UnDiet...Week 41

Hello UnDieters! 

Don't those look good? 

Are any of you still eating an apple a day? If you can remember back, oh-so-long ago, that was our very first challenge in this year of healthy eating. Sometimes the simplest missions are the best. 


You would easily be forgiven if you had abandoned your resolve to eat a daily apple through the summer, with all of that blushing summer produce. However, now that the berries, peaches and plums have been either preserved or composted, it is time to get reacquainted with the fruits of fall labour. So as we get back in touch with our original goal, let's up the ante just a little bit. You are all now very well established UnDieters and it shouldn't faze you at all! 


For this week, let's eat one apple AND one pear a day...and keep it up through New Year's Day. These beautiful fruits are the very best that BC has to offer right now. Crisp, sweet and packed with fibre, eating an apple and a pear everyday will help boost your intake of fruit and veg in a season when it can be all too simple to forget produce. Red skins will provide anthocyanins for a healthy heart; apples feature quercetin to support respiratory health and copper in pears helps build SOD, a super antioxidant in the body. Just what this busy season calls for, I think...


To your health!
Desiree

UnDiet...Week 25

Hello Summer (and UnDieters)!!


I hope you are enjoying the glorious summer sunshine; it has finally graced Vancouver with its presence for 2 consecutive days and I am feeling optimistic that it is here to stay.


So now that summer is here in our Pacific Northwest home, that can only mean one thing...berries. So this week, it is time to celebrate in true UnDiet fashion and commit to eating 1 cup of fresh berries every day. 


Berries are one of the most nutrient dense fruits that nature offers us. Not only are they full of filling fibre and glow restoring antioxidants, their nutrients also help to stave off heart disease, cancer and other chronic disease. Berries are also slow to release their energy, making them a great choice for maintaining stable blood sugars. Did I also mention, they are delicious? Nothing beats the succulent crush of berry juice dribbling down your chin - it is like summer itself. Choose whatever tickles your fancy at the market: strawberries or blueberries, raspberries, cherries or blackberries. Just enjoy a cup full everyday.


What to do with berries? Snack on them instead of something starchy at movie time; swirl them in yogurt for a snack or bake them with an oat topping for a treat. And if you really want to earn bonus points, go find yourself a few flats of berries and either can them or freeze them to enjoy local berries off season. 


Go berry pickin', people!
Desiree

UnDiet...Week 21

Hello UnDieters,

I hope you are enjoying the summer sun. Did you get out to the farmers market today? My friends Heather, Melissa and I visited the Trout Lake market in Vancouver and I can't wait to show you the result of our trip. Hopefully in a week or two...

For today, however, let's talk UnDiet. With all that gorgeous summer produce out there, the same old crackers or pasta just won't cut it. You need a worthy grain to show off next to those heirloom tomatoes. So this week's challenge is to try a new whole grain. While some of us still might view grains as unneccessary carbs, let me differentiate a true whole grain from mere starch.

When research on the health benefits of whole grains started surfacing, manufacturers responded by adding "whole grains" to their products. Across the supermarket, "made with whole grain!" shouted at you from breads, granola bars, cereals and even yogurts. This marketing classic can be very deceptive: made WITH whole grain doesn't mean 100%. There is no guarantee how much whole grain you are getting. Technically, a product can be considered a whole grain if it contains all three parts of the original grain: the endosperm, the germ and the bran.Looking for a food made from 100% whole grains is a step in the right direction; however, eating intact whole grains is not the same as eating sugary cereals, aka candy, with added fibre.  However, you can then pulverize, gelatinize and puff up and sweeten the grain however you want to and still sell yourself as whole grain goodness. But whole grain Ritz crackers are not the same as cooking up some barley.

Intact, unprocessed whole grains are slowly digested, providing sustained energy that won't spike blood sugars. They are rich in minerals and vitamins and contain antioxidant phytochemicals. They also provide protein and fibre to help you feel satisfied. Most crackers, granola bars and pasta just spike your blood sugar and leave you hungry. Intact, unprocessed whole grains are a true superfood that are well worth the calories. They are also economical, great for any healthy eater on a budget.

