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Diet Tip: Health Food Doesn't Mean "Eat All You Want"

FitSugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700

Healthy snacks are great for noshing. Nuts, dried fruit, air-popped popcorn, low-fat cheese, and whole grain crackers are all nutritious foods, but they still contain calories. Binging on heath food is still binging, and it isn't going to help you reach your weight goal. Overeating healthy foods won't help you maintain the weight you already have either. So this is just a friendly reminder that no matter what you're eating, you'll still need to need to keep appropriate serving sizes in mind.

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Antioxidants and Alcohol: The Health Conscious Cocktail Trend

FitSugar — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 02:00:00 -0700

I guess you can tell the health movement is taking off when organic booze and veggie purées are the main ingredients in trendy new cocktails. Restaurants (and not just vegan ones) and bars in New York and LA are concocting mixed drinks where sugary syrups are substituted with organic fruit purées, making a "healthier" cocktail for the healthy consumer. It has been suggested that substituting puréed kiwi for simple syrup does have significant benefits. Kiwi is loaded with vitamin C and would provide fiber as well.

When it comes down to it though, a cocktail could never be really guilt free or without consequence since they still contain alcohol. Combining puréed organic lemon tomatoes infused with cilantro vodka will still provide a buzz and possibly a hangover depending on how many you drink, no matter the antioxidant count. After all organic rum is still rum.

This healthy cocktail trend certainly interests me. Take the green trend, mix in equal parts organic movement, add a splash of the health conscious living, shake or stir in your martini shaker proving and then we can have our organic cucumbers and drink them too.

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From Amy's Kitchen: Vegetable Lasagna

FitSugar — Wed, 23 May 2007 11:45:00 -0700

If you've have ever stepped into a health food store, which I'm guessing 99% of you have, chances are quite high that you've heard of Amy's Kitchen. This kitchen kicks out all sorts of tasty dishes, like: soups, pizza, burritos, mac n' cheese, pot pies, and pasta sauce.

These prepared meals and sauces are made with organic vegetables, organic pasta, and whole grains. Not only are they completely trans fat, preservative and GMO's free, they're completely vegetarian. They even use rBST hormone free cheeses, but Amy's Kitchen also makes dairy and gluten free versions of many dishes for folks with dietary intolerances to those ingredients. I must say, I am liking the attention to detail.

The frozen entrées are great in a pinch, especially if you're looking for a quick, healthy lunch. Check out this Vegetable Lasagna.

Layered between organic lasagna noodles, perfectly tender organic spinach, zucchini, and sweet carrot mingle with low fat cheeses and mix with fresh organic tomato sauce. It is a veritable vegetable party.

Want to see the nutritional info and some more pictures? Then read more


Calories	310
Total Fat	12g
Saturated Fat	4.5g
Cholesterol	20mg
Sodium	680mg
Carbs	35g
Fiber	5g
Sugar	5g
Protein	16g
Vitamin A	50%
Calcium	25%
Taste	Delicious! Very flavorful tomato sauce, pasta had good consistency - not too hard or squishy, the vegetables had great texture. The serving size was perfect. I felt satisfied, but not like I needed to unbutton my top button on my pants.

The nutritional info looks great considering this is fit for one meal. 680 mg of sodium may seem a little high, but it's recommended to have about 2,300 mg, so if you split that up between 3 meals (766 mg per meal), 680 mg isn't too much at all.

Here are some more pictures. It looks a lot different than the lasagna on the box, but I guess that's to be expected. The actual lasagna didn't have as much cheese and veggie filling, but it still tasted great!

Yo!Naturals: Healthy Vending Machines

FitSugar — Thu, 17 May 2007 08:45:00 -0700

Wouldn't it be great if you could get your favorite health food from a vending machine? Well, my buddy YumSugar just told me about the San Diego based company YoNaturals, and they are bringing health food to the ultimate icon of snacking convenience - the vending machine.

YoNaturals is on the front line in the battle against junk food vending machine, and I wholeheartedly applaud their efforts. In their Yo!Zone and Yo!Thirsty machines you won't find the junk food staples of your youth. Gone are the fluorescent orange cheddar crackers filled with hydrogenated oil laden peanut butter, in their place you will find Annie's Organic Cheddar Bunnies and Pirate Booty. Instead of candy bars, you can choose from a selection of energy bars, like some of my faves - Luna, Clif and LARABARS. Soda is replaced with organic milk and organic juices. Yippee!!!

Yo!Naturals distribution is growing ever wider and you should be on the look out for their machines in hospitals, hotels, offices and schools - you know large, kind of institutional places. Just the kinds of places where you need a snack and can never find anything healthy to satisfy your hunger.

Healthy Food From a Vending Machine?

