about living and coping with today’s new “obsogenic” environment and why obesity isn’t about eating too much.
Franziska Michor investigates how to use math to decipher how cancer grows and how we can computationally crack the cancer code.
And there’s plenty more from this year and past years, including videos with Lance Armstrong, Dr. Oz and others. (Check out Calvin Harley and Elissa Epel’s 2011 presentation on how psychological stress causes our cells to age.)
An Interview with The Slim, Calm, Sexy Diet Author Keri Glassman – & New Video!
Keri Glassman says she was born to do exactly what she is doing today. Even in seventh grade, the author and founder of Nutritious Life™ had nutrition on her mind. “My childhood friend tells me she remembers me being in science class and saying, ‘My body is craving vitamin E, I am going to eat almonds!’” recalls Glassman. “Barf! Was I that dorky?” It was a youthful dorkiness that turned into a life passion – not for dieting, but for being good to her body. And it led her down a path of helping others do the same.
Today, in her private practice in New York City, she works with five other Registered Dietitians to preach the Nutritious Life™ mantra, an approach to diet and wellness that considers the whole body. She is also a recognizable face on TV, a contributing editor for Women’s Health magazine, and the author of three books. The latest is The Slim Calm Sexy Diet (Rodale 2012) a whole body diet strategy with a three-prong focus – losing weight, feeling good, and conquering stress, a feat that in Glassman’s hands seems remarkably achievable.
A New Role for Weight Loss
One of the messages of The Slim Calm Sexy Diet is that weight loss doesn’t have to be a diet’s central focus. Instead, it is a “side effect” of other good choices such as reduced stress, balanced hormones, and increased activity. It’s a message Glassman says people are just beginning to receive. “Most people focus on diet, diet, and diet to lose unwanted pounds. And, sometimes, diet and exercise,” she says. “But, often they don’t put enough emphasis on the importance of sleep, managing stress, or simply being properly hydrated.”
For example, Glassman says the most common reason people are sluggish in the afternoon is due to dehydration, and she recommends starting each day with a drink of water with lemon. She is strong in her conviction that simple changes in things like water intake and sleep habits can make a significant difference in our health. “When you sleep well, your hormones are in a better place to help you lose weight,” she says. “The same goes for when you manage stress. By focusing on these other life factors, a person begins to feel a whole lot better and lose weight.”
Author Keri Glassman
“I Can Eat Blueberries!”
While fruits and veggies are crucial to living the slim, calm, sexy life, limitations are not. In a recent Nutritious Life newsletter, Glassman writes that her number one chill-out indulgence is a margarita with guacamole and chips. It may not sound like the musings of the author of a popular diet book, but it fits perfectly with Glassman’s philosophy of what she calls “eating empowered, not deprived”. She strives for stress-free living, including plenty of time for pampering (treats provide emotional and physical benefits) and for eating things she loves. Recipes like Raspberry Ricotta French Toast, which shows up in The Slim Calm Sexy Diet, sound indulgent, and they are. But as with all the recipes in the book, the ingredients are nutrient dense, so they are also flavorful, satisfying, and functional. The French Toast is made with multigrain bread, chopped pecans, honey, eggs, and cinnamon – all foods that provide body benefits.
An important principle of eating to be slim, calm, and sexy is changing our relationship with food: ending the on-and-off dieting and making eating a conscious, harmonious, enjoyable experience. Glassman knows first-hand about the starving/overeating roller coaster. Her struggle was with just 15 pounds, but it was enough to blow up into a war. “It made me mental,” she says. But gaining control of yo-yo dieting created a calm that in turn empowered her to remain in control of all her eating. Her own epiphany was a moment in which her negative mantra of “I can’t eat the cake,” turned into the more affirming, “I can eat blueberries!” and her quest to eat plenty of delicious, indulgent foods while maintaining health turned into a mission.