For this week, go to your bulk bins or grains aisle and choose something you haven't cooked with before. Try barley as a base for risotto, black rice for a rich twist on traditional sushi, buckwheat toasted in a salad, amaranth sprinkled over berries and yogurt or even teff baked into a homemade granola bar. Teff??? Oh yes, get ready to be surprised by how many whole grains are out there that you haven't heard of before. Many grains cook up just like rice, but not all, so check out this cooking chart from dietitian Leslie Beck's website for water proportions and cooking time.

Note! Couscous is not a grain...it is a pasta. Ditto orzo. And buckwheat is not wheat.

I would love to hear how you used your grains this week....enjoy!
Desiree

UnDiet...Week Ten

Hello UnDieters....we are into the double digits now! Talk about commitment. Hopefully by now you are starting to feel just a little different. A little more regular and a little less bloated. Perhaps there is a bit more energy coursing through your system. It is time to continue supercharging your body with nutrition and start incorporating more nutrient dense power foods into your life.

Let's start tackling seeds. We talk all the time about the health benefits of nuts but seeds are largely forgotten. Seeds are filled with heart and skin loving unsaturated fats, vital minerals and fibre (yes, more fibre...get used to it!). They are the total package. For our first week of seeds, we are going to try some classics.

Pumpkin seeds boast anti-inflammatory omega 3 ALA and plenty of relaxing magnesium. A natural source of plant sterols for your heart, pumpkin seeds are also rich in immune boosting zinc. Sunflower seeds contain a synergistic blend of vitamin E and selenium in addition to more sterols and magnesium.

For this week, buy either sunflower or pumpkin seeds (or both if you're keen!) and add a couple of tablespoons to a meal or snack a few times this week. Add your seeds to trail mixes, granola or cereal. You can sprinkle them on salads or even over pasta for some crunch. Snack on them on their own or try them stirred into yogurt. Ensure you buy raw, unsalted seeds and store them in the refrigerator to preserve their quality. If they start to smell like paint thinner, it is time to toss them.

To your health,
Desiree

UnDiet...Week Eight!

Good Morning UnDieters! This one is a wee bit late, so my apologies....
I am going to continue on my one woman mission to increase your fibre intake so this week, I want to introduce you to sprouted grain breads. By now, we have all heard of whole grains and why they are so much better for us: more fibre, more essential fats and naturally occurring vitamins and minerals. However, as is true with much of our modern "food", we also need to think about how those whole grains are processed to complete the health picture.
While whole grain breads are a step up from white breads, have you ever noticed that some of them feel just as soft and squishy as their white counterparts? The healthiest end of the whole grain spectrum is the whole grain itself: a kernel of whole wheat, steel cut oats, whole quinoa or other such goodies. These are grains as nature intended. Chewy. Dense. Full of flavour. Packed with nutrition. The more human beings interfere with the whole grain goodness, the less healthy it becomes.

When whole grain flours are pulverized into flours and baked and expanded into a loaf of bread, you get a little extra fibre but much of the integrity of the original whole grain is gone. The resulting fluffy loaf is digested and broken down into sugars almost as quickly as its white cousin and isn't really that great for you, especially in comparison to the original whole grain. Sprouted grain breads are different. They are made from 100% whole grains which are then sprouted and crushed before being made into bread. They are never pulverized into flour. The result? Sprouted grain breads are denser and heavier, with more fibre and protein. A single slice of sprouted grain bread can have 5 grams of fibre and 5 grams of protein, a stark contrast from the average 2 or 3 grams of fibre of lesser whole grain breads.