YumSugar — Wed, 16 May 2007 08:58:31 -0700

I blame my unhealthy college eating choices on the fact that there we were located on top of a hill with miles to the nearest store and the only thing providing sustenance between the hours of 9pm and 6am was a nearby vending machine. I cannot tell you how many papers were finished with a diet coke in one hand and a bag of chips in the other. Imagine how healthy I could have been if there had been, oh say, a vending machine that dispensed healthy treats instead.

YoNaturals is a rapidly expanding network of healthy vending machines called: Yo!Zone and YoThirsty? (which are snacks & drinks). With their distribution circle growing wider by the day, the machines are currently found in some offices, schools, hospitals, hotels, etc. They offer more than 100 types of natural snacks/beverages including: Clif Bars, Vitamin Water, Horizon Organic Milk, Bumble Bars and Stacy's Pita Chips.

After all my vending binges in college, I sort of made a pact to myself to avoid them whenever possible. However, if we had one of these in our office, I know I'd hit it up more often than not.

Speak Up: What's Your Favorite Health Food?

FitSugar — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 02:30:00 -0700

Do you have a favorite health food that you can't live without? Every day I'm telling you about the nutritious and delicious gems I love, (like Annie's Low-Fat Gingerly Vinaigrette) so now it's your turn.

Is there some new health food you've discovered that you think others should know about? Maybe you support a certain brand because you agree with what they stand for. Or maybe you just love the taste or nutritional value of a specific healthy product, and buy it every time you go shopping.

There's got to be something you absolutely love more than anything else and I want to hear all about it, so TELL ME below.

Bark for Breakfast: Some Healthy Cereals Have NO Taste

FitSugar — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 02:30:00 -0800

Some people love to start their day with a hearty bowl of cereal. The milk, soy milk, or rice milk adds extra vitamins and protein. Cereals nowadays are made with heart-healthy whole grains, complete with the fiber and carbs you need.

However, healthy cereals are not all equal. Arrowhead Mills makes many healthy breakfast options, and they're great if you prefer a plain cereal with not much taste. Nature O's may look fun and are made with organic oats, rice, and wheat germ, but believe me when I say that they taste like bark.

What is good about Nature O's is that they are made with no added sugar, so if you're watching that, this cereal might be a great option for you. The only thing is, if you don't like the taste, you won't eat it.

Health Food Headlines

FitSugar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:00:44 -0700

I love food. Not just eating it, but reading about it too. Here are three food-driven headlines that caught my eye.

Calorie Postings Don’t Change Habits, Study Finds - New York Times
Remember all the controversy about chain restaurants in the Big Apple being forced to post calorie counts? Well, it looks like you can post the calories, but consumers will consume what they want. A study performed in NYC neighborhoods where obesity rates are high found that although folks said the calorie counts helped them make healthier food choices, they actually ordered higher calorie items than before the calorie counts were posted.

10 Foods Most Likely to Make You Sick - Web MD
Oh, the irony. The Center For Science in the Public Interest researched food-borne illnesses and found that some health foods topped the list, including eggs, tomatoes, and sprouts.

Starting Good Food Habits in Kids From the Womb - Time
As a baby is being formed in utero, so is its sense of taste. A fetus in the second and third trimester has a highly sensitive palate, and what the mother eats helps determine the child's early flavors of choice. All the more reason to eat a variety of foods when pregnant and nursing.

Food Pairings For Your Health

FitSugar — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:30:00 -0800

Food is more than fuel for your body - it's a tool to help you improve your health. Eating for your health can be as simple as adding certain ingredients to the food you're already accustomed to consuming.

Small changes can add up to improvements in your well-being while satisfying your hunger. Get inspired by these simple formulas from Prevention and keep them in mind the next time you're making a grocery list.

Meal Base	Add-In	Health Benefit
Whole grain cereal	1/2 cup sunflower seeds	Better immunity
Scrambled eggs	1/2 cup red peppers	Smoother skin
Smoothie	1/4 cup wheat germ	Faster healing of cuts and bruises
Sandwich	3 spinach leaves	Decreased risk of night blindness

To see the rest read more.

Meal Base	Add-In	Health Benefit
Garden salad	3 ounces canned wild salmon	Healthier brain and heart
Stir-fry	1/2 cup kale	Stronger eyes
Salsa (or another low-fat dip)	1/2 cup chickpeas	Lower body weight
Low-fat pudding	1/3 cup nonfat powdered milk	Less PMS
Green tea	Lemon	Lower cancer risk

Visit MSNBC to learn more about how these pairings work as well as more food pairings for your health.

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5 Not-So-Healthy Health Foods

FitSugar — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:00:00 -0700

When it comes to "health" food, many seemingly healthy foods rely on reputation. Check out these five foods that seem healthy, but that actually fall a bit short.

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