One of the ideas that threads through The Slim Calm Sexy Diet is that being hungry only contributes daily stress, which increases stress hormones responsible for weight gain, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, among other health problems. The book includes healthy tips, weekly workout plans and easy-to-prepare recipes that use nutrient-dense foods that help steer the reader toward mind and body bliss and keep us calm, slim, and inspired to turn on the sexy. Calm foods include berries, for example, because they are rich in vitamin C and combat stress by lowering blood pressure levels and cortisol levels. Slim foods include those that deliver fiber for few calories, such as artichokes, or that increase “burn” like chilis, and sexy foods include those that increase fertility (peaches) and boost libido (watermelon).
Accessible Science
Glassman, a certified nutritionist, has always supported her diet recommendations with solid scientific evidence. “When you understand the science behind why blueberries are good for your heart health, your mind, and your skin, you are more motivated to want to eat blueberries and guess what? Weight loss also follows,” she says. The O2 Diet, (Rodale Books 2010) her previous book, an antioxidant-based diet that turns research into something accessible and easy to implement.
The O2 program acknowledges the importance of antioxidants in health and disease prevention. Because antioxidants protect against free radicals, they are crucial in preventing forms of cancer, heart disease, and symptoms of aging. Glassman uses the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) scale for the basis of the program. ORAC is the measurement of antioxidant protection provided by foods, and it’s an important measurement to keep in mind when it comes to making healthy food decisions. It’s also one that can sometimes elude consumers as they shop for foods at the grocery store. Glassman says the easiest way to start increasing the ORAC scores of the foods in our diet is to start with some simple changes. First, she advises ramping up veggie and fruit intake, focusing on healthy fats, and switching to only whole grains. Next, she advises focusing on the darkest, most colorful veggies and fruits. With these small steps, she says, we’ll automatically be getting more antioxidants, and our ORAC quotient will climb.
Keri on Access Hollywood: Indulge in sweets to slim this summer!
Slim, Calm, Sexy Wild Blueberries
Wild blueberries not only serve as an excellent “calm” food due to their influence on the brain, they are an indispensible part of Glassman’s vision of the balanced life. (See the video of Keri Glassman discussing Slim Calm Sexy with a Fox News affiliate in Michigan.) Wild blueberries provide the high antioxidant content that is the key to health and disease prevention, and Glassman also likes them because they are loaded with fiber, which aids digestive health and keeps us full. “And of course, because they just taste so good!” she says. Her favorite combination is wild blueberries in a kale salad with pine nuts or mixed into a side dish of quinoa, which offers powerful flavor, satisfaction, and nutrition.
As part of a diet plan for achieving slim, calm, sexiness, wild blueberries figure prominently in Glassman’s recommended three meals and two snacks per day. For breakfast she recommends wild blueberries combined with protein-rich cottage cheese. She also recommends revisiting wild blues in the afternoon as a wonderful way to indulge mid-day. There’s no need to limit yourself to just a sprinkle – instead, she recommends eating blues by the spoonful, layered between yogurt in a parfait dish and topped with a bit of chocolate.
If being slimmer, calmer, and sexier sounds like a recipe for a great summer, Glassman offers the incentive of losing up to 20 pounds on her diet the first six weeks. But the promise of a new relationship with food extends to all seasons. After understanding how food can put your life in blissful balance, you may never find that twenty pounds again. Instead, you can look forward to a sexier, calmer, if smaller, you.
You can learn about Keri Glassman’s book, or find out more about her philosophy of healthy eating and living at NutritiousLife.com
Blueberries have been honored with the “brain food” label for some time — even before we understood exactly what was meant by the term. For nutritionists, researchers, doctors, and even the layperson, it was clear that blueberries, especially the small, nutrient-dense wild blueberry, had an effect on brain clarity, brain performance, memory, and motor skills.
Through the years, researchers were able to understand more about why that moniker was so appropriate. They isolated components like antioxidants, and they began to gather data on which antioxidants affected brain function and brain aging. They discovered advantages for the heart, for cancer prevention, for inflammation, and for digestive and vision issues as well.