So this weekend, buy a 100% sprouted grain bread and swap it in for your usual bread. This is one of those simple swaps that can make a big difference! If you eat 2 pieces of toast for breakfast, switching to sprouted grain can leave you fuller and more satisfied all morning long. In addition, that 10 grams of fibre you just ate will get you more than 1/3 of the way towards your daily fibre goal for a woman and about 1/4 of the way for a man. Add that to the bran buds and beans you are already now enjoying and many of you will be getting all the fibre you need. And feeling more energized for it.

My job is done. (For fibre anyways....44 more weeks of healthy tips coming your way. Looks like January 2012 is going to be filled with smug self satisfaction instead of more resolutions.)

Need help finding sprouted grain breads? Check out my Healthy Grocery List for a couple of good brands.

Desiree

Recipe...Artichoke and White Bean Dip

You know that feeling...you kind of want a treat. But you don't actually want a meal completely devoid of nutrition. That was me a couple of days ago. I didn't want junk food...but I didn't want a typical meal either. Voila! A sauteed veggie dip that was inspired by artichoke dip but made healthier via white beans. The beans add fibre and protein without all the extra fat. Would have been a good Super Bowl snack. Oh well, there is always 2012! 


Recipe: Artichoke and White Bean Dip


1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 red onion, diced
1 med zucchini, diced
2 med carrots, diced
1/2 cup artichoke hearts, chopped
salt and pepper


1 540 ml can of cannellini beans, mashed
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup of feta
1/2 cup of manchego 
1/8 tsp rosemary
Pinch chili flakes


1/2 cup of parmiggiano reggiano

3 roma tomatoes, diced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.


Heat oil in a medium skillet and saute red onion until softened, about 3 minutes. Add zucchini and carrots and saute until carrots are tender crisp, about 5 minutes. Add artichoke hearts and warm through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.


Turn off heat and mix in cannellini beans, sour cream, feta and manchego cheeses. Add in rosemary and chili flakes.


Spread into 9 inch pyrex pie plate or another oven proof dish. Sprinkle with parmiggiano and bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until bubbly. Top with diced tomatoes and serve with good quality tortilla chips (I like Que Pasa).


You can definitely vary the cheeses - just be sure to include at least one sharply flavoured cheese or the dip will be pretty bland.


Enjoy!
Desiree


PS...this would count towards your UnDiet bean servings for the week. Don't say I don't look out for ya!

UnDiet...Week Six

Whether you are vegetarian or worship at the temple of bacon, we could all use a little more veggie protein in our lives. While meat can be a healthy part of a good diet, we tend to eat way too much of it and forget that plants have protein too. So the challenge this week is to work a little of my favourite veggie protein into your diet: beans. 
Yes, yes, it's the musical fruit...but it is also pretty close to a perfect food. Super high in fibre, beans are also a great source of vegetarian protein and slow burning carbohydrates. But it doesn't end there: full of magnesium, iron, B vitamins, potassium...and if you choose a richly coloured bean like kidney or black beans, chock a block with antioxidant pigments too. 


Don't like beans because they make you gassy? News flash: a little gas is good for you. One of the benefits of beans is that their "resistant" carbohydrates become food for healthy bacteria which helps keep your gut happy. Your system will get used to beans the more you eat them. If you are bothered by gas, the kind that doesn't seem to want to pass on its own, you have options. The standard treatment is Beano, which actually works. A more holistic approach is Asafoetida, which is an Ayurvedic herb that complements beans nicely from a digestive perspective. You can find it at Indian food shops and remember...just a tiny pinch is all you need.

So this week, welcome beans into your world at least twice. Not so bad, right? I will even help you out with some ideas!


1. Eat hummus with chopped veggies as a snack. Buy a good quality hummus with no unpronounceable ingredients or make your own tomorrow to pack in your lunch all week. It's easy...try this recipe.
2. If you regularly eat soups for lunch, just toss in a half cup of your favourite beans, rinsed and drained to boost the nutrition and help you feel more full all afternoon. 
3. Make your favourite chili with two different types of beans. 
4. Making a marinara? Substitute half of your usual amount of ground beef with canned lentils, rinsed and drained.
5. Taco night? Saute up some black beans instead of your regular ground meat (or add beans to your ground...you carnivore, you!).


