People Think Snacks With Green Nutrition Labels Are Healthier

By Shaunacy Ferro, in Popular Science: No matter how smart we think we are, humanity continues to be fooled by simple marketing tricks. Various experiments have found wearing the color red is more likely to get you a date. Another new study suggests that a green hue can convince you that a candy bar isn’t really that unhealthy.

As part of a study published in Health Communication, Jonathon Schuldt,  of Cornell University, asked 93 college students to imagine they were in a grocery store checkout line, hungry and looking at candy bars. Then he showed them an image of a candy bar with a green or a red calorie label, and asked them how healthy they thought the candy relative to other candy bars, and whether they thought it had more or fewer calories. They thought the candy bar with the green label was a healthier option than the red one, despite the fact that had the same number of calories. Continue reading »

Red Lentil Soup with “C” Spices

It’s hard to find time to make healthy dinners during the busy holiday season.  Here’s help: a simple, quick vegetarian soup that takes ten minutes of preparation time and twenty minutes to simmer. Coriander, cardamon, cloves, and cinnamon team up with more traditional soup spices like cumin, cayenne pepper, chili pepper and curry to add an exotic flavor. You probably have many of these “C” spices on hand for holiday cookies. With this soup, you’ll pull them out more than once a year!  Customize the spice combination and vary the flavors the next time you make it.  It’s high in protein and fiber, low in fat and calories, and doesn’t really need salt. Enjoy!

1 small onion, chopped (use pre-diced onions to save time)
1/4 cup chopped red pepper, optional
1 tablespoon olive oil or coconut oil
1 cup red split lentils, rinsed well
4 cups water (or broth)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne and/or chili pepper (more to taste)
1/4 teaspoon cardamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Optional: 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

Saute onion (and red pepper) in oil in a thick-bottomed pot until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, rinse the lentils in a sieve.  Add the rinsed lentils to the translucent onion in the pot alnog with 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, and add spices. Simmer for 20 minutes.  Adjust spices as desired.

Better Than Broccoli?

By Dr. John Dempster: Broccoli is part of the powerhouse brassica family of vegetables. Broccoli contains important phytochemicals that are released when they’re chopped, chewed, fermented, cooked or digested. The substances are released then break down into sulphorophanes, indole-3-carbinol and D-glucarate, which all have a specific effect on detoxification.

Broccoli sprouts can actually provide more benefit than regular broccoli as they contain 20 times more sulfurophane. Add these to your salads and get creative with them in your meals.

What do Broccoli Sprouts have in common with Beet Root, Sea Vegetables, Dandelions, Flax Seeds, Lemons, Garlic, Artichokes, Tumeric & Apples? All are natural, powerful detoxifiers and simple to add to our daily diets!

Article

Healing Properties of Broccoli Sprouts: Continue reading »

NutritionFacts.Org

What’s better for you than green tea?  Cold-steeped green tea! Here is great info about antioxidants in tea, and more:

There is much more research-based information on Dr. Michael Gregor’s comprehensive website: NutritionFacts.Org — Meet Dr. Gregor:

Lose weight sleeping, supress cancer growth, decrease inflamatory markers, destroy cholesterol, lower risk of heart attack — with these tasty snacks?  Continue reading »

Olive Oil May Prevent Stroke

From ScienceDaily: A new study suggests that consuming olive oil may help prevent a stroke in older people. The research is published in the June 15, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

“Our research suggests that a new set of dietary recommendations should be issued to prevent stroke in people 65 and older,” said study author Cécilia Samieri, PhD…”Stroke is so common in older people and olive oil would be an inexpensive and easy way to help prevent it.”

For the study, researchers looked at the medical records of 7,625 people ages 65 and older from three cities in France…the study participants mainly used extra virgin olive oil, as that is 98 percent of what is available in France…After considering diet, physical activity, body mass index and other risk factors for stroke, the study found that those who regularly used olive oil for both cooking and as dressing had a 41 percent lower risk of stroke compared to those who never used olive oil in their diet (1.5 percent in six years compared to 2.6 percent).

Continue reading »