Research into brain health and blueberries is becoming well documented and better understood. Now, exciting new research reported last week provides additional evidence that a simple addition to the diet may help cognitive function and prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
New Research on Cognitive Health
The long-term study, conducted on humans by Harvard Researchers, is part of the Nurse’s Health Study. This study gathered data from 121,700 female, registered nurses between the ages of 30 and 55. They provided data beginning in 1976, and since 1980, reported on their food consumption and were tested for their cognitive function. The result of the study showed that those who ate more servings of blueberries and strawberries preserved their brain function to a greater degree than those who ate less.
The amounts consumed by nurses who were part of the study were completely manageable, topping out at around a serving or more per day, and the study showed the more intake the better. Those who consumed the most berries were able to delay cognitive aging by up to two and a half years. It will be no surprise to those who follow nutrition that some familiar compounds in these berries were at work: anthocyanidins (an anthocyanin counterpart) and flavonoids, which have powerful antioxidant properties, were found to be particularly effective in areas of intellectual performance, memory, and brain performance related to aging.
Brain Power & Blue
According to the study, smaller amounts of blueberries compared with strawberries were shown to make the difference in inhibiting cognitive decline. The study suggests, as reported in Huff Post Healthy Living, that eating one or more servings of blueberries or two or more servings of strawberries each week made the difference. These strikingly manageable amounts may be because of the concentrated nutrition, dark antioxidant-rich skin, and high skin-to-pulp ratio that is present in blueberries, especially wild blueberries.
Researchers allow that the study is not definitive – studies into the brain-berry connection is just beginning. For example, we have yet to understand exactly how these influential antioxidants work, and have not yet isolated the component that acts on the brain. We don’t yet know if these components act in conjunction with other components, or even with other foods. So what makes this study so important, and what does it mean to us as consumers right now?
Why This Study is Important to You
1) It will help change our behavior. According to press, the berry-brain study is the first large, epidemiologic study of the berry, something heartening to researchers and nutritionists alike. Studies devoted to nutritional health are simply less exciting and less funded than those that promise new, non-food breakthroughs. Too bad: the knowledge we obtain as a result can have major implications. This study provides crucial new information that substantiates a less-than-sexy but ultimately powerfully nutritious food. While there has been previous research into the benefits of eating blueberries, and in particular the benefits to the brain, this new research helps to add to the evidence and may actually begin to shift our behavior.
2) The amounts are easy to achieve. This latest study was on humans living a normal life. Unlike well-known studies of mice consuming highly concentrated unmanageable amounts of nutritional components, this study indicates that just a few servings per week is all it might take to create a major health difference. According to the lead study author, Dr. Elizabeth Devore, a “simple dietary modification” was used to tests cognitive health, and it’s one accessible to all of us.
3) Improvement is significant and measurable. Results of the study indicate that those who consumed the most antioxidant-rich berries showed the most significant reduction in cognitive decline, with the largest delay being two and a half years. This sort of outcome is not just helpful for the individual; it could also add up to major gains for society at large.
4) It has implications for Alzheimer’s disease. Berry consumption could be one way to combat one of the more dire health issues facing an aging population. Alzheimer’s Association experts say that cognitive decline develops over many years and early signs of decline could indicate future dementia or Alzheimer’s onset. By consuming berries, you may be doing much more than just improving brain fog or senior moments – you may be protecting yourself against a destructive age-related disease.
5) You can begin today. To begin brain health preservation, there is no doctor’s appointment and no prescription necessary. Simply getting a serving of wild blueberries today can mark the beginning of your efforts to maintain brain health as you age. Visit your grocery store, make a stop at the freezer case, and buy them frozen, so getting a serving every day is easy. It could be one of the best things you’ll do for your health and your head.
A major health symposium that we told you about back in 2010 is back by popular demand, and it’s continuing the important mission it started two years ago. It’s the Food for Your Whole Life Health Symposium, and it’s bringing some of the best minds in health and nutrition together to educate the public and professionals in the field about food and lifestyle choices that are essential for better health. This year, Food for Your Whole Life will convene at the Hilton in New York City on June 3rd and 4th, promising attendees the tools they need to “improve our nation’s health and be empowered knowing that nutritious food is tasty and delicious and an exciting and flavorful way to improve your health.”