So long, gassy jack.
Desiree

Eat...and teach your kids to eat well

As my little one turned six months old last week (don't even get me started on how quickly the time has gone) thoughts have turned to feeding baby. When it came to planning his introduction to solid foods, I chose not to feed him the ubiquitous white rice cereal. 


Why? A few reasons:


1. Aside from the iron that is added to it, plain rice cereal doesn't have a lot going for it, nutritionally speaking.
2. Since it will take a while for a new eater to eat substantial amounts, breast milk is still supplying 99% of his energy. I wanted to focus on nutrient dense foods instead of caloric filler.
3. During this phase of learning to eat and accept new foods, I wanted the foods I introduce to be preparation for the foods we are going to eat as a family, namely fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. 


So far he has eaten a variety of organic produce: carrots, acorn squash, garnet yams and avocado. The only food that got an amusing reaction was the avocado (kind of like a pucker and a shudder!) but after each squirm he still opened his mouth, eager for the next bite. I have been doing veggies before I go for fruits, with the idea that giving sweets first might make a child less willing to accept the more complex flavours of veggies.


Before I go any further, a disclaimer: while I am a dietitian, I am no expert on infant nutrition. I am speaking in this post from my own opinions and experience. 


In my work I often get questions from moms about how to get their kids to eat more vegetables. The question I always ask is, "have you fed your child vegetables from the very start?" The answer is usually "no". As parents, we tend to project our ideas about food onto our children such as "there is no way little Sally will like broccoli...". You want to know a secret? You teach your child what to like and dislike! It is all about what your child is accustomed to eating. How can you expect your child to want to eat vegetables if they were introduced to sweet, bland foods? Or worse, if you don't eat many vegetables yourself?  Consider your baby's first foods an opportunity to introduce them to the healthiest way of eating possible. It might even rub off on the entire family...


A couple of links you might find interesting:


I came across the White Out campaign today, spearheaded by Dr Alan Greene, a pediatrician. He is hoping to convince parents to substitute white rice cereal for whole grain rice cereal. This is a small step in the right direction of breaking our culture's obsession with super processed carbs. You can learn more about the campaign at WhiteOut Now! | DrGreene.com

For those of you in the greater Vancouver area looking to learn more about feeding your baby, check out Vitamin K Nutrition by a colleague, Kristen Yarker Edgar RD who teaches classes on feeding your baby so that you can have yourself a champion eater!


In good health,
Desiree

UnDiet...Week Three

Good Morning, UnDieters!


As of this morning, you are eating your apple a day and have sneakily trimmed some fat from your diet (and soon, your hips). Now it's time to get serious about fibre. The average Canadian only consumes about 14 grams of fibre a day, which is a far cry from the 25 to 38 grams recommended for better health. 


"Fibre, blah blah blah...." you say. "I have no issues in the 'going' department, so I must be fine when it comes to fibre" you say. 


Sure, staying "regular" is a key benefit of getting enough fibre but the benefits of roughage go way beyond logging bathroom time. Fibre ensures that the waste your body produces moves on out quickly, minimizing the amount of time you are exposed to potential toxins in your waste. That is why fibre is a key component to detoxification. 


On the way through your gut, fibre also grabs on to a few things you may not want sticking around. Like cholesterol. And fats. Fibre also helps to physically stretch your stomach and slow down the rate that your stomach empties, making you feel full and satisfied. Fibre helps delay the release of sugars into your bloodstream, helping keep blood sugars on an even keel to keep you energized and make weight loss easier to achieve.


