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Healthy Foodie Principles: How to Be a Healthy Foodie “The
Healthy Foodie” loves to eat, cook, eat out, and share good times with friends and family—and also wants
to live a long, vigorous life. Our philosophy is you can have both: revel in the enjoyment of food
and keep yourself in good shape.
Mediterranean Diet
Maintaining a Healthy Weight
New! Submit your delicious and
healthy recipes to us to include in the on-line data base! We know
that you are creative and interested in not compromising flavor just because you eat healthfully. Submit your favorite
recipes to us at healthyfoodierecipes@gmail.com, include your name and city where you live. We'll let you know when your recipe is included (with credits to you!)
on the site.
 Use your last fruits of the season
with this yummy and nutritious dish! Baked Squash
with Whole Wheat Couscous and Fruits Serves 8
1 large butternut squash 3 cups water 1 orange, washed and petiole removed (hard, knobby end) 1 7-ounce bag dried figs 1 8-ounce bag dried prunes 2 cups whole wheat couscous 1 teaspoon dried tarragon 1/8 teaspoon anise seed ¼ teaspoon black pepper ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper ¼ teaspoon ground clove 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 6-ounce bag dried cranberries 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives 1 tablespoon olive oil, or spread with plant sterols
(e.g. Smart Balance, Take Control, Benecol, etc…) ½ cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut squash length-wise and remove seeds.
Place on baking sheet cut-face down and bake until squash is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove skin
and seeds and cut flesh into cubes. Cut the orange into quarters and process in food processor until
finely ground. Add dried figs and prunes and pulse until coarsely chopped. Meanwhile,
heat water in medium pot on high until boiling. Add couscous, ground fruit and next 8 ingredients.
Turn heat down to low and simmer for 8 – 10 minutes until couscous is tender. Remove from
heat and add oil and nuts. Gently combine squash cubes and couscous.
(This dish may be prepared ahead of time to this point and refrigerated until one hour before serving).
Garnish, if desired, with pecans. Bake for 30 minutes, or until thoroughly warmed.
Can Food Contaminants Affect the Risk
of Obesity in Children? The short answer is 'Yes!'. Pesticides used to improve food
production have been implicated in a variety of diseases, including cancers, premature puberty and obesity. The foods
with the highest levels of pesticides include apples, celery, strawberries, peaches, spinach, imported nectarines, imported
grapes, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, domestic blueberries, lettuce and kale. Buy organically produced fruits and vegetables
whenever possible. But even when you do, give your produce an extra rinse to remove any residue.
Update on Heart Disease in Women More women die from heart disease every year than men, but this increased risk is not
well publicized. Women tend to have symptoms that are not as typical as those in men; many symptoms are vague
feelings in the chest, making clinical diagnosis a challenge for the health care community. EKG's are not very sensitive
at detecting coronary artery disease (the precursor to heart attacks). If women have symptoms, however, stress tests have
a great track record in published studies in detecting disease.
Prevention of heart
disease is key to the maintenance of health and independence. Central risk factors that are modifiable include avoiding
cigarette smoking, treatment of high cholesterol and blood pressure, control of diabetes, prevention of obesity, inclusion
of healthy diet and exercise. The mediterranean diet has been shown to prevent and treat heart disease as well
as other chronic illnesses. The
risk of heart disease can be reduced by over 80% in women who maintain a healthy diet, exercise at least 30 minutes a
day, maintain a healthy weight (BMI < 25), do not smoke, and consume light to moderate levels of alcohol intake. Modifying
your diet and exercise habits requires changing what you do in your free time and changing how you think about,
buy and prepare food. These changes can be huge, but learning to slowly incorporate small changes over time can
add up to large differences over time. Be gentle with yourself. Anticipate set backs; we juggle many
responsibilies that can undermine our efforts. But make a commitment to improve your health, and do the best you can.
Our review on the Mediterranean diet and heart healthy recipes can help you achieve your goals.
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Thursday, November 12, 2009
Healthy Foodie Holiday Survival Guide -- Part 1
Going to parties? Eating at restaurants? Family feasts to attend (and/or host)? Candy turning up from
Santa? Too busy to exercise, too stressed to sleep enough? The list of challenges to our health over the next six weeks or
so is very long indeed. What's a healthy foodie to do?