The crowd-drawing presenters that wowed in 2010 return as well, including Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of “The Dr. Oz Show”, Dr. Michael F. Roizen, author of the best-selling YOU series, which he co-authored with Dr. Oz, and regular on-air personality Dr. David L. Katz. They will be joined by other internationally-recognized researchers, clinicians, educators and health experts who will present nutrition tips for achieving optimal health as well as their own new research and theories on nutrition. (If you are thinking of attending, you can get a taste of the 2010 event by browsing the live blog from 2010 courtesy of Don’t (White) Sugar Coat It.)
Understanding the Effect of Food on Health
Those in the healthcare field, including physicians, dieticians, nurses, and educators will attend the Food for Your Whole Life Health Symposium to share information that will support the clients and patients they see in their practice and learn about philosophies that are relevant for today’s attitudes about nutrition and health. This year’s event specifically focuses on the aged-based diet, including food-based dietary patterns for the general population and specific groups.
While the first half of the Symposium is targeted to health professionals, Sunday, June 3 events are open to the public. They will include presentations by Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen, exhibits, cooking demos, exercise sessions and BMI testing. It’s a perfect opportunity for anyone, whether you serve others or just serve yourself and your family, to learn more about improving health through nutrition.
Live blogging the event?Let us know and we’ll keep our readers updated.
Defend Your Body!
Get involved in good health by telling others how you “defend your body.” Join forces with Food for Your Whole Life by sharing your own personal principle that helps you achieve optimum health as part of the 100 Great Ways to Defend Your Body Challenge. Whether it’s a hot bath, eating fruit with every meal, or doing yoga, you could win a health club membership or a 5-pound bag of California Walnuts just for sharing your healthy tidbit!
Getting the recommended daily servings of fruit has real advantages. It can reduce disease, control weight, and provide health benefits as we age. Buying and eating real fruit can also support communities and growers and make a positive contribution to a national health crisis.
Reports from the CDC concerning how many Americans get the recommended servings of fruit and vegetables consistently reveal that most of us fall short. Yet, most Americans say they like fruit, and research providing evidence of the importance of real food nutrition is at an all time high. Are we avoiding eating fruit servings? Or do we have good intentions, but for one reason or another we don’t achieve our goals?
The answer is likely a little of both. We’ve uncovered four reasons behind our inability to get enough good, real fruit into our diet, and some real ways to avoid these traps in our own diets.
1. Deceptive Fruit Snacks
One of the biggest reasons we are missing our servings of real fruit is that we are eating foods that promise fruit servings instead. As a result, we feel like we are getting the benefit of them. The primary reason for this dietary misstep? The sheer proliferation of fruit snacks. There are hundreds of fruit snacks that look healthy and are marketed as providing fruit servings, but in fact, the first ingredient is often sugar, not fruit.
There is a growing market for packaged fruit – it is a burgeoning sector that is taking advantage of our desire to eat nutritiously. What’s more, the pitch is working. Kids love fruit snacks, because they have billions of dollars in marketing telling them so, and snacks are ingeniously designed to wake up our taste buds and addict our brains. Moms like them too, because they appear to be guaranteeing a nutritious snack, and they assuage any guilt we may have about poor nutrition. It’s true that kids need to up their fruit intake, and fruit snacks are filling that need. But more often than not, all these foods are doing are blurring the line between fruit and candy in a way that renders it undetectable.
Packaged fruit snacks get a free pass, and they deter our ability to get real servings in the process. For example, if a snack has at least 2% in the U.S. or Canada, it can be legitimately labeled as being made with real fruit. Fruit snacks labeled as all-natural can include sky-high amounts of sugar, and none of the beneficial fiber that real fruits provide, which helps us feel full and satisfied. The more fruit snacks we include in our diet, the less room we have for real fruit, and less incentive to get them, because we think we already have. But real fruit provides benefits that fruit snacks, no matter how good their claims are, do not. Fruit has synergistic nutrients that work in conjunction with one another, and work in conjunction with other foods in a way that is advantageous to health and disease prevention. And this is something that has thus far eluded manufacturers of foods and supplements in their effort to replicate it.