So I am going to give you a trick to boosting your fibre intake. Get to know All Bran Buds with Psyllium. This dietitian's secret weapon delivers 11 grams of fiber in an 80 calorie, 1/3 cup serving along with a hefty dose of iron, magnesium and thiamin, a B vitamin. You can toss the buds on your favourite breakfast cereal, stir them into yogurt (or on ice cream....just not everyday please!) or hide them in a smoothie. No massive diet change required. Just a simple addition.


Check out the ingredients and nutrition facts for All Bran cereal. Looking for an organic option? Nature's Path Smart Bran is great...Gluten Free? I've got you covered...meet Enjoy Life Crunchy Flax

To your health!
Desiree


PS...I should mention that whenever I feature a product on my blog...it is NOT solicited by the company who makes the product. I will never feature any product I would not use myself and if ever a company asks me to feature something I already adore, I will be sure to be up front about it.

The UnDiet...Week One

Apples from my grandparent's trees

Good Morning and welcome to the UnDiet. 




No pills, powders or complex philosophies. Just one year, 52 simple changes and one healthier, more vibrant (and maybe tinier) you. 




This week's goal is "An apple a day". It really can keep the doctor away. So go buy 7 of your favourite apples and eat one every single day. That's it. I told you it would be easy.




Why apples? They are inexpensive, a local food for many of us and far overlooked in the nutrition department. A good source of fibre with plenty of antioxidants, they are an easy and delicious way to boost your defenses. You may eat the apple anyway you want as long as you consume the whole thing, so no peeling or just eating half. It would probably be better if you didn't bake it into a cake...but you're the boss.


If you like apples, keep eating one apple every day this month or even this year. Display your weekly apple supply in a nice fruit bowl on your counter as a reminder of your commitment to your health. Like all of the goals, the idea is to build goal upon goal so by December 31st you will have completely remade your diet one day at a time.


Learn more about BC apples at http://www.bctree.com/health/nutrition/apple-nutrition 


Now go back to sleep....Happy New Year!
Desiree

Losing it...the post baby diaries...Sept 14

I am so tired...I want to go back to sleep.

You can't go back to sleep...if you do, you won't have time to work out and get showered before A arrives for a visit.

But I am exhausted! Not sleeping is worse for me than not working out...and I could probably fit it in in the afternoon...

You know you won't...you have work to do this afternoon. Besides, you are starting to wake up. It is time to wake up. Turn on the DVD, lazy bones.

Sound familiar? That was my internal dialogue this morning before finally deciding to work out while I put my little one back to sleep, instead of going back to sleep myself. Yes, I am tired...but I feel way better that I worked out. And I would still be tired even if I got that last hour of sleep. The dark circles under my eyes have been cemented by weeks, not hours, of lost sleep.

Last week, I only worked out three times so I set myself the challenge of at least 4 times for this week. As of today, I am 2 for 2 and already, things are feeling like they "work" a little better. This is probably because I was so drastically out of shape by the time I gave birth that any little increment of improvement is evident :)The 25 minute ab work is getting easier (well, the first 5 minutes is...) but my devotion to the method is intact because I can see subtle changes already. And, my weight is down 3 more pounds....just 20 more to go! I have to admit, that this is probably way more about breastfeeding than working out at this point, but it is still motivating!

So what about my diet strategy? Right now, my only rule is that I have cut out the junk food. No chips, cookies, cakes, candy....just real food. It's funny that before I got pregnant, junk food wasn't such a big part of my lifestyle. I saved room for the good quality stuff...a nice dessert from a good restaurant, the occasional chips (my nutritional crack) and liberal amounts of cheese. But regular junk food? Rarely! Not worth the calories, in my opinion.

However, when I got pregnant...I turned into a human vending machine. Sure, I still ate all the amazing healthy foods that I always do, like dark leafy greens, whole grains and beans but for dessert or snack time...I wanted garbage. I would eat almost anything put in front of me: from generic nasty cake to twizzlers to cheap pastries and chocolate I had to have junk every single day. Talk about maternal AND professional guilt! The dietitian was mainlining processed sugar and fats to her unborn on a daily basis. I comforted myself with the thought that all the nourishing food I ate on a daily basis was "insulating" the baby from damage. Do as I say, ladies...not as I do :) Stay away from the junk if you can! Your baby (and your butt) is better off for it.

