Over the course of the last few months, we’ve talked a lot about the foods that nourish us and provide the vitamins and minerals that bring good health.  And as important as these foods are, there is another group of “foods” that are just as important and if not more so, to our well-being and health.  These are the foods of love, a meaningful career, nourishing relationships, positive self-image and spirituality.  And so as we close one year and begin a new one, I would invite you to look at your core foods, the primary foods in your life.  Is anything missing?  Is there an area you’d like to nourish?  Maybe it’s time to make a career change or strengthen a relationship in your life.  Maybe it’s time to extend more self-love and take care of you.  Whatever it may be for you, may you be blessed with the insight to know where to begin and the courage to keep going.  Change happens one baby-step at a time. 

I’ll close with a quote from one of my favorite Christmas stories is The Grinch Who Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. 

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?  It came without ribbons.  It came without tags.  It came without packages, boxes or bags.  And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore.  Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.  What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.  What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” ~Dr. Seuss

May the spirit of the season continue with you throughout the coming year.  All the best for a prosperous, healthy and happy 2008!

In the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry (November 2003), we can find the results of a study conducted by a group of researchers at Michigan State University.  In this study, the researchers tested the antioxidant activity of the flavonoids found in the skin of beans.  The researchers tested 12 different varieties of dry beans. 

The bean with the most antioxidant activity, gram for gram, was black beans.  Red beans came in second followed by brown, yellow and then white beans.  Clifford W. Beninger, the lead investigator for the study said the darker colored the skin of the bean, the higher the amount of antioxidant activity.  “Black beans are really loaded with antioxidant compounds. We didn’t know they were that potent until now,” says Beninger.

Next time you’re having taco salad or burritos for dinner, try using black beans and boost your antioxidant activity. 

The Joslin Diabetes Center conducted a study in which they studied a group of obese adults.  Researchers found that regardless of whether the adults in the study had type 2 diabetes or not, when they lost just 7% of their weight and exercised for 6 months at a moderate intensity, they improved their major blood vessel function by approximately 80%. 

“What these chocolate ‘offenders’ taught us is that the chemical in cocoa beans has a biochemical effect similar to aspirin in reducing platelet clumping, which can be fatal if a clot forms and blocks a blood vessel, causing a heart attack,” says Diane Becker, M.P.H., Sc.D., a professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health.

This new research doesn’t mean you can buy all the half-priced Christmas chocolates and eat them till they are gone.  The chocolate benefits Becker and her associates are talking about come from chocolate in its purest form without all the milk, butter and sugar found in most of the chocolate products on the market.  Pure cacao pieces or dark chocolate with minimal amounts of sugar is what will give you the best health benefits.  Becker and her associates suggest that as little as 2 Tablespoons of dark chocolate may reduce the risk of a heart attack in some men and women by as much as 50%. 

Looking for a good chocolate bar that’s good for you too?  Trader Joe’s sells an Unsweetened Belgian Baking Chocolate bar that is made from 100% cacao beans.  Eat the squares plan or mix them with a healthy sweetener for a great treat. 

Peanut Butter Fudge

12 one-ounce 100% baking cacao squares (or baking dark chocolate)

1 C honey

2 C peanut butter (natural, without hydrogenated oil)

2 t vanilla

1 C sesame seeds

1 C shredded coconut

1/2 C chopped walnuts, optional

In a saucepan, heat honey, cacao pieces and peanut butter, stirring until cacao is melted.  Remove from heat.  Mix in vanilla, sesame seeds, coconut and nuts.  Press into a 10″ x 13″ buttered dish or pan.  Cover and chill for several hours.  Cut into squares.

Dr Lewis explains, ”Antioxidants, like those found in fruits and vegetables, may help prevent damage to sperm that causes them to become sluggish and lose the ability to fertilize an egg.”

Lewis went on to say that produce such as tomatoes, peppers, oranges and leafy greens contain the antioxidants glutathione and cryptoxanthin.  These antioxidants are associated with strong, healthy sperm.  

For men hoping to father a child, Lewis recommends that they eat at least five servings of fruits and veggies each day.   With all the other health benefits of fruits and vegetables, whether you are hoping to father a child or not, you can’t go wrong with eating lots of fruits and veggies.

As we know, there is very little nutritional value in junk food.  Basically the calories in junk food are empty calories.  Thus, Americans may be eating, but they’re not eating that which will really statisfy the body and give it the building blocks it needs to be healthy.  As a result, the body will continue sending hunger signals and cravings until it gets what it needs.  And by then, we’ve eaten many more calories than we really need.  As Dr. Block who conducted the study in the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis said, “It’s no wonder there’s an obesity epidemic in this country.”

Take a look at your food choices.  From where do you get your calories?  Do they come primarily from nutritious foods or does junk food tip the scale?  If junk food is a big part of your diet, I encourage you to evaluate where you can make one small change each day.  For instance, rather than grab a bag of chips for a snack, grab an apple, a banana or some carrot sticks dipped in peanut butter. 

Maybe a good joke book would be the perfect Christmas present for the health professional in your life. 

A bag of baby carrots makes an easy and convenient way to eat carrots, but after awhile you may find yourself in a carrot stick rut.  They just aren’t that fabulous anymore.   Here’s a few ideas to add a little spark to your diet and some beta-carotene as well.

Toss shredded carrots with diced or shredded potatoes and make hashbrowns (idea from Whole Food Farmacy).

Add shredded carrots to your peanut butter for a new healthy crunch (idea from Whole Food Farmacy). 

Making spaghetti for dinner?  Why not boost the nutrition of the tomato sauce by adding shredded carrots, onions, or zucchini?  Diced celery is also really good in tomato sauce.  If your family is rather picky and would never go for such a thing, cook the veggies in the tomato sauce until soft and then blend everything in the blender.  Chances are they’ll never know how much good stuff they’re getting, but their body will thank you.

Add chopped carrots to your favorite stir-fry.

Combine shredded cabbage and carrots and make coleslaw. 

The carrot possibilities are many so if you’re in a rut, try something new and then let us know how it went. 

With “exercise,” one may think he has to put on exercise clothes, go outside and run 3 miles without considering there are so many other ways to get the benefits from exercise.  This is where healthy movement comes in.  Yes, in moving healthy you can put on exercise clothes and go run 3 miles, but you can also put on dancing shoes and go ballroom or swing dancing, you can get in your row boat and explore a new section of a lake, you can put on your hiking boots and see what’s on top of the hill behind your house, you can grab your rake and your shovel and spending time cleaning your yard and garden, or you can skip the golf cart and walk the course.  Obviously the list could go on and on. 

The idea being that ”exercise” doesn’t have to put a set aside time of day when you are supposed to sweat.  Granted, it can be and there is nothing wrong with that.  But if you are not a fan of traditional exercise, the good news is that there are so many ways you can enjoy the health benefits of exercise by including healthy movement into your day.  All the better when you are getting healthy movement benefits and doing an activity you love.   

I invite you to enjoy a few minutes of healthy movement today and see how you feel!