2. Fake Fruit
One reason we aren’t eating our servings of fruit is that we are actually getting burned by fake fruit. Over the last year or so, much has been made about the existence of fake fruit, including, notably, fake blueberries, and the offending brands have been called out for using these fruit-like impostors.
Fake fruit can look like fruit and be marketed as such, but those blue globs can actually be cubes of partially hydrogenated oil and dextrose, not blueberries. It’s cheaper for companies to use trans fats as fruit, and it works, because we think we’re augmenting a less-than-healthy food with a spark of healthy fruit.
Fake-fruit foods can be pancake mixes, muffins, cereal, and granola bars, for starters. While front-of-label packaging on these foods may tout fruit, reading the label will reveal “made with imitation blueberries”. Avoid this fake fruit trap by throwing in a handful of frozen blueberries yourself if you are making pancakes, rather than relying on fat globs to provide the color. Do the same for cereal and muffins, or take the time to make your own healthy granola bars with real ingredients. Try these Blueberry and Maple Granola Bars from the Daily Green or our own Wild Blueberry Bars. Also, when you do buy packaged products, buy those that are reliable in their use of real ingredients, like these popular no-faux foods from Stonewall Kitchen, for example.
3. Convenience & Price
Often, we give up a fruit serving because it’s easier to throw packaged food in our bag. A Pop-Tart® or a Go-GURT® won’t spoil, and you can carry it anywhere. It’s easier to pop a fruit snack into our lunch bag than to slice an apple and wrap it up. And, we tend to balk at the prices of fresh fruit on display at the grocery store. Its expense, not to mention the risk of it spoiling and the cost of that waste, doesn’t seem worth it.
But real health comes from real food, not from boxes. By limiting processed foods, it leaves more room for real. First, taking the extra time to buy and prepare fruits to have as snacks and to accompany meals is an essential habit to hone. Medicinenet.com suggests making fresh fruit bowl part of your décor, and making a point to dress up every plate with a fruit or veggie. But the best advice to combat inconvenience, especially when price is an issue, is to opt for frozen. Frozen is as nutritious as fresh and available year-round. It provides attractive price points, especially purchased in large amounts, and it doesn’t spoil, eliminating costly waste.
Got a convenient way to get your fruit servings? Tell us.
4. Our Brain
Sometimes it’s the inscrutable grey matter in our skulls that’s the culprit when it comes to eschewing fruit servings. The desire for food that satisfies cravings goes way beyond just having a sweet tooth. That’s because the addictive quality of foods – especially foods that combine sugar, salt, and fat in optimum proportion – create pathways in our brains that simulate addiction and make us go back for more. It’s why we can eat an apple or a bowl or blueberries and feel satisfied, but comparable calories consumed from a snack cake only makes us want more.
This chemical reaction is no match for self-discipline. In fact, Dr. Oz considers sugar as addictive as drugs. Studies in rats show that stopping this food from entering the body can actually result in symptoms of withdrawal. Is there a solution to the strong pull of sugary foods that are edging out the fruits in our diets? There is.
– First, detox. Dr. Oz says a 28-day sugar rehab (right in your own home) will reset your body’s craving for foods and start you on a path to enjoying and being satisfied by real food again.
– Second, get healthy. Getting enough sleep, eating nutritious, protein-rich foods, and keeping your blood sugar stable by eating regularly (not starving or skipping) will improve your chance of succumbing to cravings.
– Then, choose. Don’t let Big Food dictate your behavior. It can be easier said than done, but understanding the hold food chemistry has on us is the first step to freeing ourselves from its grip.
– Finally, change: your kitchen, your shopping cart, and your kids’ lunch. After that, move into changing your kids’ lunch room, joining community efforts to support policy about food labeling and food growers, and taking a stand against the billions of dollars brilliantly spent on junk food marketing, especially to kids.