So from the 6 week to the 12 week post partum mark, my only diet strategy is one of no junk food. I have three main lines of rationale for this decision (given my nature, I can't do anything, even something this simple, without creating theories to convince myself of the utility of a strategy or decision - professional hazard I guess!).

The first theory is that research has shown humans actually have almost like a "bank" of willpower. Use it up in pursuit of, say, working on your MBA and have less left for cooking from scratch every night. This is one of the reasons why super drastic "become a vegan yogi master overnight detox" plans rarely work for more than a few days before they fail dramatically via the bottom of a bag of Sour Cream and Cheddar Ruffles. It is also why, in my practice, I always preach slow and accumulating changes to try and create habits that no longer require willpower to maintain. So, keeping the diet simple will allow me to focus my willpower on restarting and maintaining my workout regime.

My second theory is that the weight gain battle is won or lost by relatively small changes in calorie balance and simply taking the daily junk out of the diet should have a great effect, especially in light of the energy that breastfeeding consumes and how healthy my overall diet is.

My third theory revolves around supporting the breastfeeding process: drastic calorie restriction will impede breast milk production...that means a little bit of hell for a mom trying to feed her baby. In addition, I am sleep deprived and I need energy! It isn't the time to cut back too much or I may end up brushing my teeth with mascara or washing my hands with spaghetti sauce or something else related to zombie like behaviour!

The idea is that if by week 12, things aren't progressing fast enough...I will ramp up the diet efforts. But before you walk away thinking...just cut out the junk food! Full disclosure...my diet may or may not look like yours...and that matters!

5 healthy diet habits I live by....

1. Processed carbs don't live here! All my grains are whole...the only bread in my house 9.5 times out of 10 is Silver Hills sprouted grain bread and it lives in my freezer because it takes the two of us at least 10 days to go through a loaf. Many of my meals are based on beans and vegetables and intact grains like quinoa or barley instead of couscous or pasta.

2. I don't drink my calories...I drink water, sparkling mineral water, tea and the occasional glass of wine. No soda, no juice, no desserts masquerading as coffee drinks.

3. We eat fruits and vegetables...lots of them! If I don't have vegetables, I can't make a meal. Fruits and vegetables are essential for nourishing your body with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fibre in a low calorie package.

4. I love beans. I am not afraid to admit it...but the musical fruit has a starring role in our daily lives. I make a lot of one pot meals, focused on beans. I don't make salads without them and I often add them to soups, pastas and casseroles. Beans are super filling, feature lots of fibre and protein and are rich in trace minerals. A perfect food for maintaining a healthy weight.

5. I love fat...the right kind of fat. We stay away from trans fats and depend on anti-inflammatory extra virgin olive oil to cook our meals. We snack on raw, unsalted nuts and seeds and I get my dose of healthy omega 3 fats daily from Salba, hemp seeds and good quality fish oil. I would rather see a little extra fat in a dish than extra starch. Fat carries flavour, making foods satisfying and helps to fill you up and is essential for a healthy metabolism. Stay away from the cheap vegetable oils and try not to overdo the saturated fat.

Okay, I think my little one is tired of me ignoring him...play time!
Desiree

Eat...like me! The fibre challenge...

This week at work was our employee fibre challenge as part of our ongoing employee wellness program...we challenged everyone to meet their minimum recommended fibre intake (25 grams for women, 38 grams for men) with only whole foods - no fibre supplement bars or metamucil. The average Canadian eats only 14 grams of fibre, generally because we eat too many nasty processed foods...but it can be really easy to get what you need.