Let's start with the parties. If it's potluck (or even if it's not and you know the hosts
well enough to bring a dish to add), my strategy is to bring something that is
going to improve the health profile of the buffet table. Truth be told, I almost always bring a veggie dish because so many parties would have nothing vegetable if it
weren't for my contribution. The idea here is not to forego all holiday treats -- there'll be plenty of that -- but to make
sure you can balance some of the high-calorie goodies with more nutritious dishes.
My veggie dishes are always
appreciated and get eaten as fast as anything else on the table! I'm not saying bring cut up celery and carrots (not that there's anything wrong with that), but instead, use your imagination with winter veggies such as Brussels sprouts, acorn
or butternut squash, or year-round favorites like broccoli or green beans. Just don't add cream of mushroom soup or other
fat-laden ingredients.
This week, Dr. Andrew Weil posted lists of party appetizers to avoid, and those that are better for you.
The good ones:
1. Crudites--Yes, the cut-up raw veggies, but without unhealthy dips. Weil suggests a yogurt dip, and I would add hummus as
a good-for-you dip for veggies.
2. Mixed nuts --
Nuts are filling and very tasty; be careful not to go overboard though, since they are full of calories. Go for unsalted
nuts if at all possible. You won't get as thirsty for more caloric beverages (why do you think bars put out bowls of salty
snacks but to make you drink more?), and too much salt is not beneficial to your health.
3. Smoked salmon -- because of its high Omega-3 fatty acid content. It's tasty too, but of
course also expensive. You won't be tempted to overeat this because there's probably not going to be a whole lot of it!
4. Grilled figs and blue cheese -- kind of an odd
choice (who has access to fresh figs this deep into November?), but he recommends figs for their vitamins and fiber along
with "a little bit" of the cheese for calcium and protein. Sounds good to me!
Those to avoid? Dips, cocktail franks and mini-meatballs, anything fried, and foie gras.
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The Healthy Foodie website is all about: Helping you make healthy choices
when you eat out Finding
ways to add physical activity - exercise - to your daily routines Tips for snacking smart Creative ideas to add more fruits and veggies to your family's diet Separating fad nutrition and diets
from sound scientific information How to eat healthy on a budget Raising children with healthy eating habits Controlling/losing weight ... AND MUCH MORE!
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The kids brought home hazelnuts for the holidays! We made ice cream
and added them to brown rice with raspberries, garlic and parsley for the family dinner.
| Chilled Asparagus and Tomato Salad |
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| with Greek Yogurt and Tarragon |
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| Grilling Sesame Ginger Kebabs |
The second year Family Medicine residents at St. Elizabeth
learn to make grilled tofu.
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| Terry's Turf Club in Cincinnati |
The Healthy Foodie goes to Terrys Turf Club! Eating healthfully doesn't
mean you can't enjoy going to this fun restaurant, known for having the best hamburgers in town! See our restaurant
review by clicking on the picture.
How did these pounds stick to me? Why
is it that weight seems to accumulate as our birthdays mount? Our
understanding of fat (weight) gain is not an exact science. Several theories suggest that weight gain tends to level
off with simple added calories. However, over time our caloric needs drop, making even small increases in our intake
stick to us like glue. The US national assessment health
(called NHANES) was started in the 70's and is reassessed every 5 years or so. The first assessment determined that
the average BMI for women aged 20 - 29 was 23 (19 - 25 is normal). In 2003, the average BMI for women aged 50 - 59 was
29 (overweight). These theoretically are the same women, which reflects a 30 pound weight gain over the 30 years.
One pound a year. The weight slips on insidiously, one pound at a time.
What kind of change is needed to cause an increase of 1 pound a year? Eating one extra 60-calorie cookie
a day. Or drinking 1 ounce of sugar-sweetened drink per day. Or walking 1 minute less a day. Small
changes over a life time make a big difference.
Whatever you do to control weight, you must do for the rest
of your life. Weight gain is insidious. Weight maintenance or loss needs constant vigilence!
Weight loss / maintenance is difficult. Watch those
small weight gains, as obesity happens 1 pound at a time. My book, Fat Cells, Beauty and You!,
brings together how your body stores calories, why exercise is important, and how to determine how much of which
foods is best for you. Psychological and spiritual factors of why we eat are also reviewed. And it's a bargain!
--- short, easy to read and inexpensive on Amazon.
Go to the book
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Pama's Healthy Foodie blog
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