I thought I would take a photo log of what I ate this Tuesday. It is a pretty honest "real world" day - I had a terrible selection of food in my fridge and barely any fruit and veg because I needed to go grocery shopping and I spent the last half of the day out (and didn't grocery shop)...but at least I still managed to get my minimum 25 grams of fibre and pull off a not too bad day!


Breakfast: 1 small mango, 3/4 cup of Liberte Apple Pie Yogurt (no artificial sweeteners or stabilizers...good stuff!), 1/3 cup of Kellogg's All Bran Buds with Psyllium. 13 grams fibre total.

Lunch: leftover whole wheat pasta (1/4 box), made with lots of garlic, chili flakes, parmesan, olive oil and butter. A cup of Numi Emperor's Puerh tea. I ate this at 10:00AM because I was starved and didn't want the snack I brought. 8 grams fibre total.

Snack: which I ate at about 12:30....carrots and hummus...I definitely would have brought more to snack on if there was more in my fridge :) About 2 grams of fibre.

On the road...on my way to a meeting at 3:30 and absolutely starving (surprise, surprise!) so stopped at Starbucks for a banana chocolate Vivanno. I feel like this is a slightly healthier bevvie than average because I can actually watch them put in the real milk and whole banana. Also, it is way less sweet than their other varieties. 6 grams of fibre.


Dinner: out with family at Nuba, one of my favourite places! Easy place to eat healthy foods...always a challenge to estimate the fibre, etc in restaurant meals but here is my attempt!
Hummus and pita...maybe 4 pieces and 1/2 cup hummus...4 grams fibre...and one piece of the heavenly haloumi...no fibre...just yummy :)

Next came my fruit and nut salad...and my falafel...roughly 6 grams fibre...mostly from the falafel and dried fruit in the salad.

I also had a couple of bitefuls of the amazing cardamom creme brulee...just a couple as I was stuffed!

Grand total for the day? 39 grams fibre and I also managed to eat my minimum servings of fruit and veg too...If you are wondering how I figure out the fibre in foods, our lovely government provides a database where you can look up detailed nutritional information for almost any food...called the Canadian Nutrient File. Here is the link! http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/fiche-nutri-data/index-eng.php 

Happy Spring,

Desiree

Eat...more beans

Beans, beans, the musical fruit....yes, you know the rest! My clients get pretty sick of me talking about the health benefits of beans but they are on a very important list of the healthiest foods that you are not eating! As a vegetarian, beans are a huge part of my diet but most of us tend only to eat beans in chili, hummus or refried form. So I've come up with 5 good reasons to get to know the lowly bean...


1. Fibre: No plant food has more fibre and since the average Canadian only gets 14 grams of fibre a day - it is time to reach for beans! Depending on the bean, the average is 5 grams of fibre per half cup. Not too shabby indeed.


2. Protein: we all need to eat more plant based protein for our health, the health of the environment and the health of our wallets. Beans are a great source of protein and are easy to add to salads, soups, casseroles and more to beef up (no pun intended!) the protein. Just rinse canned beans and add them to your favourite foods.


3. Slow Carbs: the ultimate slow carb source, the carbohydrates in beans (and nutrient balance in general) ensure a nice steady rise in blood sugar for sustained energy and hormone balance.


4. Potassium: 3/4 cup of lentils, like other beans, have 540 mg of potassium. Potassium is severely lacking in our processed food world and is vital for healthy blood pressure regulation.


5. Magnesium: another "if only we ate more whole foods" nutrient, most of us don't get enough magnesium...and not because it doesn't exist in foods! Magnesium is vital for muscle contraction and heart health; magnesium also has a calming effect on the body 3/4 cup of most beans have about 50 mg of magnesium...you only need about 350 mg a day.


So here is a little comfort food for the last days of winter....my Beans and Greens Casserole! This recipe will easily serve 4-6 hungry people -


1 cup quinoa
2 cups water


Bring quinoa and water to a boil and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Turn off heat, fluff and re-cover for later.


1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1-3 cloves garlic
1/2 large sweet onion
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
2 19oz cans of your favourite beans, such as white cannellini beans or chickpeas


1 lb of your favourite greens, such as broccoli, kale or spinach
2 tbsp soy sauce
chili flakes to taste


1 cup 1% cottage cheese
2 cups light (not low fat) aged cheddar, grated


Chop onion, garlic and greens. Drain and rinse one can of beans. Leave the other can with liquid intact.
Heat oil over medium heat, add onions and saute until glossy. Add garlic, oregano and rosemary and saute for a minute more - don't let the garlic brown.


Add both cans of beans and simmer for 10 minutes then add greens and simmer until tender. Add soy sauce and chili flakes.


Place quinoa, cottage cheese and beans mixture into a 9 x 12 baking dish and mix until thoroughly combined. Top with cheddar and bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes.


To lower the sodium, use salt free beans and reduced sodium soy sauce.


Enjoy!
Desiree

Weight Loss Tip: Eat High Fibre Foods

You won’t see me selling the crash diet mentality…or endorsing some crazy acai cleanse. If you have ever dieted and regained more than once, you know that it is no way to live. The kind of strict lifestyle it requires to get serious poundage off fast kind of sucks the fun out of living. And I bet that the faster you take the pounds off, the faster you are going to run for an extra large pizza to help you put the pounds back on. I am a big fan of the little change…pounds are gained and lost by a hundred calories here, fifty calories there. If you have a lot of weight to lose in order to reach a healthy weight, you will probably want to make more than one change at a time. But if you only have ten or fifteen pounds to lose, why not take the “slow and steady” approach to weight loss and commit to making small, permanent changes?

One of the most important changes we can make for our health is switching to high fibre foods. The average Canadian only eats about 14 grams of fibre per day but a woman needs 25 grams and a man needs 38 grams of fibre each day. Why bother with roughage?

Fibre is like a workout for your gut: it adds bulk to your stools which helps to tone the gut and ensure that all of that gunk moves through your system quickly. Why is that so important? It’s waste, right? What happens if you leave your kitchen garbage sitting too long….now imagine that inside of you. Enough said! Eating fibre is filling and when you are trying to lose weight, you want to feel full so you are less likely to eat more. Fibre also helps keep your blood sugars in check which prevents huge spikes in insulin – a barrier to weight loss.

Here are some simple ideas to increase your fibre intake…try them one at a time and be sure to drink lots of water. Your body needs a bit of time to adjust to additional fibre (and plenty of water to make sure you don’t get constipated!).

1. Switch to a sprouted grain bread like Silver Hills. Sprouted grain bread generally has 5 grams of fibre and 5 grams of protein per slice. Regular whole wheat bread rarely has more than 2 grams of fibre per slice. Sprouted grain bread will really fill you up – a sandwich with sprouted grain bread will ring in at 10 grams of fibre before the side dishes…that is more than 1/3 of a woman’s daily intake.
2. Eat bran buds. Seriously, they’re a dietitian’s best friend. Nature’s Path makes Smart Bran which has 13 grams of fibre but per 90 calorie, 2/3 cup serving. Stir this into some yogurt for a super filling weight loss snack.
3. Eat ½ cup of beans every day. Beans, beans, beans….anyone who knows me is sick of hearing me talk about beans. So why aren’t you eating them? Beans are the richest food source of fibre: a half cup of black beans has 8 grams of fibre. A half cup of chick peas has 6 grams. There are tons of recipes for bean rich main dishes but you can also cheat and add beans to almost anything….salads, premade soups, casseroles or even rice side dishes.
4. Switch to whole wheat pasta. Whole wheat pasta is an easy swap; thin pastas like spaghetti or linguine have an easier-to-love texture than shapes like penne. An 85 gram serving (a quarter of most spaghetti boxes) has 8 grams of fibre….
5. Snack on apples, berries and pears. Not only are they local in many parts of North America…they are also the fruits with the highest fibre (Pears are highest at 5 grams).